What's Old is New Again

 The most recent Artbeads.com challenge is titled "What's Old is New Again" and the idea was to use vintage components (from your own collection or purchased from Artbeads) to create something new. I love designing with vintage beads, cabochons and whatever other old things I can get my hands on (keys, chandelier crystals, pendants...), so this theme really grabbed me! The hard part was deciding on just one idea so I could figure out what to order.

 Then I saw this beautiful LillyPilly lotus in the Pendants section, and I just knew that the black lip shell would be perfect with the vintage glass (or possibly crystal?) beads that I had received from a family friend in New York. Her mother had passed away and left her a lot of costume jewelry. After it has sat for a while, unsorted and unloved, she thought "Oh, AJ makes jewelry! Maybe she would like some of this" and brought bags of it over to my mother-in-law's home for me to sort through. These crystals were definitely the very best thing in there. I salvaged them from a two-strand necklace strung on the weirdest super-fine chain, which was so old and fragile that it disintegrated in my hands as I pulled beads off of it. There's even a vintage two-strand clasp with a crystal set into it, which I will have to save to use with the rest of the beads.

Searching around the site, I also found some beautiful brass links in the Base Metal section, which I felt nicely echoed the lotus design but also gave it a Victorian feel. Then to pull in the pure gold color of the lotus, I picked out some pearls from the Swarovski Beads section. I also got a few Findings to finish everything up.

When I came up with the necklace, I was torn as to whether I should sell it or keep it for myself... but then I realized that it was *perfect* to go with the costume for my solo this weekend, so that settled it! Here's a little close-up of how nicely it fits with my halter top. What you can't see is that the top has teal and brown beaded trim, and my pants have a teal and brown and black swirly print, and that I was wearing a ridiculous brown feather headpiece. I felt so pretty!

FTC disclaimer: Certain beads used in this project where provided for free by Artbeads.com in return for promotional consideration.

The Difficult Pendant

I received the components for this pendant as part of the Artbeads.com Winter Enchantment promotion. That should give you an idea of just how long I've been struggling with it, since we're now well into Spring.

Honestly, I probably should have just sat this challenge out, but I can't resist the lure of free beads. It took me a bit to think of something to fit the Winter Enchantment theme. Let's face it -- I am not enchanted by winter. I hate it. Especially this winter, with its hard freeze and the need to replace my water heater and my furnace. But there is one thing I really love about winter... the February gem shows! My first thought was to get some stone beads, but I didn't see anything that caught my fancy. Then I figured, hey, why not get some nice crystals and make a fancy necklace inspired by the Swarovski party?

So I picked out some Rivolis and a Pendant from the Swarovski Elements section, and some super gorgeous purple iris 24k gold Delicas from the Seed Bead section, and figured I would make something pretty and fancy.

Once I caught up on my massive beady to-do list, I sat down to work on the necklace. Well, things kept going wrong. The first bezel I made for the large rivoli was too small, so I had to make a bigger one. I had two small rivolis, and the first one bezeled up fine, but the bezel was too large for the second one, even though I used the same number of beads! So I decided to just stack the two rivolis and hang the beautiful baroque teardrop from them, but I don't think I like the way it looks. Whatever, I just wanted to finish it and move on. So I decided to string a pretty necklace with faceted freshwater pearls, Swarovski pearls, Czech glass, and use the Delicas as spacers to tie the color scheme together. No, that didn't work either. I didn't have quite enough beads for any configuration I tried, and the SoftFlex didn't want to go through the Delicas at the top of the bezel. That is about when I gave up.

Last night I thought I'd give it one last try before photographing it. I figured maybe the super-fine bead stringing chain would fit through the Delicas. But no matter where I looked, I couldn't find the last bit of that chain that I have. So I give up, evil crystal pendant. You win. And by win, I mean I'm going to put you away someplace where I don't have to look at you for a while, and eventually I will cut you up and use your components to make something else.

