June ABS Challenge

This month, the Art Bead Scene has chosen a painting called Jackknife Village by Franklin Carmichael as their theme. It's hard not to find that painting inspiring! Jackknife Village is a watercolor with subtle yellow, shades of blue, and purple with dark shadowing. It depicts a beautiful seaside scene with dramatic rockscape and lightly tinted clouds in the background.

In my piece, I picked up on the shades of blue, yellow, and purple from the painting. I had the perfect African trade beads, sent to me by Solange of Ahowin, and found some gemstones to match. The trade beads were just right for the graduated blues, and the smaller ones are a soft yellow with dots of greens, blues, and even a little red to mirror the houses.

To continue the beach feel, I used waxed linen and knotted the beads along the cord. It's almost as if the materials could be found along a beach somewhere.

The houses in the painting stood out to me. And, at first, I wanted to make a clasp depicting a house. I decided to keep it simple and, instead, make a long macrame necklace that could be slipped over the wearer's head. I made a little polymer clay house and painted it with similar colors - a distressed ocher to brown wash with red and orange highlights. I placed the house just by the blue African beads, like the houses on the seaside.

To reflect the jagged rocks and hills in the painting, I used natural gemstones. I chose three large fluorite chunks (I've wanted to try this cut for so long!) alongside three, smooth citrine chunks.

I love the soft colors of the gems, and they add a little extra light to the piece. I've really enjoyed making my piece this month and already had lots of compliments on it. Hope you've enjoyed it, too!

Giveaway at Love My Art Jewelry!

Do you love Love My Art Jewelry? Well, I do, and they're having a wonderful giveaway of handmade ceramic and enameled beads! You can find out how to put your name in the hat here.

Also, there's a great post from earlier on in June with some gorgeous handmade headpins. Some of my designs have been featured alongside some amazing artists. Check it out! Huge thanks to Kimberly Rogers for featuring my designs!

Southend-on-Sea and beads

No, I didn't go shopping for beads in Southend, but that is an idea for next time. My hubby and I went to Southend-on-Sea for the day, and despite being typically gloomy weather, it was nice to be at the sea. We saw some adorable, colourful little beach huts, pretty shells, and I even snatched a few pieces of sea glass. Since it wasn't perfect summer weather, we had the beach to ourselves.

 

 

 

 

I thought I'd show you some gorgeous beads I got recently. My friend, Solange, in France sells these wonderful African glass and trade beads. Some are more modern and others are antique, but they're all beautiful. I picked out a few from her shop, Ahowin, but Solange sent me lots of extras. They even came in a wonderful little bag made from African fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

I love, love all these little beads. There are some recycled glass beads with a wonderful rustic, gemstone feel, vintage Czech glass and trade beads, and brightly colored ones. I have so many ideas for them - I can't wait to get back to my supplies to make something special.

 

Here's a closer look at some of what Solange sent me.
 

 

 

 

And a better photo of my absolute favourite beads. These remind me of sea glass. If I'm not mistaken, they're made from recycled glass and have a beautiful mix of cobalt, green, and seafoam blue colors.

 

 

 

 

 

Aren't they gorgeous? That's all I have to show you now, but I do have some new lampwork beads from Tan Grey and Tempting Little Charms to share with you in a day or two. Can't wait!

 





Quick update

I'm away from home, but never away from beads. I thought I would share a few things with you. First is this fantastic giveaway by Outwest. If you love lampwork, you don't want to miss it! Find out more here.

The other little update is my first e-magazine! It was published on June 1st and will be a monthly installment. The Beading Glass focuses on art beads and one of a kind jewelry. It's free to read and features some great designers. Hope you enjoy!

Click to view The Beading Glass on GLOSSI.COM

History Hop Reveal!

Welcome to the History Hop! This is the second history inspired blog hop I've hosted. A few people missed out on the last one, and it turned out to be enjoyable, so here's another one! And for anyone who missed out this time, I will be hosting another History Hop later this year (we'll see how it goes).

First off, thank you all for participating. I hope you've enjoyed it, been inspired, and maybe even learned something new about jewelry and its history.

The challenge was to pick a theme and era in history (you can find them here) and create a piece inspired by the style and materials used at that time. I chose the Indus Valley.

When I think of the Indus Valley, I think of gems, silk, and gold. I was delighted to find out copper, among other metals, was also popular. Copper is one of my favorite metals, so I couldn't resist using it in my project.

I chose to make a set of bangles, as they were very common in the Indus Valley. Mine have a slightly modern feel and are thinner and more delicate than what might have been worn, but I love the modern contrast. I made my bangles with carnelian, amethyst, and pearls; all materials that would have been used. I also used some lovely black silk, which increased in use with the advent of the Silk Road and trade with China.

Although the bangles I made are quite thin individually, they look great stacked together on the wrist. Even bare the copper bangles are attractive, but being a gemstone lover, I couldn't resist adding a few brightly colored stones and extra details with wire.

