A Touch of Royalty – EBW February Challenge

It’s that time again…. time to go and check out the beautiful entries for this month’s EtsyBeadWeavers Challenge!!!

My entry for this challenge is # 31 on the list:

Marie Antoinette – Pink Leather Cuff

There are 62 incredible entries for this challenge, so your challenge will be to pick just one as your favourite and vote for it before the 15th February!!!

So don’t put it off, go and check out the amazingly talented EtsyBeadWeavers Team and vote for your favourite entry!!! http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/

Happy beading!!! 

Stuff….

First of all… I’m so excited my A Hazy Shade of Winter – OOAK Beaded Wrist Bag won the December Simon & Garfunkel EtsyBeadWeavers' Challenge!!!!!

Thank you to all who voted for this bag!!!! All the entries were amazing and I’m really chuffed I won!!! :-)

My other bag, Arearea – Joyousness is currently in the Bead Art Originals (BAO) Team’s December challenge!

The challenge was to pick a famous work of art and to create something inspired by that piece. Go and check out the BAO team blog, http://beadartoriginals.blogspot.com/2010/12/december-challenge-art-inspiring-bead.html between now and 26th of December, chose your favourite creation and leave your vote by commenting on that post, and enter your chance to win a fabulous prize (TBA)!!!!!

As for me…. I’ve been on another cuff-creating frenzy… so far nine!!!! must stop and take some pictures in the next few days!!!

Till then…. :-) happy beading!!! :-)

EBW Simon & Garfunkel December Challenge

Check out the incredible entries from the EtsyBeadWeavers for this month’s Simon & Garfunkel “Songs of Inspirations”.

In case you missed it… my entry for this challenge is:

A Hazy Shade of Winter – OOAK Beaded Wrist Bag

Voting has started and will continue till 15th December, so don’t put it off!!! Go and vote for your favourite piece!!! http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/

Wishing everyone a fantastic evening!!! :-)

A Hazy Shade of Winter – Wrist Bag

I’ve been incredibly sporadic with my postings for the last year…. sometimes it’s because I’m beading…. sometimes it’s because I just don’t feel like writing… well I’m happy to say that the reason I’ve been silent lately is because I’ve been busy beading! :-)

A Hazy Shade of Winter is my entry for the EtsyBeadWeavers’ December Challenge “Simon & Garfunkel – The Songs of Inspiration”. I love that song and its title inspired the colours for this new bag, the first in a new line of beadembroidered bags I will be creating for my shop.

A Hazy Shade of Winter – OOAK Wrist Bag

I’m so pleased with how this bag turned out!!!!! I love everything about it!!!! from the beadembroidery to the crocheted rope!!!

The bag was designed around one of Lisa Peters Art’s gorgeous handmade ceramic cabochons, grey Swarovski crystals, smokey grey Czech glass cabs, antique silver, antique gold/bronze, metallic black iris and ivory Japanese seed beads. The strap was crocheted with metallic black iris Japanese cubes.

I’m 3/4 of the way through a second bag… but it’s taking me longer than I expected… so I might not finish it before next week, but as soon as I do, I’ll post the photos!

Please visit the EBW blog, http://www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com between the 9th and 15th of December and vote for your favourite entry.

And to all who celebrate it…. Happy Thanksgiving!!!! :-)

Bollywood Nights

My palette tends to be quite monochromatic… although I love using colour, I usually try and stick to one or two colours within one piece and tend to play more with textures and shades or variation of a colour… but next month’s EtsyBeadWeavers’ Bollywood challenge allowed me to expand my usual colour use and create something using contrasting bright colours. As I mentioned, the challenge is Bollywood and when I think of Bollywood, or anything Indian for that matter, I think of bright colours, bright gold, sparkly gemstones, richness, excess… and armed with these adjectives I set out to create something for the challenge… I started off with the idea of making a necklace… but that’s still on my beading table… and whilst I was beading component for it, I veered off and made some earrings…

