Beadwork - strung necklaces

I'll confess - I'm a craft snob. I think if I know how to do something difficult, then I shouldn't bother with something simple. I resisted simple strung necklaces for a long time because I thought they were beneath me. And then I discovered beautiful lampwork beads, and very cool funky wood pieces - and you can't weave with those! Maybe I just had to find the right kind of beads to inspire me! (I've also been known to cut apart jewelry I find on sale for the beads!)

Beadwork - wire and bead jewelry

It seems a natural progression from weaving bead bracelets to working with wire - wire stringing, wire wrapping, and wire shaping. I find twisting straight pieces of metal into intricate shapes to be a very soothing pastime. For my wire-worked pieces, I generally create my own clasps. So here are some of the things I've created using wire, pliers, jigs, and larger beads:

Starting with pearls - instead of knots between, gold figure-8s

Jig-shaped links between pearls
Jig-shaped links between black 4mm bicones
Jig-shaped links with royal blue 4mm bicones

Matching bracelet

Jig-shaped pieces with red 3mm rondelles (this also has a matching bracelet)

Wire-wrapped bezel around an 8mm iridescent pearl, with a wire-wrapped bail

"Figure-8" bracelet with lavender cube beads
"Figure-8" bracelet - finer gauge wire, and fire-polished 3mm rondelles

Beadwork - seed bead weaving

I started working with beads when my first child was 1 year old. It was Christmas time, and we didn't have a lot of money for gifts for family members. So I decided to make grandmother's bracelets for my mother and mother-in-law. They were hideous, but they were made with love! Around the same time I discovered all the things that could be done with seed beads. I made Christmas cards with beaded designs on the front. And then I started visiting web sites, and I taught myself seed bead stitches, and started making all kinds of things! Check out a few of the things I've made by weaving beads. (I've included the stitch-type, for those of you who are beady types.)

Snowflake ornaments (circular flat net)

Candle sleeves (3-bead net)

"Crystal Waves" bracelets - right-angle weave

"Butterfly" bracelet - right-angle weaveSpiral Rope chain bracelets

Cross Stitch completions

These are not my personal designs, but believe me, it's my work!

Pray Without Ceasing, Janylynn Designs - this was the first kit I picked up. I started in June 2004, completed in June 2005Emma's Garden, designed by Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum (Told in a Garden, Lavender and Lace), completed November 2007
Unknown designer - this was an Egyptian themed round robin - One side was stitched by the round robin members. The large motif I stitched, then I attached the 2 pieces to create a WIP bag, completed and finish-finished summer 2008
Biscornu #11, The Floss Box freebie, finished for the Tiny Treasure Exchange Biscornu exchange, March, 2009
Dove Love, Alessandra Adelaide Needlework, completed March 29, 2009
Ask Me About My Grandkids, Lizzie*Kate snippet, completed April, 2009

Cross Stitch Designs - Baby Gifts

I learned to cross stitch from my grandmother. And I've always enjoyed it, but I felt that I was limited to working with kits or other people's charts. The cost of those kits and charts was enough to keep me from picking this up as an adult. When I was expecting my second child, I had a surge of creativity, and created 2 designs for her - one a geometric pattern, and the other my own charting of "Babies Don't Keep". These pieces have never been fully finished and displayed! Bad mommy!

"Patchwork" - 4 colors

"Babies Don't Keep"

My personal cross stitch designs incorporate simple color schemes, geometric shapes, and usually other embroidery methods as well. I likes squares and diamonds, but I will occasionally let my imagination wander within those boundaries, sort of in a "stream of consciousness", until I'm pleased with the result.

Custom gift for a friend's first-born - we waited a long time for her!

It's interesting, I didn't think about it before, but the ideas that caught my attention and inspired me during that time were related to babies and small children.

Hardanger finishes

One of my stitching loves is Hardanger Embroidery. I have a tutorial at my main blog. If you'd like to learn how to do this intricate stitchery for yourself, please visit me there and look under the "Labels" for Hardanger. All of these designs were finished as pillow appliques:

"Laura's Garden" square

"Harvest" neckroll

"Katie"

"Baroque"


Here is another take on "Laura's Garden" - this was a custom piece created for my friend Laura M. She loved the basic shape and idea of the original, but chose her own colors. And, knowing her creative side, I interpreted the garden to have different levels of magnification of roses. At Laura's request, this was left unfinished, and she displays it on a table in her home.

Welcome

This new blog will be a place for me to display my finishes from the past few years. Some are for personal enjoyment, some were gifts, and some are for sale on my Etsy Shop. Eventually, I will also list items I am selling here exclusively. All comments on this blog are moderated. If you are interested in purchasing an item, please leave a comment or e-mail me. I will also consider custom work. Thanks for visiting!