Geek Jewels: Donna Noble

The first design in my new challenge series was a quick project that I couldn’t wait to start. When I decided to start a new series inspired by my favorite nerdy themes, the very first inspiration that came to mind was my favorite Doctor Who companion, Donna Noble.

Donna was one of the toughest and funniest of all the ladies to travel with the Doctor. She was my favorite right from the start, and continued to be awesome right until the sad, irreversible end. Donna was incredibly stylish, and often rocked lovely gray and purple ensembles to compliment her ginger locks. It was this palette that I wanted to use for my inspiration, which would prove to be the biggest challenge. An overall design was easy to envision – most of her best outfits included a big pendant or opera length necklace.

I started by pulling out every single gray and purple bead that I had in my stash, just to see what my options were. While I was sorting, I spotted a recycled bottle glass pendant that I thought might come in handy. Sure enough, it was a perfect fit to outline a pretty gray shell butterfly. All I needed to do was add some chain.

I stitched up a quick St. Petersburge chain with white-lined black and purple-lined Rosaline, then suspended the bottle pendant from the chain, and the butterfly from the pendant. The double loop on the butterfly helps to keep the chains in place, and everything looks as sharp as the best temp in Chiswick.

So the first design in the new series is complete, and I’m pretty happy with the result. I have lots of other character inspired designs in mind, and I’m working on a list of some even more obvious inspirations that my fellow geeks should enjoy.

Are you a Whovian? Who’s your favorite companion?

Mortira

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Copyright 2015 Inspirational Beading

Halloween Skull Pendant

I’ve made a bit of a tradition of whipping up a simple necklace to go with my Hallowe'en costumes each year - which gives me a chance to make a little something for myself, while trying out techniques or materials that I wouldn’t normally use. Last year’s rifle pendant is still my favorite, although I lost the necklace somewhere. I’m still pretty annoyed about that, but I made up for it a little by throwing together an old daisy chain with another toy gun just in case I’m in the mood to wear it.

This year’s necklace was quick and easy to stitch up, especially because I had just the right focal waiting, as luck would have it. Months ago we were set on going as The Doctor and Donna Noble from Doctor Who, but changed our minds. My son decided on Pinocchio from Shrek, leaving me with a tough choice to make. I toyed with a lot of different ideas, until I realized that all of them required wearing a skirt or dress. I was running out of time when one of my favorite YouTube channels, albinwonderland, posted a tutorial for skull makeup.

When I realized that I could just paint my face and wear whatever I wanted, everything else fell into place. I decided to go a little more scary than posh, and thought it would be easiest if I told people that I was going as a lich. That meant I needed a phylactery – a magical object to store one’s undead soul. And I just happened to have a Swarovski crystal skull hanging around to do the job.

I didn’t manage to get a good photo until the end of festivities, when most of my makeup was smudged, but I think it turned out great. We had a fantastic Hallowe'en, and now I’ve got another great necklace for my stash.

Do you like to dress up for Hallowe'en? What did you go as this year?

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Work in Progress: Crystal Phylactery

At last I have a project in progress that isn’t too secret to share! This week I’m taking a quick break from my big project to make a necklace for this year’s Halloween costume, and it’s going to be awesome.

I picked up one of the new Swarovski Elements crystal skulls a while back, mostly just so that I could see one up close. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, and it’s been sitting in my glass bead box for ages, not being inspiring. So it was very exciting when I decided to go as a lich for Halloween this year, and needed something spooky to make a pendant with. What better jewel to hold a sorcerer’s soul than a crystal skull?

I’m making a short chain with red-trimmed St. Petersburg stitch. I want the necklace to fit like a choker, so it’ll be very quick to whip up. So far I’m loving the look of the ruby beads along the edge. They’ll definitely stand out!

What are you making this week?

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The Bead Tray is Back in Business

It’s good to be back! I recently wrapped up some really incredible custom work that’s been keeping me busy over the past few weeks. Now that things are back to normal, I have a lot of catching up to do. This means more posts to come soon, as well as new jewelry designs in the near future.

Before I can get back to the Egyptian Gods challenge, I’ve got to play catch up on my inventory prep for this year’s craft fair. I’ve got about two weeks to make oodles of rings and bracelets, so I’m going all out for the next several days.

I’ve also had to make some changes to my plans for the remaining Egyptian Gods pieces. I was planning to make a new collar for Ra this month, but I’m going to put it on hold until I get a few other designs out of the way first. I’d like to have at least one more chevron lariat, and Set is looking like a great source of inspiration.

What are you working on this week?

