FusionBeads - Chained #2

So, last week I showed you two pieces I made with chain I was sent from FusionBeads as a part of the FusionBeads Affiliate Blog Partner Program that they started a couple a months ago. Here's the link to that previous post of mine.

Now it's time for part 2 of this month's reveal. And I have made another necklace and a bracelet.

First the long necklace where I used the twisted chain, with wire wrapped large round beads distributed evenly along the chain and with large gaps. Two colors, and perfectly mirrored sides.

Green semi-translucent marbled lucite 18mm rounds. White carved 16mm rounds, that I can't remember what they are. I bought them ages ago before I had a good system for keeping track of all my purchases. The word jade pops upon in my head, but ... I don't know. Two ceramic pods for a pendant. The green one is by Marsha Neal and the white one by Birgitta Lejonklou. A brass colored ball with a hank sits at the back to balance the weight.

I didn't manage to take a good photo where you can see the whole necklace laid out, or one where it sits on, when I took the photos earlier today. I might give it a go again tomorrow just to give you an idea of the proportions and the length. It reaches all the way down to the tummy.

Now the bracelet.

I used green colored/patinated metal parts by MissFickleMedia. And Rayon gimp cording to tie everything together. A somewhat unusual solution maybe, but that I am very pleased with it. The rayon gimp knots creates a nice effect against all the metal, gives another texture softer and kind of satin feeling, and it adds just a little bit more color too. I've secured the knots with glue and the cord ends with fray check. Two strands of the etched chain from FusionBeads.

The chains used in the pieces above were provided as part of the FusionBeads Affiliate Blog Partner Program. The author of this blog has not received any payment from above-mentioned company. The post above represents only personal opinion of the blog author.

All my best,

Malin

Three casual bracelets and a little bit of pride :-)

Macrame with blue-grey waxed cotton cord and selection of glass and semiprecious stones in different colors. I made this one with a particular friend in mind. She can't wear any metal at all against her skin. I hope she will like it.

Macrame with orange waxed linen cord and a selection of glass, semi-precious stones, brass beads and three white ceramic beads by Gaea.

Here's a better photograph of the bracelet I wrote about in my previous post. Ceramic hank button made by Birgitta Lejonklou of AngelWhisperer, and a selection of rustic trade glass beads, semi-precious stones and natural material beads strung on beading wire.

Now check this out

The other day I got one of the nicest compliments ever. I am so proud (do you say you are proud as a cock/rooster in English?), and at the same time I blush. But my pride wins and I just have to share with you. Rebecca Anderson of SongBeads wrote (and this is just a cut-out from the whole post):

My 2012 jewellery resolution is to be more adventurous with colour. I so often stick to monochromatic colour schemes (or turquoise and red of course...!) and whilst i do love them, and the textural possibilities they offer, I want to branch out. Two people who I really admire for their colour choices are Malin and Lorelei. They put things together in such a beautiful way.

Thank you so much Rebecca! By the way, I don't really agree with you about you working mainly monochromatic, but maybe that's just me. I myself really really love to play around with and combine colors. And I here and there read about people struggling with color in one way or another. So I got this idea that I could write a post, or a few, on the topic of color theory and my own personal experiences and thoughts on working with color. It is a large topic, and I also have a few other ideas in pipeline for posts here on my blog, to be written during the next half a year or so. So we'll see when and if I get around actually doing it. I also have some kind of still very vague idea that it might work to make the post/posts about color in the form of vlog/vlogs. Any suggestions from you on these posts, I would gladly receive.

And as I mention suggestions, I am also interested in hearing if you have any ideas on what I could bring up at my next Swedish lesson. I haven't done one of those in a while now, and it's about time I think.

Please leave your comments, and I wish you all my best,

Malin

:-)

Coinciding color schemes and magical connections?

