Holler for Hoops Revisited

This is a gorgeous peacock green with copper accent necklace I created out of an older pattern by Jonna Holston called "Holler for Hoops"   I love to use this easy pattern made with a simple peyote stitch.  I then added the double St. Petersburg chain with crystals.  On this chain I used a metalic green triangle.  I wanted to attach the chain in a pleasing manner so I stretched it out with the 4mm Swarvoski bicone.  I love the sparkle of the 2X AB that comes in soooo many beautiful colors.  I started with the "three leaf clover" in the center and continued to make the ear rings until I felt "enough is enough".    I then made a single row peyote set of earrings and folded them over to pull the crystals into the centers.  What do you think?  Here is a closer view to the attached chain and one of the "three leaf clover" but the picture does not do it justice. 

Here are the ear rings.  They are much prettier than this picture but at least it gives you an idea of how I folded the petals forward.

Have a GREAT week! 

Life is good and today is all we are promised.

Drop me a line if you like my newest...

Sharon

Woman Creative

I just wanted to fill you in on

"my little  Georgia world"

in June.

I have been extremely busy beading away

and sending some of my things to a classy consignment store in Buford, GA. All of the items they have are lovely and handmade! 

I am planning on adding things to the store between working, beading and taking care of my hubby...(more about that later.)

Here are some of the things I have been working on....

Here is a picture of my daughter with my newest piece! 

By the way, she has now "gained" five pounds!!!  She seems to be on the mend and we thank you ALL for your prayers

and for your well wishes.  It will be a long

haul but we believe she is recovering slowly. 

Plus my son, Shawn,

went in for the three month cat scan and all of the cancer tests

came back negative!!! 

What a blessing to have such good news.



Now for the "more about that later" comment. 

This is my husband, Don a couple of days ago.

Okay.....this is exactly why I haven't written for so long....

Below are some pictures of him in the

emergency department last month!!!

His son was up 40 feet cutting off a dead limb, the limb swung toward the ladder and Don raised his hands and stepped in front of the ladder to protect his son.  I was on the patio watching this all unfold!  Don flew back 10 feet and landed flat on his back. 

I called 911 and they came immediately. 

He broke five of the bones on the right side,

the eye orbital, nose, jaw, cheek bone and had a cracked skull,

cracked neck bone and a huge concussion. 

The doctors all said "IF it had been one inch forward or back that he would have been killed before he hit the ground". 

He saved his sons life but about took his own.  Now we are just waiting for his body to heal itself which can take several months considering he celebrated his 74th birthday on June 19th.

I am thankful that the angels were watching over him!      

BEFORE:

It seems that when one thing goes bad that

it always comes in threes. 

Well, WE have had our three now and

hope this will be the last for a long while!!! 

AFTER!

 

God is good to me! 

The scripture that kept coming to me is: 

"Be Still and Know I am God!"

There has to be a reason why all of these things keep coming at us but through it all I have felt the love of family, the love of friends, the love of the church body but

best of all the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Back to beading for now,  I have missed you all.  Thank you every one for your concern and your support,

Sharon

Going a Beading & Cruisin'!!!

Before I leave on vacation Saturday, I wanted to let you see a few of the items I have been working on.  Yes, I am going on a Beading Cruise, March 26th to April 4th!!!  I am very very excited but so busy trying to get my bags packed, beading finished, working two days, and working on cleaning the house before I go.

On the Rocks had this lovely bead that is coral and gold mixed.  It yelled at me until I bought all Donna had.  I made the necklace with a "peacock" amber Swarvoski crystal then used a much smaller "rusty" Swarvoski crystal for the bracelet.  I added a copper pearl between the round crystals.  I wanted to leave the cuff open so stopped at beading just the center then used my scrapbooking ink to shade the ultra suede edges. 

I have been working on this for a couple of weeks.  I took twisted bugles to cover various sizes of pearls.  I didn't have a pattern for this piece so I just beaded until I was satisfied or too tired to continue...lol  I love the pearlized/frosted drops as they pick up the colors of their surroundings.

Last but NOT least, I made three pair of ear rings this morning.  There is an article in April Bead and Button magazine that inspired these by Kimberly Berlin.  I think they will be a fun accent for a casual summer outfit.

Well, the packing is not getting done and I am already tired!  Have a great week.  I know I will..

Sharon

Unexpected Gift of Love

 A friend of mine, Dawn Hudson, came in to the shop on Saturday and handed me this beautiful stone!  She knows my love of "bling" so I could not just lay it aside, could I? 
I came home and beaded up this lovely stone. 

 What do you think?  Did I do it justice? 

Jill Wiseman had developed this beautiful "Supple Herringbone" rope pattern.  I had been so anxious to find something special to hang on her lovely rope. 
(I made the crystal piece so that I can just slide it off or wear it alone.) 

Thank you, Dawn and Jill for your contributions toward MY favorite 2011 piece!!! 

You know I can not leave well enough alone so I made one in GOLD!  This design is so comfortable!  Several months ago my daughter had given me this daisy made with a marble center.  Again I made it so that it will slide off so that I can hang something else in its place or wear the rope by itself.  (Again, I apologize for the photos...)  Thank you, sweet girl for the gifts you give so generously.  I dearly love you!

Mary DiMatteo had this St. Petersburg chain in Bead & Button a couple of years ago so I dug it out from my pattern stash to make this with 1.5mm cubes and crystals.  It is a fast and easy pattern that I have used numerous times.  I KNOW I will use it again and again very soon!