Copyright 2013 Inspirational Beading
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Ankh and Feather Pendant

No matter how much experience we have with our beads and color palettes, sometimes when a new design is started, we just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best. Even when the first few inches of beadwork look great, a finished piece can fall flat. Sometimes a sample that looks mediocre becomes an amazing design.

I was determined to use a dual palette of elemental colors with black and white accents for my Ma’at pendant, but I had a feeling that it wouldn’t look so great in the finished design. I chose olive for earth, aqua for water, red for fire, and royal blue for water. They looked great together on the hanks with black and white for accents, but had yet to be proven in the design. Furthermore, the trouble with double St. Petersburg chain is that you have to wait quite a while before seeing how the final pattern will look. Whenever I have doubts, I usually start the second row of stitches after finishing the first thread, just be sure that everything will look alright. Even though I used this precaution with Ma’at’s necklace, I still wasn’t sure how I’d like it in the end.

Once both chains were connected and the bone ankh pendant was on, I was relieved to find that the palette and pattern were just as good as I had hoped. Ma’at is all about balance and harmony, and I like the way the colors enhance the feathery look of St. Petersburg chain, and play well with each other.

Finishing this necklace was a little tricky, because I didn’t factor in bead sizes when decided which color to start with. The olive green seed beads have tiny holes, and when it came time to zip the first rows together, I ended up having to switch to a size 13 needle just to get the job done. Luckily, I didn’t break a needle in the process!

Copyright 2013 Inspirational Beading
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Work in Progress: Pendant of Balance

At one time or another, most beaders are a bit guilty of hoarding. Sometimes we have beads that we hold on to for years, perhaps waiting for the right inspiration, or maybe they’re just too precious to use. Occasionally, bead hoarding pays off, when a design idea comes along that wouldn’t have been possible without those pieces that have been kept under glass.

For the past several months, I’ve been wanting to use my last bone ankh pendant for a side project, but I kept putting it off, thinking that perhaps it would come in handy during this year’s challenge. I didn’t want to risk being without it should a project come along that wouldn’t be the same without an ankh. This week, that project is on the bead tray.

When designing a necklace for Ma'at, the goddess of truth and balance, I decided to go for a feathery St. Petersburg chain. At first, I thought about revisiting the scalloped variation with another turquoise wedge focal, but the loops of beads would obscure the feathery look of the chain. Ma'at was sometimes shown offering the Breath of Life by holding an ankh to the lips of the pharaoh, so a simple pendant was the way to go. I created a palette to represent the elements, and things are well under way.

Last week’s moon collar is finished. I’m very happy with the final palette, although a mistier shade of blue would have been ideal.

What are you working on this week?

Copyright 2013 Inspirational Beading
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River God Lariat

Sometimes, no matter how much time we spend working on an idea, projects can completely get away from us, with unexpected results. When the finished piece is a disaster, we can at least chalk it all up to experience, but it’s always a relief when a design turns out well.

My latest Egyptian Gods design went through many transformations. At first, I wanted to do something collar-shaped, but I couldn’t come up with a design that would incorporate all of the leafy elements and beaded flower beads I wanted for the god of flooding and fertility. Then I mixed up some 8/o seed beads in blue, green, black and brown to use in a spiral rope, and it turned out hideous. Finally, I decided on St. Petersburg chain and got to work.

When it came time to make the fringe, I struggled again with execution. It would have been easy to incorporate all of the beaded flowers I had made into looped tassels, but I wanted more leaves and lots of texture. What I ended up with - simple chains with leafy fringe - didn’t exactly live up to my expectations, but it did work well with the rest of the design.

In the end, I can’t say that I’m totally thrilled with how Hapi’s necklace came out, but I’m not disappointed, either. The necklace does look great, especially when I step back and try to forget some of my original ideas.

Copyright 2013 Inspirational Beading
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Work in Progress: Nile Lariat

Ever since entering a UFO necklace in the last Ugly Necklace Contest, I’ve found that it’s much easier to let go of designs that aren’t working, even if I’ve already invested a lot of time and thread. Before, it was difficult to admit that it was time to start over, especially with the idea of frogging something - or rather the guilt of not frogging it - looming over the project. Now I almost look forward to having a lot of beadwork scraps to fuse together at the end of the year. It's a rather refreshing retreat.

This week I’m way behind on a new Egyptian Gods necklace, because after giving my original idea a fair shot it didn't really deserve, I had to start over.

