Do you want to see how I made it?

Don't you just love these colors together? I do.
I had this beautiful Dicro cabochon in my stash for a couple of years waiting for the right design to use it.

I thought it would be fun to do kind of a step by step of how I made these beads into the pretty necklace at the end of this post.

I mounted the cab onto a square of stiff interfacing and stitched a peyote bezel around it with Dark blue size 10 Delica beads. I like using delicas because of their uniform size and large holes.

After I stitched the bezel I trimmed the interfacing and glued the unit to some soft ultra suede to hide the ulgly stitches and make a nice finished back for the pendant.

The next step is to join the front and back together and finish the edge with pretty picots.

When I finished the edgings and embellishments I added a Swarovski crystal link and used it for the pendant bail.

Here is the necklace being made. This stitch makes the necklace look like a spiral staircase of pretty bugle beads

This is how the back looks totally finished. See how neat and tidy it looks.

Here is the front finished, isn't it pretty.

This is a close up of the finished necklace. I named it Tranquil Waters because I think the glass cab looks like a pool of water with gentle ripples.

Tada here is the finished necklace I wish the camera could capture how pretty the pendant is but trust me it is lovely in real life.
I hope you enjoyed seeing how this necklace was made and maybe you are a little inspired to try a little beading yourself.

Thing a day challenge

http://polymerclaycentral.com is having "a thing a day" challenge. We are making 1 thing a day in Febuary featuring polymer clay and posting it to the website for all to enjoy.

My day 1 project was the teardrop shaped necklace and pendant. The pendant base and the accent beads are made with polymer clay.

Day 2 project is the beads and pendant base all made with polymer clay.

Day 3 project is the beaded pendant from day 2.....

So far I am keeping up, I have the Grandkids the next couple of days so we will see.

What is bead embroidery?

I am often asked act craft shows how I make my jewelry and I try to break it down to a simple general example. So I thought it would be fun to do on my blog too except it is more fun on the blog because I can use photos.

In today's blog I am going to talk about my favorite beading technique....bead embroidery.


Bead embroidery is a very useful technique to learn because with it you can turn a gemstone,shell,button,flat found object into a beautiful piece of jewelry. I love to use it to show off polymer clay pendant bases that I enjoy making.

To begin the pendant I glue the polymer clay base to a square piece of very stiff interfacing and while it's drying I pick out the beads I want to use from my stash.

After the glue dries with a needle and thread I sew on each bead developing the pattern. I'd like to say I start my projects will a clear vision of what it's going to look like but I don't. I usually design my projects as I make them and let the design develop naturally. [photo 1&2].

When all the base patterned beading is done I trim away all the extra interfacing and glue it to a piece of ultra suede backing hiding all the stitches and giving the pendant a a nice finished back. The next step is to stitch the 2 backings together and edge the pendant. Add a beaded bail and the pendant's done. [ photo 3&4]

Next I go through my bead stash find what I like and bead the necklace and TaDa a necklace.....

If you think you might be interested in learning more bead embroidery I recommend buying a copy of Bead and Button or Beadwork magazine and try one of the beginner projects or use the reference section to learn some of the basics to see if it's the technique for you.

Polymer clay and seed beads

I think polymer clay and seed beads are a match made in heaven. They play so nicely together.

I love good gemstone cabochons but they are so expensive and really drive up the price of the pieces I make. The cabochons in the hair pins are gemstones and were expensive so I will have to sell them at a higher price point then I would like. Had I made them with polymer clay I could knock about $10 off the retail price.

Another advantage of using polymer clay is I can create some awesome stone like cabochons with awesome colors and detail for a lot less then I would pay for a natural gemstone. Using my handmade cabochons allows me to spend more money on the high quality crystals and seed beads to give my customer a higher quality product at a reasonable affordable price point.

The necklace in this post is a beautiful example. The cabochon is one that I made with polymer clay,ink,mica and gold leaf; it's full of detail and pretty colors. because the cost to make it wasn't high I was able to use a generous amount of expensive high quality Swarovski crystals and delica seed beads. By making my own cabochon I am able to offer my customer a OOAK necklace at a very reasonable price. It's a win-win situation for both of us.

