Symmetry in Fuchsia and Blues

It's been a while since I've made "just beads" rather than pendants, earrings and bracelets with their various components. I made this sweet wedge cane and decided to whip up some beads.  I particularly liked the way this cane looked with  deep fuchsia.  As you can see in the photos, some of the deeper color almost looks like velvet.

Obviously, I couldn't stop at just a couple of beads, and then I needed to put them together so they could be worn. Hence, a necklace in simple stringing.  The crystals, pearls, and sterling silver spaceers add a special sparkle.  I have a couple of the beads left over, and I see earrings in their future.

Asymmetry

There is something about asymmetrical pieces that has always appealed to me.  That must have been in the back of my mind since this necklace just seemed to evolve into its finished form.
I was playing around with shades of orange blends.  When I got this particular color blend, I thought of calla lilies, and decided to make a flower. Of course, it needed leaves.  I chose to make the piece simple with clean lines rather than using a lot of texture and veining.  It seemed the piece would make a nice focal in a necklace and, as I played with placements, the off-center spot seemed ideal.  When I found the natural coral chips, I knew I'd found the perfect compliment for the flower.

The photo on the right gives a good idea of how the whole necklace looks.  

The last photo is for the curious.  It shows the back of the focal piece.  You can see that I made single and double channels to hold the  beading string.  I used crimps to bind the main strand to a smaller piece that lined the coral chips up with the focal.

Another Segmented Necklace

As you've no doubt noticed in a few of my recent posts, I've been trying out some necklace styles that are different from my usual pendants and chains.  The teal, green & yellow segmented necklace was my first foray into this type of piece. I decided to try something using larger - and fewer - segments.

Today's piece is made from a mokume gane sheet in navy, white and fuschia.  The color combination pops, and the little calla lily in the middle echos the theme.  This necklace lays at the throat and across the collar bones so I gave the 2 segments some curve during the baking process.

Oh,  yes....I found a couple more tiny bottle shapes, and had to wrap them in  vines and flowers. The round bottle with the pink flowers is a little larger than the other tiny bottles I've used.  I particularly like the ability to see through to the design on the other side. These photos show the front and back of the same bottle.  You can see how the size and shape make for added interest.

Here's another tinier cutie. 

"Happy Flower" Earrings

A recent email from Donna Kato regarding a free tutorial on CraftArtsEdu reminded me it's been a long while since I made what I call "Happy Flower" earrings.  The perkiness, color and simplicity of these earrings make me smile, hence the name.  They can be made from almost any cane or clay colors you may have lying around.  There are different ways to turn them into earrings, and certainly size can vary.

I had some Ikat pieces and some wedge canes around, and set to making up a few pairs.  I decided to make most of these dangling off ear wires, attached to jump rings on the earring backs.

The pink and purple pairs are based somewhat on the dogwood blossoms that will soon be opening around here.  Yay, Spring!  Note the purple niobium ear wires on the right.  They matched perfectly!

The pairs to the left are smaller than the others. Not sure what I like the best.










Just one pair ended up having posts attached. Something tells me I'll probably be making more soon.....