Maroon Square Stitch Bracelet

Available
This bracelet is squared stitched with Nymo (c) thread, and is so supple and fluid, it feels great on. It is a mix of triangular beads in maroons and lavenders.
It is 7" (with silver-toned hook and eye clasp) x 1".

Pink Swarovski (c) Ring

Available
I am really enjoying rings lately.
A little more instant gratification I guess.

This ring is done on elastic, many layers of elastic, so
it is very secure. It is a size 6 ring, but will stretch to a size 7.

The center bead is an opaque pink Swarovski (c) crystal,
and it makes beautiful rainbows.
The green beads on either side
of it are German glass, and then there are tiny opaque white
Swarovski (c) crystals on either side of that.
The rest of the ring is worked in Bali (sterling) Silver.

I love this ring, and made one for myself.
I wear it daily, and it looks great.

Yellow Herringbone with Fringe!

Private collection
Another flat herringbone bracelet, this one in pale yellows and golds.
The design is so delicate, with windows and bridges worked into the center. The clasp is handmade from a frosted glass bead
wrapped in bands of tiny yellow beads. The loop side of the clasp
has lots of luscious fringe with vintage yellow
glass flowers dangling.

Swag Bagette

Private collection
The Swag Bagette, is probably the most elegant of the Bagette series. It is worked in deep purples, coppers, and gun-metal grey (from hematite). The twirled rounds in the fringe are vintage German glass and have an amazing depth of color and texture. They are one of my favorites of all my vintage beads. I think it measured somewhere in the neighborhood of 1-1 1/2" wide by 3" long, plus the fringe added about 2". The beaded hematite chain was long so the necklace would lay flat when worn.

Twisted Bangle in Purples

Private collection
A really fun bracelet, this is done on elastic with a herringbone stitch. It is two long strands that switch color schemes half way. They are then "knotted" together then joined at the ends.

Kits

An example of some wonderful kits from a place called Second Story Online, which no longer exists as far as I can tell. She opened a store in the Dallas Texas area, but now I can not find a listing for it.

Her kits taught me a lot of the stitches and techniques that I use today.

Kits are a great way to try out more complicated techniques and to become proficient in stitches you might be new to. You can focus your attention on learning, instead of creating with form and color. That has been done for you in a kit.

When you feel you have mastered what you were attempting to learn, then branch out and apply the new skills to your own designs. The Garden Trellis (top left) is a little glass bottle covered in netting. It was the starting point for a series of pieces I did, an example is the Teal & Purple Bottle Necklace, in which I explored the form of the vessel, but, without the vessel.

Three Strand Herringbone Bracelet in Blues

I am a landlocked beach girl. I grew up just miles from the beach, and now have no access to it. The upshot of that is, I do gravitate towards ocean-y colors. It makes me happy to work in them.
Case in point, this 7" ( with silver-toned clasp) bracelet in gorgeous blues and crystal. The bracelet is comprised of three strands of herringbone stitched chain, attached to the clasp with cool little triangular findings. The beads that comprise the chain, are triangular as well, so create great texture and dimensionality. The whole bracelet is about 3/4" across.

Available

Purple Plaid Bracelet

Available (in any size)
This bracelet reminds me of an argyle sweater. I just love it! It is a herringbone stitch, with increases worked into windows for tiny triangle beads, and deceases for the scalloped effect. I then "blanket stitched" on more of the same triangles as surface embellishment. It has a silver-toned hook and eye style clasp.

Victorian Lace Cuff (Northern Lights set)

Private collection
This bracelet is an unbelievably looooonnnggg piece of netting. It was my first go at color shading, and I think it turned out well. I ran some elastic up the center, using one of the greatest inventions of all time, a floss threader (you find it at your pharmacy). I shredded about 5 of them, but it worked, and floss threaders are disposable.

None of the pictures do it justice ( see photo of the necklace for a more accurate rendition of the colors), but at least you can see how it looks on.
You can not tell here, but it just glows, and is very spring like colors.
While making it, I discovered a great thing about the netting,
and made the Netted Northern Lights Necklace, that goes with it.

Netted Nothern Lights Necklace

Private collection
This necklace was inspired by the the Victorian Lace Cuff. They are really a set. While I was endlessly making flat netting for the cuff I discovered that if I folded it over, it made a really cool tube. I just string it on a silver chain and squish it in to "tubenessness " to wear. I am in love with the color shading. I think it looks like the northern lights. Not bad for my first attempt at color shading.

Checkerboard Bracelet

Available
I keep saying that I am going to make one of these for myself.
It is such a great bracelet, but is time consuming to make.

