Heading into autumn

I have decided to enter the designer quest competition run by the Australian beading forum. This time the kit comes from cranberry beads. Its beautiful. I cant wait to get started. I chose the autumn pack.
It arrived on wednesday last week but I havent had a chance to do anything with it yet.

I have taught two classes at made by me beads in rolleston in the last 10 days so was busy writing my instructions and checking them. We did stitch workshops. Peyote spirals dutch, cellini spiral variations on twisted herringbone ropes and african helix. Busy days.

Seed bead bracelet swap

I really should have posted this bracelet swap before now. It was at least six months ago that I made it and sent it to my swap buddy - hi Julz : )

It took me ages to work out how to make 5 pointed stars that looked ok and then to join them together in a pleasing way. The border is RAW with bigger beads inserted in the gaps along the outside and sewn together on the inside to make the curves at the ends. The clasp end close up in the last picture is herringbone with czech firepolish beads.

Some new things for september/october

My first attempt at a beaded ring. The central bead is an 8mm czech firepolish bead. With czech teardrops on the sides and secured with seedbeads. The band is herringbone with size 8 seeds and I am not very happy with it, I think I need to use smaller beads and perhaps peyote to make it look less ugly. Though wearing it no-one notices the band except me.




This is the beaded bead from Scarlett Lansons Aurora Lariat in the aug/sept issue of beadwork.
I changed it a little though I put pink 5mm pointback rhinestones in the bezels instead of round crystal beads. I also didnt finish the pattern, I liked the smoky crystals on the base showing rather, than filling in the gaps with bezeled gemstones.

This necklace is cool. I bought some vintage (supposedly) austrian pointback rhinestones on trademe a few months ago. Bezeled around them using peyote stitch and they sat on my desk for a while until I had the idea of joining all the bezels together and making a beaded bead out of them. This is a prototype though the design needs a bit of fine tuning.


And lastly sunrise from a pattern by Vyolina, you can find her blog here vyolina's blog - perlomania - Skyrock.com

I made this one for a little girl that lost the last sunrise pendant I made her.

Winter

I did feel sorry for the old boy this morning - Frosted! He was very happy to get his hay.



I would also like to say thank you to Cindy for holding her competition for making fillagree fling on bead and button. A really big thank you as I won the competition and got five free tutorials!


here is the original bracelet in purple with orange accents that I made first then decided I didn't want a necklace in those colours

Winter on the farm

I worked so hard this morning. Most of the farm workers went to vacinate and teat seal the heifers today, I stayed with a couple of others and we had to feed all the cows this morning. 9 mobs of about 400 cows. Let them on to their straw first thing in the frost and I carried 20 kg bags of magnesium to their troughs on my shoulder through the mud that they create by being on a restricted area. After that we had to shift a mob that wanted to run I was in front trying to slow them down but they wanted to run being hungry. After that we had to give them their break of swedes. Also a hard job they are horrid things to walk in are swedes make you look completely pissed trying to walk in a straight line while trying to set up the electric fence ready for tomorrow.
I feel that I did some real work today rather than doing fencing or making irrigation bits. Yesterday was cool - I planted trees.

No beads today. I am still trying to write a story to go with my bead challenge piece that we - Beadhive divas are taking part in.

Hmm the must update blog resolution isnt going so well.

but I have been extremely busy beading. Lots of beaded beads and just lately I have been making a pattern from bead and button. Filagree fling, I have taken up the designers (Cindy Newcomer Daniel) challenge to make her bracelet pattern and then make something else using her stitch. I have broken 4 beading needles before I got my tension right. Though now its going well. I will post piccys here after the challenge is finished.

Must update the blog

I have been very slack and not done any updates for ages.
I thought I should start posting sold items.



This is a herringbone bracelet that was fun to make. It has a big foiled lampwork bead in it. I made it for a friend who requested pink to go with the necklace in the next photo.



















This is beaded beads designed by me. I figured out how to make these a couple of months ago.
This necklace went to russia.