Just to say I am still here, and beads keep coming my way somehow so the Universe is telling me to make new things, to reinvent beading for myself, to get a grip and get beading. Everyone who reads this, have a good new year, may all of our dreams come true except one so we can continue dreaming in the year to come after this one. Life is so precious and short.

Owl eye magick

Finally a new thing to show off. I had the cab with the owl eye picture for over a year, but had no clue how to incorporate it in a pendant. It had to look owlish, and a bit, well, native American, as a power object for a strong and wise crone.
So here it is. My Owl.

More earrings...

Why those earrings, what am I thinking? Well basicall it's because I wanted to do things with rivolis. For years I did not want to use them, but once I overcame my dislike for them they are really fun to work with. These earrings are made with a different kind of bezel, which I wanted to learn and once you have bezelled a rivoli it wants to be part of something else.

Siam rivolis, spike beads (another story - I love them but they are quite a challenge) and bronze coloured rocailles. Bloody red and pointed, like my mood.

Ice and snow

Today it snowed again.
I made this brooch around a large opalite, surrounded it with all kinds of white and glistening beads, used several edging stitches. It's cold. But the next leaf I make will be green, spring will come, it will!

Tiger!

The reason I wanted to make this brooch is a sad one. The Dutch government decided to ban exotic animals from circuses. Those beautiful animals, that are NOT from the wild but come from generations of human raised animals, the ones that gave me such a shiver of delight and admiration as a child, and made me sigh with awe as an adult, are no longer part of the Dutch circus. Especially the tigers I will miss, and the incredible cooperation they have with their trainer (often the one who raised the tiger from very young, playing with it, feeding it, creating a bond of trust and love that is the base for true animal training). Circus animals are NOT wild animals. And they would not survive in the wild.
That said, here is the brooch. The tiger head comes from a toy, I added some firepolished beads of unclear origine and some swarovski crystals for good measure.

On top a mother of pearl bead, underneath a faux opal. Backed with black suede leather, base metal brooch pin finding.

And yet again, earrings...

It's so much more fun to play with rivolis than I thought! And the results are always so glamorous!
Here is another pair, I had two more emerald rivolis that needed to be used. This time embellished with small glass pearls. I really like them.

Again, earrings!

These are the evil twins of the previous pair. I love emerald green, it's such a luxurious yet dangerous colour!

Bling!

These are not exactly 'from beyond'. In fact, they're a classic. But I just wanted to make these, probably because of the holiday season and all the blingy shiny lightcatching things that go with that.

Swarovski rivolis, and lovely rose quartz briolettes. Princess earrings!

Eye and tooth.

Just finished this one yesterday! A brooch. Glass cabs, assorted seed beeds. The copper studs are beadcaps, I love them as accent beads.

And now what?

Gave away the hollow beads you find on my site, the red one and the goldish one. Started a new one, just for my own pleasure. It's going to be fab.
So back into hermit mode, away from people, gossip, messy divorces, whatever, and into my own little world where beads lock into their designated places without too much trouble.

Early spring

Sometimes a date can be connected to such different things, and the human mind, always searching for connections, reasons, explanations, gives its own story to that date. Connects concepts, ideas, emotions...
For such a complicated date I made this. Another Moon, a spring moon, new leaves and buds and the smell of growing grass and unfolding greens. A new beginning.
It's on its way to someone, so this is a bit of a sneak preview. I don't know how it will be received though.

Mother of pearl cab, seed beads, firepolished facet beads, swarovski bicones. Backed with green ultrasuede.

Spring is already happening. Spring is a state of mind.

Something quite different

For a while I tried needle tatting. Nice to do, but I don't like fabric jewellery. Still, I love the winding motifs. This pendant, with a center stone of white and gray, is a bit way off my usual beaten track but it asked for ornate. So I had this small piece of filigree lying about, and it seemed to make a nice combo. On top of the filigree I added an aventurine bead. Next to the center stone 2 swarovski crystals (yes I do have some of those, even though I generally don't like working with them) and lots of seed beads in a floral/lacey motif. Backed with suede. It needs a bail. And it's very rrrromanticcc even though the colours speak of envy and gossip and all those other bad, bad fun things that come with it. Hope you like it - the odd one out.

Sign of Life

At last a new pendant. I had a serious case of beader's block going on. Now this may not be the most brilliant thing I ever made, but she's here, she's real, and finished!

Bad picture, sorry. It seems so easy to use a phone for this sort of thing but somehow - must be old age - it never works properly.

Anyway, I'm back for a bit, and really enjoyed working on this Lady. The picture doesn't show it, but the top cab is dark mother of pearl, the middle bit is glass en below that, a cowry shell.Seed beads, both Toho and very irregular Chinese ones, because I wanted it to have a primitive feel. The green beads are aventurine. So here she is.

Still here 2

Just to let know that I haven't deserted my blog. Every now and then I check my blog to find that people from the most faraway places have come to take a look! Thank you for your visits, it's really an encouragement to try and keep on beading!
Right now I am again working on a hollow bead. It's progressing very slowly. Why? I had to restart about three times because it didn't work out. And somewhere there is a dream image of the ultimate Hollow Bead that keeps escaping me.
Family matters etc. took up a lot of my energy, but now it's summer holiday and the weather is going to get good, at last! So I hope to have something new to show you soon!

Still here...

It's been some time since I last posted on this blog. But I am still here. And still beading, though not much to show for it.
Here's a rather bad picture of a necklace I finished today. It's for my sister's birthday next Sunday. Simple materials, tigereye, seed beads and firepolished glass facet beads. I hope she'll like it.
That's all for now. On my beading tray there's another hollow bead that needs finishing. Maybe it will be ready next week.

The other Road

One project finished! That is, it needs a closure so it's off to the bead shop. But the beading part is done.
It looks very much like the other one, but has some special features :) including my first close encounter with a swarovski rivoli.
No hedgehogs on this one, but 2 Czech glass beads that are shaped like ammonite fossils (but a LOT easer to bead). Now let's hope my sister likes it. Now off to the bead shop for findings (and needles).

Too many projects

Just a short message to show I'm still there. On my beading trays I have four unfinished projects, and that's two too many. My sister saw my On the Road bracelet and loved it so much, so I am making a different version of it for her. Fortunately I had two Lucky Feet, so the road can be taken. And I was clever enough to make a new mold of the fimo moonface before I used it on the first Road bracelet so that was no problem either. But will I have it finished in time to give to her next Sunday?
Hollow beads, started a new one, but at about two thirds of the way I am not happy with the result. Great frustration on my part, I have a clear vision of what I would really want to make but it refuses to come out. So that's going to be ripping up hours of work, to start the frustration dance all over again. And then there's the hamsa pendant I started to work on. Lovely blue glass cab in the middle, the colours are OK, needs to be finished. AND two Dragon Eyes that need to be put on leather. I want to make pins of them but need to get the findings. All that and the Bollywood thing (but that can wait for a bit, the deadline is May).
So..back to the Road for now.

Red Lantern Medallion

Another medallion/hollow bead. Well, bead...it's a lot bigger than the other one. Fiery red and gold/topaz. Almost like a red Chinese lantern, to raise when passion comes along.

Medallion pendant

For a long time I have been wanting to make a bead or medallion that could contain something else. The maths of the matter held me back, but in the end proved less complicated than I thought.
Here is my first version of my medallion, just big enough to hold, say, a child's milk teeth, or a very small bit of dried herbs and resin, to name just a few possibilities. This is just a prototype, I really like to play with this design for the time being.