Made a little progress on my bead stash....

In my last post, I showed pics of my latest hoard purchase of gorgeous beads from Happy Mango Beads.  This is what I have made..so far.

First up, I made a pair of earrings with these lovely lapis chips and ancient chevron beads from Nepal.  I had a hard time deciding on silver or copper...I obviously picked copper! 

Next, I paired the Burmese Jade Chips with these gorgeous hand formed porcelain leaves from Scorched Earth.  My goodness, the colors in these leaves are just stunning...blues...greens...pops of gold!  These earrings were a bear to photograph!

Keirsten Giles recently posted a wire wrapping tip on the Art Jewelry Elements blog - you take heavy gauge wire (in the case below, 16 gauge), flatten it, and just make simple loops.  This is quite effective when using large holed beads, such as the recycled glass I used in this necklace.  I will not lie - this took a long time to hammer, wrap, file the edges smooth, trip the edges, file again, wrap.  Repeat.  But I love the look!

In fact, I loved the look so much, that I made a longer necklace as well.  This one uses the same gray sandcast beads as the short necklace, above.  But I added complementary recycled beads to pull the colors out of those awesome stripes.

While making this necklace, I was craving root beer hard candy!  Anyone else remember those root beer barrels?  Loved them!

This was made with no clasp - just slips over the head.   

The picture below shows the two necklaces worn together.  I might add, this picture was taken in natural light outdoors. My photo booth tends to make those yellow beads look a tad on the neon side - trust me - they are not neon! I think the two look great when worn together.

This last bracelet I made this weekend features gorgeous - and I mean drop dead gorgeous - lampwork beads by Beads and Botanicals.  They are tiny - but each one is truly a genuine work of art.  

I took a picture of the beads in my hand so you could see how small they are.  I added tiny (3mm) bone beads to the mix, also from Happy Mango Beads  and a tiny artisan copper charm by Kristi Bowman Design..

I don't often make multiple strand bracelets - they are difficult for me!  But I love how this one turned out.  

My hands are still black from buffing all the liver of sulfur off of the copper!

So...that was my weekend.  I did also take time to spend outdoors - the weather was absolutely fantastic here in Northern Virginia.  Not for long...humidity starts tomorrow.  Ugh...

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

xo

Patti

I may have gone just a tad overboard.....

It's never a good idea to shop for beads...from your IPad...late at night...sitting on the couch....when it is quiet and you are bored....or is it?

Well, I did just that two days ago...at Happy Mango Beads.  And I received the biggest package in the mail today (TWO DAYS!!!).  Want to see my loot?

Look at all that lusciousness!!  Here are a few close-ups of my favorites (okay...they are all my favorites!)

I have been totally enamored with recycled glass beads (above).  They are handcrafted and are not perfectly round - love that organic feel - but they are perfectly frosty and matte.

Lapis Lazuli Chips - these are quite large - one of my favorite gemstones.  The beads in the middle of the above picture - with the unique striping are Sandcast Glass beads - made from crushed glass.  The bottom lentil shaped beads are also recycled glass - love this shape!

Burmese Jade discs - I am in love with every single color here!

This last pic features Russian Amazonite (third strand from the top) gemstones in a lentil shape and old Chevron Beads from Nepal - those may be my favorite of the whole bunch!

Now, if I could just find the time to make something with all these beauties!

Tomorrow is Friday - can I get a collective YEAH???!!!

Thanks for stopping by today!!

xo

Patti

Happy Birthday

Today is my Father's Birthday.  He would have been 85 years old....he left us over 9 years ago and not a day goes by without missing this most special Dad.    Since this is also Memorial Day Weekend, I thought I would share this most awesome photo of him.

On this Memorial Day Weekend, let's not forget the true meaning of this most special Holiday.  I'd like to thank all those who have served for my freedom, past, present, and future, as well as their loved ones.  

Please - BE SAFE!

Thanks for stopping by!

xo

Patti

Goodbye!

Yesterday turned out to be quite an emotional day for me.  Although I moved into my new home in the beginning of March, I had settlement on my "old" home yesterday.  I went there in the morning - one last time - to make sure the mail box was empty and everything was "just right" for the new home owners.  That's when it hit me...it's not mine anymore!

Thirteen years were spent in this house - no this HOME.  I turned 40 here...hell, I turned 50 here!  My Sam and Abby - God rest their souls - were raised here...my father passed away when I lived here.  Sarge absolutely LOVED this fully treed backyard!  SO.MANY.MEMORIES.  I really did not expect the water works to flow...but they did.  I snapped the photos below yesterday, from my phone.

Two of my all time favorite trees are at this house. 

This Birch Tree, above grew so tall in 13 years - taller than the house itself.  It provided much need shade in the summer, and who doesn't love the bark of a birch tree when its last leaves fall?

My Japanese Maple - I swear, the leaves were a different brilliant hue every single day!  Man, I love this tree!

This is not to say I do not not love my new home, and I do!  It was just very hard to say good bye to this home!

I hope the new homeowners create as many wonderful memories as I did! Sniff! :)

Happy Wednesday - thanks for stopping by!

xo

Patti

Spotlight on Kristi Bowman Designs

My last post featured a few earrings made with gorgeous white copper clay from artist Kristi Bowman (her shop can be found here).  Well, I ran out, so I had to buy some more!

I ordered a few copper components for earring pairs, and a pair of white copper clay Coptic Crosses.  Kristi was extremely generous and included much more than I originally ordered!  Kristi - a fellow horse lover (who is not a horse lover???) - wanted to help me in my continuing efforts to raise funds in support of Miracle Horse Rescue.

Look at all these beauties!

I am particularly fond of these copper Buddha charms

And look at the design possibilities with these!  Her ability to achieve such a lovely patina with a torch amazes me!

I chose these to work with first - Goddess Charms

Not only is the texture and the color phenomenal, but there is just the slightest arc in those charms - that arc is what causes the copper to reflect the light so perfectly!

I topped these beautiful Goddess charms with equally lovely, organic lampwork beads by Juith Billig

Judith entitled these beads Turquoise Relics - I love the name as much as the beads!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart Kristi!!  Please be sure to visit Kristi's shop - I could spend all day there!

Thanks for stopping by today - have a lovely weekend!  And, Happy Mother's Day!!!!

xo 

Patti