Back on the saddle

After a long pause I feel recharged enough to start beading again.
I hope to be more productive even though embroidering and knitting and studying are taking a considerable part of my days...so I started with something old and safe, which is always a good way to ignite inspiration

I usually don't even consider blue, but this shade is so beautiful, plus the AB finish on the crystals and the confetti polish gives them a festive twist.
Maybe too much :D

Agate chips

I finally got back to beading something.
I have had so many occasions to buy beading material and was so excited and unpatient to use it, but as usual life had a different idea.
Without further ado, here are my new babies

which style you have obviously seen before, but I am now looking for new shapes and options on the bottom.

So, inspired from some crystal jewelry I had pinned, I tried to use some agate chips I had bought for a necklace.

Despite the weird shape, I love them.
Hope this juice will continue to flow and I'll get to use some stash pretty soon!

New tutorial for Twin Beads earrings

Yesterday I received a request for a tutorial to make this can tab earrings, which features Preciosa Ornela Twin beads.

I love these earrings. They have a different shape and make me think I should experiment more with these amazing beads.
The tutorial is ready and you can find it here. Hope to receive good feedback!

Summer makes you thirsty

Even though this summer is really windy and cool, it's always nice to drink some fresh soda and so I always have a nice amount of can tabs to play with.
I am so behind with my beading schedule, I still have used only a small part of all the neon beads I had ordered and feel so guilty about it, so here are some good old can tab earrings with my new UV active seed beads and farfalle beads from Preciosa Ornela

The nice shape of farfalle beads is perfect for these earrings!

Also, I can't help but loving the beautiful confetti finish on the tabs.

I am working on a grellow pair and also on a grellow bracelet - I bought some pretty things on the local market this morning. Here you can see just the beginning of it from the balcony of my room

Brindisi, Puglia: thursday local market

It's huge! It has the shape of a Pi (more or less) and you can find everything there. And it's quite cheap.
So many projects on my mind, so little time!

Pink, glitter and grey

Pics don't catch the glitter sparkle in these earrings, but the mixture of 3 different colors on the can tab (glitter pink, silver and a dark green for some shadows) had an amazing result

Light pink seed beads are the same color of the pink glitter polish, the bigger ones are a darker pink with a hint of grey inside

It's a really dull and grey day here, so no good light for photos. I'll bead more...

Can tab bracelet

Instead of working on my soup, as it should be, I made an experiment to be sure about the toggle clasp I sent to my BSBP partner.
Since I wanted something unexpected and different I beaded a toggle using, of course, a can tab.
I made another one and used it in a bracelet and made some matching beaded beads

I love the result! The toggle works just fine and I like the simmetry of the bracelet.
I have a thin wrist, so it fits perfectly and doesn't move; I should consider adding one more bead for larger wrists.

Zoisite

I just made new can tab earrings with the strangest color combo.
At least for me. Not for nature. It started some days ago, when I discovered ruby in zoisite

Source: Pinterest

I'm in love with this stone.
The result is a bit quirky for me, but I so love it

I obviously felt the urge to also buy some matching miyukis and voilà..."damage" was done!

As usual, I'll take better pics in the morning. Lately (really???!) I'm kind of a night creature, I'm always impatient to take pics of my items as soon as they're finished.
BAD IDEA.
I'll buy more of these beads.

Twin Tab earrings

As promised, here are my new can tab earrings made with Preciosa Twin Beads:

I call them Twin Tab, to make it shorter.

I'll try them with Super Duo beads to make some Super tab earrings...I think the different shape might be more suitable to this kind of construction.

Can Tab Set safely arrived

A very enthusiastic customer ordered a can tab set in black and gold at the beginning of the month and I just saw from the feedback left (a very kind one!) that it arrived safely to its destination

Glenda, the said customer, was so nice to wait for my birthday to pass and also so genuinly happy for the items, she is kind of the perfect customer who really makes you love creating stuff.
In the meanwhile I just sold my "Vogue fuchsia earrings" - the typical item everybody says how gorgeous it is, but nobody buys it.
Thanks customers for cheering up my days!

My earrings on Vogue Accessory...twice!

Just a quick note to share my happiness...and relief since I can finally say it: I've been featured on Vogue Accessory december 2012!!!
My fuchsia can tab earrings

and my Confetti red ones

are in the gift guide and I couldn't be any happier and proud!

