Venetian Love Affair

These are some of my absolute FAVORITE beads...found them on-line at Happy Mango Beads and had to have them immediately. They are antique Venetian glass trade beads in a fantastic blue millefiore pattern. They've been sitting on my table for months awaiting the perfect creative influence.

So, this morning the influence finally showed up with my coconut-creamered coffee. I wanted to mix it with something funky, say, some Coke-bottle glass and some pearls. Throw in an interesting-looking coil for the central piece and it's a winner! I am soooooo pleased!!

Old School Orangina!

I had the pleasure of working with a young artist last night...Ms. G.C. and I explored some of the more knotting ways of doing things that I haven't done in ages! She's a guru with weaving, so I shared some of my beads and we came out of it with some lovely bracelets. Mine features a fun toggle of an great Grammy Hine button! Besides thinking of my grandparents' old store, I was also reminded of the elementary school lessons on macrame that have stuck with me for so many years! Gotta love those plant hangers!!

My bracelet motivated me towards the orangina realm today for part of my working morning. I was drawn towards some lovely Lisa New beads and I wanted to include some leather (like Stella, from Project Runway! haaaaaaaaa.) So, my end result is this pretty three-strand quartz-centric piece. It includes a strand of quartz & colored furnace glass, a strand starring a pink coral centerpiece, and a leather strand knotted with some of Lisa's glass.

I wore this combo out tonight for a "solo mio" soiree and love it!!

Feeling Semi-Precious...

A fabulously stormy nap-filled Saturday led to an evening of ice cream, beer, and gems!! I had a great time mixing stones and glass with some wire bits to come up with some fun pieces. Plus, I found out yesterday that I'm going to be in Bedford's Fall Foliage Festival on 11-12 October, so it's time for me to get busy!

First, I went for some citrus--lemony pineapple quartz. I used some of my new wire hammering skills to make some funky dingley dangle pieces that make the stones even prettier than when they're just in a pile on the table.

Then, I was thinking of my Bedford Bisons...blue and white sodalite. I think of it as a glammed up Wilma Flintstone. A rough unfinished nugget looks awesome with a grounded terracotta disk, and a shimmery pearl.

And, back to the hammering...a fun squiggle and a big chunk of sodalite make a simple, fun pendant for a steel wire choker.

And, finally, working with my greys, blacks, & quartz for a more elegant look...here's just one of the combinations I came up with. Simple, but unique. I have the craziest selection of beads on my table that it's a neverending adventure coming up with things that might go together. I love it!!

Elementally Vintage

I just ran up from the basement wildly laughing because I LOVE these pieces!!!! The cats are now hiding, so I have plenty of time to share...

A couple of weeks ago, I finally finished a project for my lovely friend, Lauren; she picked out some vintage Swarovski crystals and silver chain so I could string up an absolutely gorgeous rhinestone pin that she had inherited from a relative. (I'm an idiot and didn't take a picture, so maybe she'll send one.) In the meantime, however, I'm can't stop thinking Vintage, with a capital V! I spent a long while in the basement antique mall of Founder's Crossing, back in my hometown of Bedford, Pennsylvania, while my mom followed me dutifully looking at every piece of jewelry. I was focused on picking up fun brooches to use as focal pieces. I struck some nice $3.99 gold! haaaaaaaaa

You can see this awesome pinkie flower just screamed out for some of my new flower bits. While at the Expo in Philly, my friend, Sarah, called these babies "groovy" and I have to agree. Yvonne's MyElements line was one of my absolute faves. One of Yvonne's designs was featured on the cover of the July/August issue of Step by Step Beads magazine and I coveted right away. So, when I finally met her and saw the mass of cool flowers and funky shapes, I didn't hold back and brought home a bunch. I was thinking of these all day and couldn't wait to get home to pull them together!

But, what goes even better with Yvonne's Elements? A big glittery bug, of course!! I couldn't resist this flyish-looking beetleybug. I was able to use some vintage chain, some sterling chain, and plenty of flower bits!!

