Another Entry to the Australasian Swarovski Contest ? Yes, absolutely.

Since I submitted Tubastrea to the contest I have been fiddling with more design concepts. I have a large collection of Swarovski triangle crystal stones in emerald, Siam and Cardinal? Cardinal is a discontinued purple in the Swarovski range so the purple of these triangles will need to be investigated. Anyway back to the musing ..I am considering a cuff of some discription using big bold crystal stone shapes as I am only able to use Swarovski components, no seed beads this is a giant challenge everytime. I am also fiddling with RAW around tubing to create a fluid form but this is still only a 'mental picture'. I suppose watch this space, the competition closes at the end of August so time is drawing to a close to have entires submitted. I ordered a massive amount of Swarovski today so that I will have components on hand to use at whim (not that I don't have a giant inventory already lol). One Swarovski item of interest was 3mm bicones in the colour Morion AB 2x. A colour I am not familiar with and have not heard of until today; I am eager for them to arrive so that I can examine the true colour of them rather than a photograph from the internet. I suspect they will team with purple perfectly. Happy Beading x

Tubastrea

Tubastrea has been submitted as my third and final entry to the Create-Your-Style Australasian Swarovski Contest, Open Division. I am more than pleased with her, she is terrific and everything I visualised before I set to work to complete her. I will wear her out this weekend, to a cocktail party .. must build some earrings to match. This submission sees my entry tally at 8, 3 in the Open Division and 5 in the Creative Challenge Division.

Tubastrea has been created using right angle weave, woven Swarovski crystal pearls in 'Coral' and various other sized Swarovski crystals in 'Jet'. The closure is a series of ribbons that have been embellished with beading. This piece has been created entirely from Swarovski elements, there are no seed beads in this construction.

Final entry for the CYS Australasia Comp ?

I ask myself this as I completed 'Tubastreae' today .. What is Tubastreae ? She is a largely right angle weave woven neckpiece. I really, really like this piece and I would have to say that she is my finest work to date. I usually sit on a 'completed' piece for a few days before photographing or publishing as the design has to be completed in many ways. The 'resting' of a design as I like to call it is part of the creative process for me. Tubastreae has been created using only Swarovski elements in two colours Coral and Jet. Coral crystal pearls in various sizes and Jet crystal beads in various sizes and styles. Photographs of Tubastrae will follow once the design has 'rested'. Why call her Tubastrae.. well I wanted something to tie back to the colour Coral so whilst wandering the web I found this link which gives information all about Orange Sun Coral .. in Latin "Tubastrea faulkneri". I love this .. thus my entry to the Open Division of the Create-Your-Style Australasian competition was named. I do hope she is my last for this years competition, to date I have submitted (almost) 7 entries. I find competition entries exhausting as so very much goes into an entry physically, mentally, financially and creatively ..

Oriental Blossom

Oriental Blossom .. Handmade Beaded Cab set from Melissa Ingram.

I would have to say that bezzeling cabochons is one of my fav ways to bead. This particular set Oriental Blossom is one of a series that I am working on.

The cabs are all complete, it is just the beading part that requires completion. I create the cabs from the ground up .. that is I use a brass vessel, inset a special image, seal the image, let it dry .. then apply multiple layers of 2 part expoxy resin. The resin part is tedious as you have to 'babysit' the resin whilst it cures. That is keep checking on it, run a hair dryer over it to get the air bubbles to rise, popping each one with a pin. I even check them with a magnifying glass so as to get the best possible finish. I have to wait for each layer to cure before applying the next layer. After the last layer has cured I will match the beads to the particular image colour and bead away ... The reverse of the cabs are always sealed with ultrasuede and have my makers mark tag 'Social Butterfly' sewn into the beading.

Social Butterfly Jewellery and SRAJD

Melissa Ingram of Social Butterfly Jewellery is a proud SRAJD member.

Creative Challenge 'Goliath' and 'I See You' Cocktail Rings

Swarovski Bicone Cocktail Rings for the Creative Challenge Division

'I see you'

'Goliath'

I wanted to submit a ring design for the Create-Your-Style Swarovski Creative Challenge. The challenge is to create a design using only Swarosvki bicones to a maximum of 200 bicones. Hmmm where to begin ..there in the bead stash were a few vintage 12mm Cardinal Swarovski bicones. By incorporating bicones of different sizes and colours I was able to not only create 'I see you' but also 'Goliath'. Both designs are yet to be submitted to the competition, but will be as soon as this blog update is done. Because of the bicones shape you really need to consider comfort for the wearer, so a bezel had to be created, again only bicones to be used .. no seed beads ugh. As a beadweaver first and foremost this is certainly a challenge for me. By weaving the various sized bicones together I was able to create an embellished bezel and right angle weave band. The sample's created are for display only and are created specifically for this contest. If I were to make them again I would use SoftTouch 'very fine' beading wire. This wire is my first choice as it is a brilliant product. The samples cocktail rings have been created with 6lb Fireline.

Polymer Clay Beaded Cameo Free Tutorial

Free tutorial for creating a polymer clay beaded cameo. I designed this project and wrote this tutorial for Australian Beading for the August 2009 edition.