Winter Break: Book making

A few days after Christmas I spent the day with my friend (and wonderful artist) Jane in her Studio 23. She suggested we alter some little board books she purchased for a class she was going to teach. We made up our own "rules" for this project: each page had to consist of at least three layers, each page had to include a heart, and each page was covered in fabric swatches. We each "secretly" chose at least five items that had to be incorporated somewhere in the book. My favorite was the large key seen dangling at the spine. Jane was not happy with my choice, but decided it could go on the outside of the book. It was fascinating to see the difference in how each of us approached the project. Jane laid out each page before adhering, while I did one page at a time right in the book. It was a blast and I love my mini chunky book! Thanks, Jane.
I've included pictures of the cover, spine, and one of the sets of pages:

More Jewelry

I started this necklace in the Exotic class taught by Karli at Confetti Beads last month. My friend, Angela and I took the class together. Although the technique was easy to learn, finishing the piece was time consuming. I was running low on beads for the dangles, so I finished with a combination of the bicones near the clasp. All the beads are Swarovski and even the clasp is a Swarovski button. At one point I got a blister on my finger from using my crimp pliers so much trying to finish, but the end result is worth it, I think. Ok, so Angela finished hers the week after class......... I did FINALLY get it done, girlfriend!

Winter Break Projects: Jewelry

This gold necklace is one of the samples in the Firemountain Gems and Beads catalog. I've had my eye on it for several weeks, but needed several sources for the supplies. I got most of them from Firemountain, but also got some from my favorite local bead hangout, Confetti Beads in Surprise. Here is an article about the store that ran in the newpaper.

I really enjoyed making this piece because I learned to make really good "basic loops" for each of the dangles. (Great directions) My thumb was sore, but after several attempts, they turned out nicely!!! All beads are Swarovski (my favorites).