Bead Design Entries: Nirvana Beads

Sometime, during the busy fall months, I made three pieces of jewelry to enter into the Nirvana Bead Design Contest.  The two necklaces above were entered under the "Button" category and the earrings were entered under the "Earrings" category, of course! The silver plated leaf in the earrings were purchased by me from Nirvana and help create a stunning pair of earrings.  The center necklace has been created almost completely from Nirvana beads and buttons .  The center necklace and a bracelet (not show  were both selected as a winner under the  "Button" categories.  As there is only one winner, Nirvana is selecting one or the other (necklace or bracelet) as the winner; final results out tomorrow.  And what, you may ask, is the prize...a hefty gift certificate from Nirvana to purchase more beads, of course......every beaders dream!  Nirvana Beads is a great company with very down to earth folks running the business.  I found them when I fell in love with Czech buttons and wanted to start using these buttons in my designs.  As I searched for a wholesaler of these Czech buttons I cam across Nirvana and have purchased my Czech beads and buttons from them ever since.  What really makes Nirvana Beads special is the fact that they donate a portion of their profits to help those suffering from natural and man made disasters...how cool is that!  So I support Nirvana, Nirvana supports those in need and it is all good!  I like that.  Anyhow, the two necklaces above use Nirvana Czech buttons as focal points. I have been asked to create a necklace similar to the bottom blue necklace using the same button is white, with salmon and gold accents and angel wings....more edgy.  I will post a picture when I am done...the wedding is in April. Life is good!

Beaded Collars...or rather Bibs.

Earlier this year I created several beaded collars...projects that I had been thinking about for quite some time.I had great fun working up the color scheme in  these collars.  The larger collar is a magnificent piece to wear and has the impression of Egyptian fashion.  I imagine how grand Cleopatra must have felt wearing those wonderful beaded collars, sipping fine wine!  I started out with a beautiful but bright Purple Sea Sediment Jasper.  I decided I did not want to play up the bright Purple and focus on all the complimentary tones found in the stone.  I added some vintage glass cabochons and pearl to give a sheen to the collar at various places.

The two smaller collars were a bit more difficult primarily due to the small space.  At their widest point, the collar is not quite 2 inches.  I did not want to have the space on each side of the center cabochons to be boring and so after pondering various ideas I cam up with the final designs.  The lighter collar has a small, teardrop cabochon of Ocean Jasper.  I love Ocean Jasper and all it's variations.  It will often have circulars shapes indicating something bubbled up from the deep ocean floor and solidified! I had to work at keeping the Ocean Jasper collar light and white.  I rarely use white in my beaded pieces so this was a challenge.  The animal print type beading just happened, I did not start out with a plan on how to fill space.  I love the way the collar turned out!  The other small collar has a aquamarine blue Swarovski cabochon.  The frosted glass leaves to the side are also vintage, very unique.

I had great fun creating these collars. They are currently on view at Artist Collaborative Gallery in Sacramento.

The bottom necklace is Ocean Jasper surrounded by champagne button pearls.  Poor photo!