Red set

I made this beaded set during the last few days. The necklace is netting from a Russian book called Bead Fantasy. The only difference from the design in the book is how I ended the necklace, as I didn't like the original that much. I like interlinked swags much better.

The bracelet is a simple peyote tube, I made up my mind to use this technique while I was working on the swags.











In the meantime I've decided to learn wire jewelry. So I ordered a starter kit from Wig Jig and I've started reading the two online complimentary books that I have been granted access to download from their site. The designs are beautiful, I can't wait to have the tools to start learning! But first, I need to get the order shipped all the way to Cyprus... *sigh*

Could You Call Me Eclectic?

First, "Hello" Hei, to all my friends in Finland. I haven't made it to your beautiful country yet, but I'm planning to get there. I hope the winter is not too dreadful for you this year, and that you were spared the terrible winter storms that Germany and other parts of Europe are getting.
I have been busy this new year of 2007, mostly working on the site and on special commissions for people, but I do have some pieces that have not made it to the website yet, or that I've just managed to put on in the last day or so.
The first is a rainbow moonstone bracelet - three strands of blue flash that is so difficult to capture in a photograph - but this bracelet is flashy. The lampwork beads that are in the bracelet have a special glow to them that reminds me of the moonstone. This would make a great piece for a wedding member - or even a bride.


The next two pieces are rose quartz, a bracelet and a necklace made of rose quartz nuggets (thinking ahead to Valentine's Day - see the heart charm on the bracelet?). Some gemstones look really good in nugget form; rose quartz is one of those gemstones.

When I have "nice" gemstones - precious stones that are well-faceted and have a good colour, it is very hard for me to use them - I want to have my cake and eat it, too. I hoard them, but I finally made myself use these great sapphires. They have a great colour though they are not transparent and it was hard for me to let go of them and actually put them in a piece of jewelry. (I'm like Scrooge; I like to take them out, look at them and handle them, and then put them back knowing that I have them). I'm pleased with the way the bracelet turned out. The clasp is one I've had for quite a while. It has a faceted iolite of very good quality in the toggle; I decided to use it for the sapphire bracelet (iolite was referred to as the "water-sapphire" after all).

More moonstone - only this is peach moonstone with little sparkles of chatoyancy; I really like it and can't wait to order more. Of course, I love peach.
This is not a combination that you see a lot: lapis and tourmalinated quartz with a greenish hue, but I'm blaming the colours on the borosilicate lampwork beads from Irene Collier. Only these beads gave me the idea to put these two stones together, and it's one of those mixes that I personally find rather exotic, so, of course I like it. It should probably be listed on my Unique Gemstone Jewelry page, but I am listing it under Lapis Jewelry.

Chrysoprase is always good when I have some that is ever so slightly translucent like these little pebbles of chrysoprase. The lampwork beads by laffingull were just made for chrysoprase, so here they are!

Finally, just a little bridesmaid jewelry with blue freshwater pearls, but that wonderful Swarovski bead in the center is so beautiful that I decided to put the picture here.

I do have a couple of auctions on Ebay this week: go to Studio G Ebay store to get a great deal.
The rest of the jewelry will be or is already listed on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website.

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Middle of the (working) week

Wednesday evening, two more days to go and it's weekend, yay!
I decided today to play around with tubular peyote, something that I haven't done in over two years. This is the result. It worked up very quickly, and I merely wanted to play with the different bead colours and sizes, to see what pattern it emerges.
Note to self - I have to learn to read a tubular graph to work more intricate patterns.

Btw, the picture doesn't show it, but ALL the beads I used are green, not white :)




In the reading department, I'm *still* reading the ghost short stories, it goes a little slowly as every evening I'm reading one story in bed (hoping that a ghost will appear maybe?)

Another orange

Finally, I finished my second orange necklace. I think I have enough orange to last me for a while *lol*.
Hm...while fetching my orange blouse to 'test' with the new necklace, I noticed in the back of my wardrobe a striking yellow one... and I don't have any jewelry to go with it... :-\

So it's Monday evening

I'm working on a new necklace, but it's not finished, so I can't post it just yet. But it's ORANGE again! *lol*

In the reading department, I'm in the middle of a collection of true haunting short stories, caled The Ghost's Companion by Peter Haining. It is a book I received through Bookcrossing, and it will continue it's journey to the US after I've finished reading it. It's a rather old book, published 1977, and upon researching on the internet, I haven't found it mentioned in many places. A rarity.

So far it's quite interesting, but I might be biased, as I always like stories of the supernatural *lol*.
This quote from the book is reasoning pretty well with me:
"I am a man who has made a lifetime search after what is to be found beyond death".

I have to start somewhere...

Most of the stuff you will see here is about books and beads.

Reading is my oldest hobby, I have practically read thousands of books since childhood and I still continue to do so at a staggering pace. In 2005 I have read 130 books and in 2006 my goal of 150 books has been achieved and surpased: finished 170 books, yayy to me!
My reading pleasures consist of romantic suspense, paranormal romance and a *subgengre* created by a group of book enthusiasts at the bookrelay.com forum, called 'sick shit'.
This mini-genre encompasses books about serial killers, psychos, descriptions with gruesome and gory details *grins*. The gorier, the better!

