Dreaming of Pastels

One year ago yesterday - I bought these beads from Donna Millard - and they are so special!  I have kept them on my desk, in a handmade ceramic bowl for a year now, where I smile every time I look at them!  The colors of these beads emanate from the inside out.  Soft pastels, with specs of color, in a chunky nugget shape, with a soft, matte finish.  Ahhh....

It was time I did something with these beads.  I have a dress that has all of these colors.  So, I made myself a necklace.  Something I NEVER do, as my jewelry box is stuffed with jewelry from more talented artists!

Anyway, I soldered a few rings from heavy silver wire and added texture.  Some of these beads have actual gold leaf on the outside.

I am not normally drawn to pastels - I am more an earth tone, blue jean kinda girl.  But these beads...

Made a simple pair of earrings with the purple beads, too.

I would normally add patina to the silver, and throw the whole thing in my tumbler.  But, I had concerns that the finish on the beads could not handle the buff and tumble.  So, I kept it shiny.  I made a toggle clasp from one of Cindy Wimmer's design from her book - The Missing Link.  This will be worn with the clasp to the side, as opposed to the back of the neck.

I believe Donna has outdone herself on these beads.  My only sorrow is that now I have to visit my jewelry box to look at them, instead of my ceramic bowl on my bench!  I think I can handle that!

On a side note, I am running a special sale in my shop - hay prices in Nevada have gone sky high.  So, all proceeds from my shop will be donated to Miracle Horse Rescue so they can feed these special, rescued furbabies.

Thanks for stopping by - hoping your last weekend of Spring is wonderful!

xo

Patti

Wrap It Up

I have been having tons of fun creating with the beads generously donated to me by Maryse of Glass Bead Art - all proceeds from the jewelry made with her beads are donated to Miracle Horse Rescue.

First up is the this bracelet, which features an awesome lampwork focal in blue and white - with silvered ivory webbing swirled throughout the glass.

I may have mentioned that Santa brought me an oval disc cutter for Christmas - and I have been putting it to use! I cut two ovals and hammered them with the flat edge of my riveting hammer - love this texture...it reminds me of tree bark for some reason.  Anyway, after annealing and softening the copper, I folded them over for bead caps.

The colors in this bead remind me of ancient Chinese porcelain - so pretty!  I added a few swirled links with coils.

I dressed up the hook clasp with two coiled layers as well.

I am very happy to report that this bracelet has sold - thank you! (The equine residents say "thank you", too)!

Maryse sent me quite a few focal beads in her batch of lovelies.  I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I wanted to continue on my quest to make every link in Cindy Wimmer's new book, The Missing Link.  One of the links uses square wire, which I have never used before.  I bought the wrong gauge - I needed 16 gauge and bought 18, so I told myself, "that will be one link you will never make, Patti".  I mean, I have a pound of 18 gauge wire here! I have made a few clasps with the 18 gauge wire so far, and I must come up with other ways to use it up!

But then, I read Mary Harding's recent post, Inspired by Reading.  Mary made an absolute work of art inspired by a book - and she made those same links.  Her necklace is drop dead amazing!  I immediately logged on to Rio Grande and ordered the 16 gauge square wire! (Thanks for this inspiration Mary!) :)

Mary stated in her blog that it took "countless hours" to make this chain - and I can attest to this first hand!  Mary called it "The Magnificent Chain"...and it is! :)  Square wire takes getting used to- at least for me!  The hardest part was winding the wire around a mandrel for the jump rings - that wire just wants to twist and turn and "unsquare" itself! :)  

This link is fabulous - even though it did take a full day to create enough links and jump rings for the chain! 

Note:  I am experimenting with backgrounds for my photos.  The photo above was taken on a sheet of 18% Gray photo paper - you can truly see the actual colors of the jewelry using this background!

I have self titled this focal Root Beer - it has a lovely caramel colored, translucent glass, with a froth of foam on the top - Yum!  Thank you again, Maryse!!

Image above also using the photo paper.  I am in a quandary, as I like both images.  But, the photo paper, in my eyes, makes my jewelry feel cold and naked - yet 100% true to color.  I dunno...I am at an impasse!  I swear, I took about 60 photos of this necklace - 30 on the photo paper and the other 30 on my natural granite slab.  

