Exotic Bead Swap - Meet my Peep!

Welcome to the 2nd annual Bead Peeps Swap & Hop!

   My partner is Divya Narasimhan of Jewels of Sayuri.

    She lives a very colorful and culturally rich life in Chennai, India, where she teaches design at the University.

    Her work has the appeal of classical tradition with a bit of a contemporary twist.
    She's influenced by her own culture, as well as others around the world.
(a kindred roving spirit!)

    She's quite the multi faceted talent, making everything from hand molded leather flowers and soap sculptures, to drawing, as well as designing jewelry and fashion.

Sayuri is a OWB (One woman brand) that believes in creating contemporary and fashionable pieces by incorporating recycling and reusing.                The tagline says it all - "Designed to please your soul".



    So here's the kit I sent Divya to work with.

    A little bit of everything really.
    When we had initially talked, I had the idea to send each other regional items, that the other might not have easy access to.
    I suggested sending her things like sea glass and seashells, because I live near a beach. and that she might send me things like sari silks and the kind of beads and findings she could get locally.
    Divya pointed out that most of those items are export from the country and not easily accessible to her. She also said she couldn't get ceramic and stoneware components.
    I never got a chance to go scour the beach for sea glass, but did stick with my original beach theme.

    She did request some of my "metal bits", so I made her a sea urchin. Hand formed from copper sheet using repousse technique. I gave it a lovely verdigris patina to blend with the color palette, and then buffed with steel wool to highlight the copper.
    I also forged her a copper hook clasp using a vintage brass button. The original inlay was missing from the button, so I set the crown of a sea urchin into the bezel, and sealed it in lacquer.
    I included several focals, besides the sea urchin.
    A siren face ceramic art bead pendant by Michelle Ann McCarthy of Firefly Design Studio.
    An Italian silver glass lampwork seahorse pendant (artist unknown).
    Also an artisan ceramic bracelet bar embossed with a beautiful lace pattern. Originally bisque, I did the patina work with Verdigris Rub-n-Buff and African Bronze Gilder's paste, leaving them with a soft Mediterranean sun kissed sheen. 
    I never got a chance to collect sea glass from the beach, so I included a selection of cultured sea glass from ZnetShows collection, in a sea of marine jewel tones.

Also included:
-a selection of Turquoise, Howlite, and Magnesite coins
-Prehnite Nuggets
-Lampwork glass lentils
-a pair of large Italian siver glass lentils
-a pair of rare Green Coral wheels
-Venetian blown glass baubles
-Sponge Coral, hand dyed Navy blue
-a pair of long faceted teal blue variegated Chalcedony drops
-deep teal blue ceramic art beads by Natalie Pappas of NKP Designs
-bright lime green flower shaped fresh water pearls
-a sea urchin spine
-a few glittery seashell buttons
-a pair of sea urchins
-a mini faux enamel seahorse
-sea shells
-fisherman's netting
-hand painted silk
-sari silk
-hand spun seaweed art yarn
-a pair of Chysocolla gemstone rounds

    I wrapped it up real pretty, sticking with the beach theme. Using shimmery water blue paper, and some of the fibers as the wrap itself.
    I also included some extras for fun!
    A lavender mint creme filled dark chocolate bar. I picked this one not just because I thought the lavender was interesting, but because this series of chocolate bars support endangered species. This one happens to support conservation of the sea otter.
    A package of my favorite Auroshika brand, orange blossom scent incense. One of my favorite Indian exports. Thought it would be fun to send some of those hard to come by exports back to her. ;)
    Last, but certainly not least, I included a soundtrack! 3 compilation CD's, each fitting a different mood, designed to inspire her creativity.

    Divya sent me 2 kits to work with. She presented me with a color challenge. To use a combination she couldn't find on my page, blue and silver.
    I actually had an entire blue an silver jewelry collection called "Blue Jean Blues", but most of it sold fairly quickly.

    The second challenge was to use green. Yet another color void in my collection, as I routinely sell out. ;)

    She also included some sari pieces.

 

    So the colors weren't really a challenge for me, but some of the components were.



    I started with the blue and silver kit, using her region of the world for inspiration.

    I have a vintage hand carved wooden stamp from India with a Paisley motif. Originally used for indigo block dying textiles, but I've been wanting to translate it into a jewelry design.
    I chose to make a molten solder stamping to create a medallion for part of my focal. The solder color matches quite well with the large lacey bead cap earring finding Divya sent me to work with.

