Clay and Lampwork Blog Hop



Recently Lisa Lodge of Pine Ridge Treasures sent out the call for another blog hop.  This one is a Clay and/or Lampwork Blog Hop.  We signed up and received either a Clay or Lampwork set of beads to work with.  I received some wonderful Lampwork beads from Bastille Bleu.  Again, I forgot to take a picture of the beads before starting, but later in the pictures I'll pinpoint the 3 wonderful beads I received.  I knew I wanted to do something that would either be a multi-strand necklace or have the appearance of multi-strands.  And as I played around with the beads, I didn't like the looks of the small blue bead in between the 2 larger lovely flower beads.  So I decided they should be the focal for the lower strand of the necklace.  But I wasn't sure I had enough beads to make 2 or 3 full strands.  So I started playing around with one main strand, done with 2 strands of beading wire and then splitting right at the center to use the 2 larger beads as the focal and the smaller blue bead above it in a shorter strand to make it appear to be 2 strands.  The more I played with it, the more I liked it.  I had just received all the glass pearls and faceted beads I'd won from ZNETshows and their last challenge I was in.  It was great, since I'm not much of a blue person and don't usually have much blue in my stash.  There was some wonderful blue beads along with the greens, clear, yellow faceted glass beads that matched the colors that were in the larger lampwork flower beads along with some white glass pearls. I also bought some pink round and faceted round glass/shell beads to bring out the pinks.  I wanted this to be a very 'blingy' necklace to make the Lampwork flower beads shine.  Then I had to make sure 2 strands of beading wire would fit through all the beads I was using.  And finally I had to figure out how to finish off the strands.  I had this lovely Silver colored leaf toggle bar clasp that came in my winnings from ZNET and thought it would go well with the 'flower' beads.  But I couldn't get the crimp beads to take both strands of wire up through around the jump ring and back down through the crimps.  It was too much. So I had to divide the 2 strands on the one main strand and crimp them both to a jump ring.  Then I made another strand to make the necklace appear as 3 strands in the center and had to crimp them to another jump ring and attach the 2 jump rings to the leaf toggle bar clasp.  It was a little more difficult than I had imagined, but I finally got them all crimped and attached.  I love the way they turned out.  And of course I had to have earrings to match.  So I hope you enjoy what I made with my lampwork beads.  In the first picture the 2 larger flower lampwork beads and the small blue lampwork bead in the short strand just above are the three beads I received.  Let me know what you think.


Lampwork Beads



Lampwork Beads Necklace



Lampwork Beads earrings



Lampwork Beads Necklace 2

Then, because I got done so quick with this set, I asked for another set and got these gorgeous lampwork beads fromStudioJuls along with the small pink/orange seed beads. And as usual, forgot the pictures, but if you look close at my bracelet, they're the large round lampwork beads.  There's 4 of them in this bracelet.  I paired them with some great Jasper I had, some gold glass pearls from ZNETshows, the small pink/orange seed beads and some small black seed beads I had.  This was my first go at a memory wire bracelet and I knew I wanted it to be 3 strands.  It took me 3 times of stringing, removing and restringing the beads to get enough on the memory wire.  I had laid them all out and thought I had enough, but NOT!  LOL.  But I think it turned out great for my first Memory Wire bracelet.  Hope you enjoy it.

 And if you're looking for more of my Beaded or Wire-wrapped jewelry or Stained Glass, Mosaics or Fused Glass Kreationz for your home or garden, check out KayzKreationz.
Also, be sure to check out what everyone else made with their Clay or Lampwork sets. 