How hilarious is this pin!?! I actually saw a dead cicada in the hallway at the Pentagon today. It must have been a forecast of my creative energy for the evening!!

I absolutely love it!!

Don't these glasses make me look smarter?? Or is it the workaday t-shirt with a Weight Watchers meal spilled on the front??? haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Neutral Schmeutral....

At the request of a customer, I went neutral. Well, as neutral as I could...black, white, tan...but sooooo not boring! My first dig through my stash took me into the black and white with some bone starry discs and some variegated agate. I love the asymmetry and the way the stones work together in the pattern.

Then, I couldn't resist these cool black and white "dalmation" beans that I picked up at the Philly BeadFest Expo from the Colombian Craft Connection. They had a huge selection of natural materials and terra cotta. I just love the black and white with the red glass beads. Plus, a fun round bit of lava rock brings it to a spiraling finish.

I was still feeling the Colombian mood with some brown terracotta spacers that I mixed up in a s'morish way with some smoky quartz, bleached bone, and some quartz chips. The coolest bit of work here, though, is a little practice in my new fun technique...hammered silver links. Up in Philly, I got a great opportunity to learn hammering metal from artist Noel Yovovich. I think you'll see plenty more hammered bits falling into places in my pieces.

And, finally, I was back in my bags from Philly and brought a little green into my neutral palette. These are gorgeous porcelain beads made by 3C Studios. I was following an ad that I was carrying around, torn out of the back of a magazine, to see their booth at the expo. I had flashbacks to when I was a little girl and couldn't pick just one flavor of tootsie roll at the candy store, so I ended up with handfuls...handfuls of beads in this case! I mixed up these soft green rounds with a few wonderful glass discs from HMB Studios.

To finish out my work day, I used a scrap of silver to create this big chunk of a hammered spiral and mixed it up with some stones and shell for a beautifully simple pendant on a steel wire choker.

What a great morning!!!

Thanks for the "neutral" inspiration!!!

A Few Dangles & A Little Bit O' Wire

While out on the beach, when I wasn't running through the "hills" of water or digging through shells with my nephews, I got to peruse my monthly dose of beading magazines. My favorite design from this batch was in the August 2008 issue of Bead&Button magazine. It's a set of earrings featuring a simple wire frame, in a circle, closed with a headpin that features a pearl. It's called a "quick-and-easy" project, but more importantly, it immediately drove my creative process into overdrive thinking of how I could use this pretty, balanced shape in some of my own ways. So, thanks to the designer, Melanie Hazen, for this great inspiration!

I used the basic round frame and finished it with a funky-shaped quartz piece. Then, to summer it up, I added some wire-wrapped loops featuring some of my Hawaiian bead stash--mother of pearl and shell flowers. It's not my normal esthetic, but I love the imbalanced balance of the whole thing. Of course, I kept it casual on leather since that's the jenjudd way. :)

Ceramic Conspiracy...

I took some time off from my basement design studio and spent a week at the beach with my family. It was a wonderful time for relaxing and getting lots of sand in lots of places. I had plenty of quality time with my crazy nephews and still squeezed in a little shopping at the local Outer Banks bead shops.

On one rainy morning, I found a craft show at a local high school and saw these great ceramic beads as soon as I walked in the door. They are brightly colored and rustic and fun and chunky and I loved them immediately!! I wandered over to the man working the booth with my hands full of them and he finally realized my need for some baggies with a laugh. Then, he proceeded to explain the conspiracies going on in Washington that I needed to look out for...hence, the "ceramic conspiracy" beads. I would normally get the name of the artist, but didn't get to this time based on our strange conversation. (He also made homemade peanut butter in his blender that morning.)

I have visions of these beads in lots of places, but my first take is for some funky keychains. I love my leather, so I used that as my base and threw in some recycled glass and wood bits for a very pleasing result!!