Earings with blue and white beads

I was just playing around with some colors and also thinking about making some earings. I love earings, but I can not seem to get it right. Well, here is yet another try.

I love large earings myself, so I thought I would make use of this silver colored earingbase and add some pearls. So I started making hoops with white beads. 

I felt it was a bit pale with only white, so I added blue colored beads. The beads were not uniform, not in size nor in color. So there are some differences in the color, but in my opinion that can be very wonderfull with a bit of differences in the shades.

A bit of color....

Finished with one.

Here are the pair finished, but I do feel that something is missing. So I added a bit:

I don't know if this was a good choice, but I will leave it for now. The good thing with this type of work is that I can always take it apart again, and use the parts to something else. 

Flowers and leafs

I am getting better, I believe, in just shutting of the brain a bit, and letting the material speak for itself. Sometimes it works, other times, not so much. But it is fun to just start placing different materials on my desk and then playing around with it.

I do like symmetry, I may even go so far as to say that I am fairly addicted to symmetry. When something is not symmetric it can be exceptionally beautiful or it an just be a mess. At the moment, I feel that all my efforts with non-symetric designs have fallen into the "mess" category. That is not to say that I need everything to be exactly symmetrical, but if I have one center pendant, then I feel I need an equal number of decoration on both sides. However, the decorations may be different from each other.

In this necklace, I simply had fun with placing the different pieces together. In the end, it is very symmetrical, but I feel that in nature there is usually a form of symmetry. Thus it fit.

The beads are on a wire so the necklace is rather stiff. I am thinking about using a thread instead. I'll see what I think about it in a couple of days. Letting it settle a bit more.

A couple of necklaces that I have been working on.

I bought at a sale, I love sales, several pendants in different shapes and forms. So now I am playing around with them and making necklaces, among other thing.

My biggest issues at the movement is that I remain uncertain of the different methods of making the base, the tread that the charms and pendants are attached to. In some ways I think that it is too simple with just a rope, but at the same time it can be too much if there are a lot of pearls. But I do like soft material and adding a bit more details.

These are just different coloured rings that I have attached to each other and I made necklace as well as a bracelet. I think it is a bit funny, and most importantly it is very lightweight.

Here there are white bigger pearls, and then I have added to several, smaller beads on the outside. It is very time-consuming, but I really love this style. I am experimenting with it at lot at the moment.

Here is my little owl. Perhaps not that easy to see? I have just used a simple silver tread and then I first added the center peace, in this instance an owl. Then I added four smaller charms, two frogs and two clocks. I am happy with the colours and the shape her.

During the sales, there were several glass fishes on sale. I thought they looked absolutely lovely and I have had a lot of ideas about how to use them. However, most those ideas have failed for some reason. So I went simple an shifted focus a bit. I simply use the fish as a centrepiece and then I added two sea-stars to enforce the nautical theme.
Finally I figured out a good use for the glass fish!

Painting on glass

I am experimenting a bit with painting on glass. It is fun as the colours blend differently than if you are doing it on paper. In addition I can use old jam jars and make them attractive again instead of just throwing them away. Here I have tried to keep to the same colour scheme, green with purple (I do love purple) and just changing the shape of the flowers a bit. However, I am not trying for any particular flower, I am just having fun with different shapes.

My husband wanted to make apple cider this summer, we have several large apple trees in the garden. So I bought a couple of bottles for this purpose. However, it didn't quite work out as planned, although we did learn a lot. So I have decided to just have a bit of fun with the bottles. Here I have experimented a bit with just shapes. The blue is sort of the ocean or water. I am not terribly happy with it. I do want to  do something more with this.

It is perhaps a bit difficult to see in a picture. But I have mixed two different blues. I think I will have to do something more here, perhaps add some other colours? I don't really know.

Here I have tried to give an impression of growing vines. I am going to add a bit more green and perhaps some more details, but overall I am very happy with this result.

Getting glasses...

Well, I have to admit that the time spent in front of the computer, not to mention when I am reading books on my beloved Kindle, have taken a toll on my eyes.
Not anything dramatic, but just a feeling of fatigue and especially headaches in the evening. So I decided that I needed an eye check.

Luckily nothing was wrong, but I needed reading glasses. So I chose a couple of stylish frames and they promised me that the glasses would be ready in a couple of weeks. I must say that I am looking forward to crossing one thing off my list of health issues.

