Pinwheel Jewelry Set

I've finished the necklace for the Pinwheel Jewelry set. I used primarly megatamas and 11s. I am working on a variation of this stitch in bronze and aqua. I have the earrings made, and am working on a necklace.

Pinwheel Bracelet and Earrings

Beadsmith posted some pictures of items made with long megatamas on Facebook a few days ago, and invited people to submit their designs using the megatamas. I have three colors of megatamas in my stash - silver, bronze and olive green. I started playing and came up with this pinwheel design. The finished jewelry looks like sterling silver, but is much lighter to wear. I'm working on a matching necklace today, and I have ideas for variations using the bronze and green megatamas. A tutorial is in process that describes how to make the pieces and the variations.

Urban Stripes by Judith Bertoglio-Giffin - progress

There are 34 happy beaders working away on Judith Bertoglio-Giffins urban stripe necklace project. We receive sections of design for a crochet necklace that we each string and crochet. We have 4 sections so far, and will have 6 or 7 when the project is complete. The color combinations that have been picked by beaders are based on the urban landscape, and are wonderful variations of the landscape in an urban setting and what it has to offer. One of the beaders is happily working away on four different ropes. Some beaders have yet to start.

It took me awhile to get started and complete the first few rows of crochet. After several rows I had my rhythm going. The rope above shows two sections complete. Its a bit wonky because I used different shaped beads. I've strung section three and am working on the now. I've learned alot on this project - one big thing is how to add string to a long project like this. Wonderful if you find a stringing mistake or don't want to wear down your thread if the project it huge. This simple trick is also going to let me go back to a project that I had stopped years ago because it was too short.

The project has been a huge amount of fun. Receiving each section is like getting a new present. If your interested in learning more about the project, you might want to visit Judith's blog http://www.beadline.blogspot.com/

Andre Thornton Challenge - The Reveal

Well, here it isl. This is what I did with the bead package that Andrew Thornton sent out as part of his first challenge. I think that I am definitely going to have to call this a statement piece. When worn, the art clay focal and the large ceramic bead sit at the top of my wrist, and it is very comfortable. I used peyote and right angle weave.
I hope that you take the time to see what the other blogger's did with Andrew's package of beads!

Katie James, Sarajo Wentling, and Margriet Schnabel will have pieces shown on Andrew Thornton's blog.


Jessica Nelson http://stilettospirituality.blogspot.com/

Holly Baldwin http://trickoflightstudios.com/

Paula Kramer http://cavecreekbeads.blogspot.com/

Karyn Bonfiglio http://plussizebangles.com/blog


Sally Russick http://www.wireworked.com/

Lori Bowring Michaud http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com

Norma Turvey http://moonlitfantaseas.blogspot.com/

Anne Dixon http://annepomeroydixon.blogspot.com

Melissa Meman http://melissameman.blogspot.com

Mary K McGraw http://mkaymac.blogspot.com/

Patty Gasparino http://www.mylifeunderthebus.typepad.com/

Andrew Thornton http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/

Urban Stripes by Judith Bertoglio-Giffin

Judith Bertoglio-Giffin has organized a crocheted rope bead along and I am one of the lucky participants. Participants are receiving pdfs that contain patterns for a 42 inch rope that will be crocheted in sections. The colors are inspired by the urban landscape. I've chosen a smoky blue, cream, lilac, truqoise ande a mettalic purple.
There are 35 participants and Judith has set up a page on Facebook so that we can share our color combinations as we go along. I find this all very exciting. Each pdf is like opening up a new present, and you don't know exactly what you are going to get until it is all assembled. My first section is strung and I will start crocheting tonight

Tannia's Lariat

Another item from my Friday beading group. Tannia combined spiral stitch with coralling to create this lush and gorgeous lariat. I love the corally berry-like beads combines with the navy and cream. Today I'm off to have lunch with my mom and my Auntie Ellen. I am so looking forward to the visit. On my worktable is another long necklace using russian spiral, square stitch and RAW for a pendant. I should finish is soon and be able to post the finished piece tomorrow

Made by Marge

This is a picture I took before the holidays of two bracelets made by Marge, one of the beaders that I bead with on Fridays. The first bracelet is by Rachel Nelson-Smith, from her book Seed Bead Fusion. The second is a simple Right Angle Weave bracelet that I wrote up to teach my students RAW. Beautiful colors, as usual. They stack together really nicely. Last week Marge came to class wearing Laura McCabe's Faery Vine necklace. She had modified it using charms collected from her family. It was stunning. I forgot to take a picture.... I'll ask Marge to bring it in for this Friday.

