Thinking Outside of The Bead

I look at the pieces in this ensemble, the green beads have these little blackish brown speckles that made me think of the temperate rainforests located on the Washington peninsula in U.S.  I went there years ago and the green was just surreal.
I had to choose carefully, colors that would not take away from the green, colors that would in fact bring out the green.  The end result really sent a feeling through me.  Like good chocolate. :)
This piece has matte black beads, cat's eye polished stone bits, and the green beads I believe, are like pottery.

I made this version of the the bracelet with a rose colored, large seed bead to give it a younger look.  I have a certain someone in mind for this bracelet.  I think this ensemble has more of a vintage look to it.  The black beads in this piece have a pearl-type iridescent glaze on them.

Well..it's for..when you feel...I don't know! You know?

This bracelet and the next were inspired by a crazy flowing shirt that my husband bought me last year.  I absolutely love the colors on the shirt, however; I have tried to wear the shirt many times and it is just not made with any practicality.   It is too flopsy and it gets in the way.  So before I bid it adieu, I wanted to capture what was most beautiful about it, the colors.  The great thing was this shirt looked great with jeans and really dressed them up.  I have no doubt that this bracelet and earring set will do the same.  This set is for when you can't find the perfect jewelry for your jeans and casual top.  This set will come to be the trusty bystander in someones jewelry box.

This bracelet has a little bit different color combination and is made with swirly brown beads in the bracelet and earrings that Bead Bum gave me.    I love how this bracelet looks on.  I hope to pass it to my daughter some day.  These two bracelets are another example of reusing beads from other jewelry that has been broken or has lost pieces.  It is made new again.  Mmmmm....

Sometimes Imperfections Can Be Beautiful

The dainty turquoise bead lures you in...then switches gears with the silver bead and larger beads.  Then the eye candy gets better with the more intricate "UFO" shaped silver beads .  Just when you can't stand it anymore, that red, red bead...well, I am speechless. I can't take it, please, then Boom!  The End! Wow, what a ride...and to think, it's only a bracelet.  Or, is it?

I sat down to make a silver and turquoise bracelet.  Exciting, huh?  Then, I stopped and thought, well maybe I better put different sized beads, and then the dam broke.  The next thing I knew I was unstringing the bracelet and going from smallest to largest.  Then, a stroke of genious....add a cheeky crimson bead toward the very end as the crowning glory and accentuate it with silver cap beads. 

Blue, Oh So Lonesome For You!

"Why can't you be blue over me?" Leann Rimes once sang.  Well, now you can.  And with a funky twist to boot!    I made this necklace using blue glass beads that are clear as well as frosted.  I also used teal/blue beads with blue dots on them.  The showcase beads for the necklace and earrings are blue clear class with blue glass bumpies on them.  I used small silver beads, large teal seed beads, and small teal bugle beads as well.  The necklace has a lobster claw clasp.  I just realized, right this second that I need to go back and measure my jewelry and get dimensions for height and width!  Ach!  All this info.  And pardon my sporadic entries as I am busy trying to get a stubborn surgery wound healed ASAP!  To Bead Or Not To Bead Is Not Even A Question!

Winter Romance

I love this delicate bracelet.  I used red and clear glass beads that had a hint of iridescence infused on their surfaces.  I also used round white beads that had a cloudy white effect on their surface which looked kind of like the glass that was popular in the early part of the 20th century.  Many of us may have had grandparents with pitchers and tumblers with this white cloudy or bubble glaze on them. The large red and white seed beads had a similar effect.  I used small silver beads for sparkle and little wrapped silver spacer beads to give the red beads a romantic collar look.  The silver toggle clasp matches the rope/wrapped look of the spacer beads.  The earrings showcase the large clear beads in contrast to the larger red beads on the bracelet with a sassy little red drop at the end that is kissed with a seed bead. 

Bohemian Roses Wrapped Around My Heart

This bracelet and earrings are another example of reusing and rebeading with jewelry you may have that is not functional or has broken parts with beads that are still useful.

I had a "memory wire" bracelet I bought back in Missoula, MT at the University of Montana in the University Center, from when they were having an artisan/craft show there.  

 The bracelet had all shapes of blue and white in it, but the wire was very irritating to my wrist after a while.  So I knew what to do!  Reuse the beads!  I also pulled the silver rose beads for the bracelet and earrings from this bracelet.  I shined the silver beads up with some tarter control toothepaste.  I was careful not to rub the antique black stain off the beads.

I also had some earrings with black carved floral beads from a pair of earrings that I had made years and years ago when I had no idea what I was doing.  The earrings were awful, so I took them apart and reused them in this ensemble.

The blue beads are a saphire glass color in two different shapes.  I really do need to learn the shapes of beads so I can talk the talk! 

The last set of black beads are kind of a wonky shape and break up the roundness of all the beads.  The spacer beads are large seed beads and I also used the familiar UFO-shaped silver engraved beads for some sparkle.  I added a silver toggle clasp and

Still More Recycled, Reused, and Recreated!

I had two more recycled, glass beads left from the bracelet I dismantled.  I decided to make another braceletwith them. 

I also used some hematite beads that I had from a bracelet I had bought at Windfall Gallery in Philadelphia, PA.  It was one of the stone bracelets that was supposed to have healing powers.  It was made with elastic cord which has long since worn out.  I love hematite and it looks great with this ensemble.

I had some left over black beads and saucer shaped silver beads.  In addition to those I added some round silver spacer beads to give it some more sparkle.  I love the gunmetal, black, and silver combination.  Very striking with the rope silver toggle clasp and earrings to match!