I do like these… but something about them is not 100% right! for a start, you can’t see in this photo but take my word for it, the top component shows too much beadbacking … so I've decided to remake these… maybe using smaller crystals… maybe doing away with the top component altogether… am not sure yet… will have to sleep on it… but what I did finish and am so happy with is a new cuff:

Bollywood Nights – Cuff

I really love using all these bright colours!!! I now just have to think of what to do with the component I made for the necklace….
I’m trying to work out what type of strap/chain/base to make for it… sometimes it comes easily…. sometimes it doesn’t :-)

So unless I come up with something spectacular for the necklace… which I don’t think I will… the cuff will be my entry for the September EtsyBeadWeavers Bollywood challenge!

Voting will start on the 9th September and run through till the 15th… don’t forget to go to the EBW blog during those dates and vote for your favourite piece!!! http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/

EtsyBeadWeavers Challenge – Time to vote!

The August EtsyBeadWeavers challenge is currently open for votes!

My entry is Golden Galaxy (entry # 25)

Please visit the EBW blog from now till the 15th August and vote for your favourite piece! http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/

Golden Galaxy – EBW August Entry

It’s been a while since I entered one of the EtsyBeadWeavers challenges, months in fact!… and that’s not like me, I usually try and enter each month but between being busy and uninspired, I failed to do so! Shameful!!! The last time I entered was in March with 1001 Nights for the Fairy Tale Challenge… so I really wanted to make sure that I made something for the “Silver & Gold” August Challenge… and this is what I made:

Golden Galaxy – OOAK Necklace

I wanted to create something that evoked the style and glamour of Hollywood, something that I could see being worn on the Red Carpet and at the same time could see myself wearing at an evening function or even at a day function, with a white summer dress, reminiscent of ancient Greek style of dress where the women wore white dresses with bright gold jewellery. Golden Galaxy was created with the images of the style of ancient Greece in my mind.

Voting will begin on the EtsyBeadWeavers blog on 9th August and will end on the 15th. Make sure you visit the blog during that time and vote for your favourite!!!

http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com

1001 Nights – EBWC Challenge

The March theme for the EtsyBeadWeavers’ Challenge is Fairy Tales. My entry for this challenge was inspired by a favourite childhood book of collections of fairy tales titled 1001 Nights – also known as Arabian Nights. This book captivated me with its beautiful and exotic stories of faraway lands and its gorgeous illustrations of bejewelled princesses and treasures. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor where some of the stories in this book. This beautiful sparkly necklace was inspired by both those stories and those beautiful illustrations and was created with loads and loads of gorgeous Swarovski crystals and Czech firepolished multicuts glass beads.

1001 Nights – Necklace

Please visit the EBW blog between the 9th and 15th March and vote for your favourite piece!!! http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/

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EtsyBeadWeavers Challenge – Time to Vote!

I haven’t entered an EBW challenge for a while, but this time I couldn't resist one of my favourites themes – Ocean/Sea + as I had 2 months (instead of 1) to complete my piece, I had absolutely no excuse not to enter.

My entry for the challenge is # 12, the Sea Urchin Cuff created around one of Helen Breil’s beautiful polymer cabochons.

There are 46 entries for this challenge!!!! yes 46!!!! I have so many favourites that picking just one will be almost impossible!!!

Voting has started, so please head on over the EBW blog and vote for your favourite!!!! Voting ends on the 15th February so don’t put it off!!!!

http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com

First piece for 2010!

