BTW: Cloudy with a Chance of Spiders

Hobo spider checking out my beads... not really; I offed him -- look at those fangs, wouldn't you off him too??

Time for Bead Table Wednesday; there's a random title for you, eh? It is cloudy here in New Mexico today, which means our monsoons are gearing up and should arrive just in time for Magdalena's Old Timers Reunion this weekend. The "spiders" part of this title comes from the large, leggy creature that stalked right across my body at 1:00 this morning and landed squarely on my beading tray when I whacked it with my slipper. I rarely kill spiders (I am indeed one of those "get a cup! don't hurt it!" people), but this creature looked a bit too much like a Brown Recluse (*shudder*) for me to let it skitter away under my covers. Looking up spiders this morning (*shudder* again) I discovered it's too large to be a Brown Recluse and is more likely a Hobo Spider, also known as the "aggressive house spider." They do bite when "cornered," such as when a sleeping person rolls over on them, and while not fatal the bites can cause tissue necrosis and a wound that won't heal for months. I've seen two in my bedroom in the last few days, and that is SO not okay with me, so... dang it, time to do a deep cleaning.

Ocean charm bracelet in progress; I won't use the turquoise but like the color combination

In the meantime (if you're still reading and haven't run off batting away imaginary spiders), I'm working on a charm bracelet with shells, pearls, shell birds, and glass, and it needs a great ocean-themed focal piece. I thought about using a turquoise chunk but really want something more thematic (but not kitschy), perhaps in ceramic or metal. Any ideas?

BTW: Wings

Love Has Wings necklace of Gaea ceramic focal and beads, riverstone, red ceramics, and copper

Love Has Wings bracelet

I'm finishing a good number of projects these days -- maybe even more than I'm starting! Now there's a shift.... I was going to show these pieces off anyway, but in the context of my semi-organized bead tray that shows what else is coming out of this color combination. However, I left my camera, with this week's Bead Table Wednesday pictures, up in the mountains, where I've had the pleasure of housesitting for the past 10 days. I ported my little lap tray and several boxes up there with my tools, and have sat down to work on projects for all of two hours, so there isn't much to show there anyway! I did finish off the wonderful "Confetti" bracelet I showed here last week, and I'm 90% sure I'm keeping that one.... I also made some pretty earrings that match the necklace above and the bracelet at right; the necklace focal is one of my favorite Gaea creations, and I added in creamy riverstone, awesome red ceramic beads from a great vendor I'll have to look up, and copper -- I had started with brass but it seemed dull, and sterling was just too "cold," so I decided to heat things up with the warm copper and just love this combination! Now I'm off to see what's on everyone else's table this week -- happy creating!

BTW: Confetti!

Confetti bracelet (in progress) in faceted millefiore glass and antiqued brass

One good thing (and there really is only one, that I can think of anyway) that comes out of a windy, smoky weekend is time spent indoors beading. I made lots of earrings last weekend, finished two necklaces (the faceted gemstone ones I had laid out last week), and started this colorful bracelet that I just love and may have to keep for myself. I found the faceted millefiore glass beads at Michaels about two months ago and snapped up the last two strands, knowing I would find some use for them eventually. For a while I was trying out a bead here and there, just to accent various designs, but they never quite worked and that's when I realized they all wanted to stay together in one fabulously sparkly piece. Now, of course, I want more; if Michaels was less than 100 miles away I'd have run over there several times by now, but I have to wait for a more substantial reason to make the trip to Albuquerque, and hope Michaels still has these in stock.... So, what's on your bead table this week?

ABS June Challenge Entry: Ophelia's Pond

"Ophelia's Pond" necklace of mixed jaspers, cultured pearls, green kyanite sticks,
glass seed beads, brass, and ceramic pendant from Summers Studio

The June Art Bead Scene challenge theme completely grabbed me with a beautiful inspiration image and color palette. I've had this wonderful Summers Studio lotus pendant for several months now, and picked up the mixed jasper strand a while back at Thunderbird Supply in Albuquerque; those were slated for a different necklace but thanks to the challenge palette it occurred to me that they might work well with this pendant. And so they do... I had three jasper barrels left over, enough for a coordinating bracelet that also uses the cool green kyanite sticks in the necklace and continues the nature theme with a ceramic bird charm from BeadFreaky. One thing I didn't get to before photographing the necklace was oxidizing the brass bail that I made; that won't happen till I dig out my liver of sulfur from... somewhere.... Earrings will follow, as always, surely using more kyanite sticks and perhaps some yellow and/or blue glass flower beads. This was a great challenge project for me, and I'm feeling another set in this palette coming together in my head!

