Earthy Green Earrings

I just listed these new earrings in my etsy shop.

I've been doing a lot of experimenting with silk soutache trim the last few weeks. I ordered many yards of the trim for an on-line supplier. They had the most beautiful colors.

I love earthy colors especially greens. The trim was a perfect match to these ceramic beads I found.

I have a number of pieces to photograph and post, but here's the first pair. The center is a ceramic bead. Four layers of silk trim surround the bead and curls around two pyrite beads. The earrings are backed in black ultrasuede. You can see more pictures here.

A Few More Hearts

I posted a few more bead embroidered heart pins to my etsy shop today. Please stop by and check them out.

Have a great weekend!

Sharing My Heart with You

Like many others I've been overwhelmed by the holidays and the new year. Blogging wasn't the only thing that wasn't getting done on the list. Now that I feel like my head is above water, I will be trying to get back on the blogging horse.

The last few weeks have been filled with lots of activity on the beading front and I'm excited to start sharing some with all of you.

A friend of mine started this great website for 'tween' girls called iTwixie. iTwixie is the ultimate online hangout for 'tween' girls. They inspire and unite girls ages 8-14 on a site that is safe, age appropriate, and fun. Since I have a 9 year old daughter, I love that she has a safe on-line place to go to interact with other girls her own age and have fun while doing it.

I had talked to my friend last year about developing a project for the site. Finally, after a few starts and stops (on my side), my bead embroidered heart pin project is debuting today on the site.

I hope you'll go check it out and share it with any 'tween' girls in your life. The project can be viewed by anyone. I'm also offering kits in my etsy shop for anyone interested.

A Little Piece of Art on Your Wrist

While preparing for my recent art show, I made a lot of new cuffs. These ones are a little different from the others I usually make. These ones have a beaded centerpiece and then the cuff is covered in ultrasuede.

Here's one that I made using one of my handmade cabochons with an Alphonse Mucha print. You can wear a little piece of art work on your wrist.

You can see more photos here.

Don't forget I'm offering free world wide shipping today through Monday. All items purchased during this time will be shipped on December 1, 2009.

FREE WORLD WIDE SHIPPING

Yep, that season is upon us. So get a jump on your shopping this weekend from the comfort of your home.

I will be offering FREE world wide shipping from my etsy shop between Friday, November 27-Monday, November 30, 2009. All orders placed on these dates will be sent out on December 1, 2009.

I'll be adding new items over the next few days, so stop by often.

If you have a minute come on over to ETSY lots of sellers are offering a variety of special offers. Maybe you'll finish all your holiday shopping by next Monday.

New Cuff

I love these 1/2 inch bead embroidered cuffs. They are perfect for everyday wear and they are lightweight. I just listed a new one at my etsy shop.

I've had these long bugle beads for awhile. I've used some for long fringe on bead woven earrings. I hadn't really tried to use them on any cuffs. They fit perfectly across a 1/2 inch cuff. These bugle beads are twisted and have a beautiful color that is both blue and purple. The texture of these beads provide a lot of interest to a simple cuff. The abalone provides a nice contrast and breaks up the line of beads. The beadwork is attached to a metal cuff and the underside is lined with ultrasuede.

You can see more pictures of the cuff here.

Silver Button Earrings

I just listed these Silver Button earrings in my Etsy shop. I really love these earrings and it was hard to decide to post them. I recently picked up these triangular drops and they are great. They have a really beautiful finish, kind of gray and brown. They were a great complement to the earrings. I used a matte gray, matte bronze, and shine bronze seed beads. The earrings were also embellished with silver pearls and hematite beads.

You can check out more photos here.

Snow Day in October

Yes, you read right. I saw snow today. Yes, I did double check the calendar. Typically we don't get snow this early in Pittsburgh. Last night the weather man informed us that the last time we had snow this early was in 1972.

I'm not too happy about this snow or unexpected cold weather. I am headed on a camping trip this weekend with my daughter's girl scout troop. Fortunately, we are staying in a heated lodge, but it created a packing nightmare. Heavier jackets, mittens, hats, and long under ware were added to the packing list. I'm hoping the weather man is incorrect about any accumulation.

In honor of today's flakes, I just listed this adorable Snowflake pendant in my Etsy shop . It is a handmade cabochon made from glass and specialized paper. The cabochon is surrounded by speckled pale blue, gray, and metallic blue seed beads. The pendant is backed in slate blue ultrasuede and hangs from a ribbon cord necklace. You can check out more pictures here.

