I think Spring is finally here!

I thought Spring had arrived but then we had another 5-6 inches of snow last Monday. Yesterday I noticed that the wind felt softer and no longer chills the bones. My honeysuckle vine has a few green leaves peaking out so it won't be long until the grass greens up and the flowers start poking their heads out after the long winter.

I love this bracelet because the African turquoise beads look like new leaves poking out from under the snow. The freshwater pearls remind me of snowdrops in the Spring.

What's your favorite color?

My favorite color is purple and blue and pink are close behind. Whenever I'm purchasing beads those colors seem to jump out at me and I find myself buying more of them than other colors. I don't look good in oranges, golds and some greens so I tend to avoid those colors both in my wardrobe and in my beads.

Lately I've been making a concerted effort to go outside my comfort zone and include styles and colors that aren't "me". These gorgeous fire agate beads were a gift from a friend so it seemed like a perfect time to make something orange and chunky.

Of course there are matching earrings.

What's your favorite color? Do you try to "think outside the box"?

Are you a jewelry person?

Some people wouldn't think of leaving the house without wearing jewelry and others almost never wear any. I guess I'm a jewelry person because I wear it every day. To be specific, I wear earrings all the time. I add a bracelet or necklace depending on my wardrobe and mood.

These are some of my favorite earrings. They are Sterling ear threads with luscious purple pearls. 

What kind of jewelry person are you? 

Smokey Quartz Maille Necklace

Combining beading with chainmail designs is the look I love. Here is one of my favorite chainmaille necklaces with spear head beads and a beautiful smoky quartz focal briolette. I think the beads soften the chainmaille and give it a more modern yet antique look. What do you think?

A girl can never have enough earrings

I love earrings and wear them every day. I have all sizes and colors, beaded and maille. I also love ear threaders and wear them most often. They are so light you can't even feel them and you can change out the beads to match any outfit.

With wedding season coming up I designed this pair with Swarovski crystals and rhinestone square rondelles.

Fleur-de-lis

Another weave that I created is called Fleur-de-lis. It is a beautiful weave for a necklace or bracelet. 

Here is a close-up of the weave.

If you would like to learn how to make Fleur-de-lis there is a tutorial on my website.

http://www.beaded-baubles.com/tutorials.html#Fleurdelis

Coda Maille Weave Tutorial

The front section of this necklace is box chain but the back is Coda which is one of the chainmaille weaves I designed.

I've had a lot of requests for the tutorial so here it is. Enjoy!

http://www.beaded-baubles.com/tutorials.html#Coda

Stringing

The technique that looks the easiest is stringing. It is very deceptive however because while anyone can string beads on a wire, it takes a lot of practice to come up with a great piece. Color, texture, size, shape and luminescence all come into play and the balance of the piece is crucial. That doesn't mean it must be symmetrical, just balanced overall. Notice the way the neutral beads add texture and luminescence even though they are not symmetrical.

Bead Weaving

One of my favorite techniques is bead weaving. I love to design patterns and weave the tiny little seed beads into a "fabric". Here is one of my woven amulet bags with chain accents and Swarovksi crystals for bling.

Caterpillar Bracelet

The Caterpillar bracelet is a combination of seed bead weaving and chainmaille. I like to see what I can come up with using both of my favorite techniques. Here is a close up of the weave. I love the way this experiment turned out. 

Dragonscale

One of my favorite weaves is Dragonscale. You can see the depth of the weave in this Dragonscale necklace. Each row "stacks" up on top of the previous row. Gold filled and Sterling rings add to the "WOW" factor of this beautiful weave.