Some of the book pages I frequent are:
www.bookcrossing.com - the place where I've learned to let go of my collection of books *sigh* - my bookcrossing page is here: kislany.bookcrossing.com
www.bookmooch.com - THE best and most 'in' trading site over the net - it's geared towards the whole world. If you want to see the books I have available in my bookmooch inventory, just follow this link: http://bookmooch.com/m/inventory/kislany
www.titletrader.com - another international trading site, however bookmooch is, in my oppinion', way better!

Although reading is my main hobby, I've recently got also the beading bug. I'm particularly interested in seed beading, i.e. beadweaving with seed beads.

I started beading about 3 years ago, and after a while, I left it at that, still not quite sure why - I got bored, or sidetracked, or something else. After two years, however, here I am again, beading like there's nothing else around *lol*.

For all my jewelry pieces, visit my Webshots page at: community.webshots.com/user/marikasbeading03

Below are a couple of things I've done recently (since December, really).

This is a netting piece with dark seedbeads and wooden beads as accent. It was taken from a Russian beading book (of which I have quite a few at home - check out www.ozon.ru for books to buy directly from Russia - it ships all over the world).

This bracelet is called Sherazade Candy, after a pattern by www.serial-beader.com
It's a pretty popular stitch, particularly among the French beaders.
The necklace below, which I beaded yesterday, has a rather striking colour combination. Not by chance. It goes very well with an orange blouse I have (colour identical with the ligher orange in this necklace), and so far I didn't have any jewelry to go with it. Well, now I have.
And yes, I've got a bracelet or necklace to go with almost every outfit I have at home, *lol*. Sometimes I get the urge to buy a particular blouse just so it can match some jewelry I previously made!

Pearls...Bracelets, Necklaces, Earrings

I've been working with pearls, and loving it although I seem always to have to make myself get started with them. I'm especially fond of Biwa pearls, as you can see here, but I also love anything in the grey or silver family. With the first bracelet, I used these funky Biwa pearls that are rather large and have strange, but not unattractive, rings on them. I used some Swarovski crystals (small ones) and large Karen Hill Tribes chain. I wanted at least two strands of the Biwas to make an impact. Pearls are so beautiful when you're working with them in the studio, but if there aren't enough of them, they are diminished in a piece of jewelry. The pearl bracelet is listed under Freshwater Pearl Bracelets.The earrings are smooth flat Biwas that have the most beautiful nacre that I wanted a pair of earrings for myself out of them. Earrings are my least favorite jewelry type to make, but I decided to wrap some gold wire around these, and couldn't stop at making one pair. They're great, if I do say so myself.
The pearl necklace was inspired by the large blue pearl slab I had that I wasn't sure what to do with. I wrapped it, and wrapped a little shell bead on the front of it and decided to make a whole necklace instead of just a pendant. I had just gotten in new Karen Hill Tribes silver that day, so I had to experiment with some of the pieces I received. It's a very feminine necklace that also makes a statement. I already have it posted on the Pearl Necklaces page.Finally, I returned to those great Biwas pearls and wire wrapped a bracelet in goldfilled wire. I liked it so much that I'm going to keep it (I wore it today).

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Garnet: January's Birthstone

Garnet probably got its name from pomegranate because the gemstone resembled the seeds of the fruit. Garnet has been used in jewelry for thousands of years, and is still extremely popular today. While most people usually think of garnet as being a dark red, in some cases it almost looks black when it is very dark, it can also be brown, amber, and green (in fact, green garnet called grossular garnet is one of my favorite stones). Garnet looks wonderful with other gemstones and in combination with pearls and mother of pearl. Because it is January, I've been working with garnet quite a bit, experimenting with it. The only thing about garnet that I don't like is that it is hard to find in large sizes (in beads). So when I find large faceted garnet nuggets as those you see here, I grab them fast!
I had fun with the mother of pearl and garnet and made this wirewrapped bracelet using some large white mother of pearl rings and ovals that I had. Deceptively simple, it looks fantastic on. You can see this bracelet on the Mother of Pearl Jewelry page on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website.
I have large faceted iolite nuggets that I like and decided to combine them with the garnet and I'm very happy with the result which is a bracelet that goes with many of the clothes in my closet. The iolite is translucent and is a good complement for the mostly opaque dark garnet nuggets. This bracelet and the bottom one can be seen on the Garnet Bracelets page.The necklace features garnet and sterling silver and has a very nice sterling silver and garnet pendant that I've had in my stash for some time. I used the large linked Karen Hill Tribe imprinted chain and connected it in the middle to the bottom strand of the necklace (the pendant actually hangs from the bottom strand, not from the chain). I also added some borosilicate lampwork beads (I believe that these are from Frozenfyre). Borosilicate lampwork beads look wonderful with garnets. The necklace can be seen on the Garnet Necklaces page.
Finally, the last bracelet here has two strands of garnets mixed with sterling silver, lampwork beads from Irene Collier, and just two large faceted nuggets of rose quartz. The little garnet cabochon charms are the the Thai Karen Hill Tribes. Quite a few pieces of fancy silver on this one.
So to all of you born in January: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! (And remember, if you want birthstone jewelry, but don't care for dark red garnets, look for them in other colours).
I also have a couple of garnet pieces on auction at Ebay this week at low, low starting bids. Go to Studio G, my Ebay store and the auctions should be on the first page.

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