Reminder re blog posts :)

Just a quick reminder for everyone: If commenting on each other's posts, it's probably best that we go to the post in question and just leave a comment on it (by clicking on the COMMENTS button underneath the actual post). Otherwise the blog is going to be over-run with "comment posts" and feedback might be
missed :( That way, if you're looking for feedback, you know to check your original post and you should find it there :)

And also - if you need to edit your post (ie: add your name, something you forgot first time round etc!), just use the instructions at the bottom of this post :) If you're not sure about anything, just drop me an email and I'll be happy to explain/talk you through it. Easy peasy!

It's great to see so many of us participating in the blog! Thanks for taking the concept of this blog on board and using it as it was meant to be used - as a community thing, as a record of our growth as artists and as a community, for asking and giving advice and to give and receive feedback - brilliant!

As you were :)

Amanda

Can't believe I actually did that

Wow, my   *****FIRST EVER ****  BLOG

In all that excitement I forgot to mention I'll probably beat the shit out of the angles to create a bit of surface interest - and the cubes are the colour Siam. They look a bit dark in the photo.

Square YOJ

Hi June here:

This is my “square yoj”

First earring took about an hour by the time I’d interpreted the idea in my brain into the physical concept, second earring took about 10 mins lol, all hand made in sterling including the ear wires. I was quite pleased with the design overall. Showed them to my dear SO who pointed out they were right angles, not squares.  Yeah right. Had to point out that the pearls and cube focals are actually square and if you run a line down through the centre of the design you end up with lots of visual squares – well that’s the story behind the design anyway and I’m sticking to it lol.

Great blog site everyone, lovely to see all the talented work. 

YOJ: Leeanne

Oh My WOW!!! Leeanne, that piece is so gorgeous, intricate, precise and truly stunning. Your work is so neat and a pleasure to see. I love the look of the clasp you used... and it looks perfect. I am sure it sits beautifully on the wrist... because it looks like it would from the "closed" picture you posted. I LOVE IT!! .. Lorraine

MY Square YOJ piece is done!!!

PHEW!!!
I did not think I would ever get my head around this one, square indeed!!! lol.
But it is finished yay, all the squares were individually made and then put together. I am however not happy with the clasp, it does not sit flat once upon your wrist so will change to a slider clasp as soon as my order arrives.





Although this is about my fourth!!! atempt at this and have plenty of square bits in UFO box now to play with later on he he. It looks so simple but is really quite a difficult and technical piece I am pleased with the over all result. :).





Lots of beady hugs Leeanne

YOJ suggestions

YOJ suggestions: Paisley, Ethnic or Tribal, Vintage , Bling, Wired, Spring, Ocean, Chunky :) :) okay it is late hee hee Night all xx Lorraine

Hi there Divas "waving"

Amanda, you did a great job on this... what a good idea. It looks amazing and Yes, it is going to be one "Rocking" blog. Way more personal and much better than the MB. It is awesome! I hope everyone is well and being madly creative. I have been a little all over the place in the past week and am looking forward to some "me" time as of next week. :) :) Take care everyone, keep warm and happy beading. xx Lorraine

Crochet

Penny, your show browbands look fantastic - such alot of work gone into them, you can see that!

Boy am I peeved...I especially set aside an hour this afternoon to update my website, took all the photos, edited them - went to add them to my listings and they won't bl**dy add! I get some sort of weirdo error message instead - arrrgh! So frustrating, as I can add the items and any photos within the listing, just can't add the thumbnail and larger image of the thumbnail. Grrrrrrrr!! So, I've emailed my webhost, now waiting for them to fix it so I can get onto the adding new stuff part. But, as they're in the US and I'm here, it probably won't be till tomorrow. Again: arrgh! Best laid plans of mice and men eh?!

So, in the meantime, thought I'd come in and share with you my crochet bracelet that I was working on over the weekend. I spent a good part of the weekend making a pair of curtains and roman blind for our bedroom (they look great!) but managed to also get the bracelet finished. Had such fun crocheting - had forgotten how much I enjoyed it!

I made the bracelet using silk yarn, then added the beads afterwards. The closure is by MOP button. It's so light and silky to wear, am definately going to explore this crochet thing more :)

~ Amanda

Hi All
Its been a bit busy here for the last few days. Due to having a nasty infected finger tip pushed a needle into it while trying to go fast handsewing leather. I have been making up bits and pieces on the loom for horses show browbands. I have a few pics.




So thats been fun though I am still having problems about the best way to attach to leather, for durability, although they are only for show use they still need to be able to stand a certain amount of wear and tear. I have settled for stitching felt over the leather and attaching the beads to that. Next project is to inlay a string of beads and sandwich them in the leather. I think I will have to add some glue too. Still mulling over how to best do it. Also cutting leather is hard, straight lines are a pain, as you hit a hard bit the knife goes off on an angle.
Oh well, I am sure it is practice and since I bought a whole hide I have plenty to practice on.

