Tower of Felt: Textile Bracelet No. 48 Pink

This tower of felt features five different felt cuffs made of wool, silk, mohair and sparkle fibers.  I made them using a technique I developed that I call felted lace. 

The latest felt bracelet (No. 48) is made with pink and orange wool, mohair, and I also added a bunch of silk in orange, burgundy, and red.  It's maybe a third silk which makes it extra soft and gives the colors a luminous quality that is difficult to capture in a photo.  The colors are rich like fire.

The pink one really plays nice with the other felted lace bracelets I've made.  Here you can see it with a purple one. They are big, soft, bold and comfortable.

 

I think these three make a nice "pair." Think of it as cozy jewelery for winter wear.  

The white one can be worn as either a bracelet or a little crown on top of the head.

 

Thanks for looking!

Beaded Lace Adventure Necklace No. 2

Last time I reported on the Beaded Lace Adventure, I showed some beaded motifs from my latest tutorial, Eucalyptus Leaves.  Today, I have the complete collar to share with you that uses a bunch of those motifs. 

Eucalyptus Leaves is a two-for-one pattern that shows how to make a bracelet as well as the Eucalyptus Clover, which was the basis for this collar.  The top edge of this collar is composed of nine eucalyptus clovers in bronze, silver, black and matte gray seed beads.

I also used nine beaded lace flowers with 3 petals and eight pieces of beaded lace swags on the bottom edge. Swarovski pearls in cream connect the various motifs.

I have to admit, I'm thrilled with the drape of this piece.  It fits perfectly at that place where the base of the neck meets the top of the collarbone.  Considering how heavy it is, this collar is remarkably comfortable.  I used gold filled chain, lobster clasps, and jumprings to make the clasp adjustable for a perfect fit.  Actually, it didn't really want to lie flat for the photos where I laid it flat on the table because it's not designed to be flat. But since it's lace, it will stretch and compress to fit.  That's what all of those holes are good for!

This Beaded Lace Adventure Necklace No.2 is for sale in my Etsy shop.  Thanks for looking.  Happy holidays.

Free Tutorial - Holly Leaf & Berry Earrings

Here's a free tutorial for Holly Leaf & Berry Earrings (PDF).  It's my way of wishing you a very happy holidays. 

Enjoy!

Holly Leaf Earrings

Late last night, after a couple of tries, I worked out a design for a tiny seed beaded holly leaf. Today, I got the illustrations drawn, and next, I'm working on a pair of earrings with red crystals for the berries. The design is quick and easy. So, look out for a free tutorial on holly earrings from me later this week. It's going to be my little Christmas gift to all of you bead weavers out there so you'll have something seasonally appropriate to wear to all of those holiday parties that I hope you'll attend.  

Here's the first earring.  It took a couple of tries to get the berries as I wanted them, but now I'm happy with it.  Thanks for looking!

Update: the tutorial is now available here: http://gwenbeads.blogspot.com/2013/12/free-tutorial-holly-leaf-berry-earrings.html

Eucalyptus Leaves Bracelet: Part 5 of the Beaded Lace Adventure

It's been a couple weeks since I reported on the Beaded Lace Adventure, and during that time, I've given a lot of thanks, ate a lot of delicious food with my friends and family, and managed to finish one new tutorial.  I hope you'll think it's a good one.  This is Part 5 of the beaded lace adventure, which I call Eucalyptus Leaves.  Eucalyptus is a two-for-one pattern which shows how to make this bracelet,

as well as the Eucalyptus Clover, a four-petaled design that plays well with the other lace motifs in the adventure. It's like the four-petaled flower from Part 2, but bigger and more elaborate.  A bunch of them in a row makes a nice band for a collar or bracelet.

In fact, I will use most of these clovers in the collar I am currently stitching, which I'll share when it's finished.  In the mean time, here are some of the designs I've been playing with, and the tutorial includes a few more to inspire you to make one for yourself. 

Here you can see what the eucalyptus vine looks like in black. I think looks like some mod black lace from the 1950s, super chic.  I should probably finish this bracelet, but I'd rather work on the collar because it's bigger and more elaborate.  

The eucalyptus tutorial even includes a few lacy snowflake designs like this one.  How pretty would this be hanging in a window, twinkling when the sun shines on it, and lacy when the sun shines through it.  

 

To conclude this post, I'm thrilled to share the work of a fellow beading blogger... From a companion on the Adventure, here is bead work by Tanya of Pixiloo.  

She made this beautiful necklace using my Beaded Lace Swags tutorial.  I love how she stacked two different swag designs, and added pink daggers to make such a lovely necklace.  The colors she chose look very antique to me.  I like it. Can I tell you, I am so exited to have someone joining me on this adventure, because I think the possibilities are huge and potentially gorgeous (like Tanya's necklace here), and Tanya promised to make more beaded lace!  So I'm waiting patiently for that.   Tanya also wrote a nice review of the Beaded Lace Adventure on her blog, and for that I am thankful.  And for you reading my blog, too. Thanks for looking.  

Lotus Drop Earrings

These beaded earrings feature little fan dangles in the shape of lotus flowers. They are woven with purple and bronze glass seed beads and Swarovski crystal in hot pink, and creamy pearl. All of the metal is sterling silver. They are fancy enough to be noticed, yet still casual enough for day wear.

These are medium sized earrings, and the beaded beads have a ton of detail for their size.
Length of earrings from top of ear wire is 37 mm (1 3/8 inches).

I have a tutorial available if you would like to learn how to make you own Lotus Drop Earrings. Thanks for looking!