Black Magic

I’ve added another colourway to my Fairground Attraction kits to my Etsy shop! This one is called “Black Magic” and is one that I originally designed for myself, a mix of black and red beads in matt and shiny finishes. In the kit you get all the beads you need as well as the thonging and findings, plus the tutorial. The only thing I don’t include is a needle and thread, most beaders already have these in their kit and if you’re a beader yourself you’ll know that we all have our favourite threads and needles!

 
I’m also listing the actual pendant today so if you’re not a beader you can still have your very own necklace :)

June (aka Charters) very kindly sent me some photos of the pendants she’s made with the tutorial – I just love the colour combinations she’s used, especially the mint, pink and copper in the first photo.

Book Candy

Another busy couple of days photographing and listing these book thongs, I didn’t realise I had made so many! I’ll let the photos do the talking today and just say that they’re all available on my website and in my Etsy shop…

Planet Earth

Sunflower

Yin Yang

Carnival

Festival (mini version)

Divine

Vinyard

Oh and not forgetting this beadwoven pendant!

Busy Beadweaving

Wow, I can’t believe I haven’t posted for almost two weeks, that’s not like me at all is it! I’ve been really busy lately and we’re also having some work done in the house so there’s a lot going on. But I’ve done heaps of beading so this is going to be a very picturesque post!

First up, this is Sunshine After The Rain, my entry for the Etsy Beadweaver’s August challenge where the theme is Gold & Silver. I love making these Fairground Attraction pendants but I didn’t think gold and silver would work together…boy was I wrong…

I love some of the colour schemes I’ve been using lately so I thought it would be a good idea to make book thongs and earrings in the same shades. All of these, including the above pendant, are available in my Etsy shop and on my website.

Aww, is that all?!

Couple of Attractions

Here are a couple of pendants I made yesterday, using my Fairground Attraction tutorial. Both of these are available in my Etsy shop and on my website. I changed the design a little by replacing the ‘hanging bead’ with a small peyote loop.

First up is Transition. I let the cube and drop mixes guide my colour choices: muted red, burnt orange, lemon and lime. It makes me think of the bright summer colours turning slowly into autumn, hence the name. The suede thonging was originally meant to be red but when I attached the pendant it looked very dull. Then I put it next to some olive thonging and it really came to life!

I’ve called this piece Catching Waves, it makes me think of the sea and the beach, summer sun and people having fun while the waves crash against the shore. Again I let the drop mix guide me to the colours: turquoise, deep ocean blue, foam white , amber and a splash of jade green.

A cuff and my first lariat

Here’s a couple of new pieces I’ve made recently. First up is a cuff I made for my sister using a new tutorial from Lynn Davy. I found the instructions really easy to follow and had a lot of fun making it!

Second is my very first lariat! This is from the current issue of Bead magazine (issue 21) and designed by Jean Power. I’ve used all sorts of beads in this, seeds, cubes, drops etc in shades of purple and green. You can read more about both of these projects on the Operation Tackle That Bead Stash blog.

Some bits and pieces

Before I show you a few bits and pieces I’ve made over the past week, I’d just like to wish everyone a very happy Yule/Christmas!

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Here’s what I’ve been up to bead-wise. This is another of my Fairground Attraction pendants, inspired by the phrase ‘Eye of the Storm’. I love watching those ‘freaky weather’ programs on TV and I remember someone once saying that they looked up once the first wave of the storm had passed and saw a circle of blue sky. Now I don’t know if this is true or not but I thought it would make a great pendant!

These type of earrings are very fashionable at the moment so I thought I’d make my own version using beaded beads. I love this first pair a lot, they’re made using Toho metallic silver seed beads and silver plated findings. These are for sale in my Etsy shop along with a tutorial to make your own beaded beads just like these.

And for these I’ve used my favourite shade of seed beads, metallic abalone iris. These are gorgeous and have a multi-coloured effect without being too gaudy. I used mostly matt beads and then did a couple of rows in the middle with shiny beads in the same colour. You can just about make out the little bit of shiny in the photo!  And I think the antique-gold plated chain goes nicely with these beads : ) These should be in my Etsy shop very soon.