Tatting,Tiger Eye, and Turquoise

      Hi I'm back again, hope you all had a nice holiday. My  first project was made with two toned micro-macrame. I used an array of different stones, shell, and some vintage glass beads. I made this  necklace reversible because the focal stone has two beautiful faces. The shell bar also has two different sides. I finished it off with a button and loop with a beaded fringe. These colors remind me of the desert, nice, warm, and earthy. 













    



  I Also made a bracelet with two tiger-eye diamond shaped  stones, glass beads, and magnetic hematite in a warm unusual reddish brown color. The band is made with variegated brown yellow and white nylon cord. I finished it off with a lobster clasp and ring. 
    
















   I made a micro-macrame necklace using  odds and ends of things that have been waiting for a home. I used both  chalk turquoise and natural turquoise. There are flower shaped turquoise colored beads also included, that surround a vintage glass silver grey pearl beads, with assorted silver and metal accent beads. Tied together with two colors of nylon cord. I closed this one with a silver button and loop.  


 

          I have also been working on a part of our Christmas cards. My husband and I have a tradition of making our own cards. This year I am making some little tatted wreaths. Our goal is at least 100, have a little over 30 done.

Every year we plan to start sooner but have not ever done that. It takes awhile to come up with our designs and what we are going to say inside. We hope to have  some done tomorrow,  I plan on having pictures of this year's edition. Hope it will not ruin the surprise of it to those of you who are getting one. Time sure seems to march on faster each year, and before you know it another year is fast coming to a close. Till next time, enjoy the Season.  

Fall Beauty Buttons Baubles & Brass

       This time my first necklace is a work in progress. I thought I could finish this in time but alas the  cords I am knotting shrink as it sets, As a result, it is not long enough.  I will have to add some more knots before it will be finished. It came about because I had a scrap of cloth that I just could not discard. So this is the result. I also had several items lying around I wanted to use. So this is what resulted from this fabric scrap. It evolved as I went along. I had to modify as along the way and found it did not work as I had planned. There is a

lot going on with this one. I like details and this has many. 

      

       
  
The next necklace is another surprise. I found it formed another  mask face that I had not intended. This is a redo, because I did not like the project I had stared before. The thread I used was not heavy enough to hold the weight of the stones. So I guess you learn as you go. It is a fun experiment.

                                                                       

       This next project is another flight of fancy in blue. I employed a necklace  I had made before to hold it.  I used the nylon cord that I talked about in my last post. This one is double-sided and can be worn either way. It is bathed in blue and white with some crystal and vintage beads. Also two different kinds of eye beads. One of the kinds where given to me while this was in process so I thought well I would use them as well.

      
Last  of all is another "Tree of Life" necklace made with jade chips and a nice maroon thread and wire to accent also, some sweet little blue flowers and green wire for the stems and leaves.

 

       This is short and sweet this time, because the projects were more time consuming that I had thought they would be. 

                    Hope to see ya next time!

I Guess I'm Not Ready to Let Go!

     As I looked at the things I created this time there seemed to be a sort of theme. Lots of green in the items I made. I think I'm not quite ready for the weather to change and leave the summer and spring. It seemed like spring and summer took so long to come this year. When it did get here it felt like it was time for fall and winter. I  guess this is my last hurrah.
         I found some new thread so these are made with it. The first thread I found was in a grab bag at the thrift store, tangled up in some round looms. I had to untangle them.  They were also attached to a ring that was some sort of hanging thing. I'm still not sure what it was for, but it had some nice colors.




The next thread I found was in a Latin store down the street from  us.  They have a large selection of colors and it is inexpensive. Nice. 








First I made a bracelet out of a beautiful minty colored thread.

This thread is a sort of stretchy. I think it is rayon and I was not sure if it could be used because sometimes knots do not hold. It worked up pretty nice and is soft and comfortable to wear. 















         Then I made a bracelet out of the nylon thread that I found at the Latin store. It worked out pretty nice too but I did have to pull the thread good and tight to get it to hold a knot. In the center is a focal eye bead. on either side of that is a pair of rectangle stone beads. Interlaced is a core of green seed beads. It closes with a black wooden toggle bead. 






        

Pictured on the left is a necklace made with a red jade stone and a large ceramic bead. I made this for my sister in-law's birthday. She likes dragonflies, as do I. It is made adjustable by pulling the two cream colored beads to the desired length. The body and wings are made with Chinese knots,  needle lace and macrame.

        I made these little necklaces and bookmark to remind me and others of a talk given in a recent women's conference. Called "Forget Me Not" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf
       He tells of an old German legend "that just as God had finished naming all the plants, one was left unnamed. A tiny voice spoke out, "Forget me not, O Lord!" And God replied  "this would be it's name."
 Elder Uchdorf continued     " There is something inspiring and sublime about the little forget-me-not flower.I hope it will be a symbol of the little things that make your lives joyful and sweet. Please never forget that you must be patient and compassionate with yourselves, that some sacrifices are better than others, that you need not wait for the golden ticket to be happy.Please never forget the why"... This is a good reminder to have a better prospective on life and "enjoy the journey". If you want to read the whole message this link will take you to it.

http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/forget-me-not?lang=eng
        I need this reminder often. I can forget to be patient with myself and find joy in what I am doing. We can all benefit from noticing the small and beautiful things that are in our live's every day.





       This is a tatted bookmark I made for a friend who sent me a beautiful old bonnet. She was downsizing and she remembered that a mutual friend of ours said that I liked that sort of thing. I wish this little bonnet could tell us more about

itself and it's creator.  I've been looking for a suitable frame to preserve it. Also in the picture is a piece of lace from our mutual friend I was talking about.

