Porcelain Jasper Collection Additions

In the month between application due dates I continued to create bracelets for my Porcelain Jasper Collection. Some of these were items I needed to order more beads. I now have a quantity of all the beads I've used ready for special orders (except the lovely gray pearls in my truly one of a kind bracelet pictured in my January post). The items in this post are the first in the Porcelain Jasper Collection to be listed for sale in my etsy shop (see link in sidebar on the right). Other designs will follow as I photograph them for the shop.

This is a Gray Woven Bracelet which features an embellishment of hematite colored small bugle beads and tiny seed beads on top of the wrist, picot edging, blocks of delica and seed beads form the band, with a Swarovski hematite crystal button and button hole closure. The weaving pattern is mostly peyote stitch with a texture created in the change of bead type. The colors of the beads are metallic hematite and transparent gray with black background in the photograph.
 

This multi strand bracelet created of porcelain jasper round stone beads and Swarovski Vintage Rose crystal bicone beads connected by tiny Rosaline transparent seed beads has a gunmetal magnetic tube clasp closure. It was created in an average size in response to the women who liked my multi strand black pearl and crystal silver shade bracelets which I made in larger sizes only, thinking the width was more proportional to the wearer. I added a little more width to the new one and hope it may appeal to all wrist/body sizes. It is my first time using a magnetic clasp and a gunmetal one which seems to compliment the stone beads.

 

The next two items are seed bead bracelets in the same style with different color combinations which show the versatility of the colors in porcelain jasper. The hematite one emphasizes the contrast between light and dark while the pueblo sands one omits the grays for a lovely pink pastel bracelet perfect for the warmer weather I hope is coming soon! There are endless possibilities of combinations, so contact me with your preferred colors. These bracelets were made in a very small and average size, most common among my art fair customers. Suggestions for determining your size are included in the etsy shop listing.

 

The soft pinks are for a different mood, occasion and outfit. I love them both! The near center rainbow white is a subtle accent.

 

Future creations include a button bracelet in grays (I have a gorgeous large Czech vintage glass button for the closure/accent), still looking for a pink button; also aquamarine and other shades of blue items in a new collection with sapphire, cobalt, etc.

2014 Art Fair Application Creations

It is Art Fair Application time of year now. I decided to continue exploring my collection/series of porcelain jasper colors, concentrating on more wearable, less elaborate, over the top, WOW designs, i.e. ones that stand a better chance of being sold. I plan to do more items in the under $100 category before summer shows. Planning on Czech glass button bracelets and working on bead embroidered rings and whatever else the Muse creates.

A favorite seller is my dutch spiral necklace. I thought the grays in the porcelain jasper would make a more versatile item, wearable year round versus last year's creation featuring the pale vintage rose and light creamy white. The spiral transparent gray beads have an aurora borealis finish, which breaks from my natural color palette with semi precious stones.

A favorite style is the flat spiral weave which I used the round porcelain jasper stones as the core beads for this two strand bracelet. The center and edges feature Swarovski vintage rose bicone beads.

Using the flat spiral weave with the same beads but in a single strand, I created a shorter version necklace, 19 inches long including the beaded toggle bar and ring closure.

This is another two strand flat spiral bracelet which has fresh water gray pearls as the core beads, vintage rose Swarovski crystal bicone beads in the center and porcelain jasper rounds on the edges. I have previously used the pearls only on the edges of this style. I used the lighter pinks for the beaded toggle bar and ring because the pearls create a more delicate looking bracelet.

None of my porcelain jasper collection is currently listed in my Etsy shop, KRDesigns11, but you can express interest in purchasing items here on my blog or contacting me via Etsy. You can see my 2013 items on this blog starting around June 2012. My etsy shop does have similar styles of items in a variety of colors of beads. Thanks for bearing with me during my adventures of my new computer, new operating system, new software for photo editing, etc. My lack of blog posts spared you my complaints from the changes that were not of my choosing.

