SNOW WHITE

Using the same pattern, I made this necklace with this white colour stone...it could be White Agate. I paired it wth pearl glass bead and the necklace turns out to be my favourite...it goes with almost any outfit.

I can wear it with another of the same kind...nice!

CHIPPY CHIP CHIP

Finally, I found a way to use my gemstone chips...inspired by one of the post in Pinterest. Yes...borrow ideas...I know I am the least creative but I just like the craft😁.  Anyway, I bead for fun...mostly bead for friends or myself.

I still have quite a lot of these chips.  I will search for other ways to use them.

Rose Quartz Naughty Nugget

Some kind soul has given me this pack of Rose Quartz nuggets. Perhaps she has given up hobby, or simply could not handle the nuggets because of the odd shape and random position of the drilled hole on each of them. Naughty nuggets! It is really tricky to design the necklace which I intend to make because of the second reason. The bead stones simply would not stay in place.  Here is how it looks like:

It looks normal laying down, right? Okay, we shall see how it fares in the normal position as if wore on someone:

Ta da! Haha, no matter how I adjust the position of the nuggets, the necklace always looks lopsided. Sigh!

Multi-style Jade necklace

After trying to revise on bead weave, wire wrapped techniques, it is about time to do stringing. I have been wanting to make a necklace with these cute jade cylinder tube beads but cannot decide on the style. Should I make it short, long, multi-strand, combine with chain, leather cords....? It took me weeks to come up with this ideal - multi-style :

The above are long versions. 

The above are short versions.

I stringed two strands of slightly different lengths with tiger tail thread. Both ended with jump rings. The main joining components are chain, lobster claws and magnetic clasps(for short versions).

I am so pleased with the outcome. It is about time for me to take a rest. zzzzzz z z z z

Lime Jade Necklace

Okay, enough of dealing with teeny tiny beads, have to give my eyes some rest.  Let me try to handle some wire work. I have these pretty rectangular tube stone beads of unique lime colour waiting to be used. I believe it is lime jade. Design work is never my strength. It took me weeks to come up this simple necklace.  It is a revision of basic wire work.

I have miscalculated the joining chain so the gaps between each bead are too big. It looked a bit "sparse" so I added some green dangle beads. I hope it is more balanced now.

I think it needs more dangles but I am too lazy to do. I will just leave it as it is.

SIMPLY PEARL

Oh my goodness, time flies! It has been almost a year since I last beaded and blogged. Well, it was my choice to have taken up two courses over the past nine months. Priority, priority, priority. No regrets.

Now, back to beading.

I have been commissioned (by my daughter) to reconstruct two of her old pearl necklaces.  I totally stripped of one of them, salvaged only the beads and added new ones to make a long pearl necklace (pic A).  As for the other one, I took out the crocheted flowers and added some new pearls to make a pearl-chain necklace (pic B). These two new pieces can be worn on their own as shown or combined together as one multi-strands pearl necklace (pic C).  How about that?

                                       pic A                                       pic B

pic C

Prior to this project, I have made for myself a simple bold pearl necklace.  "bold" because those are BIG pearls.  See for yourself!

Its bead size is 16mm The one at the foreground is the necklace shown in pic A and the bead size is already 10mm!  The stringing material for this short necklace is tigertail wire. I used seed bead between the beads to prevent the pearl from rubbing against each other. 

By using a decorative clasp, I am able to wear it in different ways:

                  

   

Hmm....I should have use a bigger clasp to make a statement .....and pearl goes better with gold than with silver.

Lessons learnt. 

Cubic Right-Angle Necklace

Sigh! When was the last time I have completed a project and got it posted?  Three months? Really, I have asked myself countless time "To bead or not to bead"? 

I had been drowned in busyness. Excuse? Partly. The truth is, I was stuck with a project dealing with cubic right-angle weave. The weave itself is not difficult and you can learn it easily in this tutorial: beadmavens.blogspot. The tricky part was that I had to work around an odd shaped focal bead and I did not know how to weave a bezel.  

Well I shall show the completed project in order to explain the problems I had encountered in this project:

WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS THING!!! Ha ha, it is a necklace.

Okay, it all started that I was given this beautiful Tiger-Eye measured about 1.6" X 2.5". Yup, it is a pretty big one. I did not want to just add a bail and wear it with a cord or chain. Hey, come on, I am a beader and I like challenge! So, I selected a project which is in Bead & Button October 2011 issue. The project on the cover page is like this:

Oops, I should not have shown this - my necklace seems so ugly comparatively.

Sob, sob. I have my problems:

1.  Focal stone is odd shaped

2.  I have no idea how to weave a bezel

3.  Even if I can weave a bezel, the focal will be too big and chunky

4.  I cannot handle size 15o beads so each wormy strand was not easy to bend

Notwithstanding these problems, I went ahead with the project and ended up with a monster like this!

