FINITO - Terminado - Done - Complete - FINISHED !

Finally, the Piccadilly Bracelet is complete (except for adding a clasp).  To me it is fun and colorful and so unlike anything I've ever done before.

Photo Above - The left side of the bracelet features colors of light and dark coral, chartreuse and turquoise.  Embellishments contain semi-precious beads of green aventurine, wood agate, moss agate, dark blue sodalite, larimar, dark blue dumortierite and olive jade .  A cute little triangle bead in vibrate lime green adorns this first section and to highlight this little bead I encircled it with a halo of turquoise glass seed beads topped with much smaller, silver plated, seed beads.

Photo Above - Progressing from left to right: tube beads of lapis and apple green quartz combine with round tablet beads in pastel yellow and green, thus forming a bridge between the first section and a striped, seed beaded tube. 

Connecting the beaded tube to the bracelet's middle section is a glistening olivine crystal, flanked top and bottom with tiny garnet beads. 

Like the first section, I used a peyote stitch to form the base that is then embellished with tiny glass flower beads and a fringy stripe of garnet beads.

Photo Above - Heading toward the left side of the middle section, the smaller size 11 Delica seed beads give way to a section of larger size 11, Toho beads in turquoise blue.  A sweet iridescent, jet glass, heart sits proudly in the middle of these beads and is decorated with two tiny garnet beads. 

 

Another fringy stripe of garnet beads follows, bringing us to an open frame that features an unusually shaped white glass bead ( I only had one of these beads and wanted to make sure it received special attention).  Two little garnet beads are used to fill in the extra space and help center the white bead in its frame.  Once again I've added a fringy stripe of garnet beads.  These tiny garnet beads are only 2 mm round so I used the smallest size 15 seed beads I had as topper-stop beads. You can see them above in both a chartreuse color and in a pinkish color, called strawberry.

Photo Above  - Finally the last section. A peyote spiral striped tube in coral, white and chartreuse sits between two large crystal beads.  The crystal on the left is a dark ruby red while the crystal on the right is a fresh grass green.  Like the previous crystal, tiny garnet beads are used to hide the Fireline that connects the crystals to the bracelet.  When I fabricated the peyote tube I made the mistake of adding a fringe to the tube's top and bottom.  This made attaching the crystals difficult and if I had it to do over I would have attached the crystals first and then added the fringe.

 

The last section is again, flat peyote stitch, it features simple white stripes with a silver beaded center embellished by an adorable, pink glass, heart bead. 

 

This end of the bracelet terminates with a fringe of small 2 mm beads, since only three of the tiny 2 mm garnet beads were left I had to improvised by adding three tiny red jasper beads and three tiny hematite beads to complete the fringy stripe.  Sure it isn't like the other garnet bead stripes but with this bracelet just about anything goes. A fringe of turquoise drop beads graces

this end of the bracelet.  

 

Welcome to the World, Piccadilly ! 

 

I haven't decided if I'll place Piccadilly with some of my pieces in the Manatee, Florida art center (called; ArtCenter Manatee) or if it will go into a gallery in the Village of the Arts, where I have also displayed and sold many pieces of my handcrafted jewelry.

 



 



Hallelujah ... Another Project Completed !

Not long ago I lamented that I had purchased some foil glass pendants which did not meet my standard of perfection and was trying to figure out what could be done with them. 

I received a number of good suggestions one of which came from  Moonlitfantaseas   who recommended that I make a seed beaded bezel  to go around it and conceal the flaw.  So I beaded a bezel AND a bail for the pendant (yes I could have just used the hole that was a part of the glass pendant but I tend to make more work for myself than is necessary. LOL).  All this was done with tiny little 11/0 Delica beads and minuet 15/0's ( I was cross-eyed for 2 days afterwards).
Since I can't seem to leave well enough alone I then embellished the bezel with firepolished Czech glass beads and an assortment of lovely freshwater pearls.  

The swirls of copper and silver foils embedded within the glass pendant reminded me of   galaxies or a cosmic nebula so I named it "Pearl Nebula".  If you think of a better title please feel free to leave it in a comment and I will certainly consider changing the name.

Next I beaded a rope necklace using crystal seed beads with a copper lining to match the tiny beads that were used to construct the bezel with.

The Herringbone beading pattern consists of over 550 size 8/0 seed beads in copper lined crystal and Straw Gold with an aurora borealis finish.   Naturally I didn't have any end caps or cones that would fit this rope and when I tried making my own seed beaded end caps it made the rope so thick at the end that it would not fit through the beaded bail of the pendant.  OH BOTHER !  Fortunately I found these pretty antique brass flower end caps at Ornementea, they fit perfectly and look so feminine.

The end flower end caps are topped with solid copper beads that match the copper in the seed beads nicely, to this I've added my handcrafted extender chain constructed with Swarovski adorned wire links and 10 mm jumprings.  At the ends I've added my own handmade hook and eye clasp.

I think it came together well.  In this photo I had to pull most of the rope necklace back in order for the pendant to rest on the flocked display bust.

First True Sales Pitch....

I’ve highlighted these Carnelian fringe earrings before but today I’ve decided to actually hype them. Salesmanship is not my forte, I dislike spam mail and find myself put off by individuals who are constantly spewing a line of buy, buy, buy. But eventually I do need to sell something and therefore must delve into the despicable...gasp ! Yes, a sales pitch ! For the first time on my blog I’m taking a cue from Michael Mays, that blaringly loud TV "KABOOM" pitchman. Only I promise I won’t be nearly as loud...no need to lower your speaker volume!

I’ve always been fond of this fringe pattern, mainly because it is highly versatile and adaptable.
Here "Carnelian Carnival" is fabricated with 3 different varieties of #11 Delica seed beads: a metallic Copper lined, a hex cut metallic Rust and a hex cut dark Topaz with an aurora borealis finish (also called a rainbow finish). Delica "Dyna Mites" seed beads in Rainbow Rootbeer were used to fashion the triangular shield or base for the fringe. Rainbow rootbeer has become my favorite color in the kingdom of seed beads, it has a richness and luster that compliments all other colors...and I’m really fond of rootbeer floats !
Along with lovely seed beads are rondelles of genuine Carnelian. These carnelian rondelles crown the tops of freshwater oval pearls, I used grade A pearls in a natural (undyed) pale peach blush color.

#15 charlotte seed beads look like tiny drops of hematite, they grace the fringe ends. The triangular seed bead shield is embellished with more Carnelian rondelles, Freshwater Pearls, 4 mm Czech firepolished beads and of course more seed beads. All of this swings fluidly from 14 kt gold filled "Perfect Balance" earwires which I’ve accented with faceted, fiery red-orange crystal beads.

A fantastic color combination that plays remarkably well with many other colors, from neutral beiges, browns, tans and golds to greens, turquoise (gorgeous with turquoise), reds and yellows. They are feather light, have a flirty swing to them, are fun but sophisticated and with the right outfit can be very elegant.

Earrings measure 2.25 inches ( 64mm) from loop of earwire.
One foot note: These are truly more beautiful in person than in any of their photos !

The price $22 including USA shipping fees.
Shipping fees on Foreign shipping can be anywhere from $2.50 to $5 additional, depending upon country destination.
To order you may contact me through my etsy shop-click here if you have questions or wish to order, just let me know of your interest and I will make a special reserved listing for you. If it is a foreign order please let me know the country and I’ll e-mail you a quote on shipping costs.
Payment is easily done through PayPal which accepts all major credit cards and does the calculations for currency differences.

Whew ! Well that advertisement wasn’t too bad was it ? Uh, anybody...was it ?

The Donut Diet...

A couple of years back I developed a passion for donuts...purchased at least 40 with plans of devouring every single one. Fortunately these were non-fat donuts and also non-edible donuts, yeah I know, what's the fun of that ? Well the fun is when they are beautiful gemstone donuts.

I had taken a couple of wire work classes at the Miami Bead Expo and had gotten the bug for embellished wire and beaded donuts. Had even bought a half-dozen or so assorted gemstone donuts...Black Onyx, Red Jasper, Turquoise etc. With enthusiasm I crafted a number of lovely casual pendant necklaces focusing on the gorgeous 40 mm donuts resplendent with dangling beads, bits of chain, and lots of wire...sterling wire, gold filled wire even warm, lush copper wire. It was the height of the Southwest craze and my pendant necklaces had that hot, spicy southwest flavor that sold quickly. Afterwards I went overboard and purchased, as I mention before, approximately 40 maybe even 50 more in assorted gemstones...all 40 mm. However about the same time I began to notice a wane in the southwest fad so decided to hold off and see if it (the fad) would resume or peter out. Turns out it was definitely ebbing though it would always have it's die hard followers.

Now, a couple of years later, I find myself confronted with my over zealous past appetite for donuts. I have come up with a couple of slider bails made from my favorite Delica seed beads and adorned with a mulligan stew of assorted beads and pearls. I've made the slides large enough to easily fit over a strand of 6 to 8mm beads but I think these tasty donuts would look just as lovely on a simple black cord or a thick chain. Guess that's what makes them so nice, they can be quickly changed from necklace to necklace to create a totally different look...I've always loved variety and a multi-functional piece holds my admiration and respect.

Above: 40 mm Red Jasper Donut with seed beaded bail embellished with freshwater pearls, leopardskin jasper chevrons, carnelian rondells and Czech glass beads all topped with tiny #14/0 Charlotte beads...some in 24kt gold plate. Had to use a #15 beading needle in order to make multiple passes through the tiny beads.
Below: 40 mm Sodalite Donut with it's cool blueberry tones...yummy...think I'll go grab a blueberry muffin !

What's in a Name ?

Recently made a pair of earrings very similar to these using Delica #11 seed beads, decided to make another pair using different elements.
This pair utilizes Delica #11 round and hex shape seed beads, tiny rondelles of real carnelian topped off with freshwater pearls and micro #15 seed beads in a hematite finish. This pattern has always been a favorite with me and even though it is an old pattern, probably dating back to Victorian times, it is so versatile and can be adapted to suit most tastes. Here the rustic, hand hewn carnelian rondelles give a slight primitive edge to an otherwise very sophisticated and elegant earring.
Ear wires are 20 gauge, 14 k gold filled that I've embellished with orange-red crystals, compliments the orange-red of the carnelian quite nicely.
Haven't really come up with a name for them...maybe Carnelian Carnival...then again maybe not, some might think of carnival as being cheap or tacky, though I was thinking more like Rio deJaneiro ! What would you name them ?





Sophisticated, elegant with just a dash of primitive charm.