This is another necklace in the "tree of life" series. This one on the right is made with tiger-eye chips and other glass beads,and heavy nylon cord. 
       The necklace on the left is made with glass seed beads and a small wooden bead as a swing, with the same heavy cord as the other necklace. 
      Well, things do not always come out as well as I can imagine. I think I need to remember that to achieve what I can imagine. It will require exercise.  Just like learning any other skill, it takes practice. So some of what I share is just the baby steps I'm working on. I hope you can enjoy the journey as I am learning. Until next time, keep working and learning, and someday we will reach what we are working for.

                       

Queen Bee To Desert Sands

    I'm guessing you think I forgot about this post. Not so, I've just had a lot on my plate these past few weeks. So here I am again. Hope you will enjoy something of what I have to show for my work this time. 
    First I'm going to tell you about the Necklace I call Queen Bee. This necklace is made with one of my favorite finds. The pendant stone is called Dragon veins. The stone looks like an agate. The other ones I have seen are usually green and black, but this one is yellow, white, and black. The pattern is amazing. Nature has some spectacular designs. To think this is in a rock! It reminded me of a queen bee after it all came together.  The necklace itself is about 22 inches long, not counting the pendant part of the piece. I started with this stone and then added on either side of it are two vintage matte black glass beads. On either side of that and added the two yellow jade stones, and I attached it with a beaded neckband. The  triangle above the pendant is made of gold tone seed beads and vintage black diamond shaped glass two-holed beads I found at a bead store in Portland, Oregon on a visit to my sister.   On the rest of the necklace, I put frosted white and vintage beads with yellow crystal  beads in between  large black glass beads. This one is warm and vibrant and reminds me of summer. 

     Next is one of the tree of life pendants I talked about in another post. It makes me think of fall and is made with  stone chip beads, and some pear-shaped glass beads with shell disk beads, and other assorted glass beads, including copper wire and copper colored glass seed beads. The cord is tied with micro macrame' and copper glass seed beads. The necklace is about 20 inches in length and the pendant part is about three inches added to that. The bracelet is made in the same pattern and has two round shell disk beads and a decorative center bead as well. It measures 8 inches in length with a brass colored lobster clasp. 


      This next necklace is has two polymer clay beads called butterfly wings. These took a lot of time to make. the cane is made by rolling thin sheets of clay and wrapping them around each other and you  then slice off the sides to reveal the design underneath. I also used  polymer blue and white tube beads my husband Brad made. The detail on those is wonderful, and the pictures do not do them justice. The center focal bead is a beaded  bead made over a small wooden spool. The large kind of muddy yellow beads are jade, and the bottom part of the necklace is threaded onto tiger tail wire to hold the weight. The rest of the necklace is macrame with blue cotton thread and glass seed beads. It measures about 34 inches long and closes with a hook and ring. 

        The next necklace is micro macrame. It is 22 inches in length and the pendant part, including the fringe, is about 4 inches. It is light and cheerful.  I used a deep purple nylon thread and glass and crystal  beads. On the pendant is a vintage faceted pink iridescent cut stone. I'm not sure if it is glass or crystal. Included on the pendant part are tiny crystal butterflies. The knots on the pendant are tied onto a silver link of an old necklace. It is bright, light, and cheerful. 

      Now I'm going to talk about a bookmark sampler. The very top is made of tatting and needle lace below, which is needlepoint. Below that is micro macrame, with  beaded fringe on the bottom. The bookmark measures 15 inches long and is 1 1/2 inches wide. The macrame part is made with cotton thread. On the bottom is a assortment of glass beads: some old, some new. I  also beaded along the edge of the needlepoint . It is hard to see all the detail from the pictures. There are a whole lot of knots here; I would hate to have to count them. This was a fun project and I learned some new things as I went along. 

          I tried something new and I made a small book or journal using several techniques . The cover background is made with some of the marbled cloth I talked about in an earlier post. I made a starfish from micro macrame and crocheted a plant and also embroidered  more sea plants and added a couple of fish made out of shell and attached a shell with some macrame cord. I stitched the pages together with cotton thread and nylon cord. I made a fringed attached bookmark with different beads and charms and put a small sea creature on the fringe just for fun. I wonder if you can spot it? The book measures 6 1/2 by 5 inches.  I also  beaded around the top cover with glass beads. It is bound together with three oval bone beads and some assorted glass beads. I also quilted a bit of the front cover to give some texture and movement  to the the water scene. 

    This necklace  is made with a sea sediment jasper in a teardrop shape. I inclosed it with macrame and beads. The necklace is micro macrame with some square tube stone beads and some seed beads. It is about 30 inches long. I knotted over heavy fishing line for support. 

       This next one is a fun little flower bracelet with a beaded bead center. The flower part is made with white silk thread and nylon thread with glass seed beads around two plastic rings and then sewn together. This one is a little tricky to explain how to put on, so I think I will make a short video on youtube and attach it. It is easier that way than trying to explain it here. It could also be used as a hair wrap. 

      Next are some little earrings I made with Micro macrame.
I also knotted them on two of those silver links from an old necklace. I used a baby blue nylon thread, and added small glass and metal beads. I will let the picture tell the rest of the story. 

 
     Last, but not least, I made a necklace with a Jasper picture pendant stone. It reminds me of the desert, nice and warm and peaceful. Above the pendant stone, I attached two other unknown stone beads, which I got from a broken bracelet I bought on ebay. I made the knotted part with tough nylon cord. It started out as the cord for the neck and it looked too uneven, so I  knotted it up some more and made a nice cord to attach it to the other part of the necklace, which I beaded with brown glass beads and nylon cord. This is one of my favorite ones so far this time. So it goes to show that a mistake can turn into something lovely with a little more work. 
           So that is it for this time. Hope you enjoyed the journey.