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Showing posts from September, 2009

Book review: Seed Bead Fusion

Seed Bead Fusion by Rachel Nelson-Smith Rachel Nelson-Smith has decided not to be bound by the usual rules about beading. Instead of starting with one stitch and sticking with it, she invites us to mix them up. The results are 18 projects of stunning beauty. Rachel likes to add bumps, waves, ruffles, and other textures to her work, which takes each of these projects from merely nice to amazing. She also likes to showcase several different color schemes, so that you'll never feel hemmed in by just one choice. The highlight of this book for me is that I can heartily recommend it to readers who are only a bit better than beginners. As complicated as the projects appear, they are all based upon a few very basic stitches and wirework, all of which are profiled in the techniques section. Even if you've only started beading recently, if you are willing to practice the basics, you'll be able to follow along with Rachel's instructions. There are very clear illustratio

Wire wrapped beach rock

My friend Beth's daughter was getting married and Beth needed a necklace that would suit her casual and outgoing style. The problem was solved by a trip to Maine were we found some nice rocks on the beach. I glazed this one that Beth particularly liked with Future floor polish so it would keep its wet glow, and then wire wrapped it for her, using a variation of the directions for the Hippy Twist (the old link is dead now, but I think you can see easily enough how it's done). I didn't use quite as many twists, but did use more kinks and bends. The mother of the bride was happy with it, and that's what counts! Technorati Tags: handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Bead & jewelry blogging round-up!

A Bead A Day If you are "mousing" all day and still want to wear a bracelet, memory wire rubber tubing is a simple and comfortable option. About.com Jewelry Making Tammy is already thinking about and making Halloween jewelry so she can wear it next month. What about you? Art Bead Scene Keep misplacing your ruler? Get one for free! Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts 29 Days of Giving starts with a Japanese book giveaway. Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi discovers Free Trade Kazuri beads from Kenya. Cindy Gimbrone Cindy imagines a movie and writes a script. Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie congratulates Jean Cambell and shares the beautiful piece she made for Beadwork Magazine using an Earthenwood face stone Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done Jean reviews Big and Bold, a really pretty book of jewelry designs culled from BeadStyle Magazine Strands of Beads Melissa shows off her new "Twilight" choker made with

Artist profile: Liliana Cirstea Glenn

Artist: Liliana Glenn Business name: LilianaBead Location: Natick, MA Websites & Blog: LilianaBead LilianaBead.etsy LilianaBead.blogspot How do you describe your work, Liliana? My business name LilianaBead reflects my dedication to expressing my aesthetic ideals in glass. Each bead is a result of my journey alongside glass and fire. My commitment to the process, the medium and the design underlies everything I make. My Heart Color and form dominate my collections. The finished pieces continually remind me how much I love color. Color in glass is particularly rich because of its interaction with light; the possibilities of layering are limitless. The eternity of glass is partially determined by its roundness, as it shapes how you encounter the colors. Light envelops the glass piece; it has depth, dimension, and movement; it is truly “round color” (a concept evident in the curves, prisms, and layers in my designs). What is your creative process like? I starte

Book review: Contemporary Copper Jewelry

Contemporary Copper Jewelry by Sharilyn Miller I love Sharilyn Miller's work. Primarily known as a wire jewelry artist, Sharilyn also works in many other media. She was the original editor of Belle Armoire magazine, which I adore. This new book contains a great techniques section, followed by page after page of Sharilyn's one-of-a-kind designs. The best feature of this book is the photography. There are a gazillion photos, one for each major step in the process of creating your own wire and metal pieces. Several other designers have contributed projects to this book. I love many of them, a few I'm not so crazy about, but that's the way it usually is with a project book like this. A few of the projects didn't even use copper, which sort of surprised me, but you could certainly make your piece with copper wire instead of steel. Simple metalwork and cold joins are the basis for the projects, so even a determined beginner could do most of these, although over

Online sale!

My friend Andrew Thornton just let me know that he is having a big sale in his online shop in order to lighten the load for an upcoming move. Andrew's loss could be your gain ;-) Technorati Tags: handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Making a beaded bauble

Pick a large lightweight wood or plastic bead for the base of this fun project. Since my wooden bead was painted blue, I decided not to fight against fate, but picked a good selection of blue beads in various sizes for most of the covering. I also threw in some contrasting beads for fun! Materials & Tools Large wood or plastic bead to cover Nymo 0 thread Delicas and/or Czech seed beads in sizes 15/0, 11/0, 8/0, or even 6/0 as desired Beading needle 1 Loop the thread through the hole of the large bead several times, and tie a knot. These threads will be covered as you work. 2 String on beads to reach from hole to hole, tie off at the top, go back through the hole and repeat several times. 3 Begin to weave beads off of the foundation strings, using peyote, square stitch, or whatever you wish. I used peyote. 4 When all the strings are several rows of beads wide, begin to connect from string to string with peyote stitch. 5 Use different sized beads to fill

Bead & jewelry blogging round-up!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Art Bead Scene's September prompt is Kandinsky's Improvisation No. 23. Andrew shares the piece he created in response to the painting. Check it out! A Bead A Day Bead-wiring vs. bead-weaving...which do you prefer? About.com Jewelry Making Loving some filigree, check out these new filigree jewelry projects. Art Bead Scene Art Bead Scene shows off her top art bead picks for this month's Kandinsky Challenge. Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts Barbe goes crazy over Mixed Metals book Carmi's Art/Life World Carmis creates a necklace using canvas and leather. Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva Cindy makes more Through the Looking Glass Nuggets Charms that match perfectly with Frost Links. Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie shares her uncertainty about a new dragonfly pendant design. Jewelry & Beading Why wouldn't we talk about fashion on a jewelry and beadwork blog? Lorelei's Blog: Insi

