Exciting New Designs

Hello Everyone as some of you may know I've been busy for the last few weeks creating some new designs which I hope you will all find as exciting as I do.

First a little background.  In the past couple of years the popularity of Kumihimo, Viking Knit, and various other rope type necklaces has become increasingly popular.

The size of these ropes means that you either have to make a bail out of beads or find something with a very large hole.  As there doesn't seem too be many choices with large holes I decided to make a selection of slides and pendants to accommodate these large cords.

So today I would like to announce my new line of slides, pendants and cones that are made specifically for these large cord designs. 

I have the first of them all listed in the shop on my website in the 'New Items' category  

For a limited time I am offering an introductory sale price of 10% off the regular price. You will see the sale price in RED under the regular price and the discount will be applied when you check out.  This way you can see what the regular price is and your savings for jumping in early to try out these new pieces.

I have made several that are focal pendants on their own, such as the first photo shown here, as well as some slides that are decorative but also have a hole to make it easy to attach your own pendant to the cord.  The first photo shown to the right shows you one of these new designs from the front.  In the second photo you can see the large hole that goes through the back of the design.

I also recruited a couple of people to be guinea pigs for this project so I could make sure that they worked the way I envisioned and so that I could show you some beautiful finished pieces.   I would like to send out special a Thank You to Jennifer Van Benschoten of Van Beads and Linda Roberts of BeadsForever on Etsy for all their time, help and suggestions in this project. 

 Here is the first of those pieces I have to show you made by Jennifer Van Benschoten.  It is a lovely dutch spiral rope utilizing one of the slide sets that I call the 'Long Leafy Slide Set'.  She has hung a bead and a Peruvian ceramic leaf off the bottom of it accenting it perfectly.  This particular set has the largest hole in the slider of any of the sets and would easily accommodate multi strand designs as well as large ropes such as this one.  You can see more shots of this beautiful piece in the gallery on my website.  It is the Leafy Slider Necklace and it will be available for purchase from Van Beads 
This is just one example of the beautiful things you can make with these slides.  I will be showing you more project photos as they become available.


Any of you that know me know that I love large bold designs but really hate jewelry that it heavy.  So you will find that these slides and pendants while rather large are very lightweight and easy to wear.

Another problem with these large cords are how to finish them off at the end before you attach a clasp.  Most of the cones available are too small for the larger cords.  So I have also made a variety of cones.  Some of the cones will be sold separately in pairs others will be included with a matching slide as part of a complete necklace set. Such as this beautiful  round flower set.

One of the problems we encountered in this project was that some of the cones have a very large opening and they don't work as well with the smaller cord types.  So I am making all of the fancy cones in an additional smaller size that will work better with the smaller kumihimo cords and other smaller diameter cords.  This will make all of these designs even more flexible allowing for greater choices in the types of cords and sizes that you can use with them.  I'm anxious to see some multi strand designs in these as well.  I guess I'm a bit partial to multi strand pieces but I think they have lots of interest and movement making them lots of fun both to do and to wear.

I have made up a variety of these designs in various colors and styles and I hope that you will embrace them and use them for your holiday necklace designs.  Visit the BEAD SHOP to get your introductory discount.

The Witch and the Pirate

The Witch and the Pirate. Sounds like a good name for some fairy tale doesn't it? Here are today's installment of the faces in the window. I hope you all like them. Ya gotta tell me which ones are your favorites and why. I like to know these things. I think this witch has a lovely sneer on her face. And the squinty eye makes her look nice and mean. I had so much fun doing these.

The pirate. He has a gold tooth you know. Though he needed one. His ears are pierced as well as his nose so he'll end up with some gold rings here and there as well as the gold tooth. After I finished him up I looked at him and said I think he looks like Gomez from the original Addams family TV series. What do you think? Do you agree?

Funny Faces part 2

Well I've finally finished my income taxes and got them filed for 2007. Nothing like waiting 'till the last minute. I've now gotten my funny faces all painted and they are on their way to Christi for the silver. I'm really anxious to see them with the silver roofs and doors. I think these will be a fun product. I'd really like to hear from you folks how you like them, what you think and any related things that you can think of. Its always fun to brainstorm and this is how I come up with new products so please comment.

I managed to complete 11 different faces. I'll post a few every day until I get them all posted up here so be sure to check back and let me know which ones are your favorites. Today I've put up the ones that I teased you with when I started this project. The Kilroy and the Kissy Face elf. Tomorrow perhaps a witch or the pirate.