Masaya, Goddess of Volcanoes

The Battle of the Beadsmith 2013 is well underway; there is an eclectic mix of styles and skill sets represented so far. If you want to follow the action, click here. At the top of the page is a "photos" link which, if you click it, will take you to the albums of each battle.  This year, the public is welcome to vote. If you would like to vote, click the "files" link and look for the document outlining the steps.

Now that my battle is published, finally, I can show photos here.

"Masaya" (Goddess of Volcanoes)

 My piece began with the creation of the yellow polymer clay cabochons. When I use the "inside out bead" or "Natasha" bead technique, the final result is a random, mysterious surprise.  In this case, I cleaned up my work table after a particularly productive day and used the leftover clay scraps to make some cabs.  When I opened the resulting log of patterned clay, my reaction was, "OMG, I need to save these for my Battle piece!"  (The two on the bottom of the finished necklace.)

Rich, vibrant texture and color was a great starting point. When it came to design, there was a lot to consider. I wanted to add a new skill and the bead-embroidered collar on a brass blank was something I've been meaning to try for a couple of years. I stitched down row-after-row, layer-upon-layer to create the final richly textured collar.

As I began embellishing the two clay cabs, it became obvious that this necklace wanted DRAMA: color... sparkle... texture... the thing practically screamed, "Gimme!" When that section was complete, my plan was to connect it to the collar and call it done.  My dear friend, Mikkey, looked at it and told me it was "very nice, but it won't have a chance at winning... not big enough". Nice. NICE?!? I wasn't going for "nice" here. I wanted to do something epic, something that would rival anything I've done to date. Clearly, it was time to go back to the studio and try to make some more cabs - a difficult thing to do when using a scrap technique. I did my best and came up with some similar pieces which matched well.

In a previous post, I referenced how the individual components didn't fit together properly when they were ready for assembly. I love the final configuration. The first piece is now at the bottom, the new cabs seem to soar from the top and follow the lines of the wearer's collarbones perfectly. Normally, the brass collar blank would have enough tension in it to hold the necklace in place without a clasp. But the final piece was so heavy that it slid right off my neck! I added a pretty handmade clasp at the back with a gold-filled hook and it looks lovely from the back.

 When the neck piece was finished, I still had time left and a couple of the yellow cabs were yet unused.  I went ahead and made a matching cuff and hair accessory. The hair comb was another thing I've been meaning to try for a while now.

All told, a huge quantity of supplies and 250 hours of time were consumed in the process of creating this project.

There were some good lessons for me here:

• Bigger can be better
• Don't give up if the original plan goes awry
• Test your limits. You don't know what you are capable of if you don't try.

 ~~~

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to a number of people who helped me get through this project:

• Sherry Serafini and Heidi Kummli for the outstanding instructions for covering a brass collar in their book, The Art of Bead Embroidery
• Steven Weiss, from The Beadsmith, for inviting me to participate in the contest
• Mikkey Tarantino for her enthusiastic input and suggestions; I still have her footprints on my backside from when she convinced me to go huge!
• Rebecca McElroy, Jack Jitsu, and Jenn Ryan of Dr Cowlick's Photography in Raleigh, NC for the gorgeous photos. You guys rock!
• and (I saved the best for last) my darling Marble Man, who has had to listen to me talk about this thing for months and never asked me to stop. Thank you!!!

Now... what's next on my bead tray?

copyright 2013 Shibori Girl

I Dream of the Sea

I do dream of the sea... often. But in this post, I refer to my newly finished set of statement necklace, bracelet, and earrings. Several people have said it reminds them of something a mermaid might wear, hence the title.

"I Dream of the Sea"

The pieces came out spectacularly: full of texture, subtle color, and fluidity of design. I couldn't be happier with the final result.

The process was good for me, too, as it stretched my design limits. I originally planned to do a simple bead embroidered collar. MAYBE a pair of earrings to match. When I "finished" the embroidery on the collar, well, the beads were still out on the bead tray, and a good movie was streaming on Netflix, so I kept going. And going. Until I had 11 or 12 new, loose components made. As I finished each one, I laid it next to the collar so I could start the next.  When I looked down and saw what was happening to the collar layout, well, all I can say is "mind blown".

The next thing to do was decide just how over-the-top this piece would get. I played with the pieces like a puzzle, and came up with four viable possibilities.

As you can see by the photo at the top of this post, I went all-out with the bottom left design.

 

Statement Necklace

 

Bracelet

 

Earrings

I love when a project becomes a lesson!  Next up: reworking some old necklaces to reflect my new design style. Stay tuned...


 copyright 2013 Shibori Girl

"Lentil Soup"

I went back to working on "swirlies", those big, gorgeous polymer clay lentil beads that I fell in love with last year.

Since my last post, I've been struggling with a couple of issues. The biggest is a nagging pain in my wrist. My first thought was to do what Marble Man calls "rub some dirt on it and walk it off". I went and bought a carpal tunnel splint at the local drug store, which helped, but the pain was still hanging around a couple weeks later. My doctor told me it's not carpal tunnel syndrome (Whew - my worst fear!) but tendinitis. He said it's OK to use it, just not to the point of discomfort.

The small, twiddly work I like so much will have to wait. Enter: Swirlies. They are so much fun, that I may need an intervention!

Just like when making lentil soup to eat, you throw a little of this and a little of that into the pot. With these beads, a little bit of monarch butterfly wing, flower petal and leaf cane slices, etc, you wind up with an interesting and spicy result.

