New Pieces

Filed under: Color, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Techniques, Wire Work | Back to: Homepage

I’m short on time and short on words today, but wanted to put up some pictures of completed necklaces. The copper pendant with the sterling silver cross was born of my efforts to put more movement into pieces. The cross hangs from a hammered figure 8 piece of wire that allows it to swing inside the copper piece. The bumps on the outer edge of the copper were made with my doming set.

The butterfly pendant is atop a domed and stamped piece of copper. I used the torch on the butterfly to give it a bit of color.

This piece is made of ruby zoisite (large chips) and kiwi. I used plated silver beads and added some blue rounds to the necklace. I regret the color doesn’t show very well in the photo

This piece took several days because I didn’t know what I was doing. I wanted to do a layered pendant and use rivets, but in the end I just have layers and fake rivets. The oval is copper and the diamond shape is brass that I stamped with Ranger brand alcohol ink to add a bit of color.

The seed bead pendant has been close to completion for quite a while. Now I can check it off the list of UFOs (unfinished objects. . . check . . . Hurray!)

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Back to the Blog

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Many weeks have elapsed since I last wrote and it’s time to get back to the blog. We held our annual cattle sale here at the end of October and it has taken this long to get a good grasp on all the shipping, registration transfers, etc. With only a few more to complete, I can see the proverbial light at the end of the barn.

We enjoyed having our family with us to help at the sale. Grandson Gabriel certainly encouraged us to keep the proper perspective letting us know when we needed to eat and sleep. 

Fall brought beautiful leaves and I became intrigued by the possibility of capturing their great shapes. The first picture is of the real leaf I picked up and you can also view my attempt at replicating it in copper.

I also liked the shape of another leaf and achieved a different color for it using a shorter dip in liver of sulphur.  This picture was taken before I added a few bead dangles to the leaf where it attached to the necklace. It has already left home and I can’t take another pictures; so you’ll have to imagine it with the embellishment which gave it more personality.

It is good that I captured the leaves before the current rain storm. Most are now gone and today looks like the bleak mid-winter. Thankfully, this atmospheric condition will be temporary here in South Texas. We’re seldom too far away from another sunny day. I hope you’re making it a sunny day wherever you are.

Color, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants 2 comments

Summer Colors?

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Finished! I’ve been working on this piece for several days and it finally came together this afternoon. It was ordered by a store in Fredericksburg that sold one in similar colors earlier this summer. I’ve always thought of the browns and blacks for Fall, but mixed with the light teal and a touch of yellow and gold, this seems to work for summer. This peyote necklace has a nice Turquoise Jasper cabachon (Magpie Gemstones) in the center and I backed this stone with ultrasuede. I also added an extra row of beads completely around the neckline at a right angle to the peyote stitches. This should help the piece keep it’s shape while it remains supple and comfortable. The piece is stitched with 6 lb test Fireline fishing line.

It was amusing that as I was finishing this piece, the ping of my computer alerted me that I had received an email. It was from Barry at Caravan Beads. This is my main source for wholesale seed beads (Miyuki) and the vendor from whom I purchased the beads for the above necklace. He was offering to trade the cloudy, rainy northern weather in his neck of the woods for some sunshine. I offered to take the deal and said I would throw in some feral hogs from my pasture to boot. He replied that he wanted the weather, but not the hogs. While both he and a store I deal with in Maine were sharing that customers were hard to come by due to their too-wet summer weather. The merchants I talked with close to San Marcos and the Hill Country had much the same concerns with our too hot summer weather. Either way, I guess it’s summer and we’re all dealing with one thing or another.

Just as I’ve had to keep an open mind about those dark colors and their appropriateness for summer, I’ve got to keep an open mind about the weather. When it changes (for the better) people will be ready to get out and will definitely need to shop. I plan to have plenty of options for them to see. As I’ve heard Suzie from Aunties Beads say “you’ve got to have product!”

