Islamic Architecture Inspirations

 Marcie Abney's latest 'Margie & Me' color challenge featured Islamic architecture as the inspiration for the participants. The colors were predominantly turquoise blues, accented with cream, cobalt, coral and lavender. For the first piece, I picked up some slightly dusky 6/o seed beads, square stitched them into a three-row strip, then sewed it into a three-sided rope. I gave it a natural curving shape around the wrist by stitching coral-colored size 11s between every other top bead, then accented the sides with a loop of cream and frosted cobalt beads. The bracelet is finished with a magnetic clasp (and safety chain).

 

The second piece, I decided to go brighter turquoise instead of the dusky blue. Some of the windows and scrollwork in the inspiration photos feature fancy diamond shapes, so it seemed fitting to brick stitch around one of my silver diamond shapes. I stitched a tiny line of black 15s as the 'core' row, then did cobalt, dusky lavender, turquoise 8/o hexes, and finished with my few remaining coral 11s. I ran a textured large jumpring through the space between the two sides of the turquoise hexes, and suspended the pendant from a neck strap made with leftover 6s and 8s, turning into a loop of cream Delicas.

I made another necklace in the last few days before the 'big reveal' date--a simple peyote/herringbone triangle done in turquoise, cobalt and cream seed beads, accented with a single hyacinth AB2X Swarovski bead. I used more of my diamond links at each corner, accenting the bottom one with a lavender crystal, and connecting others with scraps of cable chain for a minimal approach while remaining true to the challenge theme.

Bead & Button Show Day 1, part A

Every year, the city of Milwaukee plays host to the largest consumer bead show in the world--the legendary Bead & Button show. Thousands of beaders from literally all over the world congregate like geeks to Comic Con, each attendee more enthusiastic than the last. Some attend to buy, some to sell, some to teach and some to learn--and some to do a bit of all four!

While Stateside attendees are the majority, people fly in from England, Mexico, Spain, Africa, Australia, Japan and other countries too numerous to mention. Living on the mainland, I only had to fly over a few states to get there, and so it was I took my flight Wednesday morning, spending half the plane trip craning my head to see the clouds like a little kid. Lucky for my seatmate I had the window seat!

When I got to Milwaukee, I had several hours before the Meet the Teachers reception began (an event to which I had a ticket). I also had an unfinished beaded necklace I wanted to wear to the reception, so I sat down in the lobby for a few hours' beading. As beaders tend to notice other beaders, a few other show attendees noticed what I was doing as they passed through the lobby, so we chatted a bit before they moved up to their rooms or out to their classes.

I was working on my signature 'Crime Scene Tape' necklace, as pictured below:

Well, I ran out of yellow beads with a single word left unstitched in my necklace! Ah well, it looked almost done, and certainly finished enough to wear to the reception. So, ticket in hand (yes, I'd actually remembered something so important) I went off to the Frontier Airlines Center where the reception was held.

As soon as I stepped into the building, I saw a seemingly neverending line of women (and a few men) reaching across the entire building! There were a few oohs, ahhs and gasps of delight from other attendees as we waited the 15 minutes or so, chatting about our classes and our projects. Then it came my turn to enter the reception hall....

Stay tuned!

The eleventh entry is...

'Out of Africa' beaded cuff by Etsy artist Debger. The patience it requires just to do a pendant with bead embroidery is impressive, and she's done an entire cuff! The variety of finishes give the safari colour scheme nice depth.

'The Beaded Passion': announcement and call for entries!

I'm giddy to announce my newest ongoing project: a self-published how-to beading magazine, called 'The Beaded Passion'! It will feature jewelry made from various materials, using a myriad of techniques at many different levels--but they will all reflect a passion for beading! There are still some things to work out and finish up, but I hope to release the premiere issue around the end of January.
In the meantime, what better way to celebrate the upcoming beady joy than with a contest? So, I call for entries to 'The Beaded Passion Contest'!

This beading contest is to show off your skills designing with one or more cabochons! The cabochon/s may be gemstone, bone, vintage or modern glass, polymer clay, metal clay, or Shimmerstone.Techniques you might use in your entry piece include but are not limited to: wiring, bead stitching, looming, bead embroidery, clay work (polymer or metal), and chainmaille.

Rules for entering:
Entries may be jewelry or functional art object.
Judges not eligible to enter.
Your entry must incorporate one or more cabochons, and must be your own original design.
New work is encouraged, but previous works done within the past six months are acceptable.
Put in the listing description that this is for the 'Beaded Passion' contest, with a link back to this post.
To submit, simply comment on this post with a link to your entry. Alternatively, you may send me a DeviantArt or Etsy note entitled 'contest entry' with a link to your entry.
Last day of accepting entries is March 31. Winners are notified and announced within two weeks.

The prizes are as follows:
Most Unusual~$15 gift certificate to my bead shop ParadoxMoxie
People's Choice~$20 gift certificate to my bead shop ParadoxMoxie
Best Entry~$25 gift certificate to my bead shop ParadoxMoxie

In addition, each of the the winning designs will be featured on my Bright Circle blog, my DeviantArt journal and in an issue of my upcoming bead magazine, 'The Beaded Passion'! All entries will be featured on my DeviantArt journal as they come in.

 Entries will be judged on creativity, technical skill, aesthetic appeal, and use of the cabochon in the design.
If you would like to furnish prizes/be among the judges, send me a DeviantArt note or Etsy Conversation.

Contest rules subject to change depending on the number of entries received. For example, a deluge of entries may necessitate the introduction of contest categories. Rest assured, any changes will be posted.

My Fanheart Is Broken Except Not Really, At All

I’ve ‘broken up’ with most of Star Trek (with the exception of the original series, and the New Frontier books). Like it is with 90% of boyfriends, one eventually breaks up with the object of one‘s affections (not that I speak from personal experience with those). I got impatient with The Next Generation, couldn’t stay interested in Deep Space Nine, had zero respect for Voyager, and never really saw Enterprise. I still like the original series, but am by no means a regular viewer.
So here I am, an ex-Trekkie. But just because I no longer have much use for Star Trek doesn’t mean my little sci-fi fan's heart has ceased to beat. So where do I get my sci-fi fix? It’s a show called Stargate SG-1.
Sure, some might argue it isn’t as good a show as, say, Battlestar Galactica. Maybe that’s true, maybe it isn’t. I don’t particularly care. Stargate SG-1 has a little zing to it that is its greatest strength.
Plus, there’s really cool jewelry! Every time someone on the show wears jewelry, it is a piece of truly imaginative shape, construction, or material, and it makes me want to pull out my sketchbook to draw the generality of the design, so I can make something vaguely similar, but prettier and more fine-tuned. But, as with many ideas, none of mine in that regard have come to fruition yet.
Until then, I’m content with my beaded dog tag with a Stargate symbol on it, in honor of my current favourite character. (I am inexplicably obsessed with his dog tags.)

By the way, to any active Trekkies who may be reading this, don’t feel bad for or angry at me. Star Trek and I still get along nicely when we meet on the street.