~~~

The other issue which is bothering me is that when I look through my Etsy shop, it seems a bit like a split personality is running it. There's intricate bead work,

modern-looking clay pieces,

vintage inspired work, etc.

It looks like I can't decide what I want to do, when in reality, I just have lots of styles for lots of moods.

When I look at other shops, there's a sense of cohesion, a mature style with variations. Do I need to set up different shops for each style of work I do? What would you suggest?

copyright 2011 Shibori Girl

Today's The Day...

Today's the day I decided to make time to crack open Marcia DeCoster's "Beaded Opulence" book. I've been itching to try the layered right angle weave that Marcia demos in the instructions for her Quetzal ring project.

But do I start with the beautiful one inch square shown in the final picture? NO! I chose to make a cuff bracelet: something with stylish structure, and far too many seed beads to count.

To begin, I beaded a piece 8 units wide by 60 units long (a unit being 4 beads stitched into a circle).

This bit of beading was nicely fluid, like a drapable piece of fabric. I began adding RAW layers, decreasing width of each. Each new layer added rigidity and weight to the final piece.

At the beginning of the project, I'd planned a total of three layers. But after finishing the third layer, there were beads left in my bowl and I just couldn't stop. I kept going until there were five layers of RAW and the piece had a pronounced domed structure.

When it comes to finishing, I really like the little feminine details that designer, Lisa Kan, gives her pieces. I pulled her book, "Bead Romantique" off my shelf to find instructions for encasing the ends of a bracelet in peyote stitch.

The final touch: add a single line of Czech fire polished crystals down the center of the bracelet's dome for sparkle.

"Jacqueline" Cuff

The lines are simple, but there was nothing simple about its creation. Ten hours of work, and the equivalent of a full hank of size 11 seed beads later, I have a piece fit for someone like Jackie O to wear. Anyone who puts it on will feel like royalty.

copyright 2010 Shibori Girl

"Spring is Around The Corner"

"Spring is Around the Corner" is the theme of April's Etsy Beadweavers Street Team challenge. I'm currently enjoying an early Spring here in North Carolina, so I decided to participate in the challenge.

This theme would also enable me to fulfill my New Year's resolution: use up beads I already own - in this case, pale pink seed beads and carved flower beads. I'd bought the seed beads in an effort to fill out my stock of color choices, but I very rarely work in pink. As a result, these beads have been taking up space in a drawer for years.

I made a right angle weave amulet bag with a profusion of flower and leaf beads. To finish it, I indulged my new love of fringe.

Wow. Apparently competition is good for me! This pretty amulet bag is listed for sale in my etsy shop.

To read more about the challenge, please visit the team blog.

copyright 2010 Shibori Girl

Surprise!

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting on the couch, doing my blog-hopping thing, when I landed on MadDesigns, the blog of Marcia DeCoster: Right Angle Weaver Extraordinaire. I've been a big fan of her work for years, drooling over pictured projects published in bead magazines. Usually I just lurk when I read her blog. But a recent post showing earrings that a student did in Marcia's class caused me to leave a comment. I admired the earrings design, the colors the student chose, and mentioned that someday I would like to take a class from her.

She wrote back to say she'd like to send me a pair of those earrings I'd admired. They arrived in my mailbox yesterday and they are even more beautiful in person.

This was such a sweet thing to do. They arrived on a dark, chilly, dreary day to deliver some much needed sparkle. Whenever I wear them, I'll think of that bright moment.

I just received her book, Beaded Opulence, and can hardly wait to crack it open and start weaving.

