Fire Agate and Vintage African Focal

Earlier this year I received a wonderful gift of some vintage African beads and components from a woman who lived in Africa for a decade or so. One of the amazing things I received (I blogged about the other pieces here)is this leaf - formed from brass and stamped with a lovely, simple design. I knew it would make an awesome focal but I also knew it had to be paired with the right beads and the right components. I used some 10 gauge brass wire to form the bail - hammered, of course...................

.........and while at Caravan Beads earlier this year found these fire agate beads -some big colorful roundels and some smaller rounds that I knew would work wonderfully with the brass. As links I used some brass washers (nice thick ones - heavier than what you find normally - these were a great find for me from my favorite closeout store here in Maine - Mardens) that I sawed using my jewelers saw. (Beading Daily had a great how-to article that made me want to pick up the saw and work with it again......if you have any hesitation or fears about sawing I highly recommend reading the article)

While I had the heavy gauge wire out to make the bail, I made two swirl components to add a bit more interest to the front of the necklace - also formed and hammered...........

I am really pleased with how the necklace came together..............

It can be seen in the April 2010 issue of Bead Trends magazine!

Black Steel and Brass Wire

Gotta love Christmas - got a bunch of new wire to play with and here are the fruits of my labor. For the first bracelet I used the black annealed steel wire to make some coil components and wrap some pretty pink faceted glass beads, crafted some jump rings and added the antique typewriter keys to spell out A-N-D. I handcrafted a spiraled "S" clasp and added an extender chain and a wrapped bead so it would fit different sizes. I've made a few projects with these antique keys and I love them........but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to what I choose to spell out.........some would say I give my muse too much latitude!!!

In this bracelet I used 18 and 20 gauge brass wire - I love working with brass - some don't like the natural patina it gets (a mellow golden brown), but I do. Besides, it's easy to keep clean - swish it around in a lemon juice and salt mixture and it brightens right back up. Anyway, I found a tutorial on the Starving Artists forum (great place to learn and drool over pretties)for a wire wrapped bead bangle and tried it out. I think because I used some 10mm beads the wire measurements were a little off, but the tutorial is clear and well illustrated and I like the end result. So, because my bracelet was a little short on length, I added some jump rings, a hammered brass clasp and a wrapped bead to extend the length a bit. I made an extender chain so it would fit more sizes.

These two necklaces are some simple ones I made for my nieces for Christmas - the beads are actually small perfume beads from the Netherlands - I found them at my LBS and thought they would be perfect for each girl. I added a hammered and textured silver ring, some silver chain and a quaint little silver heart shaped lobster clasp.

YOJ 2008 - Week 5 Mardi Gras

I had a blast making this mask for the Mardi Gras theme. I used 20 gauge brass wire which I cut into 8 equal lengths. I coiled some 16 gauge brass wire in the middle of the lengths to secure the wires and to create a mid point for the mask. I added some really bright colorful seed beads (8/0 gold, 11/0 green and some 8/0 purple triangle beads I liked for their metallic shimmer) and then formed the mask. I used a brass rod to anchor one side of the mask (the handle used to hold it to the face) - I coiled some 20 gauge brass wire around the rod to soften the look and to integrate the coils from the mask piece. On the other side I tried to keep the look freeform with curves, dips and coils that frame the eye hole as well as (once "on") the wearers face.
I may not make it to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, but I'll definitely look the part, even though I'm all the way up in Maine!

Week 2 YOJ 2008 - Capricorn Astrological Sign

This weeks theme is the Capricorn Astrological sign, which is the Ram. I fashioned a rams head symbol out of 16 gauge brass wire around which I had coiled some 20 gauge black steel wire. I twisted three wires together to make the neck piece (two lengths of black steel and one length of brass wire - all 20gauge), coiled some black steel wire to make the hanger for the pendant and added some really pretty, sunny looking gold Czech crackled glass beads for color and balance. I like the impact this piece has - it's choker length and really looks good on.

There has been a lot of discussion lately about twisting wire - tomorrow I will share some pictures and my technique for doing this.

Week 47 - Earth/Love your Planet

A simple submission this week - I had some beautiful green and blue/green lampwork beads that I thought would go wonderfully with this theme. I staggered the more solid green among the blue and blue/green beads to echo the seas and continents on the planet. In between, I handwrapped some brass wire and added a brass handcrafted spiral clasp.

mrs beadsley