All difficulties aside, the crystals and Delicas were all great. I love the color of the Delicas, they really embody Winter with their soft, muted metallic colors. And I've wanted to use one of those graphical Swarovski pendants since they came out. The design is printed on the back of the pendant and seems pretty permanent -- at the very least it didn't rub off when I was working with it, and I can't scratch it off with a fingernail, so it should stand up to daily wear. One of the rivolis did have a small chip on the edge, but I don't know if Artbeads sent it to me that way or if I dropped it and chipped it at some point.

Disclaimer: FTC guidelines require me to mention that the Swarovski Elements and Delicas used in this failed project were provided to me by Artbeads.com at no cost in return for promotional consideration on my blog.

Earthenwood Design Team -- Time's Dead Flowers

I'm honored to have been chosen to be a member of the Earthenwood Design Team for the month of February (yes, I know it's March now, I fell behind). Melanie sent me a great assortment of new components to design with. I used half of them to create this piece, which I call Time's Dead Flowers, inspired by a line in a Faith and the Muse song. Be sure to click on the link so you can see what the other Design Team members have done so far. It looks like everyone got the same elements but in different glaze combinations, which gives the designs great variety -- but of course, mine is the only one that is green ;)

This was very much a design-as-I-go sort of piece. I knew that I wanted to use the Clock Face Link and the pair of pewtery links to design a steampunk necklace to wear to Wild Wild West Con this weekend. I also knew that I wanted to use the bits of leftover chain that had been floating around on my desk for a couple of months. Other than that, I wasn't sure if I wanted to put in some bead weaving, or some strung elements, or what. I went into the beadroom to find what I could find.

One thing that I love about working with Melanie's components is that they're easy to work into any sort of beading. The wire loops are especially versatile; they can be linked onto a chain, hung from a strand, crimped through, or woven through. The punched holes in the pewtery links were a little more challenging -- My jump rings were a tight fit, which meant that I ended up substituting ribbon for chain.
The ribbon was wound around a card, so it looks funny in this picture, but the weight of the necklace pulls it straight when it's being worn. I originally had it hanging from a brown ribbon, and it looked nice, but then I said to myself "Wow, this necklace is really brown, and I'm a proponent of color in steampunk... I should add some green." So I grabbed the green ribbon, wove it through the chain and links, and added some green dangles, with vintage flower beads to echo the floral theme of the brass stamping.
Closeup! I decided that this was a perfect opportunity to use some of the new TierraCast brass oxide Metamorphosis components that I picked up during the gem show. The clock drop was a natural companion for the clock face link!
Another close-up! See what I mean about how easy these links are to work with? I simply used jumprings to attach the link to the brass flower. The entire necklace came together in minutes, if you don't count all the time I spent redesigning it and changing things and looking for things.

Melanie also sent these two red components with lovely heart themes. I have plans for them, plans involving beadweaving, red satin 3-cut seed beads, a black enameled key... It's going to be luscious! And another steampunk design with color!

If you'd like some Earthenwood components to use in your own designs, you should visit Melanie's website or Etsy shop. If you'd like to see more of my jewelry using Earthenwood components, you should visit my shop, Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs.

Disclaimer: FTC regulations say that this post isn't long enough yet and I need to make it abundantly clear that I received some of these items for free in return for promotional consideration on my blog. Consider yourself disclaimed.

Colors of Fall -- Artbeads.com Blog Partner

I made this necklace a while ago, but it was a surprise for a friend in Canada, so I had to wait for the sloooow post office to get it to her! Now that it is finally in her hands, I can post it all over the internet!

Back at the start of Autumn, Artbeads.com invited its blog partners to pick out items for a Colors of Fall theme. One of their suggestions was to use the Pantone Fall 2010 Color Report as a guideline, and that was the option I chose. I really liked the color Woodbine, a warm and rich olive, so of course I made that my focus by choosing a focal and accents from the Ceramic Beads category and some really saturated Czech Glass. The focal also has touches of Endive, and on-line the brown looked similar to Chocolate, but it turned out to be more red in person, so I put some very chocolate-y brown lava beads from my own stash into the mix, as well as some red tiger's eye to draw in the warm red-brown in the ceramics, and some pearls to pull everything together. You can't see it in the image, but the necklace is finished with a bamboo-patterned, gold-plated Pewter Toggle Clasp.

