I love the colors and textures in these ceramic beads, and chose kyanite, sapphire, aventurine, and fossil coral to accompany them:
Here is the completed design:
Friday, December 21, 2012
Custom Order: Ceramic Necklace
This week's second custom order: a lady brought in some large ceramic beads that she made several years ago, and asked me to work them up into a long (36") necklace.
I love the colors and textures in these ceramic beads, and chose kyanite, sapphire, aventurine, and fossil coral to accompany them:
Here is the completed design:
I would love to keep this one for myself!
I love the colors and textures in these ceramic beads, and chose kyanite, sapphire, aventurine, and fossil coral to accompany them:
Here is the completed design:
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Custom Orders: Beadwoven Earrings
It's been a banner week for custom orders - here's the first:
Remember the flat spiral necklace?
A customer loves it, and wants to send her husband in to get it for her for Christmas, but she wants matching earrings.
So this is what I made:
These circular peyote earrings use leftover beads from the necklace (which I never put away ... duh, and yay! I didn't have to go hunt for them!)
And they match the clasp on the necklace:
I think she'll like them.
Remember the flat spiral necklace?
So this is what I made:
And they match the clasp on the necklace:
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
The Pomander Debacle
I don't even remember how it started, now.
It was shortly before Thanksgiving. I know Sonya and I were sitting at Ye Olde Beading Table, chatting. There might have been a customer in the store.
I don't remember what we were talking about, but suddenly a distant childhood memory popped into my head: those delicious smelling, gorgeous holiday pomanders - those oranges covered in cloves, and decorative ribbons. I remember bowls of them throughout the house between Thanksgiving and Christmas, filling the house with spicy holiday goodness. So did she - and I thought: I should make some of those.
Famous last words.
Knowing nothing about making them, I forgot about them for a couple of weeks, and then remembered again right as I was preparing for the big monthly trek to the grocery store. I scribbled "oranges" and "cloves" on my list, and searched the grocery store for them once I got there (2 sections of the grocery store I never visit: Fresh Produce, and Baking Supplies. Should have seen the foreshadowing right then!).
Once home, I searched the internet for instructions - although, I really thought that all I had to do was stick the cloves in the oranges, and, as they say on Etsy: "Wallah!"
Good thing I checked. Turns out you need a tad more than that - like cinnamon, nutmeg, powdered cloves, and Orris root. (???). I had some 10 year old (but unopened!) cinnamon and nutmeg in the pantry, but no powdered clove. And certainly no Orris root. Which, as it turns out, is a natural preservative. [Note to self: check recipes before going to grocery store.]
Know what else you need? Time - according to the directions (and believe me, I read about 5 different recipes for these pomanders), it takes 3 to 6, or more, weeks for the pomanders to cure and be ready for use. Ooops - obviously, these wouldn't be ready for the holidays, unless I squeaked under the wire and they took exactly 3 weeks, and even then, the bead shop would already be closed for Christmas (!) - but we'd be enjoying and savoring them right on into bleak January and February. It's all good, I told myself, as I got out a huge knitting needle, and started stabbing my oranges, filling their oozing wounds with whole cloves.
I got all the cloves placed, and had 10 plump oranges, covered with beautiful patterns in whole cloves. I didn't want to climb into the attic and look for ribbon, so I decided this was good enough!
The next step called for coating the oranges in the spices, and then placing them in a brown paper bag and into a cool, dark space. Know what I don't have at the house? Paper bags. Who uses paper bags nowadays? But I kept looking, and eventually found a nice, sturdy large paper shopping bag from some long-ago shopping trip, coated my oranges in my spice mixture (minus the powdered cloves and the orris root), and stuffed the bag in the pantry.
And proceeded to worry for 2 days about my oranges - since they didn't have any orris root preservative. The instructions said to shake the bag daily to recoat the oranges, and to check them, and remove any that show mold. Mold?! - wait .... what?
2 days later I went to the health food store in Augusta, and found orris root. That night, I added the powdered orris root to the mix, and also separated the 10 oranges into their own individual small paper bags, appropriated from the bead shop. And for the next 3 weeks, I let them do their thing. For the first few days, I checked them daily. Then it slipped to every other day, and then every 3-4 days. Let's face it: waiting for an orange to dehydrate is kind of like watching grass grow.