Your hostess:  Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

 

Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs

Melissa Trudinger, Bead Recipes

Kathy Zeigler Lindemer, Bay Moon Design

Laurie Vyselaar, Lefthand Jewelry

Annette Rivers, MamaOwl's Mess

Karin King, The Sparkle Things Blog

Shaiha Williams,   Shaiha's Ramblings

Mimi Gardner, Baubles, Beads and Other Curiosities

Dee Alcalde, Agape Creations Jewelry

Kay Thomerson, Kayz Kreationz

Karla Morgan, Texas Pepper Jams

Lori Jean Poppe, Lorillijean Creative Corner

Eleanor Burian Moore, The Charmed Life

Leah Mifflin Tees, My Beady Little Eyes

Terri Wlaschin, Dances in Fog

Sharyl McMillian-Nelson, Sharyl's Jewelry

Jo-Ann Woolverton, It's a Beadiful Creation

Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera

Linda Aspenson Bergstrom, TBD

Toltec  Jewels, Jewel School Friends

Judy Turner, Silver Rains

Gloria Allen, Gloria Allen Designs

Kathleen Douglas, Washoe Kat's

Connie Tipton, TBD

Christie Searle Murrow, Charis Designs Jewelry

Andrea Glick-Zenith, ZenithJade Creations

Michele Dotson, Star Jewels

Chris Eisenberg, Wanderware

Jennifer Clifford, TBD

Kathleen Breeding, 99 Bottles of Beads on the Wall

Molly Alexander, Beautifully Broken Me

Loretta, Loretta's Boutique

Carolyn Lawson, Carolyns Creations

Shirley Moore, Beads and Bread

Bonnie Coursolle, Jasper's Gems

Alice Craddick, Alice's Beads and Baubles
If the links don't work, check out A Grateful Artist for the master list.  Thanks.

OctoberFest or What do you do for Fall?

A while back, Rita/JewelSchoolFriends challenged us all to do something for Fall.  It could be pictures, jewelry, bead-making, recipes, whatever.  Then we were to post it on our blog.  I love fall, so I signed up to participate.  Growing up in the Ozarks of Missouri, I love fall.  I love the colors of fall, the changing of the leaves, the cool, crisp weather (although I'm always cold) because it gives me a chance to wear my sweaters.  However, living here in Texas for the last 37 years, there's not a lot of color change here.  I really miss all the reds, oranges and yellows of the leaves when they change colors.  However, we recently spent a week in New York and guess what?  The trees/leaves were changing.  I loved it.  I thought, what a great addition to my Octoberfest post.  So here's a few of my Fall/Octoberfest photos to delight with. 

I also love to bake cookies, muffins and such in the fall.  Here's a recipe I found that looks delicious. I'm getting ready to try these. They're called Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. They sound wonderful and look wonderful, too.  I love the smell of baking in the fall/winter and especially pumpkin.  So here's the recipe for anyone that wants to try them with me. (These may turn out a little dark, so try lowering the temp to 375)

Ingredients

• • 4 Eggland's Best Eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
  • 1 to 1/2 cups canola oil
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

• 1. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil until smooth. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; gradually add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full.
  2. Bake at 400° for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Yield: about 2 dozen muffins.

---

 

Plus, I was able to take a class on fold-forming and enameling recently and love the way these turned out. I call them my Fall Leaves.  I really like the orange/red color from heating with the torch to anneal and then enamel.  I've got a couple of ideas for them and just need to find the right beads and the time to try it.

Plus one last picture.  I love Fall/October for the Mums, too.  I recently saw this great pot of Mums and had to have them for my porch.  They'll go in the ground later, but for now, I'll keep them on my porch.

Hope you enjoy my Fall/Octoberfest post.  Here's a list of all the participants.  Hop by to see what they like about Fall/Octoberfest.
Caroline                                       http:// Carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com

Andrea Glick-Zenith                     http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/

Dolores Raml                               http://craftydscreations.wordpress.com/

Karla Morgan                               http://TexasPepperJams.blogspot.com

Susie Harris                                 http://jewelleryjunkie.blogspot.com/

Susan                                          http://libellulajewelry.com

Mischelle                                      http://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com/

Billi                                               http://billi-rs-rothove.blogspot.com/

Kay Thomerson                           http://kayzkreationz.blogspot.com/

Jean Yates                                  http://prettykittydogmoonjewelry.blogspot.com/

