Art Bead Scene - Ornament Blog Hop

In a moment of insanity (it looks like I have lots of them lately), when Heather Powers posted on Art Bead Scene there will be an Ornament Blog Hop I said 'yes!'.

Then I had that moment of lucidity that follows the insanity: now what? I had no clear idea... so I did what I do best, leave it to brew. I don't know about you, but for me it really works (the trick is to tell yourself to brew the idea, not to forget it). Half of my work ideas come in dreams; I wake up in the morning and I suddenly have the solution of whatever issues I had.

This time I didn't dream about it, though. Couple of weeks ago, at Dee's studio, I simply rummaged through my IKEA box of boxes, looking for items. It had to be metal / wire, but I wanted some colour as well. I kept digging until I recovered an adorable blue cab with a matte finish, like etched glass (it is not glass, some sort of resin). From previous experience I know it's hard to use them in bezels, the finish is finicky and burnishing the bezel around is not looking good on the cab. While thinking of this, I kind of made the back for it, from copper, hammered and stamped. I thought one of those net-like bezels from wire would work best, I made the first raw on the net, then realized it will never go well with just the net, as the wire was too think (24 ga). There is a solution to every problem - and I found mine immediately :)

The cab is quite small (about 1" in diameter) and the ornament looked like it was missing something. Luckily for me, I always carry wire and enamel with me now.

This is what I ended up with:

Isn't it adorable? What you see is the actual size (just a tad larger in real life) and the funniest part is that today I was wearing a dress in exact those 2 blues. So I think my ornament will end up being a pendant soon :) What's best than a piece that can be both?!

I am searching for a name - something with fish net / octopus / sea life comes to mind... I haven't figured it out yet. I might add the 3rd 'leg' - I had three of them, but for some unknown reasons, one decided to melt while torched... before I even touched the enamel. It just warped itself out of solid state into a semi-liquid state. Strange, I know, as all three legs were made the same way, from the same piece of wire, same torch. Oh, well, I will survive. Maybe it's some mystical sea creature - two-legged, yes, I actually like that. 

"Mystical sea creature" :) 

Thank you for stopping by - we'll all be hopping from the ABS' site, I'll try to add the list link here as well. 

Wishing you a peaceful season: may you celebrate what you believe in with your loved ones!

CC7A November - hosted by Christine

We are coming to an end with the CC7A. I would like to thank all my wonderful partners 'in crime' for their support during this year. And to promise everyone I am, indeed, going to post the August and September pieces soon.

November was hosted by lovely Christine and her choice of picture was one very matching the weather outside:

Yup, all the leaves are gone by now. The sky might not be as brilliantly blue, or not today (it's raining), but the branches sure look like that.

I wanted to make something that matches the empty branches, but I felt it'll make me way to sad and right now that's the last thing I need. So I deviated just a tad :)

First it came the flower. As my enamel colours are very limited, I am truly happy I still have a bit of the aqua, we will pretend it's the colour of the sky. The flower was ready on Sunday, however I wasn't ready to finish it until today. I knew how I wanted to finish it, which in my mind was the same thing as being done... sorry... I run a lot like this lately.

I looked for a bit of fabric to match the flower, but all my fabrics were turquoise or deep blue. Too deep and dark for what I wanted. I recently received some silky scarfs from my mom, but those weren't in the colours I wanted either (although beautiful nonetheless!). As I was scratching my head, I remembered I bought some mohair / wool mix yarn, in some blue-grayish hues. That should do it, right?

Luckily for me, it continues beautifully from the end of the flower (where the blue of the enamel is not that bright). I wrapped a piece of wire in the yarn, then crocheted the neckpiece with the yarn and another, thinner wire. I also used the thin wire on the flower 'hanger' - for some empty branches.

