Sharyl's Jewelry & Reflections: February 2012

Monday, February 27, 2012

Art Bead Scene Challenge - Feb 2012 - Conference of the Birds

I made 2 pieces for this month's Art Bead Scene Challenge. Below is this month's art inspiration:

The Conference of the Birds by Habiballah

Page from a manuscript of the Mantiq al-Tayr (The Language of the Birds) of Farid al-Din `Attar

ca. 1600; Safavid Iran (Isfahan)

For a larger image of the painting, history of the artwork, and information about the artist, please visit the Art Bead Scene page for the Feb 2012 Challenge.

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The first piece I made was the "Conference of the Birds" Necklace:

To purchase visit "Sharyl's Jewelry"

Focal: "Rustic Bird Pendant" by Nan Emmett

of Spirited Earth Ceramics.

In addition to the bird pendant, the necklace is comprised of objects with the colors and textures of items in the painting.

The river running through the painting is represented by the antiqued brass chain with variable size links. At some points, navy blue pearls dangle, also a part of the river in the artwork.

Gemstone nuggets in light blue and light green, light blue Czech glass crystals, and shells in light brown, reflect the colors found in the landscape.

Birds are found not only in the pendant, but in the white pearls and the swatches to fabric attached at 3 points--birds ready to take flight and begin their journey.

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The 2nd item I made was the "Conference of the Birds 2" Pendant:

Handmade Lampwork Glass Mini Beads

in Dark Raku from Art by Lisi.

In addition, the pendant includes a large "mood" bead with design beneath that changes colors from greens/orange to blues/purple, representing the peacock's colorful feathers. There is an elongated green glass bead, light blue Czech crystals, assorted brass and copper accent beads, and an antiqued copper chain with a clasp handmade by me.

To purchase visit "Sharyl's Jewelry"

Close-up of top part of pendant, including

Handmade Lampwork Glass Mini Beads in Dark Raku

from Art by Lisi.

On Wed., Feb. 29th the ABS Feb bloghop will begin. You will be able to click here to link back and see the other art-inspired works!

Thank you for visiting!

Sharyl

Sharyl's Jewelry

P.S. I kept being annoyed by how blurry and pixilated the photos looked. I finally realized that taking them from the Flickr page to the blog was the problem. I've redone them taking directly from my files to the blog and (while they could still use improvement), they are clearer now. Sorry to everyone to viewed the blurry version!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

i heart macro: blooms, glass, and color

<If you are doing the bloghop & looking my entries in the "7000 Bracelets for Hope" project, please click here.>

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"i heart macro"

I've been "missing" for a couple of weeks--missing getting my posts out and missing being a part of "i heart macro!" I tried to visit as many of the sites as I could each Sunday, just wasn't able to pull my own together. Well, this week I'm back with a conglomeration of photo subjects--but each has something to do with blooms, glass, or color...

A left-over flower from Valentine's Day.

These don't really require water,

they just dry as they are and keep the same colors.

I love these!

#14: Glass and Color

I was remarking the other day,

many people begin making jewelry

by making memory-wire bracelets.

I've been making jewelry for years,

and just made my first bracelet with memory wire!

This is it!

I selected these class beads out

of a huge jar of misfits at a bead shop.

Seldom was it possible to find 2 alike,

but it didn't matter for this project!

I just went for the colors and glass I liked best!

I know I've said it many times before,

I love colored glass.

I have collections of blue glass

as well as glass bottles in a variety of colors.

I enjoy setting them out

where the sun will shine through them

or reflect light from them.

It's so peaceful.

A light "sea glass" color bottle

in front of a rounded green glass flower vase.

A textured glass vinaigrette bottle is used as a vase.

That's it for me this week! Please visit the other great closeups at:

"i heart macro"

at Studio Waterstone

Have a great week!

Sharyl

Sharyl's Jewelry (All bracelets on sale this week!)

Sharyl's Jewelry on Facebook

P.S. This isn't really a macro shot,

and I don't participate in the shadow photography group,

but always enjoyed seeing them on T.'s blog.

So saw this out my front window and thought I'd snap it.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Just 2 of "7000 Bracelets!"

