Beads and Bread

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Fish are Friends Blog Hop

Woohoo! Glad you're here! Bet you will leave with a smile on your face! Why? Cause there is just no way anyone can see these cutie pies and not grin from ear to ear. The fabulous Karen Williams is the author of this challenge. She is an extremely talented designer, and wrote the tutorial for the star of the show...the fish!
So, before we get started, I have a little, teensy weensy confession.....I am a tiny, little bit right angle weave challenged. Whew! Ok, so now we've got that out of the way....what? Yes, the fish is created in right angle weave, so?!
So, I really, really had to concentrate to make his little adorable self, but it's all good. And, just like when I first started understanding right angle weave by trying out Nancy Dale's Trellis necklace. It still wasn't my favorite stitch, but at least she got me to finally understand how to make something with it!
Karen's fish helped me get to the next level. Her tutorial has some awesome tips on increasing and decreasing, and this sweet little guy has so many design possibilities, it's just crazy! This is really one of those tutorials that helps you wrap your mind around how a stitch works, and starts the creative process flowing.
I made two of them, but I will most assuredly have a school of them before long, they are that addictive.

I played around with my poly clay, intending to make a dogtag style piece that could hang on a necklace with the fish. Matthew 4:19 is where Jesus tells the disciples to go out and become fishers of men. I didn't create what I had in my head, but that's ok, at least it helped me to know what I didn't want. :)

This is my first baby. I love his little kissy lips, and bright happy colors!

My hubs told me I had his side fins back too far, so I kept that in mind for my next one.

I have a couple of mistakes in this one, but the color scheme is much more...me. I love contrasting matte and AB beads in a pattern.

This is one of the few beads that I actually have the same color in all the sizes. I used 13 one cut charlottes on the petal part of the side fins, and size 8's for the end bead on the dorsal fin and the tail. The charlottes created the cutest little eyebrows that I just adore!

His tail and dorsal fins remind me of Rainbow Fish. Did you ever read that book to your kids?

His body was supposed to have been fatter, but I couldn't get my bead to fit.

I'm for sure going to be making some friends for my two babies to play with!

Huge thanks to Karen for the tutorial, and the opportunity to understand RAW a bit better! Please check out the other participants of the challenge. Blessings, Shirley

Our wonderful hostess- Karen Williams-Baublicious

Francie Broadie - FAB Custom Jewelry

    Shirley Moore - Beads and Bread You are here
    Bobbie Rafferty - Beadsong Jewelry
    Tanya Goodwin - A Work in Progress
    Cynthia Machata - Antiquity Travelers

Kathy Jo - KJ's Beadacious Beads
Therese Frank - Therese's Treasures
Nancy Sopp - AlaskanNancy
Alison Oman
Dolores Dwight
Amy Severino - Amybeads
Eleanor Pigman - Eleanor Pigman

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Seasons Blog Hop

Welcome everyone! I love reading all the blog posts when Lisa Lodge hosts a challenge, so I was super excited to get to participate in this one! This one is to celebrate either a 'season' of the year; or a 'season' of your life. I live at the beach, so as soon as I saw my packet of beads, I knew what my 'season' would be...summer at the beach!!! Now, I did forget to take a pic before I got started, so the bead soup has some of my own mixed in as well. Just look at this gorgeous pile o' beads!

I just fell in love with that rich mix of color. It reminds me so much of the sand at low tide, with bits of seashells scattered throughout the sand., and the foam of the ocean washing it smooth, tumbling the shells around.

My first piece is a Nancy Dale pattern, called Color Play. Nancy is an incredibly talented artist, and I knew her Color Play would work perfectly with this bead mix.

Just look at that mix of color!

Those beautiful lampwork beads are such stars in this necklace, and yet allow the other beads to shine as well.

I love those blue lined triangle beads!

This is one of the techniques Nancy explains in her pattern.

I had some yummy tigereye discs and Picasso pearls that were begging to be included!

Here is one of the royal blue glass beads captured in a cage of size 11 seeds.

This bracelet held several surprises for me. My original intent was to use the blue lined triangles with the royal blue glass beads, but they didn't want to play nice with each other.

So, instead I got to use some brand new beads, a lovely AB druk from The Beading Room.

The chevron chain is one I've been wanting to try for a while, so this was a great opportunity to see it perform.

I love my little CRAW curved toggle, it works great with the gentle curves in the pattern.

There were several beads I didn't manage to use from the soup Lisa sent to me, but I was pretty happy with what I had made. I was wrapping up my post, and cleaning up my work space, and then.....those blue glass beads just started whispering to me.........ever have that happen?

Well, here is what they said!

Quite a different take on the color scheme, huh?

Have you ever seen that flourescent seaweed? Really wild colors, just washing up in the surf. That was totally what I thought of when this piece was finished. Not my normal colors at all, but it is so very bright and happy!

This bracelet definitely makes me giggle, and I'm glad I listened to those beads!

Please check out the rest of the group, that's where I'm heading!