Being completely exhausted already (not from this, from my crazy life in general), I couldn't bear the thought to make the clasp, so I used one of two clasps I won (long time ago) from Cindy Wimmer. I just love this clasp - I think I'll just have a session of clasp making soon, so I have them when I need them :)

This is the result - I'll give it a wear soon; I am a tad worried about those 'branches', I want to see if they can be worn or not. If not (if they catch the blouse material) I have an idea to replace them with a bit of embroidery thread; it won't have the same curly effect, but it'll be fine, I think.

And no, my little foldio still cannot 'host' an entire necklace. I'll give it a try in natural light tomorrow, hopefully you get the idea of what it looks like.

Thank you to all who visit, I know I've been mostly invisible the past few months, I promise I have good excuses for that. I'll update the blog soon.

And, again, thank you so much to my great CC7A partners and virtual friends. You have been so patient with me, and I hasn't been a great host.

Please visit all the wonderful ladies, I am sure they've made beautiful pieces - Happy Thanksgiving to all who are celebrating it this weekend (we did so in October).

Christine (November)

Alicia (April host) ~ you are here
Therese (May host)

Sally (June host)

Monique (August)

Cynthia (September)

A Time To Stitch #8 - Blog Hop

In coming in to write this post I could not believe I haven't posted in 4 months. Wow. Yes, I am still alive, and I'll write something one day about this summer and fall. Write now I am just grateful we are healthy and alive.

A Time To Stitch is the baby of Christine and Therese - a bead weaving challenge, usually. This time ~ with a twist: we were supposed to make a beaded bag. Or amulet. Or medicine bag. Or... 

Procrastination runs high on my list of vice and this year just made me more adept at tasks slalom (it should be made an Olympic sport, I'd be champion); I might have dropped some posts here and there, though (I am still to write the CC7A posts for the past two meets, for example). However, when Therese's e-mail came three weeks ago as a reminder (thank you, Therese!) I made a promise to myself to not back off... I need to get back into a somewhat regular schedule of postings. I miss this part of my life, truly. 

However, I am in the final stages of writing my thesis and things are more hectic than I ever imagined. So I put it off for tomorrow. And tomorrow. And... yesterday arrived with me only knowing what I want to make, but not having anything to show for. I contemplated backing off and I said "no!". 

Up to the the studio I picked two of the boxes: one with leather, one with seed beads. My mom sent me a while back some deer skin. Soft, beautiful and the only thing I knew I could manage with such short time on my hands. 

I knew what I wanted: a turtle. Why? We live very close to Crawford Lake Conservation Area, a place where 40 years ago (in the 70s) archaeologists discovered an Iroquoian Village. The story of the discovery itself is amazing: the conservation area has a wonderful lake, a meromictic lake. What is a meromictic lake? A body of water with a very deep basin, so deep that it rarely gets disturbed and it receives no oxygen. Thus it is perfect for conserving organic samples, which otherwise would quickly decay. That's how, by studying the lake, scientists discovered corn. And they figured out a settlement must be close by. They were right. We visit the Village at least once a year; we never grow tired of the longhouses, the Native stories, the maple syrup, and the amazing natural environment (the park is part of the Niagara Escarpment). Back to my turtle: the Iroquois were structured in three clans: the Turtle Clan, the Wolf Clan, and the Bear Clan. I love all the symbols behind all three clans, however I am very, very fond of the Turtle Clan. I studied a bit what each clan's responsibility was and to my delight, the Turtle Clan is the Keepers of the Knowledge.

From the link above:

In the Iroquois Creation Story, the earth was created on the back of a turtle. It was there that life began to grow. The Turtle Clan represents the shifting of the earth and the cycles of the moon. The people of the Turtle Clan are considered the well of information and the keepers of the land. The responsibility of the Turtle Clan is everything that has to do with the environment.

How could one back out of beading a turtle with such deep meanings?

As usual, it wasn't the smoothest of the journey. I started it two times and didn't go very well. Third time was a charm in my case, though.

I took no pictures of the process, so without further ado I will share my Turtle Clan Bag.

