Monday Miscellany - Another Design from the Rings & Things July Goodies

Back in July I received a goodie pack from Rings & Things and I almost immediately got inspired by the four loop round connector and made a necklace with it right away. However, I stalled out with the other connectors, trying this thing and that. I am very close to having designs figured out for them and copper gluable bail, so I'll be posting about them this week.

This weekend, though, I finished a piece using the Lime CRYSTALLIZED™ – Swarovski Elements 8mm faceted cube crystal, 0.8-1.2mm hole. #5601 and Montana/Aurora Borealis CRYSTALLIZED™ – Swarovski Elements 8mm faceted cube crystal, 0.8-1.2mm hole. #5601. I strung the cubes together with some antique gold colored spacer beads, put french wire around the ends that I crimped to the larger rings and used jump ring connections to complete one half of the chain. Then I used a sheer ribbon for the other half, crimping the end and attaching to a lobster claw to hook through a final jump ring that's under one of the bows to the left, below.

I think this would look great with a little black dress for going out, but I can also see it dressing up a black tee-shirt under a jacket to wear with black jeans to the office come fall.

I'm still dying to find an online supplier for the Beadalon square knot connectors - if you know of one, please comment!

Mid-Week Mutterings - Artbeads "Blogging for Beads" Goodies Have Arrived!

This month's selections from Artbeads, through their Blogging for Beads program, comes from their great selection of CRYSTALLIZED™ Swarovski Elements.

As I was looking through the pendants, I saw this gorgeous seashell pendant and picked it, along with some 4mm 5301 faceted bicones in Golden Shadow from Artbead's Swarovski crystal beads collection.

I plan to make a fairly simple necklace with these, possibly incorporating some real shell beads and gold chain.

The next CRYSTALLIZED™ Swarovski Elements that caught my eye, were the teardrop pendants and this 24x12mm teardrop in Crystal Volcano has so much color and fire, I couldn't pass it up - got some 6mm 5301 Crystal Volcano faceted bicones to go with it.

The color matching opportunities with this particular selection are almost endless, so I'm thinking something multi-strand with lots of colors from my stash as well. I have some beautiful 49 strand silver plated Beadalon stringing wire that I've been wanting to use and I'm considering an "exposed" design inspired by the Bead and Wire Jewelry Exposed book using these crystal beads.


Finally, I came upon the lovely color "Blue Opal" in the 11x5.5mm Briolette pendants. It seemed a perfect match for some angelite beads and pearls to make a romantic short or choker length necklace - again, possibly multi-strand.


I'm planning to sketch up the ideas for all of these, so when I do, I'll post them and, of course, the finished pieces when I'm done.

Seems I Keep Getting Inspired Around 10 p.m.

Was up late last night making this, those teeny tiny wrapped links are tedious but worth the effort, I think. I have to put on a really strong pair of magnifying glasses for them.

For an idea of scale, the large silver ball at the bottom is the same diameter as a penny, or about 20mm. The topmost chain is 16" before adding a clasp and I plan to put an extender chain to give it another inch or two. The tiny wrapped loops are sterling head pins that have a tiny ball at the end, the chain is sterling double links, beads are faceted Czech glass and the fancy swirl spheres are sterling silver plate by Sterling Effects that I got at A.C. Moore when I was in Fayetteville, North Carolina last December. The final large sphere has a sterling headpin with an ornate puffed design.

I'm thinking about, but only perhaps right now, adding another draping chain or maybe two...possibly one from linked beads.

10:30 a.m. update - one new chain added, one to go, used a 3 loop clasp!
1:30 p.m. update - sticking with the one additional chain...what to do with that extra loop on the clasp?
Here's the ver. 2 picture (click for detail):

I'm very excited about tomorrow's Wanderings post - I created a little header logo just for those posts and I gathered a lot of great links this week. Even so, if you know of a blog I should be reading, tell me and I'll make a point to visit and mention it next week. Post will go up at 6 a.m. Pacific.

I don't remember if I mentioned it, but I submitted four pieces to the BeadStar competition in the crystals, glass, pearl and stone categories. I'm only the tiniest bit hopeful, I know I have a long way to go, but it's all part of the journey.

