Fashion Through the Ages - EBW Challenge

I can't believe that another month had passed so quickly, but it's already time for posting the Etsy Beadweavers challenge again!  March challenge theme was Fashion Through the Ages.

My Echo of Deco bracelet design was inspired by the Art Deco era between in the 30's. In my bracelet design I used repetitive, symmetrical pattern of geometric shapes, which are often found in Art Deco designs.

Please visit the EBW blog between now and the 15th to see all 38 entries (my entry is #17 on the list) and vote for your favorite.

  Images from: http://tiddley-bits.blogspot.com;

http://www.art-deco-style.com/art-deco-fashion-2.html

A tutorial for my Echo of Deco bracelet is available

EBW October Challenge and New Design with Tila Beads

EBW October challenge theme was "Autumn Falling of Leaves". Check out the EBW blog to see all 59 entries in beautiful, warm colors. My entry is number 33 on the list.

Also, there is a new tutorial available for a pendant and matching earrings made with Miyuki new Tila beads.

Treasures By the Sea

EBW challenge theme for February was Ocean/Sea Inspired. What a great source of inspiration it was! No wonder there are 46 (!) entries this month. Voting is going to be very hard, as there is an abundance of great pieces!
My entry "Treasures by the Sea" necklace is # 5 on the list.

Voting lasts until the 15th, so don't miss out your chance to check out all entries and vote for your favorite!

Peace and Winter Olympics EBW Challenge

This is my entry (#13 on the list) for the EBW December Challenge.The theme was chosen by tied first place winners of the October challenge, AngelqueCreations and yours truly (thanks again for everyone who voted for my piece!).
I chose Peace and Jacquie of AngelqueCreations chose the Winter Olympics as a theme. So the two themes were combined and the idea was to create a piece that promote peace and understanding among nations. Friendly competitions like the Olympic games is one example of how conflicts can be put aside and differences in culture or religion become irrelevant...

The inspiration for my Peace on Earth necklace came from the dove with olive branch, which is the symbol of peace in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Another source of inspiration, which represent the other part of the theme, is the Greek laurel wreath that winners of the ancient Olympic Games wore on their heads.

Please visit the EBW blog, between now and the 15th to view all 19 beautiful entries and vote for your favorite. Your comment would also be appreciated.

Bollywood Glamour - EBW May Challenge "Red Carpet"

Etsy beadweavers' May challenge theme was "Hollywood Red Carpet".
Please visit the EBW blog to see all 21 Red Carpet entries, pick your favorite and vote for it.
Voting starts today and lasts until the 15th, so don't miss it... My entry, called "Bollywood Glamour" is #8 on the list.

While rolling a few possible ideasfor my entry, the name (nickname) Bollywood - India's equivalent of Hollywood- popped in my head. I've never seen a Bollywood movie, but I've seen a TV documentary show about India's culture and I was amazed by the rich, sometimes overloaded, designs of their traditional jewelry and clothes. As I keep being drawn to ethnic designs, I thought I'd try creating something in this style, but wanted to create a relatively delicate design, with just a few hints of India. So I made these up-side-down drop shaped links with picots and attached a Mandala pendant in the center.
I intended to use gold seed beads, but then realized that I didn't have enough of them to complete the necklace and matching earrings, so chose silver to go with the fuchsia. Silver actually goes very nice with the fuchsia-satin Swarovskis I used, as they have a silvery sparkle.

I am going to create another India-inspired set of a necklace, bracelet and earrings in rich colors, for which I already have the design sketched, but I have to wait until I receive my order of gorgeous orange Toho seed beads in a few days. Can't wait... I am excited about this new journey to India.. :)

Bead Artists Help Fight Breast Cancer Project

A few months ago I blogged about my contribution to Jeanette Shanigan's project "Bead It Forward" - Bead Artists Against Breast Cancer. Jeanette Shanigan collected the beaded squares, donated from beaders from all over the world and stitched them into quilts. A few members (15) of the Etsy BeadWeavers team donated 35 beaded squares, and Jeanette stitched them into one EBW quilt. The finished quilts are all beautiful and colorful - you can see more of them on Jeanette's site.
The quilts are going to be auctioned at the Bead&Button show and the money raised will be donated to help fight breast cancer. I am happy that I have participated in this project. I might do this again next year.
Special thanks goes to Susan of Clinkscalesarts, who organized the whole thing for EBW team and did a great job at it!