Thanks Lisa, for a wonderful challenge! Blessings, Shirley

Your Hostess: Lisa Lodge, Grateful Artist

Kathy Zeigler Lindemer, Bay Moon Design

Cassi Paslick, Beads: Rolling Downhill

Stephanie Sanner Haussler, PixyBug Designs

Leah Mifflin Tees, My Beady Little Eyes

Karin Slaton, BackStory Beads

Audrey Belanger, Dreams of an Absolution

Lori Jean Poppe, Lorillijean Creative Corner

Karla Morgan, Texas Pepper Jams

Christine Stonefield, Sweet Girl Design

Eleanor Burian-Mohr, The Charmed Life

Alicia Marinache, All the Pretty Things

Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera

Kay Thomerson, Kayz Kreationz

Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs

Toltec Jewels, Toltec Jewels for Jewel School Friends

Lennis Carrier, Windbent

Erin Kenny, Beadifultherapy

Tanya Goodwin, A Work in Progress

Cilla Watkins, Tell Your Girlfriends

Renetha Williams Stanziano, Lamplight Crafts

Christie Searle Murrow, Charis Designs Jewelry

Sierra Barrett, Giraffe Can Has

Melissa Trudinger, Bead Recipes

Shirley Jones Moore, Beads and Bread

Dawn Horner, Northern Adornments

Charlene Bausinger Jacka, Clay Space

Tara Plote, The Newbie Beader's Blog

Candida Elkins Castleberry, Spun Sugar Beadworks

Miranda Ackerley, Daze and Days

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Artisan Whimsy Test Group Guest Reveal

Well, that was a mouthful, wasn't it? And what is it all about? Well, each month on Artisan Whimsy, a test group is selected to work with 5 separate items from the participating sponsor. And if you've never heard of Artisan Whimsy, it's a wonderful marketplace to showcase your jewelry and creativity, interact with other designers, and a fountain of useful information. Signing up is easy at : www.artisanwhimsy.com
The sponsor for this month is the wonderful ZNet Shows. The really exciting part for me is that not only did they choose 5 participants, of which I was not chosen, but they very generously sent a package to everyone who stated they would like to participate! Which means ME!!! And some other very talented designers.
And what did we get to work with? Why, some incredible cultured beach glass beads. You would be hard pressed to tell it from genuine sea glass, except for the fact that it is incredibly silky and soft to work with. I know, those are kinda strange words to use for glass, but really, that's how they feel.
Here is the sample image from Artisan Whimsy, showing what we would receive:

The only difference for me is that my string of beads is a soft blue, and the rectangle pendant is the matte white like the smaller ones.

Just couldn't resist creating a bezel around this cutie.

Still trying to decide on the rope for it, I think either a St. Petersburg, or a Russian Spiral.

Doesn't this look like a bowtie? I had the best fun making this one, even though it took me way to long, which is why I didn't get to finish all my ideas. There are a boatload of new ideas (for me) in this little cutie.

The clasp bar itself is CRAW, but the tab attaching it to the band is two sections of RAW, stitched together, like a sandwich.

The two sea beads with the RAW unit connector sits beautifully on top of your wrist.

This was my first time creating this kind of toggle circle with twin beads. Had to try twice before I got my dimensions correct, but I really, really love it.

The middle bracelet is a macrame, with a polymer clay button for clasp.I love the contrast of the rasberry cord with the soft matte blue.

My other pics of the chips bracelet have gone missing, and it is now on it's way to a new home. It was my first make, and I love how it turned out. The chips sit on top of a RAW base, and look like little boats floating on the water.

I love where these beads took me. I love the ideas that sprang up, the creativity that flowed, and the final products. This was truly an enjoyable challenge for me. Thank you to Artisan Whimsy, and ZNET for letting me have such a fun time!
Blessings, Shirley

Monday, June 24, 2013

Goodies from The Beading Room

A few weeks ago, I entered to win a $100 gift certificate for The Beading Room. The giveaway was hosted on The Beading Gem's Journal. If you've never visited Pearl's site, you are missing out. She has some of the best jewelry posts out there. Tons of information, cool and funky jewelry, a bit of a history lesson thrown in there as well. And she has some seriously awesome giveaways. I was so very lucky to win this one from The Beading Room! They are located in Canada, but they ship worldwide.

Now, when Pearl wrote about them, she focused on the wire they have available in their store. So, I was very excited, since that is an area I'm just beginning to explore. But, oh my goodness, do they have so much more than just wire! It was quickly apparent to me that the hard part would be to only spend the $100!!

Wanna see what I picked out? Okey dokie!

Here's the whole Pile O Goodies. Now let's get some close-ups, so you can drool properly.

I did get some wire, and a pretty copper clasp and some earwires in bright copper. I'm going to play with oxidizing those...

Several noted kumihimo designers on Facebook use these gorgeous Unicorn Beads in their designs. I've been panting after them for a while, let me tell ya. And that toggle clasp above them is lampwork! Oh so pretty!

I have HANKS of beads!!!! Just seeing '71 grams' written on the bag made me swoon. The far right and middle are both a luscious color called Black Diamond. The tiny charlottes are a purple iris.