For all to whom it applies, I hope you have a Happy Mother's Day tomorrow!

Inchie Brass Frame Pendant How To

A touching nursery scene on the cover.
Wait, does that kid at the lower left look ready to bite the sleeping cat, or what?

One of the books my mom had been given, passed down I'm guessing from a relative, someone named Oliver who received it from Edward in 1907.

The book was published in 1899.

It has now passed on to me, the Fairy Picture and ABC Book. It's in pretty sad shape, but I hope to keep it preserved well enough to pass on to my son or daughter if they have children.

Each page has a one color illustration, the first section is illustrated ABC rhymes and the back of the book is nursery rhymes.

This kid has an evil look to him - wonder what he's going to do once he's over that wall...

I scanned several pages, not really knowing exactly what I would do with them, but wanted them available when a particle of inspiration managed to zip into my head.

I had an idea Sunday morning to use these scans in the 1 inch square brass frames from Rings & Things sent as part of their March Gluable Challenge package and remembering a post on their blog about "inchies". By the way, they sell the frames by the dozen. Remember there are 12 to a dozen and if you really don't want 72 frames, don't put "6" in the amount box. Voice of Experience speaking. No worries though, the price is great and I'm sure I'll have lots of ideas for them in the years, nay, decades to come, and never need to re-supply.

Wanna know what I did? I'm telling anyway.

First, I got out my box of Office Depot Glossy Sticker paper. Then I used the Microsoft Picture Editor that came with the MSOffice programs installed on my computer. It's easy, so I use it a lot. I'm sure any picture editing software would provide the same tools.

I took one of the scans

and cropped it square then re-sized it to 160 x160 pixels.

I put one sheet of the glossy paper into the printer. Think that's a rather obvious step to mention? Heh, it wasn't to me...putting in multiple sheets led to some sticking together and messing up the printing.

Because I'm using the Office Photo Editor program to print it, and I wanted an "original size" print, the only way I could figure out how to do that was to use the "contact sheet" selection in the printing wizard. That meant that I just got one small 1" picture on the page.

Not wanting to waste the limited supply of glossy sticker paper I have, I had to trim the sheet after cutting out the print and re-use the remaining paper.

Also, it's a good thing to remember to put it back in the printer and not waste plain paper (Voice of Experience speaking again).

Next, I trimmed it to 1x1 inch

and stuck it on the brass frame.

Peeling off the sticker isn't as easy as you might think. Hint: turn pic over, use edge of scissor blade and, as if you were curling ribbon, pull a corner (carefully!) over the blade to get a curl. You can fairly easily separate the backing from the sticker at the corner then. Don't press it fully down until you've checked to see if it's centered and squared up. Once you've lifted and replaced it about eight times to get it right (saith the VOE yet again) smooth down from one corner or one side to another to try and keep out air bubbles between the frame and the sticker.

Talk about thumbnails - that one needs a good manicure.


Three frames with sticker pictures - what's next?

What's next is up to you - embellish and seal, just seal and use a fancy chain, maybe with charms or dangles. I thought I'd add some small embellishments and got out my new rub-ons from Alpha Stamps.

Guess what, you should put the rub-ons on the sticker before you put the sticker on the frame. Decided not to use the rub-ons. Got out some scrapbooking stickers and some tiny brass bead caps. (VOE now has this stored in her permanent memory).

I played around with tiny chain and some trimmed up filigree bits - didn't use them, too big or too fiddly. Even made some 28 gauge wire spirals and hammered them flat, wasn't happy with that either. Stuck to stickers and the bead caps (which have a bit of a dome to them, so I wacked 'em with the chasing hammer to flatten). Trimmed one bead cap so it could be a corner piece.

I put a sticker in the corner of the green picture, added the bead cap and Mod-Podged the whole thing. The stuff I learned about Mod-Podging, I've added to the VOE files. Suffice it to say, a little goes a long way, it sets up pretty fast and using one's finger leaves lots of lines.

Filled the holes in the bead cap with some gold leaf paint and called it a day. I'm going to fiddle with it more, but I need to get some other stuff done and this post is nearly novel-length as it is. Here's what it looks like for now:

I will probably put the frame pendants on cord, maybe chain, and embellish with something sparkly and dangly from the jump ring that connects the frame to the necklace. When I finish them, I'll be sure to share them with you.