Matching earrings and ski suit

This morning my friend told me her collegue saw her earrings and asked her which color she could order me to match her ski suit.
I'm a beach person, don't know a thing about skiing but I guess even ski suits needs to be accessorized properly, as also swimming suits do.
So here we go: fuchsia can tab earrings

made them also in purple (my favorite)

and something red and gold to revive the Bollywood feeling

Also made 2 pairs black and gold, but they're already in their new homes!
Will post more colors...soon...

I swear...

...I can do these

even while sleeping.

Want to try? Here's the tutorial!!!

New can tab earrings

You can guess how many cokes my BF drinks by the huge amount of can tabs I have.
So that's quite an encouragement to make more earrings.
Like these

and these

More to come in black and fuchsia (custom orders) and maybe some new shapes!

Some fuchsia before I leave

Before I pack my beads, I'm making some last experiments with can tabs, trying new shapes for my earrings, and this is what I did today:

It feels like they need a different kind of hook, so I'll be patient until I get back to my whole stash in Milan...and I've got something precious waiting for me to be opened!

Lemon pie can tab earrings

Can't help but thinking about lemons when I look at these:

They're so bright and sparkle so much!
I'm happy 'cause they're going to leave tomorrow morning, very early, together with their friends below

A beautiful, blonde girl from my hometown is buying them and a bangle, so I can't be happier!
Selling online, it's rare to see what your actual buyer looks like, and it's nice to think these earrings are staying here.
I'll show you my hometown next time, before leaving it after a 2 months vacation...can't complain about this summer at all!

New can tab earrings and tutorial!

Painting can tabs can really inspire you more.
It gives you brand new custom elements to add to your jewels; no need to have 50 shades of nail polish, just the main colors will be fine.
Or try a transparent coat and some glitter: it will really change your day!
Today I would like to introduce you my latest can tab earrings, with a mix between Bollywood and flamenco style

I used a Confetti coating over the glitter, so the result is pretty festive

Maybe this is the influence of The London 2012 Rhythmic Gymnastics (which I'm eagerly following these days) with all those sparkly costumes...

The news is: you can now make these earrings by yourself with a new tutorial I just made! Take a look at my Etsy shop!

Glitter is back

Deep inside, we all love glitter.
It's just we don't want to admit it.

via Pinterest

Glitter is our connection to our childhood, when we wanted everything to be sparkle and bright...but we still can indulge with a little glitter even as grown ups!
So which season could be more perfect (except for Xmas) than summer to have a little bit of glitter, and of course I'm talking about earrings

A glitter coating makes anything look better, even those can tabs sadly looking at you from the stash box

And you might want to use the same coat on your nails to brighten up your day!

Earrings!

Lately I made a lot of earrings. I think it's because the temperature is rising and I can't help but imagining myself on a beach, with a colorful bikini and a pair of even more colorful (possibly matching) earrings.
Started with the tab earrings



and couldn't resist to make some stars in the same colors



and then tried a purple color combo


but this metallic violet is impossible to catch with the camera.


I tried and tried, but the picture is very far from the sparkly metallic finish they have in person.

I have so many half-finished works that I feel ashamed every time I open my bead boxes and look at them...first of all there are other 2 beaded stars which are waiting to become SOMETHING.
We'll see...

Heal the world

Finally I started beading again after a long break!
This month's EBW challenge was so interesting I couldn't avoid to partecipate!
The theme was "Heal the world" and, being a Michael Jackson huge fan, I really wanted to make something. There was a lot of choice...

Since this is something we deal everyday with, I chose the recycling/reusing theme.
What if we indulged ourselves with, let's say, a coke only if we take the pledge to re-use the bottle for another purpose? What if, in our everyday life, we tried to produce less garbage not only by buying loose stuff (food, water, cleaning liquids) but also by reusing everything we can several times?

Sounds stupid but I don't see many people doing it.
So I used a simple item, can tabs, to make this:



Can tabs are washable and versatile, there are thousands of ways to use them!



Thay also give a silver-y sparkle to the finished piece.

Do you know how many things you can make with tabs? Just look on youtube for tutorials and you'll be amazed! And take a look at this gorgeous website!

I also amde a pair of red earrings Bollywood inspired



That's all for today!
Can't wait to see all the entries for the challenge!