The Sunday Creative: Perspective

Bugeyed, Praying mantis under a sunflower leaf, July 2010, Magdalena NM

Time for The Sunday Creative again (and I'm on time this week!); when I saw that this week's prompt was "perspective" I knew exactly which photo I wanted to put up. Last summer I caught this praying mantis hiding under a leaf of my mammoth sunflower; I had my macro filter on (I was shooting the sunflower buds) and thought about taking the filter off so I could get more depth of field, but s/he surely would have fled, and in any case I love how this photo came out.

Not only did this week's prompt inspire me to re-process this photo (using the Topaz Detail filter for Photoshop, which I wrote about last month) but before I posted here I sat down and put together a bracelet from a clutch of spring green beads I had set aside a while back but never pulled together. So it's a multimedia Sunday Creative for me this week! I don't feel like this bracelet is finished (a recent issue for me; I guess my style used to be simpler) but here's a shot anyway; I might add some charms and lightly oxidize the copper, and I will almost certainly change the clasp because the one I made seems a bit clunky for this bracelet. I can do that later when the kids and I are having a movie marathon in lieu of some big ol' football game that's taking up the entire day... ;-)  Hope you all are enjoying your day, whatever you're up to!

Beachcomber 1, Finished (Maybe)

Beachcomber Bracelet of Shell, Copper, Glass, Green Aventurine, and Pearls

Yeah, I needed (wanted) to add more to this bracelet, and (using what I have) wirewrapped some green aventurine chips that I've had for years, along with a few pearls and shell heishi. The aventurine matches the glass rondelles perfectly, and the rough shape and semi-matte texture is close enough to beach glass that I figured it would work just fine. The only other thing I might do is oxidize the copper, just a bit, so it's not super-dark but just looks weather-worn. I like this piece a lot... and I just had to photograph it outside, in the afternoon sun, to evoke the feeling of wandering along a beach on a sunny day and coming across treasures tucked among the rocks.... *Sigh.* I've found my happy place for the day. I hope you all do, too.

Works in Progress: Beachcomber Bracelets

For over a year now I've been plotting a getaway to the California coastline, starting in San Diego (where a long-lost, way-cool cousin now lives) and rambling up through Big Sur to the Bay Area (where a great friend from grad school lives). I could drive there in 12 to 14 hours, and I would be able to stay with family and friends most of the way out, up the coast, and back home, so why haven't I gone yet? First it was finances, then my mom's illness and passing away, then... well, I just haven't gotten to it yet. Maybe I feel like I don't "deserve" a vacation -- ever feel like that? I haven't finished school yet, and in fact have pushed back my graduation twice because of family stuff and not being able to find internship sites, and I think this makes me feel like I haven't "earned" a vacation. But I am dying for a break in the routine, for an escape, for connection with people I love and miss, for a day or two (or five or six) of walking along an endless beach and gazing out at an endlessly open, softly rocking horizon. So, perhaps to compromise between my strong desire to go to the continent's edge and my need to "justify" a vacation, I will consider taking such a vacation IF I manage to secure an internship site for next quarter, which starts in April. I have to make all the arrangements by the end of February, and this quarter ends in mid-March, which is about when our weather starts teasing us mercilessly with 60-degree sunshine following by howling cold winds diving down the Rockies from the still-frozen Arctic tundra...

Anyhoo. I made these bracelets last night, using up the shells I got from Michaels last week (I bought them for my "Cherry Blossoms" set... and, gee, now I need more for earrings! Looks like another trip to Michaels is in order) along with copper shell beads a friend got me from a bead show in 2009, glass rondelles that look like beach glass, patinated copper chain from the wonderful Shannon of MissFickleMedia, and hand-dyed silk/metallic ribbon from my fiber stash. I feel like these pieces could use more adornment, so, since I probably won't be beachcombing anytime soon, I'm ordering some beach-glass-like Czech glass drops and charms from Fusion Beads (they have a 10% off coupon, BTW, and shipping is always free).

Waiting for Springtime Blues

Blue Flax (May 2010) and Springtime Blues Bracelet (January 2011)

First, before I start rambling, I would like to thank everyone who has visited my blog and left comments; you are all just wonderful. Anyone who thinks the Internet and social networking "isolate" us from real life hasn't (1) lived in a very rural, remote area, and (2) made the kind of lasting connections that I and many others have made online over the years. Remember pen pals? I had one when I was a kid, a childhood friend who moved away when I was 6, and with whom I stayed in touch for many years afterward. Now, thanks to Facebook and this blog, I'm in frequent contact with far-flung family and friends I don't get to see in person very often. Anyhoo, thank you again; I always feel honored when someone visits and takes the time to leave a comment, and I enjoy visiting your blogs and seeing what you've been up to lately, too.

