Backstory Beads

Choosing Hope

2012-02-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

Watching a child suffer through the challenges of an illness is so difficult! Thanks go out to Erin Flickert-Rowland and Christine Altmiller who are hosting this blog hop and spreading the word about 7000 Bracelets for Hope. An opportunity from the Global Genes Project, jewelry designers are asked to donate a denim-themed bracelet to inspire hope and offer support to the families and caregivers of children affected by rare diseases.

I am sending this macramé bangle that sports 12mm druzy stones in denim shades from classic indigo to light stonewashed and a larger wooden focal bead inset with abalone. The slide closure makes it adjustable to any size wrist. I hope it will bring comfort to a family to know there are so many of us praying and pulling for them.

Please take a moment to click on the links below to see the designs that other jewelry artists are donating to show their support for these children and their families.

Once you choose hope, anything's possible. -Christopher Reeve

Elysian Studios and One Kiss Creations

The Studio Sublime

Crafty Hope

The Gossiping Goddess

SilverRose Designs

Firefly Visions

Pink Chapeau Vintage Jewelry

Michelle Mach

Pine Ridge Treasures

Backstory Beads

Adventures in Creativity with Lorillijean

Carefree Jewelry by Lisa

Sue Beads

MiShel Designs

Created Treasures

Taralinda Muses

My Life Under The Bus

Elizabeth Creates

SilverNikNats

Erin Siegel Jewelry

Carolyn’s Creations

My Life…one bead at a time

Fresh Baked Designs

Songbeads

Sunshine Bliss

Lori Anderson

Rainy Days Designs

Pat Barden Jewelry

Tell Your Girlfriends

Therese's Treasures

Windrock Studio

Bead Lola Bead

Spice Box Designs

Antiquity Travelers

Vitamin C...A Daily Dose of Creativity

Beads and Bread

Sharyl's Jewelry and Reflections

Ahtee's Blog

Thoughtful-Notions

Beads for Brains:365

Wild Sally Road

All The Pretty Things

Skye's Creative Chaos

My Addictions...Handcrafted Jewelry by Patti

Lindy's Designs

Falling Into The Sky

Star Hitched Wagon

Mama's Got to Doodle

10KDgroup

February Art Bead Challenge – Conference of the Birds

2012-02-20T12:42:00.000-05:00

My favorite thing about Art Bead Scene’s current challenge was not the lush painting, a page of magical elegance from the manuscript of poet Farid al-Din Attar. My favorite thing is that it led me to discover Peter Sis’ adaptation of the 12^th century Persian poem, in which all the birds of the world get together for a conference and set off in search of the world’s true king. A great read, it’s a book written for adults, but one I can’t wait to share with my grandchildren.

With the poem’s many life lessons in mind, I wanted to design a piece that would capture Attar's idyllic riverbed at the moment the birds are beginning their adventure.

I immediately thought of a string of triangle-shaped druzies I’d been saving, in shades of warm khaki and freckled with the metallic golds and deep browns of the illustration. They reminded me of the painting’s many rocks that emerge from the water’s surface, providing landing places and a moment of respite. They would also give my piece the repetition of geometric shapes common to Islamic art at the time Attar was writing his parable. I paired them with SueBeads’ Southwest Raku lampwork beads that echo the freckles in the druzies while adding the blues, purples, creams and oranges of the landscape around the riverbed.

The elements are linked with herringbone chains of seed beads, capped with large fresh water pearls. This challenge piece will serve as a reminder that each stage on the road to self-discovery can find us at times battered and beleaguered – the beauty of the journey is to enjoy the sanctuaries along the way.

Ups, Downs, and Beautiful Spaces

2012-02-04T09:37:00.000-05:00

A new year. The chance to start fresh. Start over. Keep up. A burst of hope, and then we find ourselves in the thick of things, living a life and here come those ups and downs!

For my first Bead Journal project (first ever!), I chose a small section of Georgia O’Keefe’s Evening Star IV because I saw it as a colorful representation of the peaks and valleys that await all of us in the 366 days of 2012. Quiet stretches of calm purpose, surges of renewed energy, periods when new ideas are born and puzzling times when our creative process seems fallow.

Georgia O'Keefe's Evening Star IV

Georgia O’Keefe had not painted in several years when her sister persuaded her to visit an old friend and teacher, Alon Bement. Georgia considered him a very poor painter, but a brilliant teacher, and was much influenced with an idea he gave her: “The idea of filling a space in a beautiful way - where you have the windows and door in a house, how you address a letter and put on the stamp, what shoes you choose and how you comb your hair.” Her examples are very much of her generation, but still a valuable idea for us today. It sparked Georgia to say things with colors and shapes that she couldn’t say in any other way.

My first pendant, based on her painting, will remain on my bead table - a reminder to stay in balance with the rhythms of life – and to create beauty in the spaces.

Reader's Challenge - Jonquil

2012-01-30T09:37:00.000-05:00

My challenge with Andrew Thornton’s November Reader’s kit wasn’t the fact that nearly every component in the set was yellow, a color I have little design experience with. My biggest challenge stemmed from the luxury seed bead mix dominated by sparkling yellows, pale greens, peaches and a punch of gold and bronze. They begged to be spilled out on my mat and stitched into something lovely, organic and freeform. But I promised myself I would complete this project sans needle.

My favorite pieces in the Jonquil kit were the knowledge tree pendant (the month’s mystery component), and the long wooden bead, both of which cried out to be used in a focal. With kit in hand, I was off to my favorite bead store, where I found a carved, black onyx leaf, which brought out the color and detail in both. To heighten the challenge, I threw pink into the mix, another color that rarely makes an appearance on my bead table.

Once my focal was secured to the brass chain supplied in the kit, I dusted off my wireworking skills, creating sections of dangles leading to some gold Venetian glass coins from my stash. I used the soft peach tones from the kit to transition to the larger dangles that echo the focal. To give more length to the necklace, I added a doubled length of Vintaj ornate chain.

Much praise and many thanks go to Andrew Thornton for offering his readers these monthly opportunities to forge down new creative paths and work with artisan pieces that excite our imaginations. Take a moment to click on the following links to all the participants who will be revealing their Jonquil Challenge results:

Dawn from Morning Glory Beading

Alice Bavaud will have pieces on Andrew Thornton's blog

Earring A Day - Banishing the Blues

2012-01-24T16:27:00.000-05:00

In a solid week of gray, foggy mornings and rainy afternoons, I found sparkle and shine at my bead table, stitching up some colorful baubles to beat away the blues. Continuing with my earring-a-day project, this week I’ve added 5 more, all fit for a party.

Bright with greens, purples and golden orange, these would be perfect for Mardi Gras. The pattern, which uses two sizes of drops along with peanut, 11 and 15 seed beads, is Cindy Holsclaw’s Pagoda Charm.

Blue is a big accessory color this year, and I love to contrast it with yellow-orange. This is another component from Maggie Roschyk’s Artistic Seed Bead Jewelry. I don’t know when I’ve been so inspired by a beading book! I can see these done up in so many different colorways and accent beads.

Classic black and silver never goes out of style. Deborah Roberti’s Diamond Tila pattern gave me a chance to use up more of these tile-shaped beads from my stash.

Double the sparkle, these dangles with red magma cosmic rings and padparadscha rivolis pick up and reflect light from all directions.

Gwen Fisher’s three-dimensional designs are always fun and challenging. Her Deco Lotus earrings gain enough wow-factor from a second layer to make them just right for special occasions.

EAD Dress-Up-a-Casual-Tee Edition

2012-01-16T16:44:00.001-05:00

Continuing the January earring-a-day challenge, I managed to create 5 this week, all just a bit dressy to spice up a casual tee.

I bought a tube of Tila beads six months ago, but never found the perfect use for them, until I came across this Carole Ohl design:

As my Tila earrings lay on my bead table, I noticed that a scrap piece nearby, the point of a star that ended up being too large, was approximately the same size and shape as my finished earring. Instead of cutting up the scrap, could I repurpose it into an earring?

After reorienting the point, adding some tiny crystals and a slender dagger, it was ready for an earwire!

That silver and black earring with its jet dagger led to this aqua green and black version:

I recently began receiving catalogues from Arhaus Jewels, and as I thumbed through each edition, I always seemed to linger over these silver and turquoise crescents.

I set out to duplicate them with seed beads. Although I took up this earring-a-day-challenge to build up my show inventory, I like this pair so much, they just might have to stay with me!

My final pair for this week is designed around a component from Maggie Roschyk’s new book, Artistic Seed Bead Jewelry. I love how the red-orange and aqua blue work together in this pair, as classy from the backview as from the front!

Earring a Day Challenge

2012-01-09T11:59:00.000-05:00

The Beading Daily blog inspired me to take up their January earring challenge. The idea is to create a pair of beaded earrings every day this month. I love a challenge and this one offered the added bonus of building up my inventory for an upcoming show. For the first week, I featured shades of orange-red in each earring, to celebrate Pantone’s color of the year, Tangerine Tango.

I love how these Tila Drops catch the light and add just the right amount of shimmer. The pattern is by Deborah Roberti and can be found at Bead Patterns.

If you’re not a fan of orange, you can pull it into your wardrobe in small doses by combining it with purples, greens, yellows or hot pinks.

Top row:

Rachel Nelson-Smith's two-layered Nightingale design from Bead Riffs

Desert Skies pattern by Terri Wlaschin

Diane Fitzgerald's two-dimensional triangles

Bottom row:

BeAd Infinitum's Spinning Tops

Spinner Rims by Virginia Jensen from Bead and Button, October 2009

Almond Drops, another pattern from BeAd Infinitum

2012 Bead Journal Project

2011-12-28T16:14:00.000-05:00

December has not been a month for beading. Could not find a way to fit it in with all the holiday comings and goings. But I have been thinking about beads, and, with the final days of 2011 approaching, making plans for the new year.

It’s exciting to be participating in the Bead Journal Project for the first time. I’ve decided my journal pages will be 1 ½” x 2” pendants. Learning the properties of color was my focus in 2011. At the start of this year, if pressed, I might have been able to name the primary and secondary colors, but my knowledge of color relationships ended there. Now, since poring over the works of Margie Deeb, Beverly Ash Gilbert and others, I’ve added value and contrast, warm and cool, intensity and hue to my vocabulary.

I’ll be using my 2012 Bead Journal projects to explore the first of those, value, and try to better understand how bead finishes and textures contribute to the success of a piece. I cut out a viewfinder in my pendant size, and took a tour through our art books to frame out a composition.

For my first project I chose the bottom right corner of Georgia O’Keeffe’s Evening Star No. IV, starting the year off with the primary colors and a bit of green. After this long holiday break, it's time to head upstairs and reacquaint myself with my bead room!

Quite possibly the best Christmas bangle

2011-11-29T13:32:00.001-05:00

I have stitched up a stocking full of these bangles for Christmas gifts. They’re really comfortable on the wrist, appeal to all ages, and would add instant holiday sparkle to everything from a flirty party dress to jeans and a t-shirt.

The gold and white bangle with Aurum 2x crystals is boxed and tucked into a Priority mailer, and will be on its way to my sister this afternoon. It’s guaranteed to coax her into the holiday spirit, even if she’s just bundling up on the couch for a night at home. I love the art deco look of the right-angle-weave band before it’s zipped around the rubber tubing.

The green bangle really stands out despite its muted palette and matte hex beads, with the addition of crystals in Black Diamond AB. It’s the chameleon of the bunch and looks great with anything.

And the season’s traditional red – that bangle’s staying with me! It’s the only sparkle I’ll need this holiday season. The pattern is Tamara Scott’s Infinity design, which can be found here.

Parsley. Sage. Rosemary and Chocolate?

2011-11-18T13:09:00.001-05:00

The kids are coming home next week, and in preparation, my kitchen is filling up with the sweet and savory spices of fall. Parsley. Sage. Cinnamon. Allspice. And, last night the fragrant notes of rosemary and chocolate were wafting from the oven! Oh, we enjoy all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes, but this year I wanted to serve up a few things that were a bit less conventional. And when I’m looking for an occasional sweet treat that I know will still be healthy, I turn to my favorite food blog, 101 Cookbooks, where I found this recipe for Rosemary Olive Oil Cake.

I knew it was going to be a hit when I sampled a bit of the batter before baking. Mmmm - olive oil (I used an organic extra-virgin), mixed with chunks of bittersweet chocolate and fresh rosemary! Last night, warm from the oven, it tasted to Dan like an exotic chocolate chip cookie. He left with a fresh slice this morning to savor with his Starbucks. I had a piece for lunch and found the texture was even lighter and the flavors more developed today. Rosemary and chocolate – a successful marriage in this cake, and definitely a new addition to Thanksgiving at our house!

Rosemary and Olive Oil Cake

Dry ingredients:
3/4 cup spelt flour (I used white whole wheat)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Wet ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup olive oil
3/4 cup whole milk (I used 2%)

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons sugar for top crunch (I omitted this, but I'm sure it would be a fantastic finish!)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Rub a 9 1/2-inch fluted tart pan with olive oil. (I used a loaf pan, and lined it with parchment paper.)

