Meet ANNIE, my muse. I photographed her on a sunny February day on our deck just up from the woods. She's sporting a tank, a my husband's tooled leather belt , a big silver buckle that my dad used to wear, and lots of new "cowgirl"-style jewelry. She's looks pretty good, right? It all started with my "need" for a figure like hers to be the stage for the new western-themed jewelry I had in my head. Once she arrived, Annie seemed the right name (just enough sass), but she needed some clothing. Well, lo and behold, I found the perfect garment on Junk Gypsies website: "Well-Behaved Women Rarely Make History"--one of my favorite sayings. Well, ever since I partnered up with Annie, my full-size (although headless and legless) jewelry model, I have found a wealth of jewelry ideas that just keep coming. See what's new below. SUEDE:::a softly western style . . . This is "Palomino"--a set made with handmade lampwork beads (Blue Heeler and others), Czech glass, and pewter. I made it in several colors (soft desert tones), and some of them are now "living" in two Oregon galleries till they get adopted by someone who loves them. There are some on the website. I'll make more. ROCKIN' COWGIRL:::a little more bold . . . Annie will be wearing a whole neck-full of these babies. Some will be long like this, some short, some heavily turquoise, some glass, some will feature vintage cowgirl pendants or western wear pendants. But at shows she will be front and center loaded down, because "more is better." Each necklace will have a pair of earrings that coordinate with the necklace (not much matchy-matchy) so they will be easy to wear with several other necklaces. BY THE BOOK:::book chain, lays flat like a moveable cuff . . . This is a variation of my Glass Charm Bracelets, first introduced in 2012, but still a favorite. I make them all the time. Each one has a Swarovski "Wild Heart" charm to indicate their classy degree of innate wildness. I have several of these, and my new idea is to colorize the chain and use coordinating (or not!) dangles. This one has been showing up on Pinterest a lot lately. Love that! BEACH VACATION:::"Posy Patch" I just finished my first collection of these last weekend. This one actually sold once it was seen on Facebook. Each piece I made is OOAK (one of a kind), so it won't be repeated. But lots of colors are available, and I'll make more. Lovely frosted sea glass (man-made) is combined with lots of goodies from my stash--tagua nut, Lucite, and Czech glass, for sure. BEACH VACATION:::"Tawny Gold" necklace Love working with the sea glass. It mixes well with other materials, plus it GLOWS from within. Check out the bottle-rim pendant. Looks like a piece of bottle that just washed up on the shore. I use sea glass that is man-made, and it looks beautiful. Annie is calling my name again from the studio where she stands in front of the fireplace. While she continues to do that, I will respond. Today I'll be making BEACH VACATION earrings. I have a dozen ideas. Way to go, Annie!
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My new issue of Stringing magazine for Spring 2013 arrived this week. I've been submitting pieces for publication since 2009, and I was anxious to see what was new. Well, it's my "Maria" bracelet made with tagua nut. It's a "no-metal" bracelet for those who cannot wear metals because even the toggle clasp is made with tagua, a sustainable material from Ecuador (and other Central and South American countries.) It's also commonly called vegetable ivory and is widely used in colorful jewelry. Tagua nut is one of my most favorite stringing materials. I love the way it works with glass, especially lamp work beads, and metals. Many colors are saturated, and the texture is smooooooth! Plus it's lightweight, perfect for the longer earrings. . I have several bracelets in the Mixed GlassWear section of the website where you can see where I've used those together. Also fun are the tagua bangles in those hazy, not quite pastel hues that I'm just loving lately. Here are a couple of those to see what I mean plus a pair of clip earrings. I am scheduled to have a necklace published in the summer issue, and I'm working on pieces to submit for the fall issue. So when they "debut", I'll let you know.
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Courting My Beading Muse . . .
I think about beads and jewelry a lot. Maybe not constantly, but almost. So when my muse is with me, I must court her so she stays and provides me with inspiration. Here are some results . . .