I created a custom mix of 8/o seed beads specifically for accents in a spiral rope, mixing up the dregs of several blue, green, brown, and black packets. There are far too many colors to bother sorting them back out, so I was pretty determined to make my idea work and use up the mix. I tried switching the rope colors to get a color blocked look and see how it worked, but the fact remained that the beadwork was very…inelegant. I stewed and pondered for awhile, and finally decided on double St. Petersburg chain with stripes, which would make use of the 'river' mix and the other seed bead colors I’d chosen.

The new necklace chain not only looks better, but it has a more water-inspired appearance, which is perfect. When finished, it will also include some beaded flowers and papyrus reeds in tribute to the Egyptian god of inundation. All of the components are already complete, although I may have to go back and replace the lime green papyrus with emerald - I think the color may look too cute against the opaque blues of the chain.

Last week’s jewelry projects are complete - although the pendants are still waiting for their cords. I would like to keep taking these short ring and pendant breaks whenever possible, assuming that I can catch up on my gods list and leave a little room in my schedule. I’m about half way to my deadline, but still have a lot of deities to go.

Copyright 2013 Inspirational Beading
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Sun Disk Pendant

Throughout all the beading challenges I‘ve done, there have been many projects that required lots of planning and tweaking to get the right blend of inspiration and technique. Once in awhile, a project comes along that’s quite simply a no-brainer. The techniques needed to achieve a certain look are ready and waiting to be unleashed.

So it went with the latest Egyptian gods piece. I needed a way to capture the image of Akhenaten’s Aten - a sun disk with rays of light ending in hands. This is the way that the sun god was always depicted during his brief time as the one true god, with cupped hands shown in profile, sometimes holding an ankh for the king.

I didn’t have to look far for the perfect stitches to get this look. Circular brick stitch and branch fringe would do the trick. All I needed to decide on was a palette. I gathered up several shades of transparent and lined reds for the sun disk. For the necklace straps, I also added some bone white and black.

I think the simplicity of this necklace is perfect for the short lived cult of Aten. My only regret is that I didn’t have any golden yellow to use in place of the bone white, but I’m still really pleased with how the St. Petersburg chain straps turned out.

Copyright 2013 Inspirational Beading
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Horizon Fringe Necklace

Have you ever fallen in love with a bead twice? It doesn’t happen very often, but once in awhile a bead that looks amazing on the strand or in the package can wow you even more when you use it in a design. Earlier this year, I took a chance on some interesting turquoise Czech beads, with an odd diamond wedge shape. The color was perfect for my designs, and the shape seemed intriguing - a bit of a challenger perhaps, but with lots of potential.

When I sat down to work out a design for the Egyptian horizon god Aker, I needed two accents to represent lion heads. Since my seed bead palette already included turquoise, I grabbed two of my new wedge beads and got to work. The idea was to make a V-shaped St. Petersburg chain with fringe embellishment, and place a pair of beads opposite each other, just above the center point.

After getting started on the base beadwork, and thinking things over a bit, I realized that these diamond beads would look awkward and clunky in my design, so I decided to leave them out and use loops of topaz instead - much more fitting for a lion god. It wasn’t until I started the final assembly that I realized a single turquoise bead would make the perfect focal. Not only was it just the right size, but the unique shape of the beads tucked right into the loops of seed beads.

The design worked out so well, that now I’m worried I’ll never find another way to use the turquoise wedges with the same satisfaction. I’m sure I’ll repeat this design again, with some different color choices, but a whole strand of beads could last a long time!

Copyright 2013 Inspirational Beading
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Time Capsule: March 2010

Three years ago this month, I tried a new necklace design that is a definite favorite to this day. There is so much trial and error when it comes to trying out new beading techniques; so when something sticks, it’s a big moment. I was pretty impressed with how the design turned out at the time, but I had no idea how often it would come up again.

The simple solution of stitching a front-drilled tagua slice to some St. Petersburg chain has become a go-to technique for all kinds of pendants. I love the way that the V-shaped beadwork provides just enough space for a pendant, and makes it easy to complement a focal with little fuss. Layering more than one pendant makes for even more possibilities.

Often when I’m faced with a beading challenge that involves finding metal-free ways to use common materials, it doesn’t turn out as nice as I would like, but this necklace was a total success, that lead to many more design ideas.

Do you have a favorite eureka moment in beading?

Copyright 2013 Inspirational Beading
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Falcon Feather Amulet

For the latest piece in my Egyptian Gods series, I took some inspiration from Horus the falcon. Although I do love the look of the Wedjat Eye, I didn’t want to go with something quite so obvious, and instead looked to the falcon itself for ideas on how to capture this deity in jewelry.