Cheers Happy beading everyone
Penny

wow!

Your beaded pictures are amazing Lynn. What a very patient and clever soul you are.
Amanda for the YOJ would using a colour theme be too basic? ie. just one colour but different shades? or one type of shape or bead only eg just delicas or crystals etc or is that too restrictive? Hope everyone had a great day, Cheers Bronwyn

Hi fellow diva's. Thought I would drop in and try out blogging as apart from TM have never done this before. Great site Amanda. Am thoroughly delighted because I can get onto Firebird Flamework through the link posted here and can finally drool over the beads. Lisa B

Delica Beads

I thought I would share a little of my experience with these magic little beads as they were part of my initial enthusiasm for beadweaving and I was fortunate to begin with them so didn't have to struggle with round seed beads and peyote stitch. The magic of delicas is that they are a very uniform cylindrical shape and knit together with great ease. Check the pic out that I copied from the Miyuki site.

Miyuki makes these beads as well as a variety of other seed beads. They are not as cheap as alot of other seeds but the xtra cost is worth the price as you don't end up throwing so many out. The colours last well and come in a great range. Delica beads are about twice the price of standard size 11 seed beads but they are slightly smaller so you get more for your dollar.

My first ever project was a mammoth task as I got it in my head that I wanted to make a picture of my youngest daughter as a baby. I had purchased a program called Beadcreator that you could design your own patterns with or use photos that converted to a bead pattern. I wanted to do a photo conversion so off I went. I learnt alot! Computer programs are clever but they cannot deal with the finish of beads effectively and I just took what the program gave me and went to it. The end product is kinda cool (see badly taken photo) but its mismash because different finishes lead to some parts jumping out and some parts receding in the pattern. It is also very hard to photograph with light hitting the piece and refracting off all over the place. This piece took a LONG time...even at several hours a day. This is where I built patience and branded myself with some sort of crazy compulsive disorder!! The piece is about 50 cm high and 45 cm wide and my favorite aspect it that it feels like fabric and I can just roll it up...glass that can be rolled is pretty cool!

I now use the delicas to make mi nature kimonos after being inspired by Madelyn Ricks and Sharmini Wirasekara over at mostlyglass

This is a quarter of the back of the current piece I am weaving - a gift for my spiritual teacher based on the Taj Mahal.



And here is my teacher in delicas



So its really cool what you can do!

I started importing the delicas along with size 11 Miyuki seed beads when I could not get what I wanted in New Zealand for the price and quality beads I wanted. There are hundreds of delica colours and I stock just over 100 of them so it makes it really hard to choose colours. I want to start playing more with blending finishes so I can get an artistic 3D look out of a 2D image but I also like making 3D shapes such as woven flowers and the beading around cabachons.

If anyone wants to know more about these magic beads please feel free to ask and I will do my best...Cheers...Lynne

WANTED: Suggestions for Year of Jewellery Themes

Hey fellow diva's :)

I'm looking for suggestions for themes for our YOJ projects. Preferably one word (as it makes interpretation wider). I have a few left in my kitty, but could do with stocking it up!

FYI, when I do the YOJ theme draw on the 1st of each month, I literally draw them out of a hat (well, not a hat...more like a Caithness crystal vase, if you want the truth LOL!). So the theme for each month is just as much of a surprise to me as it is to you!

So, if you have any one-word suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment below :)

Pouring with rain here...very miserable. Hope you're warmer, wherever you are!

~ Amanda

PS: Also, for those newbies to blogging: If you need to edit a post to add your name, just sign in, and either go to the DASHBOARD, click on EDIT POSTS, choose your post and click on EDIT to add your name, or just use the "VIEW BLOG" button if you've just added your post, and then click on the little spanner/screwdriver icon at the bottom right hand corner of your blog post and then add your name there :)

Oh dear

The last post was me: Bronwyn I must not forget to add my name !! naughty or I will get 10 lines; I must not .....

Good evening ladies

This is my first post here. Woohoo, Thanks Amanda :). I wanted to show you all what I have been up to and ask for some opinions on them. I love them but do others is the question! Lol. I thought I would sell them for $10 each? I have posted 2 pictures, one taken in daylight(the one with the small number) and one taken just now (the colours dont show up as good). Any comments would be great thank you :)
Hope you all had a great day and hugs to all. :)

That last post was me

Jen (the forgetful)

Really nice work Amanda

you seem to have really got into your stride now with the old peyote! Now tell me someone, anyone!What exactly are 'delica's? I've got a few patterns for peyote stitch and they say to use them, and of course I've just used small seed beads, sometimes results are good and sometimes they end up over the other side of the room!! I'm using some vintage buttons also so would like the end product to look good. Gosh it's very cold now, suns gone heaters on. And what time zone is this blog page on? It's Thursday 25th June, time 1.00pm NZ time.

