Going Nautical

The May 2012 Etsy Beadweavers theme is Nautical Inspired.  This is a pretty straight forward theme, but you can read more about it here.  While April's Seed Beads Only challenge was a lot more fun than originally anticipated, I am glad that this challenge and the next one are much more open ended.

As many of you know, I frequently find inspiration from color.  I did a little nautical color palette hunting online to help me figure out where I was going with this theme.

Nautical Colors of Port Jefferson, Long Island

This post has several great palettes, but I've always liked light houses, so I went right for the one with the rich red.

I went for blues and grays that were a little lighter than the original palette, but I didn't add any other colors.

I loved adding the lampwork discs to my skinny wrapped design for my nest piece and decided to use this technique again for my nautical piece.  They don't represent anything nautical in a literal sense, but the colors tied together so well.

I got these beads from Jen of blueseraphim a while back during a big pre-holiday sale.  I try not to purchase in one of a kind beads like this without a project in mind, but Jen's beads are so versatile that I always find a use for them pretty quickly.

I love this embellished addition to my wrapped bracelets and will most likely make more in the future.  As always, if there are any color combinations that you're like to see, let me know.

This piece is available for sale in my Etsy shop right here.  Voting will take place on the EBW blog in early May.  Check back on my blog the week of May 9 for all of the voting details.  To get a sneak peek at the other entries already up and running, search EBWC on Etsy.

Has anyone else created nautical items?  Share your listings and blog posts!

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how do you create a nest piece of jewelry?

The February EBW Challenge theme is simply Nest.  You can read more about it here.  Around the time that the challenge was announced, I came across this tutorial via Pintrest.

Source: sarahortega.com via Rose on Pinterest

There are a number of variations of this idea out there, but I decided that this tutorial would work perfectly for a little nest that could be part of a beadwoven piece.

I made the nest first.  I used some pearls that I had left over from an old project.  Wire wrapping is not really something that I enjoy, but this was pretty easy and the result is very satisfying.

I paired the silver nest with brown cube beads, brown and white lamp work beads, and seed beads in earthy tones.

There are so many possibilities for these little nests, but in keeping with my goals for this year, I used my skinny wrapped peyote cuff design as the base for this bracelet.  The nest is so small and delicate that it doesn't need a substantial piece of beadwork paired with it.  It just needs something that fits with its style.

The lamp work glass beads are from Jen of blueseraphim.  I'd never embellished a cuff this skinny with lamp work beads, but it worked very well.  (I used a larger white bead of hers for the clasp, too.)  I have some square beads from her in other colors and may use them for similar bracelets.  Any thoughts on this?

I am not planning to make nests for more beadwoven pieces in the near future.  However, I would like to get some metal charms to pair with them for charm sets.

Do you have a preference?  Are there other bird charms that you like?

This bracelet is available in my Etsy shop right here.  Voting for the EBW challenge will take place February 9-15.  I will post more information about it then.  For now, you can check out the other entries for the challenge by searching "ebwc" on Etsy.

I included this post in Michelle's Delicately Constructed Friday 1/20/11.

new beads...an order and a surprise set

I have been trying very hard to hold back on major bead purchases until Christmas and focus on creating pieces on my "to do" list with what I have in stock.  One of the things that I enjoy most about making jewelry is choosing and working with beads so it's tough to hold off on bead purchases.

I'm sure that many of you know that I'm a big fan of Jen of blueseraphim.  I browse her shop very regularly.  When I saw that she was having a 35% off sale on orders of $50 or more, I knew that I couldn't pass it up.  I have asked for Jen's beads for Christmas the last couple years.  I figure that I'm just treating myself early this year.  If you like lampwork beads, please get over there and take advantage of this amazing offer.  The averaged price of these beads after the discount and including shipping was $1 per piece.

I'm planning to use the charm as one of the charm options for my new herringbone line.  The turquoise beads will be amazing focals for one or two pieces.  I'm looking forward to using the squares and other discs as buttons or for embellishments.

I also got a package from Erika earlier this month.  She had asked me if I'd be interested in her leaf beads that she isn't planning to use any time soon.  Of course I said yes.  Erika is so generous.  Look at everything that she sent me.

The green leaf charm will be another amazing focal for herringbone wrap bracelets/necklaces.  There is a lot of great Czech glass here, too, that I'll be able to use in my classic lines.  Thanks again Erika!

new bead and button goodies for Christmas

I'm sure that this is no surprise to anyone reading this, but I am always excited about new bead and button goodies for Christmas and my birthday (or any other time someone surprises me with a random gift).  I got both this year for Christmas!  Here's a little preview for everyone.

My mom got me the awesome set on the left from Jen (blueseraphim).  Some of you may remember that this exact set was on my 2010 Etsy wish list so I was super excited about that.  Then my brother's girlfriend got me the set on the right from a shop in Chicago called Beadniks.  I have never been there before, but I need to sometime!

My mom got the rest of this year's stash for me, largely from a craft or fabric store (I'm not sure which) that was going out of business.  It's always sad to see a craft place close, but it's nice when you can take advantage of clearance deals.  This is the shell set.  As you probably know, I've had a lot of success with my shell bead jewelry line.  This will be a fun new twist on that idea.  I am definitely going to make at least one shell button charm bracelet with this set.  A matching set of earring has potential to be awesome as well.  I'm open to other ideas, too.

