Come To The Dark Side... ;)

 

Or to the light one, if that is what you prefer. ;)

 

 

Yep, that is the good thing with that kind of bracelet. It's a beaded crochet rope (of course! ;) ), made of Czech glass silver-lined seed beads, twenty beads per row and flattened, so I can actually wear it with the dark side on the front or the light one if that's what I feel like. The bronze and the beige work well together, and those silver sparkling holes actually make the bracelet look like its colours interfuse. The effect looks better for real though. Anyway, that's how the entire bracelet looks like:



The bronze/beige bracelet has been actually made as a second rope of that style. The first one, which also was my training bracelet, since I was just learning this technique of bead crocheting, was black and red, with a little bit of gold. Used Chech seed beads for that one too. Actually, this shade of red is one of my favourite colours amongst all of Preciosa/Jablonex beads. It has one big flaw though. The colour wears off easily. However, my affection for this colour and the need of using it as often as possible contributed to something good at least - I have found a great way for protecting the beads and no more wearing the colour off for me! ;D Wonder if I should share the secret, though. ;)

Well, that's how the mentioned above bracelet look like:

And it can be worn like this:

 Or this:

And no, the stripes aren't boring! Below you can see the proof that the statement was true for me. ;)
They only need to be finished now... oh well, making the right angle weave endings for all of them will probably require ten years or so... ;P

Hopefully I can finish them sooner, though. ;)

The project of my life ;)

At least until I make another one, I suppose. ;)

Well, I'm not a good planner. At least when it comes to jewelry. Whatever I plan to make, it turns out to be something completely different. From a simple pearl pendant to the project of my life? Of course it is possible! ;)

So yes, it was just started with a simple tiny beaded pendant, a glass pearl embellished with some black silver lined Czech seed beads and metal antique gold 3mm round beads. When I made it however, I wasn't really satisfied with it... there was something missing, only I didn't know what. Putting it inside a peyote three-dimensional open square perhaps? Why not, it was worth to give it a try. And so it has worked. ;)

Okay. So I had a pendant. But did it really fit as a pendant? Still it wasn't something I expected, wanted something more. If not a pendant, then a part of a necklace? Sounded like a better idea. But what should I hang it on? Seed beads? Wax cord? Beaded crochet rope? Couldn't really decide... Maybe all of them then? ;)

So there is a wax cord, and there is a beaded crochet rope too. Seed beads combined with more antique gold metal balls don't look too bad together I suppose. At least it made me quite satisfied with it.

And this is how the necklace looks like:

It couldn't remain a single piece of jewelry though, so decided to make two matching bracelets, of completely different style, and a pair of earrings. Was working for almost three days on them all... but I hope it was worth all the work.

Hopefully someone will like it enough to become an owner of this set. ;)

Beadwork, beadwork...

Yes, lots of beadwork this time. ;)

As I am running out of time, I have been working harder than usually, making as much jewelry as possible. Good thing there's only some simple jewelry to make now... all the more complicated projects are already finished. Here however you can see the simpler ones too. ;)

The beaded sphere that can be seen below was actually made more than two weeks ago. It was only waiting to get a bail, so it could work as a pendant. Now it's ready to be shown to the world. ;) It is the same dodecahedron as used in the earrings from here, only that it is bigger, measuring 2,5 cm (1") in diameter. A pattern that I have designed by myself, which I'm extremely proud of. ;)

This beaded bead is made of Czech seed beads as well as 6mm crackle beads.



Have made a few bracelets too, a necklace, some earrings... some others are still waiting to be finished though. One of the bracelets is a beaded crochet rope (yes, I can't live without bead crocheting for long), with a silver spectra bead as a focal point. The second one is a turquoise macrame bracelet, with a peyote bead... that one goes with matching earrings. The third one was extremely time consuming, as probably it is the first and the last bracelet of this style I have made. Twisted peyote isn't something for me I suppose... too tedious. ;)

But here they are:

The necklace is a pretty long (70cm - 27,56") twisted herringbone rope with two decorative diamond shape elements, made with cubic right angle weave. Since it is possible to slide the rope through one of them, its length can be easily adjusted. I don't even want to count the hours I spent on making it... ;)

And finally, some small, simple earrings... Cubic right angle weave stitch combined with peyote, and light green metalic spectra beads. At least I could make them in less than two hours. ;)

And that's all... at least for this post.

Because another set I have recently made, deserves its very own blog entry... ;)

So see you soon again. ;)



Beaded ring, beaded bracelet...