New Necklace

I have been enjoying beadweaving my lentil beads. I made this necklace with reversable pendant yesterday. It is much prettier in real life; I am happy with it.

Today I am going to make some floral lentils for some pretty spring designs and change the bezel style some. Maybe add some fringe dangles with some of the crystal flower beads I have.

I listed the red one I made the other day on Sunday in my Etsy shop and it sold in less the 10 minutes. I was shocked it sold so fast and pleased because it will be going to someone who really likes it. I am going to list this one later in Etsy and Artfire hopefully someone will like it too.

I got a beautiful fancy professional beading loom today that I am excited to start using and designing for it. This loom is so pretty it's almost a display as well as a tool. I am thinking maybe a floral patterned bracelet would be nice.

I have other looms that are not 1/2 as nice as the new one, I think I'll keep them to teach my Grandkids with when they get older.

I fell in love with these beads...

I must confess I have a bit of a problem when it comes to buying and hoarding beads.

I don't know how most people create but I buy beads that speak to me with no idea how I will use them. Then I hoard them until they tell my "Muse" what to do with them...

This necklace is a good example:

Almost 2 years ago Jose and I went to a bead show in Chicago and I saw the cranberry pearls for some reason I had to have them. I don't know why because they are not in my usual color pallet. I passed by them twice before I went back to get them. So there they sat in my bead stash waiting to be used.

A few weeks ago I saw the 2 piece lamp work shell beads and fell in love with them; so much so I bought 4 strands in 2 colors again not in my usual pallet. I didn't have a clue how I was going to use them. So there they sat in my bead stash waiting to be used.

A couple of days ago I was feeling unmotivated so I conditioned some pearl clay and began to play with some ink and alcohol to see what kind of pretty sheets of color I could come up with. One of the sheets came out looking like sunset colors with a very pretty pattern- Ding- the light bulb above my head went on and I thought it would make some pretty hollow lentil beads. I made the beads and when they were done sanded,buffed and polished I loved how this one looked. Again I had no idea how I was going to use it.....

As I was putting it away in my stash I saw the cranberry pearls and the shell beads next to the lentil and in my mind I saw this necklace......

So that is how I create; strange I know but is what works for me....How do you create?

Finding new things

Etsy has a lot of wonderful supply sellers and it is great fun to look through their shops. I have found some awesome things to spice up my polymer clay jewelry.

Lately for me it has been vintage and Victorian styles that have been calling to me. I am also loving antique copper and brass. Today I got a bunch of beautiful copper and brass findings that I will be using for some awesome earrings I have planned.

I found the pretty pendant mounting while shopping around Etsy and built this necklace around it. I made the pearl peach floral beads and strung them with pale peach freshwater pearls. Click on photos to get a better view. I listed it in my shop tonight; http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20201211 . I am getting my spring collection ready for the spring shows and I think this will fit right in if someone doesn't buy it before then.

On my work table now.... earring earrings and more earings....

When Polymer clay meets glass.........

I have been experimenting with new styles and techniques. Here are some examples of my twist on the glass tile pendant.

Glass tile pendants are a trend on Etsy and I love the clean look of them. The original versions use beautiful papers and original art work as the subject of the tile.

Instead of paper I have been using my favorite medium polymer clay. I think the glass tile and polymer clay are a perfect match. Click on the photos to get a closer look and I think you will agree the it's a fun combination.

I enjoyed making these and now that I know where I want to take these; I will be making some beautiful floral tiles for the spring. I have a lot of new things I have been working on and now that the busy holiday season is over I will be posting a lot more regularly.

on my crafting table today........Valentines candles, and a floral bead woven bracelet.

Love/Hate relationship

Have you ever made something that was so challenging that you had a love /hate relationship with it? Well that's the case with this necklace. I am glad I finished it because I like how it turned out.

The reason this was difficult is that I am a design as I go kind of creator instead of a pattern follower. Usually that works well for me but not this time. I redid the beading several times before I got it to a point where I could put it down.

The diamond shaped focal I made with polymer clay using one of the awesome canes I got in trade with Nat from Belgium and the seed beads I got at the Chicago bead show a couple of months ago.

I am working on some earrings to go will them and I have one done and it worked up so much quicker and easier the the pendant thank God.