Necklace I made last night

Last night I took a beading class at Bellevue Beadery.

Cover Necklace

This is my version of the necklace on the cover of Beadwork's October/November issue.

I made my version using 7 briolettes instead of the nine used in the original pattern.

The need to bead

I can't believe this year is the 25th anniversary of the film, Top Gun!  The line from that film that sticks with me is, "I feel the need...the need for speed."

After spending day after day packing and trying to make decisions what to keep and what to pitch, my brain went into overdrive and I needed to take a break.  Then the October/November issue of Beadwork magazine arrived, and I FELT THE NEED TO BEAD!

I fell in love with the necklace on the cover.  But unfortunately, I didn't have all of the necessary beads to make it; so I did some practice working on the necklace strands and came up with this:

You'll have to click on the image to enlarge it and see the detail to see what's going on here.  The strands were made with the new tila beads that are so popular at the moment.  This necklace lies nice and flat on the neck.

Now I'm eager to make the original necklace; so I guess it's back to packing until I need another break.

Received gorgeous earrings from Amy!

I received these gorgeous earrings from Amy Severino of Amybeads.

Thank you so much, Amy!  I will treasure these blue beauties!

The Summer of Color - Week 2 - Green

I just wanted to celebrate the color green with leaves which are, I guess, my favorite green things.  I used brayered paper as a base.  The leaves were made of brown paper that was die cut, brayered and then hit with some mod podge to shine them up a bit.  A recent Gingersnap challenge featuring twine has made me eager to use it in many ways.

The necklace below is made from the same pattern that I used to make the blue pendant I posted last week.  The green version is the first time I used the pattern and I made it exactly as it was written.

Amy's Challenge "What's it to Hue?"

Amy of Amybeads has a bead challenge going.  She will name a color and challenge us to make a beaded creation using this color.  The latest challenge is the color purple.

I decided to make a medallion.  I started out with a pattern called Persian Rug by La Bella Joya.  I embellished it with some Austrian crystals and seed beads.  I have recently realized that I have four purple blouses but have never made any sort of purple beaded jewelry to wear with it - so this is a well-timed challenge.  I may fix this so that it can be worn as either a brooch or a necklace.

Tee's Whimsy Pocket Challenge

My trading partner was Tiffany, The Cranky Queen.

Her Royal Crankiness

Here are the gifties that came inside the pouch

Double-Sided Pendant

I used the Duchess pattern to make a pendant.  I experimented using size 3 Austrian crystal instead of Swarovski crystal.  It's a different look; but still very striking, I think.

This is the backside of the pendant; but it could just as easily be the front.  It's a different flower-like look.

My First Bead Class in a Looooooooong Time!

Last Saturday, I took a bead class for the first time in a few years.  The class was taught by Sue Snell at The Beed Hive in Marietta.  I have never taken a class with Sue before and I was so glad I chose her class! She was an excellent teacher with a lot of patience and the ability to explain the procedures very clearly.  The class she taught was for a bracelet called the Duchess.  Check out this link to see what the finished bracelet looks like.  Check out the photo of the Empress bracelet, above the photo of the Duchess.  I will be taking the Empress class in a few weeks.

This is Sue

 

This is Beth.  There was a third student, Janet; but somehow I didn't get her picture!

This is Janet's work.  She chose beautiful green crystals.

These are the two motifs I finished in class.  The bracelet contains about 8 motifs (depending upon wrist size).  The motifs are connected together to form a really gorgeous bracelet!

Since I will be attending my daughter's wedding Saturday, I decided to take the two motifs I finished, created a third motif, and connected them together to make a necklace to wear to the wedding.

So Artful Challenge - Maude Fealy

This week's Soartful Challenge subject is the American stage star Maude Fealy.  Maude had a very varied career.  She still has fans today who love to collect her beautiful postcards.

I decided to frame Maude's beauty with one of my favorite bead-woven necklaces featuring Swarovski crystals.

