New jewelry

 I do make jewelry once in a while.  I got these done in time to bring to Milwaukee.  I wanted to highlight this style of bead.

 Most of the time I make beads and when they are done I see a piece of jewelry in them, very seldom do I have the idea and then go make the beads as I did with this piece.

I of course had to make earrings to go with the necklace. And just like the Saturn beads yesterday these earrings would not play nice while having their photo made.

New Earrings

Almost as soon as we get back from #thebeadandbuttonshow I have an art show to do. So while the kiln was cooling the other day I made some fun little earrings. 

Some bright colored Baubles.......

  ...........were also finished up in time to make the trip to #STITCHESSouth

 Since the Market Place opens this afternoon for the attendees I sure hope a few of you will stop by the booth and see all the new things I have made since last year in Atlanta.

The baubles of course had to have matching earrings.

Some purple necklaces.

 I made this simple little purple necklace.

 And then had to make one a bit more complicated.

And earrings to match.  All headed for #STITCHESSouth

Another necklace...........

 .............headed to Nashville for #STITCHESSouth  http://www.knittinguniverse.com/south2015

 The parts and pieces for this piece have been together on my work table for ages and ages.  I just finally took some time to make jewelry.

 I just love the soft texture the mat finish beads give the piece.  The stacked blue lampwork flower just stands out.

And of course we have earrings.

A new necklace

 I have been working this last week to make some new jewelry to take with me to Stitches South.

 I finished up this necklace and earrings to match just yesterday in time to take some pictures to show it off before heading for Nashville.

 This one does not have a name yet but some how seems to belong in my Suessology Series.  I think it  is the black with the bright colors that makes me think this.

With a big necklace I usually just make some little earrings and these cuties are all of about an inch long.

New earrings!

 I was supposed to be working last week making stitch markers when these earrings just jumped up off the table and said make me NOW!!!!!

A new crochet, glass.......

 .........mixed jewelry set.  I love these big beads ( the front ones are about an inch or maybe a little bigger around) mixed with the crochet circles.

 I think it is the smooth look of the glass with the soft fiber of the circles that intrigues me. I just had to make another collection.

 This time I used ivory with silvered ivory dots and turquoise circles.  I thought they all needed to be on the copper findings. 

 This pendant just called out to have it's picture taken twice..........

.........and of course I made earrings.

Wrap Style Treasure .................

If you are looking for the Choosy Chicks blog hop you can click here http://tanyamcguire.blogspot.com/2014/08/choosy-chicks-choose-chicklets-blog-hop.html

..............Necklaces have been popping up on my work table.   I think I have about 6 new color combinations.

 They all have mini flower beads and little surprises almost every inch.  You have to be on the look out to find................

..............the owl, or the dragonfly.

I just love the colors in the green and copper one to the back of this picture............

..............that goes with these earrings.  I think part of the love comes because I just adore these leaf beads.

I had to make some lovely flower earrings to go with the necklaces too.  All of these pieces will be with me at my next few shows. 

Lovely Fall inspired Jewelry Today

If you are looking for the Choosy Chicks blog hop you can click here http://tanyamcguire.blogspot.com/2014/08/choosy-chicks-choose-chicklets-blog-hop.html

 I love love love this amber and mineral green combo.  I have made these beads many times and I always have to make some jewelry out of them.

 This time I was aiming for enough big almost focal size beads to make one of these glass and fiber necklaces.

 I actually got carried away and made enough and then some so I still have a few on my work table.

 I couldn't help myself and made a whole series of necklaces and earrings. I made a few bracelets too but you will have to wait for another day to see those.

 I have to try and find some more of these post findings I love them so and have had them in my collection long enough I do not know where they came from.

Okay if you are getting really tired of looking at this lovely coppery goodness this is the last picture for today.  Hope you like them.  If you would however like to see them in person I will be at Stitches Midwest in Schaumburg IL this coming weekend and you can see them there.

A customers lovely work.

Look at what one of my lovely customers from Minneapolis did with a couple of the leaves that Jeff and I make.  Cricket Beebe-Byrd from CricketsCachetInc on Etsy  made these great earrings.  I love the crystals with the copper they just seem to pick up all the yummy colors.

A new necklace.

Something new.  A very long crocheted rope with some of my fancy new cone beads as the ends.  I just love how this came out as the rope is so soft and supple. I took it to Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago and everyone seemed to like it. 

Of course I had to make a pair of earrings or two to go with it.

I know everyone is trying to get ready for Thanksgiving but I wanted to give everyone a heads up about my SALE.

I was just going to run a one day buy handmade sale on Black Friday but due to my son having a route canal yesterday I have decided to run it for the entire holiday weekend.  So the coupon code is good from now until Sunday at midnight.  The coupon code BUYHANDMADE will get you a 20% discount on your order from my Etsy store.  If you have never used a coupon code on Etsy before you might want to review Etsy's help page on this https://www.etsy.com/help/article/350?ref=help_search_result

Free Tutorial on using a disc or flower bead.

So often, when we have a disc or flower lampwork bead we want them to hang where they face the front.  This tutorial is just a little trick to make them hang better and stay facing front and not flipping.

 You will need a lampwork disc bead, a headpin, 2 daisy spacers, wire cutters, and round nose pliers.  I also use a little dot of E6000 glue and a couple of size 11 seed beads.  These two things are not necessary but to me it makes a nicer finished product.

Take the head pin and put on one daisy spacer, (about 2 size 11 seed beads), the lampwork disc bead, and the second daisy spacer.  The seed beads just help to stabilize the head pin inside of the hole of the lampwork bead so you do not want any more than just fill that space.

 If you wish to use the dab of glue (E6000) that I like to use, it is placed just behind the back daisy spacer.  You want to use just a tiny amount and let it dry before going on.

 Once the glue has set, you take your round nose pliers and grip the headpin about 3/8 of and inch above the back of the daisy spacer.  I don't really measure this any more because I use the width of my fingernail.  You will want to make sure that the measurement is very close to the same if you are making earrings.

 You want to bend the head pin at a right angle.

 You are then going to make a loop.

 And wrap that loop.

 What you now have is a wrapped loop that is about 3/8 of an inch above the back of your bead.  I know this sounds like a simple thing but it is important that your loop is made and the excess wire has been clipped before going on.

 The next step is to bend the wire right at the daisy spacer making a right angle.  Or making the wire now parallel to the disc bead.  *** The biggest tip about this whole process is to make the loop and then bend the wire.  If you try to bend the wire first you can not get the wire wrapped around itself because you run into the bead. ***

 You are now ready to add ear wires if you are making earrings.

 If you want to make a pendant you will want to add a large ring into the the loop before you finish wrapping it.

 There you have it disc or flower beads used for earrings and pendants.