A Study in Pink

So when I design a piece, I usually have a complete image in my head that I set to work on and maybe tweak a bit depending on the supplies I have on hand or at my whim. This, on the other hand, was a build as you go project.  I had just finished a red and gold necklace and wondered what the next would be. I went feeling through my beads and I found these gorgeous faceted pink beads that are some of my favorites but seldom used. I took a few out of their container and placed them on my workspace.

They landed pretty much in this sort of clover shaped position and that was enough inspiration to make what I consider to be a very lovely necklace.

It grew bit by bit as I gathered many of my pink beads to figure out which ones would work. I didn't want them to be too match-y. At one point, I was tearing through all of my supplies looking for a particular bead. It took forever to find, and when I finally did find them, they were so wrong for the necklace that it was kind of funny (kind of, as in not at all). I found the perfect substitute a lot easier and the layout of the necklace was complete.

Then I had a few stringing issues. I wasn't too upset that the way I wanted to do it didn't work out because it was highly experimental for me. It was a stringing technique that I dreamed up for this necklace that didn't work out because of my issues with knots. I've pretty much perfected the type of knot I use most often, but this would've needed an entirely different sort of knot. So, I decided to go with something that I knew would be successful, I added the chain (it wasn't always going to be chain but I figured it would keep it dainty if I used chain), then the clasp and...

 Voila!

Here it is in all its shiny, pink glory!

Here it is with a couple of different backgrounds:

This is one of many lovely necklaces I will have for sale this Saturday at the Vineland Flea Market. It's my first time trying this one, it's new. I hope I have great time there because it's weekly and it would be great to have a weekly gig instead of once a month like at Silver Lake.

I've Got Spirals on My Fingers! *

So I recently came across this video and I thought I’d give it a try.

 I was a bit hesitant due to my challenges with using the double needle technique (not technically using needles but both ends of mono-filament). But I thought the ring had potential so I made it.

It's really late and if I bothered to really edit the photos, this post might not get done, so I'm going to be showing pictures of it as they came off of my phone. Still, this one isn't for sale anyway, but when I do make some for sale, the pictures are going to look a LOT better.

I started this ring late at night a couple of nights ago, which is why the image is so dark. 
But I wanted to get a quick snapshot of what the base of the ring looked like.

And this is the finished ring. I really liked the combination of colors that I used. 
Rob says that it reminds him of a Venice Carnavale mask. 
Um, I don't see it, but okay! lol He did say he really liked it.

Here's the profile of the ring.
It seems a lot puffier here than it actually looks on my hand.

Here's the band, I really like the look of it.

Here's the finished ring again.

I'll probably end up keeping this ring. I had a few glitches happen while making it. I do plan on making a few more though, for sale in my booth. It depends on how fast I can make one. I'll probably try to crank out one more for now, but I really have to make some more necklaces for sale because I found a new market to vend at and I'm trying it out this weekend. Wish me luck!

*Fun fact: The title of this blog entry is a nod to the Beatles where at the end of Helter Skelter, Ringo Starr yells, "I've got blisters on my fingers!" from all the crazy drumming throughout the song.