The first bangle I made was formed from wire and fused. I hammered the fused joint and along the bangle for strength. Then I wire wrapped dark amethysts on either side and a few dangles with carnelian drops and white pearls.

The next one is even simpler in design, but probably my favorite. It too is solid and made from fused copper wire, then hammered for strength and texture. I wire wrapped a single carnelian coin to the bangle. The color of the carnelian is gorgeous, and it didn't need much to make it stand out.

The last bangle is wrapped in soft, black silk with white pearls woven along the bangle with fine copper wire. This one turned out exactly as I imagined and feels great on the skin. This one isn't fused, but secured with two simple loops and forged to help keep the shape.

And there you have it! My Indus Valley inspired bangle set. I loved making these and plan to make many more. They're a refreshing change from my more complex designs. I have to admit...I'll probably keep these.

Thank you for hopping by! Please take a look at all the other participants' blogs. I'm sure you won't be disappointed!



Leah Curtis - Indus Valley - beadyeyedbunny.blogspot.co.uk
Laney Mead - Māori - laney-izzybeads.blogspot.co.uk
Becca - Art Nouveau - godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com
Melissa - English Romanticism and Mourning Jewelry - beadrecipes.wordpress.com
Tracy Stillman - Native American - tracystillmandesigns.com
Gerda - English Romanticism and Mourning Jewelry - gerdascraftsblog.blogspot.com
Liz E - Native North American - beadcontagion.blogspot.com
Ahowin - Māori (New Zealand)  - blog.ahowinjewelry.com 
Jasvanti - Indus Valley - jewelrybyjasvanti.blogspot.com
Lizzie - Art Nouveau - theneedtobead.blogspot.co.uk
Julia Hay - Merovingian - pandanimal.blogspot.co.uk
Dini - Celtic - angazabychanges.blogspot.nl
Caroline - Art Nouveau - blueberribeads.co.uk 
Charlie - Moche of Peru - clay-space.com/blog
Karin - China - maverickbeads.blogspot.com
Niky Sayers - Rome - silverniknats.blogspot.com
Marcia Dunne - Celctic and Mourning Jewelry - thealternativefoundry.blogspot.co.uk
anafiassa - Mesopotamia - anafiassa.blogspot.com
Kokopelli - Native American - kokopellidesign.blogspot.com
Christa - Native American - adventuresofwonebeadywoman.blogspot.com
Clair - Roman - obstinatepursuit.blogspot.co.uk
Susan Bowie - Native American - susanbowie.wordpress.com
Gloria Allen - English Romanticism - gloriaallendesigns.blogspot.com
Sheila Garrett - Early Russia - 4brownowl.blogspot.co.uk

History Hop reminder and other things

Ahh, my poor neglected blog.

I've just sent out a reminder to everyone in the History Hop (who left me an email address or had one on their profile - check your spam! :)). And for those who I couldn't contact and are following my blog, the reveal date is on June 1st, but you can post at any time during the day that is convenient.

Don't forget you can schedule the post, if you think you'll be busy on that day. When you write your blog post click on "Schedule" on the right hand side of the screen. Select the date and time (it's usually in Pacific time, for some reason), click "Done", and publish. Double check it's there on the day - sometimes blogger can be funny like that.

I hope you're all enjoying the History Hop and designing. I know I can't wait to see what you make!

I've been really busy making beads, commissions, working on the blog hop, and a new magazine project. It's an e-magazine that will focus on art beads and one of a kind jewelry. So far I have contacted various artists who have given me permission to show photos of their work in small gallery sections, with direct links back to their shops. Just in case you feel the need for those beautiful beads.

There will also be artist profiles - some short, some more in depth, as well as tutorials on jewelry projects, handmade findings, and/or beads. This is just the first issue, so who knows what it could turn into! I find so many jewelry designers and bead makers inspiring, so I thought it would be great to give you a peek into it.

The e-mag is totally free and will be available on June 1st (barring anything unforeseen). I'm really excited about it and hope you'll enjoy reading and sharing in some of my inspiration.

May ABS Challenge

This month, Art Bead Scene has chosen a beautiful old painting for our inspiration. The painting, Vaas met bloemen in een venster :: Vase with Flowers in a Window, was created in 1620 and is full of warm and vibrant colors. I mirrored this in my entry with a mix of lampwork beads in shades of orange.


I used an antique African trade bead from Ahowin and lampwork by Tan Grey, Sue Simmons, Julia Hay, and Keeley Kenyon (all from the UK) for my bouquet of orange beads. 

The painting also has a lot of depth and texture to it. I added layers of cotton cord and torch patinaed brass chain to my bracelet. There's also a line of shell daggers for added textural interest.

I made the toggle clasp from solid brass and wire wrapped it in vintage coral beads. I'm really pleased with the warm, tribal feel of this bracelet. 

There's still time to enter the challenge, if you're inspired! Check out the Art Bead Scene blog for more info.