Sunday Funday, Week 5

Week of November 10-16, Mid-November

I was cursed by the sinus infection fairy this week!  After a trip to the doctor I am now armed with antibiotics and a fresh bottle of Flonase (seriously amazing stuff!), I am back at beading finally!  

Since I was laid low for the beginning of the week, I didn't get a whole lot of beading done.  As soon as I was feeling better, my main concern was pulling beads out of my stash for all of my projects this month.  There is quite a bit on my plate!  Take a look:

Yikes!  I've started a couple of these projects, but I thought this week I would show you what my color selection process looks like.  

First off, we have this bronze clay trio by Lesley Watt of THEA Elements and Jewellery.  I'm really excited to work on this project, but I didn't want to go with a palette that would match the bronze too closely.  I think they really deserve to be the focal of a piece, so most of my beads are in contrasting, saturated jewel tones.  When I pull beads for a project I never know which ones I will actually end up using.  Some of these will definitely end up in the finished necklace...but probably not all.  Having extra beads to look at helps me choose just the right ones for each piece.

Next we have this celtic kitty polymer clay cabochon by Jenny Davies-Reazor.  In my box of pre-beaded components I discovered this circular peyote disk that was the perfect size to cover the back of the cab.  I went with some raspberry pinks for the beads to come up and over the sides, as you can see in these pictures.

 After I had the cab captured I stitched a little bit of embellishment around the outside in the teal beads that were in the circular peyote piece.  The looping fringe also has some 1/0 super large silver lined seed beads in lime and emerald green.  

Here you can see what the back looks like!  I'm going to finish this off soon, probably with a copper chain and some textured copper links.  

While I was looking for the beaded disk, I also found this warped square of beadwork that I had made awhile back.  Apparently it was hanging around waiting for the perfect art bead to go with...and that happens to be this neat ceramic donut, also by Jenny. I only had to do a teeny bit of stitching to make this piece...just a connection from the front to the back through the hole, and a row of peyote to connect the halves of the square for more stability.  I knew it needed some fringe, so I attached some brass chain dangles, with leather, suede, and enameled charm on the ends.  The necklace is finished off with a supple leather strap.

 This whimsical green haired mermaid cab is also by Jenny.  I think this bright green palette, with a little bit of gray and ivory will set off the turquoise and blue around her nicely.  I've got the cab already glued to a piece of turquoise ultra suede, so I'm ready to go!

These little beaded rings are the Art Jewelry Elements Component of the Month for November.  When their creator, the lovely Kristen Stevens, asked which of the three colors I was interested in...I couldn't choose!  I asked her to pick for me...and the crazy gal sent me all three!  I definitely knew that I needed a palette that would set off the lovely dark pearls of these cute little rings, so I went with a soft plummy transparent amethyst, and a variety of dove grays.  You will have to wait till the end of the month to see how it all turned out...trust me, it's going to be worth the wait. 

This is the piece that I've chosen to work with for the Operation: Tackle that Bead Stash "Winter" theme challenge.  The soft aqua of the Firefly Design Studio owl lends itself to a more traditional blue and white winter palette...but I just needed a bit more excitement.  Sparkling aquas, luminous silver grays, and chartreuse are really going to set off this pendant!  

These leaves from BHClaysmith are going to be the focal point for my Art Bead Scene challenge this month.  Click the link to see the inspiration art!  I have some more colors pulled out to go with these now.  I think the finished piece is going to be a long lariat, but I also need to figure out a way to keep the leaves from clacking together.  I wouldn't want them to damage each other!  Some engineering is going to be required on this piece, and I'm not sure what that's going to entail quite yet.  

There are a couple more projects that I will save for later, mainly because they don't need to be done in November...I'm just thinking about them ahead of time!  

I shall leave you with two things.  First is the most indispensable tool in my beading arsenal - my mini shovel and thread cutter.

This little shovel has been with me over 20 years.  My mom bought it from a small bead vendor at one of her fiber arts retreats when I was 10 or 11 years old.  It is the PERFECT tool for snagging stray beads and placing them back in their containers, tubes, or baggies.  But the handle is a bit unwieldy (yes, I have slipped and dumped shovels full of beads in shag carpet before).  For a long time I had a piece of crocheted ribbon on the end that was helpful in preventing slips, but a few years ago I needed to travel on an airplane and decided to attach this travel-safe thread cutter to it.  The beaded strip that connects the two is just the perfect amount to hang on to, and I haven't dumped a shovel load of beads unintentionally since finishing it.  

And secondly... I've been kidnapped!!!  I've been whisked away to Knoxville by a couple of my friends, and will be spending the entire next week here!  Able to bead my days away, then hang out with my buddies and their 3 year old daughter in the evenings.  She has grown so much since I last saw them in September...at least 4 inches taller and much more articulate.  My, how time flies!  You can look forward to a couple of progress blog posts this week, as I will definitely have time (and be well enough) for writing. 

Thanks for catching up with me this week!  Don't forget, you can always keep up with my daily beading exploits on my Facebook page, and shop on Etsy!  As always, thanks for looking!