My original plan had been to do a bead embroidered focal with the bamboo pendant, but it turned out to be much too large, thick and heavy to use as a cabochon. This is a high-quality focal that is nicely detailed on both sides. The focal and the accent beads both have generous amounts of gold paint accents, and I was overall pleased with the quality. The Czech glass and Tierra Cast brand toggle were both up to the high standards I expect from those materials as well. As always, Artbeads.com packaged everything up nicely and shipped it in a timely manner.

And speaking of the lovely folks at Artbeads.com, they're kicking their Black Friday sale off early! If you feel like taking a break from getting ready for the holiday and doing a little bead shopping, you can use code ZZ-THANKSGIVING-SALE to get 20% off your order of $60 or more.

FTC Disclosure: Federal regulations stipulate that I need to tell you, dear readers, that Artbeads.com provided the items from the above-linked categories to me for free, in return for review and promotional consideration. I receive no additional compensation for my reviews, and I of course give my honest opinion of what I receive.

Now if you'd like to see more of my work, please head on over to my Etsy shop, Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs.

Artbeads.com Bead IQ Trivia Sweepstakes!

Artbeads is currently running a fun sweepstakes with an optional Bead IQ Quiz! Until September 16th, you can enter by following this link, taking the quiz if you want, and then entering your information for the prize drawing. One lucky winner will receive a prize package including $150 worth of beads and supplies and a $100 Artbeads.com gift certificate. Pretty sweet!

I got an 8 out of 10 on the quiz. What's your score?

(Yes, I am still an Artbeads.com blog partner, no, I am not getting any sort of kickback for promoting the contest)

Spring Break at the Beach

When Artbeads.com invited me to pick out a selection of beads that reminded me of Spring, my first thought was to go for something leafy or flowery... but then I saw this octopus and had to have it, so my theme became Spring Break at the Beach! I eschewed dainty pastels in favor of the brighter colors that come out as Spring fades into Summer, the colors of tropical water and growing plants and my favorite warm-weather clothes!

Once I'd picked out the Sterling and Resin Pendant by Taina Hartman, I thought of CRYSTALLIZED - Swarovski Elements, specifically stars and fish! The bright peridot stars were the perfect accent for the octopus. I added turquoise AB 2x crystals and variegated Czech glass as well as chain and a clasp from my own stash to make this simple but adorable necklace that perfectly matches my favorite peridot green t-shirt. You can see the full-length view in yesterday's blog post.

The octopus focal is quite nice, the resin is perfectly smooth, the image shows clearly, and the silver frame/cup gives it a professional finish. However, it's also very tiny, so it's hard to use it as a necklace focal, unless you go really dainty like I did. I think it would be really well-suited to use in a charm bracelet, and other styles would make cute earrings.
My original plan had been to use these clear fish crystals and the Sterling fish clasp to round out the necklace, but they proved to be too big for the octopus focal. Instead, I'm setting them aside to go with this sea faerie lampworked figure from Giggling Grizzly, which I have had forever. There are some Bali fish and Czech pressed glass fish waiting to go with her, too. I'm thinking I might need some medium-weight silver chain, and I'll just dangle all of the fish and hang her in the center.

The fish clasp is just perfect, a hook and eye, with the head and body being separate pieces. It hooks and unhooks very smoothly, and looks nearly seamless when it's connected. It seems like it should be large and sturdy enough to balance out the heavy lampworked focal.

All of my crystals came nestled in the little white compartment trays that Swarovski packages them in, for safe travels and safe storage. As you can see from the photos, both shapes are cut for lots of sparkle. I envisioned the stars as sea stars for this piece, but they'd be just as perfect for a celestial theme.

FTC Disclaimer: As was clearly indicated in the above post, some of the beads in these projects were provided for free by Artbeads.com for promotional consideration. In return, I have posted my honest reviews of them.

Earrings! You can win a pair!