Wishing you warm thoughts this weekend. Please send warm thoughts my way. I have a feeling I'm going to be cold (at some point) the next few days.

Ladies Who Lunch Ring

Today I listed a new piece in my Etsy shop.

This is another piece I've made with the glass cabochons I've been making. I love this picture. It reminds me of a woman who has time to get dressed up and lunch with her friends. This woman is not me, but I'd like to be her sometimes. So even if you don't get to lunch with your friends (while wearing your long white gloves), you can wear this ring and dream it.

The ring is embroidered with red and purple seed beads. The beadwork is attached to a silver plated adjustable ring. The underside of the ring is covered in red ultrasuede.

You can check out more pictures of it here.

Spider Earrings

I realized the other day that many of my items in my ETSY shop had expired. Since Halloween is just around the corner, I decided I would relist my bead embroidered Spider Earrings. When I purchased these beads, I instantly thought they looked like spiders. The beads have a beautiful metallic quality to them. They seem to change color depending on the light.

On a somewhat related note, I was shopping at Jo Ann Fabrics the other day with my youngest daughter and all the Halloween stuff is already on sale. And the Christmas items are already out. I had to take a double take. It is still September, right? I guess Valentine's items will be appearing around December 1 at this rate.

Challenge Complete?

Okay, so I didn't exactly meet my challenge. My challenge was to post new items each week day this past week to my etsy shop. Since I met a few challenges (computer and etsy), I didn't actually get everything posted. However, I have posted new items to my blog this week. So I going to feel somewhat satisfied that I met my challenge. I do acknowledge that it wasn't what I originally planned, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Anyone who has a husband, children, pets, etc. is very experienced with going with the flow.

Well, here's the last of the new items. And I DID post these to my shop today. I purchased these filigree drops last year from dimestoreemporium on etsy. They are brass finding that have been hand aged. I just love the look of them. They look old and weather, like they've had a life before they came to me. Because they are so detailed, I didn't want to do too much beading. I attached them to beading foundation and used bronze size 15 seed beads to embellish the edge. The earrings are backed in burgundy ultrasuede and hang from brass ear wires. They are incredibly light weight. You can see more pictures of the earrings here.

White Turquoise Bead Embroidered Cuff

As promised, here is today's newest post to my etsy shop.

Back in June, I went to a new bead show that came to town and found these beautiful white turquoise beads. The beads are just beautiful. Each one is different. The all have the traditional black matrix. Some have a pink hue and some have a brown one. They are really versatile and many colors complement the stones.

I love how the white turquoise pops against the various shades of pink, purple, and gold beads used to embroider the entire cuff. The cuff is also embellished with pearls, pewter beads, and bugle beads. The base is a metal cuff and the underside is lined with pale pink ultrasuede.

You can see more pictures here.

Autumn Sunset

Okay, so here's the second day of posting something new to my etsy shop.

This bead embroidered pendant was created with a fossilized coral cabochon. It is really an incredible stone. I didn't want to do too much and take away from the stone. I added the fire opal beads for added interest. I like how they added to the circular feeling of the piece. For a simple pendant, it has a lot of natural detail. I decided to call it Autumn Sunset because of the orange hues. You can see more pictures here.

I'm hoping to take some more pictures today of the other pieces I've finished. The weather man is calling for rain, so I'd better get it done soon.

What are you trying to get done today?

New Turquoise Pendant

I've given myself a personal challenge this week. I'd like to post a new item to my etsy store every day this week. I've been steadily working on pieces for the last few weeks and really need to get them photographed and posted. I only have a few more weeks before my kids head back to school. The first week or two is really crazy. Making sure everyone has what they need and getting back on schedule is really difficult. I wanted to make an effort to pay attention to my shop while I can.

So here's the first piece...

One of my favorite color combinations is turquoise and brown. With that in mind, this pendant came together without much effort. The pendant is actually three separate sections connected by Swarovski crystals in between. The top section is made from a turquoise bead. I surrounded it with seed beads and then added the Capri Blue Swarovski crystals for detail and texture. The center section is a Mocha Swarovski rivoli this is surrounded by seed beads and turquoise colored glass beads. A coin pearl embroidered with seed beads makes up the bottom section. The pendant hands from gold neck wire, but would also look great on a piece of leather.

If you'd like to see more pictures you can check them out here.

Have you given yourself a challenge this week?

