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.

Perfect Autumn Day Part 2

Luck was on my side. We got a second beautiful day. With my camera battery now charged, I ventured out to capture some of the beauty.

Inspired by the colors of the season, I pulled out this cabochon that I bought months ago. I personally find working with red and yellow very difficult. I've challenged myself in the past and haven't been happy with the results.

I purchased this cabochon months ago and I have two round ones that match it. It reminded me of a sunflower. I purchased it from Lisa Peters. You can check out more of her beautiful handmade ceramic beads, buttons, pendants, and cabochons at her shop here.

I'm happy with the results so far. This is going to become a bracelet, which I hope to finish this week and will post the results when it done.

Do you have a color that you find difficult to work with? Have you overcome your color issues and how did you do it?

End of the Season

Last night it was really cold here. The kind of cold that indicates winter is right around the corner. I haven't made it out to the flower garden, but I expect that the frost took the rest of the zinnias.

Zinnias are one of my favorite flowers. They are extremely hardy. They can tolerate too much rain or lack of it. This year we had a lot of rain and not a lot of heat. They are a wonderful cut flower and can last more than a week once cut. Best of all they have a really long season. We actually had so many that we sold them this year and donated the money to a charity.

So as I am mourning the end of the zinnia season, I'm sharing with you a picture of zinnia from my garden and the ring that was inspired by it. Until next year zinnias. Enjoy!

Perfect Autumn Day

Today was an incredible fall day here in the east. The trees were just gorgeous. Puffy clouds floating along the blue sky. I headed out the door with my camera to capture some of this glory. And then, I discovered the battery in my camera was dead.

So instead of a beautiful picture of this fall day, I'm sharing a picture of a pair of earrings that I just renewed in my Etsy shop. The gold and cranberry color reminded me of the some of trees on the hills this weekend.

These bold bead embroidered earrings are made with two square jasper beads and glass pearls. The jasper beads are surrounded by seed beads and cranberry colored pearls. The part of earring is made from gold colored glass pearls that are also surrounded by cranberry colored pearls. The top and bottom are connected by a tiger's eye bead. A very full fringe of seed beads and drop beads hang from the bottom.

Peacock Earrings

Here's a new pair of earrings that I've recently finished. I actually had completed the base of these earrings earlier in the summer. I wasn't going to put a large fringe on them originally, but I just wasn't happy with what I was putting together. I put the earrings away for a while.

In the process of unearthing my dining room table, I found the half done earrings and with new eyes immediately figured out how I wanted to finish them. Maybe it is also because I found the dagger beads at the same time. I didn't set out to mimic a peacock feather, but once they were done that's what I think they look like.

The center piece is a dyed mother of pearl tear drop. They are surrounded by seed beads and Czech fire polished beads. The fringe is made from seed beads, Czech fire polished beads, howlite beads, and dagger beads. These are big earrings - 3 inches long. But still incredibly light weight. They are backed in black ultrasuede.

Scallop Shell Pendant

This morning the sun poked it head out for a very short time, but just enough for me to get some pictures taken of the new pieces I've completed.

Here's another piece using the handmade cabochons I've been making. The focal piece for this one is a beautiful print of a scallop shell. I added a second tier to the pendant made from african turquoise. I love this color combination of orange, brown, and turquoise. The pendant hangs from a ribbon and cord necklace.

A Trip to the Bead Store

Wednesdays are one of my favorite days of the week. It is half way between the "work" week. This year we don't have any activities so I'm home in the evening which means I can sometimes get some beading done. Additionally, my youngest goes to school a full day on Wednesdays so I can plan mommy only trips or appointments for those days.

Well, today was a trip to my favorite bead store - Crystal Bead Bazaar. I haven't been there in months so it was nice to catch up with the owner and check out all the new items she has added to her stock.

I picked up some seed beads, pearls, and glass drops. She has added a beautiful array of antiqued silver chain, so I got some of that too. The last time I was in the store, I was checking out this beautiful raku ceramic cabochon. I was so glad it was still there. So I got that too.

Now I'm full of new ideas and can't wait to get to work on some new pieces.