Awhile ago I was asked if I could repair a necklace for an elderly lady. The necklace was a beautiful vintage seed bead netted collar and it was such a pleasure to work on it. It only needed a small amount of work to fix it. When I gave the necklace back I didn’t charge for the repair because I felt the priviledge of being able to examine it and work on it was enough. The lovely lady was delighted and gave me a lovely card and a lottery ticket in return. But that got me to thinking, wondering how many beautiful seed bead pieces are out there, lying broken and unworn. How many get thrown away? Almost makes you want to ask every elderly lady if they have any? I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the necklace before I returned it and here it is below.
A very beautiful piece.
Sharyn
I’ve finished! My quest piece is done and posted and so is my colour challenge piece. Now I can get on to some other things. The colour challenge was just that “a challenge”, the actual rope wasn’t too bad once I had the hang of it but deciding how to use it in a piece of jewellery took a bit of thinking. I’m quite happy with the results, although I can see places for improvement.
And my quest set, and I must say a big thank you to Anne Dundas for taking my not so great photos and making them look lovely.
Now I’m back to my vessel, trying to incorporate that into a necklace which is proving a bit more difficult than I thought (and unfortunately Anne didn’t send it with instructions!). I also have a custom order to complete which will mean putting on my thinking cap. Mmmm more challenges!
cheers Sharyn
I’ve been trying to sit down for the last week to write this but something always seems to get in the way! However, the good news is that sometimes that was beading! As I have mentioned previously I have been working on a turquoise coloured cabochon necklace. I have now added a double spiral rope strap and I’m quite happy with how it is looking. I’m just not sure if it is balanced though. Perhaps it needs some fringing/embellishment on the bottom of the cab or maybe I need to change the position of where the straps join to the cab. What do you think?
I still need to attach a clasp at the back, just trying to decide whether to use something I already have or maybe get a nice gemstone clasp. Other than this I have also been working on my Seed Bead Colour Challenge, I have consulted the colour wheel and chosen a complementary colour combination. So far I am really pleased with the results (even though I have only done about 5cm of stitching). Once I have a little bit more to show I will take some photos.
My big news is that I have been accepted to teach a workshop at the Melbourne Bead and Gem show in May. The Workshop is for a Spiral Rope bracelet using pearls and crystals.
I’m quite excited about this and I’m really looking forward to my week ‘down south’. I will also be helping Wendy Hearn (a fabulous glass artist) by looking after her stall while she is teaching her workshops. It will be a busy four days, I just hope I get some time to do some serious bead shopping while I’m there! Tomorrow I am heading up to Dubbo (120kms) to meet up with a few fellow beaders from the Beading Forum. I love meets like this, having a bit of a show and tell and being with people that speak the same ‘beady’ language. I don’t get much opportunity for that, so take every opportunity I can! (Not to mention having a day out with a little shopping thrown in is always a treat).
