Wheels of Fortune Bracelet

Wheels of Fortune Bracelets

When I designed my Wheels of Fortune bracelet, I tried to find a way to avoid the less enjoyable part of sewing the round components together. I often give up on an idea for a design if it would involve many separate parts that needs to be connected and too many threads that needs to be hidden. I played with the basic design and then came up with a rather easy way to do it. It's actually a way that can be easily implemented in other symmetric designs. 
But I can't tell you exactly how to do it, because the project of this bracelet is published in the latest (June/July 2011) issue of Beadwork magazine. So you would might be interested in getting a copy of the Beadwork magazine, which includes more than a few other wonderful projects; Quick and Easy bonus section and the fun, inspiring Pattern Play section!

The EBW May challenge voting is up! Check out the EBW blog to see what our members came up with for the Lord of the Rings challenge. Voting lasts until the 16th, so don't miss out, there are gorgeous works to see!

And...

***Happy 63 Birthday to Israel!***

  

!חג עצמאות שמח

New Necklaces & EBW Challenge

The embroidered medallions in these two necklaces were made to be used as parts of a larger necklace that I intended to create for the February EBW challenge "A Touch of Royalty". Jumping from one project to another, I realized that I would not be able to make all the parts I needed for the necklace in time to submit it to the challenge, so I decided to use the ones I already made in two separate necklaces. Time is the most precious thing.... ;)

Check out the EBW blog to see all 62 (!) entries. I am sure, that like myself, you will find it hard to pick just one to vote for from all the beautiful and original works created for this challenge!

Songs of Inspiration

Come vote on the EBW December challenge "Simon and Garfunkel songs of inspiration"! Visit the EBW blog from now until the 15th and vote for your favorite.

There are 34 entries in this challenge - all of them are beautiful! But my favorite entry is #12 - Hazy Shade of Winter by Triz Designs. This unique, GORGEOUS piece of wearable art took my breath away! And it's also a collaboration between Triz and Lisa Peters Art - another talented fellow member of the Bead Art Originals team, who created the beautiful hexagonal ceramic cabochon in the center of this wonderful bag. Check out the links above, and your heart will start singing.... ;)

Haze Shade of Winter - 

Bead Embroidered Bag by Triz Designs

Holidays Treasure Challenge

Come and see all 36 entries to the EBW November challenge - Holiday Treasures.
There are some really festive pieces in this challenge. My favorite is #23 by gypsyeyesjewelry. Such a beautiful composition in this necklace!
Voting for your favorite is only until the 15th, so don't miss this out!

"Champagne Under Starry Skies" by gypsyeyesjewelry

Mumbai Masala - Bollywood EBWC

Those of you who read my blog often can probably guess how fun it was for me to create Mumbai Masala bracelet - my entry (#33) for this month EBW Challenge, themed Bollywood.

Not only did I enjoy every minute of designing and working on it, but I also got inspired from it and more ideas and possibilities popped up while I was working. The photo might not show it, but this bracelet has Bling! I used a lot of crystals, and I really like the way it turned out.
I want to continue working on Bollywood inspired designs, as I feel I did not have enough of it yet... :)

Please visit the EBW blog to view all GORGEOUS, colorful entries between now and Sep. 15, and vote for your favorite. Also, if you find this bracelet interesting, a tutorial for it is available.

EBW Challenge - Secret Garden

Voting on the Etsy BeadWeavers July Challenge, themed Secret Garden, has begun and will last until July 15th. Please visit the EBW blog to view all 24 beautiful entries and vote for your favorite.

My entry, number 3 on the poll, is the necklace shown in my previous post. My inspiration for this necklace came from the mysterious gardens of Pandora, as seen in the movie Avatar, and from the beautiful, unusual shapes and colors of the plants in this garden.

Warm Winter Bloom Necklace

This is my entry (#17 on the list) for the Etsy Beadweavers challenge "Beauty of the Flower". Please visit the EBW blog between the 9th and 15th, pick your favorite entry and vote for it.

"First Lady of Style" Challenge

First Lady of Style was the theme for the EBW August challenge. There are 30 entries this month - a gorgeous, varied collection of styles. My entry is # 22 on the list.

This month only, the voting poll have been moved over to HERE and voting will last until the 17th.

This is what I came up with for this challenge. I was inspired by the style of the Sex and the City main character, Carrie Bradshaw. Multi-chain necklaces and pearls are commonly used to complement Carrie's sophisticated look, and many of them became hot trends.

Beads Gone Wild

I'm a bit late on posting this, but there's still time for visiting the EBW June Challenge and picking your favorite! There are 20 beautiful entries, so hurry up and vote!

 

I created this asymmetrical necklace for the current EBW Challenge "Humor".
The idea of this necklace was to create a totally different look on each side of it. On one side, there are round, "innocent" pearls and on the other it's like the beads gone wild and turned into colorful flowers.
I was so busy and a little troubled lately, that I completely forgot about the monthly challenge. I then came up with this idea only a day before the deadline, but didn't listed it on time so couldn't enter the challenge voting. Anyway, I like the summery, cheerful look of this necklace.. Now I have to think of an idea for the next challenge "Here Comes the Bride", picked by Miriam of Cielo Designs, the winner of May challenge.
I have an early idea for this one, and I have two weeks to try to work on it, so I am optimistic.. :)

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.. :)

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… :)