About Me

Lindsay M Starr is a beadwork and mixed media artist currently based in Nashville, TN. She spent her early childhood in Alaska, and her school age and college years in Oregon. Lindsay has a great appreciation for history, science, and nature and is consistently inspired by insects, sea life, color, and the significance of beads and beadwork throughout human history. She spends her days beading, walking at the zoo, and practicing yoga. Lindsay loves to share her knowledge and passion for beads and beadwork to hobbyists of all skill levels.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Where, Oh Where Has March Gone?!?

Well...So...I am alive!  Actually, March has just been a crazy busy month - lots of coming and going, working, trying to find time to bead, etc.  My birthday was this month, so bead acquisition has been occurring as well!  And friends visiting from out of town...and trips to the zoo...and a trip over to Knoxville and Asheville (NC)!  All of this has been an attempt to have fun before I have surgery in less than two weeks.  So, please, tag along on my fun month via pictures!
Goodies from my fellow Art Jewelry Elements blogger, Caroline Dewison of Blue Berri Beads.
Custom orca cabs, a raven for my boyfriend, and many other goodies from another AJE blogger - Jenny Davies-Reazor.  I've been wanting interesting orca components since I watched Blackfish last year, and these are joyous and perfect!
Old tiny Japanese doll and brass escutcheon from the April flea market, vintage glass necklace (on 14k gold chain) from the thrift store, a ceramic bee charm and funky stone components from a local bead shop.
Cool dimpled glass buttons from a fabric shop, starling skull and beads from my buddies at White Fox Beads in Knoxville, and vintage green and red chick butttons from my PIB.
Lampwork beads and vessel from a friend, funky chain and HUGE vintage brass components both from a local bead shop.
Asheville has spectacular rock shops, a stellar bead shop, and super funky "Hippy" shops...I got two tie-dyed dresses, silk scarves, and this glass vessel at several of those shops.
And today we capped off the month with a trip to the March flea market - I added a few more skeleton and clock keys to my stash, along with three vintage glass necklaces.  I splurged on the green oval one, because the strand is super long, the color is unusual, and I love the little bubbles in the old glass!
There you have it folks!  What have you been up to this month?  I've still got a lot to do before my surgery, but I'm looking forward to some beading and blogging during recovery.  Maybe those Etsy listings I've been promising since before Christmas too...maybe.  Stay tuned on Tuesday for the Art Jewelry Elements Component of the Month Challenge blog hop...and the next day for an exciting announcement!  Until then, thanks for looking!
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Saturday, February 28, 2015

Art Jewelry Elements Component of the Month February

Where on earth has February gone?!?  It seems like yesterday that I was posting about the Beading Back in Time blog hop...and now it's the end of the month, without a post in between!  I'm still building stamina after going back to work full-time - the ideas are still in my brain, but at the end of the day all I want to do is crash.  Hopefully as the days lengthen, that will change - spring is usually my creative time of year...


 Anyway, on to this month's Component of the Month reveal!  We have several great metal clay component makers over on the Art Jewelry Elements blog, and I got really excited when I realized I would get to play with some of Melissa Meman's beautiful pieces this month.  Metal is something I don't combine with my beadwork very often, and I'm not really sure why.  I love the heft and feel of finished metal clay pieces, so this was the perfect opportunity to experiment!

 I chose a pair of the rectangle components, originally thinking I would do earrings, and embellish the little holes with seed beads in various colors...  And then this happened!

For some reason, these components just needed to be a necklace.  I wanted something fun and funky, but a bit lighter weight than my normal creations.  Funnily, this simple design has a huge laundry list of ingredients!  Besides Melissa's white copper components, I used:

  • chain - sterling rolo, gunmetal plated cable, and super fine antique brass cable with beads
  • waxed linen
  • sari silk
  • powder glass from Ghana
  • 5/0 Picasso Czech charlottes
  • hand carved vintage tagua nut button
  • artisan enameled copper head pins
  • sterling ball head pins
  • teeny gold plated jump rings


 Mixed metal ... mixed fiber ...  multi-colored ... multi-strand ...  Isn't it happy?  Well, it makes me happy!

I started with the components - making 90 degree bends right next to the head of my enameled copper and sterling headpins so the wires would dangle down below.  I placed one of the 5/0 charlottes on the end of each wire and made a wrapped loop to hang the necklace strands from.


The strands of chain alternate color, but when I got done attaching all of them it looked empty.  Something was needed to bring the color of the seed beads and enamel down into the strands.  While rooting through my stash for possibilities, the box of African and trade beads fell over and spilled...  Happy accident, the bright colors of powder glass from Ghana were just the ticket!