I also  keep forgetting to put clothes on Lolita before I take pictures!  But Lolita stands in my basement and her clothes are two floors up.  'Nuff said!

It is a glorious day in Northern Virginia - the sun is shining so bright and it is cold! Yeah for me - my favorite kind of day!  I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

xo
Patti

Cabochons

I LOVE cabochons - gemstone, lampwork, polymer - all of the them.  In my attempts to practice my bezel soldering, I acquired some beautiful lampwork cabs from Sue Kennedy at Sue Beads.  Two of the classes at ArtBliss this year focused on soldering, one of them included cabs. It is so much easier to do with a teacher there!

This lampwork cab below- made by Sue - features a beautiful, transparent green glass with swirls.  In our class last year, we added silver embellishments to the design.  While I kinda like how this turned out, I see so many flaws.  I sawed around the back plate free form - intentionally. It's not perfect...I will freely admit that sawing is also something I need to work on!  I kept wishing I had a Beth or Evie McCord (EB Bead and Metalworks) as my neighbor, as I am convinced that either one of them can expertly saw anything in their sleep!

I also wanted to experiment with solder paste.  I will not be using that again too soon! LOL!  I made the silver balls from scrap fine silver and added what I thought was the tiniest amount of solder paste to the balls....there is excess solder on this backplate near those decorative balls that I just cannot remove - and I have tools for this! :)  

I am pleased with the bail, though!  Dear sweet Mom loved it - so I had some jade beads in my stash that matched this cab perfectly. So, Mom got a new necklace and earrings.

I have more cabs in my stash and I WILL GET BETTER! :) 

The next one I made is a very simple design. The colors in this glass just POP!

This was a gift for another person I know who was very recently struck with Cancer.  Have I mentioned how much I HATE the "C" word?   In November, she had a bad cough..thought it was a cold.  It was not a cold.... Prayers to her please!

This necklace had to be 100% handmade...so the link is another one of Cindy Wimmer's designs from her new book, The Missing Link.  I have made this necklace design before...for another woman struck with Cancer, and her friend whose father also suffers from this horrid disease.

I added a heart to remind her that she is loved by many.

Life is good...life is short...hug your loved ones!

Thanks for stopping by!

xo

Patti

Countdown!

For the past few years, I have been a vendor at a friend's house in Arlington, Virginia for an open house she holds to raise money for a cause near and dear to her heart - Borromeo Housing, Inc. (BHI).  BHI serves homeless mothers, ages 16-23, who are pregnant with their first child or have one child.  They provide a safe and loving home environment and the opportunity for full-time scholastic endeavor for young mothers who are interested in striving for a brighter, self-sufficient future.  My friend, Dani, selflessly opens her beautiful home to many vendors and offers a comfortable, holiday-themed environment to kick off THE Shopping Season.  In addition to the myriad vendors, her sister Cathy provides some of the most awesome food throughout the entire day (that is reason enough to attend!)  Fortunately (or unfortunately for me!), my table is situated right smack dab next to the kitchen....score!!

On Saturday - 2 days later - I am attending for the second year the St. Timothy's Catholic Church Fall Craft Fair, in Chantilly, Virginia.  The majority of the over 100 artisans attending this event feature handmade goodies- I hope I have time to shop!!!

I am hoping and praying that I did not over-extend my self!  Luckily, my sister has volunteered her time for Saturday (thank you Lori!)!  Anyhoo, I have been busy trying to make enough stock! First up, last week, Jeannie Dukic posted a picture on FB of one of her stunning polymer clay pendants and matching charms.  I no longer make Christmas-themed jewelry 'cause I don't wear it!  But, this is winter themed!  I pounced on them and ripped the package open on Saturday morning!

I just LOVE the Ice Blue color - winter sky blue! In my head, the pendant did not need any other beads, so I made a chain with one of Cindy Wimmer's links from The Missing Link. Simple links between the tri-wrapped link work perfectly with this design.

I kept the earrings super simple - I did not want them to compete with the necklace.

I have found myself playing with hoop designs, too.

