flora

tiny toggles

I did finally finish my Margie & Me challenge bracelet last weekend and I even took some pics, I just didn't get around to blogging about it.

15/0 gold one-cuts with white AB Delicas and tiny pearls

closure with two tiny toggles

Each flower/wheel is about the size of a quarter

pollen specks from photographing in the creeping fig

fin

Oh, Dear...

from Signed by Tina

Margie & Me Rococo Challenge

I have wanted to work on some small pieces and thought that the La Bella Joya Weis Church Challenge would be perfect.  I started out by sending an email to Marcie saying I would make something small - maybe some earrings.  OK, now I was committed.  But after about ten minutes, I got an idea that was a bit more elaborate.  I loved working with some white AB Delicas in a previous piece and wanted to show off how they shimmer pink and blue - perfect for this challenge although nearly impossible for me to photograph.  I made some little wheels:

I made an all white and gold wheel first.  Then I thought that I should use some pink &/or blue.  The bottom design seemed a little art deco to me so I added some more one-cut 15's and got the top design.  When I made these little wheels in white and gold they totally reminded me of my great-grandmother Mildred.  In fact I could picture the white wool dress with which she would wear the piece.

That is Mildred as a cut-out photo figure.  I think this photo is from her honeymoon to France.

Finally I decided to ditch the pink and blue and just go with the shimmery white.  And I decided to make a bracelet.  Oopps, what happened to just something small?

 So all the threads hanging out might have given away my secret - I actually have not finished this piece.  I have about three more rings and two toggles to make.  After I started putting it together, I figured out a better way (isn't this always the case).  I also have been having a problem getting the thread tension right when I string them together so that rings that were nice and flat suddenly start to pucker. At any rate, I really like my festive bracelet and even if I didn't fully explore the color palette, I would never have made this piece without the challenge.

Girasoles

Goes with everything

I can't quite get it together to take better pictures of this RAW bracelet so these will have to do.  I wove it from a Try-to-bead pattern and blogged about it a few weeks ago while it was in progress.  Here it is during:

I really loved the open spaces and didn't really want to fill them with the 6mm fire polished beads that the pattern suggested.  I played around and found some 4mm fire polished alexandrite twilight 4mm's.  This gave the piece some sparkle, but really allowed focus to stay on the awesome RAW pattern.  This is also the very first time I have played around with RAW so I'm pretty excited.

Bad light at 5PM.  The colors are richer.

Two tiny toggles close the bracelet

I love how the 4mm round and the seed beads both have some plum highlights

$700 pickup - I hate you Craig's List

If you are calling about the $700 pickup truck you saw on Craig's List, my phone number was printed in the ad, but I have no truck.  If you aren't calling me about the truck, leave a message.

Yah, my cell phone number is in a Craig's List ad and the phone hasn't stopped ringing all night.  Want a 1996 Nissan pickup:

Nice lil truck with 5 speed tranny . it was ran hot so i put in new water pump and radiater. i believe the head to be cracked. . with a lil money this will make someone a great lil truck pics will follow soon. i also have a camper shell to go with it . low miles. call ewric:(wro)ngF'n-number

The guy either lisps in print, can't spell his own name, really is named Ewric, or is a living example of why you should not drink and post ads requiring a response.  All I can say is that despite living in the Deep South for eight years, I could not understand some of the people who called me this evening. If I had the real phone number I could probably sell the darn truck tomorrow to one of my students.  It sounds like just the thing they might like.  But I would have to warn any potential buyer that it was ran hot.