fast felted fun and bright colours!

I just recently went to the Fiber Festival nearby, and had to step out in style while I was there.  This easy and fast Bracelet was just the thing!  I used Needle felted beads; glass, matte finish, black beads; Fireline, and a magnetic clasp.

Lemon and Lime time!

A great necklace for a hot summer day at the beach. Don't forget the to accessorize with ice cold lemonade!

I used one strand of graduated chalk turquoise, and dyed mother of pearl 6mm rounds. A simple toggle clasp finishes this one off. The beads are stung with 12 lb Beadalon, and secured using tube crimp beads

When it comes to the chalk turquoise in green, fuschia, and purple, I have to adnit, at first, I had my doubts. It just looked kind of "off" in the catalogue pics and on-line. BUT! Once I saw it in person, I was hooked.

Yes I know it has been dyed and stabilized, and it really isn't "natural." But how could I resist all that eye popping colour in three of my favorite shades?

With that note, I hope everyone is starting off their summer healthy, happy, and surrounded by family and friends. Wearing this summer bright necklace, you can be queen of the B-B-Q! (Just make sure it is Eastern North Carolina vinegar style Bar-B-Que!!)

experimenting with alcohol based inks

I have been wanting to play with the alcohol based inks for some time. These inks are quick drying, and easily adhered to non porous materials, and make a great option for custom coloring metals, glass, and plastics.

For just a few minutes of effort (about 30 minutes all told), I was able to make this bright and summery bracelet, using the colours cranberry, lettuce, and eggplant. The scan above, doesn't give the bright colours justice.

I decided to start with something inexpensive - the reasoning that if I messed it up, I wasn't out too much of an investment. I also love cheap plastic buttons of any kind. I decided to use a package of mixed, white, plastic buttons.

I reused an yogurt lid as my palette, and placed very small puddles of ink, one colour at a time. It's important to use small amounts at a time, because this stuff dries incredibly fast. Small amounts helps prevent wastage.

I then dipped an edge of each button in a colour and strung them on a piece of wire to dry. You can also lay them carefully on a piece of newspaper as well.

One or two wanted to stick together, but were easily pried apart. Since only the edges would show, the stuck together areas didn't bother this project. But if the flat areas were to show, I would have redone them - the colour was patchy where it stuck.

If a nice even colour were needed, I think placing the button on a tooth pick first, then dipping, would be a better approach. Then the tooth pick could be seated in a block of foam while the button dried.

This bracelet was quickly strung using several passes of Fire Line. However, were I to make another one, I would definitely use beading wire and crimps. I also strongly recommend building in a bit of slack in the tension to allow the bracelet some movement and curve. Sometimes you have to make mistakes to learn!

Hope this inspires you to experiment!

A gift for a friend is finished

I just finished this week, a necklace bracelet set. This is very easy to duplicate. I used 4mm ab crystals, rondells of black stone, 4mm and 6mm red fossil beads, (3) 8mm red fossil beads, and (2) 8mm crystals. The clasp is a grape leaf toggle from Blue Moon.

spirals

This was based on a picture I saw in one of my friends beading books. She has a huge collection of Japenese beading books (Run out and get some, if you can!) and this design really caught my eye. I wish I knew what book it was from.

I love the colour of the turquoise pebbles. I know it's dyed, but it's still cool.

glub, glub, glub...

Here's a stringing project I did at a bead party years ago. It's been languishing in closet with a lot of early stuff. I really should drag this stuff out more often. I wanted the mother of pear discs to look like bubbles. I also did a small hair clasp tassel -- This was when I had a lot more hair!

digging in the closet

Went in the closet and dug out some older stuff. This is pink coral and silver-grey stick pearls strung together.

multi strand choker

This was an experiment I did a couple of months ago. I had just gotten a bead spinner and wanted to try something with multiple strands. The bead spinner worked great! I also tried to hide the clasp, but should have set it a bit deeper inside the focal piece in front. I used bead crochet and a varigated pastel thread to creat the focal piece.

I did this up as a gift for a friend. It went together really fast.

The necklace uses a mother of pearl pendant, size 11 seeds, and top drilled potato pearls. I used a mother of pearl button for the clasp.

I use the mother of pearl buttons for clasp pretty often. One - they're pretty. Two: I found several packages of them on sale! Three: I use pearls and mother of pearl often - so they match.