Look for the listing of my 2014 Art Fairs on the upper right hand column of the blog as I learn of my acceptance in the shows.

Illinois State Fair

Sign directing us to the building where the exhibition was held on the fairgrounds.

 

Photo of the display of my entry with the pink award ribbon and description card.

The Illinois State Fair is now over for 2013 and my necklace was returned unsold. If you are interested in it, please contact me in the comments.

A Month With Only One Post!

Recently I have been focusing on creating bead embroidered one of a kind jewelry using porcelain jasper cabochons. I wanted to use as much material as I could that was made in the USA. I decided to expand the area to North America when I saw the porcelain jasper is from Mexico. I live in a city which has a large Hispanic population, I eat lots of fruits and vegetables grown there, and it seemed natural to include my neighbor. I have also purchased cabochons from Canada, neighbor to the north, which are not necessarily natural to the USA.

Purchasing metal findings components made in the USA is easy from RioGrande. I recommend you request paper catalogues from them if you are able to purchase wholesale. The catalogues/website are great for browsing and learning. Their website has many tutorials, the company uses solar power, and it is easy to see which items are green.

The Evanston Art Center invited me to submit four pieces of my work for their 21st Evanston and Vicinity Biennial Art Show. I am grateful for this nudge back to the jewelry creation side of my business. The technology side of business is constantly changing which requires more time and energy learning more things, none of which bring in customers. I am grateful the Monday deadline was extended a week; I am able to do more elaborate items during the added week. Instead of a pin, I have designed a wide cuff bracelet with a porcelain jasper cabochon focal, side cabochons with about half the bracelet bead embroidered. The ends are bead woven with a button hole opening for a stone button. And it is in some of my favorite colors to wear, pinks and greys, so you know some of the items are in my size. If I am not accepted for the show, I will be wearing some of these items at my first Art Fair in mid July.

On the technology side, I have decided to watermark my photos. From personal experiences, I am aware that some think it is okay to copy my work, tell others how to make my items, and to post my photos without my knowledge/name associated with it (etsy.com is given credit for the photo). As I struggled with this issue, I have not posted any new items on the internet.

I am adding cabs of a purple/white stone from Utah to my inventory. Looking forward to creating a series of jewelry with them. Back to the bead work.

New Pictures

The top photo is a bracelet I created for the July Secret Garden Challenge of the Etsy Beadweaver's Team. I was running out of beads for the base of the bracelet and had difficulty finding a new supply. So I put it aside for a while. Then I realized I didn't have a gold filled three strand clasp. After that the Muse abandoned me. I knew I wanted a lacy edge but only had delica beads and I usually use smaller charlottes or size 15 seed beads. After a time I settled on using the delica beads, but wanted smaller 24 kt gold plate tiny seeds; I went into shock at their price! Got the best price available (almost $20 for a little tube of beads) and proceeded to finish it, not realizing I made a pattern with the transparent pink and blue beads! Guess the Muse had her own plan!

The other two bracelets are my traditional right angle weave bracelets done in Swarovski white pearls which I always pair with silver. One has Swarovski crystal ab bicones with the pearls.

These bracelets need the black background, and I will be making a better prop to pose them on. Still working on the lighting, too. There are some light sapphire bracelets and a peach bracelet and earrings that are at the photo editing stage. Light sapphire is one of the "colors" for December birthdays, so they will be added to my shop soon.

I've got a Black Friday Etsy special on some of my items going on at least thru Monday. Other specials will follow.

Lapis Blue

The change from daylight savings time in the fall always makes me a little blue which inspired me to list this cuff bracelet and earrings in my etsy shop and to share them here. I will be adding more blue items in my shop.