Recent publications: September 2009

Ultimate Necklace Maker by Dorothy Wood Amulets and Talismans by Robert Dancik Jewelry in a Flash by the Editors of BeadStyle Embroidered Jewellery by Shirley Anne Sherris 500 Plastic Jewelry Designs by Lark Books Creative Beading Volume 4 by the Editors of Bead&Button Chain and Bead Jewelry Creative Connections by Scott David Plumlee Pure Silver Metal Clay Beads by Linda Kaye-Moses Marcia DeCoster's Beaded Opulence by Marcia DeCoster Metalworking 101 for Beaders by Candice Cooper Elegant Knotted Jewelry by Becky Meverden Technorati Tags: handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Beaded cabochon pendants

An easy way to create a quick pendant necklace is to find a gorgeous fused glass cabochons or bead (these beads are from Jeanne Kent at New Terra Artifacts ) and add some simple bead embroidery around it. But who can stop with just one? I added seed bead bails done in square stitch to the backs of these beads, and they are all set to hang on a rubber or cord necklace, alone or as a set! Materials & Tools 6 inch square piece of ultrasuede or non-woven synthetic material Nymo O, black 3 fused glass top-drilled beads, 25x15 mm Seed beads, 11/0: peacock iris, cobalt ab, silver-lined red violet Seed beads, 15/0: hex cut champagne 8 Swarovski 4mm bicones in amethyst 2xab Fabric glue Scissors Beading needles, size 13 1. Glue and/or stitch a fused glass cabochon or bead to a small piece of ultrasuede. 2. Use backstitch to outline around the cab, making sure to use an even number of beads. Build up a few rounds of peyote stitch on that base row, switching to spar

Bead & jewelry blogging round-up!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio Lorelei is having fun using lots of Lynn Davis components in her designs this week! Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean comes across her "Digg it" necklace--far out! She's like an archaeologist! The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Matcha green tea from Matcha Source defeats the doldrums and inspires Andrew to create a new bracelet! About.com Jewelry Making Copper is hot right now! Find out about a new book review just posted concerning copper. Art Bead Scene Art Bead Scene's September Challenge is Kandinsky's Improvisation No. 23. Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi uses chessboard crystals to create a floor for her ballerina necklace. Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva Cindy's obsession with bronze metal clay continues. She shows off her new Art Nouveau floral charms. Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie shares a sparkly crystal and brass pendant that she unearthed while cleaning her

Artist profile: Lea Avroch

Artist: Lea Avroch Business name: LA Jewelry Designs Location: Long Island, NY Websites & Blogs: http://www.lajewelrydesigns.com http://www.lajewelrydesign.blogspot.com Lea, your beads are beautiful! How do you describe your work? I make handmade wearable glass art and unique jewelry. I started out as a jewelry maker (self taught), mostly stringing and simple wire work and most recently to beadweaving. I’ve always been fascinated with glass. I have a collection of some lovely art glass sculptures in my home so when I saw that a local art league was offering lampwork classes, I quickly signed up. It was a beginner class, which gave me the basics. I since have taken 2 additional classes at Beadfest Philly for working with boro glass. I wish there were more local classes to take advantage of. I had a very hard time coming up with a business name I liked. LA are my initials. Pretty simple when you think about it. And Jewelry Designs is fairly self explanatory, though I

Artist profiles - part seven

Fortune Teller Carnelian and Copper Charm Choker by Puakea Soares-Mercado Four more brilliant bead and jewelry artists for your viewing pleasure. If you'd like to be featured, please leave me a comment here with your email address or email me directly at cyndi @ mazeltovjewelry.com (remove the spaces). I'd love to talk with you :-) Beth Cummings Karen Leslie Tammy Powley Puakea Soares-Mercado Technorati Tags: handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

CopprClay ammonite pendant - part two

Using the CopprClay pendant that we made last week, I want to show you what I ended up doing with it. It was tempting to simply hang it from a plain black cord, but I wanted a bit more shine and contrast. And something a bit more interesting too! Materials and Tools: Large jump ring Sliding tube bail 2 pieces of beading wire, 24 in each 22 assorted beads 40 size 1 crimp tubes 4 size 3 crimp tubes Toggle and bar set (Sources: Vintaj , Auntie's Beads , SoftFlex ) 1. Attach a sliding bail to the pendant with a large raw brass jump ring. 2. Center the two pieces of SoftFlex wire through the bail, and use the size 1 crimp tubes to space the assorted beads along the length of each. Leave several inches free at the end of each wire. 3. Slide a size 3 crimp, a large holed bead, and a second large holed crimp onto both wires at each end. Take the wires through half of the toggle set and back down through the first large crimp and the bead. Flatten the crimp closest to the toggle, cl

Bead & jewelry blogging round-up!

Jean Campbell : Jean's got a cool job--check out what she's been working on! Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio While in Philadelphia for Bead Fest, Lorelei met up with Andrew Thornton and he gave her some presents! Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean reviews Contemporary Copper Jewelry by the wonderful Sharilyn Miller The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Andrew and Diana Ptaszynski of Vintage Blue Studio have a throw down! See how Andrew uses Heather Powers of Humble Beads' Polymer Bird-Head Pendant! About.com Jewelry Making What's in a name, the name of your jewelry pieces that is? Here are a few tips to consider when naming jewelry you sell through the web. Art Bead Scene Wondering how big 20mm really is? Here's a handy size chart to keep by your computer. It'll help you out! Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts Tool talk-this time its hole punching pliers & wire cutters Carmi's Art/Life Wor

Calls for entries and submissions

Belle Armoire Jewelry : deadline 10/15/09 Haute Handbags : deadline 11/15/09 Beadwork Challenge : deadline 11/20/09 Technorati Tags: handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading