Beading Babes ~ Project 4 update

How is everyone doing with their pieces for Project 4?

I have made one pair of Paisley Drop earrings.

I have to admit I struggled with the pattern at the start. The use of the words "picot" really threw me as I have never heard that phrase being used in peyote so it took me a few goes to figure out what they were referring to.

After that little hurdle I didn't have any dramas with the pattern at all and these earrings really do come together quite quickly and nicely too I might add.

I found my second earring was much better than the first...not a big enough difference to unpick the first but I could see that my tension was better.

It's a really lovely pattern and I think I will be making more pairs in the future, if not for the reveal.

~*~

I ordered my beads for the Ruffled Chain Bracelet but unfortunately the beads I received didn't quite exactly match the beads pictured on the supplier's website...therefore didn't match the crystal bicones I ordered...ughhh!

So I am back to the drawing board.

I have two sets of 8mm beads sitting in a shopping cart.

Completely different to my original choice.

My first colour choice was black, red, green and gold.

The beads that arrived were black, gold and an awful shade of purple. 

My second choice are orange beads...my third multi coloured!

The new colour choices couldn't be further apart from each other let alone even further away from my original colour choice.

So I guess you could say I am in a bit of a conundrum as to what colourway I am going to go with.

~*~

So....onto the Trellis Necklace.

I don't know if the moon is in a funny spot right now but it seems I am in a bit of a rut with my colour choice for this piece too.

I had a colourway in mind but I also have these colours in mind for another piece so I am trying to decide whether to do two pieces in the same colours or choose new beads for the Trellis Necklace.

This of course would involve me buying more beads...hmmmm....it's a tough decision!

Reflecting back on similar situations in the past buying new beads has always won the battle...but will they win this time?

Don't forget to post your progress on your blogs!

Happy Beading!

♥

Beading Babes ~ Project 3 reveal

Welcome to Project 3 of Beading Babes!

 This month two projects were chosen

-

Runway of Pearls by Barbara Falkowitz

and

Ravishing Rosettes by Smadar Grossman.

It appears that both of these pieces presented us with many hurdles and proved to be quite a challenge for most of us.

In saying that, I am so pleased to see that we all persisted with the pieces with a few of us completing both projects.

Well done!

So without furtherado here are the finished pieces!

~*~*~

Runway of Pearls by Barbara Falkowitz

(Beadwork - December 2011/January 2012 - page 54)

Therese of Therese's Treasures

Tanya of A Work in Progress

 Amy of Amybeads

Christine of There and Back Again Studios

Siggi of Zora-Zauber

And here is what I created.

My piece was stitched using 2mm fire polished beads instead of the triangle beads. I've made mine reversable by using silver beads on one side and matte grey beads on the other.

I created a peyote toggle clasp which also acts as a feature of the bracelet.

Final Verdict

Overall I liked the design of Runway Pearls but like most RAW pieces I create I found the stitching a little repetitive...but the bonus of RAW is that it works up pretty fast. This is such a versatile piece and as you can see by how different it looks in the various colourways, not to mention using different beads, I think it's a great pattern!

~*~*~

Ravishing Rosettes by Smadar Grossman

(Bead and Button - December 2011 - page 38)

Therese of Therese's Treasures

Tanya of A Work in Progress

Vimala of of The Bead Diaries

Kristen of My Bead Journey

Ginger of Lilmummylikes

Siggi of Zora-Zauber

Christine of There and Back Again Studios

And here is what I created.

My piece has been stitched using matte red and turquoise beads along with galvanised silver beads.

I was originally going to create a peyote toggle for this bracelet too but a) I misjudged the length of the bracelet and therefore the addition of the toggle was going to make it too long and b) I felt that the fancy toggle would have distracted the eye from the lovely rosettes.

Final Verdict

As you all know I really struggled with this piece. I found it very repetitive, I struggled to understand the pattern and had to unpick it several times. With most repetitive pieces I find I usually don't have to continue looking at the pattern but with this one I continued to refer to the steps until it was finished.

But I am glad I persisted with it as I hate to give up on anything, especially a challenging beading piece, and I think the end result was well worth the frustration.

Overall I really love Ravishing Rosettes.

It's such a beautiful design but for me it was really tough going and a piece I probably won't attempt again...ok maybe I will, you know, just to see if I can improve on this one!

~*~*~

Once again thank you so much for being a part of Beading Babes.

I look forward to seeing you all in Project 4 so watch this space as I will be posting up the project choices in the next few days!

Happy Beading!

 ♥

-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Copyright Disclaimer

All patterns used within this group will be purchased by the beader and will not be copied.

All credit will be given to the designer.

MY CREATIVE SPACE...

I've been alternating my time between a few pieces over the past few weeks.

As I mentioned previously I am trying to make a Christmas presents so here are a few I've been working on.

Can you believe it is now around 5 weeks to Christmas?

~~*~~

This is my peyote Buddha cuff which I recently shared with you.

I only need to add a clasp and it's done.

This cuff has been very popular with my workmates who have been watching it's progression so I am thinking I might have to make a few more!

~~*~~

The second piece is using Marcie Abney's tutorial, Looking Glass Pendant.

I absolutely love this piece.
The mixture of teal, blue and silver really makes me smile (unfortunately the colours aren't showing perfectly in the photos).

I actually love this one so much that I think I am going to have to make another one for myself!

I plan on making a few more of these as gifts in different colours.

If you are keen to make one for yourself then pop on over to Marcie's blog where she kindly offers the pattern for free.

~~*~~

Lastly I have also been working on one of my Beading Babes projects, Sleek in Silver.

I think I might have to rename mine Sleek in Mookaite because as you can see, there isn't a silver bead in sight!

Like a few other Beading Babes have mentioned, this piece comes together very quickly and once you have done a few units is very easy.

I am not sure yet whether I am a fan of Tila beads though.
I've had a few dodgy beads in my tube, mainly chips and scratches which kind of makes them hard to use given their flat surface making the chips extremely visible.

This weekend I was hoping to make a start on my second project for Beading Babes, Earthly Hues, but I've spent the weekend cleaning out our garage so not even a minute of beading has been done.

It's 9.27pm so the evening is still relatively young, and even though I am completely and utterly pooped from the weekend I still wouldn't mind squeezing in a tiny bit of beading.

That's the thing about beading...you need your daily fix!

What's buzzing around in your creative space this week?

♥

A pendant...not Wheely earrings

I bought this tutorial, Wheel Earrings, recently from Ellad2 

I had every intention to make both earrings... until I started stitching!

This is one very time consuming pattern consisting of Right Angle Weave (RAW) with a little peyote at the end. The earring is solid but is built up with beads not a ring inside.

I think this one "earring" took me close to 3 hours to make so definitely not a quick piece.

I had to laugh, as at the end of the pattern Ella writes, 

"maybe after all  what you have done till now, you will wish to wear only one".... 

I wish I had've read that line first!!!

I decided I didn't really want to spend another 3 hours making another earring, and in addition to the time, I found this was a little too chunky for my liking. 

So a pendant it has become and I LOVE it!

I already had this RAW necklace I had made a few years ago which I think compliments it perfectly.

I've attached a large enough ring so the pendant is interchangeable.

The pattern is relatively easy to follow with only one or two areas that had me a little confused but common sense prevailed and I continued on.

I really do love this design. I think the pendant would make a nice gift for someone and because it only uses size 15/0, 11/0 and 8/0 seed beads you will nearly always have beads on hand to make this as a last minute gift...well allow a few hours not a minute!!

I might just be tempted to make another one in a different colour!

♥

MY CREATIVE SPACE...

This week I've been on leave spending some much needed time with my little man whilst he is on school holidays.

I've also been enjoying some much needed time sitting drinking cups of tea and beading whilst gazing out the door at the little birds trying to eat my passionfruits on our vine.

I've been working on several projects.

I have completed two Aruba Blue bracelets as previously posted and I have made a start on the
Camelot Cross bracelet for my little group,
Beading Babes.

I was torn between the beautiful cool shades of blue I had in my stash and the earthy tones of brown that I seem to gravitate towards nearly every time.

You can guess who won!

I guess I am still an earth girl at heart...but I am a sea girl too.

So in choosing the earthy tones I know that the sea side of me is still calling so I will definitely be making this piece in a mixture of blues and teal greens.

This patterns is very easy to follow and these squares are very quick to stitch.

I think if you have the time to put an entire day aside to bead this piece you could easily get it done.

The squares naturally dome, which is why mine look a little wonky in the pictures above, and to make a nice change tension is really not an issue...did you hear that Kristen... tension is not an issue!!!

As you can probably guess my bracelet will be finished 

well before the very relaxed deadline of 16 October 

but that's ok because now I can get started on a new pair of earrings.

Don't forget Beading Babes to post your progress on your blogs or Facebook pages...I'd love to see how you are going and what colours you  have chosen!

What's brewing in your creative space this week?

♥

My Creative Space

I have been working on this pendant for a few days now...

It is stitched in circular brick stitch using size 11/0, 15/0 and 8/0 seed eads as well as Czech fire polished beads and drops.

I absolutely adore the combination of the copper with the green using one of my favourite colours of all time, colour lined sea foam/light topaz rainbow.

Rather than just string the pendant on a piece of cord I have decided to compliment it with some gorgeous beaded beads.

Since taking these photos I have also created some larger beaded beads and plan on making some peyote beaded beads also... I just have to wait for the wooden beads to arrive from the USA!

Hopefully they will arrive in the next week or so as I am busting to give these a try, not to mention finishing off my necklace.

What's in your creative space this week?

♥ 

Slight heart failure and the dilemma of a clasp!

As you might already know I've been working on this cuff for a few weeks now. 

I am so happy with the way it's come together. 

The earthy tones are definitely me and as this is my first cuff I will definitely be keeping this one for myself!

BUT before I finish it I need some design help from all of my wonderfully talented friends.

I want to keep the cuff flexible and soft so I won't be adding it to a metal cuff base but I am not sure what kind of clasp to add.

I have this toggle clasp which I thought I could attach with some beads.

But then I thought I could do a peyote toggle but thought that might be ''too much".

I also have some antique brass and copper lever clasps which I just ordered but they are a lot smaller than I had anticipated so I don't think they are going to work.

For the first time EVER I actually cut through my thread when trimming the edges...you can see the section where the beads are missing in the photo above...just near the clasp...
I can't believe I did it...
I think I was just rushing to trim it so I could photograph it in the last of today's daylight and get it posted here to ask for your help.
Thankfully it is easily fixed but the sound of the beads falling onto the table still gave me slight heart failure!

Ok. Now that my heart is back to beating normally.

Any suggestions on what kind of clasp to use?

♥ 

My Creative Space

I've been working on something new this week.

Not new in the sense that it is a new piece I have started but a new design I have never attempted before.

The pattern can be found in Seed Bead Fusion by Rachel Nelson-Smith and the design is Mosaic Cuff.

I wanted to make something with a Moroccan feel and thought this cuff would work nicely with the colours I had in mind.

The space of each square of stitches will be filled with rounds of peyote which will add some dimension to the piece rather than it being a flat cuff.

~~~~

I am also still deciding whether to take part in two challenges.

One is due at the end of this month and the other in December.

I love entering challenges but sometimes I find the pressure of having a deadline to get something finished takes the fun out of creating the piece. I think this is dependent on how I am feeling at the time!

I am enjoying working on my cuff. I feel no pressure to get it done ... 

I am just making it because I can't wait to wear it!

♥

Marcie, Margie and Me - Weis Church Fresco #80

It's hard to believe another 2 weeks has passed since the most recent Margie and Me challenge was set by Marcie at La Bella Joya.

The colour palette for this challenge was 

Colour Palette #80

~~

"Weis Church Fresco"

I used the masterpiece, that is the ceiling as pictured above, as my inspiration. 

I decided not to go with the colour palette created in the colour generator but focused on the pinks, blues and golds that make up this incredibly amazing ceiling.

The focal piece is a glass fused cabochon I made especially for the challenge in my microwave kiln.

After a little trial and error I managed to create a mix of colours  I felt reflected those found in the church's ceiling.

The cabochon was very difficult to photograph due to the glass being extremely shiny and no matter how hard I tried I continued to have a lot of reflection on the glass...until I took a shot of the piece on it's side!

It's hard to tell from the images but the picot edge is so pretty and shimmery. 

The seed beads are a mixture of size 15/0  gavlanised gold seed beads as well as Rainbow Cream Soda beads in size 11/0, producing some really pretty colours in the light.

Delica beads were used in the peyote bezel and the piece was backed with ultrasuede.

 I have to admit that again the color palette isn't something I'd normally go for. 

I don't consider myself the most "girliest of girls" so when I chose the church's ceiling for my inspiration I was a little concerned with the very ''pretty" colours.

  

But yet again this challenge has resulted in me not only using colours together that I normally would not...

....but yet I have again created a piece that I love!

Thanks again Marcie for yet another great palette choice 

and encouraging me to create out of my comfort zone!

♥