Tiara for Donata

When Donata asked me to make a tiara for her, I was in a slight panic. I was clueless on how to make one or where to get materials, all I knew was that it was just a glorified headband, period.

But after a few searches on the net, I saw how easy it is to make one. And being one who likes beating a challenge, I decided to experiment. I used my own pink silver headband to do this one because I couldn't find a base headband to use in some of the bead shops/textile shops I go to. Then using 0.5 mm nickel wire, I strung crystals and pearl around the headband in the pattern shown in the picture.

It was soo easy I decided to make more of these later. Heck, I'll probably make one for myself that I can wear even on ordinary days.. Yipee!!

For Donata's Wedding

For the entourage, a simple beaded set of necklace and earrings will color them up. :)
My best friend in high school is getting married this coming 4th of October. When she found out that I'm making accessories as a hobby, she asked me to make some for her and her entourage:

Bracelet for the entourage. I used wires, seed beads, amethyst chips, Swarovski and faux peals to make this one,.

Rosy set for the maid-of-honor.

Decorated hairpins for the kids.

Bracelet for the usherettes. I used seed beads, mother of pearls and faux pearls for this.

Using Swarovski rondelles and freshwater pearls, I made this set for the little maid-of-honor.

Me, wearing my abubotz hehe

Cool Blues and Violets

Ate Vangie asked me to create a set of necklace, earrings and bracelet for her in blue. :-)j I used button shell and barrel beads connected with 0.5 mm nickel wires and Beadalon string. For earrings, I used apatite barrel beads and amethyst chips and a bit of wire work in the shape of swan (sorry, no macro shot).. For her bracelet, I used similar technique as with my bracelet shown below.. ;-)

I also made a bracelet in plum and violet for moi! :D In this bracelet, I used 1 mm and 0.5 mm nickel wires and plum and violet resin beads.. With a lot of wire work, I was able to make a bangle that can be tighten and adjusted around my wrist. Pretty cool, huh? ;-)

Beading Should Be Made Illegal

.. and that's because it's so addicting. I spent the whole weekend til yesterday doing a lot of necklace and bracelet projects. I would like to post some pics here but I made tons and I'm too pregnant and too lazy to take photos. Plus the camera I'm using is not high end so I can't make decent macro mode shots. Maybe next time when I'm not drowsy from losing sleep. Sheesh. Lousy isn't it?

On a lighter note, I got orders for the rainbow bracelets and earrings I made a few weeks back. Now people are asking for more. Gosh. If the baby comes out soon, I don't think I will have time to finish them all in time... I'm glad that some people appreciate my work though. Yipee!

Spring and Autumn

I made two bracelets with matching earrings last night. I can't help it. Beading hobby is addictive! Plus I also tried to make my own cellphone bling. :-)

*Spring bracelet: I used green jade donut as "pot", green cat's eye rondelles as leaves; yellow beads and rose quartz petals as the flowers... *

*Autumn bracelet: Brown seashell chip beads as dried leaves; pearls as pebbles; rose quartz as freshly fallen petal of a flower*

*and my uber cute cellphone bling.. I used different types of beads; connected them using headpins around a stainless chain*

Losing Sleep Over Bracelets

Last night I stayed up until midnight making bracelets to replenish my dwindling stock.. This week has been a good one for me because I sold a number of earrings and bracelets. Thanks to my loyal clients! Hugs!

Since I'm a newbie, I find making bracelets a tad challenging and a bit more difficult to design than earrings. I remember breaking and losing beads quite a number of times; doing 5-6 knots just to secure elastic but the knots would still unwind until I found out about how useful super glue is; etc. I can name all the disasters during my first attempts at making bracelets but thinking about them makes me want to cry again. :p

But tonight, after reading some articles online on how to make bracelets a few days ago and finding some nice clasps and stringing wires at bead shops, I was able to make a number of bracelets without much difficulty. I did lose a lot of beads when one of the knots got unwound last night after testing the strength with my hands. The stress test for the nylon was too much for it, it snapped and the beads ricocheted everywhere to my horror. It was pretty hilarious. I swore and cussed so loud that my mom woke up and found me crawling on the floor looking for the scattered beads. Imagine a 9-month pregnant woman on all fours, looking for beads in every corner of the house! LOL

So here are the few bracelets I made last night.. I know the designs are very simple. I used half of a clam shell embedded with pearls for background. I bought this in one of the bead shops I go to at only PhP 30. Cheap huh?

*Rainbow Swarovski crystal bracelet with etched coral pendant*

*Tear drop and cubic Swarovski crystal earrings... I used sterling silver for the hook*

*I call this Christmas Tea bracelet: I used Green Cat's Eye beads, red "whatchamacollit" beads and crystal rounded Swarovski crystals*

*Mint green "whatchamacallit" beads; black sandstone beads and leaf-shaped, side-drilled cherry quartz accents*
*Ox-crystal bracelet*

*Macro mode for the crystal-ox bracelet*

*Ox bead earrings*

*My uber messy dining table cum work table*

*New members of my bead family.. hehehe My favorite? All of them! These beads are courtesy of Tintin.. She sent me these via courier a few days ago.. :D*

*Beaded flip flops I made for Tintin*