Etsy Beadweavers Quilt

First row (left to right): Susan Clinkscales, Eddy Downing, Eddy Downing, JoJo Curley, Swanee Hielscher
2nd row: Swanee Hielscher, Swanee Hielscher, Swanee Hielscher, Linda Davis, me
3rd row: me, me, me, Lisa Savoy, Lisa Savoy
4th row: Lisa Savoy, Jama Watts, Jama Watts, Jama Watts, Kerrie Slade
5th row: Kerrie Slade, Kerrie Slade, Kerrie Slade, Victoria Thompson
6th row: Kim Shaver, Dawn Nelson, Melody Murray, Melody Murray
7th row: Ileana Munteanu, Ginny Bracht, Ginny Bracht, Ginny Bracht, Ginny Bracht

EBW April Challenge - Time Machine

***Thanks so much to everyone who voted for my entry!, which came in second place***

Etsy BeadWeavers' Challenge theme for April was "Time Machine". This theme was brought to us by Mariya of BeadCatcher, who won the January/February Challenge
Here's what Mariya had to say about this theme:
"I guess everybody once in a while has had that thought "What if?" Yes, what if you were given a once in a life time chance to travel through time and space; to travel into past or future; to travel into a real or imagined world? Where would you go? What would you see there? Just think about it. Take the trip and share it with us in the form of beading art with its unlimited possibilities!".

Voting on this challenge is open and will last until the 15th. Please visit EBW blog, pick up your favorite and vote for it. My entry is #9 on the list.

Excited about this inspirational, imaginative theme, I decided to use the time machine for traveling in the future. The beautiful women I met on my journey had smooth brilliant hair and they were wearing bright silver elegant outfits. This is the necklace, earrings & bracelet I designed for those women I met on my journey to the future… :)

Temptation Dance - EBW March Challenge

Etsy BeadWeavers March challenge theme was Temptation. Please visit the EBW Blog, between now and the 15th, pick your favorite and vote for it. There are fabulous 35 entries, each and every one of them is unique and interesting - real eye candies, so don't miss out! Your comment is also very appreciated. My entry is number 33 on the list.

I named my necklace "Temptation Dance", as I had an image of a man in black and a woman, wearing a hot-red dress, dancing a sensual, seductive Latin dance. I designed the necklace in one continuous line, curling and alternating black and red in the pendant. That part - the pendant, took me 5 or 6 hours of trials and failures, before I was satisfied with the way it turned out. I was so frustrated and almost wanted to give up on the idea, simply because I thought I won't be able to finish it before the deadline. But I did, at almost the last minute, and I'm pretty much satisfied with how it came out. I just need to learn from my own past experience (it was the same with my Yuki Onna challenge necklace) not to postpone working on my challenge piece.. :D It takes some time and it's challenging enough just finding the idea for my entry, and I'm not always good at working under deadlines.. especially if it's something I haven't tried before and it usually is.. :)

Tropical Nights Necklace and Earrings - EBW Challenge

It's time to vote for your favorite entry in the Etsy BeadWeavers monthly challenge again!
Triz, who won the November challenge, have chosen the Jan-Feb challenge theme - "Tropical Holiday". It was a great theme and I think it's the first time that there are so many entries - 47 wonderful creations!.
Please visit the EBW blog, pick your favorite and vote for it. Your comment is also appreciated. Voting lasts until the 15th , so don't postpone your voting!

My entry, #26, is the Tropical Nights necklace.
I used gorgeous, sparkling Czech vintage crystal stones I bought a while ago and I thought they would be perfect for this project, as they sparkle in iridescent shades of tropical green, fuchsia and yellow. I also used 24k gold plated Delicas, Swarovski crystal bicone beads and vibrant fuchsia Swarovski chatons.
I had to unpick the necklace a few times before I found the best connecting points of the components to allow the necklace to sit nicely around the neckline. I almost gave up after the forth time… :/ I hate that part of beadweaving, which I guess many, if not all beaders do… But, I was able to finish it on time, and I like the way it came out so much that I even created a pair of beadwoven earrings (I'm beginning to like creating those.. :)) with the beautiful fuchsia chatons.

