Purple Pieces for a Thursday Morning

I just got back from the track and while I cool down/sit here and wish I didn't have to get dressed for work I just wanted to post a few pics of the summertime pieces I've been working on.  These are two of the purple sets.

Kick-ass purpley-pink faceted magnesite rounds are the standouts here, but there is still some fantastic glass goodness from SueBeads, some vintage glass and some pearls...all finished off with my new leather luv and a steel wire.  I'm psyched about how cool the clasps look 'cause I made them myself!

And, of course, the matching bracelet. 

A four-artist masterpiece:  a Barbara Lewis enameled bead, a Cherie Ranfranz lampwork focal and then a Gardanne enameled pendant...who's the fourth artist?  I'm taking that credit because I'm so proud of my little twisted wire clasp. :0

Another matching bracelet with a Barbara bead and a pretty little glass round from SueBeads all arranged with some leather, brass and steel.  Love this one!

Sh*t...now I'm going to be late...haaaaaaaaaaaaa

Art Bead Scene Challenge - Some Tahiti for Your Wrist

I made some time this month to focus on a project for the Art Bead Scene Monthly Challenge.  The inspiration piece is this painting called Nave Nave Moe (Sacred Spring, Sweet Dreams) by Paul Gauguin, 1894.  According to the ABS's notes, Gauguin moved to Tahiti in the late 1800's looking for inspiration from the local culture.  This painting is an example of his work from that period.

The ABS editors pulled a palette out of the lusciously vibrant yet at the same time soft colors.  To get my own inspiration, I took a few minutes and just focused on the painting and tried to capture how it made me feel and what drew my attention the most.  I was really drawn to the red.  The spirited brightness is where I'm drawn to first, but then I noticed that I was really drawn to the red and pink together. The pink is smooth and soothing and just earthy-pretty.  The internal question for me at this point was, "uh, what about the whole cool beautiful blue and green of the fields?"  I'm realizing that since I haven't been beading all that much lately, I'm not really focusing on a favorite color or palette...think orange...but am open to different hues and combinations.  It's a little color breakthrough!  haaaaaaaaaaaa  


On that note, I went for the vibrancy of the pink and brought in the green--it's just a great complementary combination.  

As for my art beads...there are lots combined in here for a little mini wrist-gallery:


- The lampworked glass bicone focal of the group is by Catherine Steele at Art With Heart.  I found these during my Bead Soup shopping spree and I looooove them.  These are the kind of hoard-worthy beads that you put under your pillow and keep forever.
- The enameled greeny round is by Barbara Lewis of Painting With Fire.  In just two weeks I get to meet Barbara and take her enameling class up at Bead Fest Wire in Philly.  I've always been a fan of her work and got super-lucky a few months ago when I won a giveaway at Love My Art Jewelry and got the whole batch of beads that were featured on the cover of Handcrafted Jewelry in the fall.
- The enameled speckled oval is by Anne Lichtenstein of Gardanne Beads.  They're so springy!
- The lampworked glass disks are by Heather Boardman from HMB Studios.  I have tons of these in tons of colors.  They're so pretty in little piles that I like having lots of them in my stash.

All of these little works of art are combined on memory wire with rubber tubing...apparently my new favorite design...for this bangle.  There are a few Swarvoski crystals, some pink dyed wood, and some greenish seedbeads and random stones to finish balancing the color.

I've gotten lots of questions about where I get the rubber tubing.  I get it at my local bead shop, Bead Haven.  It's Beadsmith Rubber Tubing--I'm going to tell Joanne to put some out on the Bead Haven shopping site.

The rest of the monthly challenge entries are out in the ABS Flickr Group.  It's always cool to see how different people take the inspiration and run with it!  

Art Beads, Memory Wire & Rubber

I have been on an art bead high lately...that's what it's like when you go on an Etsy spree and start buying beads you don't need and then you get tons of little packages in the mail.  It's such a rush!

To help me deal with that addiction and actually give me some justification to do more "support of other artists" I finally sat down to make something.  Memory wire and rubber tubing are two of my favorite things right now.  I just love how easy it is to create something fun and dramatic so quickly.  I have two designs to share...

First, this is a springy piece in honor of the coming season.  I actually have a lot of purple and yellow beads and didn't really think about it until I started looking.  The lead bead in this batch is the etched rondelle from Cherie R. and then the others fell in line:  a disc from HMB Studios, a big rondelle from Libelula, and two shades of purple from SueBeads.  I threw in some bright yellow Swarovski crystal and some purple coils to keep things interesting.  The brown rubber tubing makes it look like leather, but then you get faked out because it just wraps around your wrist without a clasp and stays there!  

The second one has a different, more serious, vibe.  The chartreuse-based lampwork from Julsbeads gets mixed with a speckled enameled oval from GardanneBeads for the focal grouping on this one.  I used some cool heishi pearls from a recent trunk show over at Bead Haven along with black rubber tubing to fill in the blanks.  It's just the right balance of beads for a bangle.

I put these both for sale out on my Etsy site.  :)

Yes, Actually

I spent the day home sick on the couch today.  Yuck. 

But, I have something to share...another piece with the turquoise-purple-yellow color scheme.  This is a casual little necklace that I call "yes, actually" in the spirit of yes, those colors go together quite well.  There's turquoise, amethyst, and a sweety lemony quartz.  Plus, the art glass focal on this piece is a Gardanne glass bead by Anne.  The colors are all there in one bead, so I had to use it!  She puts out new beads every Wednesday and has a giveaway going on, so go check out her blog!

(It's for sale, too!) It's sold!