Zoya Gutina's Fashion Colorworks Contest Dazzles!

Time to come clean.  I have considered entering Zoya Gutina's Fashion Colorworks Contest in the past and it has always looked like a substantial challenge!  This year, I was asked to serve as a judge, and I have nothing but praise for all those plucky beaders who took the challenge.

Contestants are given three groups of the year's top ten colors, as described by Pantone.  Using those color groups, participants may create work in three categories, Seed Bead Jewelry, Finished Jewelry, and Seed Bead Objects.  You can check out the rules and the three color groups here.

Judges are asked to rank entries on five different criteria:  We are given photos of each entry, (an overall shot, and closeups, no models, props, or names allowed) and judge each one with a numeric score between 1 and 10 for each of the criteria, which are:

     1) Use of color.
     2) Composition, originality
     3) Use of techniques
     4) Use of materials
     5) Overall Impression

This is a similar system to what I use myself when judging beadwork, and I find the results very fair.  It does not require comparing apples to oranges, or one style to another, just looking really closely at design elements, and ranking their use.  We rank twice, once to determine finalists, and again for each finalist entry to select winners.  The public is also given an opportunity to rank the finalists, which I think engages observers beautifully in the process.  Another wonderful thing about this contest is that there are MANY winners, both chosen by the judges and public ranking, and by various sponsors, and the prizes for this event are wonderful!

I had some favorites, among the finalists, and was pleased when Zoya asked for commentary.  My thoughts were presented in her fabulous monthly newsletter, along with those of the other judges, and I would like to share them here as well.  There are links to each piece, and if you have not seen these beauties, I hope you will take the time to look at my personal favorites, and enjoy them as much as I did!

I appreciate the words below are small and pale, and you can more easily see them in Zoya's monthly newsletter, (just scroll down below the list of winners) but I will put them here too, just because I really want to honor these brave beaders and their wonderful results in the 2014 Fashion Colorworks Contest!

Beaded Jewelry

In the Beaded Jewelry category, my favorite in the Radiant Orchid colorway was a lovely floral freeform wreath necklace, with a vast array of flower and leaf shapes. The Summer Necklace components were organized like a beautiful bouquet, keeping each hue cleanly visible, in harmonious relationships, and accented perfectly with spare use of the Sand hue. Many petals showed ombre color shifts, creating depth, and inviting the eye into the flowers.

Mirror Danu Necklace, in the Placid Blue group, showed fantastically delicate details, especially in the re-embroidered yoke. The Freesia made a perfect accent in the beaded beads and connections to the maze-like focal piece. Subtle value use throughout the work provided highlights and shadows to make the piece feel organic and alive. It is rich, luscious, and a little mysterious.

Lullaby Necklace was my favorite in the section, and a beautiful interpretation of the mood of the Dazzling Blue colorway. All the shapes in this piece were soothing and comforting, relating gently to each other. I felt wrapped in the lines, like the sweet face cab. Perfectly placed star accents twinkled, and gently gradating pearls lead my eye to the delicate fringe, long enough to have a soothing pendulum sway with a wearer's movement. The work had sympathetic negative spaces, beautifully placed component connections, and technical perfection as well, thanks to clean, flat edges and neat, concise embroidery. I wanted to climb in to this piece, listen to the song, and be rocked to sleep.

Finished Jewelry

In the Finished Jewelry category I was blown away by the soutache work in Aurora Necklace. Symmetry is difficult to accomplish, and the shapes, both positive and negative, in this work are astonishingly precise. Not only are the shapes perfect, they are beautiful, and the subtle texture stitched in Sand between the Orchid layers gives a laced-together look I loved. The added dimension of the top layer with its elegant pearly accents and round shapes is a terrific foil for the points in the under layer, and the clasp ties the layers neatly together. Extraordinary work.

The Song of Siren Set featured loads of texture in the weaving, with great color blending that avoided muddiness with careful placement that added depth to the structures. The repetition of shapes with subtle differences was beautifully done, and the addition of the fringy bits and larger beads at both ends of the work holds the different pieces together, and creates a lovely whole.