It is small, 3.5" (it's an approximate square). As you can see, I ran out of my original Czech 6.0 mix, but at that time it was already dark outside and I knew I would not survive a repeat of the entire patterns. I simply moved onto another 6.0 type :) and hoped I'll be forgiven.

I intend to fill it with some lavender and keep it at my desk - a reminder that I chose my new academic life (I have days when I wish I could blame someone else!).

Thank you, Therese and Christine for hosting this challenge - it's always fun to try new things.

Thank you all for stopping by - please make sure you visit everyone else and enjoy their bags!

Our 2 hosts: Therese & Christine

Jenny

Bobbie

Ana

Amy

Cynthia

Karin S

Maryanne

Liz

Lori

Paula

Jasvanti

Dagi

Kepi

Samantha

Alicia <- you are here

Motidana

Becky

Pine Ridge Treasures' Beach Blog Hop 2015

Hello and welcome to a special blog hop, hosted by lovely Lisa of Pine Ridge Treasures.

Back in March she sent us a kit of cultured sea glass and some other elements:

I was so enchanted by my glass ~ I love sea glass (even when it's cultured) and the colours of my package was speaking of dark nights with purple dreams.

But then my crazy life intervened and while the package was always on my mind, the same mind wouldn't come up with a design.

I tried this:

It looked beautiful on the mat, but it was definitely not me. Back to thinking.

Earlier this week it became this:

I tried to knot the seas glass, thinking I can wrap it around my wrist as well. But I did't like it either.

So Friday evening I was in panic mode and went back to what I feel it is me: wire :)

I have created 2 different tassels: one using fabric scraps from a dress I always loved to pieces (the blue & white material), a gorgeous piece of lace sent by my mom, and a leather flower (also sent by my mom). I added one of the glass pieces, wire wrapped, and one of the 2 boat charms. Instant love!

The second tassel is even more simple in design: a wrapped wire circle, added a few small glass pieces, in an  asymmetric design; with a few of the elements: 2 of the beach glass pieces, the other boat charm, and one of the metal beads made into a small charm. Love? check!

Now what to do for the actual necklace? I must admit I am not 100% in love with this one ~ the left side with the 4 long tubes is beautiful and perfect; the asymmetric left side... not so much. I have the nagging feeling I will end up taking that part off and coming up with something else. In the meantime, it is usable and beautiful.

The best part of this? it really is 3 necklaces: the simple, flowing one, with no tassels.

#2 with one of the tassels.

#3 with the other tassel.

This was my journey; thank you for following along!

Thank you, Lisa, for the wonderful kit and the opportunity to get out of my usual gemstones 'box'. Obviously I didn't get too much out of the box :) I still have tons of the glass which I hope to put to good use (I love the lovely lavender shade! or that star). I also need to find a name, Starry Night comes to mind (especially for #1 or #3) :)

Please ensure you visit the group - I am looking forward to seeing what beauties have been created!

Your hostess:  Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist
Carolyn Lawson, Carolyn's Creations
Candida Elkins Castleberry, Spun Sugar Beadworks
Becky Pancake, Becky Pancake Bead Designs
Kari Asbury, Hippie Chick Design
Susan Anderson, La Main Tresor
Kim Dworak, Cianci Blue
Margaret Pelech, Margaret Pelech's Blog
Lisa Prewitt Knappenberger, LiRaysa Designs
Carol Briody, A Beads Life
Karin Grosset Grange, Ginkgo et Coquelicot
Shaiha Williams, Shaiha’s Ramblings
Gloria Allen, Gloria Allen Designs
Rosee Floss Hanemaayer, Silver Penny Artisans
Saundra Farren, Something by Saundra
Beti Horvath, Stringing Fool Jewelry
Chris Eisenberg, Wanderware
Alicia Marinache, All the Pretty Things <- you're here
Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera
Linda Anderson, From the Bead Board
MaryAnne Kelly Hobbs-Fernie - TBD
Kelly Fletcher – TBD
Diana Chavis - TBD

CC7A, June edition - hosted by Sally Russick

Welcome to a new installment of our CC7A Odyssey. Speaking of Odyssey, William had a new colleague this year, fresh from Greece. A lovely young man, who's favourite author is... Homer! Can you imagine being 12 yo and having read Homer? I think I'll have William read some serious classics this summer.