    I actually did the solder stamping as a Tutorial Tuesdays feature in the Lampwork Bead Addicts Talk-Learn-Share group. If you've missed those, they're always accessible in the photo album for future reference.

    I drilled lots of holes and wire wrapped my solder stamping, embellishing it with lustrous blue crystals to frame the paisley medallion.

    I bought a batch of gypsy bells.
    The bells came a very bright shiny silver and didn't really match the paisley medallion and the bead cap. I dipped them all into a black patina to antique them. Then brushed with steel wool to highlight, giving them the perfect "aged" look.

    I also bought some Irish waxed linen in a deep slate blue.
    I went with a 2 ply so it was fine enough to string crystals and pearls. I did have to bore out the holes a bit more on the pearls with a reamer, but I made it work.
    I pulled all I could find in this color palette from my own stash and got to work.

    Going with a knotted cord beaded rosary style chain, I started from the medallion, working my way up.

"Namaste"

    I tried to use the beads Divya sent, front and center.
    Using the trapezoid shaped crystals close together right in the front, turned on their sides, they form almost a winged breastplate.
    Spaced with the large mercury glass finish beads, and framed with the frosted gray glass rounds.
    I continued working my way up, randomly placing beads as they felt right, but matching the two sides symmetrically.
    I ended up using a mix of small smokey blue crystals, vintage Chinese silk knot buttons, Hand dyed navy blue sponge coral, iridescent gray fresh water pearls, Titanium coated Quarts crystal nuggets, and pewter flower medallions.

    Next I embellished the bead cap, adding lots of individual lustrous smokey blue crystal dangles.

    Gathering all the ribbons, yarns, sari silks, and fibers I could find in this color palette, I made a fabulously textural tassel.
    Originally I had intended to stick the tassel right into the bead cap, but when I did, it stunt the movement of all the crystal dangles. All that shimmer and dazzle I made the effort to create, was completely lost.
    Plan B! I needed to figure out how to elevate that bead cap above the tassel.

    I made 2 felted wool pom poms, in consecutive sizes, and dyed them deep blue. One fit perfectly inside the bead cap, giving all those dangles room to dance. The larger one fitting just below, I embellished it with pewter flower and crystal medallions to blend with the overall look. Then attached the tassel to the bottom.

    Finishing it off by attaching all those jingly gypsy bells to the tassel threads.

    "Namaste" was the only piece I managed to finish in time for the reveal, but I have big plans for those greens too.
    I was really stumped by that black and green polymer clay focal. I tend to do a lot of layering, but it was too large to add much more to it. Yet it didn't have a whole lot of interest to stand on it's own in one of my designs.
    I really had to think outside the box for this one!
    It reminded me a bit of a pod. So I made it one!

    Just a little sneak peak of where this project is headed. You'll have to check back for the results in my next post though. If this one gets any longer I'll have to publish this novel! ;)



    Thank you all for coming and visiting. Please make sure your next stop is my partner's blog, Jewels of Sayuri, to see what Divya did with her stash. Then you'll find the links to all the other participants below.

   A huge thank you to our very gracious hostess, Linda Anderson of Cherry on Top Designs, who organized and coordinated all the participants from around the world. Please give her a huge round of applause! and a little love for her blog wouldn't hurt either.


