A necklace for Mom

My mom had this simple multistrand necklace, made of coral beads, bought a million years ago nobody remembers where.
Last year I decided to destroy it since threads where getting yellow and the toggle was half rusty and not really safe...I wanted to make her a whole new necklace.
So I started to make experiments but most techniques didn't work right, because these beads are so irregular...I got discouraged and left everything here while getting back to Milan.
This summer I found the perfect way to use these beads, adding some sparkly rondelles, and made half the necklace; but I left it here again.
After 4 months here I am home again and it's finished:

It looks wonderful on my mom's neck and I'm happy she will wear it on new year's eve, since I'll not be here this year

Time to pack everything now: my vacation is over and I have my train back to Milan tonight.

Five red earrings for five cousins

Christmas is over and my hands are pretty grateful for that...I've been beading furiously for weeks and now I have one thing left to show you. Or should I say 5.
I was asked to make 5 red earrings for five cousins, so they had to be different from one another, not too big, red and a bit sparkly.

Unfortunately, caught in the "last minute rush", I didn't take pics of the last 2 pairs.
One of them is a copy of my Confetti earrings and you can see here the other one...

Pic taken in the dark with my cell.
Here are the 3 other pairs, gone to 3 sisters:

horseshoe

circles and beaded beads

and RAW sticks proposed by Marcia De Coster on her website

Hope to have chances to take better pics of the first ones!

Na...ivety

Isn't it wonderful? There are still 10 year old kids so naive and sweet, they still believe in magic. And in Santa Claus.
So some hours ago I agreed to play Santa for my uncle's nephew, who is still uncertain whether to believe in Santa or not.

Despite being a bit thin (I was wearing 2 padded jackets!!!) the dim lights made me look pretty plausible as Santa.
I had so much fun.

(here with my own dad!)

The beard and the amount of clothes really troubled me though...

Happy holidays to everybody, and may your Christmas be full of magic.

Source: Pinterest

Last minute gifts...

I'm still MAKING gifts. With my own hands.
Three days here and I've only managed to make custom orders and to be my parents' personal shopper...so here I am, this time crocheting, until the very last minute available.
Last night I finished these simple necklaces

for some of my aunts.
The donut pattern is from artbead.com, it's so easy and fast you can make dozens of these in a day!

Why Preciosa Ornela?

When you have the right tools and supply, you can't help but making awesome creations.
That's why it is so easy to invent incredible new items with Preciosa Ornela beads.
The quality of their beads and their unique, innovative shapes make the beading experience a pleasure for both eyes and mind.
I am particularly pleased with the two-hole PRECIOSA Twin™ seed beads, which offer a lot of new solutions to achieve original, wonderful results in your jewels; from the casual-style bracelet

to the most elegant pendant; from a funny soccer ball to a sacred, delicate rosary.
Preciosa Ornela also offers on its website a lot of free tutorials to help you stimulate your creativity and get some familiarity with new kind of beads you have never experienced before. How incredible is that?
And, since perfection is not enough, this Czech company also takes responsability for their impact on the environment, reducing to a minimum any harm to water and air and scrupulously categorizing wastes.
So I am definitely choosing Preciosa Ornela for my beadwork.

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...

Elf...

I'm just arrived and already at work, so I feel pretty much like an elf working hard the last days before Christmas

I have my little helpers too

They really keep me on track.
I'll show you the 5 red earrings I'm making next time, or you can take a sneak peek here.

The end of the world

My consolation is that I'm leaving Milan tonight for Xmas holidays and going to my hometown, Brindisi - I'll arrive tomorrow morning with a night train, right on time to be with my family.
And I'll be warmer, much warmer: average temperature in Milan is -2°C these days, in Brindisi is 10°C! Some days it will even be 16°C. Almost spring.

Since the world might not really end, I'm still making presents and a really scented one right now: gingerbread cookies. For the first time I'll give jar mixes to make these delicious cookies that only recently (thanks to IKEA) are becoming popular in Italy.

Source: Pinterest

I have a long history with them and their scent reminds me of college time.
After making the dough your hands will smell heavenly for hours and don't forget the mosturizing effect of butter and honey...
I don't have much time to bake them, so I really hope they'll come out nicely: a 12 hours train trip really calls for a treat.

Emotional Roller Coaster

Last day to vote on the Etsy Beadweavers Blog for our december challenge, Emotional Roller Coaster:

"Find beady inspiration in a human emotion. Choose a feeling or state of being: joy, sorrow, cowardice, jealousy, anxiety, or anything that describes a powerful emotion. Create a beaded artwork that expresses your chosen emotion.

Think about the use of design elements as you work. Colors all have emotional connotations, and lines and textures do, too. You can use repetition, gradation, mass, scale and proportion, pattern, contrasts, balance or harmony, anything you can think of to make your work look and feel like your chosen emotion. Try to avoid using symbols, like a smiley face or emoticons.

The finished mosaic collection of our work will provide an "emotional roller coaster ride," a fast paced, whirlwind tour of feeling and sensation for our fans, as they view our many different interpretations of this theme. Remember to explain how you designed your work to demonstrate your chosen emotion in your description."

Perfect theme for this crazy time...between custom orders, Christmas dinners both as guest and host, presents to make...

Let it snow!

Tonight it started snowing, and it just stopped a few minutes ago. This is how piazza Duomo, Milan, looked this morning

and this is the view from my balcony

Not a big deal, I know, but it is for us: Italians are not so used to snow, and we always look at it as it was the first time!

Beading and sipping tea while the snow was dancing in the air outside lead me, FINALLY, to a grey Flower Power:

A simple, tiny necklace that's so cute. Grey is always my favorite, even when it comes to flowers!