I finally have a computer again! I've been going slightly crazy, because I kept thinking of ideas to post about, but couldn't post anything due to an exploded computer. I think I managed to write most of the ideas down though, so once the flooding here stops, and my 'show' is over, I should be able to sit down and type them out.
It's been a bit crazy here, between preparing for the Festival I'm going to be selling my jewelry in (5 more days!), and dealing with the damage the flooding is doing. We've been moving furniture and all kinds of stuff for days. So far, nothing emotionally valuable has been ruined, so that's good. Flooring, baseboards, and things like that on my mother-in-law's bottom floor have had to be taken out entirely.
I hope it stays sunny long enough to dry everything out, or at least give the drains/culverts/etc. a break. Apparently we've gotten the most rain this area has had since sometime in the 1800s. I'm praying for a nice day on Saturday... or at the absolute least, Sunday (the rain date for the festival). I think we'll have a tent either way, but I would prefer to have everything stay dry if at all possible. I guess I'll see what happens!
Back to Posting!
New Template
I decided to change the template for my blog. I spent a couple of hours looking through hundreds of templates, eventually narrowing it down to this one ("Blue Flower"), and one other (http://notepadchaos-btemplates.blogspot.com/). I decided that this one is better, because it's very streamlined... not too busy. So, thanks to (Mukkamu) Templates Novo Blogger, who is apparently the creator of this template! heheh.
The only problem I have with it is that it wiped out my "followers" widget, and I'm not sure if I can put it back. It will take me a while to figure it out, if it's even possible, so.. bear with me!
Feel free to share what you think of it. ^^
Edit, March 2010: I've set my blog back to its old template. There were some graphic hosting issues with the last one that I'm not sure how to resolve. So, better to have something that works, right? :p
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Swarovski Rivoli
Well, I was going to try to take pictures of all of the things I have already made, post them, and then start updating with the new things. But! I am a terrible procrastinator, and going on vacation certainly didn't help me get motivated in that respect. ("Must go to the beach! What's this, a bead store? Oh, we should go see the wild horses! Is that a geode shop? Let's go~ fly~ a kite~ Up to the highest heights~" Hee.) Ah well.
I thought I'd share some new things instead, and I'll eventually get the time/inclination to post my "old" things. I haven't posted anything due to thinking I should post older stuff first, and ... well, that seems kind of silly. I'm constantly making new things and would rather talk about those anyway.
Last month, I took a class with a lovely lady named Danielle Payette (www.inlightcreations.com) and learned how to bezel a Swarovski rivoli. This is what we made in the class. They're made with a crystal AB rivoli, light blue copper-lined seed beads, erinite bicones, and sterling silver earring post findings. Each one took about a little bit more than an hour. Lovely results, don't you think? (Note: You can click on each picture to see it in full size.)
Well, a few days after that class, I decided to try making another one, this time with an amethyst rivoli, light blue purple-lined seed beads, and amethyst bicones. The seed beads were a little bit wider than the ones I worked with in class, so is it has a more bubble~y look. I haven't decided how to finish it off yet.
On Wednesday, I was looking through my bead stash for something, and came across my other rivolis. Oh dear. I had my delicas out, and thought I'd try using those instead of 'normal' seed beads. Let's just say they work well! I expected that they would, since they're great for peyote stitch anyway, but I was very pleased with the spiral I could achieve on the back of the rivoli. That was a nice discovery; it'll be great for earrings.
I started off with a rose rivoli. For some reason, I decided that I wanted to go super-pink, which... really isn't my normal inclination. I chose to use "transparent raspberry" delicas and rose bicones. I actually love the results, which surprised me. Here's the pendant I made, in a small spot of sunshine. I need to decide if I'm going to do a stringing project for it or not. I don't like how it looks on a chain, so I probably will.
After I finished that, I went a little bit crazy. The earrings aren't finished, because I need to decide on findings. Fuchsia niobium? I could go all-out pink, couldn't I? Or something a bit more tame...? (Nah!)
After I did the pink set, I decided to do something a little bit different. I started with a sapphire rivoli, and sapphire bicones. I didn't really want to have another monocromatic piece, so I pulled out some very pale orange matte delicas, and some darker "pumpkin" matte delicas to accent each bicone. I left out a couple of the side bicones, and added a dangle/swag on the bottom instead. I took a picture of the side/back of it as well (see below), so you can get a general idea of what that looks like. It's pretty much the same on all of the pink rivoli pieces as well, but they have more bicones on the sides.
All of the crystals (rivoli, bicones) I talk about in this post are Swarovski crystals. I started out typing in Swarovski everywhere it applied, and it was just getting a bit excessive, so I thought I'd just make one note at the end.
I love Swarovski crystals. They have a lovely sparkle, and they come in too many colours, shades, and finishes to count. When I saw the rivoli collection, I just fell in love with them. I bought a few right away, despite not really knowing what to do with them. They're gorgeous. My pictures absolutely do not do them justice. I'm so glad Danielle was giving a class on bezeling these beauties!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Ohho!
I have a blog! I will never sleep again.
Okay, not really. I plan to use this to showcase the jewelry I've made over the last couple of years, so hopefully I won't let this become too much of a time drain. More time posting = less time beading, and where's the fun in that?
So, ah, welcome! Feel free to rattle around the emptiness until I get around to filling this with sparkly goodies. ^^ Although I'm sure you can certainly think of more interesting things to do. heehee.
Go have fun. Shoo!
