Monday, April 30, 2012

New Ring Pattern: Iron Man

ring_ironman Today's pattern honors Iron Man, the greatest and the worst of all Avengers. Through his career he has faced alcohol addiction, being stuck in the Iron Man suit, and a bevy of really lame villains.

Iron Man is not a hero who goes out patrolling to stop the everyday thief or purse snatcher. Due to the prep time required to get into a suit of armor, Iron Man is a hero who comes out when you know the bad guy is coming and you have a little bit of time to plan and prepare. Alien invasions, giant robots, supervillains also wearing armor... that sort of thing.

For an Iron Man inspired ring, I took his current colors (red and gold) and did a rivet pattern as seen on some of the Iron Man logos. I then added a little glowy spot to be his Arc Reactor - power source. It could also be a repulsor beam - turn it toward your palm and start shooting fake repulsor beams at all your friends and co-workers!
Quote: Captain America: Big man in a suit of armor. Under that what are you?
Tony Stark: Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.
Avengers
Pin It!

Friday, April 27, 2012

Dragon Ring In Progress

So, I did not get as much time to work on my dragon ring as I would have liked (stupid beads spilled on the carpet), so the ring isn't finished, but here is an in progress picture. You can see I went with a color palate very similar to the original pattern. I did find a green for the wings that had a slight iridescence, and my background is bronze rather than gold (partly 'cause I had bronze, and partly 'cause I like darker colors). I am not sure how permanent the iridescent finish on the green beads is yet, but I find that a small ring project like this is a great way to test it, and since I plan to keep this ring for myself, no worries about putting out an inferior project. If I planned to sell the ring, I would want to already be sure of the finish.

dragonring_inprogress

On the note of selling, I wanna be clear that if I provide a pattern I do so because I am sharing it with all. If you want to make it for yourself or make it to sell, that is up to you. Once I put it out there, my rights to the finished products are gone. You make it you own it.

The only exception to this is the Marvel and DC ring patterns I make. In many cases, I am actually breaking copyright law myself by reproducing a logo or insignia. So, I am taking my chances with the lawyers, hoping that so long as I give credit and state that they are for personal fan use only, they won't sue. So, if you decide to sell the rings you make from those patterns, you will be taking your own chances. So long as we are just crafty fans, they generally don't care. If we become greedy fans though... all bets are off.
Pin It!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

New Ring Pattern: Avengers Assemble - Captain America

ring_captain_america The Avengers are coming... No, not the 1960's spies - though they are cool too. I am talking about the Super Hero team! Though at one time or another pretty much every Marvel Hero has been an Avenger, the current team will consist of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, the Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk. Not on the team, but pulling strings will be Nick Fury (the Ultimate's Samuel L. Jackson version, cause he's awesome). The movie hits theaters on 5/4/2012 (weekend of Free Comic Book Day, so don't forget to swing by your local shop on Saturday!). I am actually taking off work, so I can go see it opening day. I am such a geek.

Anyway, in honor of this awesome movie, I will be doing some additional ring patterns for the next week to pay tribute to these awesome heroes!. Today, you get a Captain America inspired ring, because, after all, he is the First Avenger. Enjoy!

It should go without saying, but I will say it anyway. The Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, the Black Widow, Hawkeye, the Hulk, and Nick Fury all belong to Marvel Comics. This ring pattern is provided free of charge for personal use only. Please do not make any for the purposes of sale. Thank you.

the-avengers-movie-poster
Quote: Captain America: There is only one God, and I don't think he dresses like that. - Avengers Movie
Pin It!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

New Pattern: Dragon

I am more than a little bit in love with dragons. So, I thought I would try my hand at a dragon ring pattern. I don't think I did too bad for the scale.

ring_dragon1

Some ideas for making things pop a little:

1) I say this a lot, but mix your beads! Mixing rocailles with cylinder beads will help give the design dimension!
2) Choose your own colors! Though I have done the pattern in a simple color scheme, feel free to mix it up! Maybe your dragon needs to be purple, or blue!
3) Choose spiffy beads! Jazz it up with some silver lined beads, or go for an iridescent finish (just be sure it will stick!).