Kelly Hosford Patterson               http://travelingsideshow.blogspot.com

Kathy Lindemer                           http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com

Liz E                                            http://beadcontagion.blogspot.com

Jasvanti Patel                              http://jewelrybyjasvanti.blogspot.com

Christie Murrow                           www.charisdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com

Jodie Marshall                             http://marshalljodie.blogspot.com/

Andrea Trank                              http://heavenlanecreations.com/

Dini Bruinsma                              http://angazabychanges.blogspot.nl

Elsie Deliz Fonseca                     http://ladelizchica.blogspot.com/

Pepita                                         www.pepita-handmade.blogspot.com

Karla Morgan                              http://texaspepperjams.blogspot.com/

Kathleen                                     http://99bobotw.blogspot.com/

Vera Lynn                                   http://veradesigns.blogspot.com/

Rana Wilson                               http://ranaleadesigns.blogspot.com/

Catherine King                           http://catherines-musings.blogspot.com/

Lily Vincent                                 http://thecreativeklutz.blogspot.co.uk/

Janice Hidey (Janimar)               http://drawingthelinesomewhere.com/

Cory Tompkins                           http://TealwaterDesigns.blogspot.com

Candida Castleberry                  www.spunsugarbeadworks.blogspot.com

Cynthia Kent Machata                http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com/

Alicia Marinache                         http://www.allprettythings.ca

Linda Anderson                          http://fromTheBeadBoard.blogspot.com

Leah Curtis                                 http://beadyeyedbunny.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Reno (JenRen)              http://jenrenjewelry.blogspot.com/

Robin Reed                                 http://willowdragon.blogspot.com/

Tanty Sri Hartanti                        www.tjewellicious.blogspot.com

Lisa Lodge                                  http://gratefulartist.blogspot.com/

Ingrid A.                                      http://lilisgems.wordpress.com/

Judy Turner                                www.silver-rains.blogspot.com

Gina Hockett                               http://freestyleelements.blogspot.com/

Nelly May                                    www.smellynelly.blogspot.com

Tanya McGuire                           http://tanyamcguire.blogspot.com/

Ahowin                                        http://www.blog.ahowinjewelry.com

Sonya Stille                                 http://dreaminofbeads.blogspot.com

Pam                                            http://www.klassyjoolz.blogspot.com

Carol D.                                      http://dillmansdallies.blogspot.com/

Asri Wahyuningsih                      http://asribeadwork.blogspot.com/

Ginger Bishop                             http://lilmummylikes.blogspot.com

Janine                                         http://www.esfera.me/travel/blog/travel-stories

Shaiha Williams                          http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com/

Toltec Jewels (Rita, your hostess)  www.JewelSchoolFriends.com

And if you're looking for Stained Glass, Mosaics or Fused Glass Kreationz for your Home and Garden or some of my Wire-wrapped, Beaded Jewelry, check out my shop, KayzKreationz.

ZNETshows Keychain Lightning Round

Another great ZNETshows challenge. I was contacted a few weeks back by Hope of Crafty Hope and ZNETshows about doing a lightning round challenge with their Keychain hooks.  The idea was, we pick out 2 beads and they'll send them along with some of the keychain hooks for us to design something with.  They got delayed a little because the keychain hooks were out of stock. But I finally received them last Thursday and got to work.  I ran into a snag with my first design and am still working on it, but I got my other 2 designs finished and am presenting them here for you to see and let me know what you think.  I chose these Black Matte faceted glass bead crystals and these Orange and Cream faceted glass rondelles crystals.  I wired wrapped and attached to some silver chain I had, the Orange and Cream crystals along with some black seed beads and oval beads I had.  I attached those 3 to the bottom of the Black Faceted Crystal and Orange and Cream crystal and then attached everything to the Keychain.  This is my Black and Orange 'Chained' keychain, zipper pull or purse bling.  I prefer them as purse bling. 