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Spurts

Filed under: Bracelets, Color, Necklaces | Back to: Homepage

Most of us are well aware that things come in spurts. There are growth spurts that are usually good for children and bad for adults. There are spurts of energy that may result in good things such as getting that closet cleaned out or rearranging the desk.

It seems lately that the jewelry designs I sell come in spurts also. For example, I first made the peyote necklace in the picture shown and a similar bracelet about five years ago. At that time, I sold several, more bracelets than necklaces, and then the sales slowed. Now, after about three months of not making any, I’ve filled three requests in the last two weeks and have another on the queue. Since there is no pattern for the pieces, each of these is different, yet, the technique and colors remain stable. Some of these pieces have more browns and golds while others, like the one shown, use black as the dominant color. All of them, however, use turquoise and red/coral. It’s rewarding to know that a design can endure for several years.

There has been another spurt of folks wanting the wave bracelet. I use recycled copper for most of this piece. Sometimes I embellish it with turquoise and pearls as shown here. I’ve also used turquoise and carnelian and think a variety of other choices would work.

Spurts are certainly welcome in the jewelry design business. I just wish I could predict what the buying spurt will be in time to more quickly meet the demand. Unfortunately, sometimes by the time I round up the needed supplies, the spurt has passed.

Oh well, if I could predict the future I might be tempted to enter some less reputable occupation.

Here’s hoping all your spurts are good ones.

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Medford is Coming

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I grew up in Medford, Oklahoma near the border of Kansas. When my family purchased our first home, my Daddy planted a redbud tree just outside my bedroom window. The winter was really cold in Medford, but the first harbinger of Spring was the blooming of my redbud tree. Upon moving into our current ranch house, my husband planted the redbud tree pictured at the left just outside our den window. Although I’ll take the South Texas winters hands down over the Northern Oklahoma winters, I’ll keep the redbud tree as my sign that Spring is coming. When that tree blooms it still says “Medford” to me.

In honor of the beautiful color of the tree, I made two necklaces. While neither can truly capture nature, they were a pleasure to make as I thought about days long past.

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Inspired Color Bursts

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I met The Doll Maker quite by chance at a church bazaar in December of 2008. Since then, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading her monthly newsletter complete with outstanding color photos of her adventures. The Doll Maker has given me permission to list a link to the newsletter found at http://weepeeple.com/news/february2009newsletter.htm . The February installment features pictures from her trip to Mexico and displays a wonderful array of bright colors. I think the artisans in Mexico use the “no fear” color method where almost anything works together and I especially I like the way vibrant colors paint the landscape. Inspired by the pictures from Mexico, I decided to “paint” a necklace using bead embroidery. The embroidered circles use electric blue and shades of orange seed beads stitched on Lacy’s Stiff Stuff and backed with Ultrasuede. I  jumped right into this project without a suitable answer regarding how to attach the embroidered pieces to the necklace. I believe that part of the creative process is continuing the work when no plausible answer to a problem is visible. It’s been hard to learn to trust that an answer will be conjured, however, I ’m learning to trust myself. After I completed all the pieces, they spent several days on the design table staring at me as if to say “now what?” Finally, it dawned on me that I could stitch a couple of small beads on the back of each circle and thread the necklace wire through these. I added a few extra beads in order that the wire would be hidden on the back of each piece. While I can’t attest to whether or not my customers will like this style, I can be assured that I learned from creating it.

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Color Success

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The picture shows the pendants, mentioned in the last blog entry, for which I was making strands. I regret the picture cannot show the beauty of the pendants and the vivid colors. The strands from left to right are pearls, peridot chips, African opals and smoky quartz. Although you cannot see clearly, each pendant has some peridot in it and each is removable for placing on an alternative strand or silver chain. The extra peridot chip strand can be used with any of the pendants or various strands can be put together for a multistrand look. These pieces will be available at Dovetails of Wimberley.