Linda Anderson
Natalie Davidson

Marcy Lamberson
Kathy Lindemer

Dita Basu
Andrea Glick

Kristina Peck
Shaiha Williams

Catherina LaVite
Christina Hickman

Gloria Allen
Teresa Schurter

Maria Rosa Sharrow
Susan Kelly

Jenny Kyrlach
Michelle McCarthy

Terry Jeanet Carter
Lee Koopman

Laurie Vyselaar
Marianne Baxter

Divya Narasimhan
Kelly Hosford Patterson           <--- you are here

Johana Nunez
Kari Asbury

Robin Kae Reed
Kristina Hahn Eleniak

Robin Showstack
Rosantia Petkova

Claire Fabian
Inge von Roos

Rachel Mallis
Sam Waghorn

Lori Schneider
Fay Wolfenden



Seed Beaders

Suse Stelljes
Ginger Bishop

Nelly May
Rebecca White


Sheila Prosterman
Marianne Baxter

Pallavi Asher
Krafty Max

Renetha Sanziano
Becky Pancake

Katy Heider
Deborah Apodaca

Heather Richter
Tami Norris

Brandy Scozzari
Catherine King

Kathleen Breeding
Veralynne Malone

Bobbie Rafferty
Lori Blanchard

It Ain't Over 'til the Fat Lady Sings

    Welcome to the Summer Lovin' Jewelry Design Challenge. Hosted by Shawna Barnes, of JSB Arts, & Healing Arts of Maine. 
    A lot of folks are heading back to school, and starting up their fall activities, but summer has a few surprises up it's sleeve yet.
    We've got a feast for the eyes lined up for you today.
    Shawna was incredibly kind and generous to gift a lucky few of us with some of her fantastic ceramic art beads to play with. We've had a few weeks to brainstorm on these beauties and come up with some fantastically unique designs.
    So grab yourself a tall refreshing glass of iced tea, kick your feet up, and enjoy the view.

    We each got a unique set of Shawna's ceramic art beads to work with. I got really excited when I received mine and dove right it, and kind of forgot to take a picture of the set I received. Fortunately Shawna did snap a shot, so I borrowed one from her.

    This picture does not do that glaze justice. The focal is a gorgeous lustrous gunmetal, that flashes in every turn of the light. It's incredible elegant looking. And that's exactly where I went running with it the minute I opened the package.
    May I present
                         "Opera" 

    Wrapped with faceted Iolite gemstones, plum Tiara glass crystals, silver seed pearls, and copper glass seed beads. Embellished with a lampwork glass and enamel florette by Kim Snider of Mandrel Beads, set off center, and livened with a bit of dancing eyelash yarn radiating around it. A purple stick pearl, a titanium Quarts crystal point, and a large Baroque Pearl, staircase up the side, like the grand staircase in the Paris Opera House, on chains of dazzling gemstones and crystals.

    Strung on a mix of violet Tiara crystals, Pyrite nuggets, deep plum Aqua Terra Jasper ovals, silver pearls, plum stick pearls, indigo druzy rounds, a pair of lampwork glass beads by Kim Snider, and a rich purple luster titanium coated druzy agate slice for a little pizzazz.
    It closes with a small hammered copper hook in the back. The focal pendant drips 4 inches in very dramatic style. The chain is 23 inches long, but could easily be worn shorter by fastening the hook to any point along the chain.

    I had initially planned on using liver of sulpher on the chain to darken it and blend with the beads, but decided I liked the little bit of extra flash that the shiny copper offered.

    Then I took Shawna's little gunmetal ceramic wheels and made a pair of earrings to match. Sandwiched between indigo druzy rounds and violet Tiara crystals. A pair of Kim Snider's lampwork glass florets, embellished with dancing eyelash yarn, cap a pair of Baroque pearls. They hang 2 3/4 inches long on crystal accented handmade copper ear wires.

    So now I have 4 ceramic art beads left. Two purple rounds, and a pair of  knobby textured beads in a slightly darker color. The textured beads reminded me of cocoons, so I went with a transformation theme.
    I etched a pair of butterflies in copper, hand drawn to look as if they are just emerging from their cocoon. I used a Vintag patina in Cinnabar. Coated them to get it in all the grooves and then thoroughly buffed with steel wool to shine the raised portions and leave just the perfect amount in the recesses.
    I wrapped the textured beads in sari silk to make them appear as if the butterflies are just emerging from their chrysalis.Accented with Coral seed beads, they hang 4 inches long on handmade copper ear wires.
    I've never paired red and purple together before. I really like this new color combination.

                   "Metamorphosis"  

    So, if any of you are smitten, and wondering how you might get your hands on these pieces you are in luck! I'm having a show on the Lampwork Bead Addicts Artist Spotlight today and these pieces will all be going up for auction this afternoon.
    I'm teaming up with another amazing artist for this show, the very talented Jean Wells. Here's an example of some of her amazing work, to give you an idea of what kinds of things you might see there.

                 I hope to see you all there.


    Now, go check out all the other challenge participants ans see what amazing things they made.