Photographing this necklace was a challenge in itself.. and these are the best photos I could post. The necklace is much more sparkling and colorful in person. I am lucky to have a very patient photographer… Thanks, Ardjan! :)

Yuki Onna - Japanese Snow Woman - EBW Challenge "Snow Queen"

Etsy Beadweavers Challenge theme for December was "Snow Queen". My entry is number 18.
Please visit EBW blog, choose your favorite from 31 gorgeous pieces and vote for it. Voting begins on the 9th and lasts till the 15th. I am sure that voting is going to be a challenging task, as all 31 entries are just stunning!
While I was Googling for some inspiration, I found this fantastic mask I immediately fell in love with, named "Yuki-Onna", on SoCal Design site. Their site is beautiful, full with other fantastic designer masks, inspired by many cultures. Check them out! And thank you, Claudia of SoCal, for giving me permission to use the photo here!

I really liked the design of the mask. In my eyes, the designer succeded to reflect well the nature of Yuki Onna spirit. In the Japanese folklore (and like in many other cultures) she is described as a beautiful woman with long hair, but her intentions are murderous and far from soft femininity - she's "cold as ice"... You can read the story about the evil snow woman here on Wikipedia.

In my necklace I tried to represent the beauty of Yuki Onna by using soft curly lines of beads, and her ruthlessness by the two sharp points at the top and by the icy sharpened crystals. It took much time and a lot of unpicking before I was satisfied with the design, and now I really like the final result. I like it so much I even created matching beadwoven earrings, something which I rarely do.. :)

In fact, this necklace is the second one I made for this challenge. I had to unpick the first one, shown in the last photo, (I kept only the "snowflake" that is in the center) because I didn't really like the design and the way it was laid around the neckline- the structure was not good.

And although I was a bit frustrated of the time got lost, I had doubled pleasure creating two of them. That's a positive way to look at it, isn't it?.. ;)

EBW "Ancestral Expressions " Challenge and My Unlisted Entry

Voting to Etsy Beadweavers' November Challenge "Ancestral Expressions" has begun! Please visit the EBW blog to see what beautiful pieces, created especially for this interesting challenge and vote for your favorite entry. Your comment is also appreciated ;)
Good Luck to all the participants!

I have made this embroidered cuff for the challenge but decided NOT to list it, although I have finished it just before the deadline. In this work, I tried to imitate some traditional designs and ornaments that I really love, used in Yemenite silversmith work and embroidered ornaments of clothes. I also used black, red, silver and gold, which are commonly used in the Yemenite costumes.
The main reason for not listing it is that I have noticed (too late..) that some of the gold seed beads just lost their color :( (bad coating I guess), but I'm also not very pleased with how the whole design and work came out.
I probably worked too tight, shrinking the backing material. It supposed to be a symmetrical design, but then I didn't have the same enough room on both sides. I tried to press together the lines, but ended up with piled up beads at some parts.
I did finish it off, though, attached UltraSuede on the back, and also the clasp – Why? I don't know. I just needed to see it finished. Maybe it's because I wanted it so much and worked so hard on it and I'm a bit "emotionally attached" to this piece, that I couldn't leave it in my "to unpick" box… I'll just keep it, or wear it on a special family occasion.

But, despite of the outcome, I am happy I made it. I have learned some important lessons that I'll use in the future.

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was when the theme was published, Thank You! Deb of Beadandbloom. Not only did I enjoy creating something in this Yemenite style, but also and mostly I enjoyed talking with my mother about it, bringing back memories and stories of times, when life was much simple and everything was so different from now… (I am excited almost to tears as I type these lines and, yes, I know I am very emotional…).