Earlier this month, I decided to join the effort to make "7000 Bracelets" for the Global Genes Project....

...our wonderful organizers being Erin Fickert-Rowland and Christine Altmiller.

The goal was to create a bracelet that would be rather casual, blue (to go with denim), and something that would fit most wrist sizes. With that in mind, I set to work!

I knew immediately how I wanted to make the bracelet. I started by collecting a container full of small blue beads that were anything close to denim in color--everything from light blue (faded denim) to dark navy. The beads were mostly glass but some were opaque, others Czech glass crystals, some glass seed beads, etc. Here's a little peak:

I started using bright copper wire to make the small dangles, but eventually decided to do a mix between bright copper and antiqued copper (permanently covered copper wire).

I had a big debate with myself about what sort of chain to attach these to, but finally went with a rather large copper one that had just arrived. In addition to being durable, it had the added luxury of being more adjustable in size. I made a hook and it can go into any loop in the chain!

Finally, as with other items I've made recently for people who are ill or to support people with illnesses, I added a "Hope" charm. So here is my finished bracelet:

Partway through that project, I started asking myself why I selected one of the most time-consuming designs for my bracelet when time was limited! It seemed I would get 5-6 dangles done each night before there was some interruption that stopped me!

Once I finished that one, though, I still had a BUNCH of those blue beads mixed together! I know many people start out making memory wire jewelry, but I had never used any until recently. I had just made a multi-colored glass bracelet and while it was simple and quick to make, I liked the look of it. I decided to make an extra bracelet to add to the collection of the 7000. It would just be one more person who would get a bracelet, I figured. So I whipped up this one, added a "hope" charm, and I'm sending it off too!

Like thousands of others, I'm hoping these bring some hope, joy, and a smile to their recipients.

Please take a look at the lovely creations of others who are participating in the "7000 Bracelets" project.

Sharyl

Sharyl's Jewelry

List of Participants:

Elysian Studios and One Kiss Creations

The Studio Sublime

Crafty Hope

The Gossiping Goddess

SilverRose Designs

Firefly Visions

Pink Chapeau Vintage Jewelry

Michelle Mach

Pine Ridge Treasures

Backstory Beads

Adventures in Creativity with Lorillijean

Carefree Jewelry by Lisa

My Life Under The Bus

My Life…one bead at a time

Tell Your Girlfriends

Vitamin C...A Daily Dose of Creativity

Beads and Bread

Sharyl's Jewelry and Reflections <-- You are here!

All The Pretty Things

Skye's Creative Chaos

My Addictions...Handcrafted Jewelry by Patti

"Painting with Fire" and a Chance to Learn for Free!

"Oh, please pick me!!!" :-) That's what I'm thinking, and there are probably others of you with the same thought!

For all of us who love to win things... and all of us who would so like to learn a new skill... (count me double!)...

I'm sharing this link I first found on Lori Anderson's blog.

It's an opportunity to win a spot

in Barbara Lewis'

"Online Painting with Fire Workshop" -- an enameling e-course!

As you may recall, one of my goals for this year is to explore the opportunities for making beads and/or jewelry components, decide on one (or more) and begin learning. In that effort, I just recently checked out "Torch-Fired Enamel Jewelry" from my library! Now I see the very book on Barbara Lewis' page and that she is the author! So what a great book and what a great opportunity!

Click here to enter!

Best wishes to us all! Hope ONE of us wins!

Sharyl
Sharyl's Jewelry

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Freeform peyote bracelet, beaded by Tanya Goodwin

*If you missed the guest post with Tanya Goodwin on seed beading,...

click here!

*If YOU do seed beading, please add a comment to that post!

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P.S. New sale this week in
"Sharyl's Jewelry" studio:

All bracelets are "On Sale Now!"

Some up to 20% off!

All Bracelets are "On Sale Now!"
at "Sharyl's Jewelry"

Graphics:

Pick me: http://www.wpclipart.com/education/kids/students/.cache/student_raising_hand.png

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

"Seed Beading" with Tanya Goodwin!

