Rings!

I took this photo a while ago but I never got around to blogging about it! Probably because as far as photos go, it is not the best. These rings just kind of lie around when they're being photographed like this. They look so much better on a hand!

I really enjoy making these rings, which are from the upcoming book Contemporary Geometric Beadwork. They work up pretty quickly and easily, which makes them a great way to swatch colors for a larger project while still ending up with a finished item. It's also a good way to fill up color holes in your jewelry collection. Have one shirt in an off shade of green, but you don't want to make an entire necklace to go with it? Whip up a ring in an evening.

The top green one has Dichroic Aikos and 2mm Swarovski crystals as accents. The black and silver is also accented by those 2mms. The bottom two are made with nothing but Delicas. The rounded one is less pokey to wear, since you don't end up having a point facing in to your hand, but I don't like it as much. Really, the points tend to soften with wear anyways. The only time I really had trouble was when I tried to play zills while wearing one that was still stiff and new.

I'll probably make myself a few more of these. I like the idea of having rings to coordinate with most of my outfits.

As requested...

So apparently when you show the internet a photo of several bags full of vintage costume jewelry, people want to know what's inside! Here's the first of what will probably be many photos.

There's a large abalone shell set into a custom-made silver ring. I suspect I will wear this one for a lot of dance gigs! Tribal girls love big rings and this one fits me and doesn't have any protrusions to snag my costumes!

There's a cameo set. The setting and the flip down pendant bail are very similar to the unusual cameo that my mother-in-law gave me, so I suspect they have similar origins as well! I love that I'll be able to wear the earrings with either pendant/brooch.

And there's also a pair of dolphin and flower earrings! These look like vermeil set with onyx. I'm offering them to my Mom because she and my Dad are SCUBA divers and they love dolphins. I suspect she'd wear these beautiful earrings more often than I will.

Just for fun

 It seems like I don't do a lot of beading just for the fun of it anymore. Everything that I make is either to sell, to use my beads from Artbeads, or to fill a spot in my wardrobe. But this ring was created just because I saw the pattern and I wanted to try to make a ring. I used five colors of Delicas, and by colors I of course mean "shades of olivine." The sad thing is this is probably not even close to all the shades of olivine I have. I added some 2mm Swarovski crystals in olivine to the edges and the center, because I felt like the design needed some embellishment and if I'm going to wear a giant cocktail ring, it should have some sparkles.

The pattern was posted on Facebook to promote Geometrics by Dustin Wedekind and Kate McKinnon. I'm pretty excited about the book, I think it will probably be just about everything that a bead book should be, and it's being written right here in Tucson!

Speaking of things made in Tucson, on the lefthand side of my blog you will now find a Kickstarter link for Autopsy Bears. This morbidly adorable (adorably morbid?) project is the brainchild of my dance teacher Fonda and one of her friends. I've already made my pledge and I really want my bear, so if you'd like to support some crazy Tucson artists, please consider singing up to be a backer.

Treasuries!

I've got rings on my mind. I'm working on one based on a preview tutorial posted to promote Dustin and Kate's Geometrics book, and trying to dream up my own designs that I could make and sell. Rings are all over the beadosphere right now, but my treasury is mostly full of chainmaille and wirework. And of course, they're all from FAETeam!

Last week, I also made Look, I just really like green! A few FAETeam pieces are included, but the main theme is green things from my favorite items and favorite shops.

One of my tribal necklaces is included in Peacock Tales by Mermie. Apparently peacocks are in, of course, in belly dance land they're always in. We love decadence!

Pretty Shiny Things!

A collection of pretty, shiny things! From left to right, a beautiful hair dangle by Elise Matthesen, my finally-completed faerie button pendant, and the two pairs of titanium/niobium earrings that I bought at the Street Fair.

So, this afternoon I put the bail on my faerie button necklace and slid her onto my standard black Ndebele cord. I'll eventually make a nice green necklace for her, but I do like how the black cord picks up the black accents on the button. I'll also eventually take a nicer picture of her, but it's cold tonight (by my standards), so I wasn't about to go out to the game room to take photos.

After Chris got off of a very frustrating day at work, we decided to go out for food instead of eating in, and while we were out, I had to stop in at the PO Box, because someone reminded me that I haven't been checking it ;) Inside, I found two surprise packages! One held the lovely hair dangle, similar to ones I've admired in the past, and the other held the silver ring from Creative Mode that I included in my T13 jewelry post (I was going to include it in the picture, but I don't have a ring display).

So, a big "thank you thank you thank you" to my anonymous reader(s) who sent me these wonderful gifts! The turquoise in the dangle is the perfect color to go with my faerie costume, not to mention a lot of my day-to-day clothing. And the ring is so wonderfully elegant, just right to go with my Goth and Steampunk clothes. You're too kind and really brightened my day! Also, I promise I'll check my PO Box more often.

I included the earrings because people asked for pictures back when I bought them. Aren't they cool? The blue ones remind me of lightning, and the purple ones are the same style as the aqua-green ones that I bought last year, and match the purple top I was wearing at the fair.