White Bridal Cuff

Tags

bead embroidery, beads, beadwork, bracelet, costume, jewellery, jewelry, peyote stitch, wedding

I took five white stones in an assortment of opaque, clear, and milky and attached them to a strong backing with my favorite peyote stitch, then decorated the rest of the fabric. The backing is faux suede. It closes with pearls and beaded loops. I like it!

White Bridal Cuff

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Pendant – Netted Captive Stones!

Tags

applique, bead embroidery, beads, beadweaving, beadwork, gothic, jewellery, jewelry, pendant

This came about by me doing some free form beaded netting. I decided whatever it was I wanted to do wasn’t going to work so I put it aside. Later I picked it up and said “That’s why I didn’t like it – it’s too 3D”. It was like a little snood.

Well, I like snoods a lot, so how could I not like this? It just wasn’t in the right place at the right time. So I put it in the right place.

The most 3D things I work with are large glass stones. They are simple and pretty when used correctly. Three of them fit perfectly into my netted trap!

I made a backing and attached the stones, then fitted the netting over top.

Three Captive Netted Stones

The backing was posing a bit of a problem, as it didn’t seem that fabric to cover it would work with the solidity of the front. So I wove beaded patches and stitched them together, then sewed them onto the back. They needed to be patches because the odd shape of the piece made it impossible to do a matching piece all in one.

Three Netted Stones – back view

It’s heavy but worth the weight… 😉

Next Step with the Beaded Circles… Burlesque!

Tags

beads, beadweaving, beadwork, burlesque, cathedral, gothic, jewellery, jewelry, pasties

Here’s what I did with a pair of matching “cathedral” circles;

Yes, I turned them into pasties! I have friends who use them in burlesque shows and I thought it would be cool to have: 1) custom made ones and, 2) pasties on a gothic cathedral theme because of it’s utter incongruity.

I like the way they look and they aren’t too heavy. They would be with tassels, so I didn’t add any. The fabric was a good colour but a little too heavy for the project. A light silk would be perfect.

 

 

“Rose Window” Inspired Beadwoven Circles

Tags

beaded necklace bead weaving beadwoven free form, beadwork, cathedral, colour, gothic, jewellery, stained glass

Using the Rose Window theme, I made two beaded circles. The first one took a little time to get the stitches and bead quantities just right, but it turned out pretty well. I ended by going back into the centre and stitching beads on top of beads for a raised, 3D effect. This pulled it all together nicely…

First “Rose Window” Circle

The second circle was much easier and simpler and I like some things about it better but it doesn’t look as much like tracery as the first. I made a duplicate of this to make sure I could follow my stitches if I wanted to keep this design in my head. It was easy and went quite fast!

Second “Rose Window” Circle

These could be incorporated into a huge variety of things – pendants, earrings, bracelet centrepieces, linked together into a belt, a centre for a hair ornament or fascinator, appliques, burlesque pasties…Can’t wait to try some of them out…Stay tuned!

“Rose Window” Bracelet

Tags

beadwork, bracelet, cathedral, colour, gothic, jewellery, stained glass

I started a new cathedral bracelet but divided the colour scheme into three parts with the ends having large blue beads on the outside and the centre section having red beads on the outside. I finished it, and added more large golden yellow beads to the middle section. It didn’t look quite right to me, so I added a border of smaller blue beads on the outside again. This developed into a netting stitch that formed a half circle on each side of the centre section. The idea of a Rose Window came into my head. I am definitely going to run with this idea!

Rose Window from Notre Dame Cathedral

Bracelet Inspired by Gothic Windows

“Rose Window” Bracelet

Bracelet Clasp

Inspiration

Tags

cathedral, Chartres, colour, gothic, light, mystery, stained glass

In my first blog post I wrote:

For me beads, especially glass beads, are tiny universes of light and delight. Like the beautiful stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral, light through glass has always inspired me in the meaning of the word “inspiration” as “filling with spirit”.

The stained glass windows of Gothic cathedrals have always fascinated me. The oldest window are sometimes, IMO, the best. The execution was simple – the materials unsophisticated BUT the drive to use coloured glass as a transformative medium was pure, undiluted by the lure of technical display.

The brilliance and power of this art is stunning. The imperfections of the media serve to enhance its mystery.

They say that since glass is a fluid, the panes have actually “melted” downwards a bit over time. FLUID, LIVING COLOUR?  What could be more awesome than that?

SO I have decided to try my hand at Chartres-inspired jewellery. This was my first try. I loved it so much I made a matching ankle cuff exactly the same.

First Attempt at a Stained Glass Inspired Piece

It looks pretty good in the light. But I wanted MORE!

So I made another one, different colours, including the rich red found in the windows. It was a bit of a bust since I made too many mistakes to let it live, but from its ashes rose, phoenix-like, the next one.

Second “Cathedral” Bracelet

Second “Cathedral” Bracelet in Action!

I like this, but I wanted a simpler version, to see what that would be like:

Third “Cathedral” Bracelet

Good too, but I’m still on a stained-glass rampage, so expect more to come…