Three Cheers for claudia

Last year I had one new student in my senior center class. The other seven students were "repeats". Claudia was a bit nervous and wanted to do a good job in the very biggest way. She made several projects and did a wonderful job. On the last day of class she came in with this necklace - made from the Margeurite pattern. I love the bright and cheery colors she used. I loved even more the smile on her face as she brought it in the show me.

So many things are going on right now that I am not teaching a new class. Instead, we have informal drop in sessions. I'm looking forward to what Claudia makes next with her new found hobby!

Artbeads Winter Enchantment

I participate quite happily in the ArtBeads Winter Enchantment program. Its a wonderful opportunity to try out new designs and to stretch myself. When the email came this winter, it was right after one of the largest snowstorms of the winter. The snow was waist high on either side of the sidewalk. Piles of plowed snow were higher than buildings, and I was having a bit of trouble being enchanted. I'd just finished a chain I made for my mother using Russian spiral weave, and I had been working on some beaded beads. I decided I wanted to combine the two. It was night time, and I looked over the winter landscape with its inky colors. Lights up our driveway illuminated portions of the snow and there were areas of refracted light. My color scheme was born and I put in an order for seed beads http://www.artbeads.com/delicas-seed-beads.html and swarovski crystals http://www.artbeads.com/swarovski-crystal-beads.html from the Artbeads site.

Coordinating colors from the Artbeads site is very easy. Once you order your item and put it in your shopping bag, small thumbnails appear that show the beads you have chosen. Once the beads arrived, I was delighted with the way they coordinated, and I finished my necklace yesterday. The necklace is quite long and I can wear it easily with heavier winter clothing. I made a separate beaded bead for the closure, which I can wear in the back and in the fron. I think I'll wear it today

Disclosure...As a reviewer of products at Artbeads.com, I received the Swarovski crystals,  and seed beads free of charge. I have been asked to review these products and give my honest opinion of the products...positive or negative. I am not being compensated by Artbeads.com for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received and reviewed.

Marge and Martha's multi strand necklaces

Martha came to class one day and said that she would like to make a necklace like the one worn by an actress she had seen on Oprah. Marge found a picture and sent it to me. I drew up a pattern. They both made the necklace. Martha's is in the silver tones, Marge's is in the bronze colors that she favors. I think that they turned out wonderfully.

Aline's necklace

Aline had come to all four of my classes at the senior center. Early on she fell in love with spiral stitch. Her sisters have fallen in love with the necklaces she has created from spiral stitch, and she has made several versions of her colorways. I love this one that she made to match a blazer she owns. The colors are so very bright and cheery.

Its not crochet bracelet by Nancy

Peaking out from Nancy's jacket was a herringbone bangle. I'd written up this pattern over four years ago, and have never done anything with it, other than give it to my students as a pattern. Nancy came in today with this beautiful version, done it matte colors that matched her sweater. She also had a beautiful necklace made from lampwork beads that I did not get a picture of. Next week hopefully.

Chevron Chain Necklace

I have a copy of "The Art and Elegance of Beadweaving" by Carol Wilcox Well. I had never done chevron chain and decided to make the Ribbon Choker by Dawn Dalto that is in the book. Problem is, chokers don't really look that good on 61 year old necks. (At least this 61 year old neck.)So I extended the choker so that it fit at the base of my neck, added size 15o see beads to the top row of chevron chain to stabilize it, and finished it with a sterling silver clasp rather than ribbon. Very classic and easy to wear.

Yesterday's Class at the Senior Center

Yesterday I held my first class at the Senior Center. Passed out packets of information: general beading, stringing and fringing packets. I'm converting all my patterns to Open Office from Microsoft and organizing them by type. I'm working on another version of Hera's jewels, which teaches fringing, and we talked about taking a pattern from a designes and recreating it using different supplies. I have one new student, and we pulled beads from her stash to make Hera's jewels as her first project.