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, pouring any bits of grain or other ingredients left in the sifter back into the bowl. Set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk the eggs thoroughly. Add the olive oil, milk and rosemary and whisk again. Using a spatula, fold the wet ingredients into the dry, gently mixing just until combined. Stir in 2/3 of the chocolate. Pour the batter into the pan, spreading it evenly and smoothing the top. Sprinkle with the remaining chocolate and run a fork along the length of the chocolate so that the batter envelops it just a bit. Sprinkle with the second sugar.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the top is domed, golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

The cake can be eaten warm or cool from the pan, or cooled, wrapped tightly in plastic, and kept for 2 days.

Serves 8 -12.

Recipe adapted from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce.

Prep time: 15 min - Cook time: 45 min

October Challenge Reveal

2011-11-04T09:50:00.000-04:00

When Andrew Thornton put the October Challenge together, he envisioned crisp, clear autumn skies. When I tore open the package, I saw stars. Sirius. Polaris. Fomalhaut. Fomalhaut? Sometimes called the Autumn Star, Fomalhaut is best viewed in October and November where you will find it shining bright, silvery and alone near the southern horizon. You can track its nightly progress here.

The base of my Autumn Star pendant, in silver and nickel delicas from my stash, incorporates a square and four elongated triangles from Diane Fitzgerald’s Shaped Beadwork. A simple star washer, embellished with the smallest silver-lined seed beads, tiniest rondelles and pearls from the challenge mix, adds an elegant layer, using techniques I learned in a Laura McCabe Master Class earlier this year.

I loved that the luxury mix of beads embraced the spectrum of blue from lavender to sapphire to navy and inky blue-black. I chose a few in all those shades to highlight the artisan beads in my simple neckstrap, which uses another star washer as its toggle closure. (The gorgeous glass headpin by SueBeads and Andrew's silver skull bead, this month's mystery component, are being reserved for other pieces.)

Click over to Andrew's blog for links to the designs from all the October challenge participants.

Maven Meld

2011-10-29T12:30:00.000-04:00

What a lovely contest the Bead Mavens offered up, enticing those of us who are new to creating our own designs to take a step in that direction by melding two or more of their tutorial patterns together to create something new. I love pieces that are component based, and the Mavens offered some exciting ones. Do you ever see something and just know you have to make it? As soon as I clicked on Heather Collin’s Cactus Drops tutorial, I knew I’d found my focal. I was equally captivated by Cynthia Newcomer Daniel’s treatment of side-drilled beads in her Woodland Treasure design.

www.mzephotos.com/gallery/cacti/echinopsis-flower.html"
© MzePhotos.com, Some Rights Reserved

On to colors! I chose chocolate brown and bronze, paired with delicate red violet tones, inspired by the mystique and majesty of night-blooming cactus.

My first attempt with this color palette was dreamy and delicate, but after stitching up a few sample components, I realized it didn’t convey what I was striving for - the mood of a desert garden at the moment that day changes into night.

Reversing the colors, using a warmer shade of violet as the accent, and switching from iridescent stick pearls to faceted nuggets in smokey quartz gave my design the glow and the feel of a moonlit garden.

The drops are stitched in cubic right angle weave, which was new to me. Drops finished, but still fascinated with the stitch, I continued it into the neckstrap. Heather Collin has a definitive basic CRAW tutorial, which helped me master this stitch, and you might also check out Gwen Fisher’s video if you want to take your CRAW skills to the next level.

The deadline for entries is tonight at midnight. Click over to the Mavens’ challenge page to see some very amazing work.

Two are Better Than One

2011-09-27T14:04:00.000-04:00

That’s true for cookies, chips, chain-nose pliers, and most definitely for Tamara Scott’s new cuff, Othello. If you’re familiar with Tamara’s popular Circle of Gems bracelets, Othello is a chunkier, more textured version of that bangle.

A few hours spent right-angle-weaving and netting the base, then zipping a couple of embellished peyote strips over that core, and in an afternoon, you have a colorful bangle…or two…or three.

Stack up a jumble of textures and colors to create your own unique look. Bet you can’t stop with just one!

Click here to see more of Atlanta-based artist, Tamara Scott’s designs.

Bead Soup Blog Party Reveal

2011-09-17T00:01:00.000-04:00

Today is the day all 362 participants in Lori Anderson’s Bead Soup Blog Party (BSBP) reveal the pieces they’ve created with the bead soup they received. Here is another look at the collection of beads I received from my partner, Heather DeSimone of Beadin’ Path.

The 1960’s brass focal sent me on a tour of vintage clothing shops and collectible markets to get a sense of the era. At a shop in Nashville, I met a couple of stylish sisters who were selling their collection of vintage Hermes silk scarves – iconic pieces that would have adorned the necks of the likes of Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn or Jackie O. Too dear a price for me, but one in their collection, still wrapped in its original tissue paper, inspired my color palette (black, gold, cream and silver) and my design element – graceful leaves.

Black and gold are always sophisticated, and I find that cream, often thought to be a cool color, can warm up a palette, the way these Swarovski pearls (in light rose cream) help to showcase the intricate design and detail of the lily focal.

After investigating several dozen leaf designs I settled on a Russian-inspired variation from Sheila Summers. Her free tutorial is precise, well-written and very easy to customize.

I wanted my choker to be as easy an accessory as a scarf – just wrap it around your neck and instantly brighten your day – without having to think about it again. To that end, I needed to ensure that the peyote tubes, supported by a 3mm buna cord, would stay put – no shifting or twisting or spinning of leaves. So I zipped the tubes on the cord, and found that if I switched to a size 10 beading needle, I could stitch right through the cord, anchoring each tube in place. The necklace is finished with Heather’s fabulous carved jet beads and silver clasp, making the closure as elegant as the focal!

Warmest thanks to Lori Anderson for hosting this extraordinary online party! You’ll want to check out what Heather and the other 360 party guests dreamed up by clicking here.

Sun Glinting on Sea

2011-09-02T11:27:00.000-04:00

I found this faceted focal bead a couple of months ago on a trip to the Georgia coast with my son. Chase was on a job search, and I took the opportunity to hang out in an area bead store while he interviewed. When The Sea surfaced as this month’s Inspired by Nature challenge, this lampwork beauty was an obvious choice. The pattern and colors of the pendant are straight from nature, and the center features what might be a treasure of the sea, scooped from the shore and enclosed in glass forever.

I decided to focus on the yellow-greens and deepest blues for my neckstrap. Hollow netted tubes encase more than a hundred Jet AB2X crystals, creating an ever-changing glitter pattern as it’s worn – moving points of light, reminiscent of the sun’s reflection on the changing surface of the sea.

You can see more sea-inspired accessories at the Inspired by Nature Flickr group.

Vintage Soup

2011-08-26T21:08:00.001-04:00

Just returned from a ten-day trip, and have to admit that more than once, my foot was a little heavy on the gas pedal in anticipation of finding my bead soup from Heather of The Beadin Path when I got home.

I was not disappointed! The brown box was waiting on the counter, and inside – this wonderful vintage soup, infused with tantalizing colors and textures.

Just look at the range of colors in the 1960’s brass lily focal! Beautifully complemented by large jet Lucite rounds, chunky red German glass squares, 1920’s Bohemian topaz faceted glass, and, (my favorite!) carved Victorian-era jet beads. A delicate silver clasp completes the soup.

It’s great to be home, and back to the bead table. And fun to receive Heather’s lovely collection of beads that have set my thoughts spinning!

Japanese Gardens

2011-08-19T09:27:00.000-04:00

The Inspired by Nature Challenge for week 7 is the Zen Garden, a place of peace and meditation.

The focal in my design is one I found when I was only weeks into my beading experience (and before I took up the habit of inquiring into the names of my stones.) I was attracted to its cosmic undertone, the way it draws the eye in to explore its depths. Perfect for this week’s challenge! Bezelled in gunmetal and sterling silver seed beads, the stone has a small, center-drilled hole in the top, which I first viewed as a drawback, but came to see as an opportunity to begin embellishing with small pearls and pieces of silver, suggesting the small rock groupings found in these gardens.

The pendant inspired my color palette of blues, grays and yellow-green turquoise. I added a bit of warmth with deep-red rondelles.

Click over to the Inspired by Nature group on Flickr to get a peak into other designers’ inner gardens.

Crossing Over

2011-08-11T20:44:00.000-04:00

I am hooked on bracelets at the moment, and have decided to get my sister into the trend. Today is her birthday, and this layered herringbone cuff should have arrived in her mailbox this afternoon. The design, by Bead Maven, Heather Collin, was pure joy to make! I learned some new techniques I will incorporate into my work, most notably how to increase and how to change the direction of a strand.

The base is stitched in stone gray and orchid and embellished with sterling silver, nickel and lavender seed beads. Deep purple firepolish beads and lavender crystals add more color and sparkle. It should travel through the seasons well, with two beautiful shades of gray appearing on Pantone’s Fall Color Report.

If you’re thinking of entering the Bead Maven’s Meld Challenge, you might want to consider Heather’s Crossing Over pattern. The details of the challenge can be found here, and Heather’s exceptionally well-written and illustrated pattern is currently on sale in her DreamweaversStudio shop.

The Party Begins...

2011-08-10T21:32:00.000-04:00

What are the chances? My Bead Soup Blog partner is someone I am already very familiar with, Heather DeSimone, co-owner of The Beadin’ Path in Freeport, Maine. You will often find me poring over the designs and articles on this award-winning store’s website, a virtual one-stop wonderland for jewelry designers.

Not one to wait, I ventured out last week in search of beads for my soup, straight to my favorite brick-and-mortar beadstore, Beadazzles. Beadazzles’ owner, Alice, is a great source of inspiration and an artist whose designs always make a statement. Her shop is a reflection of her own style, and is so much more than a place to buy beads; it’s a destination and, usually, a hive of activity. But when I stopped in last Monday morning, I found a lone beader working at a corner table, and Alice, restocking the seed bead wall.

When she heard about my mission, she jumped at the opportunity to offer her suggestions (which I took, with much gratitude.) And that was before I knew who my partner was!

So am I nervous about sending out this package to Heather, who spends her days surrounded by strands of glass, shell, gem, vintage and crystal beads? Is there any chance she’ll be inspired? Since my choice of beads was guided by one savvy bead store owner and going into the hands of another, I think the odds are just fine!!!

Inspiration-Tiger Lily

2011-08-06T23:12:00.004-04:00

I rarely make a piece for myself, but I was invited to a wedding tonight, and wore a sweater that was in the warm-red, coral pink tones of the tiger lily. Despite a flutter of ruffles, my sweater still called for a necklace, something understated, that didn’t shout for attention.

A dyed jade flower in the colors of the tiger lily became my starting point. My stash yielded some additional rounds and glass beads in warm oranges. Top-drilled peridot and a gold CZ round gave the needed contrast and shine. Finally, I mixed up a bead soup in analogous shades from orange-yellow to magenta. Did you notice the name of my primary seed bead in this mix? Despite the name, it’s a very agreeable, low-intensity amber that always looks good, no matter what I pair it with.

It was a wonderful wedding, celebrated at the Panda Pavilion of Zoo Atlanta. A beautiful summer night, a new necklace, a good time with friends, and I’ve never seen a groom so in love with his bride!

To see some truly inspired tiger lily designs, click over to the Inspired by Nature Jewelry Challenge, and prepare to be amazed by this week's challenge responses!

Abuzz in Black and Gold

2011-07-31T21:03:00.000-04:00

With Bees announced as the Inspired by Nature Challenge this week, I explored my bead stash for every shade of black and gold it would yield. Not a bejeweled bee in sight, but I did remember two vintage buttons I found last year, both in traditional bee colors!

I liked that the button on the right suggests a flower, but on closer inspection, I found that the gold had flaked off in spots. The one on the left reminds me of ancient Egypt, where bees were thought to be the tears of Ra, the Sun God, transformed into the radiant honey producers when they fell to the earth.

My lariat is based on an ingenious design by Carole Ohl, where a button is used both as the focal and the closure. I totally missed the two brown lampwork beads in the lariat strap the first time I searched my stash. So glad I noticed them (and their honeycomb resemblance) on my second look!

“Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn’t know it so it goes on flying anyway.” – Mary Kay Ash

“

Cleopatra and the Leaf Toads

2011-07-20T18:18:00.001-04:00

When it was announced that the forest floor would be this week’s Inspired by Nature challenge, I knew exactly what my inspiration would be – this photo, one of my favorites from National Geographic.

Can you spot the three leaf-litter toads? Nearly impossible for predators to distinguish from the debris on the forest floor!

I’m currently reading an intriguing biography of Cleopatra, a mistress of disguise herself, who, on more than one occasion, owed her life to her uncanny ability to vanish in plain sight.

To celebrate nature's and we humans' love of mimicry, I call this bracelet Cleopatra and the Leaf Toads.

Cleopatra, in the center, represented by the large CZ round (no stranger to deception, itself!), surrounded by faceted rounds in the same luscious caramel-to-golden browns and pale-to-dark grays as the impostors on that forest floor in Panama.

To see more forest floor-inspired designs, visit the Inspired by Nature group on Flickr.