I have to honor another work in the Placid Blue colorway in this category as well.Careless Fisherman Ankh-Morpork Set has expertly selected details and great story-telling. The metal trinkets in the embroidery and throughout the work are used with great sensitivity to scale and proportion, and I liked the use of the chain as yoke and drape, adding to the picture without over powering the delicate embroidery. I think in a parure, each piece should stand on its own and combine effortlessly, and I especially like the bracelet/earrings combination.

Beaded Objects and Accessories

Flight of Fancy Handbag is a great example of color control in the face of lush texture; in my opinion, a challenge of the highest degree. I loved the divisions of hue, the related components used differently in each color context, and the rich dimensional beadwoven components. I also loved the variety of different materials, stitches, and skills presented.

The Yellow Submarine Set was a delight! The whimsy of the beaded rivets and cabochon portholes, in conjunction with the realistic ocean detritus and undersea life imagery was well-balanced, and the disparate elements sang together perfectly. The ocean bit looked like cake decoration, and the artist used a varied and rich selection of tips for her bead "pastry bag", creating textures that made me laugh out loud. The inclusion of a key chain in the set was inspired!

The delicate work in the Twilight Flowers Set had for me the quality of a colorized black and white film. The color in the flowers and doily-like cabochon edges sprang visually ahead of the steely grays, demanding attention. It would be a feminine and elegant addition to a little black (or Paloma!) dress.

For My Friend

This work is a gift for a friend on the occasion of her 70th birthday.  Last year, for my 60th, she honored me with a generous gift certificate to one of my favorite local bead shops.  I wanted to return the favor.

My friend is intelligent, a voracious reader, and loves opera.  She is a mother to feline fur children, currently, a tabby named Holly. She plays bridge, and is a loyal companion.  She owned a cabin in Wisconsin, and that was the part of her that spoke to me, in this design.  Oh, and have I mentioned, she is a private person, and I respect that.  No names.

I wanted to return to my roots, and produce an entirely woven piece for her, and chose this jasper because it feels like a Wintery Wisconsin woods sunset to me.  It is either Cherry (sometimes called Red) Creek Jasper, or maybe Picasso Jasper. I have had it a long time, and do not remember where I bought it.  It has a nice polish, and because of this, I am going to guess, Utah Picasso.  I am fairly sure some of the supporting beads are Cherry Creek from China, judging both by their matte finish, and the not quite perfect drilling that China seems to be famous for.  I chose this stone, both because of its outdoor imagery, and because the beautiful silvery gray in the stone is very close to the color of my friend's hair.

Since as we age, dexterity dimishes, I wanted to make the work easy to wear, and especially, because my friend lives alone, with no one to fasten a lobster claw for her.  I used  hidden magnets to close the back of the necklace.

I created a delicate pair of earrings, as she is a small woman with delicate features.  The bracelet is also closed with a magnetic foldover clasp.

I had to ask her for a wrist measurement, since the oval beads will not lay flat unless the bracelet fits snugly and even though she has said "no gifts" she did oblige me.  I am sure she knows what I am up to, but I hope she will accept my gift in the same way I accepted hers; as an act of love, support, and celebration of life well-lived.  Happy Birthday!

A Little Flower for You!

I am so honored that so many of you read my blog, that I want to offer up a little gift to you all. I am also celebrating my second place ribbon in the Ms. Maddie's Fabulous Florals category at the Bead Dreams competition.   Last year I posted a square bezel tutorial, and this year, I think I will give my readers a little flower component, in honor of  Merle Berelowitz.  This is an almost-no-strings-attached gift, although if you are planning to teach this component or sell it, I would really appreciate design credit.  If you give me credit for the design, I give you my permission to use this component as you like!

You will be making a 5 petal flower, so how sensible to begin with a base of five beads!  We will be using primarily circular flat peyote stitch and the beginning part of square stitch to create this component.

