in the works

Here are just a few of the projects that I've been working on the past couple weeks.

March EBW Challenge Piece

Yep, as always, the last EBW Challenge just ended and I'm already working on my next piece.  That's how it goes!

The theme for this challenge is Destinations.  You can read more about it here.  You can pick any destination that you like.  My mind immediately went to Hawaii although this piece can represent any tropical location that you like.  The color palette here combines sand, sun, and water.

My challenge piece will be a wrap bracelet/necklace.  I'm using one these sand and sea glass filled bottles from Kristina of BorealisSeaGlass for the charm.  I'll also be releasing a beach themed charm set when I list this item.  Did you know that you can buy these little glass bottles almost anywhere online?  There are so many possibilities for them?  I haven't ordered any...yet, but I may design some of my own charms with them in the future.

First Mother's Day Card

You got a sneak peek at the pieces for this in my drying rack post.  I don't really know how some of these ideas come to me, but I just go with it.  I don't have this listed on Etsy yet, but I'm planning to get it up this spring.  If you're interested in one before then, let me know.

Contemplating a Rainbow Bead Mix

I've been contemplating another rainbow mix wrap bracelet/necklace like the one that I shared in this post.  I was originally thinking about another plain rope, but I picked up some new multicolored Czech glass beads during my last bead shopping trip that would be perfect for another embellished piece.  I'd probably make a double wrap to keep the price a little lower than my triples.  I could save those new beads for a bangle, too.  We'll see.

One of my new washer pendants has a new home.

Do you remember my new washer pendants?  This one has a new home on this wrap piece.  The original rainbow wrap was so well received that I made another one to sell.  It'll be in my shop shortly.

another Natural Sparkle is in the works

Over the last few years, I have created three versions of this design that I have dubbed Natural Sparkle because of the mix of natural sea glass, shiny Czech glass, and Swarovski crystal.  I have sold the third one back in the fall.  It's way past time to bring this design back.

I have bought double drilled sea glass from the above mentioned sea glass seller in the past, but she hasn't had any in quite a while.  So I had to look elsewhere and eventually settled on this shop.  The prices are very reasonable, and the shipping was quick.

Personal Project

I'm not sure that this really counts as crafty, but it did involve sewing.

My mother-in-law "surprised" me with a beautiful hounds tooth coat that I'd been admiring when we were Christmas shopping.  The coat is very well constructed...except for the buttons.  It had 7 originally and 3 came off during the first month I had it.  I managed to save one, but I had to find a new set, cut off the remaining buttons, and start over.  It's a shame because aren't these buttons cool?  I'll have to find a new project for them.

I did find a new set that I like (and that fit the button holes) and sewed them all on successfully.  I would like to get pictures of it and do a mini hounds tooth feature sometime.

What have you been working on this week?

I used this post for Michelle's Delicately Constructed Friday - 2/17/2012.

what I've been working on this week and a preview of my new wrap bracelet/necklace line

Here's my new listing for this week.

I sold a handful of these button bracelets at my final 2011 show.  It's a good thing that I'd made a few brand new ones, including this one, and have several more button sets ready to be made into new bracelets, too.  This one is available here.

I took a lot of pictures before my final show and am still editing and organizing them so I can get items that didn't sell up on Etsy.  Check out these beautiful pieces that did sell before they made it on Etsy.

I actually made two versions of the silver bells charm bracelet, both of which sold.  I also made two versions with gold bells, which did not sell.  I am rapidly running out of steam for Christmas listings this year so unless someone is dying to have one, I will wait until Christmas in July to list the gold.  As the silver is so popular, I will be bringing that back for 2012.

This week I've also been finalizing the last details for my new line of wrap bracelets/necklaces and the detachable charm listings.  I really appreciate everyone's feedback with this entire process!

There will be three different length options: single strand, double strand, and triple strand.  Prices will vary slightly depending on width, length, embellishments, and charms.  The general price range will be $22-$35 with a few higher end pieces anywhere from $40-$70.  No, I did not make all these this past week.  I have been working on herringbone pieces from time to time since the summer.

 

I'll also have a few three strand herringbone pieces.  Edi, yes, you were my inspiration for this color set!

Most pieces will include one charm, often something special like a large glass bead or lampwork focal.  I will have some with simple silver charms or no charms as well.

I've had a number of thoughts about my extra charm sets for quite a while and am now finally putting them all together.  I'm planning to release at least four charm sets within the first month and then keep adding more from there.  Yep, I did use regular paper instead of a card stock or scrap book paper for the third one and the glue did bleed the back a little.  This is a special one for a gift and will not be for sale.

Most charm sets will have one silver charm and one glass charm or other special focal.  I am trying to keep the listings as simple as possible.  However, all listings can be mixed and matched (i.e. one silver charm from one set, one glass charm from another), and I'm happy to do custom sets.  I'll have a BRIEF note about that in the listing to try to keep customers from getting too overwhelmed.  Some of my sets will include custom options, such as initials.  I have 17 ideas for charm sets right now and am open to suggestions, too.  As for an extra chain, the general consensus is that it can be listed separately so I will have a chain only listing.  It will have a jump ring attached to the end so that the charms can be easily attached.