My in-laws got me a huge set of clearance button strips like this last year, which I have used extensively.  They work wonderfully for earring stud pairs and can be worked into almost any button charm bracelet style.  I'm really excited to have more for my stash.  There are some great blue/red matching pairs in this set.  Christmas in July anyone?

There were a few other random cards, too.  I LOVE the silver Celtic knot design.  It will make an awesome clasp for a Celtic themed bracelet at some point in the future.

Finally, my mom found some more vintage American flag buttons in her own stash.  I got a handful of them a while back and have made a couple earring stud pairs from them as I blogged about here.  I would love to use these for a button charm bracelet, but they are so old (as you can tell from the way the cardboard is literally disintegrating) that I would worry about them wearing through.  So I will probably use them for an embellished button bracelet like this one.

Top Droppers feature, new listing

Sharla (BeadedTail) was one of my Top Droppers again in June.  Here is one of her newest items that you should check out!  This color is great.  I never get tired of red.

Berry - Red Coral Antiqued Brass Earrings

Any other Etsy sellers who were in my Top 10 for June are also welcome to pick items from their shops for me to feature here.  Please let me a comment!

I listed my Autumn Explosion peyote cuff tonight.  I have been working on this design in my head for the better part of a year and am so happy with the result.  The term "explosion" did cross my mind with this piece, and then Edi suggested it when I asked for ideas for a name so I'm going with it.  Thanks Edi!

The lamp worked ruffled discs are from Jennifer (blueseraphim).  I am so happy with all of the pieces that I've made with this set of caramel beads from Jen.  I have a set of periwinkle and black beads from her that will have a design...soon.  It's getting there.  The ceramic button clasp on the cuff is from Lisa Peters (lisapetersart).  I know that Lisa doesn't have a lot in her shop right now, but as I'm sure many of you already know, her work is amazing.

I have a pair of matching earrings that I'll be listing soon. :)

Iowa City Farmer's Market, flame class beads

I found out today that I'll have a stall at the Iowa City Farmer's Market this weekend!  For anyone in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area reading this, it will be Saturday July 3rd 7:30AM-12:00PM right next to the City Hall in downtown Iowa City.  There have been several opportunities for non-season vendors to have stalls in June, but it hasn't worked out for me before because of the weather, other events, or being out of town.  I'm glad that I will have at least one opportunity to do a farmer's market this summer.

I haven't exactly been getting ready to do another show yet, especially an outdoor one, so I had a few unexpected errands this week.  The biggest thing was that I had to get my own weights for my tent.  I was NOT prepared for this at the Arts Festival.  Several fellow vendors were kind enough to lend me supplies.  I now have my own.  A word of advice to those doing outdoor festivals: Lowe's sells cinder blocks for $1 each.  Literally $1!  I'm more or less going to have the same set up for my booth.  I only had to get a couple new things for that.  I have plenty of inventory.  I'm just not prepared yet for the other things that a show involves like having an updated inventory list and having price tags on all of my new items.  I'll get it done, though!

While I was taking pictures today, I did take a few pictures of my flame class beads.

I'm pretty happy with the round ones in the far row, especially the orange one.  I think that the cylinder ones in the front will make neat focal beads.  The other pieces are pretty irregular, but that's okay.

playing with fire

I am primarily posting to share that the Flame I class that I took at Beadology today was a lot of fun.  I've learned all of my bead weaving and button techniques through books and the Internet.  I hadn't taken any sort of art class in a very long time.  I have been fascinated with the process of making lamp work beads ever since I joined Etsy and started "meeting" people who make their own beads.  I have seen how fused glass pieces as made, but I had never seen, much less worked with, lamp work glass techniques.  I now have a much greater appreciation for the precision, patience, and amazing creativity that goes into the amazing lamp work that some of my favorite Etsy sellers like Jen (blueseraphim) do.

I had a good group of classmates and a very nice instructor.  Everything was very low pressure.  I certainly learned a lot.  I'll get to pick up my annealed beads tomorrow.  Once I see how they've turned out, I can decide whether or not I want to share them here haha.  I'm hoping that there will be at least a couple simple beads that I'll be pretty proud of.  For a first effort, I think that I did pretty well.  Beadology offers Flame II, which will have a session this summer, so I'm going to do that.  I signed up today.  Now that I've taken Flame I, I can use some of their equipment (for a fee) during open studio time, which is pretty cool.  I'm not sure that I feel totally qualified to do that haha, but it's still cool.  I certainly don't have the time or the money to pursue it seriously, but it was a very neat experience.  I'm sure that Flame II will be, too.

The class was four hours today, and it FLEW by.  I did make one piece at home this afternoon: a simple remake of one of my earliest designs.  I sold the original over a year ago and will now have new pictures for the listing.  I'm really hoping that between new pictures, the Christmas in July sale, my new newsletter, and launching a couple patterns I will start seeing some more sales on Etsy.  I will hang in there with Etsy one way or another because I love the community and I continue to gain a lot from it regardless of my sales, but I'm determined to get some more sales, too.

Tomorrow is already filling up quickly.  Hopefully I'll find some time to get outside and take some more pictures in the natural daylight, though!