Allegory Gallery Seed Bead Fun

 In order to make things more interesting around here, I'm going to be posting more in-progress pictures of projects. I plan to do a lot of seed beading in 2013, so there should be a lot of fun projects for me to document.

My first project involves the Black Beach Bonfire seed bead mix from Allegory Gallery. I shamelessly stole the above photo from their website because it shows the full range of this beautiful mix, whereas my pic below has it in a tube where it looks a little blah.

Because there are so many colors in the mix I decided to go with a simple black onyx cabochon for the focal piece. I'm not sure yet what else I'll be using, but I think there will be some golden key charms to pull out the gold in the mix, and to make it appropriate for Wild Wild West Con in March. I really need to beef up my steampunk stock, and this will have cross appeal for Goths, too. Plus I just really like keys!

Disclaimer: Some items in this blog post were provided for promotional consideration. I am receiving no other compensation for my blogging.

Dragon Dreams of Allegory Gallery

 My most recent package from Allegory Gallery contained some great beads! I was immediately drawn to pair the Green Girl dragon focal with the magnesite beads, due to their similar shapes. I added some Swarovski crystals in Sunflower because I am all over that turquoise and yellow combination!

The magnesite beads are really interesting. Before I read the label I thought they were Czech glass with a Picasso coating, but no, they're stones! They have a very smooth, even shape and a bit of a seem on the sides, so I think they are a reconstituted and pressed stone. Just one of the many unusual materials on the market today! I think their mottled appearance is the perfect companion to the handmade dragon.

Dreaming Dragon Necklace is available in my Etsy shop, if you love this combination as much as I do and have to make it your own!

To see what my fellow Design Team artists have been up to, check out the side bar with all of their blogs!

FTC disclosure notice thingie: Some of the items in this post were provided for promotional consideration as part of the Allegory Gallery Design Team.

Allegory Gallery Late for June

 My new goal is to tackle all of my monthly obligations early, instead of putting them off until the end and then suddenly not have time for everything. There's really no good reason for me to be posting my June project more than a week into July, so expect to see my July project next week rather than rushed in at the end of the month.

These chandelier earrings feature three types of beautiful beads from Allegory Gallery. First, the yummy translucent green AB leaves, which have the most delightful luster. Next, some tiny fire polished beads in a nice metal-lined medium emerald green. Finally, the cutest little vintage Japanese beads, which came on a looooong loop of the original thread, with the original Made in Japan sticker. It was hard to cut that strand! They were just so adorable as-is! I wanted to wear the strand like a long necklace, but it probably would have snapped some time when I was out to dinner, sending tiny green beads rolling under tables, perhaps even causing a waitress to slip and spill a tray. Any plan that involves injuries and lost beads is not a good one.

Anyway, I took all these sweet beads and I dangled them from a really cool pair of Sterling Silver chandelier findings that I've had forever, to make a simply gorgeous pair of earrings. I have plenty of beads leftover (especially the vintage ones), so I think I'll have to make a matching necklace.

 Disclaimer: Some items in this blog post were provided for promotional consideration by Allegory Gallery.

Allegory Gallery May Project

Whoops! I fell a little behind on Allegory Gallery projects. Well, in May I was supposed to create an item and write a tutorial for it. I chose to do one of my crystal bracelets because it's a good way to introduce people to beadweaving, it can be done in any color, and it has a button clasp for an extra special touch. However, Andrew decided to postpone the tutorials for now, so I can share the pictures in my blog instead.

I decided to get a little fancy playing with different angles, to get some nice artistic shots that say "gallery worthy" to me.

This bracelet uses Dark Turmaline Swarovski crystals from Allegory Gallery, woven together with brown Nymo beading thread also provided by the gallery. I added some Japanese seed beads from Beyond Beadery and a button that I picked up somewhere along the way. I buy buttons wherever I find them. I chose red-orange as my accent instead of going with a complimentary color, as I am forcing myself to work more with contrasts, and I have a skirt with these colors in it.

Disclaimer: Some items in this blog post were provided for promotional consideration by Allegory Gallery.