Sandy came to class with a lovely necklace that he had finished and given to her niece for her birthday. Her niece wanted the necklace longer, so she worked on lengthening it. I designed this project to teach flat peyote and used metallic beads for the bar that holds the pendant. Sandy used beautiful blue delica beads for her bar. I think it is a lovely interpretation - once its longer, I hope her niece wears it often

First class at Senior Center and new patterns

I woke up this morning to pitch dark and the steady timpanny of rain. Its light out now, and I am packing for the first class at the senior center. Seven old friends, and one new student, who sounds excited and happy to be at class.

I am redoing all my patterns in Open Office - my computer is one its last legs, and I do not want to pay for the Microsoft Office Suite (Yankee). I am loving the drawing program.

Class today will cover design, color, stringing and fringing. Nine patterns to choose from - including the two new patterns for a dragonfly and Hera's Jewels - a new necklace I designed this summer.

My First Pattern

I am fortunate enough to live near Manchester Connecticut, near Beads East, a wonderful beading store owned and operated by Ann Benson. The store has a wonderful collection of seed beads and czech glass, as well as an amazing assortment of kits and patterns. Ann published my first pattern, the Pearlfest necklace, over four years ago. The pattern is available at http://www.beadpatterncentral/. Beads East is moving to newer, larger quarters and is having a rather awesome sale right now. The new store will be open some time in August. Exciting, no?

Windsong Earring - New pattern

I'm working on a new pattern. Two of my Friday beading friends offerred to test the instructions for me. Marge's version of the Windsong Earrings in green is first. Ann's in blues is second. I enjoyed seeing their color combinations, and how different color choices result in different earrings. I am working on incorporating the changes to the instructions that they suggested. I hope to publish the patten on my esty site: auntiannie.etsy.com later on today!

Sandy's Progress on the Pansy Bracelet

Sandy has ber bracelet partly done, and I think that she is doing a beautiful job. (Sandy, if you remember, is one of the people I bead with at the Senior Center on Fridays during the summer. ) The bracelet is single stitch peyote. The pattern is not done with a graph or a word chart, and the technique is working well. I'm hoping to create a pattern once the piece is finished.

Sandy and the Pansy Bracelet

Its summer, and my senior center classes are officially not in session.....but several of the people who took the beading class wanted to continue beading over the summer. Sandy is one of the beaders, and did not have a project for the summer. I took a watercolor painting that my mother had done and matched some of the colors with delica beads. I then came home, drew a band of pansies, scanned the picture and colored it in Photoshop. Sandy is now beading away, and doing an absolutely beautiful job. I can't wait for the finished project!!!

Organizing beads.

Heather Pyle of the blog My Muse http://aquariart-chocoholic.blogspot.com/ posted a contest with the question How do you organize your supplies? The prize is a fabulous pair of beads.

I work a short note in reply this morning, but wanted to expand on my thoughts.

I've been working for the last few years to find a way to organize my beads. I work primarily with seed beads. At first, I had the seed beads organized by size in plastic boxes. The boxes were labeled with the size, and I kept the boxes in a rolling cart in my work room. This didn't work. Every time I went to complete a project, I had to go through several of the boxes before I hit the size of beads that I needed in the color tone I wanted. The beads were in their original containers - long and short tubes, tic tac boxes etc., and I really couldn't get them to be neat. Last year, I moved everything out of the tubes, etc. that they came in and organized by color. I took the beads out of their original containers and put them in 4mml zip top bags that I labeled with size and supplier. Didn't work. I had to go through each color to find the sizes I needed. I now have my seed beads in hardware store containers that have 8 drawers across and 8 drawers down. The beads are still in their zip top bags that I converted to last year Row one goes vertically by size with size 15 beads in the first row. The horizantal rows are organized by color, white first, with sizes ranging from 15 to six across . Works!!!!! I have two of these bins. They are on a ledge in my work room and I can get at the bins easilyThe rest of the beads, are still being put in zip top bags if I have several - labeled with size and where I purchased the beads. Drops, cubes pearls, crystals and bugles will go in their own bozes. Larger beads and random beads will still be stored by color in large flat fishing tackle boxes. I can pull the tops off of these and line them up so I can see what I have. When things are a bit neater, I will take pictures.