A couple of days ago, I decided to shake all the bags again, and check the progress. Oops.
Here's what I found:
Of my 10 original oranges, 7 have developed a bad case of mold, and 3 are left, and these three are not even close to dehydrated yet -
So I added more orris root to the remaining 3, and put them back into the pantry for more curing.
I guess we'll see how this goes -- maybe I'll have some Easter pomanders.
It was shortly before Thanksgiving. I know Sonya and I were sitting at Ye Olde Beading Table, chatting. There might have been a customer in the store.
I don't remember what we were talking about, but suddenly a distant childhood memory popped into my head: those delicious smelling, gorgeous holiday pomanders - those oranges covered in cloves, and decorative ribbons. I remember bowls of them throughout the house between Thanksgiving and Christmas, filling the house with spicy holiday goodness. So did she - and I thought: I should make some of those.
Famous last words.
Knowing nothing about making them, I forgot about them for a couple of weeks, and then remembered again right as I was preparing for the big monthly trek to the grocery store. I scribbled "oranges" and "cloves" on my list, and searched the grocery store for them once I got there (2 sections of the grocery store I never visit: Fresh Produce, and Baking Supplies. Should have seen the foreshadowing right then!).
Once home, I searched the internet for instructions - although, I really thought that all I had to do was stick the cloves in the oranges, and, as they say on Etsy: "Wallah!"
Good thing I checked. Turns out you need a tad more than that - like cinnamon, nutmeg, powdered cloves, and Orris root. (???). I had some 10 year old (but unopened!) cinnamon and nutmeg in the pantry, but no powdered clove. And certainly no Orris root. Which, as it turns out, is a natural preservative. [Note to self: check recipes before going to grocery store.]
Know what else you need? Time - according to the directions (and believe me, I read about 5 different recipes for these pomanders), it takes 3 to 6, or more, weeks for the pomanders to cure and be ready for use. Ooops - obviously, these wouldn't be ready for the holidays, unless I squeaked under the wire and they took exactly 3 weeks, and even then, the bead shop would already be closed for Christmas (!) - but we'd be enjoying and savoring them right on into bleak January and February. It's all good, I told myself, as I got out a huge knitting needle, and started stabbing my oranges, filling their oozing wounds with whole cloves.
I got all the cloves placed, and had 10 plump oranges, covered with beautiful patterns in whole cloves. I didn't want to climb into the attic and look for ribbon, so I decided this was good enough!
The next step called for coating the oranges in the spices, and then placing them in a brown paper bag and into a cool, dark space. Know what I don't have at the house? Paper bags. Who uses paper bags nowadays? But I kept looking, and eventually found a nice, sturdy large paper shopping bag from some long-ago shopping trip, coated my oranges in my spice mixture (minus the powdered cloves and the orris root), and stuffed the bag in the pantry.
And proceeded to worry for 2 days about my oranges - since they didn't have any orris root preservative. The instructions said to shake the bag daily to recoat the oranges, and to check them, and remove any that show mold. Mold?! - wait .... what?
2 days later I went to the health food store in Augusta, and found orris root. That night, I added the powdered orris root to the mix, and also separated the 10 oranges into their own individual small paper bags, appropriated from the bead shop. And for the next 3 weeks, I let them do their thing. For the first few days, I checked them daily. Then it slipped to every other day, and then every 3-4 days. Let's face it: waiting for an orange to dehydrate is kind of like watching grass grow.
orris root
A couple of days ago, I decided to shake all the bags again, and check the progress. Oops.
bags of oranges, cloves, and spices
Here's what I found:
1 moldy orange
1 moldy orange and 1 non-moldy orange
7 moldy oranges, 3 unscathed (so far) oranges
Of my 10 original oranges, 7 have developed a bad case of mold, and 3 are left, and these three are not even close to dehydrated yet -
So I added more orris root to the remaining 3, and put them back into the pantry for more curing.