Allegory Gallery -- Waiting for the Key to Immortality

 It's Allegory Gallery Design Team time again! I created this beautiful necklace in my signature combination of olivine and bronze, using a mix of beads from the Gallery and things from my stash. The focal is a gorgeous escutcheon pendant by Melanie of Earthenwood Studio. I love the woodlands color scheme and stamped pattern. The swirled rice-shaped Czech glass beads from Allegory Gallery matched it perfectly.

 Allegory Gallery also provided the olivine square tab Czech glass beads, which nicely pull out the greens of the focal.

There are a lot of textures going on in this piece. I added some luscious golden baroque freshwater pearls from my most recent trip to New York (Ace Handicraft, I love you!), and some tiny Bronze Shade Swarovski crystals. I haven't decided yet how I feel about that color, it's kind of weird. But it's just the right shade to go with the focal.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the Design Team has been up to this month!

Peggy Li

Sally Russick

Penny Neville

Cindy Cima Edwards

Amy Cousin

Genea Crivello-Knable

Brenda Salzano

Shannon Chomanczuk

Charlene Sevier

Jessica Prill

Rebecca Anderson

Penny Young-Neville

Allegory Gallery: Seelie Bracelet

 Spring is here, which means it's time for cute little sundresses! And cute little sundresses need fun, casual jewelry in Spring colors! Thankfully I had these funky bright green beads from Allegory Gallery, just waiting to be made into the perfect bracelet. They're some sort of glass with an interesting coated and drizzled effect. I haven't seen anything like them before and I'm curious to see how they'll hold up. Allegory Gallery also provided the silver-lined clear cube beads. I don't often use cubes in my beadweaving, but they make really cute spacers, especially since this bracelet has a rectangular focal.

And what a focal it is! The little charm is a pewter piece from Green Girl Studios. The back features a quote from a WB Yeats poem: "Come away oh human child, to the waters and the wild." I love the poem and I love the faerie. I have 3 or 4 of these charms, so since this is a bright Seelie bracelet for Spring and Summer, I think I'll make a dark Unseelie one for Fall and Winter.

 Little Swarovski crystal bicones in Light Olivine add just a touch of sparkle. The glass beads have large holes, so the 3mm crystals help keep everything lined up perfectly. Plus I really feel that a bracelet like this looks better with 3 types of beads than two.

Check out what the rest of the team is up to!

Peggy Li

Sally Russick

Penny Neville

Cindy Cima Edwards

AJ Reardon

Amy Cousin

Genea Crivello-Knable

Brenda Salzano

Shannon Chomanczuk

Charlene Sevier

Jess Prill

Rebecca Anderson

FTC disclaimer: Some beads in this post were provided for free in return for promotional consideration.

Unknown Taxonomy

 Remember when I bought that strand of jade cicadas? I finally created something with one of them! Of course, upon further thought I'm not sure if it's actually a cicada... maybe it's a firefly? Stone insects are so hard to identify!

 Have a closer look yourself. What's your vote for its species?

Here it is in the wild, being worn by me at the drum circle at the Arizona Renaissance Festival. I'm dancing with my friends Jen and Mary! Jen is also wearing a necklace that I made.

But the most exciting part is that this is my first piece as part of the Allegory Gallery Design Team! The two sizes of brown beads that I used in the necklace were provided by Allegory Gallery. They're very nice plastic. I don't normally use plastic at all, but I'm trying to overcome my snobbery. Besides, that stone pendant is SO heavy, it was nice to be able to cut down on the weight of the necklace by using lightweight beads. The plastic has a beautiful marbled appearance that makes it look like glass or stone from the distance; very classy.

In addition to the stone cicada (firefly?) and the plastic beads, I also used some antiqued jade beads to match the focal, some Afghani coins (including one that serves as a "clacker" turning the focal into a bell), a little Thai silver and a little red tiger's eye. I love it!

Good News!

I am pleased and excited to announce that I am one of 12 designers chosen to be part of the brand-new Allegory Gallery Design Team! Allegory Gallery is the brick-and-mortar shop that Andrew Thornton and his partner are opening, and while I live just a little too far away to be there in person, I will be designing things to be featured on the blog and newsletter. It's going to be awesome!

Please check out my eleven talented teammates!

Peggy Li
Sally Russick
Penny Neville
Cindy Cima Edwards
Amy Cousin
Genea Crivello-Knable
Brenda Salzano
Shannon Chomanczuk
Charlene Sevier
Jess Prill
Rebecca Anderson