Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Worth the Work
I have been holding off a bit on writing a new blog post until Marcia had a chance to get all the pieces by mail and take some photos. I am privileged enough to have my very own blog post written about me over on her blog. To me, this feels like making it big time. Marcia has been one of my beading idols for quite awhile now and I use her book Beaded Opulence almost like a bible. She's quite the bead world rock star, so for me to enter her scope in any way, is amazing. I will post new pieces soon, for now, go read her blog!
Friday, March 16, 2012
Light at the end of the tunnel!
Without further ado, the last few projects in Marcia's book: Beaded Opulence
Amphora was great fun to make, I love how it took shape as the layers were added, and it has so many color possibilities! Even though I didn't have the chain the directions called for, I think I made it work out okay:
Then I worked on Deco and let me tell you, I used up quite a few beads on the rope portion for this one. However, I've gotten so many compliments on it already, I can't really complain:
Quetzal I will admit I had a great time with, as you can tell since I made a bunch! So many possibilities, and so easy to customize to the right size, I even made a miniature version so the base wasn't as big!
And lastly, Serena, which I left for last not only because it IS the last project in the book, but because it didn't immediately jump out at me as a project I just HAD to make. Once I did this one though, I can tell you I'll definitely make a couple more, seeing it built from the bottom up made me really fall in love with it!
I will be sending Marcia all of these pieces so she can see them in person (she promised to send them back as quick as she can!) and so she can take some better photos of them, since I can only do so much with what I have. This journey was so much fun, and I highly recommend this book, especially if you're learning RAW (right angle weave) as it shows a lot of different ways to utilize it. Thanks so much to Marcia, for her suggestions and care packages while I completed my projects!
Amphora was great fun to make, I love how it took shape as the layers were added, and it has so many color possibilities! Even though I didn't have the chain the directions called for, I think I made it work out okay:
Then I worked on Deco and let me tell you, I used up quite a few beads on the rope portion for this one. However, I've gotten so many compliments on it already, I can't really complain:
Quetzal I will admit I had a great time with, as you can tell since I made a bunch! So many possibilities, and so easy to customize to the right size, I even made a miniature version so the base wasn't as big!
And lastly, Serena, which I left for last not only because it IS the last project in the book, but because it didn't immediately jump out at me as a project I just HAD to make. Once I did this one though, I can tell you I'll definitely make a couple more, seeing it built from the bottom up made me really fall in love with it!
I will be sending Marcia all of these pieces so she can see them in person (she promised to send them back as quick as she can!) and so she can take some better photos of them, since I can only do so much with what I have. This journey was so much fun, and I highly recommend this book, especially if you're learning RAW (right angle weave) as it shows a lot of different ways to utilize it. Thanks so much to Marcia, for her suggestions and care packages while I completed my projects!
Monday, March 12, 2012
Almost there
To the end of the book that is. I've got all of the pieces finished now, but still have to take some decent pictures of a few of them.
The piece we continue the journey with, and the reason for the hiatus and lack of crystals, Fanfare. This bracelet is simply dripping with crystals and there is no way to avoid being blinded while working on it, so here it is:
I also had to order crystals for most of the book in order to finish it, simply because I don't keep too many on hand, but it was well worth it to order a whole bunch. Plus, it's FUN to shop for shiny sparkles. Entwined Circles was the next project on the chopping block and I had all kinds of fun with this one, since the colors I chose made it so incredibly bright:
Then we had Shadow Wave which I have to thank Marcia for since she was so generous and sent me a triangular rivoli in order to work on it! I just love the little shot of pink around the triangle to give it that little pop of color:
Terracita, being the next project, I tried to challenge myself a bit and work with colors I wouldn't usually use. I found myself attracted to earthy yet still shiny brown/tan tones. The whole piece ends up looking very rich in person (I'm not sure it translates very well in a photo) being slight variations of all the same basic color:
The piece we continue the journey with, and the reason for the hiatus and lack of crystals, Fanfare. This bracelet is simply dripping with crystals and there is no way to avoid being blinded while working on it, so here it is:
I also had to order crystals for most of the book in order to finish it, simply because I don't keep too many on hand, but it was well worth it to order a whole bunch. Plus, it's FUN to shop for shiny sparkles. Entwined Circles was the next project on the chopping block and I had all kinds of fun with this one, since the colors I chose made it so incredibly bright:
Then we had Shadow Wave which I have to thank Marcia for since she was so generous and sent me a triangular rivoli in order to work on it! I just love the little shot of pink around the triangle to give it that little pop of color:
Terracita, being the next project, I tried to challenge myself a bit and work with colors I wouldn't usually use. I found myself attracted to earthy yet still shiny brown/tan tones. The whole piece ends up looking very rich in person (I'm not sure it translates very well in a photo) being slight variations of all the same basic color:
To finish out the chapter, also because that's all the pictures I have for now, Whitby earrings. Again, Marcia was very generous and sent me the teardrops for these pieces! I'll admit, I feel a little spoiled! I played with color a bit in these but I think they turned out pretty well, fun to wear that's for sure!
And that's all I've got for now, I'll take pictures of the remaining few projects today or tomorrow and I'll update you with finishing the book very soon (I promise!) Then, all of these lovely pieces will be sent to the wonderful woman herself. Yes, I'll be sending all of these projects to Marcia DeCoster, since she asked to see them all in person! As a side note, I can't wait for the Bead & Button Show this year as I'll be able to take a class from Marcia again and see many wonderful beads!
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