Way Out West - a new bead soup series

Some of you may remember a new bead soup I started working with recently that was full of rich turquoise blue and wood-tone browns. Here is the first finished piece from that new bead soup I'm calling "Way Out West"...

You can find this piece available in my Etsy Shop!

You might also like a little peek of some of the other pieces I'm working on from the "Way Out West" bead soup - in this shot are 4 pendants, 2 rings and one pair of earrings. I'll be adding at least one more pair of earrings and a cuff bracelet before I'm done... I hope you'll stop back to see more!

Thanks for stopping by today - please comment and let me know what you think! :)

Coral, Sage and Honey - New Bead Soup Creations!

As some of you may know, I have been enjoying creating and creating with some new bead soup mixes. The latest is a lovely mix of sage green, coral pink, honey gold and creamy ivories...

From that mix I made several new bead embroidery pieces: 4 pendants, 2 pair of earrings, 2 cocktail rings and a cuff bracelet (all of which can be found in my shop on Etsy by clicking here).

I still have lots of the mix left and, in fact, just added some more beads to it but it's time for a new mix to come out for a spin...

This soup is a lush mix of turquoise, dark wood, antique copper and bronze tones with just enough fiery orange to keep you warm at night! I'm really looking forward to seeing what I create with this palette! I hope you'll stop by to check things out, too... :)

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!! :)

Deep Forest Cuff Bracelet

Here she is! The "Deep Forest" cuff bracelet...

DEEP FOREST features lovely shades of lime and forest green, deep bronze and vivid reds. This cuff will fit just about any wrist - in its center is a metal cuff which allows you to have the fit you want. It is fully embroidered using seed beads and Czech glass beads with a centerpiece of repurposed wood. It is backed with reclaimed leather and beautifully edged in beads. A work of art to wear with just about any outfit - casual or dressy.

As stated before, this cuff is fully adjustable and will fit almost any size wrist. It is 1 5/8" wide at the widest point.

She's for sale on Etsy - I'm planning to take her to my craft show this weekend so grab this beauty while you can!

Just a peek...

...at the "Bead Soup" cuff I was working on last night...

The "Soup"

No apologies... OK, just a little one... and some new beadwork!

I know in the blogosphere there are a plethora of apologies made everyday because people have neglected their blogging practice for a while. I try not to be either of those people - I don't want to neglect my blogging practice nor do I want to feel like I have to apologize for having stuff going on sometimes! So, here goes... I'm sorry I feel like I should apologize for my absence but I have a really good reason... really... I do! Several, actually...

First, I was thinking of changing over to WordPress and spent WAY too many hours designing and investigating only to find out that I like BLOGGER!! Yay! So, after many hours of packing up to move, I had decided to stay right here at "Artful Living on the Bluff".

Second, some of you may know that I am starting to do summer art and fine craft shows. My first, DubuqueFest, was a wonderful success! I thought my booth display was pretty good, the weather cooperated and I made enough sales to be genuinely happy with the profits. I wish I had some great pics to share - I promise to be better about taking a camera and actually using it next time! Here's a couple I snagged from my friend Gail...

My Boothmate, Ali, and I having a great day!

Here's Gail wearing her latest Cindy Caraway creation - Cosmic Renegade!

My boothmate was Ali who makes sweet bags, purses and other cool stuff like patchwork scarves - she has a limited supply up for sale in her Etsy shop - AliRags - but be sure to mark her as a favorite for when she re-stocks.

Besides being an incredible metal sculptor (visit her Etsy Shop - ChavenelleStudio), Gail Chavenelle is my best cheerleader, a fierce collector of art and the energizer bunny of arts supporters! She is always there to lend a keen eye and great advice - I love you, Gail!

Thirdly, I went on my annual vacation to Disney World with my Mom. We go every year and and have a great but insanely tiring time. This year was no exception! Tropical Storm Beryl left Kissimmee, FL relatively unscathed and we had a wonderful time riding rides, eating Ice Cream and enjoying the parks.

Now I'm home and doing my best to get caught up! One thing I did make sure to do this week was a little bead embroidery. I made up a couple of "bead soup" recipes and went to town! I have another show coming up this weekend and wanted some brand new pieces to sell. Here are some of the beaded pendants I made. They are a great size for wearing - the oval pendants are just 2" long - but are satisfying to create and I can still feel proud to put them out there with my big pieces. I'm starting on some cuff bracelets and maybe some earrings this afternoon! Can't wait... :)

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! :)