Inspired by: The Flowering Trees of Summer

2011-07-16T17:25:00.002-04:00

Dutch spiral stitch sent me searching for my first beadweaving class nearly two years ago. I enjoyed that first project, but hadn’t returned to the spiral stitch again - until this week. With the twin goals of using up my bead stash and taking Heather Powers’ Inspired by Nature challenge (this week featuring trees), spiral stitch seemed the perfect fit. It’s a great stitch to create something entirely unique, and it uses up lots of beads!

My inspiration for this piece was the Golden Raintree my sister brought home from school one fall afternoon. My dad planted it at the top of our driveway where it welcomed us home with a canopy of golden yellow flowers in late-spring and summer and sprays of orangey-pink pods in the fall.

Bead & Button recently offered a free download pattern by Alicia Shems which featured a double-spiral design with delicas on one side of the spiral. Thinking delicas would result in a necklace that would lay a little flatter, I adopted Alicia’s technique to my own style and bead stash, and set out to capture the glory of the Golden Raintree in beads.

I don’t know whether it was the versatility of the spiral stitch, the thrill of working with such lush colors, or the memories of all the family events captured under the shade of our own Golden Raintree, but this week was great fun at the bead table. Thanks again, Heather, for continuing to challenge us creatively. To see more tree-inspired designs, visit the Inspired by Nature group on Flickr.

Of Birds and Bedes

2011-07-10T17:52:00.000-04:00

Celebrating her soon-to-be-released book, Heather Powers is inspiring us all by nature, and this week’s challenge was to design something feather or bird related. I turned to National Geographic and quickly found this tantalizing tail feather, compliments of the Golden Headed Quetzal. Gorgeous colors that I happened to already have in my stash.

My nature-inspired triad of green, purple and orange began with a kumihimo neck strap finished off with some Inca Rose rounds, Unicorn glass donuts, and a ceramic and sterling silver front-clasp in the feather’s predominant blue-green.

The large focal is Rachel Nelson-Smith’s Oothecal Bede pattern, a right angle weave beauty from Seed Bead Fusion that allowed me to bring in another touch of the accent purples and oranges. The focal is finished with a Stuart Abelman art glass bead in a stunning purple with silver accents. Dangling from the tip are three silver feathers.

Thanks to Heather for the challenge. To see other designs, click over to the Inspired by Nature Flickr group.

Beading My Stash – project one finished!

Beading My Stash

2011-07-07T09:22:00.000-04:00

A tempting e-mail arrived in my Inbox yesterday: an invitation to Atlanta Bead Company’s warehouse sale, only days away! I remembered all the goodies I brought back from last year’s event and then it hit me. Where are all those irresistible bead buys now? Ninety percent of them are still in their plastic bags, waiting to be tumbled out on my bead mat and brought to life.

I’ve given myself a challenge. For the rest of the summer, the next 60 days until Labor Day, I am going to create exclusively from my bead stash. Beginning with this tray, all culled from my existing stash and waiting to answer this week’s Inspired by Nature challenge from Heather’s HumbleBead blog. Due Sunday! Yikes!!!

Making the Leap

2011-07-05T17:28:00.000-04:00

Travels over, I finally have the chance to share some photos of our beading adventure in Idaho last month, where I had the opportunity to make the leap from student to teacher and introduce the art of beadweaving to a roomful of women. Jan Wasser, Vicki Quirk and Nadrah Strong from the Spokane Bead Society made the trip to Coeur d'Alene to share in the teaching duties.

Threading needles seemed to be the biggest challenge for our new beaders. That, and starting the first row of ladder stitch!

Nadrah Strong assists with needle-threading. We all loved her feather hair extensions!

Jan Wasser shares a tip.

Needles threaded. Foundation row in hand. After that, it was pure fun!

The Bold and the Beautiful: Tetrads

2011-06-28T10:41:00.000-04:00

Lisa Kan’s Marrakech earrings have been flagged in my Sept. 2009 Bead & Button magazine ever since it hit my mailbox. I decided it was finally time to stitch them up in a tetrad color scheme, one based on a slim rectangle.

I selected two colors side-by-side on the color wheel, chartreuse and yellow-green, in muted tones, along with their complements, red-violet and purple. Lisa’s pattern was such fun to stitch, as the three-dimensional triangles magically formed and combined into the lower basket of the earring. Overall, a very soft and romantic, beautiful color palette.

In the second tetrad, I used the same chartreuse and red-violet. But this time, for Diane Fitzgerald’s triangles, I used these two colors in nearly pure hues, combined in a bolder square tetrad palette (all four colors spaced evenly around the color wheel) with blue and red-orange. Much more vibrant and playful.

Now that I’ve finished Margie Deeb’s Color Theory class on craftedu.com, it’s time to learn about seed bead colors and finishes. See how the blue delicas pop against the edges in the single-layer earring at the bottom of the photo? When the second layer is added and they’re zipped up with another row of red-violet in the finished earring, they recede significantly. Time to learn how to choose both color and finish to get the effect I want. Luckily, there’s a class for that!

Dreamy Orange

2011-06-21T10:28:00.000-04:00

This wrap bracelet, in her favorite color, is going out to granddaughter Delaney, who celebrates her twelfth birthday this week. It reminds me of the orangeade, made fresh every day, that magically recirculated in the beverage machines at the Woolworth’s lunch counter when I was 12. My sister and cousins and I spent many a summer afternoon on those red leather stools gazing dreamily into the mirror behind the counter, planning our futures.

Psychologists tell us that orange is the favorite color of the lively, the curious and fearless, the planet’s big dreamers! Happy birthday, Delaney. Here’s hoping all those dreams come true!

Off to Idaho

2011-06-12T16:56:00.015-04:00

Pink and gray. I rarely wear this color combination, but since I packed an open knit gray vest and pink tee for my upcoming trip west, a new accessory was needed. My outfit called for a cuff, and the current issue of Bead & Button featured a quick and easy solution - Donna Pagano Denny’s RAW Beauty bangle on page 30.

I chose a nickel seed bead base, with a soft and subtle crystal combination of black pearl, crystal, light peach, and light Colorado topaz. Pleased with the look of the first embellished strip, (Donna offers the option of ending the bracelet there), I’m glad I continued on with the pattern, because I love the structural look and feel that the addition of a second layer brings to this design. And the double-loop closure is a wonderfully clever finishing touch!

I will return to this pattern again. Although stunning with crystals running down its spine, I can see lots of design potential using gemstones, cubes, drops. But not right now. Last-minute accessory finished. Suitcase packed. Off to Idaho!

Bead Soup Double-Up

2011-05-31T11:07:00.023-04:00

Had great fun with The Bead Mavens’ Bead Soup Double-Up. The focal in my bead soup, from Mandy at Beads for Brains, handed me my color palette – warm browns and the full gamut of my favorite blue-greens. The moment I saw the egg-shaped pendant, I knew I would create a fringed tassel with it.

After experimenting with several neckstraps, I settled on one inspired by Christie Dunn’s Autumn Renewal design (Beadwork, Sept. 2009.) Square-stitched and freeform peyote sections of seed beads and crystals connect the lampworked discs and butterscotch spikes and diamonds. I couldn’t believe my luck when I found these Grace lampwork discs swirled with the same dark and light teals as the pendant!

Since it’s a rather heavy focal, I made a small loop at one end of a piece of 14-pound Fireline to hold the fringe, strung my focal beads, pulled the fringe up through the focals and created a larger loop to connect with the loops at the end of each strap. After securing with a crimp tube, I realized I didn’t have a decorative cover large enough to slip over the crimp. With the deadline looming, I square-stitched a 4-bead-high collar to match the strap ends, snugged it against the crimp, connected the ends, and problem solved! It gives a nice finish to the focal. I may never use a decorative crimp cover again!

Thanks so much to the Bead Mavens for sponsoring this event and to Mandy for gifting me with a great selection of beads. Check out all the design results in the Bead Soup album on the Mavens' blog.

Shades of Summer

2011-05-22T19:11:00.006-04:00

In a couple of weeks, I will be in beautiful Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and will have the opportunity to introduce the art of beadweaving to a large group of women. Exciting!

I’ll be teaching Cathy Lampole’s Crystal Kisses bracelet (with permission from Cathy), chosen because it uses larger beads and only two stitches, and our novice beaders will leave sporting some very chic bling. I wanted to offer three colorways, inspired by the beauty of the area and the ripe hues of summer.

I chose a palette of blue and green crystals to reflect the sparkling waters of the many lakes in the area and bugle beads that shimmered with the same pigments. But as I stitched, I was getting a sense of a muted, stormy sea, not the dreamy, crystal lakes of North Idaho. I switched to silver bugles, and worked up a sample of both.

Check out the indicolite crystal square, second from left and fourth from the right. The one on the right is much more vivid and in keeping with my goal. Glad I took the time to test out the effect of the dark Fireline and the bugles against the crystals. Now this colorway is as sunshiny bright as the others.

Which would you choose?

Adventure in Freeform - Take Two

2011-05-17T22:49:00.019-04:00

I received a call from one of my local bead stores on Saturday, inviting me to a structural peyote class. I’d been searching for a class for months. Armed with a pound of beads and a ton of questions, I was ready to experiment!

Cathy, our instructor, took a different approach to freeform than much of what I’ve seen and read online. Her method is to weave a peyote band, using delicas and seed beads, along with a few small accent beads. Colors are introduced and a bit of texture is created along the way. Then, the surface of the completed band is embellished with bead embroidery techniques.

Cuff base, using mainly size 11’s, with triangles, hex cuts and bugles. A few holes and notches add visual interest.

I was considering two focals, but neither was quite right for this piece. Chase walked by and stacked them. Perfect! Pressed glass, etched drops, crystals, pearls and bronze fringe complete the embellishments.

I love peyote, and I’d rather do bead embroidery than eat chocolate! And with no pattern to consult, there was nothing to distract from the vintage Neil Young streaming from my iPod. All in all, a great day at the bead table!

Why would anyone want to do that?

2011-05-13T16:30:00.042-04:00

Bumped to business class on a flight to Phoenix last week, I found myself with an extra-large lap tray and, for the first time in weeks, four leisurely hours to work on a project. (There’s something awry if you have to ascend 30,000 feet to find time for creative pursuits!) As the plane landed, I was tucking five of these finished components into my bag, when a woman passenger rushed over to me, said she had been watching me stitch away diligently for hours and just had to know how these little rectangles were going to be used. After running every possibility she could imagine through her head, she thought they might be buttons. A good guess, actually! As she turned one over in her hands, fascinated, I explained that they were components for a necklace. Walking toward baggage claim, I heard her husband ask, “Why would anyone want to do that?”

Good question. Ask 50 beaders, and you’d probably get as many answers.

My newfound beading hobby was just becoming serious, threatening to overflow my jewelry box, when the devastating earthquake struck Haiti in the first days of 2010. Like so many others, I couldn’t get the photos of the destruction and the desperate need in the faces of the children out of my mind. That’s when it hit me. Maybe I could sell some of my pieces and donate the profits to the recovery. I began contacting lots of great people, fully appreciating the interconnectedness that beading and blogging afford. Every e-mail I sent to a designer asking permission to make and sell a special design, was met with resounding approval. (One decided to donate a portion of the proceeds from her next show. Another sent one of her own creations to be included with mine.)

My sister, who is by far the more crafty sibling and chock full of creative inspiration, joined me, and this year we are venturing beyond our annual trunk show (her profits go to her local children’s hospital and mine to Doctors Without Borders) and are signing up for our first craft fair.

I still make the occasional piece to add to my own cache, and love making gifts for family and friends, but the real joy comes from the domino effect of the talented women I’ve met, all helping to make a positive difference in people’s futures. And who wouldn’t want to do that?

Egyptian Collar, a Shelley Nybakke design, in navy and red.

Butterscotch Blues

2011-04-21T09:53:00.001-04:00

I’m just beginning to explore the design possibilities of this beautiful focal bead I received from my Bead Soup Double Up partner. Lots of blue and amber hues swirling around.

The romantic in me is considering a marriage of creamy caramel and striking cobalt, but the free spirit in me is flirting with deep butterscotch, sage and turquoise. I’m no closer to a decision after curating these mouth-watering examples from Etsy artists…warning – this collection will have you drooling!

Blue-Sky Dreaming

2011-04-17T20:14:00.000-04:00

After a beautiful, sun swept day in Pittsburgh with Dani, I set out at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning for the return drive to Atlanta. The first 7 hours of my solo trek home, I was treated to darkening skies, thick fog, torrents of rain and gusty crosswinds that made it a real challenge just to keep my car on the road!

Somewhere between Hickory and Charlotte, I rounded a bend and caught the butterscotch glow of a clearing sky. I could finally relax my grip on the steering wheel and turn my mind from the furious weather to fairer thoughts, like beading. I made a mental note to design something with the colors of this amazing sky – a soft, radiant blue with swirls of ivory, amber and caramel.

I literally flew through the rest of the Carolinas and north Georgia, and ran up my back steps just in time to settle in on the couch with Dan to watch the first episode of the final season of one of our favorite shows – Friday Night Lights. But not before I breezed past the kitchen table and caught sight of a Priority Mail box with a handwritten label that I just knew held the contents of my bead soup for the Bead Mavens Bead Soup Double Up.

At the first commercial break, I ripped open the box and was astonished as I tipped out into my hand the very colors of that North Carolina sky.