Finally, I had a sudden inspiration that my giveaway piece for the January BBA giveaway should be a piece from my new line.  Of course I didn't have one ready for this so I got to work.

I will most likely be making another one in this color palette to add to my shop, too.

I used this post for Michelle's Delicately Constructed Friday 12/16/11 and Erika's It's a Wrap Link Party - 12/19/11.

December EBW Challenge Piece

If I had known how busy this Christmas season was going to be, I might not have attempted this challenge.  But I got far enough into it before the craziness hit that I was determined to finish in the midst of everything else.  I did so I'm really proud of that.

The theme for the December challenge is Arabesque Style.  Honestly there aren't a lot of great articles online about Arabesque style, but many pieces in an Arabesque style include interwoven leaves and/or flowers.  If you do a Google search for Arabesque art, you can see some examples.  My piece isn't designed to mimic any specific color combinations or other features of Arabesque style pieces, but it does have two interwoven strands of leaves.  Perhaps people who have taken online art classes know about the Arabesque Style.

Like my Twisted challenge entry last month, this piece can be worn as a wrap bracelet OR a necklace.  It's long enough to be wrapped three times for a 7 1/2" wrist or smaller.  I am pretty picky about my bracelet fit (which is one reason that I like to design jewelry for myself).  I have tested a few triple wrap pieces as I've designed this new line of jewelry and can honestly say that they do fit a range of wrist sizes.  I have not designed any wrap pieces specifically for myself and have found several lengths to be very comfortable.

Like all of my new herringbone pieces, the charm has a lobster clasp so that it can be detached.  This particular charm is part of my new bead stash from Erika.  Thanks Erika!  Thanks to all of your feedback about the charms for this new line, I have been finalizing my details for the new charm listings.  I've started making a list of possible charm sets.  More on that soon.  If there's something you'd love to see, feel free to let me know now.

I love that this piece is part of my new herringbone line AND incorporates my love of leaf beads.  My new found love of leaves these past few years has really come from my love of Czech glass leaf beads.  I have pulled the leaves for this piece from at least four different sources.

I also love the pink/green color combination.  I'm really pleased with how it came together for this piece.  I'm planning to make separate green and pink herringbone pieces from the seed bead selections I pulled for this piece, but I know that I'm not done with the pink/green combination either.

Yep, I did go a little crazy with the leaf embellishment and also made this piece in tubular herringbone, so like Twisted, this piece will be at the higher end of my new line.  A lot of the pieces in it will be in the $25-$45 range.

You can purchase this new piece here.  Voting will take place December 9-15 on the EBW blog.  I'll post more information about that when it gets closer.

I used this post for Erika's It's a Wrap Link Party 12/5/11.

November EBW Challenge Piece

I listed my November EBW Challenge piece earlier this week.  The theme for this challenge is Twisted.  You can read more about it here.  You can also see a breakdown of the glass beads that I used here as well as an in progress shot here.  To briefly recap, I've been designing a line of herringbone bracelets and wrap bracelets/necklaces for 2012.  When I found out that the theme was Twisted, I knew that this would be a perfect opportunity to make a sneak peek twisted herringbone piece for my line.  For some reason, I decided that it had to be in blue.

I was originally going to mix all of the blues together but I decided very early on that it would be better to do twisted stripes of light, medium, and dark blues.  It brought out the twisting in the design much more...and it made it a lot easier to follow where I was with the stitch.  Now that I've worked it once, I might be able to work it with a single color or mix of colors more easily.

As always, the embellishment work was a lot of fun.  I loved pulling all of the different blue Czech glass and adding it in after I'd completed the base.  Since I'd never made a twisted tubular piece before, I didn't know how well this embellishment technique would work, but I'm pleased with the result.  The beads follow the twisting pattern and rest comfortably against the bead work.

This piece can be worn as a necklace or a triple wrapped bracelet.  This is the first time I'd photographed a necklace with my new display in the light box.  I'm pretty pleased with the result.

I can easily add an extender chain of any length to this piece which furthers the versatility possibilities.  I've been wearing a couple of my new herringbone pieces this past month as part of my process to "test drive" the new line.  I am pretty picky about bracelet size, but these pieces really do fit a range of wrist sizes.  I haven't custom designed any for myself and have still worn several of them comfortably.

I'm not going to add charms to all of my herringbone pieces.  I love having the focal for these longer ones that can be worn as necklaces, though.  The herringbone works as a necklace on its own, but I love how the focal anchors the whole piece.  For the focal, I used a leaf charm with a piece of drilled sea glass from Kristina of akkricket.  I've been holding onto a batch of glass for a while and am so glad I have a new use for some of it.