Because of the asymmetrical focal, the necklace formed is also lopsided. Nevertheless, I will still wear it because I made it and a lot of thought has been given in the making process! 

Phew! What a load off my chest! I now can move on to other projects which I can handle.

Herringbone Twisted Necklace

Right after my trip to Hong Kong, I really wanted to jump straight to my beading corner and continue the half done project. Sigh, there were tons of chores waiting for me.....hey, but I still managed to steal some time each day to scratch my itchy hands for beading! AND....TADA:

     

Not impressed! Okay, let's look at these photos:

       

This design was a copy of 'Elegant Inclusion' designed by Ms Lesley Weiss. Errr... mine is far from elegant because I do not have a nice focal bead to justify the description.

I have learnt quite a bit from this project: tubular herringbone stitch, twisted herringbone stitch, how to add beads in between(with and without cage). I was amazed at how the twist/spiral developed as I was stitching along. Whoever created these stitches are really genius.

It is really a beautiful and interesting design especially the twisted endings. However, I feel that the twisted clasp will easily untwined itself. Friends from Beading Daily suggested to use those little snaps for clothing or small hook and loop to keep it in place.  Good ideas but.....with the snap or hook sewn on, can I still wear the necklace in Y style as shown in the left picture above? Hehe, I found out this Y style of wearing while doing the photo shoots for the necklace. Cool, huh?

Pearly Dutch Spiral Necklace

Did I say I wanted a more chunky Dutch Spiral necklace? This one is MORE than chunky.  As I was progressing with the stitch, it was like a MONSTER emerging from my  work....stitch by stitch.  I could have just stopped the project but curiosity as to how it will turn out pushed me to move on. Ta da ...here is the end result:

It is too chunky to be a necklace especially for the owner-to-be as she is a petite lady.  I stopped the spiral stitch at this length so that it will only be the focal part of a necklace.  I continued the stitch with Peyote stitch but found that it would be too stiff (see the small portion right after the spiral) for the whole necklace.  


By changing the stitch to netted stitch, the necklace has a softer touch now and it helped to tone down the 'monster' look.  It is a faster stitch than Peyote and the hollow effect flows with the lacy look of Dutch Spiral.  Perfect! (Heh heh, it was pure coincidence.  Laziness was the main reason for choosing the netted stitch.  shhh........)


I like the Dutch Spiral stitch and there are so many interesting variations to be explored.  Nevertheless, I think I shall move on to learn other type of stitches to widen my beading exposure.  


Hmmm....let me see which stitch I shall try............  


  






        

Turquoise Dutch Spiral Necklace

1 skip 2 skip 3 skip 123 skip 1 skip 2 skip 3 skip 1234 skip.....ha ha, I am not counting a new dance step.  I have been counting the stitch sequence while doing the dutch spiral necklace to avoid mistake.  This was my second time doing this stitch, with counting this time, yet I still had to undo and restitch several times. Though the necklace is formed by hundreds of tiny beads, one small mistake, will mar the flow of the pattern.  

Hey, I am serious.  I would not waste my effort of putting hundred stitches together by ignoring those mistakes. Anyway, it is a real good exercise to train my patience.

This is for my daughter who has requested for Turquoise color.  With my limited knowledge of color coordination, this is the best I could do.  Hmmm...may be purple is a better match...perhaps black...or may be white.......or combination of these....or...................

I spent only three days making this necklace as compared to almost a week for the Rubi.  This time round, I managed to stitch the necklace from one end to the other.  With Rubi, I had to struggle with back stitch because I did the centre portion first and extended both ends to the desired length. 

Actually, I wanted the centre part to be more chunky.  I thought by adding more beads in the lacy part will do the trick.  I was wrong.  It just lengthened the shape only.  I will try this stitch one more time before moving on to explore other stitches e.g. Right angle Weave.  I will start the stitch with more beads i.e. 12 instead of 6 and use more sizes of bead.  Hope it will work.

Beaded Netting Necklace

Hummm...let me see...my last posting was 9/9/2011.  That was six days ago!  Hey, not that I was being lazy or ran out of things to post (honestly, it was true to some extend, hehe!).  I was actually busy beading!!!  

I was not stringing or wire-working.  I was weaving - putting teeny tiny beads together with thread and needle!  The beads were so tiny that they have gained themselves a name called SEED Bead.  I had to put on my reading glasses and use a magnifying glass to work on these beads.  Can you imaging how my poor eyes had suffered?  However, it was all worthwhile:

This was a Bead-Along project organized by the Beading Daily website. http://www.beadingdaily.com/forums/t/14891.aspx  We were given a pattern (this time was beaded netting necklace) and all participants would use their own beads to come out with their own version.  The result is very fascinating.

