A Dark Idea Of An Inchie And The Sister Necklace (Finally!)

Hope everyone is having a great week.  I have been busy (and worn out) with work.   I am running late this week with posting my inchie.  Again, because I have been tired from work.  When am I gonna win the lottery so I can spend all my days playing with my beads??  Oh, well!!!

This week over at Every Inchie Monday the theme is "Dark".  Man this was a hard one for me.  Nothing came up in my mind.  But then I thought about it.  A small bit of dark on a silver backdrop.  Not a great one but still!

Now, onto happier news.  My sister got her necklace!  Yay!  I have been waiting to send it to her so that I could show it off.  She got it yesterday, so tonight I get to talk about it.

I saw the ox bone cab online at one of my favorite bead stores.  It just screamed my sister Vicki.  She seems like she has an eagle spirit.  She is loyal, strong and independent.  She is proud, elegant and beautiful.  She soars around watching and protecting the ones she loves with a grace and power that only an eagle can possess.   

I backed the bone cab with leather so that the edges of the bone wont cut the threads or the beads.  Then beaded around the cab with a light purple AB seed bead.  The necklace was done in a curly cue stitch, using pearl white seed bead and genuine amethyst beads.  I used the same beads in the fringe.  I then added a Swarovski crystal embellished magnetic fold over clasp.  I used the same curly cue stitch for the earrings. 

I really enjoyed making this for my sister.  I hope she enjoys it as much.  Thanks for stopping by and dont forget to fly by EIM to check out all the great inchie artwork, and thanks for stopping by. 

This weeks inchie has a dual identity.

 Hello everybody, hope it is getting warmer where you are.  It is getting nicer here, finally. But along with the nicer weather comes the cold, well a cold to be exact.  Times three.  Me and both of my kids have all come down with a cold overnight!  We went out on Saturday and went out shopping and flea marketing and came home with colds!  BLEK! 

This week over at Every Inchie Monday the theme is Dual.  My first thought was some play on color, like 1 color in two different ways.  But then the challenge is how would I show that off.  I mean I have plenty of beads to use and many different shades and colors to go by.  But what design or pattern should I use? 

I finally decided to go with a design that was not only two different colors but also mirror designs of each other. 

The picture came out a little blurry but you get the idea.  This is a rectangle design on its edge.  I used a transparent matte red and a lined frost red.  In the transparent matte red you can see shadows of the fishing line showing thru the beads.  It is more noticeable because of the flash on the camera.  At least that is what I am telling myself lol. 

Next week I will be posting the newest Sister Necklace.  I got it done but I can't post it until my Sister Vicki gets it.  I want it to be a surprise for her. 

Don't forget to fly on by to EIM and check out the rest of the amazing artwork that these ladies come up with in one inch!

Have a great week.

A Great Week For A Chocolate Inchie!

Over at Every Inchie Monday the This week's theme is Chocolate.  Very appropriate for Valentines week.  My thoughts for this week ran to my favorite chocolate brand.  An English chocolate company that I fell in love with when I was younger.  But once I moved over to England I found out that us Americans are getting cheated! Cheated because we get an Americanized version of this great English chocolate.  For those who have never tried the real deal you just don't know what your missing. 

Many years back we went into Little Rock and came across an Asian Market.  Upon going in all you could smell was curry spices.  Which are hard on the senses if you are not used to them.  But, for me all I saw was a counter with the real deal, Cadbury's Dairy Milk and Cadbury's Creme Eggs and all the other yummy goodness they make.  I think we spent about $100 that day & put them straight into our freezer. 

http://www.cadbury.co.uk/products

Many good memories are formed around the joy that food gives us.  For me this chocolate reminds me of things unattained, things wished for.  Growing up I always wanted to go to England, even marry an Englishman.  (You can thank the Beatles for that!  Who knows one day I just might still marry Paul LOL)  This was the whole reason I tried this chocolate bar. 

Who knew that one day I would end up marrying an Englishman and actually moving over there to live for a year.  It was an awesome experience, one that I will remember forever.  Every time I see a Cadbury's all I can do is smile. 

Before Robert, my husband, passed on he would always mention to me how much he hated American chocolates, LOL.  So I figured to do this inchie justice I had no other choice but to do something with Cadbury on it. 

I hope that you like this one, you may have to cock your head and squint to get it but here it is.  It is a section of the Cadbury logo. 

Sorry that last weeks beads are seen in this inchies photo, I just didn't pay attention when I took the photo. 

Have a blessed week and don't forget to fly on over to Every Inchie Monday to check out the other great artists and see what they have come up with.

Cathedral Inchie

I got to spend the entire day stuck in the house, forcing myself to bead work, due to the fact that it snowed all day!  I know what your thinking, and yes, it was torturous!!  LOL  I got quite a bit done on the next necklace and of course spent a good amount of time drooling over  surfing the internet for bead work. 

I also got my inchie done, I really loved this one.  The colors were exciting to work with and fun for me.  Mostly because I have a boatload of the gold and silver beads used in this inchie.  I bought them both for 2 different projects that fell through, (so far, who knows I might get to them someday lol).  Both packages of beads have almost 21,000 beads in each!  Yea I have a problem lol. 

In 2012, I made something similar to how this one turned out, the theme then was Ceiling.  Here it is.  It was made to be like the mosaics on the ceilings of the likes of cathedrals and old churches.

Ceiling Inchie

For this weeks Inchie I couldn't do the same thing, but my first thought was something similar.  Something like stained glass windows in a Cathedral.  So that was what I went with for this inchie.  Using the gold and silver as the metal that is between the panes of glass.  Hope you like it.

Cathedral Inchie

Like I said I used the gold and silver Delica beads but I also used transparent green, blue, red and purple.  Very reminiscent of the stained glass windows in the Cathedrals and churches. 

Since I am a geometric design freak, I really enjoyed making this one.  Something about the straight lines and boxy shapes I guess. 

Also don't forget to fly by and check out the other great artist's work over at Every Inchie Monday .  Have a blessed, warm and beady week.

Sister Necklaces

I hope everyone is staying warm.  The weather here is cold, but next week it is gonna be cold and SNOWY!  Yuk!  I don't like this arctic vortex.  But what better excuse to stay inside and play with my beads ;)

Last year I found a carved ox bone cabochon, or cab, with a wolf and an eagle on it.   My Sister-in-Law loves wolves, I mean she LOVES wolves!  So I decided that I should figure out how to make some jewelry with it for her.  This is what I came up with.  You like it?

First off I glued leather on the back of the bone cab.  Once it was set, I beaded around it with brown and cream colored seed beads, using peyote stitch.  Then added the fringe with the cream seed beads, garnet chips and mother of pearl drops. 

After I got the cab done I started on the necklace.  I used RAW (right angle weave) stitch with side stitching.  Which I embellished with more of the garnet chips.

Once the necklace done I was still in the creative mood so I made a pair of matching earrings to finish the look off.

Now that I got this done for Joyce, my Sister-in-Law, I realized that I will now need to make one for the other Sisters.  Don't get me wrong, I don't mind doing it; in fact I love any excuse to play with my beads, LOL.  The problem is that there is not enough free hours in the day for me to play with my beads! 

I was supposed to give the necklace to Joyce, face to face but due to transportation issues she was not able to come visit so I had to send it to her in the mail. :(   She loved it.  I was so happy to hear that. 

Now that the holidays are over with I am starting on the first of the Sister necklaces.  I will do a future post about the one I am working on when I get a bit more of it done.  Until then, have a blessed and beady day.