tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186144982008-08-30T12:42:50.881-07:00One woman's adventures in the wide, wonderful world of beading.TheBroadroom.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11474971338995816520noreply@blogger.comBlogger317125http://feeds.feedburner.com/BeadingBlog-Thebroadroomnet?format=skin837153http://www.feedburner.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-32537531049645062112008-08-22T21:49:00.000-07:002008-08-22T23:21:51.995-07:00

Ah...what have I been doing lately. Not much, nothing new. More testing than development. :D In that sense though, testing is as important as development. It's less spectacular, but testing is what determines whether something will last. Here is a tutorial I stumbled upon: ES Designs >> how to make sterling silver hand-forged hoop earrings - tutorial. What intrigued me were not the earrings,

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-76557038661265788152008-07-22T18:14:00.000-07:002008-07-22T18:49:41.624-07:00

Poor blog... I have made new jewelry, but haven't had time and energy to photograph it. :( The best piece I've made since...ah...fiddling around crimping a horizontal bar inside a hoop...is a pair of earrings made of (argentium) sterling chains, small aquamarine faceted drops, and small green amethyst faceted pears. These use a graduated style, smallest chain on the outside, longest chain on

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-19304641374266867972008-04-06T14:24:00.000-07:002008-04-06T14:29:45.957-07:00

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of using a tiny round bead, instead of a crimp (see previous Rambles...). What I had on hand were crimp tubes. They actually don't look bad, crimped on a hoop like that, but a tiny round bead would likely look much better. I've been turning it over in my mind about soldering. Wondering how feasible it would be to solder an earring frame, say,

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-17394450947305699972008-04-05T20:26:00.000-07:002008-04-05T23:32:51.723-07:00

I got to finish some earrings today. Boy, were they a pain to finish! I had this idea of making a round hoop, with a curved bar inside it, like a much simpler version of these: Gokul earrings. Just the bottom hoops with the bar inside, and stuff hanging from the bar and from the bottom edge of the hoop. (Not even the fancy dangles hanging from the bottom, just regular little dangles.) Thing is,

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-81990037248570879252008-04-02T17:37:00.000-07:002008-04-02T18:14:07.455-07:00

Hi! Haven't had much time to blog lately... It's occurred to me...a new earring design usually takes me several days, at least. Sometimes longer. Once I have the design, it takes me several hours to actually fabricate the earrings. I was thinking of that today...from the beginning, I had wanted to develop several designs and just use those. Part of it is sheer laziness, no doubt, but I believe

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-42920956177895317212008-03-26T22:34:00.000-07:002008-03-26T22:55:02.035-07:00

Blogged some here: Fashion Notes: Trekking through Etsy. No original work, just some pics from various Etsy merchants. I did go ahead and make spiral earrings. It's experimental...in a way, I don't care whether it's a commercially viable design, since I'm not selling it. I just want to know how it feels to wear them. The ones I made feel different on, having a long "stem" to balance off the

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-88916807389176614512008-03-23T17:36:00.001-07:002008-03-23T18:01:13.964-07:00

Happy Easter! Was fiddling around with some earrings today...I still need to finish the three-hoop necklace. The front is fine, but I finished the back with two grey moonstone rondelles. I love how the grey color looks, but the drill-holes were small. I really prefer using heavier wire in back to finish a chain, plus it could stand to be a bit longer anyway. Anyhow, about the earrings. These

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-81451820254784008512008-03-22T16:34:00.000-07:002008-08-22T19:31:55.494-07:00

Not sure about this one yet. It's experimental, because these aren't soldered hoops; they're strictly bent and hammered. On a personal level, I like geometry, and therefore geometrical shapes. I've had the notion of making an abacus pendant for months, not because I know how to use an abacus :) nor even because an abacus is itself useful. It's the concept of making a square pendant that's

TheBroadroom.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11474971338995816520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-39396612026101720462008-03-20T19:08:00.001-07:002008-03-20T19:29:55.592-07:00

In the top pic, I was leaning at a funny angle, trying to capture the schiller in the stones. It hangs much more the way it does in the bottom pic. I made this for special occasions, imo it's too much for every day. Unless you can pull something like that off. :) BTW labradorite is light for its size. I thought these stones would be way heavy, all together on the chain like that, but they're

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-55658667628943867882008-03-20T19:03:00.001-07:002008-03-20T19:06:44.001-07:00

This is a somewhat lower grade of sapphire. Still a tiny bit translucent, but without the rich color of blue sapphires. I was very pleased these beads had been hand selected...I bought them online, three packages of four beads each. Someone had gone through and made sure I got two of each color. That's how I could make matching earrings. This is goldfill and vermeil, with karat gold beads.

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-57732632768672705672008-03-20T18:55:00.000-07:002008-03-20T19:01:09.768-07:00

Here's my first attempt at using a herringbone weave. I realize I linked to it earlier from the beauty & fashion blog, but now that I can get screenshot thumbnails of the posts here, figured it would be useful to post here for future reference. Ultimately I was disappointed in using half-hard wire for the weave, because I found it impossible to bend the wire just so on the sides. I think the

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-58396257301421026132008-03-20T12:06:00.000-07:002008-03-20T13:43:44.367-07:00

This is a pic of what I was blogging about yesterday. As you can see, it was a bit of a bugger to photograph. You can get a nice still image by hanging the piece, but then the scale is unclear (plus you can't see all the stones). I'm quite pleased with how this Mom pendant turned out. When you wear it, it looks different, depending on the light and how the stones have fallen. So sometimes the

