fine jewelry designers: November 2012

World Beaders: Holland

Today I want to extend a very warm welcome to Inspirational Beading visitors from the Netherlands! As one of the few countries that I’ve had the privilege of visiting more than once (does it count if you were to young to remember?) I was very excited to see Holland on the list of this month’s top visitors. This beautiful country is home to tulips, windmills, and some very talented jewelry and fashion designers, not to mention a source of rare bohemian glass beads.

Happy beading, Holland!

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Friends
Images Hosted by Pinterest
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+

Time Capsule: Found Objects

Way, way back in November of 2009, the theme on Inspirational Beading seemed to be found objects. There were only a few designs to share that month, and two out of three featured unusual, non-bead components like river rocks, napkin rings, and bamboo placemat tiles. That was the year that I tried to tie every month's post together in a neat little bundle, and it was a great challenge to come up with designs to match.

My favorite design from the Found Object marathon is the Gaia necklace. The entire piece was an experiment, from netting a river stone in seed beads, to creating straps with right angle weave and freeform embellishment. I am still in love with the combination of colors, and the abundance of Picasso finish. When I retired this design from my shop, it went immediately to the top of my to-wear list. I've never been able to recreate the look of that necklace - my next few attempts at the technique were disastrous. I suppose it must have been one of those lucky accidents.

Looking back, I can’t recall very many designs in the past three years that featured other found objects. Apart from this year's Halloween pendant, I’ve pretty much steered clear of unusual components. Perhaps it’s only because nothing has come across my path that shouts “Bead me!”. Since I had to work so hard to "find" the right objects for this series of necklace, it's more likely that I’m just too enamored with seed beads to view everyday things in a jewelry frame of mind.

Do you ever work with found objects? What’s your favorite subject to date?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+

Bead Color Ideas: Blue Christmas

A beader can never have too many ideas for holiday color palettes, so I’m going back to bead trios for this month’s round up of palette possibilities. But, since it’s only November, I thought we’d go a little light and do things with a twist. The challenge: to create three-color palettes with blue instead of green, which look totally festive and not fourth-of-July. It was trickier than it sounds!

I started with an easy blue, and one that reminds me of classic outdoor Christmas lights. After choosing some delicious cobalt white hearts, I naturally went for some ruby red ones in size 4/0. The boldness of the transparent glass is enhanced by the white cores, which have their own festive vibe. To give Feliz Navidad a dash of cheer, I topped things off with a hint of antique gold Swarovski Elements pearls.

Feliz Navidad Bead Palette

Sugar Plum Fairy started with some pretty aqua lined peanut seed beads. I paired these with more peanuts in pink, creating a palette like a non-traditional - though totally trendy - department store tree display. Just imagine a silvery artificial spruce with vintage style glass ornaments. All this palette needed was a dash of snow, played by opaque crystal AB seed beads.

Sugar Plum Fairy Bead Palette

For the final trio, I chose some intense blue tagua slices. These immediately had me thinking of holiday postcards from tropical locales - the kind with palm trees decked out in Christmas attire. Soft white mother of pearl chips seemed like the perfect frosting, and ruby AB druks add a hint of Christmas punch to Coconut Snow Cone.

Coconut Snow Cone Bead Palette

Do you have a favorite decoration in non-traditional colors?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+

Second Anniversary Giveaway

Today I celebrate two years of blogging and this is my 200th post. I never thought I'd have that much to post about and am ever so grateful for being here, for the friendships, inspiration, tutorials, sharing. concern and above all encouragement received. Words of thanks to all my followers for being here, are not enough so here are two giveaways, made by me especially for you.

Giveaway No. 1 Except for the basket on the chair, everything was created by me. The scale is 1:12".

Giveaway No. 2 Suitable for the nursary. The little doll was inspired from a tutorial by Wendy.
The chair was made by me. I gave a tutorial for making chairs like these in one of my very early posts.

The rules are as usual, be a follower of this blog, new or old. Comment on this post to let me know you want to participate and, only if you wish so, put a link on your blog. The draw will be on December 31.