My second design is my 'Tribal' keychain, zipper pull or purse bling.  Again, I prefer Purse Bling. LOL.  I hammered the end of silver colored wire, then strung the Orange and Cream crystals, the Black Faceted Crystal the and the black seed beads and oval bead I had on one of each of the 'tribal' wires. I then hammered the other end and did a simple loop to attach them to the keychain.  In between each of the 3 'tribal' wires, I hammered more silver colored wire in shorter lengths, did a simple loop and attached them in between the 'tribal' wires.  I also wire-wrapped one of the Orange and Cream crystals and attached it to the loop on the bottom of the Center 'tribal' wire for a little more dangle and bling.  Hope you like my Keychains/Purse Bling.  They are available for $17 each with free shipping till the end of the week.  Just comment here on my blog if you're interested.

KayzKreationz Purse Bling, Zipper Pull, Keychain

For more of my Beaded Wire-wrapped Jewelry and Stained Glass, Mosaics and Fused Glass Kreationz for your Home and Garden, check out my shop, KayzKreationz.

CBC 2000 Giveaway

Recently a group I'm in on Facebook, the Creative Bead Chat held a giveaway for reaching 2000 likes.  There were about 40 different artists that donated prizes.  All you had to do was comment on the prize/prizes you liked and say how you would use the prize.  For example, would you wear it, give it away or create something awesome with it and if creating, what would you create with it.  There were some great prizes.  And Lo and Behold, I won a fabulous pair of earrings from Alicia Marinache.  Alicia hails from Burlington, ON Canada.  She loves working with silver and copper and semi-precious stones, bringing inspirations from nature into her art.  These are Etched Brass squares that have been patina'd and sealed, with glass lampwork beads attached to Sterling Silver findings.  Aren't these great?  They're even prettier in person.  It was so great of Alicia to donate these, along with all the other artists that donated wonderful prizes.  Alicia has a shop on Artfire, called All Pretty Things.  Why don't you jump over there after seeing what else I won and what the others won and who donated the prizes.

Also, because there was a small snafu with one of the other prizes that I though I had won, Melinda Orr generously offered to send me a prize package from her designs/stash. I love Melinda's work.  She has some of her designs HERE and more here in ORRTEC shop.  Melinda loves working with Metals and texturing and patina'ing them, plus leather.  Anyway, Melinda kindly sent me this great package with one of her new designs.  It's a piece of leather, wire-wrapped focal and copper wire.  I know what I want to do with it, just haven't gotten a chance to put it all together yet.  Plus I need a rivet/snap setting tool for the snap/clasp on the leather.

 

Be sure to check out all the other great artists and shops that won or donated prizes.  And if you really like making jewelry and networking with other artists, be sure to check out the Creative Bead Chat group.
To see some of my Wire-wrapped, Beaded Jewelry, Stained Glass, Mosaics or Fused Glass Kreationz for your home and garden, be sure to check out KayzKreationz.