But I digress :) This month is hosted by Sally and she chose soft summer hues as her palette:

At first, I thought it will be a huge challenge for me, as I am never soft. Colours or otherwise, I am a very energetic person, moving from A to B with the speed of light (or not moving at all, extremes is my middle name :) ) and that shows in my designs too. They are always full of colour, full of energy and rarely soft. Make than never.

You know how recently I tried (for the 2nd time) enamels. My first attempt this time has not be overly successful: I was using transparent flux over copper, and transparent enamels. Nice effect, but not the bold colours I have bee expected. I figured out it was transparents, when I was thinking I am using opaques. So I tried again, white base and opaques on top. Bolder, but still not what I wanted. Then it dawned on me and I made one more try: white base, followed by layers of transparent. Victory!! I'll show you the 3 levels at the end of this article, 'cause now it's all about soft summer hues, and not bold summer hues :)

I am not as soft as Sally's image will imply, however I am not sure I can go any softer!

The stones are soft, aren't they? All 3 on the right are Crazy Lace Agate, the one on the left it is a Rhyolite.

Every year, around Christmas and June I seem to create a small collection... what for? It's quite simple: for William's teachers. I think I should revisit the past 6 years of these mini-collection and really have done them as such.

Anyhow, I keep digressing (sorry, my brain is quite fried these days). This is my Soft Summer Hues interpretation and I am definitely sticking with it:

As you see, the necklaces are quite unique in their own way: the enameled charm, the stone, the wrap, the colours of the neckpiece; while they are linked by the similar elements. I am so grateful for my box of embroidery threads. It is a blast to open that box and search for colours that will work for a certain piece. Whipping up the neckpiece is a fast affair for me, as crochet is in my blood and in time I've also learned to make the wire wrapped ends perfectly the same for all.

Every finding is hand made (except for the jump rings) and you don't want to know how I flame-painted the hooks at the end! It's quite a funny story :) The wrapped links have a double job: link in the fabric elements to the wire elements (by using the lovely size 6 seed beads) and to serve as a possible shortening / lengthening elements for the necklace. It took me a while to think the neckpieces, but I am (at this moment) almost as proud of their design as I am of the enameled pieces.

That was my journey for this month's CC7A; thank you, Sally, for getting me way out of my comfort zone and having to travel where I haven't traveled before!

Please make sue you visit everyone else in our small, but mighty group:

Sally (June host)

Monique (August)

Cynthia (September)

Christine (November)
Alicia (April host) ~ you are here
Therese (May host)

I haven't forgotten about the enamel progression, here it is:

This is transparent flux, with transparent enamel on top. Soft :)

This is white base, and opaque enamel on top. Better, but not very fond of the result.

Bingo!: white base (1010, 2 coats) with transparent enamel on top (2300, Opalescent Green, 3 coats),

8 Illusions you can do with water

Now that the summer vacation has started, we can have fun and experiment :)

8 Illusions you can do with water
Posted by Vidivodo on Saturday, April 11, 2015

Work in progress

As you know by now, I am in love with copper, glass, and stones (precious or semi- or simply stones). I found myself working more and more just in these 3 mediums, and while I don't spend too much time designing or making a lot these days, I try to do something every week. Of course, that means not much gets finished; no matter how much I try to hammer, solder, tumble, and put the finishes touches in less than 2 hours, it never works.

Thus, some work in progress ~ and hopefully you'll see the finished items some time this century as well!