Ginger Snap Creations - Random Redhead Challenge - GC99 - Fans

This is for Challenge GC99 - Fans.

When this challenge was announced, I had to laugh! I had utilized fans in two previous Ginger Snap Challenges! Who knew?  So I had to put on my thinking cap and come up with something different.  This is an Asian lady looking through the window of a Fan Shop.  The shop and window was actually a rectangular plastic box which had originally contained a newly-bought pair of embroidery scissors.  I put up the wallpaper in the 'shop' and then hung four different kinds of fans on the wall.  I checked in Google's translator and the Japanese characters at the top of the shop mean "Fan Merchant," (at least according to Google!)

And how about the sign inside the shop at the top of the wall?  That's my little attempt at humor.  Google says that is the Japanese translation of "Buy One Get One Free."  Please forgive any incorrect translation.  I tried.

Three of the four fans were made with Washi paper.  The fourth fan was made with a flowered paper I liked.  The little Asian lady's kimono was made with colored cardstock and washi paper.

Butterfly Tag

Lynn sent me a matchbox for the March "Things With Wings" matchbox swap. 

We also exchanged tags!  This is the tag I sent to Lynn:

Another Favorite Necklace

The pattern is Emily Hackbarth's "African Necklace," which was available free at about.com.
This was so much fun to make! It's always a challenge to see how soon you can get the pattern in your head.  The necklace consists of 19 identical motifs, connected.  Each motif had 23 steps to completion!  I'm making it sound complicated, but it's really not!  After about 2 motifs, you have the pattern in your head and it goes much quicker.  I  finished off 2 more motifs to make matching earrings.  This rose-burgundy shade is one of my favorites.

Vintage Dragonfly 'Things with Wings' Matchbox Swap

This is the first swap for this new swap group.  Our theme was 'Things With Wings."  So I chose butterflies.

I covered the top of my matchbox with matchsticks and then covered the sticks with gesso.  I wanted the top to look like a white picket fence.  On the 'fence,' I put a small silk flower, some die-cut leaves and two gorgeous blue butterflies.  I added stickles to the flower and leaves.

The drawer pull was made with a metal butterfly bead

This photo shows the little wooden legs on the box.  I covered the sides of the box with spring-green acrylic paint and stickles.

Here is what was inside the box:

Dress Challenge 2011 - April - Art Deco

The theme for Dress Challenge 2011 for the month of April is Art Deco.  Now you're talking!  Art Deco is one of my very favorite styles.  It has all of the glamour of the 20's, culminating in the 1939 World's Fair, which boasted many buildings built in the Art Deco style.  My dress design was inspired by one of the first trading cards I ever created, which was based on the 1939 World's Fair.  Here is that card:

I based the design of that card on a picture of an Art Deco mirror that I found.

And here's my dress:

I used Miyuki Delica Beads for the gown's straps and also to decorate the front of the dress. 

And the back of the dress features an Art Deco design piece, which is actually a Vintaj earring finding:

Here's my original sketch for the dress.

Ginger Snap Creations Copper, Ginger or Rust Challenge

I created this for Ginger Snap Creations' Third Annual Copper, Ginger or Rust Challenge.

I used copper, ginger, and rust to create this collage.  The copper ring is actually a part for a handbag.  I hand-beaded the frame around it.  The lady in the photograph is not a relative, but the photo is one of those wonderful 'freebie' photos that I've had for some time just waiting for the right time to use it.  She is so lovely, she seems to just burst right out of the photograph!  I filled the copper ring containing her photo with Glossy Accents.  I created the collage around the photo using a page from an old book, some rust-colored quilt fabric, a cut-up leather leaf and a ginger-colored paint chip.

And the winner is...

The winner of the Swarovski Crystal Bracelet is:

LULULIZ

Congratulations!  Please contact me and let me know your address and I'll get your bracelet out to you as quickly as I can.

Giveaway Winner and - guess what - A NEW GIVEAWAY!