Fairy Tale Fairy Elf Prince says, "That was fun! Here's a rose."

A "Kreativ" Sunday (Thanks, Lisa!)

Been experimenting with that technique I used to make yesterday's black glass bead bracelet. Today I used freshwater cultured pearls in shades of gold, some Crystazzi cube crystals (on half off sale at Michael's) and bronze Soft Flex beading wire.

This one won't go up on Art Fire as I'm not quite satisfied with how it turned out. Was fun to make, though - I really like this technique for its open and organic look.

I read on Lisa's Bead A Day blog that she'd been nominated for a "Kreative Award" by Pearl of The Beading Gem's Journal and that she'd nominated me and 6 other blogs.

Thank you, Lisa, you are a major source of fun, supportive comments and information for me. You are very deserving of the award from Pearl.

So, to keep things rolling, here are the rules of the Kreative award:1. The winner may put this award on their blog.2. Please put a link to the person that presented you for this award.3. Nominate 5 blogs.4. Put links to all their blogs.5. Leave a message for your nominees.

My nominees are:
Just A Tish
Jen Nipps
SmuTopia
WillowWalker Designs
Rock Creek Creations

Five great bloggers who share their thoughts (and often, pictures) about their creative process. I find them supportive, inspirational and fun to "hang out" with here on the blogosphere.

And, breaking news - just got an email that I've made another sale on Art Fire. That's three this weekend and it blows me away!

Sketch? Bead Board? Wing It?

I've noticed some jewelry (bead, metal, ceramic, polyclay - you name it) bloggers talking about coming up with their designs. A couple talk about sketching, others use bead boards (primarily stringers) and some of us (you know who you are) wing it.

I'm mostly a wing-it'er. I look at beads, string them, take them off, try something else...sometimes I'll dump a bunch in one of my DIY lap desks (aka a shoe box lid with bead mat) and just play around until I get what I want.

I used my bead board *a lot* when I started making my beaded badge lanyards, but now I've pretty much got an eye for how the design elements need to repeat, etc., for it come out the right length. I'll may still occasionally use it, but it's been a while.

As I think about more complex and challenging ideas, though, I think I'll be getting out the graph-paper and colored pencils. I need the colored pencils, anyway, if I'm going to try experimenting with shrinky-dinks (Margot Potter has inspired a bracelet idea via a book of hers I just got, Sparkletastic: 50 Dazzling Jewelry and Fashion Projects for the Discriminating Diva (Impatient Beader)
).

So, once you get an idea for something, what do you do? I'll be very interested to read about it in the comments.

Now, before I wander off for the evening, and since I mentioned it above, I'll tell you what I thought of Sparkletastic. Published in 2007, it's a soft cover, full color, 8.5x11" sized book of 128 pages, 50 projects, with hundreds of great pictures. I found it on one of those racks sticking out of the beading aisles at Michael's that you have to be watchful for, or you'll whack your shoulder on it. Having read Margot's blog pretty faithfully for some time now, as well as watching her delightful videos (have you seen the one about the YuDu home screen printing system? Go. Watch. Now - I'll wait here), I decided I wanted to own one of her books, too. This one looked particularly fun.

Margot's humor is what makes her books stand out from most other beading how-to's I've read. The designs are full of fun and whimsy. I saw a number of things in the book that, while I don't know if I'd make the exact same thing, I could see how the tools, materials and techniques would lend themselves to something that suits my style, too.

Oh, and if you want a copy of this fun and fabulous how-to guide, click this link and a few pennies go to my bead fund :-)

Lava, Shells, Coral and Other Stuff, Too

Here's a journey through my work in progress using the Rings & Things goody: Lava Stone. I really loved the idea of using it with some red bamboo coral I had in my stash (Bead Gallery via Michaels). I started by just putting the stones with the coral, but decided it needed something else.

I ordered coral branch bits ( also from Rings & Things) and added them...nope, still not quite there.

