BAO Color Challenge

This is my entry for the Bead Art Originals June Color Challenge. Our source of inspiration was "A Gentle Notion" - a beautiful illustration by Jeannie L Paske of Obsolet World on Etsy. Check out the BAO blog and see other entries for this challenge.

The bracelet is made with tiny 1.8 mm Miyuki cube beads in gorgeous color of metallic green patina iris (#2008) and a beaded Swarovski crystal navette stone as the button clasp. I love how soft this bracelet came out, thanks to the small size of the cubes.
At first I wasn't sure if I had enough beads to finish it, but eventually the bracelet was completed and 3 (!!!) beads were left out of 30 grams... I always thought that it's better to have a little more beads than you think is needed. Missing just a few beads to finish a project would be a disaster!... ;))

A Gentle Notion by Jeannie L Paske 
of Obsolet World on Etsy 

New Set of Jewelry and a WIP (and some other things...)

In the last couple of weeks I have been having some issues with my eye sight. I don't see very clearly and there were times that no matter how hard I tried to focus, everything looked blurry. So I thought I should go see a doctor and check if new glasses are called for. The doctor took some tests and she found out that besides the new glasses I do need, there's a start of cataract (at my age?! I though that only elderly people have that, and I'm not even 47 y/o yet!) and there's also a small scar on my right eye retina that needs to be further checked... Of course I set up an appointment with a specialist in the hospital, but what a nightmare! - the earliest available appointment in for next month! Now I get a whole month waiting and thinking whatever this scar is, would I be able to work and bead like before?! :( But I really try to chase away the horrible thoughts and stay positive...I keep reminding myself that it could be a minor thing after all, and except for the new glasses, maybe I won't have to do anything, just live with it... I just hope that time would fly faster this month!....

Okay...on a happier note - this is my newest finished project - a jewelry set of a necklace, earrings and a bracelet, made with seed beads (of course ;), fire polished beads and with Swarovski crystal bicones and drops. A tutorial is available, both for Personal and Personal & Commercial use.

And below is my current work in progress - I'm making a necklace with an embroidered pendant with a Lisa Peters Art beautiful cabochon as the focal. Inspired by the gorgeous artwork of Bead Quilling Queen, Kathy King, I combined a little bead quilling for the first time in this work (it's a fun technique!). I hope I will be able to finish the necklace on time for the next Bead Art Originals color challenge. I still haven't decided on which kind of a necklace to attach the pendant to. BTW, Lisa Peters is attending the Bead&Button show (booth #1213) and she's offering some great deals at the show and in her Etsy shop. You can read all about it here.

Today is Shavuot holiday, the Jewish holiday I like most, especially because we eat many kinds of cheese and other yummy dairy food. I spent a great time yesterday afternoon preparing a nice holiday eve dinner, and I even got some help from my boy, who made us tasty pasta with cheese and vegetable sauce. The cold cheese cake is the only thing that is left from what I made, but I promise you it won't stay in the fridge for a lot longer... ;)

Happy Shavuot Holiday! !חג שמח

Spiky Branch Bracelet

This is my new bracelet named Spiky Branch. I couldn't decide if its pattern reminds me of a pineapple with its leaves or a palm tree with wide branches... Anyway, everyone in my family said it definitely reminds them of some kind of a branch...so branch it is! :) It's a relatively narrow bracelet, which is made with Miyuki long magatama beads, seeds, crystals and fire polished beads.


I love the long magatama beads, as they are offering more possibilities for a play with different textures and shapes in a piece. But their large, diagonal hole makes them quite challenging to work with. I was challenged by their unique shape in the past and have created Sparkling Wreath pendant / beaded bead, but this time I wanted to design something with a bit more of them in the piece and that's what I came up with. 
I learned a few things about this special beads while I designed this bracelet and I still have more of them in other colors and finishes, so playing with them isn't over yet... ;)

A tutorial for this bracelet is already available. I am also happy to let you know that all my tutorials are now available for both personal only and personal & commercial uses. 

A Trip to Marrakesh

One of the places that I am dreaming of visiting to is Marrakesh, the Moroccan "Red City". I'm not seeing a trip to Morocco happening in the future (not only because of personal reasons, but also because it's difficult for Israelis to enter this country freely), so for now I have to see the views of Marrakesh on the internet. I am fascinated and excited by the abundance of details, patterns and colors that are in the traditional Moroccan architecture, art and fabrics, and even their food and spices look more tastier and richer to me... The richness of colors and details makes me dizzy just by looking at the images on the screen. I wonder how it would feel to actually be there...I think I could happily get lost in a city like Marrakesh...