My challenge piece is available for sale here.  I will do a preview post before Christmas of what else I've been developing for my new line.  I have a bunch of different color combinations and styles in the works.  If there's anything you'd like to see, let me know.

Voting for the challenge will take place November 9-15.  I'll have all of the voting information here when the challenge starts.

reworking some more older designs, next challenge piece

I've reworked few more designs since my last reworked post.  Most items I'm making very similar new versions, but there are several that I'm just not interested in revisiting.  When I first started beadweaving, I made a few of these chunkier cube cuffs.

They were fun and great practice for peyote stitch, but they aren't a line I'm continuing so for the ones that sold off of Etsy, I'm reworking the cube color themes with some of my original designs.

That's the first one that I did.  It's available here.

Here are my bead selections for the second remake.

Here it is finished.

It's available here.

I've also been starting to think about my next challenge entry.  The November EBW Challenge theme is Twisted.  You can read more about it here.  I've actually let a little bit of time lapse in between challenge entries this time.  I've been pushing so hard with the challenges this year, and after creating the Picasso pattern, I needed a little break.  But I'll still be making a Twisted entry.  I'm very excited about this theme.  I've been wanting to try twisted tubular herringbone, and this is the perfect opportunity to do it.

I'm planning to make an all blue base with lots of different shades and finishes and then embellish it with small glass beads.  We'll see how it goes!  It will be very different from my right angle weave cuffs that I've made for the last four challenges.

turquoise and red is back, and I finally named my purple donut piece

I actually put this first bracelet together back when I made my most recent turquoise and red button charm bracelet.  It keeps getting lost in the jumble of challenge pieces and other recent happenings, but I finally got it photographed and listed.

It's available here.  I haven't made a lot of these simple bracelets mostly because my shop is based around more intricate beadwork and button bracelets.  But they have done pretty well.  I've sold a few in an blue/green and purple/pink.  Obviously I love the turquoise/red color combination so how could I resist making one in this combination?  Hopefully others will like it, too.

I also listed my purple donut design team piece this week.  Naming pieces is not my favorite part of running an Etsy shop.  Back when I did fiction writing, naming my stories was almost always the last thing that I did.  I had a particularly hard time naming this piece, which is why I didn't list it sooner.

It's available here.  I ended up naming it When Purple Meets Champagne, which was a complete late night inspiration out of nowhere.  I felt that it was appropriate because choosing champagne as the neutral was such a key part of making this piece.  I already gave a lot of information about this piece in my reveal post so I won't go into any of that again.

Remember my pastel delicas?  They are now a lovely tubular herringbone bracelet.  I definitely enjoyed working with tubular herringbone again.  I'm planning to make some more of them for Christmas presents this year, as no one has anything like that from me yet.  If you have a color combination that you'd like to see, let me know.  And yes, I am already planning to make one in purples!

July design team reveal: the amazing purple donut transformed

It's the last Friday of the month, which means that it's time for Kristie's design team reveal!  I'm pushing back my Friday Feature and Saturday Link Lists posts this week so those will resume tomorrow.

I am honored that Kristie accepted me as a guest member of her design team.  This is the first time that I've participated.  For those who don't remember, this is the selection of ceramic donuts and buttons that we got to choose from.

I chose the middle purple donut.  I knew that I wanted to create a beaded bail for it with a beaded rope.  I chose two purple delicas for the bail and a champagne mix of delicas for the rope.

I started with the rope.  I still think that this would look awesome in a gray, but I couldn't pair my purples with something that I liked with the pictures online so I went with champagne.  I made this with tubular herringbone, which was something new for me.  In the future, I would make a rope with 6 beads around, not 8, but the thicker one works for this because I wanted more of a statement piece.

The herringbone was pretty fun.  It's a little tedious, but I think it may give me a new venue for some of the delica combinations I've been planning but simply cannot get excited about working in peyote right now.  Part of the tediousness of the rope came from the length.  A bracelet will work up much more quickly.

I made a really big bail because I was worried about the rope not fitting.  When I made a bail for one of Kristie's donuts a couple years ago, I made it way too tight and only a thin ribbon will fit through.  This has inspired me to redo that at some point.  Anyway, the big bail works with this statement piece.  I like how the purples coordinate with the donut.  I wanted the magenta shade so the piece would have a brighter pop of color.

The donut is so reflective!  I had a hard time taking a picture without glare that didn't turn the purple into black.  I am pleased with how the purple did turn out in a lot of these shots.  Kristie's donuts are so much fun to work with because her craftsman ship is so great.  If you're interested in your own, they're available here.

I added an extender chain for this necklace.  The rope is 17".  The extender will lengthen it up to 22".  I can add a longer chain if necessary.  The delicas are so light that the rope didn't weigh the piece down as much as I thought it would.

I'll have this item up for sale in my Etsy shop sometime next week.  You're welcome to reserve it now if you're interested.  I am still clueless on a name for it so if you have any inspiration, please let me know.

One of the best parts of this team is that you get to see what all of the other members created this month as well.  Click on the picture links to see what they made.