The beaded chains are done in tubular herringbone with four beads per row. One side of each strand is done in red and the other in black.
So if you flipped the bracelet over, you would now have the strands going
black red black red black red black.

The bracelet is 5 3/4" (with silver-toned clasp) x 1"

Lavendar Cuff Bracelet

Available
These bracelets are fun. This one is 7" x 1", and will stretch to 7 3/4", as it is square stitched in elastic. The beads are triangles so the bracelet is reversible. This picture shows the lavender beads are tip up so the crystal beads make more of an impact. If you turn it inside out, the flats of the lavender beads will be more prominent.

Teal & Purple Bottle Necklace

Available

This lovely little necklace, is a actually an open weave vessel, done in a netting stitch.
It has a 23 1/2" beaded chain. The "bottle" is 1"x2" with a 2 1/4" fringe, and has gold accents. No clasp just slip over your head.

I am afraid the picture just does not do it justice. The bottle is long and bulbous at the bottom, and has a dainty ruffle at the neck. Very dimensional, yet delicate.

Jeni's "Vintage" Bracelet

Private collection

This bracelet was made for my Aunt Jeni. It is a herringbone stitch with increases built into windows. The large squashed rounds in the center windows are vintage German glass from the 1930s. The smaller beads in the windows on either side of the German glass, are vintage Czech fire polish, as are the bead dangles on the loop side of the catch. The two small buttons are vintage German glass, from the 1950s.

Netted Spring Bracelet and Necklace

Available
The Netted Spring Bracelet and Necklace are
made with a technique called potato chip netting. It is a straightforward netting stitch, but uses multiple sizes of beads with no increases or decreases worked in. This make the piece ripple and have ridges. The bracelet has two Thai Lucite buttons as a closure. It is done in Pale green, pink, lavender, and cream, and is 7 1/2" ( with clasp) x 1 3/4".



Available
The pendant is strung on a herringbone stitched matching chain with a magnetic catch, and can be removed so the chain can be worn on its own, or with another pendant. The fringe on the pendant is vintage German, pressed glass, yellow flowers. The colors in both the pendant and the chain are the same as the bracelet. The beaded chain is 20 1/2" with the pendant hanging another 1 1/2" plus a 1 1/2" fringe. It has a silver-toned magnetic clasp.

All of Mom's Eggs in a basket

As you can see, I changed this one quite a bit. It is longer than the one I made for my dad, and I added a lot of embellishment at the opening, including a row of these gorgeous little pressed glass petals. I also created a vine that climbs up and over the handle.

My mother has it hanging on an ornament hanger near a window. It is quite lovely.
Private collection

Basket for Dad's Eggs

Private collection

Sometimes it is difficult to come up with pieces for the men in your life.

This tiny basket was made for my father.

It was a pattern from either Bead and Button, or Beadwork. I will check and see whose it is and post their name.

I altered the original pattern a little.

(Later I made one for my mother that was really different)

Tropical Dreams Bagette

I called this bagette Tropical Dreams. It made me want to take a vacation on a lush beach, somewhere exotic.







The leaves in the fringe are vintage German glass from the 1950's. Yummy colors.



Available

Victorian Bagette

Available

The little Victorian Bagette is so sweet. Perfect for a small memento.



Here is a close up of it. It is on a 26" beaded chain.
The little bag is 1 3/4"x1 3/4" with 1 1/2" fringe,
and has a vintage bisque medallion affixed to the front.


Available

Victoria Bracelet and Mom's Green Bracelet

Private collection

This is a Victoria Bracelet. I bought it as a kit, but can not remember where from.

Private collection

This bracelet was created for my mother, and was inspired by the clasp of the Victoria Bracelet. Basically it is the ends of the Victoria Bracelet extended.

Leaf Change-A-Bead Necklace and Goddess Beads

Private collection

This was the first of the Change-A-Bead necklaces.

I made it for myself, and I was so pleased ;)

Available

Front view & back view of the Leaf Bead

Available

These are some of the changeable beads I made to use on the Leaf Necklace. They have a Goddess image on them. They are kind of pointillist, so if you step back you can see the image better. Lots of fun.

They look really funky and great strung sideways

on a silver or gold chain.

Pink & Black Change-A-Bead Necklace and Pink & Black Bracelet

Private collection

I am rather fond of this set.

The necklace is one of a series of Change-A-Bead necklaces I did. You can slide the Focal Bead off of the necklace and replace it with another.

The bracelet, due to design constraints, is not changeable.

View with the pen of Tropical Pen Holder

Private collection

This is a view with the pen.

Welcome To My Blog

Private collection

This piece I made for a friend.
It holds one of those multi-colored ink pens.
She was going to an art retreat, and I thought having a pen handy at
all times would be good.