I guess we'll see how this goes -- maybe I'll have some Easter pomanders.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Tangle Tuesday
Barber poles of striping, and my favorite tangles (and even a little mooka - still a struggle for me!). Plus, a splash of pink and purple.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Floating Crystal Chainmaille Necklace
This necklace was featured in one of the beading or wire magazines several years ago; sorry - I can't be more specific than that - can't find the pattern anymore.
It uses 16g sterling silver rings, which are fairly large, and each unit "captures" an 6 mm Swarovski cube. I chose indicolite (one of my favorite colors). The crystal cubes appear to float in the weave, so it is called a floating crystal necklace.
I was so crazy about this look that I cut more rings, and made a matching bracelet and earrings.
Then the trouble started - the crystals don't want to stay where you put them.
They stay for a little while, but then they start to slip out of their "cages", sliding into the unit below them (gravity-wise) - and the more time they have, the more they make their escape! They turn sideways just a tiny bit from the position they are supposed to maintain, and can actually slip through 5 or 6 cages in one move if the cages below them are already empty. (I actually watched it happen)
About a week after I made this necklace, I decided to wear it, and discovered that almost all of the crystals had slipped out of place. I tried to manipulate them back into position without deconstructing the rings, but that didn't work. Weird, because the little chainmaille cages obviously weren't the tight fit they purported to be.... but anyway.
I toyed with the idea of taking it apart and re-doing it, but figured it would probably just do the same thing again, so why bother? So I ended up just taking it apart, and recycling the rings and crystals into other projects.
I followed the patterns instructions exactly - same gauge, same ID (inner diameter) - not sure what the problem was. The crystals appeared to fit quite snugly into the little "cages" - and I really believe that if I had altered the AR (aspect ratio) at all, the cubes wouldn't have fit anymore.
Sigh ... I really loved this idea!
I was so crazy about this look that I cut more rings, and made a matching bracelet and earrings.
Then the trouble started - the crystals don't want to stay where you put them.
They stay for a little while, but then they start to slip out of their "cages", sliding into the unit below them (gravity-wise) - and the more time they have, the more they make their escape! They turn sideways just a tiny bit from the position they are supposed to maintain, and can actually slip through 5 or 6 cages in one move if the cages below them are already empty. (I actually watched it happen)
About a week after I made this necklace, I decided to wear it, and discovered that almost all of the crystals had slipped out of place. I tried to manipulate them back into position without deconstructing the rings, but that didn't work. Weird, because the little chainmaille cages obviously weren't the tight fit they purported to be.... but anyway.
I toyed with the idea of taking it apart and re-doing it, but figured it would probably just do the same thing again, so why bother? So I ended up just taking it apart, and recycling the rings and crystals into other projects.
I followed the patterns instructions exactly - same gauge, same ID (inner diameter) - not sure what the problem was. The crystals appeared to fit quite snugly into the little "cages" - and I really believe that if I had altered the AR (aspect ratio) at all, the cubes wouldn't have fit anymore.
Sigh ... I really loved this idea!
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Byzantine Bracelet with Fine Silver Horse Focal
On either side, I've woven a large, heavy-gauge Byzantine bracelet, with a toggle closure.
[Sorry - this bracelet has SOLD]
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Just a few months away...
This is the Yoshina Cherry tree in my driveway, in full bloom, last March. Just 3 months away!
It's hard to really capture the beauty of this tree, because the other tall trees in the yard shade it in the morning, and the house shades it in the afternoon. Its blooms are a beautiful pastel pink.
This is what my Yoshina cherry really looks like - without my horrible camera skills:
I know lots of folks are having much colder weather than we are right now - but it's all relative, right? It's 48 degrees here right now, and damp. For some, that would be a heat wave - but I'm freezing!!
Can't wait for Spring!
This is what my Yoshina cherry really looks like - without my horrible camera skills:
Yoshina cherry: picture by arborday.org
I know lots of folks are having much colder weather than we are right now - but it's all relative, right? It's 48 degrees here right now, and damp. For some, that would be a heat wave - but I'm freezing!!
Can't wait for Spring!
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