Mandy D, my bead challenge partner, could not have chosen a more inspiring, perfect palette of beads. The design potential is unlimited! Not a cloud in sight. Time for some blue-sky dreaming!

BTW - Gifts, Wrapped

2011-04-13T16:01:00.000-04:00

Since my last BTW posting, the taxes have been finished (no small cause for celebration), the house has been spring cleaned (even greater cause for jubilation!) and I’ve finally managed to spend a few hours at the bead table (in my now impressively organized workroom!)

Leather was acquired, and a new-to-me thread, SuperLon, was purchased for the making of these fun and oh-so-trendy wrap bracelets. If inspired to make your own, an excellent tutorial can be found at Rings & Things. The wood and silver trade-bead wrap is for my son, Chase. The chrysocolla version is a birthday present for granddaughter Abi, in her favorite shade of green; and waiting in the wings is an African turquoise and wood variation with sun button, which I will finish tonight for Dani.

Tomorrow, after a nice, week long visit from Dani, the two of us head back to Pittsburgh, her new home, the car piled high with the rest of her belongings, her childhood bedroom now officially transformed into my workroom. This weekend I will drive 1500 miles, but, with luck, will be back at my bead table come Monday morning!

BTW-The Power of Three

2011-03-30T11:52:00.000-04:00

So much to explore in Margie Deeb’s color theory classes on craftedu.com. This week I played around with the triad color scheme to see if I could put together some compelling shades that I don’t normally find in my jewelry box, which is fast becoming a jewelry drawer!

This chandelier earring is a typical triadic color palette, using three colors equally spaced around the color wheel: blue-green chrysocolla rounds, purple and orange-yellow seed beads and a luscious mango quartz drop. I think you’ll agree it offers strong visual contrast and rich, vibrant colors. (The design is Louise Smith’s Charlottesville Chandelier from The Best of Step by Step Beads.)

I instantly felt more comfortable designing this complementary triad – starting with the complementary pair, aqua green and red. Then I added yellow, the color midway between my complements on the color wheel. I let the greens dominate this palette, and used the red and yellow for accents. Still pretty vibrant, even though I used less saturated versions of my hues. They'll bring a fresh twist to just about every green in my spring closet!

While the earrings are definitely fun statement pieces, I will reach more often for this still-triad, but closer-to-analogous bracelet. More subtle, this modified triadic palette is created by choosing colors that are separated by only a space on the color wheel – purple, blue and aqua. I love the pop of the bright aqua with the darker, more subdued blue and purple. (The design is a variation of Smadar Grossman’s Cube Delight bracelet from the October 2010 Bead & Button, substituting tila beads for the cubes.) It will be the perfect accessory to dress up capris and a tee this summer. It's Bead Table Wednesday! Take a minute to click the BTW button on the right to see what other bead enthusiasts are up to this week.

BTW - Celebrating Jane Eyre...

2011-03-23T13:41:00.000-04:00

Who was, herself, a beader it seems…

I wish to think only of the work I have in my hands, to see only the silver beads and silk threads that lie in my lap.

I revisited Jane Eyre in preparation for the latest remake of the movie, due in my city this week-end. The book packs a passionate punch, no matter the age of the reader. I first read Jane Eyre in high school (didn’t we all?), again in my 30’s, and just closed the cover on my third reading last night.

The above quote is from a pivotal point in the novel, when Rochester returns home to Thornfield Hall from a lengthy absence, and should surely be included in the movie version. You can bet I’ll be searching the scene for Jane’s beads!

To celebrate the moment, I’m finishing this ornate brooch. The design, one of Cynthia Rutledge’s, predates Jane’s time a bit, but still, in the book, the female characters’ shoulders are bare and necklines are unadorned, with the brooch appearing as a wardrobe mainstay.

Fast forward to this fashion season, and designers seem to again be making a big deal out of this small accessory!

It's Bead Table Wednesday! Click the link to the right to see what other folks are thinking about and working on.

Red and Navy

2011-03-21T14:35:00.000-04:00

My sister-in-law requested a necklace. A navy necklace, with pops of bright red and blue. Since we live 400 miles apart, I sent her a link to Interweave’s e-patterns to give me an idea of what style she had in mind, and was not a bit surprised that she chose Shelley Nybakke’s Egyptian collar.

The design is elegant: right angle weave rectangles that transform from silky fabric to structural domes as layers are added. The original design uses metal seed beads embellished with cornerless cubes, which I’ll replace with firepolished beads or crystals. The rectangles are connected with graduated loops of beads. The hard part was locating navy seed beads. Finding none in my local bead stores, I ordered samples online, but the sheer intensity and range of navy made it difficult to choose just one. So I stitched up sample components in three shades for Jennifer to choose.

Shades of navy, from left: metallic navy, navy lustre and dark blue lustre.

While I’m waiting for her decision, enjoy this sampling of red on navy from Etsy.

Adventure in Freeform

2011-03-20T15:02:00.001-04:00

All manner of shapes, sizes and shades of green went into this freeform peyote bracelet. Along with a dose of courage. I’m not a spur-of-the-moment, off-the-cuff person. I use a recipe to make egg salad! I’ve long been attracted to freeform peyote, twice signing up for a class, only to find both cancelled at the last minute. So I set off to investigate this technique on my own. No recipe.

The finished bracelet looks nothing like the version I had in my mind, but it was fun to spend a day learning my way around curves, ruffles, and bridges. As I tied the final knot, I realized the afternoon had flown by and Dan’s plane was landing at Hartsfield. Deciding to take the bracelet apart, I nevertheless clamped it on my wrist, testing out the closure, which was a design element I liked and would keep if it proved reliable, and headed to the fish market to pick out dinner.

As I was pointing out the salmon fillet I wanted, the oldest of a trio of sisters also standing at the counter noticed my bracelet and asked if I made it. She then yelled to her mother, halfway across the store, “Mom, come look at this lady’s bracelet!” Several bystanders leaned in to take a peek (it was, after all, the busy dinner hour), and I was mortified. All this attention was being paid to a piece that was not my typical style and certainly not a standout in my portfolio! The Mom, who owns a boutique, quickly extracted my beading history, handed me her card and extended an invitation to bring some of my summer pieces by for a look.

Once home, I set the cuff back on my bead table, still determined to cut, pull and rip it apart, when Dan, who rarely visits my workspace, pronounced it “artistic.” So, in the space of a few hours, my freeform creation has gone from a design that didn’t work to beads with a backstory!

Bead Table Wednesday - Soft Spring Colors

2011-03-16T13:56:00.000-04:00

This week I am going to be experimenting with free form peyote. Since Sunday is the first day of spring, I'm celebrating winter’s end with soft colors, starting with these lichen seed beads – one of the newest bead soups from Beverly Ash Gilbert - an intriguing blue-green-grey, full of shadows and highlights

I found some additional pieces to mix in from my stash – I can play up the grey with the kambala stone pendant, veer toward violet with the chunky strand of fluorite, or flow into an analogous palette using the silver and ceramic clasp. I’m thinking aqua blue and turquoise!

Color Challenge - Analogous Complementary

2011-03-10T12:18:00.000-05:00

How to create a color scheme for a neckstrap for this gorgeous lampworked focal? I determined that the main colors in the bead are the complementary pair, purple and yellow green. The artist took advantage of a broad spectrum of the color wheel to include analogous colors from fuchsia to aqua. There was already plenty of excitement and lots of hue contrast in the focal itself. Literally thousands of possibilities!

If I were wrapping this around my own conservative neck, I would have picked out the classic blues (I see blue violet, steel blue and tints of cerulean in the focal) but for this necklace, I wanted to challenge myself to push beyond my personal inclinations, which trend towards the traditional and trustworthy.

So I chose two colors from the bead’s background swirls that I don’t normally work with, vibrant red violet and deep aqua green to create the neckstrap. I kept the aquas to the muted, dark shades, achieving contrast by using different finishes and bead sizes. Red violet is seen in the kumihimo strip and as accents in the spans of aqua green.

I think it’s the perfect accessory for the middle of March – the not exactly winter, not quite yet spring necklace.

Bead Table Wednesday - Violet and Aqua

2011-03-09T11:31:00.000-05:00

This morning finds me in the middle of a necklace project: a glass teardrop pendant suspended from a strip of kumihimo-woven triangle beads, and test strands using button pearls, fire polished rounds, seed beads and sterling silver. So, although it's a bleak and rainy winter day outside, it's springtime at the bead table!

Bead Table Wednesday

2011-03-02T07:10:00.000-05:00

I’ve been considering neck strap designs for this beautiful silver and gemstone pendant (acquired last year before the price of silver started capturing headlines), and have finally found one I think will work. Elegant and understated were my key requirements because I want the focal to really stand out. I’m keeping the main beads in the red-violet family and am hoping the gold-lined beige AB delicas will bring a little warmth to the piece without being too bright. Check back – I hope to have the rope finished by the end of this week!

Bead Table Wednesday: Corset Stitching

2011-02-23T07:03:00.000-05:00

A combination of square stitch and RAW, Kate McKinnon’s corset stitch is the most fun I’ve ever had with beads and a needle. Make that needles. I’m currently on my 4th pack of size 13’s and I have just started the second layer of this cuff! Kate is offering the pattern free on her blog, so jump over and download it today.

I was a bit intimidated by Kate’s directions at first glance – they’re narrative with photographs rather than the step-by-step diagram-driven style I’m used to. Once into the project, I realized they were perfect in their fluidity and scale, just like the Corset Stitch bracelet itself! And if you’re into metalwork, there’s a PDF for Kate’s nifty ball-end clasp, too.

That's a look at what's on my bead table this Wednesday. Head over to the BTW Flickr Group to get a peak at more beaders' work in progress.

This is Macaroni and Cheese?

2011-02-17T10:05:00.000-05:00

Oprah recently made headlines, admitting that she went into a major tailspin and devoured 30 pounds of macaroni and cheese when her movie, Beloved, tanked at the box office. When I found myself with an extra pound of a very good quality Asiago, I went looking for a mac and cheese recipe to use it in, and found this retooled and spiced-up version in Marlena Spieler’s Macaroni & Cheese cookbook – yep, an entire cookbook dedicated to America’s supreme comfort food. I don’t know what Oprah’s chef dished up, but this healthy and hearty version could send anyone into an eating frenzy!

MINESTRONE AL PESTO CON FORMAGGIO

(Vegetable Soup with Pesto and Cheese) Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 ounces ditalini or small shells
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 quart vegetable or chicken broth, homemade or canned
1 cup dry white wine
1 prosciutto bone, or a few ounces diced prosciutto or another Italian cured meat (optional)
4 to 5 cabbage leaves, thinly sliced
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, or about 2 cups diced fresh tomatoes
1 zucchini, sliced fairly thickly
3 to 4 ounces fresh spinach leaves, coarsely chopped, or 1/2 cup cooked and drained frozen chopped spinach
Handful of green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup fresh young peas, blanched, or frozen peas (no need to defrost)
1/2 cup cooked cannellini beans (canned are fine), drained
Large pinch of thyme, either fresh or dried
Salt and pepper to taste
About 6 ounces fontina, Jack, provolone, young (medium) Asiago, or cave-aged Gruyère cheese, cut into thick, slablike slices
1/2 cup pesto, homemade or store-bought
2 to 3 ounces Parmesan, pecorino, aged Asiago, or dry Jack cheese, grated

Directions:
Cook the ditalini in a pot of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente; drain and set aside. Lightly saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until softened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the broth and white wine, and if using, the bone or prosciutto. Cook for about 10 minutes, then add the cabbage, carrot, and tomatoes and continue to cook for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are very tender, especially the cabbage. Add the zucchini, spinach, green beans, and peas and cook for 10 to15 minutes; then add the cannellini and thyme. Season with salt and pepper, if needed. Into each bowl place a slab of cheese, then a big spoonful of the pasta and a dab of pesto. Ladle the hot soup over it all, and sprinkle the top with Parmesan or pecorino. Serve at once!

Color Challenge - Complementary

2011-02-14T13:24:00.003-05:00

Maximum vividness.

David McCullough writes with it. If you watched the Grammy’s last night, you know Mick Jagger, at 67, still performs with it. And you can achieve it in design when you pair complementary colors, as I’ve done in each component of this Carole Ohl Kaleidoscope Quilt Cuff. The sharp lines and combination of crystals and delicas made it the perfect project to work out my complementary assignments from Margie Deeb’s color theory class on craftedu.

My favorite triangle is this chartreuse and red-violet swatch. I love the contrast between the colors as well as the crystal/matte metallic finishes.

The most interesting to stitch was this blue and orange combination. The yellow-orange crystals are encased in a very deep shade (really a muted tone) of blue. When the transparent baby blue delicas were snugged up against the muted tone, they changed their character and became almost silver-grey, themselves. The triangle is edged in a pure Cerulean blue. I will definitely use this colorway again.

On to analogous!

Brrr!

2011-02-01T17:39:00.000-05:00

We woke up this morning with our grandchildren, in Indianapolis, to a world blanketed in ice. The house and driveway are encased in a thick, glittering sheen of it, and more is tapping down on our roof again as the afternoon slips away. No doubt tomorrow will be another snow day for the kids, too treacherous to venture out.

