Trick or Treat

White Jack O'Lantern

 

Sterling and Copper Owl Charm

Here is my little hooter for Artisan Whimsy's Owl Challenge:

Be sure to check out the"Owl Challenge". It's not too late to enter your jewelry design piece or component, they are still accepting entries through the end of this weekend.  Also stop by and vote for your favorites this Monday October, 29-30th.  Artisan Whimsy is a great site for anyone who likes handmade, and it's very easy to sign up and become a member if you aren't one yet.

A Time to Stitch 2...

In early September, Therese (Therese's Treasures) and Christine (One Kiss Creations) issued a challenge to create something using right angle weave (RAW) or St. Petersburg stitch in their second "A Time to Stitch 2" blog hop. And since I had two fantastically straight forward tutorials and had not tried them before, I decided to focus on the variations, RAW and CRAW.

My first attempt involved using #6 gold and mustard seed beads with basic RAW to make a bracelet. Despite, Karen Williams' clear instructions, it started out as somewhat of a challenge. I was only making 3 rounds per row but had problems keeping track of the beads until I added a few temporary straight pins to help define completed rows.

(The beading mat here is actually green... sorry, colors in this photo are way off.)

Well, I fixed one problem and created another...by the time I completed enough to make a 7 inch bracelet, the tension was terribly off. Soooo I decided to add little fringe of brown magatama beads drawing the thread all the way through each row to help support the weave. And here is my final result:

O.K, now I am on a roll and ready for a second project, I decided to try cubic right angle weave (CRAW) in a simple 17 inch rope necklace. The link provided by Christine and Therese to Heather Collin's video tutorial was informative and so very "English", I really enjoyed it, especially the background music. In fact, I was so impressed by the video and how fast the whole piece came together that I had to add a little unicorn charm to the clasp of the final jewelry piece. Just my little tribute to some of the beautiful weavings and myths that come from the United Kingdom. And, thank you for a very helpful tutorial.

Thanks Therese and Christine for sponsoring this very fun and worthwhile challenge.

Any tips or suggestions for how to keep track of beads or maintain even tension in RAW???

Please share, your suggestions are most humbly appreciated.  ;)

 

Next up on this blog hop:

Therese Frank and Christine Altmiller

Nikki Byers
Kristen Stevens
Shirley Moore

Cynthia Machata
Lola Surwillo

Maryanne Gross
Alenka

Karin Slaton

Katherine Gale

Sally Russick

Amy Severino

Alicia Marinache

Sonya Stille

Tanya Goodwin

Lisa Stukel

Marla Gibson

Sarah Sequins

Mandy
Andra Weber

Kim Hora

Karen Williams

A Fall Garden in the Southwest

So, the temperature has cooled to the 80's...

 

And there is a lot happening in the garden:

 

 

Jalapeno Blooms

 

 

Lettuce

 

 

Carrots

 

 

It's amazing.

 

Click here to see more great photos:

 



 

 

   

More Recent Favorites on Etsy

Take a look:

Fine Silver Patina

Be sure to stop by Artisan Whimsy to find out how I added a patina using liver of sulphur to this fine silver tube bead made from precious metal clay.  What I am attempting to accomplish with the patina is adding contrast to the lines and variations of the design.

 

 

Draped In Chains This Halloween

I have been having  great fun putting together and embellishing a chain kit sent to me by Prima Bead. The substantial looking silver, gunmetal and black tone chains are surprisingly light and very comfortable to wear. Part of the secret has to be using ribbon across the back of the neck instead of more chain which can't even be seen in the first photo here. I also like the big black openwork chain in the middle row which is absolutely perfect for accenting with a ribbon..

The basic chain kit provided by Prima Bead comes with two other necklace projects including matching earrings and an additional bracelet. It includes all the jump rings, ribbon and findings you could possibly need.  I embellished the basic chain piece pictured here with a skeleton key, 2 chunky faux blended beads, red glass drops and a few polymer clay bones made by me. The necklace will  be an awesome accent for Elvira or Morticia this Halloween. A very fun piece to wear.

 

 

And oops, don't forget the matching polymer bone earrings. 

Hope you are planning to have some fun this Halloween!





Tools of a Trade

New dapping tools for my studio...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Find more fantastic photos by clicking the links below:

 

 



 

 

Polymer Clay Bones...

Just in Time for Halloween!!!

 

Eeeeeeee Heee heee heeee ha ho hoooooo.... Are you ready?

 

 

Polymer Clay Bones

Custom Orders Welcome

On sale now at my shop through October 24th only.