I've had conversations with several of our readers and fellow bloggers recently regarding the fine art of beadweaving and working with small seed beads.

Freeform peyote bracelet, beaded by Tanya Goodwin

After seeing these pieces, I can't help but exclaim, "I love the works of yours I've seen, but oh, the patience that must take!" One of these recent conversations took place with beader, blogger, and photographer, Tanya Goodwin.

Crystal right angle weave bracelet designed by Romina Designs.

Bracelet beaded by Tanya.

...To which she replied, "For some reason, I've always thought bead weaving was relaxing. I can get into the 'zone' and listen to the TV or something. For me, it takes more patience/creativity than I have to string beads. I am jealous of those of you who can look at beads and find such pleasing combinations." I found that such a surprising answer!

A close-up from Tanya's "Color Challenge" Entry

using Lisa Kan's Corsage Cuff design.

Visit Tanya's blog to see her variations on the design

and how she integrated the pieces into necklaces.

I've been admiring the work many of you do with seed beading for a while now, and while my eyesight and nervous system won't allow me to participate, ;-) I still find it fascinating, and want to learn more. It seems like an interesting specialty within the jewelry-making world! So I invited Tanya to be a guest on this blog, and she was kind enough to accept and quickly pulled together information for us on the topic. I'm afraid the hold-up has been all mine. But I'm very pleased to now present, the long anticipated....

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Guest Post by Tanya Goodwin!
Author of the blog, "A Work in Progress."
In her own words...
__________________

Just to give you an idea of what seed beading entails:

Most weaving is done with a tiny needle and some sort of beading thread. I like a product called Fireline, but there are other types. Seed beads come in a great many shapes: round, cylinder, triangle, hex, and square. There are some newer shapes that have two holes: tila and twin beads. Most seed beads are rather small. The size 8 are about 3mm, size 11 are about 2mm and size 15 are even smaller. Most of the patterns I follow use those sizes. Most patterns also use pearls, crystals, artbeads and almost anything else.

Pattern from Marcy Abney, from La Bella Joya. Tumbling Tiles bracelet.

Beaded by Tanya.

Ingenuity turns the pattern into "Studded Rounds" Bracelet!

There are several types of stitches that are widely used: peyote, brickstitch, right angle weave, herringbone, square stitch, spiral stitch, netting (I'm sure I'm forgetting a few). Most of these can be used to produce a flat piece or a circular piece. They can be embellished and combined with each other to make something totally unique. The stitches can make jewelry, a small box, different shapes, little beaded animals, etc.

"Sleek in Silver" designed by Hatsumi Oshitani,

published in Beadwork October, 2011,

beaded by Tanya Goodwin

I usually read "Bead and Button" and "Beadwork" from cover to cover. The magazines have all sorts of projects, including wonderful seed bead projects. There are also alot of designers who sell their patterns on Etsy or Artfire.

"Beading Babes" blog page

"Beading Babes" is a group started by Karyn from the blog "Releases by Rufy Doof." We choose one or two projects for the month and all work on them. At the end of the month, we post our versions of the projects. Beading Babes has been a great way to get to know other seed beaders and see how the same design might vary from beader to beader. If anyone is interested in joining or browsing past projects, hop over to Karyn's blog.

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I truly thank Tanya for her wonderful introduction to the world of seed beading! I know there is a lot entailed and as I said earlier, I highly respect this artform!

I know that several of you have done this type of beadwork--whether a few pieces or many.

My original intention was to link to your blogs or shops and show off your works as an addendum to this page. However, I'm afraid I might miss someone who would like to be included.

So,... I'm going to ask you to step forward, please. Leave me a message if you have a website I can link to on a future blog post. If you can give me a page link with an example of your work, that's even better! I'll make a list of links and we can blog or shop hop from one to another! (If you don't have a blog or shop, just let me know and you can email me your photos. I'm happy to post!) I would love to see more examples of this type of work...and I know for a fact some of you do this! So PLEASE share with all of us!

Many thanks to all of you, and many thanks to Tanya!

Sharyl

Sharyl's Jewelry

P.S. Thanks for your supportive comments while I was away a few days. Your kind words are always appreciated!