What a busy week

I've been getting ready for a craft show this weekend in Minot, ND over the past couple weeks.  Making sure I've got all of my displays and tables and parts for setup, not to mention trying to gauge how much inventory will be needed.  I promise to update you all with pictures of new projects and of the craft show once I'm home next week though.  Unfortunately I still have some errands to run and packing to do so I can't stay here for too long and thus, you're stuck with a shorter than usual post with *gasp* no pictures!  But not to worry, there will be plenty of pictures next week.  Until then, my friends!

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!

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!

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:

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!

Back to the work at hand

Working on Marcia's book Beaded Opulence. I have finished the custom cuff made for my good friend Mitch, and here it is:

Now of course, that's on my arm so it has a lot of extra space, but his very large manly arms made it look great!  I think where we last left off was Cassiopeia.  So the next project in the book is Ka'iulani, I'm just glad I had any kind of bead that was top drill like this, made even better by the fact that it was in fact a pearl!  Just what the directions called for!  Of course I changed up colors, but I always seem to do that even if I don't intend to.

Then we have the beaded bangle, for this one I definitely had to think outside the box.  The rubber cord that it calls for I wouldn't have had any idea where to get, the advice my husband gave me however, was "Why don't we try the hardware store?"  And lo and behold, there was exactly what I needed.

Fleur Fantaisie was a project that I could have all kinds of fun with, since the focal beads are probably all one of a kind and really influence what colors and complementary beads you use.  I tried something funky, a purple skull.

Etruscan Treasure was a necklace I had tried very early on, before I took on this adventure, so I have two different versions of it.  I love both of them, although I have a soft spot for silver.

I had also done one other version as a custom order for my dear friend Krissy, she wanted it to look sort of like a peacock feather!  It was fun, unfortunately, no good pictures of it were taken.
Ringlets is the first project I had to ask Marcia herself where she got the aluminum rings for the project that it calls for. As I found out, I was to make another trip to the hardware store, where I, again, found exactly what I needed.

Cappadocia was a fun project to work on and I definitely want to make time to play with this pattern more than just this first one I made (we'll see when, if ever, I get to that)

As the journey continues, Cascade was a project that I had tried over the summer in pink and rose quartz

but as I was working my way through the book I just felt like I really should do this project again.  So I did!

Gabriella was a fun structural piece to create, since I didn't use any wire on the inside of the pendant to help it keep its shape.

And our last project for now, Urchin, delightfully and surprisingly easy to do with directions given.  And I just love the rope that Marcia has in her book for a few different projects.  I have already used it for a couple of my own to create an interesting rope piece for just about any pendant.  Urchin! right, Urchin, I of course had to change up the colors since that's what I tend to do and since I'm so fond of silver...

And that's all for now!  Since I hadn't updated in awhile I knew I had better give you quite a few pictures to look at so hopefully you all enjoy them!

Blast to the Past

I never got back to the computer yesterday so here's the continuation of yesterday's post with some bracelets I've done in the past.

This one was fun, challenging too, since I didn't have any of the pieces called for practically:

This is one I did from a Bead & Button show class a few years ago:

This was the original I did in class:

Here's one from the book Bugle Bead Bonanza:

A custom ordered cuff I did:

Butterflies!

A ribbon looking project from Bead  & Button:

And lastly for bracelets, fun with rivolis:

That's all I've got for now, I'll be back later on to do a quick post of earrings to round out the blast to the past pictures, hopefully giving me enough time to put together a post for Marcia's book ( Beaded Opulence ) later on.

A look back

at some of the projects I've finished in the past, because why not?  Just some pretty pictures to fill the time until I can put together a better post for the continuation of Marcia's book.

I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 hours working on this scarf over the course of a year.  Created my own fade pattern to go from white to black.  Here it is worn:

A St. Petersburg necklace, that I believe came from Bead & Button:

Fun with rivolis:

Some shaped beadwork via Diane Fitzgerald:

A personal favorite since I love rainbows:

I was trying something new with this one:

And a close up of the fringe:

And probably my favorite piece I've ever made, I was sad to sell it, but glad it will be appreciated:

I'll let that be all for now, since I barely got through necklaces, I had to leave out quite a few, but I'll throw some bracelets up later today!