Blessings to all

Ultimate Digital Beading Giveaway

There are a great many talented and passionate beaders out there who got their start by trying out an enticing project from the pages of a beading or craft magazine. With so many fantastic and inspirational publications out there, anyone can give beading a try by learning from experienced artists and editors who love to bead.

Many of us have carefully cultivated collections of our favorite beading magazines, but with so many issues to choose from, we can’t always have every project at our finger tips. At least, until now. If you have a smart phone or eReader,chances are you’re already taking advantage of digital magazines, and the convenience of instant project downloads from your favorite publishers. If not, now is your chance to give it a try!

The world’s largest digital newsstand, Zinio, is having a sweepstakes giveaway for an iPad mini, to help connect avid readers with their favorite digital books and magazines. Everyone who enters will receive $5 to spend on a subscription of their choice, plus access to half price subscriptions. To celebrate, Zinio has also offered a handful of free magazine subscriptions to Inspirational Beading readers!

How to Enter

For your chance to win a free digital magazine subscription from Zinio, simply head over to the Zinio newsstand and check out their selection of over 5500 publications. Then, head back here to Inspirational Beading and leave a comment on this post, letting us know which magazine you would choose.

Comments must be made here on Inspirational Beading to qualify - you do not need to have an account to comment, but please make sure that you include a contact method if you do not have a Blogger account with email contact enabled.

Nine lucky readers will be drawn at random on Saturday, December 1st. The free subscription giveaway is open to all international readers! Readers from Canada and the US can also enter the iPad Mini giveaway on Facebook (also ending December 1st). You do not need an eReader or tabletto enjoy this giveaway - your subscription can be viewed on most devices, including your home computer.

Good luck!

I would like to thank Zinio for allowing me to try one of their digital publications. Inspirational Beading has not received paid compensation or additional merchandise in exchange for this post.

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Zinio
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+

Flowers for the gallery

Saw this on the online AIM magazine, this month, and thought it will look well in my future gallery.
I may change the flowers a little but I like the idea.

The column is one of my dear friend Jennifer's gifts.

The Christmas gifts are almost ready to be packed.

It's peaceful here now and the weather is lovely. I hope it stays so for long.

Tuesday is the two-year anniversary of my blog. My giveaway is also almost ready. Stay tuned.

Blessings and hugs to all

Cute Cluster Rings

I’ve been learning new things and gaining plenty of insight throughout this year’s destash beading challenge. This month, I gained the knowledge that ending a challenge in the busiest two months of the year is probably not a great plan. I should have figured this out sooner, since I’ve had multiple challenges end around the month of November, but this year it really hit home. Luckily, it looks like the destash challenge is going to wrap up nicely, and the no-deadline approach to individual projects has been a big help.

For the most recent destash project, I took a little detour. Rather than try to completely use up some beads, I started a project that would make a tiny dent in several items from my stash. I wanted to return to the fun cluster ring design from March 2011, this time using some leftover beads.

Cluster Ring Beads

I started with the remaining magenta E beads, and of course some mother of pearl chips. Even if I made dozens of rings, I’d still have plenty of these left, but they are perfect for chunky embellishments. I also grabbed some 3 mm Swarovski crystal rounds that have had no home to go to during the challenge, and the remains of some rootbeer lined topaz 6/o’s that are too few for anything else.

Destash Cluster Ring Trio

I had planned to make 5 rings in all, and use up all of the crystals, but I discovered half way through ring 3 that this set just didn’t have the same appeal as the originals, which included African Christmas beads. I can’t say for sure what went wrong, but I decided to call things off and move on to a more rewarding project. I’ll be keeping these rings for myself – they’ll be fun to wear for the holidays!

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+

Cease Fire

Thank you followers for your kindness and concern. I am deeply touched and very grateful to you. It's so
good to have understanding friends in many parts of the world. I wish there will be quiet and peace with no casualties on both sides.

Maureen is having a giveaway on her blog, I already recommended it in a previous post. Yesterday I found this picture in our newspaper with an article about Salvador Dali's exposition going on now at the Pompidou Center, Paris. A coincidence! Doesn't it give you ideas?

