Fini Friday! Beautiful Beads and Beginnings!

Hello Hello! 

Welcome to Fini Friday! 

The weather has cooled off for us here in Minnesota and I am truly enjoying the lovely, cool breeze!! 

(Did I mention that it is cooler today? I think I did! *wink* *grin*) 

I hope there are similar blessings in your neck of the woods! 

This post is all about beginnings and beads! 

First up! 

A menagerie at the beginning stages of growth...

The ceramic pendants are hand-made by Melanie of Earthenwood Studio. I adore her work and love the colours, textures and simple shapes she brings into the world! 

The two pewter-coloured pendants to the left of the Earth and tawny Cat are three-dimensional, with different designs and words on both sides. I've glued in Swarovski crystals on opposing sides. 

The first photo shows one side, whilst the second shows the other. 

The spiral is one of the oldest sacred symbols that is found in every culture that I'm aware of and it always seems to represent eternal life.  How fitting to pair with the Earth!  Also completely appropriate is the word "Live". After all, if you're seeing this, you're living upon the Earth! 

Cats have always symbolized mystery and the unknown, so matching them with stars, a colour-changing crystal and the word "Imagine" was truly natural.

The second, seafoam-coloured cat pendant is growing on a path of it's own and undoubtedly will be accented with the hand-coloured fiber seen in the photo as well as other interesting charms, bits and thingees (Yup! That's the word I'm going with, though it likely isn't an official word in the English language *grin*).

Let's wrap this up by showing you those beautiful beads mentioned in the title!!

On the left is a stunning nugget of sunny Citrine.  

Citrine is thought to help with creativity, personal clarity and help weed out self-destructive tendencies, whilst helping the liver, digestive tract, heart, and muscles. 

The center bead is a gracefully cut Agate with dramatic flowing inclusions.  Agate is purported to be helpful in discerning truths and is an excellent healer for emotional upsets.  Legend says that it assists with memory, concentration and focus.

The last stone on the right is probably a sort of Jasper.  Legends surrounding Jasper state that it is stabilizing, healing and can help bring joy into life.  This stone would seem to have been formed by sedimentary action, then pressurized for eons to become this beauty!  There are so many different patterns to see in this single bead, I'm excited to see what happens next with it! 
Stay tuned to see!!

And so, at the conclusion of this post, I wish you a very joyous weekend!
See you on Monday!
Ciao!

Fini Friday! Sweetness and Passion!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Fini Friday!

I hope your week has been grand so far!

This post will be a bit shorter than usual as I'm making the final preparations for my first show of 2013!  Yes! In spite of the snow, we intend to be at the 10th Annual Burst Into Spring event in Cambridge, MN (USA)!

I had so much fun creating earrings with the Honey Bee Mood beads you saw on Wednesday, I decided to create one more pair!  Here they are!

Title: The Sweetness of Life

Ingredients: Honey Bee Mood beads, Czech glass, lead-free pewter(USA), metal, silver-plated surgical steel earwires.

I'm so pleased with what these grew into! I love the bit of sunny yellow that shines through those gorgeous dark teal flowers! And it's neat that the illusion of the Bee drinking from the flower is made! YAY!

This second creation is an earring and necklace ensemble. The ceramic links and pendant are hand-crafted by Melanie of Earthenwood Studio. They've been languishing around the studio for quite a while and I'm thrilled that they've grown into completion!

I adopted the two round links and Passion pendant together because they evoked a sense of weaving Passion into life in the style an Old World (or perhaps Fairy World!) tapestry. I also love the idea of Passion growing!

Let's start with the entire ensemble: Title: Passion Grows Ingredients: Earthenwood Studio ceramic links and pendant, artisan glass, lead-free pewter(USA and other), metal, surgical steel (silver-plated) earwires (earrings), steel cable neckwire (necklace).

And the focal of the necklace!  I adore the accent of matte black leaves that form a sensuous fringe around the generous slices of fiery artisan glass! What a luxurious feel!

Our last photo is of those fabulous earrings!  I've always found keys mysterious and intriguing and love the idea of giving people the key to their own locks.  I thought it was fitting to use a heart-shaped lock, since what is Passion without Heart?  More of those matte black leaves add an organic flow!

These creations (and more!) will be available for adoption at my first show of 2013!

Burst Into Spring!

It is in Cambridge, MN, USA and details are here! 

It would be grand to see you there! 

In the meantime, I'll see you tomorrow or Monday! 

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! BookMarks Abound!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday! 

My week, so far, has been productive so far and I hope the same can be said of yours! 

I've been playing with some of the loot I brought home at the end of September and have some of the first finished creations to show you! 

I found the bookmark blanks and fell in love with the details stamped in raised into them! I chose one each in an antiqued brass and antiqued silver finish, which showed the stars, moon, flowers and etc. in lovely detail! 

Here is what they grew into! 

Title: Fairy Tale 

Ingredients: Vintage German Glass, Czech glass, metal

  Did you see the pun in the title? Hee! 

My vision was to combine a variety of colours and textures in this creation much like a tapestry!  The golden-yellow bead is actually Vintage German glass and always reminds me of the sun!  It seemed a fitting match to a lovely strand of flower beads and a leaf dancing in the breeze with our Ballerina Fairy in the midst!  if you look closely, you might be able to see the extraordinary chain from which these are suspended!  It is an infinity symbol and two hearts set back-to-back!  Isn't that just intriguing!?!

And now! 

For the second bookmark! 

Title: Stars and Fish 

Ingredients: Earthenwood ceramic starfish, cultured Pearl, Czech glass, metal.  

I relish the bright ocean-inspired colours!  Perfect for warding off thoughts of the upcoming winter chill!  

I was delighted to find the star-shaped cultured pearls and have had so much fun weaving them into various creations!  That's the star you see beside the Ocean Blue spiral bead at the top!  I treasure the whimsical addition of the bright green, petite fish swimming just above the ceramic StarFish!  Speaking of the StarFish.... that's a hand-fashioned porcelain bead from Earthenwood Studios! I adore Melanie's work and have so much fun playing with her creations as materials! 
Whee!

Well there we have it!
The end of another Whimsy Wednesday!
I'll see you right back here for Fini Friday!

Ciao!