On a wingspan of thread, coated with a sticky conditioner like beeswax or microcrystalline wax, pick up 5 15/0 seed beads and sew through all five again to form a ring, leaving an 8" tail.  Don't tie a knot.

Now, stitch in circular flat peyote, one round of 15/0 seed beads, one between each of the original beads, and step up into the new round.

Next, stitch in circular flat peyote, one round of 11/0 seed beads, just like the last row and step up again.

Now, we want to cup the little base of the flower, so as we stitch the next round, we will wrap our generous tail around our little finger to allow us to pull its little bottom down.  We will add, using circular flat peyote, a row of 8/0 seed beads, pinching as we stitch to help the little cup form.  This is where the sticky thread conditioning helps, and you can add more at any point if your thread becomes slippery.

And then, after the step up, add a second row of 8/0 seeds, and step up a final time, continuing to help the work form and maintain a cup shape.  Now our base is finished and it is time to work the five petals, one off each of the five up beads.

To make the first petal, begin by adding three 11/0 seed beads, in a picot or sorts to the 8/0 you just exited, using square stitch, by stitching through the 8/0 again, in the same direction.  That is the essence of square stitch. In the real stitch, we would link this square to others with common side beads, but here, we use only the first portion of the stitch, without the connection.

Turn you work upside down, and we will work the rest of the petal from the back of the flower.  Add one of the 11/0 seeds and step into the first bead in the picot.  Then, square stitch a two bead picot on the bead your just entered.  I like to use a slightly different bead here, to make it easier to see what I am doing and to help create the illusion of depth.

Step into the next bead and add a two bead picot again and repeat the process on the third bead in the original picot. Keep your tension snug.

Now, add a final 11/0, the same bead as the original three bead picot, and pass through the 8/0 petal base bead again.

Now you have a three bead, inside cluster (the original picot), and an eight bead surround.  We are going to add one more row of square stitch picots, this time, using two beads in our eight bead surround row for each set of picots.  Go through two 11/0 beads in the outside row of eight, and pick up five 15/0 beads and sew through the two beads again, using square stitch.  The first set of two will be two different beads.

And here is the first five bead 15/0 picot in place.

Step into the next two beads, they will belong to two different picots, and pick up four 15/0 seed beads.  We will borrow the fifth bead from our picot from the original five bead picot.  Sew through the second set of two beads again, in square stitch, this time, the real deal and connected! (although traditional square uses only four beads)

Repeat this step two more times, with the remaining four beads in the outside row, picking up the fifth picot bead from its neighbor each time.  Here's the third set.

And the final set will have two different 11/0 beads, just like the first. After you apply the last five bead picot with square stitch, go through the 8/0 base again.  Your petal should look like the photo below.

In this last step of petal making, we will pull the petal into a little cup shape, like the base.  Pick up a 15/0, and go through the four beads standing up in the first picot.

Pick up another 15/0 and stitch through the three beads in the second picot.

Repeat this step twice more, going through the third three bead picot and the fourth four bead picot. Pick up a final 15/0 and stitch through the 8/0 base again.

Flip the work over, looking at the front of the flower and step ahead through the down 8/0 to and through the next 8/0 up bead.  This is the base for the second petal.  Now tighten the stitch, so the petal edges cup up, just like the base of the flower.

Add the first three bead picot to the base in the second petal, flip the work over and repeat the above petal process, until you have five petals complete. Here are two petals finished and a third, waiting to be flipped over, and pulled up into a cup.

 And here is our little five petal flower, finished!

And here is what the back view looks like.  You may weave in your threads to finish the flower, or use them to attach other parts to your flower, or to attach the flower to other things.

I added a pearl to the center of the flower, and rings to the back to create earrings, but the possibilities are endless.

Please, show me what you make with my five petal flower tutorial gift! 

I would love to see whatever you create on my facebook page. 

In a few weeks... or maybe a month... or maybe... well, EVENTUALLY...

  I'll show you what else I did with it.