"Marrakesh" bracelet was inspired by patterns that can be found in Moroccan windows and home decor. I used beads in warm colors - reddish copper, copper, padparadsha and burgundy, that I found in many of Marrakesh images.

The other Marrakesh bracelet, in grey/blue colorway was created for the next BAO Color Challenge. Also, a tutorial for this bracelet is available, in case you would want to bead your own little piece of Marrakesh... :)

Below is a mosaic of a tiny bit of the amazing, beautiful, vibrant images of Marrakesh I found on Google Images. It worth the click if you are looking for excitement and inspiration...

BAO Color Challenge

This geometric net bracelet was created for the new Bead Art Originals Color Challenge. We had to pick any three colors from the beautiful image below for inspiration. I picked fuchsia, violet and light blue (there is light blue in the seed beads - fuchsia lined light blue AB, although the photo doesn't show it much..). Check out the BAO blog to see what other members of the team created for this challenge.

A tutorial for this bracelet is available

Crystal Flower Cuff

Asian Geometric Bracelet

About a quarter of this bracelet was beadwoven by my son. I think he did a great job! He is younger than I, and can concentrate in following a pattern much better than I do... ;D).
I thought I'd offer my kids something else to do during their Hannukah vacation from school, instead of the TV/PC routine... My daughter still didn't finish her bracelet (a different one, which we designed together), and I hope that now that the vacation is over, she will soon find the time to finish it. I don't have high hopes, though. Both my kids love to bead and find it relaxing, but they don't commit to finish anything they start... I guess Japanese Manga and Anime are much more attractive for them than playing with Japanese seed beads... ;)

So I had to finish this bracelet myself and can mark this one done!. A tutorial for it (including a few other design ideas) is also available now. Yay for a productive weekend!

 

Songs of Inspiration

Come vote on the EBW December challenge "Simon and Garfunkel songs of inspiration"! Visit the EBW blog from now until the 15th and vote for your favorite.

There are 34 entries in this challenge - all of them are beautiful! But my favorite entry is #12 - Hazy Shade of Winter by Triz Designs. This unique, GORGEOUS piece of wearable art took my breath away! And it's also a collaboration between Triz and Lisa Peters Art - another talented fellow member of the Bead Art Originals team, who created the beautiful hexagonal ceramic cabochon in the center of this wonderful bag. Check out the links above, and your heart will start singing.... ;)

Haze Shade of Winter - 
Bead Embroidered Bag by Triz Designs

Holidays Treasure Challenge

Come and see all 36 entries to the EBW November challenge - Holiday Treasures.
There are some really festive pieces in this challenge. My favorite is #23 by gypsyeyesjewelry. Such a beautiful composition in this necklace!
Voting for your favorite is only until the 15th, so don't miss this out!

"Champagne Under Starry Skies" by gypsyeyesjewelry

Mixed Media Necklace

This simple necklace is the only work I have managed to create in the last couple of days. I have this terrible back ache again, which also badly influence my arm functioning and makes it feel numb. Despite all the pain, I enjoyed playing with the different materials and techniques, and I like the simple look of it. The beautiful large disc beads are made from nut tree nutshell. "Nuts" is pretty much how I go now...;) I have a lot of work to do, and this backache is ruining all my plans! ;(

A New Pendant Design and Some Good News

 

I have finished working on Sparkling Wreath tutorial - a cabochon pendant with crystals and Miyuki long Magatama beads. Playing with the design, I came up with three versions of the pendant (two of them are included in the tutorial available).

Other ideas for using these beautiful Magatama beads, with their challenging diagonal hole, came up while working, but I had no time for trying them too, so they went straight into my 'ideas' notebook. I wonder if I will ever have the chance to try any of the ideas written in that notebook. It's either that I am working very slowly, or the time flies faster than before... but ok,....I will spare you the rest of my usual rant about the lack of time... ;P


My Star Pendant is published in the latest December issue of Bead & Button magazine (top right corner on the cover; project on p.48). A video instructing this project is also available for Registered Users on the Bead & Button website. Thanks to Anna Elizabeth Draeger for editing this project. It was a pleasure working with you, Anna!

More good news about publications came in yesterday - two of my projects are going to be published in the next (Vol. 6) Kalmbach publishing Creative Beading annual book. Also a project for a medallions bracelet - stitched in a new technique, is going to be published in the June/July 2011 issue of Beadwork Magazine. Double Yay!

My friends from Bead Art Originals group also have some Extra! news to tell, so check out our blog to read all about it.

EBW October Challenge and New Design with Tila Beads

EBW October challenge theme was "Autumn Falling of Leaves". Check out the EBW blog to see all 59 entries in beautiful, warm colors. My entry is number 33 on the list.

Also, there is a new tutorial available for a pendant and earrings made with Miyuki new Tila beads.