But for now, a pan of sloppy joes bubbles on the stovetop, soon to be joined by steaming water for our corn-on-the-cob. I brought Roma to finish, a book which reminds me why I love reading, and I have Kate McKinnon’s Corset Stitch directions and some lovely matte gold seed beads to start the design.

Granddaughter Delaney is snuggled up on the couch, scaring herself with an episode of The Haunted on Animal Planet.

And there’s last night’s game of Trivial Pursuit to finish. Ben and I could have put it away if we’d known Who hurled a no-hitter against the Orioles in his debut with the Red Sox in 2001?

Did you answer Hideo Nomo?

Neither did we!

Color Practice

2011-01-24T16:59:00.000-05:00

This crystal and bugle bead bracelet by Cathy Lampole, aka That Bead Lady, has proven to be a great vehicle for practicing color theory. It works up quickly (I can finish one in an afternoon), looks stellar in monochromatic shades, and sparkles quite stunningly in complementary hues. Today I made this one in a very subtle but still striking combination of khaki, light Colorado topaz, jonquil, and jet crystals on a gold metallic bugle base. It's going to my sister, who requested a magnetic clasp. While I like these clasps for ease of use, I learned the hard way, when one of my Christmas gifts was lost by its wearer on its very first outing (attracted by a railing or a shopping cart, perhaps), to design them in the future with a safety chain.

My only problem now is in deciding what colors to try next!

When the occasion calls for fabulous

2011-01-16T19:59:00.001-05:00

Snow and ice forced everyone indoors last week with nothing to do but stoke the fire, use up the canned goods and encourage the thermometer to rise! Luckily, the imperfect weather coincided with the need for a new necklace to wear to a gala event this week.

When an occasion calls for fabulousness, I turn to the designs of Nancy Cain. With her classic, refined sense of style, Nancy's Crystal Twilight necklace from the August 2010 issue of Beadwork is sophisticated, elegant and contemporary and has been at the top of my personal to-do list since I first opened the magazine.

My outfit is a shimmery olive green, so I jumped at the chance to work the design with my favorite Peridot Sahara crystals encased in metallic olive and sterling silver seed beads. The pattern quickly becomes second nature and with alternating sections of netting and fringe, never threatens to verge on tedious. The design finishes up with delightful sterling silver peyote rings.

Now, on to a bracelet and some earrings…

Here comes the sun...

2011-01-14T20:18:00.001-05:00

I live in a city of 5 million people and eight snow plows. So several inches of snow on Monday, followed by a thick layer of ice, left roads pretty much impassable until today, when temperatures soared back up to a sunny 47 degrees. Just in time for Chase and I to venture beyond the edge of the driveway to Hartsfield-Jackson International airport to lunch with daughter Dani, who had a two-hour layover on her way back to Pittsburgh from a week of working in Orlando.

After a week of ice, a breath of sunshine!

Color Challenge - Monochromatic

2011-01-10T21:41:00.000-05:00

My color challenge this week was to make three monochromatic pieces, using three elements in each. Starting with my favorite hue - green - I chose a cool aloe green seed bead to make up the greatest percentage of these Diane Fitzgerald pointed oval earrings, accented with a warmer yellow-green in a luster finish at the tips and a matte finish around the edges. A pale green crystal nestles in the center.

Next, I liked the way the smooth, creamy surface of the blue-green pearls in this earring design from Fusion Beads is countered by the brightness of the pure blue indicolite drop. I topped them with a small aquamarine crystal.

My final project is a kumihimo woven bracelet that combines 4mm translucent glass beads in dark and light blue with two different size 8 seed beads; a matte shade of midnight blue and a silver-lined tint of blue. A glance at this on your wrist proves the theory that a single color can be interesting if the tone and finishes are varied!

One-Color Wonders

2011-01-03T20:03:00.000-05:00

I was fortunate to take some great beadweaving classes in 2010 from some very talented teachers; Jimmie Boatright of Atlanta Bead Market, as well as national artists, Sherry Serafini and Cynthia Rutledge. I’m always looking for opportunities to feed my knowledge base, and this year I’m going to concentrate on color, a critical design element I know very little about. Best of all – I can learn from home, thanks to Margie Deeb’s color theory classes on craftedu.com.

After my first few online sessions, I'm just beginning to understand the language of color and am training my eye to recognize values and temperatures. While I’m working up some monochromatic samples, here’s a treasury of powerful one-color palettes I culled from Etsy.

Favorite Read(s) of the Year

2011-01-01T14:09:00.000-05:00

A glance at my sidebar will show that when I am not beading, I can usually be found with a book. It’s time to pick a favorite from 2010.

Having lived in Jackson, Mississippi in the early seventies, I felt like the characters in Kathryn Stockett’s The Help were old friends. They were my privileged, intolerant upstairs neighbors. They were the women I stopped to chat with at the bus stop when my year-old daughter and I went for our morning walks. It’s a wonderfully written book told from the voices of three very different but incredibly strong southern women. If you haven’t read it, I recommend the audio book, where the narrators’ voices make the characters even more vivid (and harder to leave behind!)

But my favorite book of 2010 has to be Mornings on Horseback, David McCullough’s biography of the pre-presidential life of Teddy Roosevelt. The subtitle says it all: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt. This is an amazingly detailed look at a close-knit family – an admired father, a cherished mother and the life they created for Teddy and his siblings in post-Civil War New York City.

The running list on the right doesn’t include all the beading books I’ve savored (devoured!) during the past twelve months. It’s even harder to pick a favorite in this category. But I love peyote stitch, and I was able to take my skills from flat to dimensional this year with Diane Fitzgerald’s Shaped Beadwork. The clear and detailed instructions and gorgeous projects make this a book I’ll return to again and again.

Sunny Lemon Bars

2010-12-22T19:46:00.000-05:00

To most people, the holidays mean pumpkin pie and gingerbread, much enjoyed with a dollop of sweet cream. But this year, our daughter Dani, who gets to choose our Christmas menu by virtue of the fact that she missed Thanksgiving, has requested tangy lemon bars. It might just be nostalgia for one of the comfort foods of her childhood, or maybe there’s a clue in her remark that she’s ready to be back home in warm Atlanta – since her move to Pittsburgh, she’s had enough of gray skies and snow.

On Christmas Eve, I'll be making this recipe, published several years ago in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I’ve occasionally experimented with other versions, but these Sunny Lemon Bars are the best I’ve found. The fruit layer, more of a lemon curd than a custard, is intense and contrasts perfectly with the crisp, sweet, shortbread crust.

Hope Dani enjoys them. If the weather forecast proves true, I’ll be serving them up on Christmas Day with – what else – gray skies and rain….turning to snow!

Back Home

2010-12-09T09:58:00.000-05:00

Time spent with family is the best part of the holidays, and I got to do a lot of that on last week’s trip to Louisville for my first trunk show with my sister. I stayed at my daughter’s house, and my 3-year-old grandson, Nate, got caught up in all the holiday excitement, especially the dinner table with the special touches the holidays brought – the cheerful holly and berry tablecloth, set with red and green plates and Christmas salt and pepper shakers.

When Nate wanted the pepper, he would use his best manners and ask for "the Santa," and when he needed a bit of salt, I was bemused to hear him ask for someone to pass “the Grandma.” I could only hope that the portly, bespectacled shaker called to mind an image from a Disney movie, and not the flesh and blood relative who sat across from him at the table!

The day of our sale arrived with a surprise snow storm, keeping some of our expected shoppers at home, but we had a great time visiting with those who ventured out. Granddaughter Abi tagged along, and spent the afternoon admiring the glittering jewelry piece by piece, testing each of my sister’s scarves for the instant style and coziness they brought, encouraging shoppers, and planning a few purchases of her own!

As we packed everything back into the car, she was heard to say that this was the best day ever- and how awesome it was to have a grandmother and an aunt who made such cool things. Making my first sale was exhilarating. Hearing that I was definitely not a salt shaker grandma - priceless!

And they’re off…

2010-11-19T14:47:00.002-05:00

The flyers and postcards for our December trunk show went out today. I was able to scratch those and several other items off my to-do list. This seems to be one of those times when more gets added to the list each day than gets marked off! I’m just hoping there are lots of people out there who have building up their jewelry collection on their to-do lists!!

I have six necklaces and 4 bracelets I must finish before leaving in ten days – I just realized that’s one a day. Now I just have to work them in around pricing my pieces, printing my business cards, designing a 12-page newsletter for my daughter’s middle- and high-school classes, and, oh yes, there’s the turkey in the refrigerator waiting to be brined!

But still – our first show – exciting times!

Same Stitch, New Slant

2010-11-11T17:24:00.000-05:00

I love cool variations of herringbone, and Tina Koyama offers a great one in her design, Beautiful Bargello, also from the pages of Beadwork's Favorite Stitches. (I’m definitely getting my money’s worth from this magazine.)

I had just finished this first version when I downloaded Margie Deeb’s Instant Holiday Glam: Color Palettes of Splendor, the first line of which reads, “Kiss bright red and green good-bye.” Oh well, I wasn’t really going for glamour with this sterling silver seed bead and flame red bugle bracelet. It’s a grab your bag and head to the mall to start Christmas shopping kind of accessory.

My second version does have some hallmarks of glamour with its gunmetal and starshine seed beads and jet crystal button. I’ll pair it with the short rivoli earrings when I want an elegant, sophisticated look, and with the aptly named paradise earrings when the occasion calls for true sparkle and glitz!

Sparkling Waves

2010-11-08T16:21:00.003-05:00

Yearning for a little peyote, I chose this Shelley Nybakke design from the current edition of Beadwork. Last year was all about peyote, but this year I’ve gravitated toward herringbone and netting. Also, I’d never worked with memory wire and was curious.

The base row is made with size 6 silver metal seed beads, followed by three-cut size 8’s in a warm bronze and topped with a 3mm fire-polished bead in luminous blue/honey. Silver, bronze and gold in one bracelet? On your arm, its five turns are shiny, highly reflective, just dazzling. Shelley’s designs are always brilliant!

Squaring the Circle

2010-11-07T17:45:00.000-05:00

I picked up Beadwork’s Favorite Bead Stitches because I wanted to master a new technique – square stitch – and the cover featured Kate McKinnon’s fabulous Modern Art Cuff, which employs both square and RAW. Flipping through the square stitch projects, I decided to start with Jamie Hogsett’s Starry, Starry Night necklace because if you’re going to learn something square, why not attempt it in the round? And also because I was looking for a project to use a newly acquired glass pendant in lush plums and corals.

The beaded links work up just like flat square stitch, with the addition of occasional increases to adjust for the larger circumference in each successive round. I used lots of thread passes to give the round links some stiffness. I didn’t want any distortion, anticipating that they would be pulled a bit by the heft of the pendant.

I like the airy feel of this winter necklace, and would use this technique again if I needed a custom closure for a bracelet and couldn’t find a button in the exact color scheme I needed. Love these examples I found by Dustin Wedekind.

The Nest Empties...

2010-10-26T13:04:00.000-04:00

Our daughter, Dani, recent Tech graduate, is starting her first job next week. 800 miles away in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh!

We have spent this week preparing for the Big Move, and will be on the road tomorrow morning. It's a twelve-hour drive, but we're expecting to be treated to lots of fall color as we travel through the Carolinas and Virginias.

Speaking of color, I’ve mixed up a bead soup of browns, plums and corals and tested the mix by stitching a sample round.

The focal pendant had just a faint highlight of blue, so that went into the bead soup as well. I’m tossing the mix in my suitcase and hope to finish a necklace on the road!

We're not quite empty nesters yet. Son, Chase, graduates in December, and will be looking for a job in art education. We lose one, and we gain one back!

Inspiration in My Own Backyard

2010-10-16T17:38:00.000-04:00

I love these trees that dot the woods at the back of our property, so I took my seed bead stash with me on my morning walk and found a good match to the colors, which are more muted than the typical autumn reds and golds.

The four leaf dangles on the necklace were an absolute steal at a trunk show last summer, and the center focal, with the merest suggestion of a leaf, was a lucky find at my neighborhood Michael’s. It took a lot of experimenting to find a way to attach the side-drilled leaves to the webs in the netting so they lay just right at the collarbone, but I learned a lot in the process.

For the all important earrings, the intricate bead caps on this Faerietale earring design by The Beading Butterfly caught my eye and were quick to stitch. The pattern is available on her website.

If Winter Ever Comes

2010-10-12T11:55:00.000-04:00

Despite the calendar, it’s headed for 90 degrees this afternoon, and we still have plenty of daylight hours to absorb the sun’s energy. But the days are getting shorter, signaling that winter is on its way. And that put me in the mood to take advantage of some local bead store sales and begin designing some pieces for the colder (or at least cooler) days ahead.

The beauty and unexpected color of this leaf pendant made it irresistible. The perfect focal for a crisp winter necklace.

I made a simple netted neck strap with hematite and nickel seed beads, embellished with metallic blue and aquamarine crystals that mimicked the silvers and blues in the leaf. Since the focal is large (24x75 cm), I made it to fall between princess and matinee lengths. It has a sinuous feel, and the metal seed beads give it a wonderful drape.

I used some additional blue and silver tones in the crystals for the earrings.