Last week I bought a gorgeous Sea Fossil focal bead in ceramic from Birgitta Lejonklou. And I got some extra goodies with the parcel. Thank you so much Birgitta! One of the goodies was the button which I immediately wanted to use in a bracelet. So yesterday I pulled together a soup of beads, which you can see the remains of in the box. Today I had literally just finished off the bracelet only about 30 minutes before Mark came home and had picked up the post. In it was a package from Keirsten Giles, with an awesomely yummy mix of beads of which you see about less than half here, in the piles on the surface. (It's part of a little friendly exchange we currently are pursuing.) I love what you sent me Keirsten. Thank you so much!

(Sorry for the bad photo quality. It is evening here now and I took the picture in electrical light.)

I love it when patterns and colors happen to coincide like this. From far away and near, and now there is just a wonderful connection between the three of us. Birgitta, Keirsten and Malin - BKM. At least that is how I feel. Sort of magical in a lovely way. Even if I don't believe in such things myself really. Keirsten doesn't either ... or that's what I think at least (based just on my own general perception of her/you, sorry if I am mistaken Keirsten). But Birgitta does :-). She even works conciously with things to do with the spiritual world. So perhaps this is all her doing ... or ... ? (Is it, Birgitta?)

Anyway, coincidence or not, it has certainly added an extra dimension to my day today. I think about if Birgitta and Keirsten was packing their parcels at the exact same time, or? Which is very likely in fact. And also, how come I was so inspired to firstly use that particular button out of Birgittas goodies? And how come I did put together the soup I did? In that color scheme. I gotta name that bracelet something along the lines of Three Graces or something. BKM Magic.

And what do YOU think about it all?

A new Bracelet

• Polymer Clay branch disk bead by Heather Powers, HumbleBeads, the Bead of the Month Club.
• Teal round gemstones, I don't know what they are, maybe some kind of agate. A part of a wonderful surprise gift that arrived last week, from Jenny of Shyme Design . Thank you so much Jenny!
• Caribbean Sea aqua blue facetted glass roundels, also from Jenny.
• Big white potato pearls, possibly they were a gift from Birgitta Lejonklou late last year.
• Hydro grossular Garnet rounds from StarEyes.se
• Brushed copper rounds
• Magnetic ball clasp, copper

Please, if you feel like it, help me by suggesting a suitable name for it. No price to win, just my gratitude :-). Here are a few brainstorm words to set you off: Caribbean, best friends forever, friends, ocean, branch, teal, aqua, pool, Florida, lime, and so on to whatever you come to think of when you see it.

All my best,

Malin

Bead Table Tuesday + Face Down Tuesday

I told you in the comments of yesterday's post that I last night had started on a necklace with Claire Maunsell's (StillPointWorks) polymer clay beads. Here it is, still under construction. The wonderful chain in oxidized brass I got from Birgitta Lejonklou. There is also black matte glass rounds. It will end up a looong necklace without a clasp.

Face-Down Tuesday with me and my daughter Arabella. I have a temperature ... again :-( so what you see is me using the ear-thermometer. It wasn't all that easy using it face down to be honest. 38,4° Celsius on that particular meassurement.

Arabella wanted to join in with her cuddly toys Iananan (the teddy) and Lisa (the sheep).

The story behind Iananan's somewhat odd name is that when Conrad was born he and we got many cuddly toys, so to help us keep track of who had given which teddy we named each one after the giver. That really big teddy was given by Ian, Marks step brother in England, when Conrad was about one years old. But Conrad just couldn't manage to say his name properly ... So that's the name that stuck in the end.

Revealing - The Lejonklou and de Koning Challenge #3

Part three of mine and Birgittas challenge was to make a chain necklace containing parts from this soup of beads. Ingridients had to be: something pink, something white, something black, some chain and at least one inch of the silk ribbon.

I have to admit that this one was really difficult for me. Something about the colour combination and the surfaces that is not really me. But it has been a very good experience because of that. I figured out that I don't like it when all parts are very shiny, or when the colours are very contrasty. I have tried many different concepts, before I settled on this one. I think it turned out nicely in the end, if I may say so myself. I did not use all of the beads or components that Birgitta sent. But you will see the white coral rondelle together with a black flower beadcap being used as a clasp, and one of the black rondelles as one of the dangles too. Of course the pale lilac silk ribbon and one of the nicely patinated chains from Birgitta. I have also used some pearls, rounds and facetted black glass.

