Bead Arts

Jungle Rhythm

I had the time of my life last Saturday! I was fortunate enough to be able to take a class in a nearby city with one of my beading heroes, the incomparable beaded quilt artist, Nancy Eha. Not only is Nancy’s beadwork original, beautiful, charming, and totally unique, but so is she. I have rarely been in a classroom with such a gifted teacher. Nancy is patient, organized, articulate, and creative. Very often you’ll get a teacher with one or two of these qualities, but rarely ever all of them. If you ever have an opportunity to take one of her classes…DO NOT MISS OUT!!!

Here are some pictures from our class, and above is one of Nancy’s pieces that was displayed at the quilt show where the classes were being held.

Here’s my finished piece

Nancy Eha

My friend, Debbie

The project that Nancy was teaching is available in her book, Bead Creative Art Quilts. Can you teach yourself using this book? Of course. Will you have anywhere near the fun or learn as much? No way! So do both: get the book and take a class!

beads, beading, mixed-media, bead-arts, Nancy-Eha

Winners in the 7th annual Saul Bell design contest, sponsored by Rio Grande, can now be oogled at this link.

Details for the 2008 Saul Bell contest are available now…the deadline is September 21, 2007.

Botanical Bracelet by Patrik Kusek,
First place winner in PMC

calls-for-entries, Saul-Bell-awards

Stacie’s Creative Junque is extremely creative…and much prettier than you would expect junque to be! Stacie writes:

I come from a background of mixed media but charm swaps late last year have me hooked on making jewelry pieces. Combining my love of paper and metals with my new found love of pearls and gemstones has opened up new creative ideas for me. For me, I create to keep myself balanced and centered. It’s as necessary as breathing. It doesn’t always matter what I’m creating, just that I’m doing something. If I can sit by myself for a few peaceful minutes and look at the sky, ideas usually start popping into my head.

I seem to have more ideas than time, but that’s when a journal comes in handy. Toss in some books, magazines and surfing on the internet for techniques that I can learn and inspiration for color. I use reclaimed bits and incorporate color to fit my moods. I like to create playful, quirky pieces that I would like to wear using shapes that I enjoy and things that I love from my ever expanding collection of things that my husband refers to as junk. To which I promptly add…but that’s my creative junque.

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media

I showed you some of the things that Clare was doing with optical lenses back in February. Well, since then, she has gotten a website up and running, and has filled it with all kinds of pretty jewelry!

Clare writes:

Most ideas have just popped into my head. I like the idea of old ideas being mixed with new materials so some are inspired by past vintage, feminine fashions which Im glad to say appear on the catwalk nowadays.
Some are simple designs. I think we all have a favourite colour and we tend to buy clothes in that colour so I thought why not make accessories to match, they’d last an eternity.
Some are complete fantasy to wear of an evening, some are just daywear to add a bit of pizazz to an outfit. Whichever way I look at it, I had fun designing/making the pieces and I hope you enjoy them too.

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media

Pink (Color Study Series), 2006
Photograph by Greg Mullin

Tina Koyama makes beautiful necklaces and bracelets, but what totally captured my attention was her sculptures! I was just thinking about how organic her work was, when I glanced at this statement on her website:

Beads fascinate me because they can emulate a natural cellular structure. A single strung bead doesn’t hold much interest, but multiplied by thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, beads take on a new form – one that I am continually compelled to explore.

Well, that explains it!

Rhythm & Blues (Color Study Series), 2006
Photograph by Greg Mullin

beads, beading, mixed-media, bead-weaving

Ladies Social

Cindy Forrester recently started an Etsy shop to sell her unique twist on vintage! She mixes old jewelry parts with ephemera to create one-of-a-kind jewels. Cindy writes:

Since I was a child I have always had the need to be creative. My 7th grade teacher kept every piece of artwork I did and she told me she had them framed and hung them in her home. She was such an inspiration to me. She always told me I could do anything I wanted to do with my art. I have never forgotten those words from her and have been creating ever since. I have mostly done paintings and some commissioned work, murals and furniture. I would pretty much paint on anything-canvas, old saw blades, furniture, and pieces of wood.

I was raised in Virginia in the country and my grandparents had a tobacco farm that we helped work in the summer and fall. They lived in an old farm house (no plumbing in the house except for a kitchen sink) and there were lots of old things in there. I grew up appreciating antiques. They had 3 rooms they never used that had all kinds of things from old jewelry (what we call vintage now), old clothes, shoes, paper dolls and even a few skeleton keys. I played dress up all the time, I loved the old jewelry, I would give anything to have them now. I guess that is where the love for old things came from. Since I have gotten older I love going antiquing, finding old rosaries, pearls, cameos, and religious medals, and medallions, and going to flea markets.