Good Morning

Well there are a few of us blogging now, its really cool thanks so much to Amanda for setting this up. I spent ages googling for other like minded beaders in NZ then stumbled onto the TM message board, but this is way better. I did find your website Lynne but would have prefered to buy beads from there rather than TM. Different strokes for different folks though, Lovely pictures of your work though.
When I have some more pictures I will figure out how to upload those to the blog.
Have a great day everyone I am off to make another coffee and do some more beading.

Penny

New Peyote Pieces

Been busy peyote-ing again :)

Here are my new pieces (yet to be uploaded to my website...a job for another day!). May I just say, once again, how much I am loving working with Delica's! They're AWESOME! They make peyote so much easier :)

This is an earring...second one to follow shortly LOL!


This is a pair of pale purple/pale pink earrings:


And this is the button I've been trying to peyote around (prior to the lovely Delica's arriving! Note to self: never use second-rate seed beads again for work like this!). And yes, I made matching earrings (of course!! LOL).

And now, off to bed...g'night everyone :)

~Amanda

this is awesome

Thanks so much for setting this up and letting us all join in! It's going to be great to have the freedom to just chat without worrying about what we are allowed to say.

Bead Swap: Update and New One?

Leeanne, how are we going for the Bead Swap entries? Barring Edith, who is at the moment rather busy mending :) Any chance we can see the results soon? How many others are we waiting on?

I'm keen to organise the next one using Vanessa's proposed theme...

Once this one is out of the way, I'll post the details again and get an idea of who's interested.

As to what I've been up to - more peyote!! Been having so much fun with Lynne's lovely delica's, which arrived yesterday :) Man, what a difference peyoteing (sp?) with the "proper" delica's - so uniform, they make the work look fantastic! And the colours are sooooo purrrrdy :)

Pics to come - but for now I'll just say that FINALLY (after 3 tries previously with cheap beads and without a clue as to what I was doing, IE: making the first row too tight) I have managed to peyote around a pretty button I have. And it looks fab! Like I say, pics to follow (hopefully tonight, if all goes well!).

Hope everyone has a lovely creative day...and keeps warm...it's freezing cold here!

~Amanda

Jens YOJ (Square)

Hi again! Right, now Amanda has pointed me in the right direction here goes. It worked! I'm having so much fun with these chinese knots. posted 6.07pm 23/6/09

Well done Amanda

Like the others have said, this is great of you to set this up. Now I haven't a clue about 'blogging'! As I've never done it before, so bear with me for now, although I did manage to sign in ok! I'm not sure what 'labels for this post' is all about, so will ignore for now and see what happens.
Must look at downloading a photo.
Jen.

Reminder: Year of Jewellery for June: "Square"

Not pushing, so don't panic! Just wondering how the YOJ thing is going for you all so far...hopefully the ideas are flowing by now!

For once, my idea came pretty early on in the month, so here's my Square piece (for the new blog!):

If you're still struggling...here's something that might just help...
Amanda :)

How Clever Amanda

You make me smile with a lil tear in my eye,
I just so love it and many thanks to you. Well done sweet!!!
It will be nice to just pop in here with out "restrictions" and have our say.
We from the draconion TM forum appreciate your hard work, beady hugs to you. Oh before I forget please have a look at my beaded bead earrings I listed on TM, he he ... aka ladygray
How liberating to say that!!!

Leeanne.

Amanda...Your the Bomb!

Naturecraft Lynne here......

I'll get this ball rolling by waxing lyrical about the great job Amanda has done in getting this blog together...well done girl!!...

We praise alot at the beadhive diva headquarters, aka 'Trademe NZ' but it really is justified...This community is a great team. I feel inspired to write here, and that is saying alot considering I have a nice site and blog already. Unfortunately I am uninspired to say or add much there at all. I like community and at times its just nice to sink into those arms that some other magic woman has created, like a hot soapy bath that hubby has run for you. I really appreciate that I can just come and hang out here, so thanks so much Amanda...I am breathing easy:-)).

Having said that, I did gasp a little at having ' not much' at the end of my link to 'Beadweaver'. Time to get my 'shit' together me thinks. I had Beadweaver made by a fabulous American chicky over a year ago, specifically to sell my beads. Alas I have never followed through and decided to just stick to trademe as 'point of sale'. Instead I now feature 'Leeanne' and her wonderful pieces of jewellery. I do intend to add other artists (including myself) as the 'tiny bead' fiends reveal themselves.

I have been very quiet on the tiny bead front...things are busy with a new job as local Arts Worker a few hours a week and setting up my dance movement fitness classes here in little old Golden Bay. I am working on a minature kimono however and the final sleeve is in progress. I will post pics when I get a moment.

Happy blogging everybody!!

New blog!

Woot woot! Finally - we have a place we can call our own :)

Here, we can post pics of our designs in the bead swaps or Year of Jewellery pieces, or just share what we've been up to with each other.

Bring on the creative genius that is the Beadhive Diva's!!

~Amanda