As promised last week, some new goodies made with Valentine's Day Beads from Artbeads.com. These two pairs of earrings feature the glass heart beads that didn't quite match the ceramic heart pendant that I used for The Sun Spirals Ever Onward.

I didn't pay much attention to the description, and thought that the brown hearts in Herbal Love Potion were bronze metallic, but they're actually dark brown pearl. The finish is slightly satiny and very attractive. It seems pretty durable, too, and didn't have as much excess pearl-coating around the hole as some pearlized beads do. There's a bit of angling at the hole on a couple of them, but they still hang straight and are perfectly heart-shaped.

Hearts in Motion features tortoise shell glass heart beads. I love tortoise shell because it's such a warm, earthy color. In these earrings, it's joined by Swarovski crystals and crystal pearls as well as red tiger's eye, for a rainbow of yummy brown shades. These hearts are even more well-formed than the brown pearl ones. I like this size of heart because a 4mm Swarovski bicone nestles perfectly at the top.

Do you know what else is special about the Hearts in Motion earrings? I'm giving them away! To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is become a fan of Erthe Fae Designs on Facebook. Current fans are automatically entered into the drawing. On Friday night I'll draw a random name and the lucky winner will receive these beautiful earrings free of charge.

(Boring official rules: Contest is only open to US residents age 18 or over. My family members are exempt from the drawing, even though I know they're my fans, because that's how these things go. Earrings have a retail value of $25. Winning fan will be notified via Facebook on Friday night).

I know some of you aren't into Facebook, but I have plans to start doing giveaways every month, and each time the way to enter will be different, so everyone has a chance to win something.

Speaking of winning stuff, do you know what's even better than winning a free pair of Erthe Fae Designs earrings? Winning a $1000 Artbeads.com shopping spree! That's a lot of beads. The contest is about to close, so don't forget to enter before it's too late.

FTC Disclaimer: The glass heart beads used in the above earrings were provided free of charge by Artbeads.com for promotional consideration. I have provided my honest review of the free products given to me.

The Sun Spirals Ever Onward

Due to everything that I had going on this month, I am just now getting around to using the beads that Artbeads.com sent me to promote their Valentine's Day category. For shame! Of course, I chose earthy hearts, so the things that I'm making have year-round appeal for heart lovers.

I was especially drawn to this heart pendant by Golem Design Studios, from the Ceramic Pendants section. The design reminded me of spiraling gears, or the cross-section of a nautilus shell. I had originally picked out some nice brown heart beads to go with it, but when they got here I decided that the colors didn't quite match, so I dived into my stash for inspiration. I found Swarovski crystals, chatoyant stones, and vintage topaz-hued glass. The result is this almost-steampunk necklace called The Sun Spirals Ever Onward.

I still have the brown heart beads, and a pretty copper heart clasp to use, so keep your eyes open early next week for more earthy love! I'm thinking there might even be a give-away involved.

In other news, I feel like buying some more dance costumes, and my budget doesn't think I should, so I'm having a free shipping sale! All purchases over $25 qualify for free US and International shipping. Just purchase as usual and I'll refund the shipping fees. This sale ends at 11:59pm MST on Sunday the 28th. Visit my Etsy shop and see what catches your eye.

Edited to add FTC Disclaimer: Some of the items in the above necklace were provided free of charge by Artbeads.com for review purposes. I provide my honest opinion of the products I receive, and I get no other compensation for it.

Talisman of Sultry Undulations

When Artbeads.com invited me to pick out some silver or glass to feature for the month of December, my mind immediately went to Thai Silver. The slightly warmer tone of the silver and the timeless natural themes of their pieces make them perfect for tribal belly dance jewelry. In many ways, Thai silver reminds me of kuchi metalwork.

As I was browsing the Pendants section, my eye was caught by the selection of bells. I chose the spiral patterned ones, because I love spirals, especially in connection to dancing. The bells were almost out of stock, so I hopped over to the Charms section for some cute little leaves to fill my necklace out, and then to Clasps for a beautiful leaf-patterned toggle that matched them perfectly.