Kind of Egyptian I Guess!

While in Montana, two years ago, I went to a bead show with Bead Bum and we found some really neat cat beads that had a antique/bronze wash on them. 
I found a snake toggle clasp at Michaels and used some rich gold, amber, bronze, and black beads.

I placed the cat beads the way I did so that from different angles you could see them upright.

I have a tortoise shell cat and two black cats so I will be keeping this bracelet for sentimental reasons.  I love how regal the cat beads look.  I am not into real "cutesy" animal beads, so they go with my style....whatever that is!

Just Plain Pretty!

I bought some beads at Michaels and decided to make a bracelet with this pretty green.  In real life the beads have a deeper teal color to them. 


The showcase bead has pink flowers and meallic glass on it.  The spacer beads are very large seed beads in teal and clear.  The metal beads came in the same kit as the glass beads. The round ones have a corrugated look and the elongated cylindrical beads are two different patterns; a floral imprint as well as a spiral pattern.  And once again I used a silver toggle clasp.

Fashion and Scrapbook Layout Design; One in the Same?

I have this great Calvin Klein t-shirt which I bought marked down at Dillard's.  It is a dark, cool, red t-shirt with a tattered collar.  Then it has stamped flourishes, butterflies, and a crown in black with Roman numerals and retro numbers on it.  Then it has a silver distress inking look over those designs.  It looks just like a grungy scrapbook layout!

I just had to make a bracelet to match.  I decided to use a pearly bead wrapped in silver wire as the middle piece with two large, red sentry beads on either side.  I used some red-painted, abstract-shaped, clear glass beads, which I am still skeptical about.  I am afraid that the paint will wear off of them!  I didn't realize that until I had made the bracelet!
I used some metal beads that had black glass infused in them as well as some black crystal beads and some bronze painted, black, multi-faceted beads.  I used spacer beads that look like wrapped, coil wire.  The piece was finished with a silver toggle clasp.

Recycle, Reuse, Recreate!

I went back to my hometown Missoula, MT July of 2009 and really became interested in jewelry and especially bracelets, that kind of struck my creative nerve as grungy/bohemian/shabby chic?????

I went to the Missoula Saturday Market as the People's Market located on Pine St.  I was looking around the booths and I found a bracelet made with recycled beads, silver textured beads, and gunmetal accent beads.  I can't find the woman's card, but when I do I will post it to give her credit.

In the mean time....the bracelet was made too short for my wrist and made with a plain lobster claw clasp.  I found some capping beads, some metal spacers, and a silver toggle clasp and re-strung the bracelet as my own design.  I left a couple beads from the original bracelet to make earrings. 
The recycled beads have very poorly shaped openings and cause the beads to shift back and forth. The end cap beads were a necessity to cover the rough look and to tighten up the ensemble so it would lay on my wrist in an attractive manner.

So I Fell Asleep and My Cheek Turned Purple!

I bought these really pretty matte seed beads that were dyed purple from a store located on the Salish-Kootenai Native American Reservation in Montana.

Well, the beads dyed the string and other beads, purple as well as my skin when I took a nap in them.

So word to the wise, take these out when you sleep!  The other beads have gold and sea-green metallic casing on them.

The base is just an abstract design and the beads strung from the bottom have a branch-like, zig-zagging appearance.  I would string a few seed beads and then retrace the string up a couple and then repeat.  Then at the end of the strands I made a loop with three beads which gives it the "t" look.

Just When You Thought Napkin Rings Had One Use!

I used to work at ShopKo in Missoula, MT in the domestics department.  I noticed some of the napkin rings on clearance that had some stringed cork (beads) on them.  The napkin rings where ghastly as a whole. They came in neutral, green and red colors.  They had a nice organic, natural-dyed look to them.  So Bead Bum and I bought some as we saw potential in them.

Bead Bum has taught me over the years to look for jewelry making findings in unusual places.   We took them home and dismantled the napkin rings.

In this pair of earrings I made a base with the cork pieces.  This proved to be quite a challenge as I did not have a caliper to measure the beads and had to eyeball the size and shape in order to have them stack evenly in the pyramid shape.

I then used the green bugle beads as well as green and pink seed beads.  I strung the hanging bead strands out of every other opening from the bugle beads.

Some Unusual Prospects

These are made with pink and clear seed beads.  The design in the main part of the earring is a heart.  It is easier to see in real life.

This was a pattern out of one of the books and it was fairly simple.

The very middle strands that hang down are connected to make a loop and to make the earring have a more bohemian look to it.

Hair Brained-Schemes and Money Burning a Hole in My Pocket

As a teenager, my parents took me over to Post Falls, ID to visit relatives who lived there.  We went to some little bead store that mainly sold seed beads and Native American beading and craft supplies. 

There I saw examples of seed bead earrings.  I looked through some of the books the store had for sale. They were in black and white, but I knew I could make some colorful, hand-made, seed bead earrings of my own.

This is the very first pair I made.  Kind of 80's, big, loud, gaudy, but they are still in style!!  I noticed one of the french wires is missing.  I'll have to get a new one!   Those pesky things always came off.  They make better ones now.

Beading is one of my new hobbies

I am starting this new blog as a way to catalog my beading projects as well as to promote bead jewelry.  I will be uploading projects soon and also hope to start selling my creations as well.  If you are a bead enthusiast please leave a comment and let me know some great sites I should visit.
Thanks
Natalie