Forest Sentinels: Working with Art Beads

Forest Sentinel, featuring owl pendant by Spirited Earth and ceramic button by Beadfreaky



Woodland song, featuring Summers Studio ceramic bird


I'm finally working my way through my art bead stash -- I guess I can't hoard them forever, right? I seem to be leaning toward cool forest tones lately, probably because the ongoing drought and wildfires throughout the southwest make me crave rain and cool green woodlands. We have one more month to endure till our summer rains come... so expect more cool offerings in the coming weeks. The necklace above, shown in progress in last week's BTW post, features an amazing owl pendant by Spirited Earth (I have another one in adobe pink tones that will show up in an entirely different piece soon) and a ceramic button by Beadfreaky, along with Czech pressed glass leaves that I can't seem to get enough of (had to order more yesterday because I'm putting them in everything lately). I added the brass chain and wirewrapped leaves after spending some time contemplating the pendant on just the leather cord with the ceramic and wood beads for some time; that was a nice simple look, but I wanted to fill in the space above the owl, which I think the leaves do very nicely.

The necklace below is simpler, using the same ceramic and wood beads along with a little brass bird to frame a Beadfreaky button that I darkened and sparkled up a bit with gold acrylic paint and Renaissance Wax. Both necklaces coordinate with the bracelet above, featuring a ceramic bird by Summers Studio and yet another ceramic button by Beadfreaky (obviously one of my favorite suppliers). So that's my walk through the cool green forest for today; more cool-toned offerings will appear later this week, I'm sure, as I continue to seek mental refuge from the heat.

Creekside, featuring Beadfreaky ceramic button embellished with gold paint and used as a pendant

Bead Table Wednesday: This Little Piggy Went to Market



Ceramic beads, button, and pendant from Gaea



Colorful polymer clay beads from EarthTonesOnline

I love these memes -- thanks to Heather Powers of Humblebeads for starting this one! I feel connected to fellow creatives and, while there is a theme, I can do my own thing. So today I'll show you what's on my "bead table" (right now it's a lap table by my bedside because I'm still kind of in hibernation mode) and write about suppliers. Being snowbound and far from civilization isn't what it used to be thanks to the Internet and e-commerce. Although I do sometimes miss going to bead shops to fondle the gemstones and drool over the lampwork glass and dream about how to use the great variety of beads and findings I see, I can do plenty of drooling and dreaming as I navigate through online shops that may be located anywhere from Albuquerque to Sweden to Hong Kong. I have a few reliable suppliers of basics, but lately I'm turning to Etsy for both unique handmade components and basic findings. Recently I went on a bit of a shopping spree and today decided to show some of the amazing creations I've picked up from fellow Etsy sellers. I much prefer to support the artisans and small entrepreneurs, and now that I have a more defined style and have found some wonderful smaller, more personal suppliers I've all but stopped ordering from places like Fire Mountain (their "handling fee" on top of shipping charges really ticks me off).



Ceramic pendants from Spirited Earth

For general supplies such as glass and crystal beads, findings, and cord I usually order from Fusion Beads (free shipping on all US orders and frequent discount coupons via email and Facebook) or Artbeads.com (free shipping on US orders above $10). If I were doing a higher volume I'd surely be ordering from wholesalers, but for what I do these suppliers offer a good range of products, and they also offer some volume discounting and have more artisan-made pieces for sale than larger suppliers. Recently I've found some great Etsy sellers who offer both basic and unique findings for very reasonable prices, and I've been especially happy to find lots of cool brass and copper findings there because, with silver prices going into the stratosphere, I've needed to adjust the composition and style of my pieces somewhat. From necessity has come a new burst of creativity and a shift towards an earthier style, so of course I had to go shopping for new components to better express this new style....



Handmade ceramic pendants and buttons from Beadfreaky

For the really good stuff -- handmade ceramic, lampwork glass, patinated metals, polymer clay, and other artisan components -- I always check Etsy first and have been bowled over by what I have found there. Hence my recent shopping spree (and the title of this post), both because I have found so many beautiful things and because I had let my supplies dwindle over the past two years (since my last trip to Tucson, sniff!!). I can't say I'm done buying because I'm still low on lampwork glass (especially non-focals; I need some rounds and saucers to go with the gorgeous lampwork hearts below), and geez, these creative people keep making more beautiful stuff! Now to find the time to use it all in new creations... given that it's only early February and gardening is still a few months away here, that shouldn't be a problem, so I hope to have lots of new stuff to show here shortly! 

Lampwork glass heart pendants from Boomwire Glass

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!