Monday, December 30, 2013

Year of the Water Dragon Baptism Hairpiece

As I start to get back into the swing of things post-holiday, I can finally put up a quick post about my most-recent commission.

I was a little nervous when Kathy asked me to put together a beaded hair piece for her new grand daughter.  I wasn't sure if I could make it petite enough, or what to attach it to, but it went really well.


2012 was the Year of the Water Dragon in the Chinese Zodiac, and apparently it's a huge deal.  Kathy said that the hospitals over in Singapore were booked up because everyone was trying to have their babies in 2012.


My first try at this piece, I was stuck on "baby colors" which seem to be pastels in my mind.  I got it together (below) on white with yellow and blue, but it really wasn't a classic enough looking dragon and the colors needed to be much richer. So I went back to what I had in my head initially, a wonderful gold background with red and brilliant blue.  I also had to add a 5th spike to the dragon's tail.


Part of the issue drafting this piece was making ti so it wasn't too large, or heavy.  I used small 15/0 beads to keep it around 1.5 inches wide.  This was a fun piece, and I'm happy I could get the detail into it.


I also spared myself the pain of looking for the proper baby-clip and just ripped the flower off of a pre-made one and stitched the dragon to the white ribbon.  I also made it so that Maya can snip the clip off and use this piece elsewhere one day if she likes.

My apologies on the quality of the photos, I was in a bit of a rush trying to make sure to get this in the mail in time!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Beaded Snowflake Earrings, New Colors


 I've been a little behind on holiday, but as I've been setting up shows I have managed to remember to put out the snowflake earrings that I make.  Angelwood Gallery in Ohio requested a jewelry swap earlier than I'm used to thinking about holiday (sometime in October, when I'm in the throws of Halloween), and I forgot to send them snowflakes.  So these ones are en-route, but they're a nice combo of new colors and what I can make.

I'm continuing to make the white snowflakes, but I have added grey, and dark gold to the mix.  You can also see  in the above photos that I'm using some accent beads like crystals and pearls on them lately.  I will have snowflakes at my next two sales coming up tomorrow and Sunday.

Holiday Boutique Show at the University Club
Thursday, December 5, 2013, 10:30am-2:00pm
3435 Forest Rd, Lansing MI 48910

Art for the Soul
Sunday, December 8, 2013, 10:00am-5:00pm
At MargaBeth Cibulka’s Home, 6177 Zimmer Road, Williamston, MI

Playing with Fire (Small Weaving)

I doodled these matches back in 2015. I had gotten divorced, I was out a lot and "playing with fire" was feeling like the best des...