Honey Jade and Carnelian Pendant-finished!

The finished pendant features carnelian chips surrounding the honey jade. I used a few bugle beads and gold pearls to enhance the warmth of the cabs. This was a fun piece, and definitely a learning experience! It is suspended from a simple leather cord. There is a bit of a genie bottle feel, to me.

Honey Jade and Carnelian pendant-with a glimpse of the process...

I wanted to use multiple shapes of cabochons in a pendant that was out of my typical box. First, I drew outlines of the shapes on paper, then cut out the rough shape that seemed to work. I transferred the shape on to buckram, and glued down the cabs. As you can see, I had to continue refining the outline. I "colored" the background with orange and yellow sharpies and my coloring improved, but that is not pictured. Next up: the finished design.

They Aren't All Winners...but learning experiences!

Here's an idea gone wrong. I thought it would be an encouragement to other beaders to see a huge mistake, err, learning experience! So, my idea was to brick stitch a triangle, glue a cab to the top, back with ultrasuede then bezel around the cab and add chips to each edge, with the result to be a gorgeous pendant. Yeah, right. You can see how well that turned out! I pulled the cab off, after realizing that I couldn't get a needle through the leather and beads to the edge of the cab. In Tim Gunn's words (from Project Runway) how do you plan to mitigate this?? Hehe, good question. Next time (if there is a next time) I will free-bezel around the cab and then glue down to the brick stitch base, before glueing the backing. Lesson learned! They all can't be winners.

Artist profile: Paula Motsinger Meyncke

Artist profile: Paula Motsinger Meyncke

Red butterfly embroidery project-finished!

Here she is! I used all kinds of seed beads, 2 cuts, 3 cuts, transparents, etc., from coral to cranberry. She is backed with repurposed red suede. The problem is, I don't know how to finish her. I have her listed in my etsy shop as ready for a pin back, or a custom necklace. Any thoughts?

Red butterly embroidery project-in progress

 This is a red, whimsical butterfly embroidery project. For this one, I edged around the butterfly and her different sections, then raided my stash for a bunch of varying colors of red.

I've never really taken the time to learn peyote stitch, but finally got down to it a couple months ago. This was a time consuming but fantastic project! Delica beads of violet/lt bronze comprise the background, with puffed hearts in seed beads pop up dimensionally. I haven't learned odd count yet, so to even one edge, I used a row of brick stitch. It's amazing-the brick disappears into the peyote, and is an exact match. I edged the piece with 15 gold charlottes and finished off with a bronze vintage style stamped flower button and peyote loop. The color is a bit washed out in the photo, but is very vibrant in person. This item is available in my etsy shop.