I had planned to use sari silk for the strap all along...but when I was looking for the perfect strand, I found that most of it looked out of proportion with the rest of the piece.  A bit too wide, a bit too fuzzy, or maybe a bit too bright...  Well, I finally found the right piece, and braided it with waxed linen and a few more bright charlottes.  


For a closure, I chose this little carved tagua nut button.  I love how the floral motif mirrors the design on Melissa's components.  A simple loop goes over the button, and I left the tails long for a little bit of "party in the back".  Ha!  My necklace has a mullet!


AND (you knew it was coming) here's the beauty shot!  Don't forget to check out everyone else's work!  The Component of the Month reveal is something I look forward to every month...I just love seeing how so many different artists interpret similar components.

AJE team: 

Lindsay Starr (you are here!)

Guest Participants:

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Sunday, February 1, 2015

Beading Back in Time Blog Hop Challenge Reveal

Here I am, a little late to my own blog hop.  Lovely life got in the way yesterday, but everything is straightening out now.

I've shown some progress pics in my last few posts, but I thought that with my reveal, I would talk you through my process a bit more.  Here is my starting point:
This cheap plastic hadrosaurus just makes me smile.  I love the unusual color combination and patterning on her, so I decided to run with it.  After all, we have no idea what color dinosaurs were!  And today's reptiles come in all colors of the rainbow, right?  So why can't hadrosaurs have been cream, gray, and orange?  
 When starting an encrusting freeform like this (freeform stitching over an armature form), I usually find it easiest to create a harness out of beads first.  This divides the armature into manageable sections of beadwork.  In this case, I also added some Czech pressed glass trilobite beads, partially to continue the spots on the hadrosaur patterning, and partially because I just love the detail in that mold.  And it continues the theme nicely, don't you think?
The first two sections I filled in were the main belly sections.  They were both relatively large sections, and I also knew it would be more difficult to bead in between the legs after they were covered with beads.  Beads just love to catch loops of thread, and as I'm using beige thread on a largely light colored project, it's easy to miss when that happens.  Next I filled in over one shoulder, around the neck, and up one forearm, including the grey mitten coloration on the "hand".
Next I stitched up and around the head.  I knew I wanted to maintain both the original pattern and smile of the plastic dino, and add some texture with some Czech pressed glass spikes.  When I got to the eye areas, I had a bit of a dilemma.  For me, seed beaded eyes never look quite right, so I stitched in a couple of vintage German glass drops, and a bit of surface embellishment to make eyelids.  A bit bulgy looking, but fun, I think.  Then I started working down the left side, continuing to follow the painted pattern on the armature.  At this point I also decided that there was an awful lot of cream, so I added a bit of grey freckling to break up the color a bit.
You can see the freckling a bit better in these pictures of my progress on the left and right sides.
And here is my progress up to now!  I *might* have bitten off more than I could chew this month.  All of my stitching has had to occur in my lunch breaks at work, on Wednesdays before my yoga class, or on the weekends.  I always forget how long a project like this really takes, when you don't have the time to sit and bead for long periods of time.  I still have to finish both hind legs, the tail, and the last bit of belly between the legs and tail.  But that just means I have to make another post, right?  After all, I know you need a beauty shot!  And for some reason I don't feel right taking one of an unfinished project...

Please check out what all of my beady friends have done with this challenge!  I know a few people are running behind like myself, so if you don't see their post now, do check back later!



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Saturday, January 31, 2015

Art Jewelry Elements January "Use your Stash" Challenge!

...or what happens when a good idea doesn't work out...
It's time for the January Art Jewelry Elements component challenge!  This month we decided (since many of us had new years resolutions to make things we've been putting off for ages) that we would focus on using the stash of art beads we've all accumulated.  Deciding what I wanted to work on this month was easy!  Months ago I asked my friend Sue of SueBeads to hook me up with a few of her little robin's egg beads.  I had this awesome idea to make a beaded nest, nestled in a beaded tree as a necklace.  