The legends say that Horus’ eyes were the sun and the moon - the one that was plucked out by the usurper Set being the weaker moon. I decided I would try to recreate the look of real falcon eyes - shiny black orbs - each with colors representing those celestial bodies. Some druks and brick stitch would do the trick, but I didn’t want more than a pair of eyes. For the bulk of the necklace, I tried to recreate the look of falcon feathers, but with an Egyptian flair.

I chose a palette of turquoise, red, and gold, along with some light beige and black for stripes. The falcon eyes made the perfect connectors between a fringed amulet and straps of matching St. Petersburg chain. Rather than use a striped pattern for the whole necklace, I left the ends entirely black, which brings a little balance to everything.

This necklace turned out even better than I had hoped, with the exception of the druks, which didn’t quite translate into natural looking bird eyes. I do love the way their shape stands out against the amulet and chains, and I may keep the idea in mind for future constructions.

Copyright 2013 Inspirational Beading
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Another Ugly Necklace

Throughout this year’s beading challenge, I’ve been pondering the possibility of doing a bead collector’s necklace - a project made with a wide variety of beads and stitches. It seemed like a good idea to keep in mind if I ever got stuck with a lot of odds and ends. With only a few really good projects left on my destash list, and a whole lot of beads that I didn’t know what to do with, I decided to do just that. But with a twist!

I never got around to finishing the backwards quadruple St. Petersburg chain from a few months back, so I decided to use it as the base for another UFO collage. I collected up all of the singles and pairs, seed bead mixes, and assorted hopeless beads from the destash tray, and got to work constructing a new ugly necklace. This time I actually had to really stretch to get all of the elements I wanted in one piece. I was able to use up all of the remaining silver-lined crystal seed beads, and had to start adding some of my beach sand mix to keep things going.

I had just as much fun putting this piece together as I did the first one. I ignored the rules, made awful color choices, and just put beads and thread together whatever which way I wanted. It was a great way to relax and recharge - like unclogging a drain and dancing in the rain all at once. I included several leftover UnFinished Objects from the first ugly necklace, too, so my work space looks a little tidier than it did last week.

Have you tried any wild, crazy, or ill-advised beading projects lately?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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Whoops in Progress

If you’ve been following along on Facebook, you may remember that last Wednesday I skipped the Weekly Bead Tray snapshot. I really wanted the piece I was working on to be a bit of a surprise - it’s not often that I pick up a project right after I say I might make it.

What I had hoped to show you was a new version of the peacock choker/lariat that we revisited in our last Time Capsule. I really thought that I was in the mood to make something ‘big’, something that would take a fair amount of work. I may have been wrong.

First, I went over all of my beads, looking for the perfect palette. I wanted to do something simple - not too many colors or changes in the pattern - so I needed colors that are in good supply. I also needed to find beads in three sizes that are similar in color for the middle rows of the St. Petersburg chain. This wasn’t as easy as it sounds, but I ended up with a pleasing combination of transparent sapphire 8/o rounds, sapphire lined sapphire triangles, and transparent aqua 11/o rounds.

For the main beadwork, I decided to go ahead and use up all of my silver-lined crystal seed beads. I’ve had several packets set aside from my regular stash, because for awhile I thought I was going to use them to make birthstone pendants with Swarovski crystals. I got tired of the idea ages ago, and now it’s time to move these metallic beads out of my stash for good.

You might also recall that I was thrilled to be rid of the last of my silver-lined topaz beads when I finished my latest multistrand necklace. But alas, I found about 12 grams of them in the secret stash right along with the crystals. So I added these to the palette for accents, and got to work.

Everything was going well. The colors and pattern looked fantastic together - ethereal and delicate. Unfortunately, when I started to connect the first two chains together, I somehow managed to get one upside down, and I didn’t even notice until it was to late to do anything about it. I blame the paleness of the beads, but I honestly don’t know how this could have happened.

The change in the stitch actually looks alright, and is totally salvageable, but I was so annoyed by the whole thing that I lost a lot of motivation. Then I realized that I was going to be about half a packet of silver-lined beads short, and I decided to put this necklace on the back-burner until I decide if I want to purchase any more metallic beads. I consulted my list of to-do projects and didn’t like the look of any of them. Instead, I’m going to make something just for fun! I’m on strike from obligatory beading - hurrah!

I’ll keep you posted on what comes of this little meltdown. In the meantime, what’s your most memorable beading mishap?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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The Last Medallion

I am quickly running out of focal beads from my destash supplies, with the exception of a few pieces that just haven’t called out yet. I was really pleased to be able to tackle nearly half of my rivolis at once in a pair of collars, but that still leaves three more pieces to go. I decided to tackle the jet black rivoli first, and revive an old design that I haven’t worked with in awhile. My fondness for bezels is only slightly less diminished than my love for circular peyote stitch, so I wasn’t eager to start this piece until I had decided on a palette.

