Yes, another one

This one started as a long loop necklace.  I love those purple and silver beads still, and found a fun chain that worked well with them.  Yes, all those silver loops are part of the chain!

 

Then, klutzy me caught it on something and popped part of the chain.  Rats!!  I now wear it as a lariat.  Interestingly enough, it still works, and I'm still trying to decide if I want to fix it!

Thinking of lariats, this one was meant to be one from the beginning.  My rainbow lariat, as I term it.  And yes, you might recognize the silver beads on the end as leftovers from another necklace.  Too pretty to go to waste, and they gave just enough weight to the ends of the necklace.  Perfect!

 

This one was just fun, no other word for it.  Cute kitty pendant, fun mixed assortment of beads, and to top it all off, a kitty clasp!  I did have to make my own bail (the part than hangs the pendant from the chains) but other than that, a very easy project.  I just strung all the mixed beads onto one length of wire, then measured it off into even lengths, dividing the one long stretch of beads into four.  I added the clasp, and then hung the pendant.  Ta-da!

 

So, I think I'm now caught up at the moment with all my necklace projects.  So, maybe now I'll be able to catch Zach and get some help catching up on the knitting project photos!

More beading projects

See, told ya' I'd  have more to share!  These ones are just from kits I liked or ones I wanted to learn from - Artbeads and Oriental Trading Co.

These are just a few bracelets I made from kits from OTC.  I plan to make some stitch markers with the same kits.  After all OTC packages come in bundles, and I don't actually need 12 of the same bracelet right?  And can't let cute beads go to waste!  :)

Next up, a few brooches (pins) also from OTC.  And again, the stitch markers I made with the leftover kits.  The light green pin is one I just put together myself.  Personally, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the bookworms and the "Love to Read" charms, as those just fit so well with both me personality and my job and career aspirations  :)

 

This kit is from Artbeads, to learn how to make a beaded bail.  I like the design of the necklace, but I think I'm going to find some new ribbon that matches the beads and pendant a little more to my taste.  Personally, the ribbon is a little too green, though not quite as green as in the picture below.  It's just not quite as teal as the beads, so I think I can find a ribbon that matches a little better to replace it...

After doing the kit above, I used the beaded bail technique to add the stone heart pendant to a ribbon necklace I had.  Just black beads, to coordinate with the black ribbon.  Nothing special in the construction, other than it was a chance to practice a new technique for me :)

 

This one isn't a kit either, but might have well as been.  It's just a basic leather cord with endings, to which I added a stone pendant I liked which I found on sale.  About as simple as can be!

One last beading post

At least for a while. I have a few more to photograph, but I still have to get my house all unpacked and set up, and the unpacking does take priority. Kitchen before crafts!  But as I do have a few projects ready to share, here you go.

A total spur-of-the-moment project, based on several elements I found on clearance at Joann's.  If I remember correctly, the only think that wasn't on sale was the chain itself, and I think the whole thing was less than $5!  Gotta love a sale!  The necklace was inspired by some quirky black-and-silver beads and a fun black-red-and-silver pendant.  Add a quirky chain to make a long drop necklace, and voila!

I know I said recently that I don't like the red-and-pink heart sappiness that comes with Valentine's Day?  Well, I caved to a particularly cute clasp and ended up inspired by this project from Oriental Trading Company.  In fact, I actually followed the directions, I liked it so much!  There are 3 sets of clasps in the package that you can order from OTC, and each half of the clasp has a half of a paired phrase (Hugs-Kisses; Love-Peace; and Love-Hope-Dream).  I'm trying to think of good colors for the other phrases in the package, because they're just too much fun to pass up!

 

While we're thinking OTC, this was a kit I picked up on sale from the site.  Nothing much to add to that, other than I like how the picture on the right came out, with the angle and lighting and all :)

 

One final project for this post (like I said, I do have a few more to talk about, but they still need to be photographed, so must wait for now) is one that started as a free bead included in a package from Goody Beads.  No, not all of their free included beads end up inspiring me to purchase more beads to make a full project, but this one did, so I guess the marketing plot worked.  But, being in the desert, I missed snow (and weather in general, for that matter) so the little snowflake bead was particularly appealing.  I added some of the little white 'snowball' beads, some contrasting blue-and-snowflake beads, some silver spacers, and some solid blues and just made it up as I went along.  I like all the blues and whites in this necklace, but my favorite part is the little snowflake charm at the clasp.  Just fun!

 

And this picture's included just because I like how the light was catching the beads, how they all seem to glow  :)

Yup, another jewelry post!

I was very busy with my jewelry making before we moved.  My inner magpie is finally emerging!  

The first two are pretty simple, just quotes I've added onto chains with a little bit of color.  The slightly blurry one on the left has three little charms that say "Live," "Laugh," and "Love."  The one on the right says "Never Never Give Up."  I fiddle with my jewelry a lot, so having little messages like this on me does help me keep them in mind.  Like I said in an earlier post, I was looking for a lot of motivation while we were in CA...