I hope to have some beading time this evening to whip this guy up for myself. I will be sure to post the finished ring later in the week!

Quote: It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.
J. R. R. Tolkien
Pin It!

Monday, April 23, 2012

What I Made Monday

This weekend I was working with some of the goodies I received from my swap partner, Jessica Klaaren. I tried my hand and some freeform, but I suck at it. I tried my hand at some netting, but it didn't do what I wanted. So I ended up doing a beaded bead. Specifically, the one from the March/April issue of Beadwork mag. I did make some changes, in that I didn't have the right size of beads so I improvised. This was easier than I had thought it would be. I was all worried about making the right selections on sizes to make the proportions still work, but it all just sort of... worked. I also varied from the pattern in that I did not cover all sides of the bead with the embellishments. I left 2 sides plain. The reason for this was that I knew I wanted to thread the bead on the silk ribbon, and so I didn't want to block the holes with the embellishments. Overall, I like the bead, but I really wish I could have found a way to work in the green beads from my swap kit.

beaded_bead_far

beaded_bead_near

I also spent some time this weekend doing some bead organization. I ended up adding 3 new boxes to my bead stacks (the boxes were swiped from my Hero Clix storage... poor Hero's having to share boxes....). Here you will see the stacks of big divided boxes, some with beads and some with finished items, as well as the small boxes that hold all my flip tops. I should mention, this is just the portion of my jewelry making supplies that live in the living room. There is more - power tools and chemicals and such, that live in the work space in the basement. There is also more hiding on the floor down between the chair and the cabinet. And more beside the cabinet(including some knitting supplies). And more behind the chair.... Starting to wonder if some of this doesn't need to migrate back downstairs.... Anyway, I tend to do most of my beading, polymer clay work, and shrinky dinks (new obsession!) in a recliner in the living room on a personal sized folding table (slightly bigger than a TV tray, but not much). Someday, I will have some well organized beading studio, and when I do... well, I will probably still haul it all to the living room and bead with the family in front of the TV. Oh well.

bead_storage
Pin It!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Vintaj Loot!

Two posts in one day showing the free loot I have gotten! Woo! This batch of loot was won from the Vintaj Blog and LimaBeads. Some wonderful crystals and faceted gemstones, as well as an awesome selection of Vintaj Art Metal. Add in some glass pearls and beads, along with some wonderful blue hemp and let the beading begin! WOO! I shall be beading up a storm with these!

vintaj_loot

Thank you Vintaj and LimaBeads!
Pin It!

Bead Swap Loot

The Bead Soup Cafe Group did an informal bead swap and I participated. I sent my partner, Jessica Klaaren of Beadful Things, some vintage necklaces and earrings. In return she sent me some Vintaj pieces and some wonderful coordinating beads. All in an under the sea theme. She also included some lush silk cord. In the picture you will see I have added in one of the crystals I won from Art Beads. I think the color goes well. For the first time ever, I am actually contemplating a freeform design. Who woulda thunk it? Me, doing freeform. We will see how it goes.

bead_swap

Thank you, Jessica! I can't wait to get started.
Pin It!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

New Pattern: Earth Day

Sunday, April 22, is Earth Day here in the US. In honor of this, I have made the Earth. Or a reasonable facsimile there of. From my point of view, cause I am a typical egocentric American and cause Europe is hard to do. Enjoy!

ring_earth

Quote: To see the earth as it truly is, small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see ourselves as riders on the earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold.
Archibald MacLeish (1892 - 1982)
Pin It!

Monday, April 16, 2012

What I Made Monday: Shrinky Dinks!

So, I want to start by apologizing for the really bad photos this week. I have been battling a cold and taking things downstairs to the light box just didn't happen. Anyway....

