Category:

My Muse Has a NAME!

4/9/2013

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!

2 Comments

Some New Ink!

2/14/2013

0 Comments

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.

Cover of the Spring 2013 issue. It was cropped to remove my address label (not a pretty addition).

Here is page 25 in the magazine.

"High Voltage" is the theme for these bracelets.

Smooth tagua nut pebbles, nuggets, slices, and even the clasp. Can you spot the only glass bead there?

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.

RAIN FOREST: The lovely apple green triangle at the top is tagua nut. I've included lamp work, Czech, and vintage glass on this bracelet. Love those greens!

REDS! Double-drilled tagua nut flats are gathered into a bangle that stretches. Red faceted glass separates the flats, and a large dangle of "dragon feathers" is featured on the side. A fun one to wear. And it's also without metal except for the jump ring.

Although these are pretty long, they are very light. Perfect for summer.

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.

0 Comments

About Me . . .

I am a beader.
I love it. . . all parts of it: planning projects, buying beads, accumulating tools, reading articles, organizing my studio, auditioning designs, researching other artists, and hopefully inspiring myself to continue courting the beading muse.

I have been designing handmade beaded jewelry since about 1995,
and always my focus has been on What Women Buy for Themselves (although I have LOTS of customers who are men too!)

All pieces are designed and made by me in my studio here in Camas, Washington.
Czech glass in bold colors is my main "fabric." In addition, copper, brass, vintage German glass, handmade lamp work beads, and copper and silver wirework are mixed with metals, gemstones, pearls and found objects in one-of-a-kind designs.