Thursday, March 12, 2015

Thursday, February 12, 2015

While waiting in the Wyndham Garden hotel...

So, I took 2 seat bumps today and am now being put up overnight in a hotel. Definitely hitting Ft Lauderdale tomorrow, though. :)

I signed up for a blog hop and the partners were announced yesterday. I probably won't get my introduction post done until I get back from the Bead Cruise because it is crazy cold here where the hotel computer is. Maybe the Motel 6 has computers and I can do it tomorrow. Won't be nothing degrees in Florida. (yay)

So, the blog is the Swap N Hop organized by the lovely ladies of the Bead Peeps Facebook group. Since I haven't had a working home computer, I haven't posted any of the things for it yet on my blog here, but it's on my list. We're supposed to introduce ourselves, which I didn't manage to get done more than posting some jewelry pics that I had readily available to use while on my work laptop. No pics here, obviously, but I thought I would answer some "get to know me" questions.

What got you started making jewelry?
Well, I've always really enjoyed crafts and making things. I also love working with colors and have been known to color still at times. Made friendship bracelets a lot when I was in Jr High and doing rings and such with what we called Indian seed beads was very popular at that time in Girl Scouts and I was really good at it. But that was as far as I got. I always thought I would enjoy it and it was always in the back of my mind. Especially being someone who was not only overweight, but also just has a larger frame. Buying special occasion jewelry always involved a lot of searching for places that sold larger sizes. Then came time for my best friend's second wedding. I decided to make jewelry for the both of us for the wedding, which was a small affair. She wore a gorgeous floral dress from Igigi that was white with purple, fuschia, and other tropical colored flowers. I was able to use Swarovski pearls and crystals to create something that matched and was made just for her. It was awesome. So, I started hoarding beads and making things for my family and friends for special occasions. Now I am to the point that I need to expand to more than that and actually start selling some stuff so that I can use up some bead stash and be "allowed" to buy more.

What type of jewelry do you make?
I mainly do stringing and some basic wirework. I do enjoy some beadweaving and experiment with different stitches at times. I've done right-angle weave, spiral tubular herringbone, some peyote, and some other spiral stitch that I'm not quite sold on. I make all sorts of pieces from simple to bold. I'm still an amateur but I am experimenting with forcing myself to try out asymmetry, more bead soup type of mixes, etc. I think the thing I'm best at is probably color. I have a pretty good sense of color.

What materials and colors do you use?
Semi-precious stones (lol, ask to see my red creek jasper and amazonite collection), pearls (sooo many pearls), artisan beads (huge lampwork collection, good sized Humblebeads and Jangles collections, too). I love tagua nut beads and nicely done wood beads. Love, love, love vintage beads: glass, metals, lucite. Love them. And I use a lot of chain. I don't use a lot of precious metals, just occasionally if the materials I'm using really demand it. But the plated items I use are made by quality manufacturers.

Colors. Hmm. Well, it depends on who I'm designing for. I try to use a variety of colors and to challenge myself. For my own use, I prefer silver, gunmetal, pastels, blues, purples, pinks, certain reds. But I try to design for others, as well. And I love working with antiqued copper. It has such a richness... I'm not overly fond of orange and yellow and grass green, but if the piece is right, it can catch my eye. Hate neon, though.

Well, I can't remember what other types of questions I was supposed to answer and my hands are getting mighty cold. It's around 0 here in Detroit and these hotel computers are right by the entrance. Brrr.

Thanks for reading!  :)

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Some of my creations

Since I will be shortly participating in a bead swap and blog hop, I wanted to get at least a few pictures of stuff I have made up so that whoever my partner ends up being maybe has a clue about what I use. :)

Lampwork, pearls (shell and freshwater), vintage lucite, vintage glass, czech glass, polymer clay, ceramic... I use it all! Pearls are probably the most used component. I love them in all of their various grades and forms. Well, except blister pearls, not quite sold on those.





Welcome to my blog!

Well, I finally made one. Not much going on yet. Mainly because I hate trying to type anything of length on my kindle and my home computer is still broken. That will be getting fixed soon, though. Blogging about my jewelry, my "creative process," the cool things I find and enjoy that others make is part of my goals for this year. I'm sure I'll share stuff about myself along the way, too.