Happy beading!  :o) 

From the Forest of Fairy Tales

I am proud to present my 2nd Place Ribbon Winning Bead Dreams 2014 entry, in Ms. Maddie's Fabulous Florals category, From the Forest of Fairy Tales!

I had pretty much given up on this beading project.  I love doing big pieces, but it is always a challenge to wedge them into my evenings and weekends.  I had a really tough fall and early winter due to accepting more costume projects than my schedule allowed.  Finally, when all the ballgowns were dancing around the competition floor, I got back to my beading bench in late January. 

I had originally been inspired by a fall trip to Yellowstone Park.  I love how completely wierd the park is; unexpected, unreal, and sometimes just insanely beautiful.  The colors are rich and intense.  I don't know if you have ever seen any of the geyser basins and thermal features but they are pretty amazing.  This particular one (Grand Prismatic Spring) is a really good example of the incredible look and colors of the place.

I tried to get that amazing range of hues into the work.  I wanted to capture the vibrant aqua of the water and the sulphur orange edges, the golden stone framework (they call it YELLOWstone Park for a reason!) surrounding everything, and the dark, prickly outlines of the forest, with the understory of autumn color beginning to appear beneath the blue spruce trees.  It is so different from autumn in a deciduous forest!

So I chose some Swarovski jewels and some Lunasoft cabochons, a yummy druzy, and used some "yellowstone" 24k rainbow gold bezels and made a little prickly, color-shifting understory!

In the dead of Winter, when I got back to work on this project, I happened to see a trailer for the new Disney movie, "Maleficent."  The film is a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story from the perspective of the uninvited fairy, who curses Princess Aurora at her christening party. You can see the trailer here, if you like.  I was both terrified and entranced by this fairy-gone-bad character as a child, and in my mind, she fit magnificently into the wonder and weirdness of Yellowstone.

The idea of adding Maleficent to the inspiration pot for this piece was so exciting I went directly to my costume studio after seeing the trailer.  I got out a piece of pellon and drafted and draped a shaped collar I thought might suit the maladjusted fairy.  

Then I raced back upstairs and pulled out all the bead backing I owned.  None of it was a perfect base color, so I fused some jade lycra to it, chopped out my pattern, (which happened just to fit on the backing...loads of serendipity here!) and stitched the thing together, without any particular consideration for how I might embellish it.

Fortunately, the jewels I had been working with sat nicely on the collar, and the cluster of components I had already finished  looked good dangling from it, with the drusy resting neatly in the center of the chest, representing Maleficent's once beautiful heart, turned to stone.

Then, as I thought about how to embellish the collar, I was reminded that I have relatively little experience with bead embroidery.  Probably not the best choice for a competition piece, but it was also liberating.  Ignorance really can be blissful!  Also, had I not done my Crazy Quilt Cozy Collar, I don't know if this idea would have been so accessible and appealing to me.  I made up means to suit my purposes as I went along.  For example, I wanted the embroidery-applied jewels to look like the beadwoven-bezelled ones in the dangling focal cluster, so I did the bezels the same way, working just the tops, and then stitching them down on to the glued-in-place jewels and cabs.  I don't think that is your typical bead embroidery bezel process, but it achieved the effect I was looking for. As I worked, I also dropped the central pendant cluster a little lower, to further feature the edges of each component.

Finally I set out to fill in much of the remaining space with Maleficient's enchanted fairy tale forest, attempting to capture the prolific abundance of nature.  I sought "overgrown", "dangerous", and "beautiful" imagery in my work, keeping Yellowstone in mind.  I dug out every flower and leaf bead I owned, and ran out to buy more in appropriate colors.  I made more of my thorny beadwoven leaves too.  Their shape happened to match the curves I had created for the collar, so they became the spines of the collar points.

A last battle with how to stitch together the lower component was resolved with some little bits of foam rubber, to hold the elements in place while I worked. I wanted it to be the case that only a spider web held that stone cold heart in place.  (Check the final photo for the results)

And now for the final results...