I've heard Druks referred to as the workhorse of Czech beads. And that they are often overlooked. The color on these is so very pretty, and I'm anxious to play with them. I finally have some metal beads! You wouldn't believe how heavy that tiny tube is. Ok, see the patterned beads to the left? They are MOOD Beads!! How cool is that? My daughter immediately snatched one for herself. Lucky thing I like her...

Here's a close up of those pretty Druks.

Love bicones, and I also got that middle package in the Black Diamond color. And some tiny 3mm pearls. Thinking I'm gonna be hanging out with Sabine Lippert's Beaded Fantasies....

Have you ever seen this shape? I think it's very unusual. They are called UFO's. Look at those colors!! Squee!

I've only made one kumi braid with rattail, and I really wanted to make more. These are each 5 yards. Can't wait to play with them. And I got Anne Dilker's Kumihimo book.

I'm so very grateful to The Beading Room for such an awesome gift certificate. And that they carry such a beautiful and diverse stock.

Now, if you don't hear from me for a while, you know what I'll be doing.....:)

Blessings, Shirley

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

I'm Fishing!!

So thrilled to announce that I will be a part of Karen William's Fish Friends Design Team!
Karen is a very talented designer, and her fish pattern is just a small (forgive the pun) example of her skill and creativity.
There's a blog hop on July 13th, and I'm thinking I need to have a giveaway in there as well....stay tuned!

Blessings, Shirley

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

It's 'Time to Stitch' again!!!

This is one of my very favorite challenges! Hosted by the awesome Therese Frank, and Christine Altmiller, this challenge explores beadweaving stitches. Sparks your creativity, and helps you work on some stitches that maybe....you've avoided in the past?? Yep.
This challenge was just a bit different, in that we were asked to create something from a flat stitch, and a spiral stitch.
So, for flat stitch, we could choose brick, ladder, or square. Oh joy. None of these guys are on my top list of faves....
Ok, so what about the spiral? Those were Russian, Cellini, or African. Better, much better. I've made Russian and Cellini, and haven't tried African yet, so....cool. Now, back to that flat stitch...
I have done some flat brick, specifically the leaves in Kerrie Slade's English Rose pattern. Loved them!!! So let's just go see what we can find, cause of course, I needed to try something new, right?
I found this tute, and decided to try it. A friend had asked me to make a bracelet for her daughter, using some bicones that her daughter had been gifted. I thought this would make a perfect teen bracelet.

I love the color combo, and it is an eye-catching pattern.

However, my tiny bit of OCD kicks in, and that uneven edge really bothers me. :)

But it was totally fun to make, and I think if I made it with an even edge, I'd really love it, so I'm going to try that. I'll post pics and you can help me decide.

What I enjoyed was the opportunity to search out patterns that I may have otherwise overlooked.

I really thought I was going to try the African helix for my spiral stitch. I have Carol Cypher's book, Mastering Beadwork, and she explains that stitch very clearly. But I ran just a bit short on time, so I went with a stitch I knew I could do quickly....the Cellini spiral. I really love this stitch, and it's endless variations. However, I usually make a short tube of it, as I've found I don't love how it becomes stiff in a bangle or necklace. Now, I'm really not the best at decreasing smoothly, or transitioning from one stitch to another, so I was pleasantly surprised at how well I did this time.

The color combo started with the beautiful, soft yellow Twin beads by Preciosa. In the Cellini, you are building from smallest bead to largest. My smalls were size 15 Hyacinth AB, moving to an orange-red size 11, then to the lime size 8's, and finally the yellow twins, then back down again.

I love the vibrant color palette, perfect for summer. I transitioned the cellini to CRAW. I made one side of the CRAW, measured it to fit my wrist, and embellished it. That's when my daughter spied it. She's almost 13, and a tiny thing. These are some of her favorite colors, so she immediately asked if it was for her. Hmmm, now I had a dilemma. I had to make the other side the same length as the first...but that would be too big for her wrist, after adding the toggle.

Well, we discovered that using a small magnetic clasp would make the size work for her. It's just a bit loose, but she loves it. And I love that I get to see how well that clasp worked. Again, I would not have ever thought to use it, until circumstances pushed me there. Thanks Therese and Christine, for another great challenge!

Here is the list of folks participating in the challenge:

Therese Frank

Christine Altmiller

Maryanne Gross
Cynthia Machata

Shirley Moore You are here

Have a great time checking out all the eye candy! Blessings, Shirley

Saturday, April 20, 2013

A Very Merry UnBirthday Party!

Hi all! Today is reveal day for Shelley Turner and Marlene Cupo's UnBirthday Party! They really come up with the coolest challenges. Everyone signed up, gave their birthday month, and got their partners. I was paired with Cheri Reed, of www.creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com
Her birthday happened during this challenge, on April 21st! I'm so glad I got to help her birthday be special with an unexpected gift. Now, the birthstone for April is a diamond. Hmmm, clear.....no, that's not a challenge, really...
Thankfully, Cheri gave me some other color options, and pointed out a necklace design from my flickr account that she really liked. It is one of my favorites as well, a pretty design by the awesome Laura McCabe. Featured in her book, Embellished Beadweaving, it is a netting variation.

Cheri requested turquoise and white for her color scheme.