 

This one is one I think of as "my good little Southern girl necklace."  It has polka dots, my initial, pastel colors, and somehow strikes me as something worn by one toting Vera Bradley and sipping sweet tea.  As I was anticipating the move to TX when I made it, it seemed appropriate!  It's one of my own projects, no particular inspiration, other than the pendant itself.  I had lots of the black spacer beads, and then used the black accent beads to give it a little texture - the polka dots on those beads are the same colors as on the pendant.  The colored crystals are repeated in the same order as the colors on the polka dots, and the accent beads appear once a color repetition is complete.  I finished it off with just the black and silver spacers for the last few inches around the neck.  The daisy clasp seemed to fit with the personality of the necklace, so there you have it!

 

I also make a key clip using the larger version of the same pendant.  Both sizes of the initial pendants are available from Goody Beads, and yes they are available in all 26 letters.  I had an extra of the black accent beads, and liked the look of the little bag clip-style key chain, so... ta-da!

This necklace is a little dressier one.  It's based on another Artbeads project (Delicate Elegance).  I actually followed the instructions pretty closely!  I used the silver focal beads and styles of chains that I could get my hands on within my budget, but otherwise, a project that I actually followed the directions on!

 

This was a minor kit-bashing project.  I found the necklace-earrings set on sale at Target, and as my ears aren't pierced and I didn't want to waste the pretty teal and silver beads, I added them into the necklace!  You can see how pretty they are in one of the pictures below.  One of the teal beads I added to the end of the chain on the clasp, and the other I added as a drop pendant.  The green beads I just added into the chain to keep the necklace balanced.  And everything from the earrings is now used!  Waste not, want not!

 

 

Expanding my beading!

And I'm back!  More on the move and travel and new house and all the big changes in a later post, but first a few crafting posts.  I'm sorting my pictures on my computer and on Flickr, and realized I hadn't posted about any of the recent jewelry projects I've played with.  So here goes!

Between finding that I'm enjoying the beading and working at a job that had a dressier 'business casual' dress code compared to my last few jobs, I'm trying new projects - branching out into jewelry with my beading.  I'm not one for gemstones, really, so the beaded necklaces suit my tastes.

This very springtime-y one is based on instructions from Artbeads (the Pastel Passion Necklace).  This one was almost exactly as the original instructions dictated.  The only changes I made were using a slightly smaller silver spacer bead (only 1mm smaller, but about half the cost, based on what was on sale at the time!) and adding two little flower beads at the end by the clasp.  The holes in the colored beads were too big for the crimp beads, so they kept sliding around.  I put in the silver flowers to space them out a little, keep them from jamming up on the crimps at the clasp.  The flower clasp was one I had (Oriental Trading Company, I believe).  Also keeps with the springtime theme :)   Isn't it cute?

 

This one is inspired by a sample project from Artbeads (the Three Strand Pretty Purple Necklace).  I had black and red beads that coordinated well, so it's a totally different look than the purple sample. 

 

This one is also taken from Artbeads (the True Love Necklace), and the biggest thing I really changed was the color scheme.  I just don't really wear THAT much red, and don't really like kitschy red or pink heart necklaces.  So, white instead!  Not quite so seasonally limiting :)  I also spaced out the hearts a little more on the strands, and used 3 pairs of hearts, instead of the 2 pairs in the original. Finally, I put one pair of hearts on each strand, instead of having heart pairs on the same strand, like in the original.  Just personal preference on those changes.  For the clasp... well, I didn't do a clasp on this one.  The necklace is long enough that it will fit over my head without having to play with a clasp, so I ran the 3 wires through a large white bead and crimped them in place on either side.  So, one large gathering bead, instead of clasp.  The picture below probably does a better job of explaining than I'm doing right now :)

 

Yet another one inspired by Artbeads (Reasons of the Heart), but altered to fit what I had and wanted to use.  (Yes, definitely check out that website for some good inspiration projects!!)  I used a quote pendant of my own with a quote that I'm trying to adopt more and more - "Bloom where you are planted."  I saw that quote on a quilted wall hanging in a friend's office.  She had added pins from all her husband's units to the wall hanging.  I've also seen it as a caption for a painting of a cactus flower (very appropriate for our last and current duty stations).  Either way, I thought that was a good mindset for an Army spouse to have.  You don't know where you'll end up, so make the most of where you are!  The necklace itself here is made with mixed metals and mixed textures of chains, with the quote as the focal pendant.  The clasp is one of an assortment that I found on sale at Michael's, and fits in with the theme nicely :)

 

This one is one of my own designs.  The focal pendant came with the one above as a set.  I'm trying to be very positive thinking about where we bounce around to, can you tell?  I liked the green earthy beads with the theme of growth, and the little flower accent was just added for emphasis.  It doesn't curve as nicely as it could, due to the different types of beads (the green and the filigree) but I like it all the same.  The clasp is another from that same pack as the one of the Bloom necklace pictured above.

So,  here are a few recent beading projects.  I have a few more that I'll get posted soon too.  Gotta break 'em into a few posts, so that the pictures don't take too long to load, right?  :)