I ended up moving the lower component even further from the upper to allow room for my spidery-looking flower tassles, and to keep the shapes of the edges clearly visible.  Not sure I love the connection, which I did several different ways over the last week of the time alloted.  I don't know if a better solution could have been possible without a re-design of that area, and that was not an option.

The back features some purchased (and heavily embelllished) Dritz frogs as a closure.  I think they work nicely with the piece aesthetically, but two of them have fat knots and are hard to open and close.  Sigh.  They work, but I wish they all worked as easily as the bottom-most one. Perhaps I should learn to make my own beaded ones, eh??

I am pleased with my little spiderweb structural connection in the lower component.  :)  In retrospect, I wish I had backed the jewels and Lunas with the same leather as the collar, but they were finished before the collar was designed, so the original ultrasuede will have to suffice.  I do not have much experience working with leather, but was glad I remembered seams have to be glued open, or it would have been impossible to stitch the backing in place.  I'd love to do this again and perfect the structural ideas and techniques.

Why Do We Do This Thing?

Dear heaven, another post, with only words, and no pictures.  I may climb the walls, or tear my thinning hair from my head entirely, from wanting to SHARE PICTURES!

Someone asked, a few weeks ago on Facebook, how people who created pieces for Bead Dreams did it.  Was it component driven?  And now, that question arises again, as hundreds of artists worldwide prepare work for "Battle of the Beadsmith".

I thought the question was a very good one, and I said so.  I have been thinking about it ever since.  For me, design IS a component driven process in some respects.  I usually start my work by creating components and then I arrange and assemble them.  But I don't think the right question is "how", when it comes to taking on a leviathan project for competition.  I think it is "why?" 

Probably every artist has their own answer, but I think it is my WHY that gets me through to the end of the process, and provides whatever success I achieve.  And usually my why is three-pronged. 

FIRST, something moves me. Something takes my breath away, or makes my knees weak, or actually brings tears to my eyes!  And I want to express, or maybe re-create, that amazing thing in beads.  It is this inspiration that makes all my decisions for me.  What colors to use, what shapes I need, what textures, which beads, which stitches; everything comes back to the inspiration.  I think beautiful jewelry can be made by arranging components, but I need more.  I need a purpose, and a goal.  My target changes and develops as I go, but it is essential that I have one, and that it be one with emotional meaning to me.

And SECOND, and even more important, I want to see if I can do it, or to figure out how to do it.  There is a quote attributed to Picasso, although I understand that Vincent Van Gogh wrote this sentiment in a letter to a friend when Picasso would have been 4 years old.  I think it is maybe a truism of all creative endeavor.  

"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."  

Usually, what I imagine as my end result is something I have not done or seen before, so there is no path to follow.  There is not even a guarantee that I can find a means to my end.  And sometimes, the backing up, reconfiguration, and the eureka of "that is what I should have done!", stops the process entirely. It's hard to do on a schedule, and to a deadline.  And once you figure out how to make it happen, some motivational thing deflates.  A knitter friend of mine says, once she has figured out how to make what she imagined, it gets harder to keep going.  I agree.  After all that exploration and excitement of "how will I do this" is resolved, the rest is just work.

So I need the THIRD part of the why; a desire and a means to share the work.  I love to share the inspiration, and the process, and the final product. It is why I write this blog. And LORDY, LORDY... that desire-to-share thing that gets me through the end of the creative process makes waiting to share REALLY hard for me.  I go completely insane waiting to share my Bead Dreams and Battle of the Beadsmith work.  Does anyone else feel that way????? 

How do you create your competition work?  And why?   

In Honor of Merle Berelowitz and Ms. Maddie's Fabulous Florals

When my son was in grade school, one thing I tried to impress upon him, with respect to success in school and in life was to understand the goal, before you begin the work.  It seems to be a very hard thing to learn, to read the assignment in it's entirity, before you set out on whatever mission you have been given.  He seems to have learned this lesson, and recently won himself a paid internship for the the summer at Amazon.  In his interview group, he was the only one not wearing a suit.  But the e-mail invitation had stressed the casual attire of the corporate environment.  He wore a jeans, a deep blue t-shirt, and a long-sleeved blue and white cotton striped shirt.  He read, and understood the assignment.  I am so proud of him.