I finally finished a whole project!!!! Lately, I’ve been starting a lot of pieces but am finding it really hard to finish them…. sometimes it happens…. but as soon as I saw the gorgeous Helen Breil One-of-a-Kind Focal Art Bead that I ordered about a month ago, I knew I had to start and finish it!!!!… and whilst on the phone to my dear friend Miriam (our daily catching up, bitching and exchanging ideas), she encouraged me to make a cuff out of it…. and it clicked… all of a sudden I could see the finished piece in my mind, and so I set out to bead and not stop till it was finished! :-)

Here it is, my first piece for 2010 and my entry for the EtsyBeadWeavers February “The Ocean” Challenge – it’s been a while since I managed to make anything for one of the challenges, so I’m extremely happy!!! :-)

Sea Urchin – Cuff

Voting for the EBW challenge starts on the 9th February – go vote for your favourite piece! :-)

And check out Helen Breil’s amazing polymer focal art beads, you won’t be disappointed they are stunning! http://www.helenbreil.com

EtsyBeadWeavers November Challenge

Voting has started over at the EtsyBeadWeavers’ Blog!!! The challenge for November is “Beauty of the Flower”! Go check out the lovely flower interpretation that the talented EBW members came up with this month and vote for your favourite!!!!

You may have noticed (or not) that I’m missing… well I have relatively good reasons… like the flu… but mainly because I’ve been busy making 3 new pieces and a couple of orders… and I just could not interrupt my thought process whilst I was working on the new stuff… come back in a couple of days to check them out!!! In the meantime pop on over to the EBW blog and vote for your favourite!!!!

www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com

EtsyBeadWeavers Challenge

I’m really late posting this, as I didn’t even get a chance to enter the challenge this month but here it is, the October EtsyBeadWeavers Challenge, only 2 days left to vote, so hurry!!! :-)

Go to http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/ and vote for your favourite!!!

EBW September winners

The winner of the EtsyBeadWeavers Indian Summer Challenge is:

Indian Summer Sunset by Lorraine of Trinity Designer Jewellery

Second place is my dear friend Miriam from Cielo Design (who has to listen to me bitch and moan on a daily basis! and for that she deserves a medal!) :-) with her Parvati's Grace Necklace

and 3rd place… yours truly with my Indian Summer Nights

Thank you to all of you who voted for me, I really appreciate it!!!

To see the rest of the runners up + all the gorgeous entries, please visit the EBW blog.

Indian summer – etsyBeadWeavers September Challenge

Voting has started at the EstyBeadWeaver’s blog!!!! Go and vote for your favourite!!!

Some stunning entries were submitted for the September “Indian Summer” Challenge.

My entry for this challenge is:

Indian Summer Nights, # 1 on the list above

So don’t put it off!!! Go and vote for your favourite!!!
Voting ends 15th September!!!

http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/

EtsyBeadWeavers Challenge – First Ladies of Style

The voting for this month’s EBW challenge started a couple of days late due to some technical hiccups… but check out this amazing selection of eclectic, diverse and beautiful entries for this month’s challenge First Ladies of Style by the EtsyBeadWeavers!!! and vote for your favourite here!!!

My entry for this month’s challenge is # 14 on the above list, For Sofia – Choker, you can read more about it in a previous post here.

Go and vote for your favourite piece!!! Don’t put it off, voting is open for a short time only!

http://ebwteam.blogspot.com/2009/08/august-challenge-first-ladies-of-style.html

Indian Summer Nights

Second post of the day!!! I’m on a roll!!!… I was going to show a piece that I made a few days ago…. but the photos were abysmal… so I’ll have to take some more another day… and instead I’m posting my next EBW entry… not the one for which voting starts today… but the one for September… am so on top of things, that I managed to finish it even before voting has started on the EBW blog for August!!!

As soon as I saw the theme for September, Indian Summer Dreams, I knew exactly what beads and colours I wanted to use and got on with it!!! am so happy with how this turned out… you could actually say that I have completely and utterly fallen in love with it!!! I spent hours whilst making it just staring at it… I may have lost some marble! :-) and probably should venture into the outside world more often…. but instead I have fallen for an inanimate object! :-) and here is the object of my affection! :-)

Indian Summer Nights

I will post all the EBW August detail tomorrow, as well at the BAO Items of the Week… but in the meantime, if you would like to take a preview look at this month’s entries, please visit http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/ voting ends 15th August.