Just look at these little gorgeous eggs!  I was so excited when they arrived (in a package full of other goodies...thanks again Sue!).  I have been thinking since then exactly how to make the nest...but the rest of the necklace eluded me.  I thought that maybe inspiration would hit while I was working...
As you can see, the piece is not finished.  I was really happy with the nest...before I started any of the other beadwork.  
Part of my problem is that there's not enough contrast in all the browns...you can't see the nest as a separate element from the rest of the "tree".  I had been struggling with stitching the tree out of seed beads when I decided wood beads might give me a change in texture.  Well, they did that...but it's still a big lump of brown...
I'm so disappointed!  Partially because I don't have a completed piece to show you, but also because I'm just not happy with the direction that it's taking.  So what do I do when this happens?  In this case...I think I'm going to strip off all the beadwork so that I have just the nest and eggs left. Then ... think some more.  Perhaps a leather tree?  Perhaps no tree at all, but rather leaves and flowers?  Perhaps the nest should not be in the middle...but more on one side?  I don't know yet, but it's definitely something I'm thinking about.  
I know I'm not the only one with design struggles like this.  Sometimes the original idea just doesn't come together like it is in your head.  Sometimes you can't figure out how to execute what's in your head.  Sometimes what's in your head just doesn't look good in real life.  On this necklace I think it's a bit of a combination of all three problems.  What do you do when you hit stumbling blocks like this?

Don't forget to check out the rest of the blog hop!  Everyone has really been pushing themselves to try new things and use their favorite components out of their stash this month.  You can follow the links below, or hop on over to the Art Jewelry Elements blog and follow from there.  I might not be the only latecomer, so don't forget to check back!  

PS, don't miss my post tomorrow over on the AJE blog, and we are also posting the reveal for the Beading Back in Time blog hop challenge tomorrow.  Lots going on!  Hope to see you then!



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Saturday, January 17, 2015

Beads in the Mail!!!

The best days are when I come home from a long day of work...and traffic...to a mailbox crammed full of little beady packages.  That was this week for me, as last week I made several orders with my Christmas funds.  Today I'll be showing you a bit of eye candy...because I know you don't mind!
First off, I needed to use up a gift card from Keven's parents...at Shipwreck beads!  If any of you ever get to Washington state, make sure to mark off a day to spend at Shipwreck.  Seriously.  Anyway, they had a seed bead sale going on after Christmas, so I stocked up!  To the tune of 6 hanks each of black and matte black 11/0's.  I've also been obsessed with striped seed beads lately.  In fact, I got four variations of crystal striped with black, and some awesome black and white striped brown with an AB finish.  I already have some of those beads, but I've used so many of them I figured it was a good idea to get more.  I got a couple of random things too...my favorite bright mix of XL peanuts, mix of interesting tube shaped and XL striped beads, 11/0 crystal silver lined charlottes, and white pearl 8/0 drops.  And I stocked up on 5 different mixes of twins!  Those should be fun to play with!
But seed beads are not all I got!  Shipwreck also has a fantastic selection of standard and unusual Czech glass beads.  I can't wait to dive into all these, especially the flat topped XL 2-hole beads.  I've already been wearing the square drops on my hoops too!  Gotta love a bead you can just throw on a simple wire hoop!

 I also had an Etsy gift card from my best PIB, Kelly.  I waffled around for weeks on what to buy with it.  When people give you money to spend on yourself, I think it's important to buy things that you wouldn't normally buy...those things that you've ogled for ages, but always tell yourself "maybe next time".  So I bought art beads (I had some extra $ in my PayPal account too).  
Top row:  Bronze clay sperm whale by InLoveWithSaturday, porcelain fish by SlinginMud, and a lampwork cab by InLoveWithSaturday (an extra goodie!).  Bottom row:  Seaweed component by SlinginMud, "steampunk" lady face pendant by SlinginMud, big eyed lampwork fish Warren by AardvarkArtGlass, and a "steampunk" bird pendant by SlinginMud.  OMG, I love that whale!  Apparently I've started collecting whale components for some reason.  Also, Sheri Mallery's porcelain components (SlinginMud) are just fabulous!  And man, I've wanted a fish from Aardvark for a LONG time.  Finally the $ and stars aligned, and Warren came to me!
And just a teaser of the progress I've made this week for our upcoming Beading Back in Time blog hop challenge.  This is the last progress post I'll be making, so make sure you tune in at the end of the month for the big reveal!  I can't wait to see how everyone else was inspired!

 Please keep watching my Facebook page for inspiration and updates.  Don't forget to check out my Etsy shop too!  And, as always, thanks for looking!
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Sunday, January 11, 2015

Sunday Funday - Week 12 & 13

First two weeks of January 2015!


Some of you might have noticed that I didn't write my regular Sunday Funday post last week.  Ever since I re-started blogging in the fall my goal was simply to blog once a week, and if I had more to say than that then bonus posts, yay!  Well, with the advent of working full time again, I'm finding it a bit of a struggle to sit and really focus on blog posts on the weekend.  As (I hope) you know, I also write a post for the Art Jewelry Elements blog every other Sunday, and last week I just got overwhelmed by needing to post twice in one day.  So for now, I'm going to post here on Saturday and on the AJE blog the next day (like last week), and on Sunday the next week.  SO, back to your regularly scheduled programming ... for...now.   Ha!