Donna Millard had a slam dunk when she chose this particular shade of green for these beads - they have a black base, and are so, so pretty in person!

Lovely porcelain from Jenny Davies Reazor, paired with faux sea glass.

I bought these tiny little charms at artBliss from Diana of Suburban Girl Studio. They are so sweet and tiny, I wanted to keep it simple.

The pattern and color on these charms instantly reminded me of Pfaltzgraff - Yorktowne pattern...anybody else grow up with these dishes????

Source:  www.replacements.com

I am putting my Etsy shop on vacation today to prep, and will reopen it sometime on Sunday.  I cannot believe Thanksgiving is right around the corner...and you know what that means?  Black Friday...ugh!  I will not be anywhere near a big box store - or any store - starting November 29th through the Christmas Holiday!  The wonderful folks over at Love My Art Jewelry have been writing some awesome posts lately, specifically related to Handmade. If you are a handmade artist or jewelry-related designer and have not done so yet, scroll through the posts this month - there are some awesome tips for artists selling their wares this season.   So, I leave you with this image:

Thank you so much for stopping by - have a wonderful week!

xo
Patti

Winner!

The winner of this wonderful book

by Cindy Wimmer is....

Lynda Carson of Fresh Baked Designs!!

Lynda - please email me (pattivan@comcast.net) your address and I will get this book out to you via snail mail!!

Thank you everyone!

A Mish-Mash of Goings On....

Well, my Fundraising efforts on behalf of Miracle Horse Rescue have yielded just over $2,500 from September 5 - October 31st - $2,543.00 to be exact!  Thank you to everyone who shared my photo bombs on Facebook, including my Sales Ads!  

I have decided that I want to continue my efforts, and revamped my listings a bit.  From now on, 50% of all proceeds from sales in my shop will be donated to Miracle Horse Rescue.  Except, items made from the generosity of those artists who have donated beads to me - I am donating 100% of the proceeds from those sales.  Many thanks to Jan Onipenco of Molten Mayhem and Jeannie Dukic of  Jewelry by Jeannie!  

I am very slowly working through my stash of lampwork beads from Jan.  Specifically, this set:

The focal bead is quite large 1 1/4" - and the colors are just fabulous!! I made a necklace with  - yes - a link from Cindy Wimmer's new book, The Missing Link.

This link is the Corona link - I love the bare wire and coils together in one link!

I had EXTREMELY bright sunshine this morning - so taking Lolita outside for a photo session was not going to happen.  So instead, she stood in front of my closed basement door in natural daylight - I think this picture looks passable!

Yep - I made earrings with the two smallest beads in the set - these are so lightweight!

I have managed to carve an hour here..an hour there...to make other items as well.  I have 3 shows coming up, so time is of the essence!

Cute little lampwork birdie and matching beads by Donna Millard.

This sweet bronze flower charm by LeAnn Weih was begging to be attached!

I added another link from Cindy's book here - it's double hoops wrapped together.   In her book, the links are larger - these are teeny tiny!

Matching earrings with hand cut bead caps. Love the rustic finish on these beads.

I finally made the ear wires for my fold formed leaves!  Those are actually garnets nestled inside the leaves - another stone that just not photograph well!  They are actually a deep, deep red.

Tiny (4mm) Sun Stone cubes.  I added a teeny weeny tendril in copper.

More gorgeous lampwork from Donna Millard.

Instead of plain hoops, I added coils to these - very small!  The rustic rounds are by Jody Brimhall of Inspire Glass Studio.

I had two of these lovely, turquoise lampwork beads by Lynda Cogbill of Lyndas Lampwork left over from my bracelet I gave away a couple of weeks ago.  This is my favorite style of earring, made from heavy gauge wire and a large loop at the top.  Perhaps I like this because I get to bang the metal and let out any frustrations...I dunno...

I still cannot believe it is November 2nd!  Halloween was a relative bust in my neighborhood.  Although the forecast was for rain to hold off until well after 9:00 PM, it starting coming down in buckets by 6:30 PM.  Poor kids! And, someone had the audacity to post on Facebook that there are only 9 Sunday's until Christmas!  Ugh.....

Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!  Thanks so much for stopping by!