Polymer Clay Wonky Bead Blog Hop Challenge

Recently Kristi Bowman-Gruel at DreamSome Designs issued a challenge for all artists using her new Polymer Clay Wonky Beads. I love them, they are so rustic and earthy looking and feeling to me. So I couldn't resist the call.  And as usual, I forgot to take a before picture of the beads I received.  When I got them I immediately knew I wanted to do something with macramé with the beads.  I recently started getting back into macramé. I used to do it back in the 70's when it was popular and have been falling in love with it all over again. I also knew I wanted to do something very rustic and earthy/country feeling.  I went back and forth between a bracelet or necklace. The necklace finally won out.  I finally found some hemp cord in the color I wanted while on our epic 1900 mile road trip, bringing our new Honda Goldwing back from Virginia. (But that's another post, and video of the Tail of the Dragon ride!) LOL  I also knew I wanted to use all the larger beads in the macramé part of the necklace and the smaller one as part of the clasp.  And since I love copper and felt it lent the right rustic feel to the piece I found a copper washer I had, hammered/textured it and used it as the other half of the clasp.  So the smaller bead is the toggle bar and the washer is the clasp.  I love the magenta, purple and brown of these beads, so I went with the natural hemp and the magenta hemp cord.  I also added some seed beads in the same colors to add a little bling.  Then I had to decide how to lengthen the necklace as I only wanted the macramé part for the beads.  I first braided this fluffy yarn I had to add to it, but didn't like the look with the macramé and earthy beads, so I had to come up with another idea. Since I was using the copper washer for the clasp, I thought I should use a copper chain.  But I couldn't find a chain I liked that I felt went along with the rustic look I wanted, so I decided to make my own.  I created these 'Figure 8' links, then hammered and textured them.  I also made my jump rings to attach each link.  I knew I would macramé the one end of the necklace back over itself from the end of one of the 'Figure 8' links.  But I had to figure out how to attach the small 'toggle bar bead' to the other end.  I finally decided to take some of the natural hemp, wrap it through the bead, back up over the end of one of the links and then wire-wrap it to the link with copper wire.  I really like the look, although I know some may feel it is too 'eclectic'.  But I think it all went together well.  Be sure to check out all the other 'hoppers' and see what they created with Kristi's Polymer Clay Wonky beads.  And please leave me a comment on what you like or don't like about my piece.  Thanks. This shows a close-up of the beads I was sent.


Wonky Beads
 

Next is the bead I used as the clasp for the necklace.


Wonky Bead clasp

Finally, here is the whole necklace with the Kristi's Wonky Beads, my Macramé and my Hammered Copper wire links and clasp.  Hope you like it.


Wonky Beads Macramé Hammered Copper Necklace

And if you're looking for some of my other Wire-wrapped, beaded Jewelry or Stained Glass, Mosaic and Fused Glass pieces for your Home and Garden, check out my shop, KayzKreationz.

Goodbye Garfield

When our youngest son moved off to New York to do some volunteer work, we inherited his cat, Garfield.  He was a NEEDY cat.  Worse than a dog, but he was a lot of company.  He always wanted to curl up in your lap, between your feet or get right in your face.  He loved sitting on my husband's desk, draped across his arm or his laptop, so he couldn't work.  When we first got him, he was a little banshee.  He climbed the walls of the bathroom and you couldn't get near him.  But my son, Chris, kept working with him and taming him until he became our 'other' dog.  He was friends/enemies with my dog, Cheyenne.  He loved to slap her whenever she walked by him, of course, causing a ruckus.  Still, I think he really missed her when she died last winter.  He's always lost weight in the summer and always had a big pot belly.  But a couple of weeks ago, he just seemed different.  Then, last week when we got back from our motorcycle trip, he had really lost weight and just YOWLED at us all the time.  Finally, yesterday, we decided we needed to take him to the vet to see what was wrong.  He wasn't eating much, hardly drinking and didn't want any attention!  That was not normal for him.  Just a week or two ago, when we had gone walking, he couldn't stand being alone, so he followed us all up and down the road walking with us and meowing at us to slow down and let him catch up.  The vet informed us he had FIP,  Feline Infectious Peritonitus, which is untreatable and fatal.  There's not any pain with it, they just don't feel good, and their abdomen fills up with fluid, (hence the bigger than normal pot belly) and they don't feel like eating, drinking or moving.  We decided to bring him home for a little longer, as the vet didn't know how long he would last.  But we had to leave for a while last night and when we got home, it was apparent he wasn't going to last.  He hadn't moved, had thrown up on himself and didn't meow at us when we walked up on the porch or want to come in.  So we brought him inside for the night and hoped for the best.  This morning it was apparent he was ready to go.  He wouldn't get up, look at us, want attention, eat or drink.  So we mustered up our courage, wrapped him in a towel and I held him all the way into town, since he hated the cage.  It only took a few minutes to let him go.  We brought him back home and buried him out by his buddy/enemy Cheyenne under her little Redbud tree I've planted for her to give her shade.  They're right on the edge of the pasture and drive that they liked to go run and play in.  I'll miss them both.