I, on the other hand, am apparently still struggling to learn this very important lesson.

I raced along pretty frantically to finish my Bead Dreams piece this year, putting on the final touches and doing the photography on the last Sunday before the Tuesday deadline.  A few weeks earlier, I had checked out the application and rules for the event, to make sure I knew the deadline, and was working effectively toward it.  At that check point, I noticed a special category for this year, in honor of one Merle Berelowitz, who I did not recognize.  The design criteria, to quote the paragraph I read was:

"To be considered for this category, your piece must prominently feature flower beads, Merle's signature supply, or a floral motif.  Nature should serve as the guiding influence, as it did for Merle throughout her career as a beading artist.  She personally crafted Blooms, her own unique garden of hand painted acrylic flowers.  You can view merle's Blooms at www.msmaddiesbeads.com."  

Hmmm, I thought. And I took a quick peek at the Blooms, which were the epitome of pretty; colorful, bright, and happy creations.  What I was working on (which I thought might either go in Crystal or Finished Jewelry) seemed to meet the criteria expected in this memorial category.  My piece was covered with Czech flower beads, and handwoven leaves.  Plus the work was initially inspired by a trip to Yellowstone National Park.  Nature at it's most magical!  

I tucked the information away, and returned to my breakneck beading.  When it came time to fill out the entry form, I re-read the requirement paragraph and debated the merits of trying this new category.  Then I noticed there was a cash prize.  Most of the prizes come in the form of beady supplies from generous sponsors, which is wonderful.  I loved my great new tools and threads from Beadalon last year!  But this was a very generous cash prize, and my mind ran to materials I would love to buy.  "Why not give it a go?", I thought.  

So without further consideration, research, or information, I entered "Ms. Maddie's Fabulous Florals." But not without a qualifier.  At the end the description of my work I wrote, in my entry submission, "While I did not design with this memorial event in mind, my fairy tale forest does seem to fit the criteria, although in a darker, more magical and menacing way than Merle's pretty flowers.  If you chose to include the work, and think it belongs in a different category, please do not hesitate to move it."

Had my son been watching me, he would have been frowning.  

Now, I had no reason to think I had a better than 50/50 chance of even becoming a finalist in this magnificent show of beaded wonders.  Winning any competition depends entirely on who is judging, what they are looking for, and who else shows up to be judged.  Last year I was delighted to be accepted, and shocked to find I had won a second place ribbon in the Seed Bead catogory with my "Picnic in May on Lilac Way."

Once the dust settled, and I received an acceptance notice (!) for my work, "From the Forest of Fairy Tales", I began to think more about what I had done.  

Then, I hunted until I found the category criteria paragraph, and discovered another paragraph that came BEFORE the one I had read so carefully.  "We have a special category in 2014, Ms. Maddie's Fabulous Florals, created in honor of world renown beader, Merle Berelowitz, who passed away last year.  Bead & Button readers have the opportunity to judge the finalists in this category and grant prizes totalling $5,000 to the top pieces."

So, I had scanned this info, but failed to understand it fully.  (My son is now shaking his head.)  There was a world renowned beader who passed away last year, and this catogory was created in her honor.  I got that part, although I didn't know who she was.  But the next bit had not registered at all.  Bead & Button readers would be judging the event.

I began to notice fB comments from other beaders who had entered the Fabulous Florals event, who had clearly known and loved Merle Berelowitz.  They were chatting about imagining Merle looking over their shoulder and whispering in their ear as they worked.  I decided it was time to find out about this bead artist.

And there was lots to read and see!  My first impression, from just looking at the photo of her (clearly wearing one of her own necklaces on the Bead Dreams page) was that of a happy, cheerful individual.  I think often, you get a sense of who an aritist is by the tone and aesthetic in their work.  And the more I looked, the more that seemed to be the truth.  Her colorways are bright and joyful.  And she loved flowers of every ilk and stripe, the more the merrier.
  
