It's Jewelry...FINALLY!

I know, I know. It seems like all I do around here is BUY beads without actually making anything from them. And truthfully, the ratio of buying to making is probably somewhat skewed towards the buying end.

But I ask you, which takes up more time? Clicking "buy" OR:

1. Planning out a design
2. Pulling out all the beads from your stash (including finding the ones that you SWEAR were in THAT drawer, but are now nowhere to be found)
3. Getting distracted by magazines
4. Getting distracted by those beads you forgot you had
5. Getting your workstation all set up
6. Picking up your first tool and...the phone rings (and WHY is it ALWAYS my mother when this happens? I swear she has anti-beading radar or something)
7. The time it takes to actually construct the piece (including any re-do's along the way).

Yeah. And THAT's why the ratio is skewed the way it is. Besides, I think there's something about the way creativity works (or maybe this is just me) that too many choices overwhelm me, but too few choices leave me stifled. I need more choices than I'm actually going to use, but not so many that I get mental gridlock.

Wow. NONE of that is what I intended to write about today. Sometimes the fingers just type what they want to type without any actual brain input from me. It's weird.

However, since it turns out that I have lost the topic and materials I intended to write about today (I blame it on all the 2nd grade math homework I had to help with over the weekend), I suppose it's just as well.

Here's what I made two weekends ago ('cuz I'm all timely that way):






I admit it - sometimes, over the years, I have made fun of the beads at Michael's. And mostly? I was pretty justified in doing so. But over the past couple of years, they have really stepped up their game in the bead department. Is there still a lot of crap there? Yeah, absolutely. But can you also find some hidden treasures like these chocolate brown carved floral beads? Yep.





And do they look awesome with Swarovski pearls, aqua ceramic links from Mary Ann Carroll, an amazonite nugget and brass wire, chain and hook clasp? Also, yep.

This is completely not the design I had planned for these links. I did one of my incredibly rare instances of sketching a design ahead of time...and then the beads declined to participate in said design and I ended up with this instead. It's very simple. Nothing earth-shatteringly creative about it, but sometimes? That's just fine.

I like the color palette of chocolate with aqua and white and I also like the juxtaposition (that's my $1 word for the day) of the classic elements of the pearl and floral beads with the more earthy, freeform elements of the links and the stone nugget.

But that design turned out pretty summery and (despite the temps in the 90's around here today) it's time to move on to fall:

I call this design "Berries in the Old North Woods." Don't ask me why the woods are old and northerly...sometimes my subconscious just kicks this stuff out for no apparent reason.

Darling ceramic owl focal is from Summer's Studio. And yeah, I know, I'm like the last person on the beading planet to do the owl thing, but that's mostly because I've been hoarding all my cute little owl beads until the right design should come along. When I saw those bronze "wood" links from Amanda Davie, I immediately knew they had to have an owl with them.

And once I started picturing this "woodsy" theme, my brain kept insisting there were a few bright and juicy berries left over from the summer that foraging bears hadn't foudn yet. So, I pulled out these melon-shaped dyed jade beads and I grabbed that gorgeous lampwork bead from My Lampwork Garden to tie the teals, greens and pinks together.

I don't know what kind of freaky plant grows these dark pink berries and teal flowers in the fall, but I'd plant it in my yard if I knew what it was LOL! I have decided to name it the "ImagineBerry Plant." Ceramic leaf charm is from Every Heart Crafts.

This necklace has SO MUCH going on in the front that I kept the clasp super-simple. I even left off my normal dangle at the back. That gorgeously patinated copper chain is from Miss Fickle Media.

And here's where I tried to get all artsy-fartsy with the picture taking. Okay, so the vase fell over and I decided to go with it, but sometimes, the greatest ideas happen by accident. This may not be one of those times LOL!

ImagineBerry Pie, anyone?

Hope you enjoyed the strange trek through my mind mind and sometimes strange designing process. I love feedback - so let me know what you thought. Negative feedback is fine as long as it's constructive and not mean and/or crazy. And if your e-mail address comes through in your blog comment - you'll get a reply! I am almost as much of an e-mail junkie as I am a bead junkie and love to continue the blog conversations there (some of you have discovered this the hard way and probably wish I would shut up). So be warned ;-)

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

KJ