I added from my own stash: a white silk ribbon, copper parts and beads, various bead caps and some facetted pink opal gemstones. And headpins and wire. The bead caps was a consious decision to experiment with. I hardly ever use them myself, but so often I see others using them in a way that really helps lifting the beads and the design.

Something about this necklace made me start to sing "Aquarius" from Hair. I wanted to name it something to do with astrology, but nothing suited I thought, so it ended up being Astrid, a Swedish female name I find very feminine and beautiful.

Visit Birgitta Lejonklou's Blog to see what she did.

The Male Piece - part 1 of the Lejonklou and de Koning challenge

Hello there, I was supposed to post my male jewellery today Wednesday. However it has been slightly delayed (due to health reasons). I hope to be able to make it tomorrow, photograph it and post it in the evening.

Until then I recommend you to go to Birgitta Lejonklou's Blog and see her wonderful contribution. Hurry now!

This is the Lejonklou and de Koning challenge:

1. Male jewellery - one piece. To be presented Wednesday 27th of October.
2. Party Necklace (think Christmas and/or New Years'). Made with beads picked by Malin de Koning from her own stash, and divided into two piles with the same beads in them. See which ones I picked here. Other beads or parts can be added, but the beads chosen has to be included. To be presented Wednesday 3rd of November.
3. Chain Necklace. Made with beads picked by Birgitta Lejonklou from her own stash, and divided into two piles with the same beads in them. See which ones she picked here. We have to use something black, something pink, something white, chain and silk (at least one inch). If it ends up being a lot of beads or lots of chain is a free choice. To be presented Wednesday 10th of November.

See you tomorrow!

The Lejonklou and de Koning Challenge

Lucky me! I have a new beading buddy - Birgitta Lejonklou, a Swedish lady who makes absolutely wonderful jewellery, check her beautiful stuff at these three places: Etsy, Website and Blog. I strongly recommend it. You will be VERY inspired.

We got in contact thanks to Lorelei's Michael's Challenge, which we both participated in. Thank you Lorelei! And now we have been mailing every day since. Yesterday we decided to have our own personal challenge just between the two of us. We settled on this set up, in three parts:

1. I pick out 2 piles of the same beads from my own stash for a "party piece" of jewellery (think christmas or new years). I send one of the piles to Birgitta. We make a piece each on the theme including the chosen beads, and present it on our blogs.
2. Birgitta picks 2 piles of the same beads and a chain/chains for a "chain necklace". She sends me one of the piles. Same as for the "party piece".
3. We shall make a piece of man's jewellery and present on Wednesday this week. We both find male jewellery difficult ... so it is a real challenge for both of us. And we chose a short deadline for this one to push ourselves.

Just realized we haven't decided on a deadline for piece 1 and 2 yet. I'll have to get back on that.

So today I picked these beads from my excisting stash, and I managed to get two exactly the same piles. Tomorrow I will send them to Birgitta.

2 Chrysophrase diagonally drilled wavy squares 20mm

1 square 20mm green facetted green glass sparkly Swarowsky style (or is it Swarowsky? I don't know.)

34 white Mother-of-Pearl rounds

9 white Mother-of-Pearl teardrops top drilled

4 white Mother-of-Pearl diagonally drilled squares

3 jade teardrops top drilled

2 Cloisonne rice fluted beads goldy, white and a dash of red

2 pale green pearly rounds

4 green faceted large glass beads

1 circular toggle clasp in gold colour

5 Swarowsky bicones

1 small beige picasso faceted glass rondelle

1 green and black picasso faceted glass rondelle

1 green Dupioni Silk ribbon 50 mm wide, 46 cm long (it could be cut into two thinner ribbons)

I am so much looking forward to see what Birgitta will send me. And I think I have a vague idea about what I will do for the man's jewellery. Please get back on Wednesday to see it.

All my best,

Malin