Bead Table Wednesday ~ 3/9/11

It's Bead Table Wednesday! What's Bead Table Wednesday? Heather Powers of Humblebeads started this fun new tradition - every Wednesday jewelry makers from all over share what's new on their table. Here's mine:

Technically this isn't my table. It has been dark and rainy here for days and I just couldn't get enough light to photograph my table, so I moved all my latest stuff outdoors for better lighting.

Various molds and stamps, and some glass beads.

New cast things: wheel beads, a daisy pendant (waiting to be painted), a painted sea gull pendant. And three little sculpted hearts for winged heart pendants.

Turquoise horse beads separated and matched into pairs for earrings. A lone fox bead waiting for some paint (his buddies are still sitting on my table in raw form).

New dragon shield pendants cast in a lovely shade of metallic red. I'm really liking this new color!

Four little pewter dragons with rubies waiting for their patina.



And this is the really exciting part of my Bead Table Wednesday:

I just found out this morning that one of Heather's butterfly pendants is headed my way! I won her giveaway from last week's BTW! Thanks Heather - I can't wait to create something new with it!

Visit the Flickr group by clicking the button above to see what's new on everyone's table.

Wild Flowers

Every so often I like to step out of my comfort zone and try something new... expand on old ideas and see just how far I can reach. So after painting and working with subtle tones since the end of last year, I decided to change direction last week... for a little while. And here's what I came up with:

Brighter colors, (for me anyway!) in a bolder, chunkier design. The necklace is 18 inches long with a 4 inch extender. Each bead is about 20 mm across and 7-8 mm thick. The detail on the beads reminds me of flowers. Asters, I think. Some said they look more like sliced fruit!

Each of the beads were stamped front and back with a new texture stamp I created. I experimented with different ways of adding a patina to enhance the detail, but in the end I just went with the "natural" clay look with a little antique gold on one of the beads. My favorite part was doing the wire work. I like how it added a rustic look to the bold flower beads.

It ends up this set coordinates perfectly with one of my favorite tops... so it's definitely a keeper! But I'll certainly be making more of these in various other colors - both bright and subtle...

Progress on the Painted Hearts

The sun peeked out today! After what seemed like forever, a forever with an unending ocean of grey clouds and snow, there was real sunshine today. Bright, warm, glowing light... it was just lovely! And now (thanks to that lovely sunshine) I have a few new photos to share with you. Just yesterday I finished wrapping beads and linking chain for my painted heart pendants. Enjoy!

More photos coming soon!