This Weekend in Beads...bring on more steampunk!

For some reason, I can't get enough old rusty things and watch bits...

A necklace with an etched bullet casing pendant:

A charm bracelet with watch gears and mixed metal chains:

And a pair of earrings with watch gears:

I found this fabulous vintage purse frame on Etsy:

I am searching for some cool fabric...the plan is to make a renaissance style frame purse with some bead embroidery on it. Need the right fabric though....

Well that's all for now. Off to clean up the bead desk :)

April giveaway winner

And without further ado..

The April giveaway winner is:

Lori Anderson!

I promise to most more beady adventures tomorrow...now, back to the bead desk :)

This Weekend in Beads..and Sewing

Yep, that's right. Sewing. Such a small innocent word. What it really translates to is "repeatedly stabbed yourself in the thumb/hand/other body part with a long sharp needle, swearing, and with lots eyecrossing/blinding headaches/backache"

So a little backstory...
I have wanted a nice vintage pincushion doll forever. I remember my Grandmother having one. I recall thinking how strange that Grandma Sally stabbed her pretty dollies with needles. Anyway I found one on Etsy that looked like hers...but the pincushion part was full of holes and stains so I bought it and the porcelain doll half sat on my bead desk for about 6 months. I then stumbled on a lovely website http://www.lornasloveabledolls.com/ . Not only does she sell the dolls, she sells the fabric kits to make them. (yay.) I purchased the "Scarlett" kit since the color was a good match for what was left of Ms. Pincushion. I got the kit yesterday and I was up most of the night and part of this morning sewing.

And here without further ado is my completed, hand sewn, pincushion doll:

I even had enough fabric left over to make her a little purse/sachet.

And now for the beads!

A co-worker suggested that I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I read the trilogy in 2 days. All I can say is that the story was heart-wrenching and totally absorbing. This is not a book review though. This is about beads.
I am not a screaming crazy teen fan girl (it's ok if you are though) but I wanted to make something inspired by the story so here is...a necklace. And even if you never heard of or read The Hunger Games, it's still nice and steampunky for everyone else :)

I kept the bird theme going with this guy:

And then last but not least:

An earthy little bracelet and earring set:

That's it for now :)

This Weekend in Beads-With beads!

Hi everyone, I'm back and was finally feeling up to a weekend in beads so here we go!

I finished these:

I made earrings to go with the owl necklace:

Then I made a set (yet to be named)

I haven't been buying as much since the big clean out...but I just bought another Andrew Thornton bronze pendant...I'm addicted. This time it's a stag...he's crying out for some seraphinite and labradorite to go with him.

Don't forget, everyone that leaves a comment for me this month will be entered to win a suprise goodie bag of czech glass beads!

This Weekend in Beads-It's Spring! Finally!

Howdy folks!

There was no last weekend in beads because I was at my friend Nina's shop, Market Beads, in downtown Seattle rescuing these babies:

This guy came from The Raven's Nest (another fabulous shop at the Market)...how awesome is it?? It's a vintage brooch/pendant with blue moonglow cabs and rhinestones. Yes, those are my fat little fingers.

Most of the goodies from Nina are vintage plastic and lucite (and some amazing raspberry and green moonglow beads) along with some seedbeads and west german glass...I just sit and stare at the box, I think I am still in shock over how awesome a haul this is.

ANYWAY
The sun is finally out after goddess knows how many months of hiding behind clouds. I puttered in what remained of my deck garden (only my lavendar and chives survived the winter.) I made some fresh humming bird food and put out some tasty noms for the other guys (suet and a super bird granola brick thingy.)

I think tomorrow I am going to spring clean my bead desk...Stay tuned...I am planning on doing a giveaway with some of my czech glass beads...I will get that together soon!

This Weekend in Beads

First off, I want to say thank you to everyone that has stopped by my Blog!

Thursday, my special pendants from Andrew Thornton arrived!

So here is the first piece, I am not quite done with it...(can only do so much this weekend, darn tendonitis again)

Rubies, Amethyst, Garnet, and Sunstone..and one fabulous bronze "Love Grows" pendant by Andrew Thornton :)
I plan on adding some ameythst and garnet dangles to the chain the pendant hangs from, and I am going to complete the back of the necklace with some more 4mm round garnet links.

Have a great week everyone!

This Weekend in Beads...still hopping along

Whew! I barely hit the surface of the blog hop...I was even up until 2am lol!

I am having a fabulous time visiting everyone and admiring their creativity! It is so nice to "meet" new artists!

I also spent most of the day yesterday in Seattle with my boyfriend's Mom, Margaret. She had never been to Fusion Beads before so of course we had to go! We got all of our goodies back to the house and by then it was really too late to dive in so today we are getting together for a crafty day of beady goodness.

And now here are those pictures!
This is the pillage of beads from Fusion Beads:

Nice happy colors for summer. Everything was 50% off...even the swarks and the Humble beads (I love the dogwood pendant and I have just the right beads to go with it..)

And here is what I made this afternoon:

The teal pearls and shimmery labradorite nugget were not so interested in having their picture taken. Sigh. One day when I grow up, I might just get that big girl camera. Anyway. I like this one the most out of todays creations. The butterfly bead was given to me and I knew just what to make with him.

I was kind of stumped with the pretty peach lampwork beads (also a gift) when I remembered the cherry blossom pendant from Summers Studios...and tadaaa! Lots of dangles and some funky nylon chain later and I can crash any cherry blossom festival in style!

And last but not least...some more turquoise and pink coral...this time in a pair of hand painted (by moi) filigree earrings. I love these colors together :)