It's not going to be a long entry... I'm too much in a hurry to do some other thing now. ;)

I almost never make rings. So far have made only two. So I don't really know why I decided to make another one... Actually it was supposed to be a pendant when I started making it, only soon enough I realized that it might look even better as a ring... And so there it is. ;)

Unfortunately I screwed it up a bit so it can't be for sale, but I like it enough to keep it for myself. ;)

Also have finished another beaded crochet bracelet recently. The crochet rope is accompanied by a double-sided peyote triangle. Think it will remain mine as well. ;)

The Earrings Challenge - Part 3

Yes, so that is part 3 of the challenge, probably the last part too, as the 14 pairs of earrings has been finished, just like it was planned. Time to make some other things now... preferably my favourite pendants, although it's quite likely that I'll make some more earrings too...

That will be the end of wire-wrapping for now too, as I definitely need some break from it. Returning to bead weaving instead, so probably my fingers will be grateful for it, not being hurt with the wire anymore. Before I make some other beaded jewelry though, time to show the last four pairs, completed recently. They all are made, as always, of silver plated copper and are oxidized to light grey color.

So here they are:

Next time there will be more beadwork to see. :)

Another wire-wrapped pendant... and a wolf bracelet ;)

Okay, no earrings this time. Need to get some rest from making them. ;)

Have made something else instead. To be honest, it was supposed to be an earring, but when I made one I realized it might be a little bit too heavy for an earring, so instead of making another one, I decided to make a necklace out of it... Used a silver foil glass bead for it and I'm almost tempted to keep it for myself. Or at least make another one that I could keep. ;)

The pendant is 3,4 cm (1,34") wide in diameter (without the bail) and you can see it below:

And a close-up:

Well, most likely the necklace will be for sale. But not the bracelet that I have just finished too. Have been playing around with a transparent resin recently, and since this certain wolf picture is quite special to me, decided to make use of the possibilites that the resin gives and turn the picture into something I can wear. It's just a simple black macrame bracelet and it is going to be mine and only mine. ;)



The Earrings Challenge - Part 2. Back to wire-wrapping

So here we are, the Earrings Challenge is being continued again.

Not quite sure if I can still call it the challenge, since the idea of it died very quickly, as some other duties... yes, let's call it duties, although it was just a kitten, a monster kitten though, haven't let me do much. Had to hide the beads deeply if I didn't want to risk losing them... tried to hide my hands too to keep them safe, but with that I was constantly failing. ;) Eventually the little twister luckily has found a new loving owner, so I could get back to beading.

And not only beading. Whole ages have passed since I played around with wire for the last time... Once favourite jewelry making technique has been forgotten for a few years. Thought however that it might be a good idea to see if I can still work with wire... have I succeeded? I don't know. I know that my fingers were extermely aching the day after I returned to the wire-wrapping. Now though they're getting better, so I can continue with making more wire earrings once I post this entry.

The effects of my last days' work you can see below.

The earrings are made of silver plated copper, oxidized (at least the first three pairs) to achieve a dark grey colour of the metal. It didn't fit to the last pair though so it is going to keep the light silver innocent look. In all of the earrings the wire is accompanied by the wax pearls in different sizes and colours as well as the metal beads. And they required *a lot* of time to be finished... well, wire-wrapping is very time consuming, but the effect is worth the hard work.

But I couldn't forget about bead weaving either... And since I liked the beaded dodecahedrons from here quite much, decided to make some more of them. This time a little bit bigger than the last ones, since I used the bigger seed beads. They measure 1,8 cm (0,71") in diameter.

And another pattern that I decided to recreate... Originally it was designed as a beaded ball made of seed beads along with 6mm pearls. Good for a pendant, but not for the earrings, since it was just too big. It was almost a challenge too to make it smaller, so I could use 4mm beads and make the spheres more fitting for earrings. The earrings are already finished, as you can see in the picture below...

... and another pendant of this desing is being made and that's how the original one looks:

The next pair of earrings is quite simple, made of tiny metal beads using a cubic right angle weave stitch. The pearls however aren't that orange for real... the picture lies in this case. ;P

And the last piece of jewelry that I have managed to complete. A tiny wire wrapped pendant that is only 2cm (0.79") wide in diameter. Some wire, some chain, some metal beads and a gemstone I cannot name... couldn't oxidize it either, so it will remain the way it is...