I made these for a friend who suffers from SAD (seasonal affective disorder.) Reaching for these mood-lifting accessories should keep her positively serene when the winter blahs come.

Birthday, Beads, and Bracelets

2010-10-07T20:28:00.000-04:00

There’s something about having your sisters around you (and daughters, too) that manages to take the sting out of turning sixty. A couple of years ago, six of us (sisters and sisters-in-law) decided that we would drop everything and gather together for a Sisters Week-end to celebrate the day each of us reached sixty, a threshold that seemed to command special attention. (If you’re a baby boomer and you’re reading this, that number is looming in your near-future, too!)

Sisters-in-law Kathy, Jenny, Beth, and Judy; sister Janet; me; daughters Dani and Heather at Callaway, October 2, 2010

They came from Indiana, Kentucky and South Carolina and we all took up residence in a mountain villa at Callaway Gardens, an hour south of Atlanta, where we were treated to the first colors of Fall.

Four days of feasting, toasting and laughing till we cried.

Of course I brought my beads and everyone tried their hand at brick stitch (which gave us all fits!) and herringbone (which was mastered handily.)

All returned home sporting a bit of sparkle on their wrists.

From organic greens to patriotic school colors and sophisticated black and gold, there was plenty of oohing and aahing over each beader's color choice.

A week-end that will be remembered as my best birthday ever! If one must turn 60, this is the way to do it! Special thanks to sister-in-law Marcia (seen toasting with Jenny above) for documenting our week-end so magnificiently!

Adventure in Herringbone

2010-09-24T20:19:00.000-04:00

My daughter Dani happened to be with me when I stopped into my local bead shop last week. While I looked for a few finishing touches for my kumihimo designs, Dani noticed a bracelet on the counter that went perfectly with her outfit. The colors were intriguing and the project was a simple design that could easily be finished in a single class, perfect for a beginner. When Amy, the shop owner, mentioned she was teaching that piece this week, we told her to sign us up.

Dani chose the same colors as the sample, and I pulled some blue and raspberry beads from the shelf. Soon Dani was breezing along on hers, the herringbone design working up quickly in the size 8 seed beads. Customers coming in and out of the store invariably pegged us as a mother-daughter team, some questioning the wisdom of my exposing Dani to the lure and sparkle of molten, polished glass. Could a single household actually support more than one beadaholic?

We spent a fun afternoon, and picked up the perfect buttons to finish off our bracelets at Jo-Ann’s on our way home. Dani reworked her design today, preferring a more delicate mix of Swarovski crystals to the all-turquoise strip in the original. I think it was a good design call - but is a bead obsession developing? Not too worried - when I invited her to come along to the Down the Street Bead Show this afternoon, she politely declined.

Carnelian and Silver

2010-09-16T17:55:00.000-04:00

A Labor Day slip on a small puddle of water left me with a mild back sprain, and in a horizontal position for an entire week. My doctor allowed me to sit or stand for 15 minutes each morning and evening! Of course, I dedicated those precious vertical moments each day to literally inch along on my silver and golden raspberry herringbone rope.

Finally on my feet again, I finished embellishing the necklace this afternoon. The accent strips are done in right angle weave and filled with pearls, crystals, amethyst and carnelian rounds, and matte metallic fire polished beads. Beautiful fall colors to complement the carnelian and sterling silver focal. The herringbone rope design is Maggie Roschyk’s cover piece from June’s Bead and Button magazine.

Labor Day Week-End Project

2010-09-06T17:23:00.000-04:00

Fiery reds and brilliant oranges drew me to this carnelian and silver pendant several months ago, and after considering and rejecting at least a dozen ideas on how to incorporate it into a necklace, I finally found what I think will be the right design.

I began working on it over this long week-end, but can it really be considered labor when a herringbone rope with hex-cut delicas and sterling-silver-plated seed beads is involved? These Toho size 11’s are beautiful to work with, and I have been amazed at the quality – I’m on my third bag, and haven’t culled out one bead that was misshapened or poorly coated!

Hope to be able to show you the finished work – in the perfect colors for autumn - by the end of this week.

Beads and Braids

2010-08-29T14:39:00.002-04:00

Last week I took a beginning Kumihimo class with Becky Patellis. While most beading classes end up being social gatherings to get to know like-minded students and swap ideas, this class was a little different. We were all so intent on repeating the mantra: right down, left up, turn while moving the cords across our kumihimo discs, that I don’t think I even remember anyone else’s name! Still, a fun afternoon learning a lovely and fast technique – all of us finished our bracelets in the three-hour class.

My bracelet colors were inspired by the liriope that bloom all over Atlanta this time of year.

One Fine Afternoon

2010-08-26T20:14:00.009-04:00

This turned out to be a great afternoon. I just finished edging my first beaded cuff, wandered down to the mailbox to stretch a bit, and reached in to find the new issue of Bead and Button magazine. Perfect timing!

This was my second bead embroidered piece, and my first attempt at a cuff. I loved working with the blues, greens and all manner of golden taupe beads to give the bracelet a very textured look.

I'm counting on it to give fresh pizzazz to my plain white shirts and denim this fall.

Stepping Off the Path

2010-08-20T12:42:00.006-04:00

Another thing that I loved to do when I was ten was embroider. I learned the essentials as a Girl Scout, under the careful eye of my Mom and my aunt, who were our troop leaders, and Diane Sawyer (yes, that Diane Sawyer), who served for a time as our junior leader. After whiling away many, many hours back-stitching a half-dozen pillow cases, I set my needle and thread aside, neglecting the art of hand stitching until this spring, when I took a class in bead embroidery.

While I was away, the artform has changed. What an exciting array of materials! Beads, of course, have entered the mix, along with silk, leather, lace, metals, mesh and more! Up until now, my beading projects have begun by finding a pattern and rounding up beads. With this cuff, I stepped off that path and started with a cabachon and let the beads tell me where they wanted to go!

It's a beginning...check back in a bit to see how it turns out!

Finding More Fun

2010-08-15T16:45:00.018-04:00

Gretchen Rubin, in her excellent book, The Happiness Project Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun, encourages us to Be Serious about Play. Don’t know how to tap into your inner child? Rubin was having the same problem, until a friend asked her this question: “What did you like to do when you were a child? What you enjoyed as a ten-year-old is probably something you’d enjoy now.”

I recall with relish playing marbles with my little brother. Although I enjoyed the actual game of marbles and capturing all of James’ alleys (he was 5 years younger, and we never played for keeps!), what I really liked was rolling those cat’s eyes in my hands and examining the swirling colored glass that was injected inside.

So I set off to replicate that experience this weekend. The marbles were jasper, the swirls of color were on the outside, and I captured them with seed beads. A great week-end of work, but work that was fun!

The necklace is Carole Ohl's Earthly Hues design from the current issue of Beadwork magazine.

When’s the last time you knuckled down to a day at play?

The Good Sister

2010-08-11T22:56:00.002-04:00

Growing up, my sister was a near-perfect child. Blonde, poised, smart, accomplished. An overachiever, appearing at the dinner table with face shining, hair brushed, and perfect grammar. I was, well, none of those things. Our mother and the bevy of nuns at St. Barnabas School who watched us grow up would have concurred that, of the O’Connor girls, Janet was the good sister and I was…a challenge. Today is her birthday, and I wanted to make something really special to celebrate it, especially given the fantastic scarf she has already gifted to me.

I knew I wanted to use this delicious color palette from Margie Deeb’s Fall Color Report. After collecting delicas and seed beads in the rich chocolate browns and slightly pink, slightly orange coral tones, I found the perfect necklace on Atlanta Bead Market’s class schedule: Jimmie Boatright’s Links, Rings and Things. There are not many things that I would spend 90 minutes in drive-time traffic for, but taking a class from Jimmie is at the top of that list!

My first stop was at Rodney Andrew’s Art Glass studio for these focal beads which worked perfectly with my browns and corals. The pointed oval links are from Diane Fitzgerald’s Shaped Beadwork. The chocolate truffle-toned delicas were so creamy I felt like I was weaving an elegant confection! They were so much fun to stitch and zip up that I’ll definitely be trying out more of Diane’s geometric shapes. The two-layered rings and bezeled discs brought lots of color and texture to the necklace. A bit of fringe completed the design. (I’m lucky to have learned this design directly from Jimmie. If you don’t live in the Atlanta area, look for the necklace to appear in a future issue of Bead and Button magazine.)

Estheticians say that the color coral is a veritable fountain of youth, and when worn on or near the face, brightens and rejuvenates.

A gift that’s both chocolaty and age-defying? Who’s the good sister now?

A Little Patch of Cool

2010-07-30T14:43:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was loaded with activity – all those last-minute errands when one child is graduating from and the other is returning to college. Late in the 100° afternoon, I turned the car toward my favorite tomato stand. As I rounded the curve, I didn’t see the wooden chair that signaled the small stand was open. But, no, there it was, tucked a little further back into the surrounding trees. As I got out to buy one of the two remaining baskets, I noticed it was at least 20° cooler here in the shade. And quiet, almost serene. Birds were chirping (chirping!) and through the trees, I saw a woman in a housedress soundlessly shaking out a rag from a corner of her porch. I felt like I’d been transported back to the 1950’s! For a moment, the galloping concerns of the day stood still. I turned back to the road and blinked. The bank with its crowded ATM’s was still on the corner. The four lanes of traffic were still whizzing by. The tomato seller smiled as if he’d seen this reaction before and told me I’d just stepped into his “little patch of cool.” It was a moment that stayed with me the rest of the day.

This afternoon, when I finally got a chance to sit down at my bead tray, I realized I’d just entered my own little patch of cool. Where’s yours? Visited lately?

Mad Men tonight

2010-07-25T18:15:00.008-04:00

I’m in a pearl state of mind as I wait for the season premiere of Mad Men tonight. I found these classic earrings in the newest “Best of” edition of Step by Step Beads. They reminded designer Terri Wlaschin of some her mother owned back in the Mad Men-era of clip-ons, so she redesigned them as dangles for a modern touch.

Katie and I each worked on a pair this afternoon. Katie's pair is elegantly crafted in the original crystal AB design, and I opted to anchor mine in light siam.
Mad Men’s Betty "As long as men look at me that way, I’m earning my keep" Draper might have worn them to a Sterling Cooper holiday party. Joan “No dull moments or dull men” Harris would wear them anytime!

Baby It's Hot Outside

2010-07-22T15:53:00.003-04:00

It’s over 100° in ATL today, so I decided to spend this sultry afternoon indoors – not at my beading table, but at Beadworks Atlanta’s warehouse sale. We shoppers got the chance to step beyond the retail showroom into the warehouse itself to browse the stacks of beads, findings and components offered at lower-than-wholesale pricing.

My favorite purchase was this pendant and string of black rutilated quartz teardrops. After some intense days of beadweaving, I’m in the mood to do some stringing.

A great afternoon to browse the selections and chat with fellow beaders about their current projects. And since I only exceeded my budget by $4.95, it proved to be a no-sweat way to cool off!

To Infinity and Beyond

2010-07-20T09:02:00.019-04:00

Infinity has many faces. It’s one thing to the mathematician and quite another to the scientist. To the artist, I suppose it is imagination given free reign. That’s what I discovered when I found Gill Slone’s blog, Beadography, last year, when I threaded up a needle and opened my first tube of seed beads. Gill’s was the first beading blog I read, and after a few visits, she seemed like an old friend. I felt like I knew her Scottie dog, her garden, her dreams. She joked about hiding a few beads in her luggage when she left for a motor bike tour around Europe with her husband, a trip that, tragically, ended her life. I still find inspiration from her blog entries, and knew when her design, Galaxy Bead, was published posthumously in the February issue of Bead and Button that I had to make this piece. When I discovered a cache of Swarovski Peridot Sahara bicones at Crystal Creations in West Palm Beach, I finally had my beads.

Fastening it around my neck, a line from Gill’s first post came to mind – sometimes happiness is bead shaped!

A Pearl of a Gray

2010-07-12T13:29:00.006-04:00

I just downloaded Margie Deeb's Fall 2010 Color Report, and what a treat for the eyes! If you're a green lover like I am, there's a healthy dose of that color, from the yellow-green of crisp Endive to the forest green of Woodbine. But while I was searching out the green page, I was caught up by a new color, Oyster Gray, and this piece from SaraBeth Cullinan. Isn't this a gorgeous neutral? Can't you just imagine it paired with a deep navy blue? Now, where's my bead stash...

Girl Time

2010-07-10T08:20:00.000-04:00

A visit from my grandchildren left little time to bead this week, but what a week! Yesterday was a day just for the girls – an hour’s drive north for a trip to Atlanta’s American Girl Boutique for shopping and hairstyling tips followed by more shopping. A lunch stop at the Cheesecake Factory, where one bite of this eight-layer chocolate fudge cake toppled Subway from the number one spot on Abi’s list of favorite restaurants.

And speaking of heavenly confections, today I’ll be teaching Abi how to make Buckeye Balls. Some families reserve these for the holidays, but at our house, chocolate is always in season!

