Last day cleaning?

This morning I received 2 unexpected mails while cooking for tonight.
One was from Preciosa Ornela...amazing neon seed beads!

The other one was, well, one thing I didn't thought I would receive.
Remember my necklace beeh chosen by Nina Design as one of the Bead Soup winners?
Seems like after so many months my little price arrived...

So much generosity from our amazing hostess Lori Anderson, who provided basically everything except the silver Nina Design pendant. Thank you!
The post label says it was sent on april 1st...seriously! Do post office make last day of the year cleaning???! If so, I would love to have my necklace back!

In the meanwhile, here are some better shots of the necklace been published on Jewelry Affaire.
I am so proud!

First shot of the article!

The before shots

I guess we can close this year properly now.
I wish a sparkling new year to everybody!

A new capricho

Capricho means whim in spanish and it's really close to the italian word, which is "capriccio".
As you may know it is also a beautiful cuff made by Alex Unicornio, who shared the pattern on her blog.
It was on every beader's blog some time ago and I joined this madness making a rainbow version.
This week I decided to make another one in gold

I'm going to attend a wedding in a couple of weeks, I have a dark orange long dress and I suddenly pictured myself wearing a big, bold golden cuff to match my purse.
So I made this.

I didn't remember how easy and fast it was to make one.
I used cheap crystals (there are way too many!), but made a netted base with amazing silky metallic amber color Preciosa Ornela seed beads, and used size 15/0 Toho rainbow smoky topaz seed beads between the crystals to give some contrast.
I can't wait to wear it!
I need ideas for the earrings now!

Never ending drilling

No, I am not talking about drilling beads or pebbles. Nothing jewelry related.
It's just wherever I go, the sound of drills follows me - looks like buildings renovations are all over Italy.
And always next to where I live.

The weather is still not too hot, thanks to the strong wind blowing all over, but that means it is almost impossible to stay on a beach.
So I got back beading and making experiments.
By now all I can show is this

a mixture of colors and stones I really love. I'll have some new pieces really soon...in the meanwhile I am knitting hard to finish this shawl and I'm almost there.

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!

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!

Spikey punk bracelet

These amazing orange Delica beads have an AB finish the pic doesn't catch

and I think they make the perfect contrast with the matte color of the spikes.

I just love the punk feeling it gives, mixed with this neon touch.

Farfalle bangles

Yesterday morning I was waiting for a small pack of beads to arrive from the Czech Republic (which arrived THIS morning) and instead I found an amazing surprise from Preciosa Ornela: 2 packs of Farfalle beads in neon color!
It took me 2 minutes to know what I wanted to make with them and to actually make it:

All you need is some memory wire and silver charms. Some of them come from different countries (like the hidden cow-bell from Austria and a silver camel from Tunisia) or just remind me of them.
The picture doesn't do justice to these amazing colors and the texture of these gorgeous beads!

Meanwhile other purchased goodies arrived

and I am too anxious for the run to play with them now!
Seed beads are from Preciosa Ornela and it's the first time I use them, I already love the finish they have - so silky. Maybe tomorrow I'll have some rest for my legs and bead a little.

Ready to party with Gatsby?

I'm certainly glad to see you again, Leo.
It's been a long time.
I still remember watching Titanic at the cinema with my 3 best friends, the "WOW" at the close up of his eyes while sketching Rose, the tears of despair in the end.
And what about Romeo+Juliet?!! Oh my. The butterflies in my stomach every time I watch that movie.

The great Gatsby is another of those butterfly-making-movies. The suspance before the two ex-lovers meet again after so many years, the impossible love, the tragedy. I can't wait for tonight to see it on that huge screen.

My intention was to embroidery a cloche to put on for the big event and get dressed up with some friends, but unfortunately they're all working and the weather is horrible today, and I'm too eager (and selfish) to wait for them to see the movie.
I thought I needed at least a small accessory to get in the mood.

Pattern by Eva Kovacs (bracelet) and Kerrie Slade (flower), both free.
Now off to the cinema!

Clematwin

I have been waiting for the right beads to make this pendant for so long. Then another beautiful gift from Preciosa Ornela arrived, and I couldn't wait more

The free tutorial is from Ad Perleade, so generous and, most of all, so absolutely easy to make.
These Twin Beads are beautiful.

They're transparent and dyed in white only in their holes, so they create a striped effect which enhances the pattern of this beautiful flower. I'm going to sew it on a headband.

Spikes fever

Some days ago I received another gift from Preciosa Ornela: some amazing amber color Twin beads.
I decided to buy some spikes in the same color and make something beautiful...

The pattern is from Perl'agogo and the original, without spikes, is called Victoria.

I'm making more, different spike bracelets in more vivid colors and hope to finish them before I leave for Easter vacation.

Beaded beads with Twin Beads

I'm using all the beaded beads tutorials I'm finding on internet using Twin™ seed beads and having a lot of fun with them

The bigger beads are from a pattern offered by Preciosa Ornela on its website, so clever and easy. I also made some toggle clasps, always beaded - one is made with transparent seed beads and pink/lilac Twin™ seed beads, to match the beaded beads in the same colors

So there will be a necklace pretty soon...in the meanwhile, try one of the many projects on Preciosa Ornela website and have fun!

Peacock earrings with twin beads

Yesterday I made these amazing earrings with the new Twin Beads that Preciosa Ornela sent me:

The tutorial is from Cr3azioni di Cr3stina and is really easy and quick.
Now I need to go on with my Japan piece and also need to restock my can tab earrings, since tonight I sold the white ones to a return customer.
And maybe I'll finally get to make some photos in the sunlight!

You've Got Mail

Yesterday I was a bit sad 'cause my bead order from Gaea hadn't arrived after almost one month...which isn't that strange, since packages from USA take so long (but not the other way around).
My boyfriend came home and he had 3 envelopes in his hands...and only one was bills!
First one was this:

an unexpected gift from Preciosa Ornela in return for my blog post about them.
So sweet. Lilac twin beads I can't wait to use.

The other one...was from Gaea!

Where we live now we have a pomegranate tree in our shared garden (which is quite unusual in Milan); it is in many culture a symbol of fertility and prosperity.
But for me is so much more.

One of my first post was about my grandfather and his house in the country of Puglia, where I've spent all of my summers until the age of 12.

I used to spend a lot of time with him teaching me different kinds of trees and how to tend at them, but my favorite was the pomegranate: because fruits got ready when we were already back into the city.
I was eager to taste that strange flavour so, when october arrived, I knew that one of those afternoons I was going to find my grandad squeezing pomegranate seeds to make a juice.
When I saw this pendant the first time, I restrained myself and it got sold; the second time I wanted to purchase it, but hadn't enough money on my paypal. So I told myself: if I get money on time, I'll buy it.
As you can see...I made it. Can we say it was destiny?

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.