Q&A with the designer

Q: When making a piece, do you design in advance or make it up as you go?

A: Both! Most of the time I already have a good idea of what I want to do with a piece when I start, but make up the details as I go. Sometimes the process goes smoothly (but not too smoothly--this is a creative endeavor after all), and sometimes this design-as-I-go approach leads to an unfinished project, but that's all right. Unfinished designs lead to great jewelry down the road, when I find that perfect element to complete the piece. There are times when the materials to make the main body of the piece are all gathered together, waiting for me to pick them up, and I just let them sit, as ideas percolate.

For example, one of my latest designs did just that, sat in my 'to make' drawer for some months. I'd come home from the Bead & Button show with a mix of silk and leather cords, and a perfect coppr clay focal from Green Girl Studios. I knew I wanted to do a braid of the cords, with the focal at the center flanked by various bits and bobs. When I started actually pulling out charms and such from my stash to put into the necklace, I knew the time was right to make the necklace. And look how it turned out!

The necklace is inspired by the Green Girl Studios stories of the Bird Girls from the Beach of All Things Lost, who return important talismans to the people who lost them. I call this my 'story necklace'.

Designer Q & A

Q: How would you describe your first beading project?

A: Accident-prone! *laughs* It was a bracelet combining 5mm red faceted glass beads with vintage gold-plated beads that had very abrasive holes. I had strung the bracelet on the wrong kind of thread and the abrasive holes kept cutting through the thread and my bracelet beads would scatter all over the floor--at home, at church... you get the picture.

Q's gift

The breath left Lwaxana as her eyes widened. All of her archness vanished in the unadulterated amazement of what she was seeing. The pendant hung from his hand in front of her. Within the glittering jewels there seemed to be suns, exploding and being formed continuously. "Will you accept this small token?" asked Q...

Since the first time I read that paragraph, I have wanted to make that pendant.

Jewelry from the Bones pilot

Here's Bones's Angela flashing her lacy bra at an airport agent to get a quick answer. Oh and look, she's wearing a necklace. Looks like a three-strand pink and red bit, with faceted and dyed stone and glass beads knotted onto thick silk cord. A little on the mainstream side but not bad at all.

 Brennan is wearing what looks like many strands of coral glass held together by brass rings, with a large brass hamsa pendant.

Here's Angela in a romantic gold chain necklace with stone or crystal beads with a lacy-looking centerpiece with fringe coming off the bottom.

Most of what Bones wears I can't imagine ever wanting to wear, but they sure do work on her, like this chunky necklace. Possibly horn or stone nuggets, and not just one strand, but three, with a carved stone pendant off the lowest strand.

Angela's necklace here is a little blurry but it looks like another multistrand affair with a large green Venetian-style foil-lined glass square focal, with faceted glass bead fringe coming off the bottom.

Brennan's taste in jewelry even extends to her earring choice--here a sort of half-shield medallion thingy with a column-shaped dangle in stone, crystal or colored glass.

 Hard to tell exactly what Angela's got on now, but it's definitely a multistrand something, probably a mix of beads on chain, with maybe a carved stone celtic knot of some kind.

 Understated neckwear at a military funeral at Arlington Cemetery, Temperance still picks something with  character. From what I can see, it's a leather cord with maybe a curved silver tube and a small metal, stone or bone pendant.

Here she is looking stubborn and slightly stupid (it's the eyelid position in this particular shot) wearing a beaded Y necklace with plenty of stones--probably agate and carnelian, and look at that strong drop in the center. More carved stone at the bottom, of course.

Wow, they sure do wear a lot of jewelry on this show. I think it also helps communicate the passage of time.

new direction

 

I'm going to take my blog in a new, hopefully more interesting, direction, starting now. I've been noticing for some time that there's more and more interesting jewelry in the media, so I'll comment on them, and if I make something inspired by a piece, I'll post that as well.

The show Bones frequently has Dr. Brennan as well as other characters. sporting bold necklaces like the one above, I've never seen a character in a tv show wear such noticeable beaded jewelry so often before. They're important parts of her character's style. Here she's wearing what looks like an agate or wood slice with brown stained horn beads and possibly pearls.

newish work

 

Mint and teal silk ribbon with electro-dyed freshwater pearls knotted onto the length. Closes with ribbon tie. 

 

Citrine faceted chunky earrings with sterling earwires (given as Christmas gift to a new friend).

 

Loomed rainbow bracelet.

 

Beaded bead with 2 sizes of iris blue rondelle and transparent purple seed beads, giving it  an overall violet appearance.

 

Herringbone bangle in three sizes/colors of seed bead: clear violet 11s, purple-lined aqua 8s, and frosted aqua 6s.

double happiness

Last year I bought a book from Borders on sale. It as The Earring Style book by Double Happiness Jewelry's Stephanie Wells. Love it! I made a pair of double spiral hoop earrings straight from the book.