Friendship Bracelet

2010-07-06T16:10:00.006-04:00

I love this bracelet. But I’m not keeping it. It is boxed, wrapped and addressed to my best friend, Carol. Our friendship, going on 25 years, began when Carol interviewed me for a job, and recommended my hiring, even though she thought I dressed like a nun, and would probably be no fun at all! (It was 1985. Didn’t everyone consider the navy blue suit/white blouse as standard dress code for interviews?)

We worked in adjoining offices for several years, our friendship evolving beyond the ordinary. She is “Aunt Carol” to my kids. I moved on to a new job, and our daily conversations turned to weekly lunches; and now that I’ve moved 500 miles away, we only see each other 2-3 times a year. But when we do get together, it’s guaranteed we’ll have more fun than should be legal!

The bracelet design is Cynthia Rutledge’s Cascading Links, from Beadwork’s December 2009 issue. I knew it was perfect for Carol the moment I saw it, and Cynthia graciously helped me pick out the jewel-toned rose and amethyst stones when I met her that same month at a class in Atlanta. It’s a truly elegant design, each link serving as a stage for the brilliance of the gemstones. Tomorrow, it will be on its way to Carol - a little bit of bling to hopefully, brighten her day!

Fringe Earrings

2010-06-29T10:15:00.003-04:00

I wore these earrings to one of the corporate events on my recent trip to Florida, and received so many compliments, I decided to share them with you. At a recent stop at a local boutique, I saw a similar pair, and thought – how clever, fringe as earrings! So I stitched up a pair to match a bezeled stone necklace I was planning to wear to the meeting. I love the necklace, and think it’s one of the nicest beaded pieces I own, so imagine my surprise when the earrings got all the compliments!

When I was looking up fringe ideas, I came across a Russian technique called coraling. Aren't these elegant? They're going on my list of ideas for my show in November. Wouldn’t they be the perfect dangles for the holidays!

Off to Palm Beach!

2010-06-21T10:52:00.006-04:00

Why is it that no matter how early you start preparing, there are always a hundred things left on your list the day before you leave for vacation? I checked off the last accessory this morning.

The first night of our meeting in Palm Beach, everyone is asked to wear a white top and khaki or white slacks or skirts for a Havana-themed dinner. While lots of women consider it a wardrobe staple, I’ve never been a khaki girl, so I had to go shopping. I found a great khaki and white skirt that paired well with a white summer-weight sweater already in my closet. The sweater is trimmed with gold buttons, so I was tempted to add a little drama with a new pair of gladiator sandals (they’re so cute)! Instead, I opted to add a little shimmer with a necklace of Zulugrass strands (natural grass beads made by Maasai women in Kenya) and made use of my new right angle weave skills to finish my look with this earring. It’s an adaptation of Carol Cypher’s Fashion Magazine earrings from Mastering Beadwork. (Yes, there’s only one!) I’ll have to whip up a second one on the plane. Still have 99 things to check off that list!

Shades of Green

2010-06-18T10:39:00.014-04:00

While visiting Indianapolis earlier this month, I noticed my granddaughter, Delaney, was sporting newly pierced ears. With her upcoming birthday in mind, I asked about her favorite colors. Orange and green. Seemed like an easy combination until I pulled out my bead stash when I got home and realized I hadn’t inquired what shade of green. Jade, emerald, sage, forest, teal, celery, lime, khaki, kelly, olive, or my all-time favorite crayon color, sea green?

After a few minutes on Google images, I had my direction:

Johnny Depp never fails to inspire! I chose an earthier pairing of colors for the earrings on the left and Alice’s spring-garden-inspired colors, wire wrapped in brass and silver, for the second pair.

Happy birthday, Delaney!

Revisiting Right Angle Weave

2010-06-16T15:21:00.009-04:00

My constant companion, when I first began beadweaving, was Carol Cypher’s Mastering Beadwork. If my bead tray was on the table, it was beside it for quick reference. When my granddaughter, Bethany, visited last summer, she asked me to make a bracelet for her – in the colors of Mastering Beadwork’s cover.

I decided on a simple right angle weave bangle, finished with a magnetic clasp for an easy-on, easy-off accessory, and set off to my local bead stores, Carol’s book in hand, to gather 3mm beads in the reds, greens, browns and oranges of the ruffled collar featured on the front. One of the owners watched me holding strands up to the book and asked about my project. She loved the colors and extracted my promise to return to her store and show her the finished bracelet before I mailed it off. She admired it enough to photograph the bracelet on the spot and post it on her bulletin board. (Whenever I stop by she mentions the bracelet is still one of her most requested classes!)

While visiting Bethany in Kentucky last week, she asked me to shorten the bracelet a bit. Marcia DeCoster has an excellent tutorial in her book, Beaded Opulence, on shortening and cutting a piece of right angle weave. But when I examined the bracelet, I saw a few broken threads and decided to reweave it instead of trimming it. I’d woven the bracelet in 2-needle RAW, and was looking for an opportunity to learn the single-needle technique.

Although I really enjoy the cross-stitching that is integral to 2-needle RAW, I learned some valuable lessons exploring the single-needle method. First, I understand the properties of the stitch much better after working the bracelet in the single-needle variation. Adding subsequent rows was more intuitive with single-needle, and my stitches are much tighter. (This may just be the result of more beading experience, though.) I love both techniques! I think in the future, I’ll use the 2-needle method for flat, supple pieces and the single-needle method for more structured, dimensional projects.

Back to the Beading Table

2010-06-13T14:39:00.005-04:00

I just returned from a 10-day vacation, managing only about an hour of beading on the road, and no blogging, obviously! I was having too much fun catching up with children, grandchildren, and lots of Indiana and Kentucky relatives, including an afternoon with my sister, Janet, planning our trunk show for November. I’ll bring my jewelry and my amazingly talented sister will sell her one-of-a-kind handmade cards and knitted scarves. And, oh, her scarves! Working our way through her boxes of inventory made me want to brighten up my own skills with a tapered stick and a ball of wool! She gifted this one to me, after a shameless plug that my birthday was coming up!

This scarf is a touch of heaven in silk and suede, lightweight and soft, with a generous fringe – the best part of any scarf, in my opinion. Luscious textures and colors. I love that all her scarves give warmth, but aren’t itchy, so I can wear them next to my skin. It’s nice and long, so I can wrap it in a lot of ways, or I could easily add a beaded pin or broach for a bold look. If only it wasn’t 95 degrees today, I’d wrap it around my neck right now!

After 10 days away, it's good to be home...and back to the beading table!

The 3-hour, $12 bracelet!

2010-05-23T08:32:00.009-04:00

My first issue of Beadwork magazine arrived, chock full of great projects, and after reading through them, I decided to try Nancy Cain’s bracelet of tubular netting, featured on the cover as The 3-Hour, $12 bracelet. I took the challenge to see if I could meet both those parameters.

I picked up some beautiful olivine and bronze iris seed beads on sale several months ago and – finally - the perfect project to use them. I was right on track staying within the $12 limit, planning to use gold-colored craft wire for the bracelet’s armature. But after stringing the base and beads and testing the fit, I decided Nancy was right, the bracelet needs a 16-gauge dead-soft wire for proper structure. Busted! A foot of gold-filled wire put me over budget. But, oh, how this bracelet feels, hugging my wrist!!!

Did I do better on the time? I’ve done netting in the round before, but with differing main and accent colors. This project uses a single color for the netted base, and, without main and contrast beads, it took a while until I really “saw” the stitch. I finally got it, but had to rip out several rows to correct mistakes. Once I began the embellishment rounds, my normally docile Maine Coon cat, Blaze, began swatting at the bracelet, even grabbing it to make a dash with it across the room. It wasn’t until I took the finished strand outside to photograph it that I understood his attraction!

I didn’t make the 3-hour challenge either, but I’m still blissfully happy with my 4-Hour, $16 Chenille d’Or (Golden Caterpillar) quick summer bracelet!

Triple Crown Cuff

2010-05-14T13:35:00.004-04:00

Transplanted Kentuckians, we are loyally glued to our television at 5:00 on the first Saturday in May for the run-up to the Kentucky Derby where you get to see great horses and watch profiles of the world-renowned horsemen and trainers who’ve brought these beautiful thoroughbreds to this day. I still get chills as I raise my silver mint julep cup to the first strains of “My Old Kentucky Home.” This year, I balanced my bead tray on my lap while I watched the race coverage, and made some strides on my Sherry Serafini embroidered cuff.

After cheering Calvin Borel and Super Saver through the finish line, I’ve renamed Sherry’s design the Triple Crown Cuff. It’s been 32 years since we’ve seen a single horse win the Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes. A confident Calvin predicted he’d do it this year aboard Super Saver.

I’ve finally finished the cuff. (It’s versatile and with its trio of vintage cabs surrounded by rhinestone chain and pearls, just a tad showy, like Calvin Borel’s mount!) I’ll be wearing it for luck when I turn my attention to Baltimore and the Preakness Stakes tomorrow.

Still Worth a Trip to the Mailbox

2010-05-06T13:24:00.014-04:00

Sad to hear yesterday that Newsweek is up for sale, and no potential buyers in sight. When Dan and I married and combined our households in the mid-‘80’s there were only a handful of things we had in duplicate, our subscriptions to Newsweek being one of them. I’ve been eagerly anticipating its arrival in my mailbox each Monday now going on 25 years! The mailboxes have changed, and through the years Newsweek has too. The magazine got a dramatic makeover just about a year ago, and became more intellectual (think essays that add to the conversation) rather than informational. I can’t think of anyone in the land I’d rather have a weekly conversation with than Fareed Zakaria, Jon Meacham and Evan Thomas. Like everyone else, I turn to the web for immediate news. I catch The Daily Show, buy an occasional hardback, and watch the Sunday news shows. And yes, count me in with those people who still like to hold a magazine in their hands every week.

With the last remake, the magazine added a back page feature called Back Story. This week’s page asked "Could You Be a Home Economist in 1950?" and extracted a few questions posed to students from the New York State Regents High School Examination. Here are a couple to test your skills:

If, at dinner, your hostess spreads a whole slice of bread and eats it without breaking it, the most acceptable procedure for you would be to

avoid eating bread

eat bread the same way she does

break your bread into two pieces and spread it as you eat it

break your bread into four pieces and spread it as you eat it

suggest a more desirable practice for eating bread

Having received Amy Vanderbilt’s Complete Book of Etiquette for Christmas 1962, and reading it from cover to cover, it being the only book I owned, this one was easy. I knew that my hostess’s bad behavior did not relieve me of the responsibility of one of the most challenging of dining skills. The process of consuming a large piece of bread began by breaking it into quarters, buttering a single section, returning the butter knife to the plate and only then, consuming and repeating.

Which of the following is a good rule for the weekly cleaning of a bedroom?

Begin cleaning at the top.

Start sweeping at the door.

Be sure windows are closed to keep out the dust.

Straighten dresser drawers.

Rearrange furniture.

Weekly?????

A Novice No Longer

2010-04-27T21:04:00.014-04:00

I marked my first year of beading by taking a Sherry Serafini bead embroidery class on Saturday. It was great to have the opportunity to learn a new discipline from the master! Sherry is genuinely warm and open and took a very personal interest in each of the 20 or so students in our class.

She brought a new project designed just for the Atlanta class – the Collage of Components cuff, which has a very cool vintage look. I got a good start on it during class, but haven’t (so far!) had the guilt-free week of beading I prepared for. I hope to find a few hours later in the week to finish the design.

Sherry encouraged me to sign up for next year’s 2-day beaded purse class, which I did, on the spot! The best part of the day? Getting the chance to see her incredible works of art in person.

All Roads Led to...

2010-04-21T13:54:00.008-04:00

Rome.

Or at least for our family yesterday. After we were satisfied that Dani was safely in the air on her way to Rome (It.) to meet with her client for her Senior Design project, Dan and I headed to Rome (Ga.) for the Student Art Show at Berry. The Honors exhibition features work created during the year of the show, from all the classes taught in the program, and Chase had 11 pieces exhibited from his sculpture and printmaking courses. He took third place at the show with this print, Lyon's Feet.

Katie, Chase’s girlfriend, also had her work, Transformation: Stapler, exhibited at the show.

I heard from Dani this morning. The 9 hour flight stretched to 11 after circling the airport for a good while in the fog. After landing, she checked out her accommodations, strolled through an open air market, and was drinking cappuccino in a little café. When in Rome…

Mise en Place

2010-04-20T10:34:00.007-04:00

One of the most valuable things I’ve learned as a student of Carol Huber Cypher’s Mastering Beadwork is her concept of mise en place, or the putting in place of all the tools, beads, needles and threads, lighting and magnification before you begin a beading project.

The term originates from the culinary world – the theory that it’s the organization and preparation of the ingredients (tools at the ready, ingredients washed, chopped, measured ahead of time) that make the cooking experience more enjoyable.

I’ve been applying this concept of putting everything in the right place to other areas of my life this past week:

2009 Taxes finished/2010 tax folders set up

Winter wardrobe cleaned and stored upstairs, spring clothes in the closet

Weeds rooted out; spring plantings in the ground

Readying the deck, which becomes an additional room this time of year

Admittedly, broadening this mis en place approach to my entire surroundings has kept me away from the blogosphere and the beading table, but I had excellent motivation. On Saturday, I’m taking a bead embroidery class from bead artist, Sherry Serafini. With everything else in my life in its place, I’ll be able to spend next week beading away – guilt free!