Garfield in the grass

Blu Mudd Bracelet Bar Design Challenge

Go HERE to vote for your favorite.  But first please read about my design and journey.
Yipee, I got to play again with one of Moriah Betterly's Ceramic Bracelet Bars in her current Design Challenge for Blu Mudd Design Group on Facebook.  This one was a butterfly and is so cool.  Here is the bracelet bar I received.

I decided I wanted to do a stretchy bracelet with it and just needed to figure out what beads to use.  I love Carnelian and decided it would go great with this. So I picked out some Carnelian chips, some Hematite ovals and some Heishi White Shell discs to finish it out. The Heishi is a little whiter than I would have liked, but I couldn't find anything with that off-white look. I think with the other colors around them, they work. Then I went in to another bead shop closer to where I live and found these great orange-brown glass faceted squares that went great with the rest of the beads. I also wanted more than one strand so finally settled on a 5 strand stretch bracelet. I had some Dark annealed Steel wire that was great to make my own jump rings to attach the strands and decided that I wanted the 2nd jump ring to be something other than round, so used my new Triangle Wubber pliers to make the 2nd jump ring on each side. I love the look, although this is only the 2nd time I've ever worked with the stretch cord, but I don't think it turned out too bad. What do you think?  I love comments and suggestions so be sure to tell me what you think.
My friend, Karla of Texas Pepper Jams (they make the best pepper jams and fudge on Etsy) had come up for a couple of days to play so we used each other as sounding boards for our designs. And then of course decided that I needed earrings and a simple necklace to match.  So out came the toggle bar clasps and chain for the earrings. My Daughter in Law showed me how to make these a couple of years ago and I love the look. (By the way, Karla is her mother. LOL)  So I made some dangles out of the beads for the bracelet, attached them to 3 pieces of chain and hung them from the toggle bar which was attached to black earwires. I love them.  Then I wanted just a simple necklace to go with the set, so strung the Carnelian, Black Hematite, White Heishi shell discs and the Glass beads on some beading wire, making it long enough to just slip over my head.  I also added 3 more dangles just like the earrings for a focal for the necklace. I love the way the set turned out.  I'm still trying to decide whether to keep it for myself or put it up for sale.  How do you like my Blu Mudd Bracelet Bar Design set?  There is a contest on the Facebook group for the best design, so be sure to go there and vote for your favorite Bracelet design.  Plus let each of us know what you think of our designs.

And if you're looking for some Stained Glass, Mosaics or Fused Glass Kreationz for your home or garden or more of my Jewelry check out my shop, KayzKreationz.  Thanks for looking. 

Work around the Ranch, Deck flower bed replanted

We've finally been getting a ton or work done around our small Texas ranch.  We had redone the skirting/foundation around the bottom of the house in March, but had never gotten it done around the deck to completely close off the underneath of the house so we wouldn't get any more critters under the house. (Especially skunks, which always seem to choose the middle of the night to spray under my bedroom and wake me up.)  We restacked the rocks around the deck and then I finally got to replant my flower beds. I had some Rosemary that was supposed to be prostrate rosemary and sage there before, but nobody had told them they were supposed to stay fairly small and it had become a jungle. I transplanted it all, but alas, the Rosemary didn't survive. I suppose after being in the same spot for about 15 years, they had a right to be a little upset. I will now have to get some more Rosemary and plant out by the yard gate into the pasture, because I love my Rosemary.  I chose to replant with some Drift Roses that I know will stay fairly small, some Guara for the butterflies and hummingbirds and some daylilies.  I had found 3 at my local nurseries that weren't just your run of the mill daylilies like everyone else has, but couldn't find anything else, so I turned to E-Bay. I found 3 fantastic ones that hopefully will be gorgeous when they bloom next year. I had only wanted one more, but couldn't resist the other 2.  I got everything planted, found a large clay saucer for the top of the cactus bird bath (the original bird bath saucer had gotten broke), composted everything with some great compost from Bell County Regional Compost Facility and some mulch.  This is my newly replanted flower bed.  I wanted to make sure it didn't get too full and I didn't want to cover up all the great rock we put around the bottom of the deck.  It was a lot of work, but I'm really happy with it and can't wait to see it as it matures and all my daylilies start blooming next year.  The roses are already settling in and blooming.  Enjoy the pics.  This was before.

