Whatcha Doin' ?

OK, there's been a lot of Phinneas and Ferb playing at my house lately.  But to answer the neighbor-girl's question...this is what I've  been doin':

I'm settling into a "usual" groove of beadweaving when the jewelry-making muse visits.  Most of the time.  But I love metal and wire-working is the easiest way to incorporate it with beads.  There are very few special tools required and nothing molten is needed!  (Not that there's anything wrong with that!)

These beads were purchased at Beadnik's at the Mall of America.  I do not have the foggiest idea of what they are made! I believe they are painted or inked and they feel like stone. I loved them so much, I bought these and three others in purple tones.  I wire-wrapped the beads onto wrapped circles of 18-gauge aluminum and combined those with 12-gauge jump rings.  The necklace is finished with a bit of pre-made base metal chain and a hand-made S-clasp in aluminum.

This is a variation on the netted pattern I learned for the bridal challenge.  It uses a couple shades of purple 11/o beads, combines with accent beads in a metallic copper finish.  The big addition, though, are the 6mm fire-polished Czech glass beads (from The Bead Monkey in Edina, MN.)  I bought several sizes and colors, so there will be more of these in my future!

Reunited!

I know that war is devastating and tornadoes are destructive and that life is generally really hard. For this very reason, I need to rejoice in the little things.

A very little thing, indeed, but a treat for me this year is that I was reunited with earrings. For nearly fifteen years I haven't been able to tolerate the metal in my ears because of instant and painful contact dermatitis. It didn't matter if it was stainless steel or pure gold, it was not happening. One day after I was stricken with the beadworking bug I was thinking how nice it would be if I could wear the earrings I could now make. A simple idea struck...what if the actual metal did not make contact with my skin? I grabbed a pair of earwires and thoroughly painted them with clear fingernail polish. When they were dry, I slipped them in and waited. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes...2 hours, 3 hours. No redness. No pain. No burning. Take it away, Peaches and Herb!