So after a very brief interlude with muted winter colors, I seem to be pushing ahead into the colors and themes of springtime. I'm sure there's some wishful thinking there, but I can also feel myself emerging slowly from the mental fog that usually closes in on me after Thanksgiving and lasts through most of January. When I lived back east, it lasted from mid-October to mid-February, so New Mexico definitely is an improvement, and in any case I do try to just go with the flow of seasons, at least to the extent possible when I also have to keep up with my responsibilities. As much as I miss gardening in the winter, I probably wouldn't have the energy for it anyway, at least not till the sun was above the horizon for ten or more hours a day. Those of you who live in very northern areas, how do you function with six or fewer hours of daylight? Given that I'm about half Scottish, how is it that I practically fall apart with fewer than nine? Weird.

Spring Fever Redux

Cherry Blossom Festival, Necklace in Shell, Glass, Sari Silk, and Oxidized Copper, Jan. 2011

Cherry Blossom Festival Bracelet

 I spent some time contemplating the necklace I made the other day and decided the copper needed to be oxidized after all, both for a more uniform look and because the darker copper contrasts better with the pink and white. First I bathed the copper in a solution of vinegar and baking soda (1/4 cup and 1 teaspoon, respectively), then soaked it for a minute in hot water, having just read that heating the copper helps it oxidize more quickly and uniformly. I then dipped it in a liver of sulfur solution for a few moments, till it was a dark greyish brown, then rinsed it thoroughly. After it was dry I rubbed all the copper components with a polishing cloth, being sure to hit the highlights a bit harder to bring out more texture. I love how it came out, especially the toggle, which I made myself (I probably mentioned that already because I am SO proud that I can make at least a few of my own components). And I added silk and flowers to the focal, just to fill it in a bit. I also oxidized some copper wire and components for a bracelet, which came out nicely; I should probably also do earrings, because of course everyone likes a set. I shot these on a silk shirt that a friend gave me, which I haven't worn yet (it's part of a summer suit, and it is hardly summer, nor am I needing to wear anything suit-like yet), and although I'm reminded yet again why I stopped shooting jewelry on fabric (the details become distracting and difficult during post-processing), I like the color contrast. More jewelry tomorrow; making this set made me want more flowers in my life, and since I can't grow them for a few more months, I seem intent on putting them in my jewelry...

Color Breakout

Poinsettia in Afternoon Light, Jan. 2011

Maybe it's cabin fever, or a few days of warmer weather (tomorrow might approach 60F!), but suddenly I want COLOR. I took this poinsettia photo yesterday afternoon, and last night's bracelet play turned out the two pieces pictured here plus two super-springy starts that I hope to finish this evening. These two use sari silk and some brass filligree elements and classic millefiore beads from a necklace I remember my mom wearing back in the 1970s. I love the combination of primary colors with the antiqued brass, don't you? So, yes, I can appreciate the subtle tones of winter for a while, but it's just not who I am or what I love. I'll probably bounce between subtlety and saturation for another month or two until the first hints of spring push me into a new creative space. As long as I'm creating, I'm happy.

Subtle Hues of Winter

Winter Song, Bracelet in Natural Coral, Onyx, Smoky Quartz, Bone, and Brass

Here are some more bracelets, a genre I neglected (along with my jewelry in general) last year but am loving now because it allows me to try new ideas and techniques and offer new jewelry at affordable prices. These bracelets both use brass -- a metal I've been growing fond of lately, especially as silver prices surge -- and wonderful natural coral rounds with a warm, earthy texture and color that actually work better with brass than silver. They both are in uncharacteristically (for me) muted colors and were inspired by a photo I took earlier this month -- a creative crossover I should continue to foster. 

The bracelet above has a hand-carved onyx raven focal bead and the last of my faceted onyx "pillows"; it closes with a button clasp based on a hand-carved bone button from my sewing stash. The bracelet below is all ocean: the coral rounds, dyed pearls, and two exquisite faceted ocean jasper teardrops "wrapped" in what could well be seen as seaweed. These and several more (which I'll probably show tomorrow) should be up in my Etsy shop by tomorrow. If any good movies are on tonight I'm hoping to finish some new, more springlike offerings that mix sari silk (my favorite new medium now that I've figured out how to use it in jewelry) and glass. Maybe I can get some inspiration from some of the many flower photos I took last spring. If you find inspiration from any of these, I'd love to see what you come up with!

