Egyptian piece- completed!

Czech glass button, Swarovski pearls, Swarovski crystals, bugle beads, seed beads in 15/0 and 11/0, amethyst chunks. Backed in ultra suede.

Photos © Jen Curry of Erie, Colorado. Work by me.

Nice photos of pretty things!

Had "real" photos taken of these pieces because they're all on charity auction this weekend. The last one with the bright pink eye shaped one is new. 

Pay It Forward 2015

A couple bead embroidered shell ornaments I sent out to finish up last year's Pay It Forward projects. 

Sunken Treasure necklace

Made as a Facebook Pay It Forward project. Czech glass button, glass seed beads, gold-plated cord caps and clasp. About 30 hours, total.

Bridge

If there were a distinctive point in my work "before" and "after", this piece may be it. It's an in-progress, beginning with my typical smooth and symmetrical work, but now I'm trying to go in a different direction with texture and visual interest. It has one of two new bezel designs I learned this week, thanks to Jamie Cloud Eakin. The other is on a Pay It Forward project I'm in the middle of.

Click to enlarge

Let Them Eat Cake

My newest finished piece.

Art Deco, maybe.

Haven't posted in a long time. Too much happening at home. First break I really had was this past weekend. I made this.

About 4 1/2" long from top to the bottom of the longest fringe. Czech glass buttons as focal points, glass seed beads and Swarovski pearls in black. The bail has a piece of lead-free vinyl tubing inside to keep it nice and rounded and prevent snagging on a necklace. The whole thing is backed in Ultrasuede. Hard to take pictures of because the Czech buttons change colors depending on the light and the iridescent seed bead cause too many different focus points for the camera. Just getting these pictures too a lot of tries. 

Dragon Scales

Working on a new piece with a dragon theme. Tiny 15/0 seed beads so it's kinda slow going, but I got a magnifier so as soon as I adjust to the depth perception part of it, I should be all set. Photo is kinda glaring but I needed a shot in the sun to show all the different colors in the beads.

I don't have the beads for the big focal piece yet but I do have them saved in a cart on a bead site. Probably won't get them for a while because I came across a dollhouse kit in an unopened box for a steal on craigslist and I *really* want to save up and get it if it's still there. If it's not available by the time I save up the asking price, then I'll just be able to get more beads.

At any rate, the year is off to a nice creative start and I'm pleased with the direction things are headed. 

April Showers bring May Flowers. Mayflowers bring smallpox.

Haven't updated much lately because I haven't felt like I've done anything. Mystery sickness is still hanging around a little bit, but I'm working on getting back in the creative saddle. So here are creative happenings from the last couple weeks.

Daughters turned 3 and 5 last week (they share the same birthday, two years apart). These were their cakes - ying and yang, light and dark, half and half, flora and fauna. They were happy and I was satisfied with my first ever attempt at drawing a koi fish. The cakes were marbled Devil's Food and butter cake with raspberry filling and vanilla buttercreme.

Next comes jalapeno peach, and jalapeno strawberry jam. We were out after mailing a bunch out as Pay It Forward and Christmas gifts, and they make an amazing glaze on pork or chicken so I had to make more. 

Third grade at Son's school did a mini-society project where every kid had to make something worth selling, then they earned fake money for a couple weeks and sold their stuff and bought goods from the other third graders. His project was a pillow box with three glass beads in it, tied with a ribbon. Each one was different. 

I've spent the last week or so working on seed bead projects. These are peyote stitch. I've now made three similar sets and have moved on to starting a spiral tubular piece that will be turned into a bracelet if I ever finish it. 

This table and chairs set was found by a friend in North Carolina as she wandered an antique shop. So I plan to take the stain off and re-do the upholstery. It will make a perfect addition to my Painted Lady house. 

So that's that. No updates don't mean no work, though it feels that way to me. Thanks for stopping by :-)