Whenever I visit her blog, I find myself lost in the beautiful photographs she posts.

"Sea Urchin"

Her sense of color and the textural quality of her designs are stunning.

"Under the Mast"

"The Rising Sun"

If you get the urge to learn Right Angle Weave (RAW), I hope you'll consider giving Marcia's MadDesigns a try. She sells kits in addition to her books, which you can find on her website.

"Portico"

Please note: The images posted here of Marcia DeCoster's work are her property, used with her permission. Please respect her copyright.

copyright 2010 Shibori Girl

New-Found Courage

I think Santa gave me an extra gift this past Christmas that wasn't wrapped in sparkly paper and a perky bow.

"Animal Dreams Pendant"

It wasn't anywhere under the tree where I could see it and open it. Instead, he gave it to me in dreams, where I could turn it and enjoy it from all angles, in any kind of light I chose to view it. Like the Cowardly Lion, I got the gift of Courage.

My latest jewelry designs are the proof. New materials, new color combinations, new techniques. I can't explain where this new-found courage came from, but I'm reveling in it.

"Sponge Coral Bracelet"

I might have mentioned in a past post that I've joined the Etsy Beadweavers Street Team. This is a group of like-minded beading artisans, who nurture and encourage their fellow members. Each month there is a design challenge, and to maintain membership, we must participate in one of these challenges a year. The thought of this requirement had me tied up in knots. My designs usually happen as I work, a very organic process where I let the piece tell me what it wants to be. Whenever I've started with a preset design, something happens halfway through the project and it veers off in a new direction.

The idea that I'd have to start with a plan, and a theme I didn't come up with on my own was a tiny bit scary. But I did it. The theme for February was titled "Royalty Throughout Time". In my research, I found some images of reproduction Tudor pieces, loaded with gold filigree and dripping with pearls. Lovely. During a road trip this past year, I'd picked up some fabu-liscious 1930's French brass stampings and at the time I had no idea how I'd use them. I just knew I needed to have them. The result was my very first challenge piece:

"Tudor Brooch"

Voting on these challenges is open to anyone - Usually between the 9th and 15th of the month. I'll post a link when the poll is open.

~~~

This past weekend I finished up a project that had been on my worktable for a while. I combined this polymer clay cabochon with some bead embroidery, added a profusion of branched fringe, and a beadwoven neck strap. Meet my Woodland Nymph in all her glory:

"Woodland Nymph Pendant"

I have no idea what's next on my work schedule, but I'm betting that it will knock my socks off! All of the pieces shown in this post are listed for sale in my Etsy shop.


copyright 2011 Shibori Girl

Today's Worktable

After last week's post, I knuckled down and made progress on a couple of the UFO's shown in the What's On My Worktable shot. I spent the weekend making serious headway on the clutch bag, and I'm delighted with it's progress. The blue and brown fringed foliage necklace is finished and listed for sale. The other items in that shot will have to wait for another day.

This week's shot includes two new pieces:

The mailman delivered a shipment of lovely Lucite cabochons and I've been busily putting them to work:

I like them all, but my favorites are the blue and gold cabs.

The first piece turned out to be a pretty, sparkly brooch and is now listed in my Etsy shop.

The other one, well, it's turning into one of those pieces that takes on a life of its own. The main bead embroidery is a fringed pendant.

I completed that phase last night, and all that's left is to weave a neck strap for it.

I hope you all are enjoying a wonderful Holiday season!

copyright 2010 Shibori Girl

Weekly Worktable

Hello, my name is Kate, and I'm an addict... a beading addict, that is. I have so many ideas running through my right-oriented brain, that I leap from project to project, leaving a wake of UFO's.

Betty Stephan, a fellow beader, show's pictures on her Facebook fan page called "weekly worktable". This seems like such a good idea. If I try to do this, maybe I'll get the bug to finish pieces that show up too many weeks in a row? What the heck, I'll try it and see if it helps.

What's on this week's worktable:

Tan: A beautiful labradorite cabochon is front-and-center of a collar-to-be.
Green: a bead embroidered clutch purse I've had in the works for about a year
A brown and blue fringed foliage necklace I should have finished later today
A polymer clay pendant that's waiting for the perfect bead to embellish the little leaves.

What do you do to keep the UFO's under control? Really... I'm asking.

~~~

Meanwhile, I did finish a fringed foliage necklace and got it listed yesterday.

Head on over and take a peek. Also, I'm offering free shipping within the US and Canada through December 15.

Have a creative day!

copyright 2010 Shibori Girl