Today I had to go to the Post Office to pick up a package from Melanie's Steampunk Supply store on Etsy (will share about those in a later post, when I start using them) and that's just a few blocks from the wonderful Global Beads in downtown Mountain View. I wasn't sure what I needed, just wanted something brown and organic looking and small.

When I found some tiny, brown beads, I scooped up a bunch. I learned they were Indian and made from the rudraksha seed. Also found some red, porus stone nuggets - not sure what they are (and forgot to ask) but they're like lava stone, and thought they'd be a good addition, so I bought a strand of those.

Here's where I am in the unfinished piece so far.

I never had any urge to buy lava stone before - but when I got my sample package, I rather fell in love with it. I ended up with so many ideas - I decided to stock up a bit.

In the picture below on the top left, are some sample bits using the lava stone that may grow into necklaces or bracelets later. I had some dark brown wire that I thought would look really interesting with the lava stones, so I made wrapped loops and a figure eight spacer with the wire. The other sample uses lava stones with drilled spiral shell points I found at Global Beads today, as well.

As for the rest of the pieces in the picture above, in the center are mother of pearl disks (they are thin, heishi-type beads) that I've linked together with 26 gauge Artistic Wire and brass bead. On the lower right is the start of a necklace (I think) using silver Beadalon Quick Links, gold plated 10mm jump rings and 15mm Botswana agate.

I also got some Swarovski beads in new colors that Rings & Things is carrying, and this is what I'm thinking of doing with the Indian Pink ones - they're strung on sterling bead chain between sterling seamless beads. The 4mm bicones are here and the larger 6mm is here:

A New Gluable Challenge Review - Plus! Free Project Tutorial

I'm gratefully noticing that I wasn't the last person in the beading blogosphere to post about the Rings & Things Gluable challenge (especially since I've gotten the new items to do, now, as well.)

Art Bead Scene has posted their Gluable Challenge review and a picture of a stunning bracelet, and Heather from Humblebeads has posted a free tutorial for using the gluable disk and loop bracelet on her blog.

I never did post how I finished off my deconstructed bracelet...and I'm still pretty sure it's *still* not finished...so the next step in the tutorial is "Glue mother of pearl disks to bracelet." I used E6000, so I'm going to let it set overnight before I fiddle anymore.

The disks have lengthwise holes drilled in them, which I've positioned to the sides so they're not so visible, but it got me to thinking about adding a small decorative bead on top of the MOP disks, using some thin wire through the holes...or maybe trying some seed beads...or who knows what else will come to mind! I'll post an update on any progress I make.

Is anyone interested in some of the brass gluable pendant frames (see here for squares and here for the rectangles) after seeing all the cool things you can make with them?

I have a bit of an overstock...really wasn't thinking clearly when I ordered 6 dozen of each type...You can email me at beadedbadgelanyards (at) gmail (dot) com to discuss details.

I Bought Stuff Today

Before I start into my ramble, go take a look at the lovely pieces Lisa at A Bead A Day did with the frames from the Rings & Things Gluable Challenge.

Speaking of the challenge, today I went out and got polyclay and some tools for same and a 'how to' book, some ribbons, a bunch of beads I shouldn't have but couldn't resist (this is why I have to stay away from bead stores for as long as I can hold out), some cool metal letter "charms" - made for scrapbooking, so there are no holes or loops on them and they're perfect for gluing.

I may actually have more Gluable Challenge work to post soon. The ribbon is to finish my last choker form - it's almost done, just a couple finishing touches and I'll post a picture - maybe tomorrow.

The polyclay book I bought is:



Currently out of stock at Amazon, but they note that you can order and they'll notify you when available and not charge you until it ships. If you want to get this book and buy it through that link, Dawno gets a few pennies from Amazon.

I really like Dotty's book. Clear, easy to understand examples and step by step how-to's, lovely photography and fun projects. She shares some clever ideas for creating interesting effects with simple techniques and easy to find materials (like dyed eggshell mosaic - with Easter coming up, there should be plenty of dyed eggshell around to save up!)

I know this is going to be frustrating, making beads and focals with polyclay. I have so many ideas I want to try and the proper execution of those ideas won't happen right away because I have to learn something new. I will have to keep telling myself to be patient - which isn't my best attribute.