Birthdays and Blue

Sorry, I've been MIA the last few days. It has been a busy week. My daughter's 9th birthday was this week and we had a lot of activities the last few days.

Last night we had her "friend" birthday party. She decided to have it at our local "paint your own pottery" place. The girls got to make their own charms to put on a bracelet. It was a lot of fun to watch their creative process. I love that they got to be part of each step of the process - picking stamps, cutting the clay, and painting. They even learned how to make roses out of clay. It was very cool. They were very serious about the whole thing. They were working so hard that they were really quiet. Not your typical birthday party. When the bracelet are done, I'll take some pictures to share.

I actually finished these earrings last week, but am finally getting around to posting and sharing. An amazonite cabochon and a blue pearl are the focal points. The earrings are embroidered with size 11 pale blue seed beads and size 15 blue metallic seed beads. A metallic blue drop hangs from the bottom. The earrings are backed in slate blue colored ultrasuede and hang from sterling silver ear wires. You can see more photos here.

I made these as part of the Thursday Sweet Treat theme "It's Going to Be A Bright Blue Day". You can see what other artists submitted here.

Tiny Flower Earrings

Since, I've obviously been focused on flowers the last few days, I decided to relist my Tiny Flower Earrings on Etsy. These adorable earrings are perfect for any occasion. Two glass flower beads are surrounded by seed beads and hang from sterling silver ear wires. The earrings are backed in black ultrasuede. These bead embroidered earrings are so light weight, you won't even know your wearing them.

A Lot of Green (Beads and Garden)

I am surrounded by green. Green beads and green garden. I thought I'd share a little of that green with all of you. 

I finished these sweet little earrings awhile ago, I just haven't gotten a chance to take a lot of photos and prepare them for my Etsy shop. (Boy this sounds a lot like my last post.) The small cabochon in the center is an amazonite. I surrounded it with three different colors of green seed beads. It reminded me of all those great green colors you see at the beginning of summer.

And here's one of my garden's. This is the one I call my "house garden". Just because it is closest to the house. In this garden, we have tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, basil, cabbage, and a lot of beans. I love it right now because it is a sea of green. Everything is full and flowering and hopefully we will soon be picking. Well, technically we have been picking lettuce, but nothing else yet.

Southwest Inspired Cuff Finished

I finally got the cuff finished. Sometimes it seems that I get projects almost done and then finishing the final step takes so much effort. I am really happy with how this cuff turned out. I'm debating whether or not I'll post it to my Etsy shop. 

Last weekend I finished two more cuffs and I hope to find sometime this week to get them photographed and posted. Again, that final step takes so much effort. 

I've not been doing much beading this week because I've been working on a knitting project. Friends of ours just welcomed their first baby on July 4th. I started a baby blanket at the end of May and I'm still not done. 

Do you see a pattern here? Do I have a problem? I think I need to work on my "finishing" skills. At least I admit that I have a problem. If you have any suggestions or advice for my problem I'll welcome the input.

But, the sun is shining today so I think we'll go swimming instead. 

Black and White Cuff

I love this dramatic black and white cuff, but it didn't start that way. When I first started work on it, I was extremely frustrated. I usually work with a larger palate of colors. I wanted to try my hand at working with only black and white. I pulled every black and white bead from my ever growing stash. I had acquired the two quartz stones awhile back. I figured that they would become the centerpiece of a neckpiece or cuff, but would be surrounded by a rainbow of colors. As usual, I didn't have a specific plan when I started the cuff. I arranged the cabochons and started beading. Well, after only a few rows of beads I quickly decided that only black and white was not going to do. I was going to have add another color. Focusing only on the black and white, the cuff had no depth and no character. Gray was the natural choice. The addition of gray gave a pleasing step between the black and white beads. The cuff was also embellished with pearls, shell beads, glass beads, and hematite beads. 

So after, a rather dissatisfying start, I was over the top at the finished piece. It is truly a piece of art to wear. 

You can see more pictures of the cuff at my Etsy site (www.jodihorgan.etsy.com).

Happy 4th of July and Some More Red, White, and Blue

I decided to search Etsy for some more red, white, and blue. Here's what caught my eye.

The first are Czech glass flower cone beads from sultryaffairbeads.

The second comes from goosegrease, custom wedding cake toppers. 

And finally, these beautiful blue lampwork disks from hmbstudios.

I hope you'll take a minute to check out these Etsy shops. 

Have a happy and safe 4th of July! I'll be weeding and beading.