Linda Anderson - From the Bead Board
Kelly Hosford Patterson - Traveling SideShow 
Wendy Southin - Dragonfly Dreamers
Lori Schneider  - Bead Addict
Shaiha Williams - Shaiha's Ramblings
Carolyn Lawson - Carolyn's Creations
Debbie Eggleston- Designs by Debbie

    A huge thank you to our wonderful and gracious hostess Shawna Barnes. Please go check out all of her links and show her lots of love.
 http://www.jsbmaine.com/
https://www.facebook.com/JSBArts
http://jsbarts.blogspot.com/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/JSBArts

How Do You Eat An Elephant?

                     One Bite At A Time, Of Course!
 
   Welcome to Sharyl's Jewelry and Reflections  "Clean-Up,Fix-Up Challenge" reveal.

           I made a dent.

It's a long way from where I would like it to be...

                                                    but it's a start.

After

    So I started by reorganizing my kitchen cupboards.
     Sounds silly since this was a challenge to clean my studio, but here's the deal......
     My kitchen was set up for a boyfriend I had when I moved in who was a chef. 7 years later, the chef long gone......I had never reclaimed the kitchen.
    My studio, which is technically my dining room, has taken over the kitchen, but it's really just projects piled on the counters.

Before

    Then a few years back I had an infestation of these itty bitty little flee sized bugs called Tobacco Beatles. They got their name because they are notorious for getting into humidors and tunneling through cigars.

    No Tobacco for them here, but it turns out that they like any kind of dry goods
          Flour
          Cereal
          Spices
          Hot Chocolate
          Lavender
          Wool
          ....... and the list goes on and on.
                                      They were in everything. 

    Small enough to fly in through the vent over the stove, and I live in a building with a hundred units.
    I had to completely clean out my cupboards.
    I haven't seen any of these buggers in years, but to this day, if it's not sealed in metal or glass, it goes in the fridge.
    (I'll share a little tip I discovered. Storing things like chips and cereal in the fridge keep them endlessly crispy.)
    Leaving an entire kitchen cupboard holding nothing but a handful of canned goods.  

                 It sort of became my junk drawer. 

Before

    I rearranged the dishes in another cupboard to make room for my canned goods and spice rack, and managed to turn this-> 

         into this.

After

   Leaving me with ALL THIS SPACE to work with. 

                   Yeah!   My 1st small victory.

     Now we move over to the tool bench.

Before

    All the bottles that are cluttering up the drawers, go on a Lazy Susan in the cupboard, freeing up those drawers for all the new tools my brother bought me for Christmas.

 
        See. There is a method to my madness.

After

    The tool bench has been tidied up.
    This is the collection of tools looking for new homes here.
    That's okay. I now have empty drawers to work with.

 

Before

All my Sari silks and Kimono silks, and pre-felts got ironed, sorted, organized and hung on the back of my door.
           

After

    I made this letter organizer/iphone dock/pen holder from copper sheet for a challenge in the foldforming central forum on facebook.




    It's mounted to the side of my refrigerator with magnets.

After

I also got my magazine rack mounted to the wall.

After

 



 


    Between the two the mail will be contained.
    I still have to sort and organize the stack of paperwork.
    That's okay. There's a table to work on now, and a place to put things.

    One bite at a time.



What was once my spice rack......

After

    My collection of anamorphic vegetables and politically incorrect faceless Asian children, salt and pepper shakers, all sit empty now because of those  nasty little Tobacco Beatles.

After

My kids have a new job now. As the keepers of headpins.









    My enamels have been living here on my work table for almost a year now. Open. With a baking sheet over the top.
    The powders come in these little plastic bottles, but you can't dip red hot metal into plastic.
    You can buy fancy metal cans that come with lids. But that means cash, which I don't have to spend.
     So they go into catfood cans to work with. I have plenty of those on hand.

Before

   A friend just found these lids for me. 3 packs, at the 99cent store.

    Total cost $8.






  I spent most of the day today, with this little cabinet kicking my ass.

    It was a donation from my brother. Thank you.
    He lives in a warm dry location, while I live near the beach.
    The drawers were a little tight when I got it, and after being here, and living in my bathroom, for a year.....
                                      Moisture + wood = Swelling.             Argh!

    After spending half the night containing and labeling all my enamels. Then getting them all organized in the drawers...... I couldn't get the drawers back into the cabinet.
                  OH CRAP!

    Doesn't help that we're in the middle of a major thunderstorm.
    I however was determined.
    I got out my electric sander and spent hours sanding the hell out of it.
    Still the drawers wouldn't fit.   : (

    Now what?                                                                                Google is your friend.