All that being said, please do check out my post on the AJE blog that I posted last week.  I've been thinking a lot about all the great beads that I've stashed over the years, and in my post I talk about why it can be so difficult to use those beads.  It was a fun topic for me to investigate, and it seems like many of my beady friends have similar issues too!  I hope you check it out!  


I HAVE finally made some time for beading!  This week I've been taking my Beading Back in Time blog hop challenge project to work, and beading during the second half of my lunches.  I don't want to talk too much about the project until the end of the month, but here's a fun collage of my progress, and you should check out Sherri's intro post too!

I also FINALLY finished a necklace for my fellow AJE writer and friend, Lesley Watt of THEA Elements.  


Awhile ago, Lesley sent me a great selection of her work, with the understanding that I would make her something out of the bronze clay ammonite cabs.  


I've been working on this piece on and off for months, and am just so relieved that I finally had an epiphany about how to make the strap.  It has actually been sitting, with all the embroidery done, backed, and edged, just waiting for me to figure out the strap situation since before Thanksgiving.  I really dislike when I take on projects for other people and then can't get them done in (what I feel is) a timely manner.  


So for the last couple of weeks I've had the embroidery out where I could see it.  I figured that would push it to the forefront of my mind and get me thinking about what I didn't like about my original ideas and help to come up with something new and different.  Lo and behold!  Yesterday I actually figured out something, and I'm really excited with how it turned out.  I love it so much that I'm excited to try this technique again with other pieces!  I felt like the leather would add a rustic and casual element, that kind of mirrored the feeling of the bronze, which is in turn elevated by the delicate beadwork.  


And here's your beauty shot, of course!  I love working with fossils and fossil inspired components.  My favorite thing about working with such primordial themes is creating a new environment for these creatures - bringing them back to life.  

 Please keep watching my blog and Facebook page for inspiration and updates.  Don't forget to check out my Etsy shop too...lots of fun fossil jewelry over there!  And, as always, thanks for looking!
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Saturday, January 3, 2015

Art Jewelry Elements Component of the Month December

I just want to say again, I hope you all have a happy new year, and that 2015 is even bigger, better, and brighter than your wildest dreams.  For myself, I hope to carve out some creative time, with my new working schedule.  I have tons of plans for my blog, my Etsy shop, my Facebook page, and my creative endeavors...definitely enough to keep me busy for a whole year!

And now it's that time again - time for the Art Jewelry Elements Component of the Month Reveal!  Each month I just love seeing what so many different artists choose to make with similar pieces - the creativity of my fellow bloggers never ceases to amaze me.  In late November, Diana asked us to choose if we wanted a white or aqua speckled stoneware snowflake pendant.  I went with aqua...much more in my wheelhouse than white.  


This choice turned out to be a happy accident...it coordinates perfectly with my new work wardrobe!  I had a bit of an idea of what I wanted to do with this pendant, but I also knew that I would be short on time...between a new job, staying with a friend for several days over Christmas, and lots of clothes shopping.  When I was packing for my short trip, I pulled together a small baggie of beads and pre-beaded components to go with the snowflake, and brainstormed designs while I drove to Knoxville after work on Christmas Eve.  The day after Christmas Day, I holed up in the spare bedroom, watched a season of House on Netflix, and made this necklace:


I love how it turned out - rustic and woodsy, yet the snowflake is still central to the design.


I wanted the fringe to act like a bed of leaves, or barren forest floor - something that the snowflake would land softly upon, shifting with every slight movement.  The fringes terminate in large rustic striped seed beads, or loops of picasso 8/0 and O beads.


Placing the snowflake against a bed of brown, really lets the bright aqua glaze shine through.  I love how the pattern just floats across the brown fringe beads.


Half of the strap is herringbone with bugles, and the other half is simply strung...well, not simply.  I chose a pattern of smaller seed beads interspersed with some of the larger striped beads from the fringe.  As I went back and forth, I passed back through each series of large beads, while picking up new smaller beads to fill in the gap.  The result is this textural chain, that ties the bottom of the fringe into the rest of the necklace.


I have ended up wearing this necklace so much lately!  It just goes with everything, and since there is no clasp, I can just throw it on as I dash out the door!  Don't forget to check out the list below to see what my fellow bloggers have been up to with their snowflakes!  I'm off to do that now!  Don't forget to follow my Facebook page for creative updates, and my Etsy shop for new items...coming soon, I promise!  And, as always, thanks for looking!

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