Besides the 4 elements above, one thing I truly love in life is circles. Maybe because they are such a perfect shape, no angles, no start, no finish, Extremely versatile shape. The pendant above gave me some troubles (the washers did not want to stay soldered to each other), but I still love it. I am not sure if it's finished or not, I think I will add some heat patina and evaluate the status again. I love the rough look on some of the washers and I think once it has patina and a neckpiece it'll be done. Right now, at least, I don't feel like adding anything else (but I am known to change my mind a lot).

Aah - this piece... THE ring. I can't start telling you how much I love it and for how long I dreamed about making it. And guess what, apparently I need to dream about something long enough, 'cause this time the soldering went really, really quickly and well. I have tried this new copper paste solder (from Tucson ;) ) and I am purely in love!

The ring is not fully finished, it had been in the tumbler for a while, but I think I'll use the dremel on it first, heat patina as well, then give it one more tumble.

When I tumbled the 2 pieces above I found this ring waiting patiently, God knows for how long... rustic and very simple. I like it :)

Now onto the perfect combination of the 2 'loves' (metal and glass): enameled copper. Last week I made the links and today I enameled them. I wasn't very sure why the colour won't show better... until I arrived home and discovered my mistake: for some unknown reasons I thought 1000s are the transparent codes and I happily used 2000s, which I was sure are the opaques. You guessed it, it's the other way around.

Oh, well - I still like the end result, a lot. But I think I'll give it a try next week with the opaques :)

Crazy Lace agate in a cute trapezoidal shape.

Crazy lace agate (again)

And, of course, one more crazy lace agate (someone went to the store last week and found herself loose in the gemstone area)

This one - I cannot capture the frame well in the picture. If you wonder, yes, I wanted the 'rough', ragged look of the half-fired enamel. Why? because I love the feel and look of it. The stone is a Rhyolite. The pendant is quite big now - all stones are about 2 in in height, so you can imagine... (mental note: add a ruler or quarter to the pictures, for easy visual reference).

That was my WIP report for the week... now that I figured out the transparent / opaque mystery, I itch to get back and re-do the links / frames. Patience is the name of the game, I guess.

Thank you for stopping by!

ATTS 7 - Bead Embroidery

Welcome - to a new challenge :)

This time it is one of the ATTS (A Time To Stitch) - can't believe Therese and Christine have arrived at number 7 already. The ATTS 7 is all about bead embroidery.

As you know, seed beading is not my forte (or my favourite medium), however, I love trying it every now and then. I have been pleasantly surprised in the past by the ATTS challenges, in the sense that I enjoyed them immensely.

I approached this challenge with the same attitude: I'll enjoy myself... I chose one of Marie's cabs, from the Bead Peeps challenge, the oval black and glittery one:

But that's where my luck fled me and went somewhere else :)

I tried to use some of the seed beads Marie sent, along with some I had. The issue? I don't use small size beads, I mostly have #6 and #8. For this type of embroidery I need #11, #13, and #15 to make it work. I had some #11, and some incredibly teeny-tiny #15, however not of the same type of bead... they would not work together. This is the first attempt:

OK... back to the drawing wall. Now what? A trip to the LBS... which left me a few dollars poorer, and in no better shape. Why? Our LBS (which has pretty much everything) doesn't have different size seed beads in the same type! I found either #11 and #15 in Toho or some #10 Czech or a #13 Czech... but no three sizes in the same type. I got the Toho and #13 Czech, came home happy... and, to my complete dismay I discovered the #13 are so in diameter. But the height of the bead is almost nonexistent. And for the peyote bezel it's the actual height that matters.

I was sitting at the desk quite lost. Then I remembered I didn't visit Sally's post for the CC7A, so I did that. Aha! Sally's piece for the May CC7A had an interesting beading. I decided that's what I will try, and using just the #11 I proceeded to try to implement it.

My piece is far (very, very far) from being perfect - but it has some embroidery around it after all :)

The back was the funniest part to do, and it's also very far from perfect, but it holds itself.