I have one more thing left to show you that I have done this week....(I hope you aren't too bored yet) 

Another Bead and Button pattern....

this one by Susan Mandel. 

I really like her three deminsional work.  I had this beautiful Swarvoski crystal in a deep purple but could not find just the "right" place for it.  I have started doing some loom beading but it takes so long to load the loom and then to find places to "tuck" the threads.  So my solution is the standard peyote stitch.  Blessings to you all...

Sharon

p.s.  Be sure to join us in the One World One Heart giveaway coming up January 30th!!!  I will be giving something away too so let me know when you stop by.

More Triangles, More Flowers

Here is my latest flower arrangement! 

What do you think?

I am having tooooo much fun with my beading and my new job. 

It hardly seems fair to get paid for something you love!

My energy level has gone up dramatically since I started the job at

On The Rocks Beadstore.

Now I am designing patterns, ordering beads, counting beads, tubing, and all of the countless tasks it takes to keep folks coming into the store.  Last week I had to make up over 500 tubes of beads, labels, stocking, inventory, and enjoy seeing our new "trunk show".

(I am trying to save all my money for our  vacation with my kids at the beach for my July birthday!!)

Life seems to be going great here in Georgia.

I hope things are good for each one of you.

I still haven't gotten back to blogging but I will soon.  It feels like so many have left me in the dust but I think of you all and pray that you are doing something/anything that makes you smile!

Blessings,

Sharon

Spring cleaning or spring beading? Beading wins!

This is why I am not getting anything done this week! Spring is here in full bloom. During the cold snap we had lots of daffodils but they went really quickly so I had to make my own from coffee filters! It is my hubbies cup but I like the phrase because all day I am "on break" from cleaning, laundry, and dusting. This is the view from my back patio and it is so hard to tear one away from these wonderful white/pink wonders! Truely, I am the happiest in spring......

Now to the "work/play" I have been doing.....

I have decided that I will make one blog for my jewelry and one for misc. items. There have been those who want to just see my jewelry and others want to see the items that I have for you to see in my personal life.
I finished this Fiori Necklace today. The pattern is by Jean Campbell from Minnesota. I made it a little different than her pattern so I decided to show you where I get my patterns from. She had made it with a round bead in the center but I wanted to use the beautiful crystal drop for my centerpiece. What do you think? The setting is made with a peyote stitch of tiny beads woven onto a cream leather backing. (Bead embroidery) Then I added Swarvoski crystals in a deep amethyst. There are over 80 crystals on this piece and twice as many round crystals with three antique clear rounds that really sparkle! I then made a set of ear rings to match because I could not imagine what one would wear with this dressy piece except for maybe a pair of crystal beads. Once I got this all done I had ONE purple bicone and one round amethyst crystal left. I could not believe I counted so closely. Thank goodness I had each one because it just would not have been complete without the ear rings. It is always so hard for me to view my own work and be totally satisfied with the results. But this one was very pleasing to me and I enjoyed each stitch. Do you like it as much as I do?

There are several really good magazines on the market to get ideas from. This pattern is from BeadWorks magazine which I have a subscription to as well as Bead & Button magazine. I like to take ideas from several established artists and make them "my own" by putting a twist on their creations.This is an example of a spin on a pattern that I have used several times. It is a collar that the pattern called for two rows of beads and then a drop. I really like doing the herringbone stitch and sorta got carried away but was very glad I did. It really makes the necklace a work of art with all of the lovely pink pearl drops and the beautiful crystals. (I wish I could ever get a good picture of my things so you can see the details.) I have tried taking them outside, indoors, under the spots, etc. It just never seems to capture the textures nor the colors of the beads.
I had a pretty 14K gold chain and thought I would make something to go with the delicate texture of the chain. I started to make a surround for another crystal but I liked the way it was bending on its own so I just "went for it". I thought "I can always tear it out and start over again" but I really liked the way it was coming together in a 3D form. I added five Swarvoski crystals in amethyst to the bottom just to dress it up a little with a large antique crystal hanging from the center. It is simple but elegant at the same time. After making the Fiori, (which is very victorian and dressy), this is very subdued in comparison.

I have several other projects on the table but these are all I have gotten completed this week. When it is so lovely outside I bead on the patio table. The bird are singing and my fountain & waterfall running. I am slower this week because of this gorgeous weather! Sorry, excuse me but I gotta' go enjoy the beading.....or napping. (Which ever comes first! )

God Bless you richly in His season of new beginnings! Thank you for stopping by to check out my ramblings....Sharon

Work in Progress

This peyote"Dimensional Diamond" pattern was made from a flat sheen tiny bead called a Delica and then I added very shiny multicolored larger beads to make the diamond effect. It was extremely time consuming because the beads were so small but it is very comfortable to wear.

This is "a work in progress". I found out how to make a Russian Spiral and I made this up a couple of days ago. I made the cabasone to hang down from the center but am waiting for inspiration to figure out how to hook the two together. I enjoyed the process of the spiral and hope to make something else with this pattern. I like to make two or three things from the same pattern so that I will know how to do it again for future reference. (It takes a lot for my brain to absorb the weave and then to retain it.) By the way I did NOT go to the bead show that was just down the road from me! I wanted to and just about gave in but my Grand daughter, Beth, has her 12th birthday this week and we are to go out to celebrate. Soooo I made myself stay home and set with my hubby on the back patio and watch the birds, squirrels and flowers. Just think of the money I saved him!