Saturday Fun!

2010-04-12T08:54:00.012-04:00

What a fun Saturday spent with my sister-in-law, Kathy, who introduced me to beading just about a year ago. We started out at Nicholas Kniel’s whimsical home embellishment store, a wonderland of buttons, ribbons, feathers, flowers, fantastic millinery and more. Then we popped into Beadazzles before venturing over to the Down the Street Bead Show. I had not attended this show before, and was surprised and pleased to find several of my favorite local bead stores exhibiting there. I liked the smaller size of the show, which allowed us to actually look at every table. Kathy and I both ferreted out a few treasures for future projects.

We stopped by Georgia Tech to tempt Dani away from her busy schedule of work and study to join us for dinner at Fritti’s. Can’t think of a better way to spend a week-end, or better company!

Wish this camera angle showed more of Kathy's fabulous necklace, which garnered compliments everywhere we went!

A strand of tourmaline, cabs, a button and lots of seeds. A few of the day's finds:

Bedeviled by Bezels!

2010-04-09T19:24:00.006-04:00

I love the look of rivolis, (Swarovski’s brilliantly colored large rhinestones with pointed fronts and backs), and set out to create a pair of bezeled earrings. Since I said at the outset that I would document both my successes and failures here, I have to admit that it took me DAYS, not hours to produce these little treasures.

My first mistake was googling, and then following, some bad instructions. After ripping out the bezel nearly a dozen times, I ran out to B&N and picked up a copy of Laura McCabe’s Creating Crystal Jewelry with Swarovski. Great detailed directions that actually work! Now that I had the right blueprint to work from, I still had a problem creating a tight bezel with little or no play in the stone. It took me a long time to get the hang of it, but with Laura’s directions, I finally produced a pair that were worthy of earwires! They practically hum with the colors of spring and compliment my latest bracelets!

These bezels were woven in peyote stitch. Next, I want to try my hand at creating some bezeled earrings in right angle weave, using a free pattern Marcia DeCoster is offering on her blog. Stay tuned!

have a little faith...a true story

2010-04-09T14:25:00.006-04:00

If you like Mitch Albom’s commentary on ESPN (Mitch is the only reason I look up from my beading when Sports Reporters is on), then you’ll enjoy this book because he writes in that exact voice. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

It’s the story of a pastor of a rundown church and the rabbi of a large, established synagogue, one black, one white, one poor with a questionable past, one comfortable with an adoring congregation, one Christian, one Jew. As the rabbi nears the end of his life, he asks Mitch to deliver his eulogy. And the adventure begins.

It’s actually several true stories – Albom’s, the rabbi’s and the preacher’s. And, like me, you might see a little of your own story here, too.

It’s a small book – 250 pages. I read it yesterday to prepare for a book club I lead at a senior center. I could read it again tomorrow.

Changing Everything. Still.

2010-04-01T22:27:00.001-04:00

The cross.

Can you turn any direction without seeing one? Perched atop a chapel. Carved into a graveyard headstone. Engraved in a ring or suspended on a chain. The cross is the universal symbol of Christianity. An odd choice, don't you think? Strange that a tool of torture would come to embody a movement of hope.

Would you wear a tiny electric chair around your neck? Suspend a gold-plated hangman's noose on the wall? Would you print a picture of a firing squad on a business card? Yet we do so with the cross. Why is the cross the symbol of our faith? To find the answer look no farther than the cross itself. Its design couldn't be simpler. One beam horizontal--the other vertical. One reaches out--like God's love. The other reaches up--as does God's holiness. (An excerpt from Max Lucado’s He Did This Just for You.)

When I want to read inspiring words, I turn to Max Lucado. When I want to bead something unique, I turn to inspiring teachers, Gwen Fisher and Florence Turnour, at BeAd Infinitum. This Greek cross pendant is from their Night Sky pattern and reminds me of an image you might find in an illustrated manuscript.

The cross. Changing everything. Still.

A napkin, a donut and a bit of bling

2010-04-01T08:22:00.012-04:00

A friend who is hosting a bridal shower asked me to create a necklace for her, and, for guidance, gave me this napkin in the bride’s spring wedding colors. Since my friend is going to be awash in the coral color, I decided to concentrate on the greens, neutrals and black.

She loves the seed beads in my jewelry, but is not fond of the bead-woven look, so I had a rare opportunity to do some stringing. After looking through several magazines, she chose a Julia Zaccaria pattern from Step by Step Beads. I already had a donut made of picture jasper that was just the right blend of warm browns and creams with a touch of black and gold. For the seed bead strands I chose a cream-lined khaki, a gold-lined beige and a bead soup of moss and sage with a little copper tossed in.

Armed with the donut, my sample strands, and a budget, I headed out in search of some beads to finish the design. Since I work almost exclusively in silver, it was nice to search out gold tones. If my growing stack of fashion and department store catalogues (waiting patiently to be turned into paper beads) is any indication, gold tones are making a comeback this spring. I added some gold-foiled Venetian lampworked beads flecked with the napkin's greens and browns and a touch of olivine crystals to give the finished necklace what I think will be just the right amount of sparkle. I hope she likes it!

Spring 1-2-3

2010-03-27T15:54:00.012-04:00

There are three signs that always tell me spring is here: the stand of daffodils in our side yard, rabbits feasting from our herb garden, and the pear trees that line our driveway bursting into bloom. All three were in evidence this week, the sudden cold front notwithstanding. So here are 3 earrings to celebrate the first full week of Spring.

Top, amethyst crystals ringed by a twist of lime; center, teal peyote-stitched ringlets dripping with lavender pearls (a variation of the Delirious earring pattern by Ann Benson at Beads East); and bottom, royal blue lapis lazuli cabochons set off by silver and pale peach tones in another interpretation of Virginia Jensen's Spinner rims design (Bead & Button, Oct. 2009.)

A Fresh Twist from Liz

2010-03-23T08:24:00.002-04:00

I had a nice surprise in the mailbox yesterday. No, this time it was not a small package of beads, but Liz Curtis Higgs’ newest book, Here Burns My Candle. Liz is one of my favorite novelists. I have read everything she’s written, and would be hard pressed to name my favorite. This novel is based on the Old Testament story of Naomi and Ruth, but set in 18th century Scotland. Intriguing? Liz’s novels always are! I would love to tear into her newest saga right now. I know it will be chockfull of all the rich historical details I love (and Liz is famous for), but since my own candle is burning at both ends…..it will have to wait until my show inventory is complete.

But if you’re a better time manager than I am, I recommend you run out and grab this one off the nearest shelf.

Brown Sugar Cookies

2010-03-22T16:53:00.005-04:00

Georgians don’t expect to see snow, even at Christmas. Especially not during spring break. But as I left the house this morning, I drove through a whirlwind of soft, swirling, sparkling snow. Unexpected. Definitely not in season. But fun, exciting and nostalgic anytime.

This weekend, with both kids home from college, I went to Cooks Illustrated online to plan the perfect Friday night dinner. Found a menu in their March 19th update – shrimp scampi, rice pilaf, Caesar salad, and brown sugar cookies. It’s not really cookie season. And despite the fact that Dan and I decided our home cooked meals would take on a more healthful bent this year, I was intrigued with a cookie finish to this otherwise elegant meal. In the 20-plus years we’ve subscribed to Cooks, they’ve never steered us wrong, so I got out the cookie sheets and parchment.

Oh, my! I think I’ve found the perfect cookie – one that pulls off simple and luxurious at the same time! They have a distinct, chewy texture in the middle, but are crisp on top and perfectly crusty on the edges. (It’s amazing the difference browning the butter brings to this recipe.) Great butterscotch flavor from both the sugar and the browned-to-perfection butter. Two dozen of these disappeared in 48 hours!

I’m going to tweak the recipe this week-end by withholding the sugar coating in one batch and adding a maple frosting to the second. Both are suggestions from Dani, but it will be hard, maybe impossible, to improve on the original.

These brown sugar cookies were an unexpected find, definitely not in season, but fun, exciting and comforting anytime.

Brown Sugar Cookies
Makes 2 Dozen Cookies.

The most efficient way to bake these cookies is to portion and bake half of the dough. While the first batch is in the oven, the remaining dough can be prepared for baking. Avoid using a nonstick skillet to brown the butter. The dark color of the nonstick coating makes it difficult to gauge when the butter is sufficiently browned. Use fresh brown sugar, as older (read: harder and drier) brown sugar will make the cookies too dry.

Ingredients
14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (about 1 3/4 ounces)
2 cups packed dark brown sugar (14 ounces)
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (about 10 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions
1. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue to cook, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter to melt; set aside for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large (18 by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. In shallow baking dish or pie plate, mix granulated sugar and 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, rubbing between fingers, until well combined; set aside. Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder together in medium bowl; set aside.

3. Add remaining 1 3/4 cups brown sugar and salt to bowl with cooled butter; mix until no sugar lumps remain, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula; add egg, yolk, and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined, about 1 minute. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed.

4. Divide dough into 24 portions, each about 2 tablespoons, rolling between hands into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Working in batches, toss balls in reserved sugar mixture to coat and set on prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart, 12 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but it will take 3 batches.)

5. Bake one sheet at a time until cookies are browned and still puffy and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone; see photo below), 12 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Do not overbake.

Why We Buy

2010-03-15T16:34:00.008-04:00

Spent a fascinating couple of hours at the Peachtree City Buy Design Jewelry Show on Saturday. I am now the owner of this very cool enamel and silver watch. Katie came away with the most beautiful pair of turquoise and silver earrings that match her favorite necklace, a real find! Dani tried on every ring at the venue, looking to replace a silver band she picked up in Williamsburg years ago and has since lost, but ended up choosing a ring made from a vintage button. My favorite vendor, by far, was Beth Blanc Designs. I could have spent the entire 2 hours feasting on the wonderful designs in her booth. I absolutely fell in love with this bracelet made with trade beads from the 1700’s. It's going to the top of my wish list. Check out Beth’s website here.

But I didn’t go to the show to make any of these purchases. With my upcoming show in mind, and never having exhibited my own creations before, my goal was to look at the way each artist displayed their jewelry. I also decided to do a little informal market research to find out what people were interested in. What was selling? What kinds of questions were customers asking?

There were 62 booths and almost as many ways of displaying product. Louvered shutters, fireplace screens, wrought iron gates, full-sized mannequins. Lots of picture frames displayed on easels and covered in a variety of ways ranging from elegant to organic. Designers displayed their work on everything from industrial pegboards to timeworn driftwood. On the question of how important display is, here’s what I observed. Customers rarely picked up pieces that were displayed flat on the table. They readily picked up and studied bracelets and earrings from elevated displays. I saw necklaces that were tried on, but then potential customers had to wander over to other vendor’s tables in search of a mirror to observe the look.

Shoppers had lots of questions about color…ranging from do you have this in, say, a specific shade of blue, or I like this but do you have one with more red? So color seemed to be the most important purchasing criteria. Also, lots of comments on comfort, which were totally unexpected. One thought a necklace was too heavy, another thought a lariat didn’t feel consequential enough. I actually heard a woman say that! Some didn’t like the way a bracelet laid against the wrist, others questioned the bend of an earwire. (Note to self: develop thick skin before my first show!)

So, why did I buy this watch? I need a new watch; the face on my current watch is cracked. So there’s that. But I didn’t go to the show with the intention to look for a watch. I was drawn to the color, absolutely. And, of course, the distinctive design. Why did Katie choose her specific earrings? The shade of the turquoise. Why did Dani finally decide on the vintage button ring? It was the only one that met her design requirements and felt comfortable.

I went to the show to get some tips on how to display my jewelry. After observing the purchasing decisions of my own little group and my shameless eavesdropping, I left feeling that while display is important, unique design, color, and comfort were the deal makers or breakers of the day.

It began with a button…

2010-03-10T22:45:00.010-05:00

I’ve had this button for a while, planning to use it in a bracelet design. I originally thought of it as a black and silver button, but on closer inspection, was surprised to find subtle blues and oranges, a combination I’ve never worked with before. A search online showed that blue/orange is the most commonly seen complementary pair, its popularity attributed to the fact that blue is “cool” and orange is “full of energy.” There are even websites devoted entirely to the duo. After looking at hundreds of pairings, here are a few of my favorites.

A blue and orange room I could move into tomorrow, bag and baggage.

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A great tote, a frozen drink, and a vibrant scarf:

I decided that I much prefer brighter blues with orange, and the glow of coral-hued orange to the blood-, brick- or popsicle shades. That decision made, I used black for the base of my bracelet, accented with a subtle coral and a stronger blue that brought out the colors in the button.

I like to wear this bangle in multiples, so I let the coral have more of a presence in the second design, both in the base and the embellishments.

Now all that was needed were some coordinating earrings. I turned to Carol Huber Cypher's Mastering Beadwork, and chose the Bountiful Garden Earrings, a combination of brick stitch and a little flower fringe. The button does resemble a flower, after all. Once again, the coral beads took the lead. I punched them up with a brighter pink coral not seen in the bangles. (The bangle design is Tamara Scott's Circle of Gems, which gets its texture from embellished netting. I never tire of making these!)