For Sofia - Choker

Inspiration came this weekend, when I suddenly remembered how little time I had left to enter the August EBW Challenge - First Ladies of Style. So I locked myself in my room and beaded my little heart out! :-) This is one of the 3 pieces I made over the week end – For Sofia - Choker

This wonderful piece of wearable art was created for the EtsyBeadWeavers August Challenge “First Ladies of Style". When I think of a First Lady of Style, I think of Sofia Loren. In my eyes she is the epitome of woman, beauty and style. Through decades we have watched her develop from a beautiful young woman into a beautiful mature woman, and even at 75, the one aspect of Sofia Loren which remains constant is her beauty and her style.

I wanted to create something that would exemplify her style. Sofia Loren has the most beautiful long neck and she is often seen wearing gorgeous chokers.

Not long ago I received the most gorgeous rectangular Russian hand-painted pendant depicting a design based on the Gustav Klimt painting, Judith, from artbeads.com.

In 1901, Judith was considered the incarnation of the femme fatale. She exudes a dangerous form of sexuality, confidence and fearlessness; hence it is the perfect centre piece for a Sofia Loren-inspired choker.

For this pendant/bead and for similar one, please check out - Russian Pendants and if you are a fan of Klimt also check out - Venetian Beads.

I will post details of the August EBW challenge sometimes next week. Back to the beading board :-) to finish off one of the pieces I started this week end… stay tuned :-)

Here Comes the Bride - EtsyBeadWeavers July Challenge

The theme for the July EtsyBeadWeavers Challenge is Here Comes the Bride... chosen by Cielo Design who won the May challenge. All the entries are elegant and beautiful.

My entry for this challene is Neptune's Bride, # 4 on the list - see previous blog post

Go and vote for your favourite entry from today until the 15th July: http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/

I'm still in London, enjoying spending time with my son and watching him interact with his grandparents and gorgeous little cousins.... Working on my Use the Muse II beading design contest... can't say it's going too well... 9 more days to go to get it finished, I hope inspiration hits me soon :-)

Due to the rules of the contest, I can't post pictures of my piece until the big reveal... for now I'm off to try and finish my entry

In the meantime…. don't forget to vote

Neptune’s Bride

I finally managed to photograph my new piece and entry for the EtsyBeadWeavers July Challenge “Here Comes the Bride…”

I say photograph, although I’m really not happy with how the photos turned out… they lack the sparkle and colour intensity of the actual piece… but for some reason I found it really difficult to photograph…. strange how some colours and pieces are harder to photograph than others…

I was inspired to create this piece as soon as I read the challenge theme chosen by Cielo Design, winner of the May Challenge and a dear friend!

I don’t think I ever finished a piece for any of the challenges as early as I did this one! But as I’m going on holiday at the end of June for a few weeks, I was worried I wouldn’t get it done in time, and am glad I did! :-)

Neptune’s Bride was inspired by the colours of the sea, I envisioned a mermaid and attempted to design a bridal piece that was classic in its design while at the same time using non-traditional colours. In Roman mythology Neptune was the god of water and the sea. This piece was designed for his bride.

I really love how this piece turned out!!! but what I’m most proud of is the necklace band (see left photo), beadwoven in Right Angle Weave, which is one of the most versatile stitches and the first beadweaving techniques I learnt, and embellished with tiny Japanese cubes. You really need to concentrate on this stitch when using it, as the direction changes continuously and it’s so easy to get lost. So not the quickest of stitches but by far one of my favourites! :-) and once embellished, one of the prettiest!

In the next few days I will post another piece I’ve been working on, but in the meantime…. have a great weekend!!!! :-)

June EBW Challenge

The theme of the June EtsyBeadWeavers Challenge is Humour and the entries are definitely humorous and whimsical!!! :-) Go and vote for your favourite from today until the 15th June: http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/

I didn’t manage to enter this month, but have already finished my entry for the July challenge themed “Here come the bride…” chosen by Cielo Design who won the May challenge. As soon as the theme was announced I rushed to my bead stash and beaded my little heart out. Stay tuned, I will post pictures after the current voting has ended. :-)

In the meantime…. go vote!!! :-)