As I was not sure if I could actually do it, I used whatever was available from my stash instead of buying new stuff.  I had no problem with the beads (I used Amozonite chips and clear quartz chips) but I did not have the correct tpe of thread.  I used my usual beading thread but the necklace turned up flat like a deflated balloon instead of a tube.  I worked into the wee hours for two nights trying ways and means to get the tubing result. My final trial, before giving up, was to use fishing line.  And it worked! yeah!

Wait, hang on there - the story has not ended yet! Fishing line is stiff thus there is no need to use needle. I was happy because as I was trying out with threads, half of the time was spent threading the needle. Arggg!  By using fishing line, the necklace is somewhat springy like a Slinky.  I can pull it like a accordion!

This is not funny at all.  After the necklace was hung on a stand for few days, it has lengthened and became a short necklace instead of a choker!  

I just have to console myself that choker is not for me as I have short neck.  Sigh!

Blue, blue, my world is .....

I think blue is not common in the Jewelry world.  Off hand I can think of Blue Sapphire and Aquamarine. Nah, they are too pricy for me to toy with.  My daughter requested me to make one blue necklace for her and I just could not find any blue beads from my stash.  

I did my bead hunting in my recent trip to Tokyo and lo and behold, I managed to get some interesting blue beads and chips for her.  The place is called Asakusabashi where the whole district sells bead craft supplies - beader's paradise!  I also bought some metal element to match the beads.

(forgot to turn off the flash)




This is the second piece of long necklace that I have made.  I like asymmetrical style and I have no problem when applying that to earrings.  However, when using it on necklace, it is not as easy because you need to balance the weight on both sides.  Otherwise it will fall lopsided when hang on the neck.  Esthetically, it must look balance too.


Hmmm...don't ask me what bead these are.  The labels were in Japanese. Lol. (Edited: They are Amozonite chips and Blue Quartz)

What's that bead?

I find myself asking this question more often nowadays - because I need that for my blog!  Sigh.  I regret didn't pay much attention to the names of the stones that I purchased.  I bought them because I like the look, the feel when touching them and of course the price if it was affordable.

Let's look at these:

They look interesting and I know they are some kind of shell.  They resemble Abalone Shell but an expert told me they are just 'plated' Mother-of-pearl.  That didn't upset me as I did not pay the price of Abalone Shell.  Whatever...I still like them and I have made a cool necklace with it:

This is truely my design - no copycat.  Sometimes, however, I do borrow other's idea and modify it - like this cute little necklace:

This was done upon my daughter's request.  The original one which she liked very much has been badly tarnished.  I modified the design by using different type of beads and connecters and voila! It is even nicer than the original one because of the beautiful butterfly crystals!  

Square Jade Donut

When I was younger (not that I'm OLD!), I used to think that Jade is for senior person (I better avoid the 'O' word).  Wait a minute! I re-phrase: Jade tends to give the impression that the wearer belongs to an older age group. (Oops, can't avoid using the word.)

Anyway, I have changed this perspective ever since I saw these square Jade donuts:  

Immediately I took out my purse and bought them.





I have cracked my head for months thinking of ways to use them.  This was done in a rush because I needed a matching necklace for a wedding reception.  Sometimes stress will bring best results! LOL.  So far, this is the most satisfactory piece of work that I have done.

These are not of A grade quality which I cannot possibly afford.  However, they are good enough for beading hobbyists.  This pair of earrings below is another example of the non-A grade Jade:

These round Jade donuts are very traditional.  I teamed them with these interesting metal ball beads to give a contemporary look.  Even my thirty year old daughter wears it!  

Conclusion: Jade is not for seniors only.  

Failed Project

I love beading.  I like the technical part.  I can take up most of the challenges as long as I can gather enough instruction.  What I drag is the design part.  As I have mentioned before: I am a good copycat but lousy in terms of creativity. LOL.

Look at the two items below and see how badly I failed in the design:

At first I thought black would go well with red but then I found out not in this case.  The dagger coral could be the culprit.  It spells violence.  The black is too much of a contrast so the 'bloody daggers' actually stand out fiercely.

In beading, perhaps pearl is a safer bet.  It goes with almost anything.  It looks good even by itself:

I made this for a friend and she received a lot of complements.  There was no effort in designing and the difficulty level was zero as I just needed to put together the elements.  Sigh. There is no work satisfaction here.  The success was due to the pearl and not my work! Sad.  

Ruby Zoiside Encounter

When I first entered the beading world, I was greeted by Seed Beads, followed by Glass Beads and Crystals.  They have helped me churned out a lot of satisfactory pieces of jewelry.  Few years later, Ruby Zoiside was introduced to me - my first encounter with Gemstones.  Since then, I have never stopped looking out for pretty yet affordable gemstones.

Look at these beautiful Ruby Zoisite beads - such rich color!  They are all from a single necklace which I bought and it was too long for me.  I took out ten beads and use them to make two pairs of earrings and a chain-bead necklace.  I kept the style simple because the beads were so pretty that I did not want to create any distraction.