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Perfect Light

Filed under: Color, Philosophy | Back to: Homepage

The title of the entry sounds as though something philosophical should appear in the words that follow. Alas, this is not necessarily the case. I’ve put off preparing and returning the necklaces for several pendants given me by a retailer. Yet, there comes a time when you can wait no longer and this is the day. Unfortunately, this day started dark and drizzly – not a good combination for selecting matching colors for the pendants. Realizing that I’m working with greens today, you may wish to nod your head in understanding.

Although I arranged what seemed to be good color matches, I was about to give up on the process for lack of clear light and the clarity it brings. Then it dawned! The perfect sunlight crept over my shoulder to shine directly on the pendants and provide an opportunity to find a beautiful match. You can see from the picture that sunlight wasn’t the only thing that crept over my shoulder. I guess my cat Blue thought the sunlight arrived solely to warm his back. Luckily, as the sun moved on, so did Blue. Unluckily, I needed the sun back WITHOUT the cat! I’m thankful that I was able to quickly grab the right colors for the pendants even in the midst of the brief sunlight and the warming cat. Perhaps a few rays of sunlight once in a while is all I need.

Philosophical Query: As we wait for clarity on things much more important that designs, do we need to be prepared to capture that fleeting moment of clarity as it passes us by? Is that moment sometimes hidden by some distraction?

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Matching Colors

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Isn’t it great when you can get expert help with matching the right beads to purchased or handmade pendants? Yesterday, I took a handful of pendants to Szarka (http://www.magpiegemstones.com/home.html) and she and her family helped me get just the right combinations. They worked diligently as though they were the ones trying to create each piece. Then they charged me a fair price for the stones and off I went. I’ve been happily beading ever since (except for the time spent on ranch work). Dovetails of Wimberley purchased the Zuni bear pendant at market and requested a strand for it. You can find it along with the double strand Nacozari turquoise necklace I made for it at the store where you can also locate many of my other pieces. I like the amber in the strand with the cabachon in the right picture and feel it helps bring out the matrix of the stone.  Although I used Amber from my stored accumulation of beads, it was Szarka’s suggestion that led me to this color. Hurray for excellent customer service!

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Nature’s Color Challenge

Filed under: Color, Diversions, Necklaces, Pendants | Back to: Homepage

Reading about what inspires an artist often helps us understand the power of nature in its presentation of color, form and texture. Many artists comment that their ideas come from nature. I believe that particularly bead embroidery artists who focus on authentic replication through the medium draw upon nature. The piece shown today reflects the harsh colors of the current Texas drought which has produced our brown landscape. The green in the middle is akin to the few sprigs of healthy grass that sprout where the land has been watered through irrigation. (There are a mere few because the deer eat all of the rest!) 

Using your imagination, you may be able to see how the lower picture provides further description of the dry land. It also captures an unusual ranch event I want to share. We raise registered Black Angus cows and one of our important donors had a difficult labor requiring that the calf be pulled. While this is not so strange for a first calf heifer, what followed is highly unusual. After delivering the bull calf, it was apparent that something more was eminent. Fearing the worst, a prolapse, the men tried to stop the outward movement of the protrusion. Thankfully, the yet to be delivered little heifer twin wouldn’t be dismayed by this and wiggled her head as if to say “get me out of here!” Twins are extremely unusual and we’ve only had one other set in the past 10 years. Following a visit from the vet and stitches for the new mom, we’re hoping for progress. I’m only slightly embarrassed to say that while I held the cow’s tail and watched our skilled vet stitch her, I could only think about how great it would be to use his knotting technique with my beading. (Perhaps, I’ve fallen overboard!) By the way, the twins have been bottle fed and will be again every three hours while the Mom decides which calf she will take. 

Ideas and inspiration come from the most unusual circumstances and I believe that nature will speak to us if we’re prepared to listen. I wonder if nature is telling me to design in multiples of two for a bit . . . ?

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