Beading Arts

Windflower Technorati Tags: wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace

Spring Pendant I've just added a few more necklaces with the vintage optical lens pendants to my site. This one features Mucha's "Spring" painting. Even though it's still in the 40s and we're having a Nor'easter in New England, I'm nonetheless thinking spring! Technorati Tags: wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace

Lee Valley Tools ~ a fabulous place to browse! Even more fun than Home Depot, and that's saying a lot!

I suppose I could argue that a light saber really is more like an accessory than a Jedi robe? This clever generator allows you to add laser and light blade effects to QuickTime movies and DVD streams.

It's not jewelry, but...well...hmmmm...I guess you could loosely term it an accessory! BoingBoing had a link to this wonderful blog today, with instructions for making a Jedi robe .

I buy most of my clasps at shows, so I couldn't really tell you who I get them from since I don't pay enough attention! But there is one online source that I really like and recommend ~ Star's Clasps Over the years I've learned the hard way not to use cheaply made findings, especially clasps. I like vintage materials, and sometimes will have to work a bit to recondition a vintage clasp so that it's usable. My recommendation ~ don't ruin hours of good work with inadequate findings. It's easy to think that you're going to save money by buying the inexpensive ones, but there's usually a good reason that they're inexpensive! Technorati Tags: jewelry

I've mentioned HeartsArt radio on my other blog , but I don't think I've pointed out it's existence here. You'll find a wonderful archive of interview shows that you can listen to online, all concerned with mixed media art. All of them are interesting, even if you don't do that exact kind of art, but some are really particularly applicable to wearable arts people: Rice Freeman-Zachery , Sharilyn Miller , and others. Technorati Tags: wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace

Midnight Agate Another piece using one of the wonderful cabochons I picked up at a gem show. Technorati Tags: wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace

Vintage necklaces Karima Parry has a website dedicated to vintage plastic costume jewelry . Together with Gale's site that I mentioned before, you'll find a lot of really good info on spotting the fakes as well as some sources for purchasing nice pieces. The plastic vintage pieces that I carry are mostly therosets from the 1950s and 1960s, so if you are interested in older bakelite, lucite, or celluloid pieces, check out these other sites.

Jewelry designers and company information in a really easy-to-use format. Although this is just a brief overview, according to the web owner, there's a lot of good info and links to books that could be of further use to you.

Here are some more of the wonderful beads that my Sis-in-Law brought back from a market in Kenya. I used a waxed cord so that the length could be adjusted.

Bali Hai Bloodstone, fancy jasper, and some stunning Bali sterling silver beads. I'm probably not going to be able to bring myself to use gold or vermeil for awhile!

I'm leaving in an hour or so for the gem show, but I felt the need to make something before going. Agate Forest Technorati Tags: beads , jewelry , necklace

Sung to the tune of "Going on a bear hunt": Going on a gem hunt (echo) I'm not afraid (echo) 'Cause I'm strong (echo) And I'm brave (echo) Did I mention I was going to a gem show with a friend tomorrow? Gotta get some more Bali silver beads and clasps. I've been using up the silver I got at the last show at an alarming rate! Quartz Technorati Tags: wearable art , beads , necklace

I just love optical lenses ~ they are the old test lenses used by optometrists to test your eyes and figure out the prescription for your glasses. I make a lot of the pendants just to be hung on a chain or a ribbon, but here's one I made today with a more elaborate neck-strap: Destiny

I've got quite a few pieces in various stages of completion, but haven't been able to finish any of them this week. Today is my baby's 18th birthday, and we've been scrambling for a few weeks with things like getting her (finally!) licensed to drive, researching and buying the amp she wants/needs for her guitar, getting her computer set up properly to run the music software she's trying to use, etc etc. Productivity just went out the window! Here's one that I finished awhile ago, made for a friend who has a real thing for Art Deco. There was an exhibit at the Museum of Art in Boston this winter, and she loved it. Technorati Tags: wearable art , beads , jewelry

This is what I'm wearing: Joy Don't worry ~ I'm wearing clothing too! It's just not as interesting.

I'm going to do a tutorial on these pretty soon...if there is any interest! Spring Pendants

We have a new "house baby," as my husband and I are calling her! Our tenants gave birth to their first child yesterday morning. They have named her Selah, which is the Hebrew term used in the Psalms to alert the reader to stop and consider well. Well, now that I know she's a girl, I guess I'll need to create a matching mommy-daughter set of bracelets!

Victorian "Cameo" Neckpiece A tapestry fabric neckpiece, embellished with lucite flowers and glass seedbeads. The central "cameo" is a photo-transfer to muslin. No photos were destroyed in the making of this piece! Technorati Tags: wearable art , jewelry