I love lapis blue, cobalt blue, sapphire blue, any shade of blue. I think it is the favorite color of most people. These items are bead woven in right angle weave, with the earrings in circular right angle weave. It was quite a trick to get the beads on both sides of the base; I bent and broke more than a few needles. I just needed to make the base a little larger and then fill in with tiny seed beads to hide the spaces between the beads. The cuff has size 15 charlotte lacy edging on it, my favorite part to do. I wish I made it smaller -- it fits a 7.5 inch wrist, not mine! Somewhere there is a woman who is the perfect fit for this cuff bracelet. Are you that person?

Right angle weave

Thanks for the comments. Welcome new follower and all. The banner is a free form peyote bracelet I made inspired by a seed bead mix called lilacs in springtime. I loved lilacs in my Grandmother's back yard. I have a new memory card for my camera, but Photoshop Elements is not working the way it used to so maybe I should send it to bed without any potato chips as a bedtime snack!

It is only fair to let you know I didn't make the bracelets posted a couple days ago immediately after reading Jeannette Cook's Beadwork article. My first multiple row right angle weave bracelet was made with Miyuki size 11 beads with two beads on a side and has 5 rows. The next bracelet I used delicas because I felt comfortable with the stitch. I have photos of the front and back of the bracelet to show here. I will list it for sale in my shop, http://KRDesigns11.etsy.com/

I used Czech size 4 mm rounds in a clear green to match the minty green seed beads. I had some vintage beads which I put down the middle row using a white opaque seed bead to stitch each bead on. These beads are larger than the right angle weave space so the bracelet isn't flat on the bottom, but it does lay flat on my wrist. If you made a bracelet using only the 4 mm Czech rounds, you won't have this issue. The closure is a peyote stitch bar and loop toggle, but you could sew on (with beads) a metal clasp.

Let me know how your bracelet turns out if you decide to try it. I love right angle stitch. You can practice getting the sides even; it's easier to do than peyote stitch. Unless you do two needle right angle stitch.

More on Right Angle Weave Bead Weaving Stitch

I searched for the photos of bracelets I made inspired by the Beadwork Magazine article written by Jeannette Cook which I used to learn right angle weave multiple rows. If you haven't looked at her work or found the article with pictures, she created a painting with crystals on a base of right angle weave. I also learned how to leave space open for a button hole.

The two scenes I decided to create were based on Monet Waterlilies and a Sunset. I'm going to let the pictures be the post. The photographs show the front which is crystals; the back is 12 x 50 rows of right angle weave using Miyuki delica beads with 2 size 11 beads on a side. That's almost 600 Swarovski 4 mm bicones. The button on Sunset is seed beads in peyote in the round.

Jeannette Cook's article inspired me. See my previous post for her shop url.

Right Angle Weave Stitch

Today I finished a Night Blue Swarovski pearl bracelet done in right angle weave stitch. It has hematite color size 15 charlotte seed beads connecting the pearls. Swarovski makes great glass pearls; freshwater ones and Chinese glass pearls often have tiny holes and excess coating on the hole ends. This makes for not a fun experience--picture me with my awl trying to get the holes larger.

Charlottes are seed beads with one side sliced off to give it a facet and more sparkle. These are very small beads. I often use the same style clasp in my work unless it is an artsy piece when the closure is usually a beaded one. Using the same clasp means I can order multiples and save money on the purchase price of each.

I like right angle weave stitch a lot and this style seems to be more popular and affordable than my one of a kind projects. I will take the blue one to the Illinois Artisan Shop in the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago. I have a photo of a white pearl with silver charlottes and a sterling silver toggle clasp that I will put in this blog. I can either keep my commitment to myself to blog daily or take a photo of the blue one.

I am grateful to Jeannette Cook for her article in Beadwork Magazine teaching right angle stitch. If you want some eye candy, check her out. She has kits and instructions for sale. http://beadyeyedwomen.com/

Tomorrow I will post pictures of the bracelets I made inspired by her article.

Thanks to my first two followers from etsy. I learned how to "heart" a shop and to become a follower on a blog.