Congratulations to Miss Peach, who has won the bead woven necklace!
The necklace will go out in the mail to you as soon as I get your address. 
Thank you so much to everyone who participated! 

Miss Peach suggested this blog for my consideration: Sketchbook Mail Art Club.  This is another blog that she has.  Check out her gorgeous creations for the Blissfull ATC swap.

100th FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY!

Some time during the last two weeks, my blog acquired its 100th follower!  It's amazing!  Thank you to everyone who became a follower during One World, One Heart and this giveaway.  And thank you, as well, to those dear friends who have followed this blog from the very beginning.  I am thankful to all of you more than you will ever know!  To show my appreciation to the followers of my blog, I have a new giveaway to announce today!  To enter this one, all you have to do is be a follower, or become a follower, and leave a comment on this post - that's all!  This giveaway will not last long - so comment today.

THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED NEXT TUESDDAY, MARCH 22!

Here's what I'm giving away:

The bracelet is 7-1/2 inches long and is made from
Swarovski crystals and Austrian firepolish crystals.



A new name - and my first blog giveaway!

In 2005, I started beading.  And when I started, there was no stopping me!  For many months, a day did not go by that I did not spend time beading.  For four years, I attended bead classes, browsed the Internet for bead tutorials, and spent every spare moment creating.  I even taught bead classes in local stores.

Then, in 2009, I started to feel that I needed a change.  I was, frankly, burned out.  My niece introduced me to Artist Trading Cards.  And that was all it took to get me off on new artistic adventures.  I joined online groups, local meetup groups, and traded, traded, traded.  I also started learning as much as I could about backgrounds, paint, and paper.  I have never really had any artistic training.  So many of these things were brand spanking new to me.

When I started working with paper, I stopped posting on my jewelry blog and started this blog, All My Artist Trading Cards.  It’s amazing how many directions this addiction has led to!  In September of 2009 I started taking watercolor lessons.  I had never had any aspirations to paint!  But now, my progress with artist trading cards had given me the confidence to try.

So now I’ve come full circle.  I have heard the muse of beading calling me again.  I want to spend some time making jewelry as a creative outlet.  But I have no intention of giving up paper!  And I don’t have time to start a blog for each of my individual creative endeavors, so I’m renaming my blog:

                  All My Art

As I started posting my watercolor work, I will be posting pictures of the jewelry I create.  All of the jewelry I made the first time around is still available for viewing at my old beading blog, I’m Beading As Fast As I Can.  (See the link on the sidebar).

I hope you will enjoy seeing everything that I create, be it an atc, a painting, a collage, or a necklace.

MY FIRST BLOG GIVEAWAY

To celebrate this change, I want to offer my first ever giveaway on my blog.  (I’m not counting One Heart One Hand).  This giveaway is open to my blog followers ONLY.  So if you are not currently following my blog, it’s simple to just click on the sidebar and become a follower.  I currently have 90 followers; so if everyone takes part in the giveaway, you have no worse than a one in 90 chance of winning!  Of course, new followers will be in the drawing, too.  Here’s what I am giving away:

Here’s what you have to do to enter the giveaway:

1. If you’re not already a follower of my blog, become a follower.
2. Leave a comment to this message.  In your comment, I’d like for you to recommend another artistic blog to me.  It could be a blog that has inspired you, a blog that you visit over and over, or a blog that has just started and needs encouragement.
3. One comment only per person, please.

I will declare a winner using a Random Number Generator on March 15.

I appreciate all of you who follow my blog and leave encouraging comments, and comments that point me in the right direction.  Without you, the blog would exist in a vacuum.  I can never thank you enough.

My favorite beaded necklace

I'm going to post a few pieces from my old jewelry blog to give you an idea of the type of beaded jewelry I like to make.

My jewelry is almost always very wearable.  Although this necklace is wearable, I really made it as sort of a statement necklace.  I pulled out all of the stops.  The corsage detaches from the long chain and can be attached to a choker.

The necklace is made of seed beads and Austrian fire polished crystals in my favorite color:  aqua.