Harvest Season

Harvest season is upon us.  We are celebrating Grape and Wine Festival here in Niagara and I am seeing purple everywhere. 



With my dad and father-in-law enjoying the sights at one of the local wineries

This inspired me to create my grape ornament. Pretty soon, it will be gift-giving season and my grape ornament will add a special touch to gifts from the vine.

Here's the ornament up-close and wrapped around a bottle of wine for a festive feel to a holiday or hostess gift.

Enjoy your weekend!

Herringbone Earrings

I gor invited to a few parties lately and I was always at a loss for what to wear.  I don't have a lot of "prints" in my wardrobe as I tend to gravitate towards plain, single-colour clothes.  The only way I dress up my ensemble is through accessories. 

Similarly, I can "dress up" beads using different materials and patterns.  One of my favourite is the wire-wrapped beads with herringbone pattern.   Below is a tutorial from "beadaholic" that is very basic and easy to follow.

I have most of the materials required including silver wire and the colour beads that will go with my outfit. 

Seed beads, glass beads, pliers, 24 Ga wire, Hook earrings

Although the tutorial only went as far as wrapping the beads in the herringbone pattern....

I decided to jazz up my earrings with chain and silver seed beads to add visual interest and length.

Happy Sunday!

Tiny Baubles

Now that I have my beads all organized, I am more inspired to create!

My project this week makes use of round beads. 

Using headpins, I attached each of the beads to a gold chain.

 

After an hour or so, the length of the chain is all filled up.

 

 

Here is my finished project, my green bauble.

 

 

Happy Sunday!

Beaded Bib

Last weekend, I finally organized my bead drawer - a task I've been dreading since we moved.  It wasn't as bad as I expected.  In fact, the process felt like a treasure hunt as I unearthed long-forgotten beads.  I found some that would be perfect for a project I have in mind. 

From memory, I tried to re-create the pattern for the beaded bib. 

I joined the beads together using craft wire. 

Finally, I added the chain and closures.

 

 

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Faux Collar

My project this week reminds me of the tuxedo t-shirt.

Well, not really...But like this shirt, the faux collar was also an 80's fashion trend that's meant to "pimp up" an outfit.   Just a few weeks ago while watching my guilty pleasure "The Carrie Diaries", I think I spotted Ms. Bradshaw wearing a pearl collar.  This inspired me to make one.

 

Here I am donning my creation. 

Happy Sunday and have a "wicked" week ahead!

Egg-cellent Pendants

I don't know about you but I am beginning to feel the weather changing.  Just this week, I already spotted flocks of birds headed back north.

This inspired my project for the week - bird's nest pendant.  There are lot of variations to this pendant but the tutorial I use is from one of my favourite bead stores, Ornamentea. 

This project is egg-cellent for beginners and advanced beaders alike.  So bring out your wire, beads and tools and start crafting.

Here is my finished project - a perfect little accessory for Spring. 

And speaking of spring, if you haven't already, don't forget to adjust your clocks today!

Happy Sunday!

 

 



Beaded Cuff

A friend gave me a cuff bracelet from her trip to the Philippines.   It was a gorgeous piece that for months, I thought of re-creating it.  Finally, I decided I'd reverse engineer how it was made.  I also got great tips online from fellow beaders.

 

I used 2 types of wire of different thickness and my pliers (one for bending and one for cutting) for the cuff frame.

I formed the thicker wire to a rectangular shape.

I formed the wire into a semi circle and wrapped the entire frame with the thinner wire.  This process took me an entire episode of "Modern Family" and "Suburgatory".

The fun part is in choosing the beads to use.  For this project, I decided to use mostly yellow beads.

 I strung the beads around the cuff frame using the thinner wire.

And finally, the finished cuff bracelet!

Happy Sunday!

antique box

The client request was for a Tiffany box cake.  

But I had a different vision for Sarah Jo, multi-talented painter who celebrated her 9th birthday last weekend.  Her mom was generous enough to give me my artistic freedom and let my imagination run wild with this project.

I kept the Tiffany blue, and created this antique jewelry box cake, fitting for an old soul with a heart of (white) gold.

Have a glorious week!

Stay sweet,

Bebsy

Let's Twist Again

I had so much fun with my twisted wire projects that I decided to feature them again.  Fall is 2 weeks away so I want to linger on the warm summer hues and reminisce bright spring colours before they disappear with the changing of seasons.

Here comes the sun with yellow Czech glass beads and yellow "pear-shaped" beads 

Grapevine cuff reminds me of vineyards in the summer

Cherry blossom necklace signals start of spring as flowers start to bloom

Still, I look forward to autumn and get inspired by the fabulous earth tones of fall.  I want to close with the quote by Percy Bysshe Shelley:

"There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been!"

Enjoy your Sunday!

Set in stone

My beading mentor (my mom) has always been fascinated with natural stones and crystals.  She often uses them on her bead work not only for their beauty but also because she believes in their healing properties.

I also incorporate natural stones to my jewellery so I did a bit of research on what they meant.  Green aventurine is said to possess "calming" properties.

The purple amethyst is said to provide "power" and "protection".



Coral, also called "garden of the sea", brings "joy" to the wearer.

I subscribe to the idea that Mother Nature has a cure for all illness & pain. 

Enjoy your Sunday!

A "Twist" to Jewellery

Wire jewellery incorporating beads is a fun yet challenging craft.  Thick wire is stronger but it is also tougher to form.  Thinner wire, on the other hand, is easier to handle but without proper caution, it can break easily.   This is exactly what I experienced with twisted wire jewellery.

Like any craft project, expect a lot of wastage during practice.  Overtwisting can lead to snapping the wire and undertwisting results to "loose" beads.  But as soon as you perfect the craft, the designs are infinite.  Here are some of my projects.

 Purple and green Czech glass beads twisted to form grapevines

Tiny red flowers made of Czech glass beads

Inspired by Southestern US, Gold wire and Turquoise chips form tendrils

Pearls and crystals twisted into a delicate bracelet

Enjoy your Sunday!