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/

Bead Peeps Swap N Hop, Part 2: Meet Lori Alainn Blanchard

I too am participating in the Bead Peeps Swap N Hop!  My lovely partner, Lori Alainn Blanchard, lives in Ohio.  Lori & I are paired up in the Seed Bead category of the Hop.  Here are a few of Lori's beadiful, beautiful creations! 

Sugar Skull bracelet, design by FunPatternDesigns, beaded by Lori

I thought this was an appropriate design to share since it is Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras Time!  Lori used the pattern and added some of her own touches when she beaded it.

Alainn Jewelry on Facebook

I was very taken with these Pop Culture bracelets designed and beaded by Lori.  Aren't they fabulous?! (You can also find Lori on Etsy: My Alainn Jewelry ).

Lori and I had quite the conversation about our "fur kids".  She has dogs and cats (with one troublemaker in the group).  Here are the photos she shared with me.

Not sure which one is the culprit, but they look like they would be fun to live with!  Lori also shared with me that she is the baby of her family, she is 29 (gosh I felt so OLD!), and has been with her husband for 7 years.  We share a love and passion for seeds and all the new shaped seed beads.  We also enjoy beading objects and bead embroidery is a favorite. 

I have quite the stash of goodies pulled for Lori, and can NOT wait to see what she has for me!

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!

Stephanie Recommends

It has been awhile since I did one of these posts (or any posts for that matter, SORRY!) so I thought would update you on some wonderful shops which I LOVE to shop at here on the internet.
UnkamenSupplies on Etsy:

On Edge Square Bronze and Stainless Steel Bracelet

 Ralph, Karen, and their family are fabulous to work with and they make top quality jump rings for chainmaille designs.  Their kits contain everything you need (and isn't this new design amazing?!) and they are above and beyond fabulous in the customer service department.  We have worked with them many times on many projects and we couldn't be happier.  There are plenty of places to buy supplies for chainmaille, but this is our favorite and first go-to spot to start.  Tell them we sent you!

ikandiclay on Etsy:

Mini Kaleidoscope Cane (Polymer Clay)

I came across the ikandiclay shop on Etsy last year when I was looking for small, pretty polymer beads to make earrings with.  Ivy (who lives in Omaha) makes gorgeous polymer beads and canes and what amazes me is that while the picture above shows you the beautiful details of her work, it is only part of the story.  This picture shows you the actual size and it is indeed MINI!

You can learn more about Ivy's beautiful work at her website ikandiclay.com and she also shows you how she makes her canes and how you should bake them to make them into pieces or beads.

Mimi's Gems 
I came across Mimi's when I was hunting for glue in Tierracast bails for Chris's new pendant beads he is making.  Then I fell in love with her prices, selection, and fantastic service!  She has a huge amount of Tierracast at some really awesome prices (and you can order the full package of the style).  She has a wide variety of Swarovski crystals in colors and styles I hadn't seen before too.  They are getting ready to move their store from California to Nevada (I think) so their shop will be closed for a month starting in May.  But these are some of the fabulous pieces I have purchased from them:

I have a weakness for LARGE Swarovski stones and rivoli.  Mimi's has some really cool colors of rivoli!  Stop by their website and check them out!
Good Quill Hunting and Bead Dreamers are a couple of seed bead pattern sources I have purchased from lately.  Good Quill Hunting owner and design artist Christina Neit has some really fun patterns, kits and finished jewelry.  I purchased this pattern from her:

and I made it using terra cotta and turquoise Tila beads resulting in a very Egyptian bracelet!  I added a Tierracast Ankh charm to complete the design.  Would love to show you, but can't find it at the moment to photograph it!
I met the gals behind Bead Dreamers last weekend at the Grand Island Bead Bazaar.  They are from Minnesota and these are the patterns I purchased from them!

Cheeri-O Bracelet

 

Chinese Coin Bracelet

I have started on my Chinese Coin pattern and it is pretty quick to put one ring together, so hope to have the bracelet done by the end of the weekend.  I plan to play with my seed beads all weekend while we visit with Chris's family for Easter!  See you here next week!

Coming Saturday!!

Reveal day for my Day of the Dead Challenge project from The Hole Bead Shoppe is on this Saturday!!!  I will be asking you to vote for my piece on Facebook also as there will be an award for most votes on there as well as the other judging categories!  Please Stay Tuned!!!