My grandfather from my mother's side was a Yemenite silversmith. Back in Yemen, apart from being a Rabi and a Jewish teacher, he used to create beautiful gold and sterling silver beads, findings and also Jewish ritual objects. When my mother's family left Yemen 60 years ago to come to Israel, they had to leave behind almost everything they had (they were very rich back then). They were allowed to take only a parcel of clothes and some personal stuff, but they didn't care much about it – the only thing that mattered to them was to finally come to the Holy Land. My grandfather took some of his working tools with him and after the family settled in a small, poor neighborhood of Tel Aviv, he opened his little work shop again and continued his silversmith work.

I remember when I was a child, I used to sit beside him in his tiny shop (I mean really small- like the space of a small bathroom) and was fascinated by his intricate, delicate and detailed work and by all his tools, which he never let me try using any of them ("too sharp/heavy/hot", he used to say) . Most of his creations were for the bride's costume for the traditional Jewish Yemenite wedding, called Henna. The Henna party is still celebrated by the Yemenite people in Israel (unlike other traditional things that were abandoned).
My mother still have this very rich, colorful bride&groom's costumes that consists of a lot of handmade jewelry, and she's working very hard at keeping this tradition alive.
I could have write more and more on this subject, branching out to others, but this post has become an endless one, so I'll stop here. You can read and see a bit more about this Yemenite costume in this post.

Guess What? The EBW Challenge Winner Is...

There are two Challenge winners! There's a nice say in Hebrew: "two are better than one", and in this case - it's true! I'm honored to share the winning with another Israeli and one of my most favorite beading artists! How fun! :)

My entry, the Cat & Mouse bracelet won the EBW "Animal Instinct" challenge together with one of the most beautiful pieces of Triz, called the "Black Panther", so, Congrats also to Triz!

If you are not familiar with Patrizia Tager's of Triz Designs work, you should visit her blog or her shop and you will probably have to pick your jaw up from the floor...

Thanks so much for everyone who voted for my bracelet!
:)

EBW Challenge - "Animal Instinct"

Etsy BeadWeavers' theme for October Challenge was "Animal Instinct".

I couldn't find any idea just until a few days before the deadline. But then, I remembered a nice cat & mouse toggle clasp I saw the other day at Bogal's, my bead supplier. The cat & mouse clasp is humorous and fun and I thought it would be nice to make something that is unusual for me, somewhat "out of the box". So, this is my entry -"Gotcha!", a beadwoven cat & mouse bracelet, No.17 on the voting list.

I used BeadTool program to help me design the cat's head, which was the easy part of implementing the idea. The mouse was a bit of a challenge to make. I had to unpick it a few times because it wasn't stiff enough to act as a toggle, but then I came up with the idea of filling its body with pieces of wire to make it stiffer, and that led me to the idea of making the tail and ears from wire as well.

It was quite fun making this bracelet, and I enjoyed having my two kids looking over my shoulder every few minutes to see its progress :)

There are 19 wonderful entries this month and it is interesting to see each participant's interpretation of the theme. Please visit the Etsy BeadWeavers blog to see all 19 entries, pick your favorite and vote for it. Voting lasts from the 9th to the 15th. You might as well leave your comment.

Bead Artists Against Breast Cancer Project

A fellow member of the EtsyBeadWeavers Team, Susan of Clinckscales Arts, encouraged all group members to participate in Jeanette Shanigan's project "Bead It Forward" - Bead Artists Against Breast Cancer. Susan will be collecting all the squares and photograph them. She's also trying to get Etsy Admin interested in publishing an article about the project on The Storque. Let's hope that Etsy will agree to help.

The original guidelines are to make 4 beaded squares in any beading technique - 1 for the quilt to be made by Jeanette and 3 more to pass forward to three other beaders, to encourage them to participate in this project. I, and I know that a lot of other members of the group as well, have decided to contribute all the squares to Jeanette's quilt. That way she could make bigger quilt and hopefully, raise more money for this important cause.

OK, so here are my 4 squares:-
The first 2 are done in peyote stitch

The third is done in square stitch

And the last one is embroidered, using Cat-Eye heart beads

If you would like to participate as well, please visit Jeanette's site for more details.