    I found suggestions of putting a light bulb in the drawers to dry out the wood.
    Eight drawers.........that would take way too long.
    I wanted this fixed, and quick.
    I opened up my oven door and cranked it up for about an hour with the cabinet and drawers stacked right in front of it.
    Worked like a charm.
                                   Voila!

I just hope I can open the drawers again later to get my things out when I need them.













    My wire collection all got tamed and found a new home.

    As you can see, the initial cupboard I started with is coming along nicely, and there is still plenty of space there to work with.
 

    This I actually did a while ago, but it's one of my favorite features, so I wanted to show it off.

    I found this really cool wire rack on clearance at Marshall's. It's mounted to the side of my work table and tames all my handspun yarns.
    At first my cat thought it was his new bed. I had to break him of that habit real quick.


    Also older, but I wanted to share some fun jewelry display racks.
    The wrought iron scrolls are actually curtain tiebacks. I found the set of 3 on ebay for $10.
    The Chinese checkers board is made of tin, and magnetic.

              I made good progress.
    It's not nearly all I had planned, but....... you know the expression. "Best laid plans of mice and men".
    Of course there are all those other piles, that got shuffled, to sort through still.

             My place is small.
                             My stuff is big. 

It's kinda like a Rubik's Cube......
    You have to shuffle all the things to get what you want where it's supposed to be.
    I'll keep at it though........
               one bite at a time.


                  Thanks for stopping by.
Have fun exploring everyone else's creative space.


                     Studio Tour 

Host: Sharyl McMillian-Nelson … http://sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com

Donna Millard http://fyrebeadz.blogspot.com/

Beda Hendrix ... https://www.facebook.com/SasijuhlsThings 

Ann Schroeder… http://www.beadlove.wordpress.com

Pamela Rachelle… http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com

Kristin L Oppold… http://www.yayjewelry.blogspot.com

Heidi Kingman ... http://heidikingman.blogspot.com

Andi ... http://strungoutjewelry.blogspot.com/

Patricia Buchanan Click “Blog” on the menu bar athttp://www.braceletstoo.artfire.com

Helen Simon… http://helensharvest.com/

somethingunique ... http://somethinguniquebylana.blogspot.ca/

Renetha ... http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com 

Kathy Lindemer ... http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com

Swapna Dinesh … http://www.swardaa.com      

Linda Landig ... http://lindalandig.wordpress.com/

Ann Schroeder ... http://www.beadlove.wordpress.com/

Beti Horvath ... http://stringingfool.blogspot.com/

Sam S ... http://samsbeadshopandjewelry.blogspot.com/ 

Christina Miles ... http://wingsnscales.blogspot.com/

Islandgirl ... http://islandgirlsinsights.blogspot.ca/ 

macmillanmarie ... http://www.macmillanmarie.blogspot.com

Emma Todd … http://www.apolymerpenchant.com

Neena Shilvock … 
http://www.capriliciousjewellery.com/3/post/2014/02/neither-ship-shape-nor-bristol-fashion.html

Dee Clark… http://biz-e-bead.blogspot.com/ 

motidana ... http://kalaabhushan.blogspot.com/ 

Here Bead Dragons ... http://beaddragons.blogspot.com/

Carol D. ... http://dillmansdallies.blogspot.com/

Pam Sears ... http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Nan Smith ... http://wirednan.blogspot.ca

AliMc ... http://northwoodscreativestudio.blogspot.com 

Kari Asbury ... http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com

Shirley Moore ... http://www.beadsandbread.blogspot.com

PyxeeStyx ... http://travelingsideshow.blogspot.com/

Jayne Capps … https://mamasgottodoodle.blogspot.com

Louann Elwell ... https://plus.google.com/117746558861718110652/posts

Rain ... http://honeyandollie.com/

Lori Bergmann ... http://www.LoriBergmann.blogspot.com

Helen Simon… http://helensharvest.blogspot.com/

Arlene Dean ... http://aglassbash.blogspot.com 

Sandra... http://city-of-brass-stories.blogspot.de/ 

Alicia ... http://www.allprettythings.ca

Natalie Pappas ...  http://blog.nkpdesigns.com/

Mike Flint ...  https://www.facebook.com/bagomag