Back In Time Blog Hop...Cave Girl Chic

My life has been a total crazy mess lately.  Too many commitments, too many responsibilities, WAY too much stress, and far too little time to deal with all of it.  But you are not here to hear about all of that!  This is a challenge continuing throughout the year, and it is hosted by Lindsay Starr and Sherry Stokey.

When I was working on my concept, I really wasn't sure which direction to go.  Our theme for this round was "Early Human".  Thank goodness, the Omaha Bead Affair hit at just the perfect time for purchasing the ingredients for this design.  A great amount of my details came from Darcy Horn, The Jade Dog. 

Handmade Polymer from Darcy Horn, The Jade Dog

Darcy is one of my favorite vendors and artists, as her funky style speaks to my artistic tastes!  So I purchased a bunch of these amazing spikes from Darcy (made by her!), some tiny sea urchin spines, and some very pretty Picasso finished size 8 seed beads.  To this mix I added spikes of tumbled picture jasper, Czech glass thorn beads, and some cool snakeskin finish Chinese crystals.  I wanted to make this huge complicated piece, but I just didn't have time and went with the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) design philosophy.  Here is what I came up with and I just LOVE it!  I made a matching pair of funky earrings with natural wood beads and of course every Cave Girl's favorite, Swarovski crystals!  No matter what era we live in, we all need to SPARKLE!

Me wearing my creation, bringing out my Inner Cave Girl

The set

the earrings

Details!

Here are the rest of the participants!  Hope you enjoy the Hop!

Lindsay Starr, Phantasm Creations: http://phantasmcreation.blogspot.com/…/beading-back-in-time…

Sherri Stokey, Knot Just Macrame: http://www.knotjustmacrame.com/…/beading-back-in-time-revea…

Susan Kennedy, Sue Beads: http://suebeads.blogspot.com/…/beading-back-in-time-blog-ho…
Stephanie Sanner Haussler, Pixybug Designs: http://www.pixybugdesigns.blogspot.com/ (not post specific link)
Jean Wells: http://jeanawells.indiemade.com/…/beading-back-time-install…
Jenny Davies-Reazor, http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/…/beading_back_time_blog_hop_r…
Michelle Ann McCarthy, Firefly Design Studio: http://www.fireflydesignstudio.blogspot.com/

The Heart of the Adventurer

This is my latest creation!  The Heart of the Explorer combines a handmade raku pottery heart cabochon (created by MAKUstudio or her Etsy store), a vintage button with a compass rose on it, Tim Holtz game spinner hands embellishments,  hand dyed Lucite flowers from Vintage Meadow Artworks, screw-in metal spike embellishments and California Gold Rush (color) seed beads in sizes 11, 15, and teardrops from Bead & Glass Boutique, vintage Swarovski crystals (reclaimed from a necklace purchased at an antique show), and a variety of Czech glass beads (pyramids, peanuts, half Tila, O beads, matte fire polish, and other seed beads) from Julie's Xpressions in Hastings, Nebraska.  Talk about exploration!  Look at all the styles of beads from all over the United States!  Too bad I haven't actually traveled to all the places I buy beads from!

My "philosphy" for bead embroidery:  Start with the focal and go for it!  I rarely start a piece with a design in mind!  This piece actually is one of the few that I have made that has NO Swarovski crystal cupchain!  (Gasp, how did I let that happen!)  Mostly, that happened because I had nothing that worked with the other colors of the piece.  Note to self, buy more cupchain to match everything!  Instead, I used some beautiful smoked topaz AB finish vintage Swarovski crystals reclaimed from an antique necklace I purchased and cut apart.  I know, that seems like sacrilege.  But, rather than that necklace lying unworn, it now has a new life!  Plus I reclaimed almost three vials of crystals to be used in many pieces! 

Other embellishments, the vintage button, Chris & Mina found for me on a visit to an antique store in Lincoln, while I was in a beading class.  The Tim Holtz game spinner hands can be used in SO many different ways!  I love when one craft medium can be merged with another!  You just never know what will add interest to a design.  The screw-in spikes were an item I had never used, but were very intriguing!  They come in different antique finishes, I used two antique brass and one antique copper on the upper left hand edge of the heart.  These were actually added to balance the design with the bead pyramids on the other side of the heart.

When I added the spikes, I wondered how to edge them.  I used size 15 seed beads to encircle them.  When I had completed those three, I liked the lacy look the rounded bead work added to the piece, so I continued it by adding the vintage crystals and the Lucite flowers.  At this point, I figured I had better stop before I added too much and complicated but didn't enhance the piece.  So the finishing edge was done with size 8 seeds topped with size 15 seeds and the tear drop beads.  It is brick stitch with the 15s and drops added as embellishment. 

The next challenge came when Chris tried to help me figure out how the piece should hang.  My first idea was to leave the shank on the button and attach the necklace with a lobster to each side of the piece.  This idea didn't work because of the weight of the piece.  So I did a square stitch bail and attached it when I was edging the piece.  The necklace design is of my own creating.  I used half Tila, O beads, and peanut bead and used the double needle weaving technique to put it together.  I used the ENTIRE tube of O beads, right down to the very last bead in the very last stitch!  Even though I am not a snake fan, the weave pattern and matte finish on the beads, gives the chain a snake skin look.  Hope you love it as much as I do!

New Jewelry Designs - Hugs & Kisses

It has been a long while since I have designed an original design.  With my Dad's passing in November, the grief and day to day demands have sucked hard at my creative stream.  Do you ever experience this?  I often feel as if there is nothing but the demands and dealing with them.  But with the new year it is time to get back in to the creative mode, shows are coming!  I designed this piece last night.  I started with an art pendant created by Melanie Brooks, Earthenwood Studios.  When I held it in my hand, I knew what the finished design would look like!  Does that happen in your world?  It rarely happens that way for my designs.  I added bunches of wire wraps with Chinese crystals and Czech glass beads.  There are also X and O letter tags added for a bit of whimsy, going for the hugs and kisses feel.  Those are from the scrapbooking embellishment aisle, made by The Paper Studio, Spare Parts.  I love hunting for the bits to add to a design to make it unique.  The letter tags match the matte antique silver finish on the chain also.

My Muse also urge me to create a couple pair of earrings.  When I did my end of the year inventory, I realized how many earrings I have in stock, yikes!  However, I get tired of looking at the same earrings, and they are so fun to make, I couldn't resist the siren's song!  The black pair are a matte finish Czech glass bead with peacock coating on the tiny triangle design.  I added odds and ends beads to pick up the colors in the peacock finish for the dangles.  The pretty hearts were made with Clay River Designs hearts and the dangles are Czech glass hearts and Chinese crystals.  Mina said she thought these look like Sweet Tarts candy, and would actually wear them!!!  I just about handed them over to her then and there!  It is a VERY RARE thing for my beautiful but low maintenance daughter to want anything to do with my jewelry!  I felt like she hugged me without even touching me!