Yin & Yang - Complementary Contradictions

The theme for this month – Complementary Contradictions, was picked by me, after winning the July challenge with my Roses in the Night Sky bracelet (Thanks again to everyone who voted for me!).

Yin and Yang are the Chinese symbols of harmony, as they are opposites that complement each other. If you would like to read more about this symbol and the Chinese theory, please visit this page of Wikipedia.

At first I wanted to create a pendant of the traditional, rounded symbol, using rocailles. But later I decided to use the black and silver Aiko's that a very dear friend from the U.S. has sent me. They are very uniformed and perfect for peyote work, so I then decided to design the symbol in straight lines and create a bracelet instead of a pendant. I also used 24k gold-plated Delica beads. The closing is also representing Yin & Yang - two straps in opposite directions and colors.
I have spent about 3 hours working on the 'body' of cuff and additional 2 hours of work on the closure... ;) I really like how it came out.

Please visit the EBW blog, VIEW other entries and VOTE for your favorite. Voting starts on the 9th and lasts until the 15th, at midnight.
The talented team member would also love to read your COMMENT.

I now realize that it has been more than a month since my last post.
I have been so busy and troubled lately. Unfortunately, I have some family 'issues' and health problems. I hardly find time to bead (I still haven't finished the embroidered cuff), but when I do find some free time to do my beadwork, I really enjoy it! It allows me to take a break from life, so to speak... I hope this period of time will pass quickly, as well as the health problems, so I can get back to my beading routine... I really miss the days (and nights) when I was able to finish a work almost every other day!... :)

EBW July Challenge - I Won :)

My entry was the "Roses in the Night Sky" cuff bracelet.
Thanks to everyone who voted for me!
The person who wins the challenge has to pick the theme for next month's challenge. I still haven't decided yet. I didn't think that it would be hard to do, but it is! :)

Second runner-up is the gorgeous piece by ThePreciousBeads,
"Worlds Collide Necklace"

Third runner-up is the stunning piece by Triz, called "Midsummer Nights Dream".

Congratulations to you too, Erin and Triz!

Thanks to all of you who visited the Etsy BeadWeavers blog and voted.
I am sure it wasn't easy to pick only one from all the gorgeous entries for this month's challenge; it was hard for me… My favorite piece was the piece "A Free Form Dream Peyote Cuff" by SandFibers.

I found this piece amazingly beautiful, not only because I love free-form, but also because (if I am not mistaking) it is the first free-form piece that Carol Dean of SandFibers have created! Well done, Carol Dean, I really love it! and I hope that this is the first of many more!

Etsy BeadWeaver's May Challenge - Voting

The theme for May challenge was "Food Chain". Quite a hard one, don't you think? 13 members of the group created beautiful and interesting pieces for this challenge.
You might want to visit the Etsy BeadWeavers blog to see the entries and vote for your favorite. It would be appreciated if you could share your thoughts about this challeng by leaving your comment. There are only 4 days left before voting is closed, so hurry up...! :)

Vote For Your Favorite!

Etsy Bead Weavers (EBW) are waiting for your voting!


The inspiration theme for March challenge was 'Stormy Weather'.
There are 32 wonderful and interesting entries posted on the EBW blog.

Go to see how each one of the artists have interpreted the theme, and don't forget to VOTE!
I didn't participate in last month's challenge, but seen all the exciting creations surly spur me to try the next month's theme!

I'm in a Treasury! :D

My friend and extremely talented bead artist, Triz of Triz Designs picked my colorful Potawatomi bracelet and featured it on the fabulous Treasury she created. Click this link to see the cheerful Treasury and find more colorful, wonderful creations made by other Etsy designers! You may also want to read what the Etsy Bead Weavers have to say about colors and the use of them.

Thank you, Triz, you're the BEST!!! (hug)

I have been so busy lately...

I have set up my shop on Etsy and also joined the Etsy BeadWeavers group, which is very nice and exciting…
But, it also means that I had to spend too much time working on the computer… and THAT means… I hardly had time left for beading!!! :( … I already gave up some sleeping hours, but as for beading – that I can't give up!
So, in busy times like this, simple and quick herringbone weaving is always a little satisfactory of my beading craving...