Batik Dangles on Jewelry Affaire

------------Still hopping for the Bead Soup? HERE is my reveal!------------

I have been published on Jewelry Affaire for the second time, and also this time I have to wait further before my lovely BF brings me my copy of the magazine.
Here is a super cra**y-but-lovely-pic made with his cell:

Simple earrings chosen by the editor herself.
Can't wait to read the entire magazine, it is so luscious and interesting and hope to be part of it again!

Inspirational bracelet tutorial

I am often asked how I started beading.
As most people, my first approch to beads was a handmade loom, made by my mom with a shoe box.
When I grew a little older, I learnt with a 70's book how to do flat and round peyote stitch.

For about 15 years and more I haven't been doing anything else. I wasn't aware of the huge beading community existing online. I guess faster internet and websites like Flickr and Pinterest have made it all so much easier.

I have lernt so many techniques and stitches, but in the end I always come back to peyote stitch for one reason or another: I need to make a beaded toggle, or some tubular beaded beads to cover something, or I just need to relax and "switch off" my brain doing something simple.

Lately I have been making these cute bracelets

they are so versatile and easy but give great satisfaction.
So I made a tutorial.
Because many people ask me how I started to understand if they are still on time to start, so I just want to tell you: sure! There is always plenty of time to start!

People who don't know about beadweaving also don't know that some of the most talented beadweavers are not exactly young girls (they surely are at heart) and just started a few years ago.
Excellence is a habit!

You can find my tutorial here.

More neon

A new bangle I just made mixing tubular peyote technique and simple stringing

I used both seed beads and big farfalle beads from the new Preciosa Ornela neon collection.
Don't you just love the decreasing effect from the thicker beaded rope to rhe size 11/0 beads?! I do.

I also had the smaller size of the farfalle beads, which I used to make these

They are thicker than usual and I love how the farfalle beads stick out from both sides.
Will make more experiments!

Dream on

(Day)Dreaming doesn't have to mean you got your head in the clouds.
Dreams provide the material for your goals and aspirations and make you stay focused on your life and the directions you need to choose.
I really couldn't help myself...I made another bracelet

Rose quartz is a very powerful stone, generally used to attract love but also to raise one's self-esteem and sense of self-worth. It enhances one's inner awareness and opens the heart to new experiences.
That's why I used some in this bracelet: you really need a lot of self esteem to follow your dreams and turn them into reality.

I used transparent seed beads also for the writing to make it a bit inconsistent, translucent - that makes this bracelet so hard to take a pic of! The result is pretty and delicate.

Beadwork for men

If you have always thought beadwork was only for women, get ready to be disappointed.
This Christmas I made 2 nice gifts for a young man who is crazy for soccer and loves bracelets.
The first is a simple keychain with a soccer ball

You might add a beaded t-shirt or a string with the name of his favorite team to enrich it.
I left it quite simple 'cause over the years I've already made him enough black/red presents (he roots for Milan)...
If you want to make something similar you'll find a gorgoeus twin bead ball on Preciosa website or a peyote graph on etsy from Lost in Paradise shop.

The bracelet I made is adjustable and made with matte black seed beads and twin beads, so no risk of making it look "too beady"

If you look it from a distance it looks like kumihimo made with some leather rope, and looks pretty good on a man wrist.

You can find a lot of ideas for beaded man bracelets on Etsy: for the game-obsessed boy by Tarpan

for the country style loving guy by Beadbound

for the hidden rockstarby Thebeadedlily

Now I need to think about the ladies and time is running out...

Live, Laugh, Love!

Lately I have rediscovered the pleasure of simple, plain peyote technique.
After a couple of short bracelets, this time I made a longer one, to contain an important message

I love the ombre effect, which came into my mind while making the first word. I like that Love has the pink beads, as it's supposed to be!

I enjoyed so much making this one, I'm sure I'll make more.

Fight!

When things don't go the way you had hoped, sometimes you need to let go and change direction

Source: Pinterest

Some other times you have to keep on and struggle to get what you want.

So keeping in mind this and a sentence my kick boxing teacher often says (we're warriors!), I made this bracelet

This means, of course, that I was able to make this little guy a companion

It's important to have a reminder sometimes!

Beaded dolls - the tutorial

I finally made a tutorial for my beaded dolls.
Just listed it on Etsy...my eyes are tired, but I'm so happy!

Been wanting to make one for a long time, but there wasn't enough time to draw all the graphs (all those tiny beads! argh!) so I kept on procrastinating.
My first doll was a copy of one my grandmother brought from one of her trips to Spain when I was about 10.
It was the classic Indian doll (don't know why it came from Spain!) and was attached to a beaded necklace which started tearing apart very soon.
Fortunately this gave me a chance to look at the "anatomy" of both necklace and doll, and -being already handy with tubular peyote- I decided to give it a try. And then they came...

Possibilities are huge, I hope people will have fun as I'm having!

Little Lulu in the rain

This month has been really lucky for work. Well, bead-work at least.
After many request and a couple of trials, I made my first tutorial and sold it twice the same day! I was afraid it wasn't clear enough, so I made it super detailed and beginner-proof. So far it's been appreciated.

The most exciting thing was to hear again from my Xmas customer, who asked me to make another Little Lulu doll, under an umbrella.

She wanted a brooch and I had just ordered some bead backing from Nicole's shop and was eager to try it!
At the last time she changed her mind and decided to have an earring instead of a brooch. It actually makes more sense since it's really cool to see this



floating in the air.
I'm pleased with the result and hope the client will be as well.

Thinking about making a tutorial for beaded dolls since I haven't seen any around...

The Road to Oz

I remember watching "Return to Oz" movie when I was a little girl, it scared me so much!
I had never watched the original Oz movie (shame!) and didn't really understand all the yellow brick road thing. Then I read the book, and decided I needed to watch the gorgeous Judie Garland, and I started to love the wonderful world of Oz!
So even though I didn't have the time to make what I had in my mind, I really wanted to partecipate in this month's competition:



I decided Toto was "my animal": it's because of him if Dorothy's been carried away with the whole house!
This little button seemed perfect, and I love beaded dolls very much, so it came out naturally.



Please remember go on EBW website from 9 to 15 September to marvel at the beauties you will find there!

First peyote

This bracelet is about 17 years old:

It's my very first attempt with a tubular peyote.
Somewhere here at my mother's house, where I'm on vacation now, there's also my first beadwork ever: a bracelet made with a shoe-box loom.
I think most beaders have started this way!
It's so reassuring to see this bracelet is still perfect after so many years: not one bead missing, colours are the same. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit my wrist anymore ^_^
Let's hope every beadwork will stay this way!