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-33745029135254527532008-03-18T18:12:00.000-07:002008-03-18T18:41:14.252-07:00

...where was I? :) I ditched the earrings...I can't make the herringbone weave work with half-hard wire. It'll make a bezel, but I'm not happy with it. Latest projects: Fashion Notes: Earring synergy (the ill-fated half-hard herringbone weave!) Just Notes: What I've been into, lately (also featuring some pics I found on the Net of my home town) Fashion Notes: Labradorite necklace Today I'm

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-53874610077907149782008-03-09T21:57:00.001-07:002008-03-09T22:49:28.202-07:00

Made some new earrings today, didn't have time to photograph them. Actually I'm wearing them...part of the test process, of course. :) These use several ideas...Dain's concepts of color combinations, and Eni Oken's herringbone weave, which I've been wanting to try for a long time. Thanks to Eni's tutorial, I found the weave relatively painless and managed to mangle only the first pass, when I

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-63401345770238738062008-03-08T11:41:00.000-08:002008-03-08T11:49:37.861-08:00

Not sure what to make next. Thinking of going ahead and making another copy of these frames, though I don't know what to put in them. I'm just thinking of "something symmetrical, using one or two chains, and a small stone."

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-69012983422336875242008-03-07T22:05:00.001-08:002008-03-07T22:39:14.661-08:00

The more I look at this picture, the more I like the frame itself. It's a straightforward enough frame...you can buy readymade ones of the same shape...what I like is the slight roughness, the effect of it being handmade. I've concluded, anyway, I am a bit different from other people. I would rather look at a picture of gears...or ships...or a machine that makes stuff...than look at what people

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-67309696780121787822008-03-07T16:38:00.000-08:002008-03-07T16:58:37.527-08:00

Been playing around with these for a while...had the idea of capturing this "winter tree full of robins" idea--not even sure they were robins? They weren't like East Coast robins, with vivid red-orange breasts, but rather a softer color. Anyhow, because the citrines are wrapped to the chain, they move around a lot...rather like birds on a tree :) I tried this out initially with some bright

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-24089735953886776162008-03-05T11:40:00.000-08:002008-03-05T11:49:42.222-08:00

Oh well, the idea of leaving the chain necklace as is lasted about one day. It's not practical, because the majority of the weight is in front. The weight would have to be counterbalanced by something in the back, whether an actual clasp or a fake clasp, or something. Plus, I'm liking the idea of it as a sort of summer necklace, the kind of thing you could wear with a summer top. In short I'll

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-81814798869898841142008-03-04T14:13:00.000-08:002008-03-20T13:39:40.176-07:00

Finished this today (top center pic). I added an extender chain in the back, with a small round citrine and Bali sterling bead at the end. I blogged about the development of the piece here: Fashion Notes: Something I've been fiddling around with if you'd like more detail. I've come to realize...most of the time, what I'm looking for is a sort of industrial look. Or I should say, I miss the

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-79436987546308891252008-02-25T20:38:00.000-08:002008-02-25T21:07:15.881-08:00

I've already changed out the silver hoops I used on yesterday's Madeira citrine earrings. The ones I'd made were too big and heavy. I realized I'd made them that way because I'd intended to hang a single citrine in the center of each...then figured the citrines I had were too small for that...and ended up using a seven-stone design instead. The small hoops I made today are so much lighter in

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-6825811053139862682008-02-24T18:59:00.000-08:002008-02-24T19:11:41.246-08:00

I made some earrings today, but no time to photograph them. So these are two pictures of a whole bunch of robins in a winter tree. The earrings, coincidentally enough, use a bit of the same color scheme. I have some Madeira citrines, and had the idea of pairing them with silver. Actually I was thinking oxidized silver...though it's the current trend to oxidize, I haven't oxidized anything yet

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-75823416451977343782008-02-15T12:09:00.000-08:002008-03-20T13:58:09.128-07:00

This is a beautiful necklace. Rose quartz isn't that easy to work with--higher grades of it are more transparent, with a delicate pink hue, unlike your more robustly-colored dyed quartz. Hence most rose quartz pieces I've seen feature a lot of quartz at a time, typically a multi-strand design, or else big chunky quartz. In real life the Softflex color isn't as obtrusive as it appears in the

TheBroadroom.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11474971338995816520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-38992050919320559292008-02-09T16:10:00.000-08:002008-02-09T16:43:32.242-08:00

Playing around with backgrounds. The black background shows the structure better, but the white one shows the color of the stones. Pretty pleased with the necklace...the key is the weight in back. Without adding extra beads, the weight in front would be too much. Another idea I'm playing with is of making pieces which can be worn either casually or more formally. This one might do it. If

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-68468198388810691482008-02-08T17:49:00.000-08:002008-02-08T18:34:21.619-08:00

Still fiddling around with the green amethyst/prehnite necklace. I took the little chain and vermeil bead off the back...I think the idea would look nice if I had the right vermeil bead for it, say something like this mint leaf charm from Nina Designs: I don't have anything like that currently, so I'd tried using the same square vermeil bead here: And it didn't look so great. Today I went

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18614498.post-60320182354446357662008-02-07T16:21:00.000-08:002008-02-07T19:55:26.011-08:00

Playing with a new design today. Actually it takes me at least three days now, most of the time, to finish a single design. I'll come up with something, then start wearing it, or start thinking it's too ordinary...how can I make it more special? This will be the first time I've had to counter-weight a necklace, beyond adding a couple of beads in the back and/or a heavier clasp. This design uses

Colleen Shirazihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08852308543194030377noreply@blogger.com