Turquoise blue was my first choice for a contrasting color, but I had only enough to do the pendant, and not much left over. I eventually settled on silver lined topaz for the necklace, and added some of my tortoiseshell druks to coordinate. I also grabbed the last of my turquoise blue pinch bicones from the destash tray, even though they don’t quite match - I was up for the risk and the challenge of mixing many similar hues.

The necklace turned out pretty well, and I love the double layer of fringe at the base of the pendant. It’s short, but still has lots of movement. Now I have only two rivolis to work on. Hopefully some inspiration will come along!

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Time Capsule: May 2009

Yesterday we had a look at ways to connect and combine St. Petersburg chains for fun beadwork variations. Coincidentally, three years ago I was using this same technique to make a very unusual necklace. Although the entire necklace is stitched in four sections, it looks as though a single large piece of beadwork is split in two, and then into four separate chains.

It took a while to plan, and plenty of time to stitch and triple check measurements along the way, but the construction is actually quite simple. I can’t explain why I’ve never made an improved version of this necklace, but I think its time may be coming. I’ve been in the mood to make something big, and this design fits right into my current style.

The only thing I need to do is decide on a palette and pattern. Should I go with Egyptian stripes and gemstone colors, or something more earthy, perhaps with a dash of African Christmas beads?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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Beading Tutorial: Connecting St. Petersburg Chain

At first glance, St. Petersburg chain might not seem like the most versatile stitch. It’s great for necklace straps and simple bracelets, fringes, and even dangle earrings, but apart from changing up the bead sizes and patterns, what can you do with it? Although St. Petersburg can only be stitched in a limited number of ways - unlike peyote or herringbone - it actually has a few additional tricks beyond single and double chains.

You can connect chains of St. Petersburg together indefinitely, for bracelet cuffs and more, and connect the ends of the beadwork together for rings. Here’s how to do it…

Triple and Quadruple St. Petersburg Chain

Begin by weaving a double St. Petersburg chain of the desired length. When choosing bead types and patterns, keep in mind that the tips of the second chain will also be shared by the next (or third) chain. If you are using beads one size larger for the ‘spine’ of your first double chain, you can also use them at the tips. These beads will become the spine between chains two and three.

Before starting the third chain, use your needle to nudge the tip beads from chain 2 so that they are resting horizontally, with the hole pointing North-South. You can do the first one or two, and then adjust each bead as you add new stitches.

Begin a third St. Petersburg chain: Attach a stop bead to your thread, leaving a comfortable tail, and pick up 6 seed beads. Stitch up through beads 3 and 4, and pull snug to form a little P shaped cluster. Rather than pick up one seed bead here, you will share with chain 2.

Stitch down through the first tip bead from the previous chain, and down into beads 4, 3, and 2 from the first stitch in the new chain. Stitching from the top down mimics the same thread path that would be created if you picked up a single bead here, as well as mirror the thread path through this shared bead in the opposite chain.

Pull the thread snug, and make sure that the shared bead is resting evenly. If the threads are not aligned properly, the bead will look twisted, exposing the thread, and give the beadwork a less than polished appearance. Pick up one bead, and stitch up through beads 5 and 6 of the P cluster. If you plan to add a fourth chain, this ‘under’ bead will also become a spine, between chains 3 and 4.

Continue weaving with St. Petersburg chain, using the tip beads from chain two to connect the third chain. The fourth chain is added in the same way as the second chain of basic double St. Petersburg, by sharing the ‘under’ beads from the previous chain. You can add as many chains to the beadwork as you like, with an odd or even number, and a variety of fun patterns.

Zipping Up Multi St. Petersburg Chain

To connect the ends of St. Petersburg chain, you must first finish the ends so that the last stitches match the rest of the beawork. At the working edge, add the final under bead, and stitch up through beads 5 and 6 of the P. Pick up 3 beads, skip the last bead added, and stitch down through the rest of the stack. Repeat for the remaining chains on this side.

At the starting edge, remove one stop bead, and pick up a matching seed bead. Stitch up through the first row and pull snug. Remove the other stop bead, and stitch down through the bead just added. Pass up through the stack of this chain again.

Now that the ends are finished, the beadwork will fit together and can be zipped up, creating a seamless connection. Use square stitch to connect the middle two beads of each edge row, and zip the V shapes together. Weave through the connection, following the natural thread path of the beadwork, to secure the stitches, then weave in the remaining thread as desired.

Happy beading!

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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