And this is after.

 

I'll try to post more pictures as it matures.  I love the way it turned out.  I make Stained Glass, Mosaics and Fused Glass kreationz for your Home and Garden, so if you're looking for that unique piece for your garden, check out my shop, KayzKreationz.

Tree Wings Studio Blog Hop and Challenge

If you're looking for my Bead Hoarders Blog Hop reveal piece, I'm sorry, I couldn't get anything finished. I had a case of Heat Exhaustion and haven't been able to finish my pieces. I'm still working on them and hope to post them soon.  In the meantime, please read about my Tree Wings Reveal piece which I had already finished before this happened. Thank you so much for understanding.

Recently I signed up for a chance to win a set of polymer clay beads from Rebekah Payne of Tree Wings Studio.  I love her beads. I have a set with the most adorable little pony and some additional beads and I haven't had the time to make up a bracelet with them. It will be for me, since I love horses.  Just need to make the time. Anyway, I got chosen to receive one set of a large and small round bead.  I was overjoyed.  I love the colors in them, to me very earthy and rustic.  And as usual, forgot to take a picture of them before I started.  I knew I wanted something very rustic, but since there were only 2 and they were different sizes I had to figure out how to use them.  I had started hearing/reading about Chinese knotting and this intrigued me. It seems to be very similar to macramé which I used to do in the 70's and have been starting to re-add to my repertoire. (See my macramé anklet here and a fused glass piece I did a couple of years ago and added a small macramé hanger to it and sold in my shop.) 

 
As I perused the internet for ideas and information about Chinese knotting I found a knot I like, the Chinese coin knot, I think they called it, also known as the Celtic knot a and thought it would make a great bracelet with the larger bead as the focal and the smaller one as the clasp.  I found some hemp in a neutral color that matched the main color in the beads and then some wonderful 6/0 seed beads in the coordinating colors in the bead to add as pops of color.  I set to work tying off a knot with a small seed bead as a stopper for the small round bead for the clasp. Then I started tying Coin/Celtic knots and adding the seed beads in between each knot. I was hoping both pieces of the hemp would go through the seed beads instead of having to put a bead on each piece, but it didn't work.  I figured out how long I needed the bracelet and added the larger focal bead. Then I finished tying off the rest of the knots and the seed beads.  Finally, I tied another knot, left a loop for the small bead/clasp to slide through, tied another knot and then 2 small seed beads on the end.  I love the way it turned out. Very earthy, rustic that would go with so many things.  The only thing I'm not fond of is the way it turns. I think I should have reversed the strings I was using working from left to right and then right to left as I would in macramé to keep it straighter. However, the tutorial I found didn't say anything about doing that. Next time I'll try it to see if it helps.  Anyway, tell me what you think of my Chinese/Celtic knotted bracelet.  Hope Tree Wings studio thinks I did justice to her beads. Here's the bracelet and a closeup of the larger bead/focal.  Thanks for letting me play.  Be sure to check out what everyone else did with their beads on Tree Wings Studio.

For more of my Wire-wrapped, Beaded jewelry or Stained Glass, Mosaics, Fused Glass kreationz for your Home or Garden, check out my shop, KayzKreationz.



Here's the participants:

Rebekah Payne - http://www.treewingsstudio.com/

Stephanie LaRosa - http://stringaholic.blogspot.com/

Kathy Alderfer - http://artfulaccents.blogspot.com/

Kay Thomerson - http://kayzkreationz.blogspot.com/ (you are here)