Winter Shores, Bracelet in Natural Coral, Pearls, Ocean Jasper, and Brass

Copper Tones

Turquoise, Copper, and Sari Silk Bracelet, Jan. 2011

This bracelet started with a scrap of sari silk wired between a blue-green patina turquoise ring and a red patina one. Following my pledge to use what I have, I raided my stash for the turquoise, red dyed pearls, sunset-orange Hessonite garnet, copper heart charms and leafy bead caps, antiqued copper chain from a long-unsold necklace, and two fantastic patina copper beads and a few chain links from Etsy seller MissFickleMedia. I was tempted to get one of her patina clasps (along with about 27 other things) but, sticking to my pledge, decided to wire up the rest of the bracelet and make the toggle bar with plain copper wire from, of all places to find cool jewelry stuff, the garage. I'm hibernating and making more bracelets today and am also pulling together a package of treasures for my beading partner (as yet unannounced) in the Bead Soup Blog Party -- I am SO excited to get started on that! It's a perfect diversion for winter, and visiting the participants' blogs (which I'll start doing tonight or tomorrow) is incredibly inspirational! So, happy beading, everyone, or whatever it is you do to express your creative spirit.

"I heard a bird sing in the dark of December..."

December Dusk, Bracelet of Ceramic, Leather, Turquoise, Coral, and Copper

 I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.

"We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,"
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.

-Oliver Herford

Just like this time last year, I have had a strange burst of creativity recently that seems out of place in the cold, dark weather typical of late December. This year it seems to be jewelry, specifically bracelets, which, unlike necklaces, offer a fairly constrained format that keeps me from getting overwhelmed as I experiment with new techniques.

Another constraint I'm imposing on myself is to use what I have: years ago I remember Christopher Lowell (oh how I loved Interior Motives! It always left me with a smiling heart full of happy) talking about how limited resources can actually spur our creativity, and over the years I have repeatedly found this to be true. In fact, in addition to the creative possibilities I find while poking around in my stash for treasures like the beads and charms in the above bracelet, perhaps the constraints of cold and dark have awakened or highlighted something that I might not notice when the weather is sunny and warm and I'm outside taking pictures of flowers and bugs. Kind of like how a candle is barely noticeable until the lights are dimmed....

Okay, so I won't get too corny on you, but yes, work with what you have -- it always turns out to be much more than you thought. Creativity comes from within; materials help, but nothing happens to them until a spark within you illuminates the possibilities.

I bid you all a happy new year full of creativity and joy.

New Directions

One benefit to hibernation is uninterrupted downtime, which sometimes (when I'm lucky) becomes creative time. Yesterday, inspired by creations from two of my favorite jewelry artists, Lorelei and Stephanie, I finally figured out some cool ways to incorporate sari silk into bracelets. Above is one creation, not quite finished (I'd like to add more danglies, aka charms). The millefiore and fancy brass links came from a necklace that I remember my mom wearing back in the 1970s; a few of the links had broken so I thought repurposing the beautiful components would be appropriate. The bracelet below uses tiger eye, dichroic glass, brass, and a scrap of sari silk; it too needs some charms and then will be finished. More pictures to come as I finish more pieces on deck while watching my favorite TV dramas and some cool independent movies on this cloudy day. I hope you all find some creative time in this quiet wintry space.

Bead Soup Blog Party!

Thanks to the wonderful beads that Bead Soup Party partner Wanda sent me, I was able to stretch my creative wings and get back into jewelry making. I've used copper quite often, and the wonderful hammered copper pendant and butterflies in Wanda's package caught my eye right away. Then I noticed the blue and earth-tone ceramic beads and thought, wow, these are beautiful... how can I possibly do them justice? I knew these would take me in a whole new direction (I usually use gemstones, and have been getting kind of delicate lately) so decided to just look at everything for a while and see what ideas started to form in my mind.

Not surprisingly, when I finally had time to sit down with this project, my 6-year-old, who was doing Creative Day with me, announced she had an idea for the blue glass, green cat's eye, and copper rounds in the package and proceeded to appropriate those, along with several of the butterflies. No problem; I had more than enough to proceed, and as I started laying out the ceramic beads I "saw" spaces for my own Swarovski crystals and copper flower spacers and hammered rounds.

Wanda also sent me a lovely copper-and-silver toggle clasp, but since I had enough beads to also make a bracelet, and I had two sets of copper flower toggles, I used mine instead and saved Wanda's toggle for another project. Then, earrings: Maggie relinquished two butterflies, which I wirewrapped onto handmade copper headpins with Swarovski crystals and then dangled from copper heart earwires. I am so pleased with how these pieces came together and have really enjoyed this "party"! Now I'm off to see what my fellow creatives have made... when I find what Wanda made with the beads I sent her (I think she's showing off her creations on Thursday), I'll link to her -- I can't wait to see what she made! Again, many thanks to Wanda for the beautiful beads!

