Morning Coffee - Desire to Fly: Samantha Bryan’s Hand-Crafted Sculptures of Whimsical Aviator Fairies

Desire To Fly from R&A Collaborations on Vimeo.

Monday Morning Coffee - Dithyrambalina: The Music Box and Beyond

Musical Architecture in New Orleans... how cool is that?


Dithyrambalina: The Music Box and Beyond from TungstenMonkey on Vimeo.

Silver - Black - Pearl - Crystal

This is the palette I'm working with today - classic and elegant! Just a few peeks from my worktable...

Gathering for a new piece

At some point this summer my mojo took a vacation. It has been along time since I pulled a bunch of bits and beads together for a new, large project. I have been concentrating on making smaller pieces but, while enjoyable, it is not where my heart lies. What I love most is making big-ass bead embroidered stuff... period.

So here is my latest gathering - centered around a raw stone slab are some mother-of-shell disc beads I got from Fire Mountain. I wrote about them in my latest post, saying I was a bit disappointed because they lack shine and seemed a bit dull. Since the stone slab is not polished and has a beautiful natural matte finish, the shell beads fit perfectly with it! Thank you, Carol! You were right! I think I can make these puppies work! :)

Here are a few more shots - the color palette is taken completely from the colors found within the stone slab: burnt orange, russet, gray, the slightest hint of buttercream yellow and tiny flecks of sage green. While I know there really isn't any turquoise, I thought the unpolished turquoise nuggets fit very nicely with the rest and was an unexpected (and, hopefully, interesting) color choice... Let me know if you agree!

In the works...

Here's a quick peek at my work table today... a lovely bead soup in shades of peach, ivory and sage green being embroidered into pretty pendants, earrings, and more...

Fairy Tales and Bead Embroidery

The The Etsy Bead Embroidery Guild (EBEG) is coming up on their third Bead Fest. It's not a contest but we do choose a theme and all members are encouraged to take part and use the theme as inspiration for a project. The theme this time around is "Fairy Tales". I wasn't sure I would have time to do a project by the June 30th deadline - but rumor has it that we may extend the deadline. Yay! So I started putting together pretty beads, bits and baubles for a fairy-themed neckpiece.

The starting place for this project is a mixed media necklace that I have had in my inventory for quite a while now - "Titania's Bower". It was fashioned entirely from vintage jewelry components...

I love this piece and have been amazed that it never went to a new home! I added it to my list of pieces to re-make a while back. Titania is the Fairy Queen in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and thus a perfect choice for the challenge.

So, I pulled together a pretty bead soup full of golds, blues, pearly whites and bronze-y browns. Added in some beautiful lace and pieces of vintage gold and faux pearl jewelry. There will be bead embroidery, certainly, but this piece will also be a mixed media creation - hopefully a supremely beautiful one!

Here are some teaser shots of the bead soup and other treasures I hope to incorporate into a new piece called "There Sleeps Titania". Ooooh! I'm so excited to get started!! :)

Twisted!! Using up some bead soup...

After completing my Red and Black embroidered cuff, I had a pretty large "bead soup" left over.

Lots of times I just scoop the whole thing up and put it in a baggie so I can pull it out for projects at a later date. Other times, I sort all of the beads back into their respective tubes, bags or containers. This time, though, I decided to try some crazy freeform bead weaving just for fun - and what fun it was!

So far I've made two cuffs that I call "Twisted" because that's how they look to me - very organic, like twisted vines. Here they are...

I know they look misshapen but they actually lay on the wrist really well. I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but the fit is really comfy! Here are some close-up shots of them - Crazy, right? But cool, too! I'm thinking about keeping this soup out for a while longer and making a  pendant (or two) and possibly some earrings using the same wild technique. Let me know what you think! :)

On my work table...

... are the beginnings of a new bead embroidered cuff. A little bird told me that red and black are going to be hot this season and I hope so!!

To help things along a bit I put together a collection of some of my favorite handmade items in that color combo. As always, I would love lots of clicks and comments so visit the original treasury page on Etsy and let me know what you think! Cheers ~

'Red and Black are back!' by CindyCaraway

Just a little bit of love for a favorite color combo :)

Red and Black Flower, C... Nomsa $17.00	Made to Order - Red Bla... gothicreations $25.00	ON SALE Kazuri Bead Nec... lizbriggsdesig... $60.00
Red and black plaid Nec... Malam $48.50	Bead embroidered Earrin... MisPearlBerry $19.00	Red and Black Floral De... MyveraLinen $30.00
Nature on Red and Black... GraphicDivine $3.00	Burlesque Mini Top Hat ... FeatherFunded $39.00	Red and Black Stripey P... amaelove $80.00
Red and Black Fleur de ... ArmedWithStyle $65.00	Everyday Shoulder Bag i... JulieMeyer $54.00	Arm Warmers, Fingerless... Brendaabdullah $32.00
Polka Dot Wallet Handm... Weezi $30.00	Red and Black Nagorie F... FlourishingCre... $16.95	Original Watercolor Pai... GrayWolfGaller... $125.00
Wing earrings painted w... CrowsdanceDesi... $25.00

Treasury tool supported by threequickquestions.com

Martha, Martha, Martha,...

I used to love Martha Stewart's TV show - I never admitted to it but I did love it. I also used to subscribe to her magazine but stopped. It had gotten a bit over-the-top and seemed that the photography, once beautiful, was not as good as it had been. This was YEARS ago and I have not looked back since, except... the other day when I picked up a back-issue at one of my favorite resale stores.

I always rifle through the mags, looking for cool ones like Elle Decor, Architectural Digest and Mary Englebreit's Home Companion (*sniff, sniff* - I still miss that one!). Well, I relented and grabbed the April 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living and was pleasantly surprised! The pictures and lay-out were lovely, the recipes were approachable, the home and garden articles did not require you to live on a pedigreed New England estate in order to incorporate the ideas into your own life. Somehow, the editorial staff of Living had found a way to speak to the normal, everyday person. 

The photos were always my favorite part of Martha Stewart Living and I found some wonderful color inspiration in this issue. Shades of teal and turquoise are always high on my list and the first few pages did not disappoint. Teal and turquoise combined with shades of yellow and tangerine orange with just a touch of minty green really caught my fancy.

 

As did the glimpses of "blue on blue" - various shades and textures of blue all mixed together.

Sometimes it's not so bad to be proven wrong. It's also nice to find inspiration in unexpected places - Don't you agree? :)

Happy Valentine's Day

This sweet Valentine video came from the folks at Etsy - Enjoy it right here or find the original here...


Happy Valentine's Day! XO, Etsy from Etsy on Vimeo.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...

Mom and I were off to the Quad Cities Festival of Trees (sponsored by Quad City Arts) last weekend. There were so many beautiful trees and holiday decorations to see - I loved just about everything I saw! Here is a little peek of some of my favorites - Enjoy :)