Blue crystal choker and May's pendant

Thought I'd show you a couple of pieces. The first one is a choker I just finished yesterday, again for our fund raising event next year. I made the centre piece quite a few weeks ago, but only managed to finish the beaded necklace part yesterday. The large blue Swarovski crystal was from the big stash of crystals I won in the Swarovski competition a couple of years ago, and I wrapped/caged it with brass stampings which had been coloured by Guilder's paste. The necklace was done with Herringbone stitch using seed and bugle beads, and Swarovski bicones. It sits very nicely in real life, and is so very sparkly.

The second piece is a pendant I made for one of my sisters-in-law, May, a while ago. The dichroic glass cabochon was purchased from Donna Cason's online shop (I just love her cabs), and it's wrapped with gold filled wire, with a few matching Swarovski bicones. I kept the design relatively simple as I didn't want to detract from the gorgeous cab.

Hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas, and Happy New Year to you all! :)

Continuing the Bohemian theme

We're in the process of organising a fund raising art and jewellery exhibition and sale at work for April next year, the proceeds of which will go towards purchasing of instrument for medical diagnostic work in our hospital. Anyhow, I have started making things for this purpose. Since I've bought some brass stampings and filigree pieces recently, thought I would incorporate them into my creations. I coloured the stampings with Gilder's pastes and really loved how they turned out. As these are for sale, I tried not to go over the top, and kept them relatively simple and wearable. Each necklace has its own matching earrings which I plan to sell as a set. The necklaces are actually longer than shown in the photos. I had to tuck them up at the back to make them fit the display busts. A couple of the rings were made from the "sparkly wheels" pattern in a recent issue of Beadwork, and the Guilder's paste and some of the stampings were from Brenda Sue from B'Sue Boutique.

Kreativ Blogger Award

One of my lovely beady friends Bree at Beads by Bree http://beadsbybree.blogspot.com/ gave me this award a little while ago, and I have finally written down all the relevant information required to accept this award. Thanks for the award, buddy!

Along with all blog awards there are rules to accepting them:

1. Post the award on my blog.
2. Thank the person who gave it to me.
3. Link to the person who gave this to me.
4. Share a list of 7 things that you probably don't know about me.
5. Choose 7 great bloggers to give the award to.
6. Share a link to their blogs.
7. Leave a comment on their blog.

7 things you probably didn't know about me:

1. Blue is my favourite colour.
2. I work as an anatomical pathologist in a hospital.
3. I don't like cooked tomatoes, but fresh ones are fine.
4. I learnt Chinese painting for quite a few years when I was young.
5. My favourite food is sushi.
6. My favourite foreign movie is a Chinese one titled "Farewell My Concubine".
7. I'm a hopeless sentimental and would cry even when I watch old black and white movies.

My 7 Kreativ Bloggers which I have chosen to give this award to are:

Michele at Michele Lynch Art http://michelelynchart.blogspot.com/

I was instantly attracted to Michele's whimsical steampunk jewelry the first time I visited her blog. You HAVE to see her creations, they're amazing.

Helena at Helena Asmus Lim http://helena-asmus-lim.blogspot.com/

Love Hel's contemporary, funky jewelry. She's also a good writer with a sense of humor.

Maryanne at Maryniky Designs http://marynikydesigns.blogspot.com/

Gorgeous beadwork including bead embroidery, bridal designs and pieces with lace.

Bianca at Bianca Velder Creations http://biancavelder.blogspot.com/

B is a clever chic, fantastic writer, beader and mixed media artist. Love her latest art dolls.

Marcie Abney at La Bella Joya http://labellajoya.blogspot.com/

Marcie's beadwork is absolutely beautiful, intricate and very wearable.

Kerrie at Contemporary Beadwork by Kerrie Slade http://kerrieslade.blogspot.com/

Kerrie has such a way with seedies. Many of her pieces are simply exquisite.

Wanda Roszak at Wandar-Wanda http://wandar-wanda.blogspot.com/

Her textile and fibre art is exquisite.

Bohemian Rhapsody

This is a piece I made for last week's Year of Jewellery Challenge at the Australian Beading Forum, the theme of which is, yes you guess it, "Bohemian Rhapsody". I've been playing around with mixed media ATC (Artist Trading Cards) a little lately, and made this ATC a few weeks ago. My hubby thinks she looks like a gypsy. Anyhow, the theme came up, and I thought of the design right away. I wanted to create a piece with an arty Boho mixed media feel. Made a copy of the ATC and turned it into a resin coated cabochon, and beaded around it. I then rummaged through my beady stash looking for things that would go together. I painted some of the bits and pieces with acrylic paints, and also coloured some brass stampings with Gilder's paste. For some reason, it's really difficult to capture the true colours of the piece in the photos - in real life, it is less pink and more bluish purple and a little more subdue. Please click on the photos if you'd like a larger view.

Anastasia

I made this necklace a while ago, but like some of my more elaborate pieces, I had never worn it. Last week, however, we had a fund raising function on one evening after work, and I wanted to promote an event (Art Under the Microscope: Art and Artisan Jewellery Exhibition and Sale) which we're planning to hold in early April next year, so I decided to wear it. I teamed it with a plain black dress, and it looked quite stunning on. Must admit I wasn't used to wearing such a big piece and was feeling a little self conscious, LOL. Anyhow, the function went well, and the necklace had served its function well and attracted lots of attention and comments. I was a bit chuffed really. Technically this is not a difficult piece to do, but I'm quite pleased with the design and colour scheme, and it wears well. It reminds me of the old Russian royals, a princess maybe? The piece is quite sparkly in real life because of all the Swarovski crystals.

Puppy Love - Spring inspired mixed media collage necklace

This is a piece I've been working on on and off for a few weeks. I went overseas end of August, and came back in mid September. Before I left, it still felt very much like Winter, but when I came back, all out of a sudden, Spring had sprung. The shrubs and trees were all in blooms, and when I went back to work, there were masses of pink azaleas lining the footpaths leading from the carpark to the office. I also happened to have this resin coated cab which I made a little while ago, which I had been wanting to turn into a necklace. Anyhow, I was really inspired by the colours and fragrance all around me, and I ended up doing this extra girly super sweet necklace. Don't think I've ever made anything quite so pink before (I even painted some brass stampings pink to match), LOL. Please click on the photos if you'd like a larger view.

Little Ethan - beaded resin cab

Just finished making this necklace with a resin coated cabochon which I made from a copy of my enamel plate Ethan shown in the last post. I feel like I've cloned him, LOL. The original enamel piece was wire wrapped and submitted in a showcase, together with works from a few other members in our lapidary club, to the competition at the annual exhibition of the NSW Lapidary Council (GEMKHANA). I'm happy to say that our club has won first place again this year, and we actually received a perfect score of 100/100 from the judges. We're all so excited! I've made a few more cabs in different sizes so I can play with different ways of beading him up. Please click on the photos if you like a larger view.

PS. Just want to add that Little Ethan has found a lovely new home in America. I made him as a surprise gift to my dear friend Bev, to thank her for the friendship, kindness and support she's shown me. I can now say it as she has received it. I'm so pleased you love him, Bev! :)