Now that things are back to normal, I'll begin preparing a giveaway. Will post about it soon.

Blessings to all

Bead Giveaway: Earthbutter Beads

Yesterday we got to meet a fantastic ceramic bead artist from South Africa, and see some of the beautiful creations of Earthbutter Beads. Today is your chance to win a custom set of holiday beads to try!

These cheerful red, white, and green ceramic beads are hand rolled by single moms in Wellington, South Africa, then glazed and fired in the Earthbutter studio. The set includes seven 15-20 mm ceramic rounds, perfect for a festive necklace or bracelet.

Handmade Ceramic Christmas Bead Set by Earthbutter Beads

How to Enter

For your chance to win all of the beads shown, simply visit Earthbutter Beads on Etsy and peruse the selection of handmade beads. Then head back here and leave a comment with the name of your favorite bead set!

Comments must be made here on Inspirational Beading to qualify - you do not need to have an account to comment, but please make sure that you include a contact method if you do not have a Blogger account with email contact enabled.

One lucky reader will be drawn on Tueseday, Nov. 27th. This giveaway is open to all readers internationally.

Good luck!

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Earthbutter Beads
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+

Bead Shop: Earthbutter Beads

Ceramic Beads by Earthbutter Beads

There’s nothing like handmade beads to make a jewelry design truly unique, and beads with a story are the best of all. Today my guest is Desiree Malan, the designer behind Earthbutter ceramic beads. With the help of local moms, her studio in South Africa is a source for fabulous focals and accent beads.

Inspirational Beading: When did you first get started with bead design?

Desiree: I started making beads at the end of 2009 after having seen pictures of Egyptian paste beads in a very old pottery making book. Something clicked and I realized that I could use pottery clay to make beads and jewellery. I use terracotta clay which is dug from soil deposits in my hometown to make tiles, and my bead making journey started with this terracotta clay.

Inspirational Beading: What is your favorite thing about working with a team?

Desiree: I enjoy listening to the bead makers stories and I learn so much from them about life in general. Despite their circumstances (they are single moms with little support) they always see humour in life and make the best of what they have.

Inspirational Beading: Has outsourcing some of the process changed your designs?

Desiree: Yes, definitely. I get bored doing the same thing over and over again and then loose interest. The bead ladies roll the beads by hand, make holes and tidy them up before they’re fired in my pottery studio. I do the decorating of the beads which is the part I’m enjoying and good at. I have lots of ideas for special art beads with a distinctive African flair which I’ll do in the near future.

Inspirational Beading: What’s the most interesting or unique thing about the bead making process?

Desiree: For me the magic starts when a piece of clay is shaped by hand into a perfectly round bead without the use of a mold.

Inspirational Beading: How long does it usually take to make each bead?

Desiree: The bead ladies can roll a lot of beads quickly but firing and glazing is very time consuming. Once the beads are bone dry, they’re fired to remove all moisture, thereafter painted with underglaze, fired again and painted once more with transparent glaze before it goes into the kiln for the third firing. From start to finish it takes about 10 – 14 days.

Inspirational Beading: Do you have a favorite color to work with?

Desiree: I absolutely LOVE turquoise but are also keen on bright orange and cherry red.

Inspirational Beading: What is the most exciting bead design in stock right now?

Desiree: Difficult to say as I’m in love with all our beads…but probably the turquoise raku beads.

Inspirational Beading: Who do you hope to inspire with your work?

Desiree: I hope to inspire the bead makers to make the most of life for them and their children despite their difficult circumstances. It gives them so much pleasure and hope when they hear that people from faraway places are buying the beads they’ve made here in South Africa.

You can learn more about Desiree and the bead makers behind her fabulous ceramic creations on the Earthbutter Beads blog. Handmade ceramic beads are also available on Etsy. To see the latest creations and get news about upcoming designs, follow Earthbutter Beads on Facebook.