Hopefully I can show some more effects of my work soon. :)

The Earrings Challenge

More than a month now to the market event, where my jewellery is going to debut... Feels like a lot of time, but in fact not too much to make enough items it seems... That problem I'm trying to solve with The Earrings Challenge - my private challenge to make one pair of earrings every day - at least during the first two weeks. Only then I can make some other projects. Well, so far I have managed to make two pairs... wanted to make something simple to be honest, but apparently it is beyond my possibilities and I spent almost two hours on one earring instead... ;P

The main part of the first pair are very tiny dodecahedrons (only 1,5 cm/0,6") made of black and grey silver-lined seed beads.  They are nothing else but simple beaded balls, just with one additional layer of beads. The dodecahedrons are combined with a square charm in matching colours, stitched with a cubic right angle weave.

The second pair was made again with cubic right angle weave, this time formed to a round shape. Woven with small metal balls, embellished with hematite seed beads and with a matte glass pearl hidden inside them. They were extremely time consuming, even though they aren't very big - each of them is only 2,5 cm (1 inch) wide in diameter.

And beyond any challenge I managed to make one more thing within the last few days. A transparent octagon Preciosa crystal, bezelled with grey (matte and silver-lined) and white seed beads, as well as 4mm bicone Swarovski crystals. Looks like a grey sunflower to me and it is going to be one of my favourite pendants. :)

And now it's time to start making more earrings! ;)

Bezelled octagon and a beaded crochet rope

When I have found some Preciosa 18mm octagons for a very reasonable price, couldn't just help but order a few, although I didn't know what I could use them for at that time. Especially one of them, Bermuda Blue, has drawn my attention and it was the first I decided to work with. Its colour really makes me dream of lying on the beach on some tropical island and watching the wide, clear, turquoise ocean... Gods, I think I need some vacation! ;)

Too bad it is impossible at the moment and my Bermuda Blue crystal needs to serve some other purpose to not remind me of any holidays. Only had to dress it in snowy white seed beads and it has become a perfect focal bead in another beaded crochet bracelet. It doesn't look like a octagon anymore though, but who said that only round rivoli crystals could be bezelled to achieve a similar effect? ;)

Yes, I love making beaded crochet ropes. I can make two bracelets in just one evening, while on some more complex projects I have to work for many hours... So I have finished quite a few of them recently and have a few more in my nearest beading plans. Like making a similar bezelled octagon, this time a Vitrail Light one, with a double rope in matching violet and light blue. It will have to wait a few days though... Until then you can see some of the latest crocheted bracelets I have made.

Like this one, with a beaded sphere again, this time used as a charm...

...and this one, with a charm of a different shape, made with cubic right angle weave stitch...

...and two more with the beaded spheres (I must be crazy about them since I make them so often)...

...and the last one, made of transparent beads, with a shading effect given entirely by the floss.

I'm pretty sure that's not the end of the beaded crochet ropes on here yet. ;)

Beaded "donuts"

The pattern for this pendant was designed some time ago, when I was making it as a gift. Originally it was blue and ecru, and I liked it enough to create some other one too. It is double sided and consists of wax pearls, seed beads and fire polished beads. The red one however was modified a bit by adding a few bicone crystals on the edge.

And that's how it looks like:

However, I liked the blue version of this pattern quite much, so decided to recreate it. This time without any embellishment on the edge of it.

Both pendants are 4 cm (1,57") wide in diameter.

Beaded crochet bracelet

Must admit that I was very impressed when I saw the beaded crochet ropes for the first time. Mostly because crocheting sounded like a black magic to me. Yet, I couldn't give up too quickly, even though most of the tutorials available throughout the web haven't been very helpful to me. However once finally I've managed to learn it (thank you, weraph, for your wonderful tutorial!), it has become one of my favourite beading techniques. For ropes like this I have tried tubular peyote stitch before, but crochet ropes are faster to make, easier, and - what is the most important - are very flexible without losing their tubular shape.

This bracelet was waiting for over a week to be finished though, since I couldn't decide what kind of focal bead would fit to it. Eventually made a beaded sphere, using a peyote stitch. Think it was the best choice. ;)

Couldn't help myself though and had to make two more beaded spheres for earrings, however they are slightly smaller than the one used in the bracelet. Their size doesn't exceed 14 mm.

Should make more beaded crochet bracelets soon I think... :)

The very first post… ;)

So this is how it looks like…

Gods, would have never thought that I might be running a blog some day, yet it has just happened. Oh well, it cannot be that hard, can it? Hopefully it can’t. ;)

This blog is going to be about hand-made jewellery, as well as some other artisan crafts. Jewellery though will be the main subject of it. So far you, my dear visitors, can see only some older works, but it will surely change quite soon, I promise.

So… enjoy. :)