But more important, people loved her.  First I found a post on Facebook, from International Jewelry and Accessory Designers, Manufacturers and Suppliers.  This post talked about Merles passing in July of last year, and voiced the original idea of the memorial competition, the "first annual Ms. Maddie's Blooms Beadwork Prize to be awarded to the most creative form of stitched, beaded jewelry incorporating flowering plants and blossoms."  

Memorial events are not created for every beader who passes on.  This artist was special.  I began to read blog posts about her passing.

I read several beader's words, soaking in their sadness and loss, along with bits and hints about Merle.  On Adele Recklies Rogers blog, I found she was a great friend of Suzanne Golden's, and bits about her family and life.  On the Saturday Sequins blog, I discovered a shared delight in sequins and beautiful representations of Merle's work.  Jean Power showed me an awesome pair of yellow boots, and the sunshine Merle must have carried with her.
  
I found an interview on World Artisan Gems with photos of two bracelets I just loved, one, an undersea theme, and the other a teddy bear picnic that was adorable, based on a cake she a created for her daughter.  I can use a pastry bag too, and I have always thought there was a relationship betweed beading and cake decoration.

There is huge list of publications of Merle's work on her own website.  One of my favorite bits of her work was in Bead Unique, a delightful bracelet with tiny cherry beads, called "Summer's Bounty."  

I also found in my current issue of Bead&Button, a bracelet, "Pinkalicious" by Adele Recklies Rogers, created in honor of Merle, which I loved.

I finally discovered that both select pieces of Merle's work and flower beads of her own design and creation are being sold to help to endow this event, sponsored by her family and CJS Sales.  Please have a look at her beautiful work!  I need to chose something to wear to Bead Dreams, I think.

After all of this hunting and research, I felt like I might be beginning to know something about the woman in whose honor my work has been accepted to Bead Dreams.  I wish I had taken the time to look her up earlier, or better yet, had the opportunity to know her.  Given the public voting nature of this event, I will keep my entry to myself until the time is right for it to be presented to you in Merle's memory.

I hope she would feel that my work honors her memory.  And I hope late is better than never, with respect to discovering Merle Berelowitz and her bead art.

Waiting for Spring

Maybe this post does not need many words.  The March Etsy Beadweavers challenge was titled "Are You Blue?  The answer for me was "YES!"  I am so thankful for the slightest warming outside, and the drip of snow melting off the roof.  We have such a long way to go to see the grass again, but every little bit is such a blessing, and goes a long way toward chasing away the blues of this very long, very icy cold, winter.

I had beautiful cabochons purchased from Kinga Nichols of crimsonfrog; blue leaves, captured in icy glass domes, and they were a perfect starting point.  The assignment was to use any or all of three shades of blue, represented by Aquamarine, Turquoise, and Tanzanite.  The leaves looked like Aquamarine to me.

I chose the deeper purply blue seed beads to represent Tanzanite, and Turquoise found it's way into the necklace in person.  One of the inspiration images provided on the blog of Raven Penna of tatooedraven, (the team member who chose our theme-you can read the entire challenge here as well) was a leafless tree, covered with pink spring blossoms, against a blue sky, and I found that very inspiring.

So, since the cabochons had a lovely peachy pink already on board, I amplified and embellished!

I am always a fan of the neat and cleanly finished back, to add value, beauty, and aesthetic appeal to my work.  I always like detail on the yoke of my work as well.

And fringe?  It is one of the reasons I so love beadweaving!! So I am Waiting for Spring!  How about you?  Please, visit our team blog at www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com, and choose your favorite entry.  I have to admit, if I had the cash to spare, I would buy this one, from Karin Houben of gypsyeyesjewelry.  Totally awesome!

 Hugs to my beady buddies.  I have to get back to finishing my Bead Dreams entry for 2014.  Ten and a half days until the due date and counting...