Here's a list of everyone else showing today:

14. Jen, Jen Judd Rocks
15. Kella, Me But a Little More In Depth
16. Emanda, Artemisia Studio
17. Marie, Skye Jewels
18. Loretta, Designs By Loretta
19. Stacy, Sissy and Jack's
20. Joanna, Filcowe
21. Diane, Diane Hawkey
22. Marianna, Pretty Shiny Things
23. (me)
24. Marcie, La Bella Joya
25. Lois, Que Onda Q'town?
26. Jayne, Mama's Got To Doodle

Go visit, enjoy, leave a comment, and be inspired. And I thank everyone for visiting me!

Prayers at Sunrise

 

Morning Prayers, Bracelet in Turquoise, Charoite, Citrine, Glass

I'm entering my first art contest ever: the Art Bead Scene Turquoise Color Challenge, which you can learn more about here. The task: combine turquoise, purple, and pale yellow in a piece of jewelry that includes one or more art beads. This is my entry; I based it on a set of prayer beads I made in 2007 that I'd been thinking of turning into a bracelet and had to restring anyway because the knotted silk cord I used was fraying. This piece uses charoite (the divine purple stones, all natural -- most "charoite" I see lately is dyed Zebra jasper or very poor quality charoite), turquoise, citrine, handmade "sugared" glass discs, and sterling and Balinese silver. I made this to fit me because I'm keeping it.

Looking at past challenges and winning entries I see that the emphasis is more on seed beading, which is something I just don't do because I lack the dexterity and am also losing my close-up vision... and I really don't think I have the patience for it. In any case, I really enjoyed this challenge both because turquoise and purple is such a wonderful color combination (and I love how the citrine yellow warms it up) and because it inspired me to sit down at my long-neglected -- and now CLEAN -- jewelry workbench. Well, it was clean yesterday.... So I guess I need to spend the afternoon finishing the other four projects currently cluttering it: two necklaces that include pendants I wirewrapped myself, earrings for an Etsy order, and some copper findings that I'm the process of soldering. Yes, soldering, thanks to an iron I found in the garage and some instruction, flux, and soldering wire from a friend. I've been dying to do metalwork...

Nor'Easter

These beautiful lampwork glass beads came from an artist I met at the Tucson gem shows last February, who was there with her family and spent some time sharing her art with me. The focal bead, which measures 1 inch (22 mm) by .75 inch (17 mm), evokes a stormy ocean and has exquisite color and texture. In the bracelet above I combined it with four fancy rondelles from the same artist, along with some cultured pearls, Swarovski crystals, and sterling silver spacers. The earrings at right use two more beads from that set along with a cascade of Swarovski crystals and sterling silver findings. I love the swirls in these beads... evocative of a winter storm like the Nor'Easter currently charging up the East Coast... We get our share of stormy weather here in New Mexico, and I do sometimes miss some things about my former home back east, but the heavy winter storms... nope, don't miss them at all. I will, however, be forever grateful to the huge Nor'Easter of March 1993 that dumped over a foot and a half of snow and then ice over the Mid-Atlantic Coast, because that's what finally drove me out west, away from it all....

Summer eye candy {sold!}

More treasures from February's Tucson trip have made their way into the showcase: cane glass! Lots of it, in summer brights, hand-wired onto sterling silver with Swarovski crystal and finished with a sterling sun clasp. I had never quite known what to do with cane glass until I added them, sparingly, into the bracelets posted earlier; this time I didn't stop at a few but just kept going, and going... I haven't counted but figure I have a few dozen on this bracelet. This piece is not exactly sophisticated. Like summer, it is bold (almost overbearing, yes) and unabashedly colorful, and looking at it makes me smile.

Troubadour

Just a simple bracelet in turquoise and sterling silver; it's all I have time for these days. I've had these beads for a few years and like how they came together here; maybe it's all about re-learning how to fly, be free, reach for the stars... Or maybe sometimes a bracelet is just a bracelet.

O Spring... {sold!}

I had so much fun in Tucson... and found some wonderful components, of course. This bracelet uses a few lampwork glass garden beads I picked up at the Best Beads show along with a sterling clasp and unusual Thai silver bead caps from Ands Silver, my neighbor at the Renaissance Bead Show. Tucson in early February is a blessed respite from Magdalena's not-so-southwestern winter weather, and I was so pleased to make the pilgrimage with two great friends. I'll be back next year, paid or not, if only to feel a warm breeze and find more beautiful stuff and talk to more great people, especially the glass artists.