Weddings and Weak Excuses

Here's my latest finished work- custom garters for a bride (one to wear & keep, one to toss). The fun part of this is that the customer is the sister of one of my very first boyfriends, someone I hadn't heard from in more than 30 years. For all that Facebook is annoying, it also has the power to connect people in odd and interesting ways.

Aside from the wedding gear, I've had an extended fallow period. I've been caught up in other jobs, other economic demands and it seems the longer I am away from the work, the harder it is to resume. I have a million ideas, maybe 20 of them fleshed out enough in my head that I could sit down and begin to translate them into being. But I haven't.

I did organize and tidy my working space, looking forward to the rainy nights of winter in Oregon where one must perforce do something with one's hands.

Forget-Me-Nots

It's getting to be Betsy-Tacy Convention time again, and I'm making jewelry for my booth there. Here's a sneak peek at a new bracelet, Forget-Me-Nots. Fans will remember that Joe had to go to extraordinary lengths to procure out of season Forget-Me-Nots for Betsy's wedding bouquet. Being Joe, of course, he had no trouble with this task.

2 Days, 4 UFOs

It's been a productive couple of days. I have LOTS of unfinished stuff lying around, and I've decided that finishing it up will go a long way toward getting the studio organized again. You'd laugh if I posted a picture of my "work area" right now, because what it most resembles is the aftermath of a bead store explosion. So, from the top: a right-angle-weave necklace made with faux goldstone rounds, a chunky funky triangle bead bracelet with a fun vintage button, a peyote choker with a gold satin ribbon tie for glam, and a wide, elegant picot edged bracelet. Whew.

Finished Freeform Plus Downton Abbey Inspiration

Here's the finished bracelet, courtesy of my dog's fabulous color sense. They CAN see shades of blue, so it's possible he did this on purpose. Then again, this is an animal who can't remember what "sit" means and runs through his entire repertoire of tricks till he gets a "Good dog!"

Like a lot of people, I've been sucked into the over-the-top drama of Downton Abbey. I've been spending a lot of time scrutinizing the lavish Edwardian jewelry and it makes my beady little head spin. Here's a teaser of a piece I have been playing around with. When it's finished, I'll just go back in time, dress up in one of those cool aprons, and clasp it around Lady Mary's swan-like neck.

The Vagaries of Freeform

After the dog crashed into my beading tray, causing carefully arranged piles of beads to go cascading up in the air and eventually all swept up into a common dustpan, it occurred to me that I've not done any freeform peyote in a long time. As much as I like to sort beads into lovely little piles of like colors & shapes, it's also a delight to let the needle choose as it goes, building something truly unique and magical. I think what I've begun here will be a bracelet when it's finished, but it might just decide to be a necklace. Either way, I'm enjoying this happenstance journey caused by the dog.

Curly Earrings!

Aren't these cheerful and fun? They worked up fairly fast, and they are very light. There's a bit of subtle sparkle from the Swarovski crystals at top and bottom. I might have to make a bunch of these!

I finally have some new work to show! After a long dry spell, I'm working a lot suddenly. This necklace is a re-worked piece that originally had the lampwork beads on a flat sterling chain. It was very pretty, but tended to pull the owner's hair, which is never good. So I played around with Cellini spirals till I got one I liked. And here it is!