Getting a bead on...
Chatty has gotten into beading - again. She is not called the Chatty Crafty Cook for nothing, after all! Actually, she has been using beads for years, mostly in her needlework and multi-media stuff with paper, but until now she has kept to "multi-strand" necklaces and the like when it came to jewelry.
But recently, she decided to try designing, rather than just stringing endless beads, which, though satisfying, was fairly boring. A first effort at designing involved concentrating on the texture and colors of the beads. It turned out pretty well. Chatty loves her necklace:
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Please believe Chatty when she assures you that it is MUCH prettier than it looks in the photo. The whole necklace is strung on sterling silver; the colors are vibrant; all five of the large beads are handmade (the middle bead dates from China in the 1920's); and all of the beads are different textures and materials that reflect light differently.
Anyway, Chatty wanted to do more. Specifically, she has this really cool silver "choker" style necklace, with a pretty pendant:
And, she was thinking how nice it would be to have MORE pendants to put on this choker. Because, well, more is MORE! So, she went back to The Bead Museum, to learn how to bead around cabochons. Here are some of the cabochons she chose:
On the left is Dalmation Jasper; in the middle, Labradorite: on the right, Denim Lapis Lazuli.
Here are the very first beads being sewn around the Denim Lapis Lazuli:
And, here is where all three cabochons are at the moment:
The beads are tacked down two at a time. Yes. Two at a time. Plus, they are so small Chatty has to use magnifying glasses to thread them onto the needle. And, you must understand that this is just the "base" beading. Other beads will be sewn on top of these, there will be beads hanging from the bottom on a couple of them, there will be a hoop of beads to attach them to the choker, and all sorts of fun stuff.
This is very time consuming, to put it mildly, but if you could see these for "real", instead of just in Chatty's photographs, you would immediately want one of your very own!
Chatty is going to be working on the base beading for these pretty stones in the next few days:
This one will be beaded with copper and two shades of green beads.
This one will be beaded with green and silver beads.
And this one will be beaded with black, red and silver beads.
Chatty will update these photos when the cabochons are ready to be worn - you have NO idea how pretty she plans to make them, so she'll just have to show you.
Wish Chatty luck. She hopes that one day soon she will be able to sell these newest creations to people who appreciate this sort of work. Chatty yearns to make an adequate living doing something that she loves - for people who appreciate it.
But recently, she decided to try designing, rather than just stringing endless beads, which, though satisfying, was fairly boring. A first effort at designing involved concentrating on the texture and colors of the beads. It turned out pretty well. Chatty loves her necklace:
Please believe Chatty when she assures you that it is MUCH prettier than it looks in the photo. The whole necklace is strung on sterling silver; the colors are vibrant; all five of the large beads are handmade (the middle bead dates from China in the 1920's); and all of the beads are different textures and materials that reflect light differently.
Anyway, Chatty wanted to do more. Specifically, she has this really cool silver "choker" style necklace, with a pretty pendant:
And, she was thinking how nice it would be to have MORE pendants to put on this choker. Because, well, more is MORE! So, she went back to The Bead Museum, to learn how to bead around cabochons. Here are some of the cabochons she chose:
On the left is Dalmation Jasper; in the middle, Labradorite: on the right, Denim Lapis Lazuli.
Here are the very first beads being sewn around the Denim Lapis Lazuli:
And, here is where all three cabochons are at the moment:
The beads are tacked down two at a time. Yes. Two at a time. Plus, they are so small Chatty has to use magnifying glasses to thread them onto the needle. And, you must understand that this is just the "base" beading. Other beads will be sewn on top of these, there will be beads hanging from the bottom on a couple of them, there will be a hoop of beads to attach them to the choker, and all sorts of fun stuff.
This is very time consuming, to put it mildly, but if you could see these for "real", instead of just in Chatty's photographs, you would immediately want one of your very own!
Chatty is going to be working on the base beading for these pretty stones in the next few days:
This one will be beaded with copper and two shades of green beads.
This one will be beaded with green and silver beads.
And this one will be beaded with black, red and silver beads.
Chatty will update these photos when the cabochons are ready to be worn - you have NO idea how pretty she plans to make them, so she'll just have to show you.
Wish Chatty luck. She hopes that one day soon she will be able to sell these newest creations to people who appreciate this sort of work. Chatty yearns to make an adequate living doing something that she loves - for people who appreciate it.
I would love to do this.
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Chatty, these are GORGEOUS!!! And I understand the hours of work that go into working your masterpieces.
I used to live 20 minutes away from Shipwreck Beads (world's largest collection of beads, oh my!) and it was always a 2-hr visit to oooh and ahhh and plan projects and purchase supplies.
Sadly, my abilities are hampered by my lack of ultra-fine motor coordination. Those tiny loops where you connect the wires? I have to have someone else (a friend, or my poor dh) do the honors. Tiny beads frustrate my fingers. *sigh*
This makes your creations all the more admirable to me.
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oh rock on Chatty! Yes indeed, good luck.
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Chatty, this is a wonderful venture for you! you may want to stop by The Lone Beader's site for some inspiration, sometimes I go there just to see what wonderfully creative things she's done with beads The Lone Beader's Blog
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