In a couple of weeks I hope to be able to cross off even more on the health list when I see the leg doctor. Not really a leg doctor, but I call him that. He is going to try and figure out what is wrong with my leg, why it is not healing as it should. I broke it, the lower part, in july and I am still in a lot of pain. There are some tendons that are cut and so forth. I don't really know what they are going to do, but I am staying optimistic and hoping that they can do something to get rid of the pain.

So I am looking forward to getting glasses and a bit ambivalent to seeing the leg doctor.

Beaded bells, earrings

I have experimented with circular peyote beading. Here are two pictures of my latest effort. I am struggling a bit with getting the beads even and also how to finish it. It is a bit of a trial and error project, however I am rather happy with the end result.

When I had finished the first bell, I felt that something was missing. But I didn't want to add something heavy or large, as I felt that the earrings could not be to heavy.
So I found a small bell and added that to the bell, making it a true bell :-)

I am not the best photographer, but I hope it is possible to see the small bell hanging from the bell shaped earrings. The bell does not make a lot of noise, but I thought that it was a nice touch.

How to do peyote beading, bracelet

This is the first time I am trying to write a "how-to", but I thought I would give it a shot. So here goes nothing.

Peyote beading is fast and simple. The only thing you need to remember is to skip one, use one.
You start with a bead, any size, on a thread. The thread has to be flexible and fairly thin as it has to pass through the beads at least twice. In addition, you need to have enough beads, you are probably going to use more than you think. The number of beads has to be uneven, but you can decide how many.

So, start with a thread and a bead. I have used an elastic thread.  I also prefer to have the beads I am going to use in a small bowl next to me. If the beads are very small, I prefer to have them on a bead cloth. But for this beading, the beads are large enough that I prefer to have them in the bowl.

 In the next picture, I have added all the beads for the first line. In total 6 beads, two purple, two pink and the last two purple. Notice that the thread is long both also in the end. That is because you will use that thread when you connect the bracelet.

 Here I have started on the second line. The thread is passed through the number 5 bead on the first line.  

 Here I have added another bead to the second line. I hope you can see the rhythm. One bead outside another, the thread through the next bead, and then another bead outside the another. So in this picture you will se the top two beads are tighter, then there is one single, and then there are two together again.

Here I have added the last bead on the line. It looks a bit shaky at the moment, partly due to the fact that I have used an elastic thread and partly because it always looks a bit shaky when you go down. Notice that there are only three beads in this line, so half of the original number.

Here I have started the third line. The bead I have added is going to lay next to the first bead on the first line. The thread then goes through the last bead on the second line.

Now it is starting to come together. When you bead upwards, the beads are falling more into place and you can easily see if you have made any mistakes. So here you see that I have added a pink bead after the purple bead and now they are starting to form a nice line. It is easy to see where the third bead on this line is supposed to be.

Here I have finished the third line. It looks like there is only two lines when you look at it like this, but remember that you have first gone up (the first beads), then down (the second line) and then up again. So there are three lines.

Here is a picture of the line 4, going down. Now you can clearly see where you are supposed to place the beads in the next line. It gets easier once you finish the first lines as it is easier to see the pattern.

 Here I have completed the 5th line, going up. Again, the pattern is perfect when going up and you can see what it will look like in the end.

 Continue like with the same pattern, bead one, jump one, bead one.  You decide how long the bracelet is going to be. When you reach the desired length, you need to end on top.  Then you place the two edges together and you bead in the same pattern, pulling beads from both sides, until you reach the middle. Then you take the thread that is hanging loose from the first bead in bracelet, and use that to connect the beads from the bottom up to the middle. Then you tie the two threads together in the middle, tight with a surgeons knot or what suits you the best. You can add a bit of glue to the threads if you are worried that the knot may slip.

Then you will end up with something like this:

Good luck with your beading! Remember to try out different patterns, different lengths and colours. The good thing is that you can always cut the thread, pick the beads apart and start again if you are not happy with the result. 

A bracelet and earrings made with peyote beading

I have experimented with a lot of different b eading techniques. I am trying to figure out what I like and also I want to make a necklace with beads. I think I have figured out how to do that, but then I would need a lot more time to be able to work in peace and quiet. Now that the holidays are finished, the kids are back in school and kindergarden, I will be trying more advanced necklaces designs. But for now, I am just having fun with peyote beading and braiding.
Here are a couple of earrings, made with circular peyote and a bracelet made with straight lines.