The most interesting part? The bezel itself is done with a white thread. For some unknown reasons, I changed to black for the back, and the transparency of the dark purple beads had picked that up: can you see the subtle difference between the side and the back? I won't lie to you, that's the part I like best and I'll try to remember you can have some interesting effects just by changing the thread!

I started to make a rope for it, using the gold border (the #15s)... and that's how far I got... the seed beads are too tiny for me to ever manage to finish that, I am sorry to admit it. I get some points for trying, hopefully :)

If someone has an idea on how to use the purple #11s in a nice rope, with the gold #15s as accents (very rare accents!), please let me know. If I finish the rope, I can finish the necklace and be happy :) (I am such a simple creature, finishing a piece can make me very happy!)

This was my adventure in seed beads land ~ while not very successful in results, I consider it very successful in the learning experience. That's what matters most in my eyes.

Please make sure you visit the rest of the group, I assure you they're more accomplished than my attempt. I know that before visiting anybody else, trust me!

Therese (Host)

Christine  (Host)

Amy

Lola

Lori F

Kim

Becky Pancake

Karin G.

Debbie (Kepi)

LizE

Maryanne

Paula

Wendy

Janet

Jasvanti

Ginger

Alicia <- you are here

Bobbie

Shirley

Sarah

Cynth

Lizzie

Our resident Robin family

Since we moved here, in Birdland (as Aldershot is lovingly called) we had the opportunity and humbling honour to watch birds nesting around our house. If it's in the bushes around the house, or under the roof, I scarcely recall a year without birds. For a few years in a row, we had a family of doves - and one year they had 3 series of baby birds! It was always spectacular to watch the entire process.

Around 2010, Robins decided we are harmless and they can safely raise their family with us. I am not sure if it's the same family or not... all I know is that there is a family of Robins laying eggs every year in a nest close to the house.

This year they took residence on top of our backyard TV, which is mounted right under the roof, with a mere 20-30 cm between the top of the TV and the roof bottom. Apparently even the shape of the TV box is what they are looking after, so it was with awe we watched them tirelessly building the nest, straw by straw.

I couldn't check when the eggs were laid, so I missed that Robin-egg-blue this year! However, when we came back from Arizona, I saw the Mommy and Daddy bringing worms. I knew the babies must be out, although I could see little.

About 10 days ago I started to take daily pictures (it's a long post)

May 18: there is four of them, but you can barely see two.

May 20: not much of a change

May 21: Sleeping and in action, this is probably the first born

May 22: They're growing fast, and they've started to look better :)

May 23: Feathers are growing in, look at that :) Eyes are still closed shut... patience is the name of the game

May 24: I was still using the phone, so pretty impossible to get a close-up shot of the Mamma Robin, so please excuse the quality of the 1st picture. All four are very hungry; it's so cute how baby animals have a feature that's huge on them until they grow into it (for dogs it's the ears :) for the baby birds - the beak!).

May 26: They are getting bolder every day and still very, very quiet

May 27: the big ammo came out, I took the Canon, with the tele-lens. Now we can see something (pictures are taking from inside, behind the glass door to the patio)

May 28: Fully grown wings! I knew the time when they are going to be out of the nest will be soon.

May 29: When we came back from the farmer's market, they were still in, still quiet... but flexing those wings a lot.

Sadly, by early afternoon, in a space of 3 hours - they left the nest. We missed the moment (I would have loved to see how they hop out of the nest!). I know they are still safely somewhere on the ground, in the wooded area of the backyard (the space between our yard and our neighbour's is separated by a line of tall cedars, we have a mini-forest in our backyard), I saw one of them hopping around and spreading its wings and jumping on low branches.

I hope they will survive - I am also very happy the four of them got to this point in their lives.

Bitter-sweet feelings... for birds I've know for less than 2 weeks (maybe 6 in total, if you count when their parents started to build their home). I wonder what kind of feelings I'll have when our own nest will become empty, with the little bird flexing his wings out in the real world...

Then, just like Scarlet O'Hara says, "I'll think about this tomorrow".