I am inspired by anything European from the past (my ancestors are English and Irish), antique, old, unusual, rusty, old metal, tin ceiling tiles, vintage chains, rhinestones, crystals, charms, tintype photos. I love the tintype photos or any old photos. When I look at them I try to imagine what they are doing or thinking and I will name some of my pieces that way. When I start creating the jewelry I am not always sure where I am going with it, it just evolves as I work on it. This is the part I have a passion for putting it together and seeing the end result. I like things that are different and I could never find jewelry in stores that had that Wow factor enough for me to buy,so I decided to combine the two -art and jewelry. Since I am having so much fun I decided to start selling my jewelry at CindyForrester.Etsy.com

3 Sisters All Dressed Up

City Queens

Christine’s cuff-style bracelets are actually architectural marvels, created with a precision that defies belief! Using peyote stitch and right-angle weave, she creates works that emphasize form over color. A very different approach to bead weaving and design…and very lovely!

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry

Nancy Peterson, of Beaver Island Jewelry, has mastered the art of making kumihimo braids to show off her lampwork beads. What a fabulous idea! Check out more of Nancy’s designs at her website. Nancy graciously allowed me to share some of her designs here.

Kumihimo necklace in browns and beiges with a lampwork bead and wire bail

Kumihimo necklace, in a choker length with lampwork beads

Some of the variety of frogs that Nancy makes

Two of Nancy’s bracelets in browns and beiges

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media, lampwork, kumihimo

Check out Jessica’s site for a look at the most exquisitely formed seed bead jewelry. Oh yes, she does more than just seed beads, but I’m totally captivated by her sculptural forms!

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media

How can you not like a business with a name like this?

Aren’t they cute? Visit the Broken Plate Pendant Company to see much more!

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media

The Luce Foundation Center for American Art has a fabulous jewelry collection. The Luce is one of the less well-known of the Smithsonian Museum family. If you won’t be taking a trip anytime soon to Washington DC, the Luce’s website thoughtfully displays a certain amount of the collection for your viewing pleasure right online!

Amuletic Beads #3
William Harper, 1976

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media, Luce Center

I met Toby and Penny Attrill through our blogs and was quite taken by Toby’s really fun knotted jewelry…some made with ribbon and some with hemp. Toby put together some images of his work that he’s allowing me to share with you, and also some information on how he got started.

Toby Attrill is a young jewellery maker; he has designed various collections and also creates to commission. He is assisted by Penny, his Mum, who helps with some design ideas and also a lot of the administration. Toby has always been artistic, going to ceramics class for a few years now, enjoying cooking, sewing, texiles, creating artworks on the computer using Photoshop, and making things with his Dad in his workshop. The jewellery started a couple of years ago on holiday, where he met up with another boy who made beads from polymer clay. Toby came home, and started experimenting himself, making bracelets from the handmade beads, selling them, and gradually embellishing them more with shells and buttons, collecting ceramic fragments, buying hemp and ribbons, touring antique fairs for vintage beads, and finally now also using sterling silver in his creations. He supplies 7 shops and sells quite a lot from our blog.

You can see his designer range at: Attrill’s Blogspot
To find out more about his work in general see: Natural Attrill
To see his latest jewellery and ceramic creations, and generally what we are up to, visit our blog, and PLEASE say hello, leave us a comment! Natural Attrill Blogspot



Penny & Toby

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media

Of all the beading forms that I find fascinating (hmmm…that would be all of them!), one that I’ve never really tried is wired flowers. Diana makes gorgeous beaded fruit, and as you can see above, lovely flowers. Her blog, Beaded Flora, chronicles her adventures with beads. Well worth a visit!

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media

Mango Madness

Valerie owns Z Creations Jewelry, home of gemstones, pearls, and above all…crystals. She writes:

I don’t usually have a specific design in mind when creating my jewelry, though inspirations can come from a variety of sources, such as the incredible diversity of nature’s colorful combinations, a piece of fabric with an unusual color or texture, and even city scenes. I simply place a variety of beads in front of me, and see what happen. It may take 30 minutes, or it may take 3 hours, to come up with a design that I’m happy with. Strange as it may sound, the inspiration for the vibrant Mango Madness Necklace and earrings was a combination of my love for the beautiful orange & black Monarch butterfly, as well as all the mangos eaten in Hawaii on my honeymoon. The lovely Pink Jasper and Black Onyx Necklace and matching earrings came to life after finding my husband’s black dog lying in my bed of periwinkles! Yes, both my husband and his dog are still with me.

I bring my designs to life with unusual combinations of colors and textures from an assortment of semi-precious gemstones, Swarovski Austrian crystals, freshwater pearls, handcrafted lampwork beads and other unusual beads/pendants. I also use a variety of sterling silver, gold filled and gold vermeil beads and clasps, as well as other quality components.

Pink Jasper & Black Onyx

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media

I absolutely love Art School Dropout’s new jewelry line, perfectly titled Juxtapose! Adorable stuff that makes me smile

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media