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Earthbutter Beads
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+

Snowman teapot

I hate to, and never before, have mentioned our political situation in this part of the world, but it seems we are at war again. 5 days of rockets from Gaza on civilian cities. A young mother and two civilians were killed, a baby and her brother injured on the first day. The Israeli air force is trying to stop them, a difficult task as the terrorists hide behind innocent civilians and hospitals. They shoot their rockets from school yards and mosques.

Each time the alarm sirens are on we have to stay in sheltered rooms. It's not so bad here, where I live,
but it's not easy in the towns near Gaza.

I use this opportunity to thank all my online friends who were concerned and sent me emails. I am so grateful to you all.

Since I have to stay home most of the time, I am working on my Christmas gifts. Remember the bead necklace I showed in an earlier post? I had another brain wave and made this cute snowman teapot
I used the white beads from the same necklace to make it.

Blessings to all

Jewelry Boxes Part Deux

I have been on a jewelry box revamping kick lately. It's fun because it is somewhere between furniture revamping and crafting. I wrote about two blue ones last week, here are a couple more.
As you can see the one on the right was in pretty bad shape, but hey it was only $1. I painted this one red to match the felt.
Read more »

Preparing Christmas gifts

This year's Christmas list has grown large. I have 10 gifts to send to online friends. Also Hannukka gifts for friends here. I have to think of new miniatures that I haven't made before.

Made some Xmas cacti and one trial plant.

Also made these little felt dolls from a tutorial by Wendy Craig. For the body of some dolls I used pompons instead of rounds of felt.

All the reduced paintings are framed and ready to go to the gallery. The gallery will have to wait until
after Christmas and Hannukka. I have little time and a lot of work preparing gifts.
There is also a giveaway to think about. Shortly it will be two years I am here. Celebration time.

A big welcome to new followers and thank you for taking the time to visit and join in.
Daydreamer, Sulamita, Taina
Idske de Jong - Cannot locate your blog. If you have one, please let me know.
Maureen - There is a beautiful modern chalenge giveaway in Maureen's interesting and quite new blog.
Go visit, I'm sure you'll love it.

Hugs and blessings to all

Finding the Perfect Shade of White

Last summer I hit on a really great yard sale. The guy running it had collected antiques for years and said he just needed to clean out some of his things. A lot of the things were broken or damaged, but he was selling them super cheap. It was amazing what I fit in my SUV that day. I spied this vanity in the corner with an Eastlake mirror on it. Now I'm no expert, but I know Eastlake and waterfall don't go together.
Read more »

Jewelry Boxes part 1

Last summer I found a lot of jewelry boxes at garage sales. Some were too much for resale, but others were as low as $1. I thought it might be fun to revamp them into something a little more interesting. This is a picture of some of the ones I picked up this summer, and at the estate sale I helped out with last month. Audrey seems to think they were O.K. just as they were (she's pretty, but not to savvy about jewelry boxes).
Read more »

Bead Wish List: Christmas Delights

They may be weeks away, but when you make things yourself, the holidays are practically around the corner all year long. If you haven’t begun thinking about Christmas and holiday inspired beading projects already, now is the time to get jolly! Here are just a few of my favorite December themed beads.

As a rule, I always go artisan made when it comes to lampwork beads,
but there’s no reason not to ogle these cute strands of Santa hats from Artbeads.com

No love for the traditional red, white, and green? No problem!
This Swarovski Elements Christmas mix from FusionBeads.com is festive but sophisticated.

These holly berry and leaf lampwork beads are almost too gorgeous to use.
Perhaps just one or two at a time? A beautiful set, created by Serena Smith.

There’s something so nostalgic about big outdoor Christmas lights.
I’m especially fond of the red, yellow, green, and blue variety.
A whole rainbow of colors is available in resin charms from Beadaholique.

I love the rustic look of this mis-matched ceramic bead set from Lima Beads,
entitled When My Heart Finds Christmas.

The combination of transparent green and opaque white in these lampwork beads from
Auntie's Beads makes them look good enough to eat.

Speaking of tasty, these lampwork peppermints by Stone Designs are so realistic,
they’d look right at home in a candy dish.

Do you have a favorite holiday theme to use in your beadwork?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Friends
Images Hosted by Pinterest
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+