When my package arrived, the spiral bells reminded me of the cute snail pendant that Greg from Green Girl gave to me at the September Best Bead Show, and I knew it had to become part of my necklace. I eventually decided on a two-strand design and disappeared into the bead room in search of the perfect components. Eventually I emerged with dark green aventurine leaves, lots of 4mm light green aventurine, and some beautiful faceted moss agate. I put them all together and came up with this two-strand beauty, Talisman of Sultry Undulations.
This necklace expresses my desire to become better at slow moves, to stop feeling awkward and start feeling sultry. To be "slow like syrup" as my teacher says, or perhaps slow like a snail! While it's worlds away from the big kuchi necklaces that a lot of dancers wear, I think it goes well with the faerie-influenced style of costuming that I'm often drawn towards.
This image gives a better idea of how the necklace drapes when it's worn -- just enough space between the two strands that there's not too much overlap. The bells tinkle pleasantly when I move, and they have a beautiful sound! I'm going to have to get more in different styles and experiment with using them in bracelets, anklets, and maybe even earrings.

FTC Regulations stipulate that I have to tell you that yes, Artbeads.com supplied me with materials with the understanding that I would feature and review them in my blog. All of the silver items in the first image were provided free of charge in return for my honest review of them.

Created with Crystals.

Today I sat down and played with my goodies from Artbeads.com! When I was told that September was Swarovski month, I decided to spoil myself with a few of the newer fancy Pendant styles. The above necklace features a 45mm Article 6905 -- Dragonfly Pendant in Crystal Golden Shadow, and some 8mm Deep Brown Pearls from Artbeads, plus a Karen Sherwood lampwork bead, 4mm Ceylon Topaz bicones and green Czech glass from my own personal stash, topped off with a pewter Dragonfly clasp purchased in New York a couple of years ago. I call this necklace "Dragonfly Goddess" because the swelling of the bicone makes her look quite fertile.

I was really excited about the Dragonfly Pendant when I first saw it at the Swarovski party in February, so I lept at the chance to play with one now. In person, I'm very dissapointed by how asymmetrical it is. Lately, Swarovski has really been leaning towards these bizarre uneven shapes, and as someone who loves symmetry, I'm having a hard time getting enthusiastic designing with them. I definitely will not be buying any more Dragonfly pendants, which is a shame because they'd be perfect for my line.

The Deep Brown pearls, on the other hand, are just what I expected. The color is rich and lustrous, like dark chocolate. Swarovski really does make the best imitation pearl on the market, and I always love working with them. 8mm is larger than I usually use, but I wanted a big bead to be the head of the dragonfly pendant.
I also ordered two Article 6150 Pegasus pendants in Jet. My idea was to just dangle them at the end of some chain, or a few beaded strands, to make a simple lariat. However, while I was in Tahoe I saw this beautiful piece of black kyanite and it reminded me of folded raven wings, and it was flat enough on the back to be glued down for bead embroidery. Together, these components will form the focal point of a necklace called "The Morrigan's Wings" which I hope to start on soon.

Because Autumn is upon us, the shadows are a bit long in these photos... I'll have to try to get some better ones over the weekend.

Note: Technically I should be calling all of the crystals CRYSTALLIZED (tm) Swarovski Elements but who wants to type that half a dozen times per blog post?

Disclaimer: In keeping with FTC regulations, I need to disclose that Artbeads.com provided free beads to me in return for me reviewing them in my blog and linking back to their site. I am receiving no payment for these posts other than free beads, all of which are being blogged about.

I'm such a tease...

I was recently invited by the lovely folks at Artbeads.com to participate in their blog partner program. They send beads, I blog about them... what more perfect arrangement could there be? Of course I said yes! And look at what arrived in my mail today, all wrapped up like a present...

I bet you're wondering what's inside, but because I'm a wicked little tease. I'm going to make you wait to find out until I get home from Tahoe and make them into jewelry. In the meantime, if you want to see what another Artbeads partner made, you should head over to the Earthenwood Studios Chronicles and see Melanie's jaw-droppingly beautiful necklace.