This weekend I got to play with some Shrinky Dink paper. You remember Shrinky Dinks right? You color on plastic and then it shrinks down in the oven and you have a charm or pendant? Yeah, that stuff. You can buy unprinted sheets of it in clear, white, black, brown... Then you can cut out shapes and stamp, draw, or color on them. They shrink in the oven or with a heat gun. They even make some sheets that will go through your inkjet printer (though they cost twice as much!).

So, I bought a pack of multiple colors and had some fun this weekend. I mostly used stamps, though I did color one in with gel pens before shrinking. I tried shrinking in the oven (works well) and shrinking with a heat gun(problematic as those suckers will blow right away!) when I didn't want to wait for the oven to heat. I am really loving the silver ink on the black shrinky dink paper, I will have to make more of that!.

Things to consider if you want to try this: 1) The paper shrinks to about 1/3 it's original size. So, the circle one below was traced from a 125yrd roll of fireline and shrank to just over an inch. The black one, I traced one of my ink pads, again just over an inch. I used a 1.5 inch circle punch on the small ones in the group shot and they turned out tiny... but that is ok, I will make earrings!. 2) You may need to seal them. With the stamped images I used a black Stayzon ink and a silver/gold pigment ink, and both of those seem pretty well permanent. But I noticed that the one I colored with gel pens wants to rub off. I will seal with a coat of clear glaze. 3) The children in your house WILL steal your shrink paper. Buy extra. 4) If you are in a recycling mood, don't buy the paper at all! Instead, collect the plastic food containers that the local grocery deli uses for salads and such (it will be marked with a number 6) and lightly sand it. You can then use it just like you would the purchased paper!

shrinky_dink_group
shrinky_dink_black
shrinky_dink_round
shrinky_dink_rectangle
Pin It!

Friday, April 13, 2012

New Pattern: YinYang

ring_yin_yang From Wikipedia:

In Asian philosophy, the concept of yin yang (simplified Chinese: 阴阳; traditional Chinese: 陰陽; pinyin: yÄ«nyáng), which is often referred to in the West as "yin and yang", is used to describe how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. Opposites thus only exist in relation to each other. The concept lies at the origins of many branches of classical Chinese science and philosophy, as well as being a primary guideline of traditional Chinese medicine, and a central principle of different forms of Chinese martial arts and exercise, such as baguazhang, taijiquan (t'ai chi), and qigong (Chi Kung) and of I Ching divination. Many natural dualities—e.g. dark and light, female and male, low and high, cold and hot, water and fire, air and earth— are thought of as manifestations of yin and yang (respectively).
Yin yang are not opposing forces (dualities), but complementary opposites, unseen (hidden, feminine) and seen (manifest, masculine), that interact within a greater whole, as part of a dynamic system. Everything has both yin and yang aspects as light cannot exist without darkness and vice-versa, but either of these aspects may manifest more strongly in particular objects, and may ebb or flow over time. The concept of yin and yang is often symbolized by various forms of the Taijitu symbol, for which it is probably best known in western cultures.
There is a perception (especially in the West) that yin and yang correspond to evil and good. However, Taoist philosophy generally discounts good/bad distinctions and other dichotomous moral judgments, in preference to the idea of balance. Confucianism (most notably the philosophy of Dong Zhongshu, c. the 2nd century BCE) did attach a moral dimension to the idea of yin and yang, but the modern sense of the term largely stems from Buddhist adaptations of Taoist philosophy.
Pin It!

Monday, April 9, 2012

What I Made Monday

So, it was a busy week for me. I had to make and mail out Terri's ring for winning my give-a-way (congrats!), I had to gather and mail out some beads for a swap, and I had to do all my normal life stuff - laundry, dishes, more laundry.

But I did manage to get a few things made to show you. First, we have another ring made by beadweaving around a resin cab. This cab was also made from a vintage button I molded. I tried to do the band a little differently this time, not completely happy, but not completely unhappy...

ring1
ring2

I was also experimenting with polymer clay this week. Nothing too hard, just roll it out, stamp on it, cut a circle and paint with Pearlex powder. I then gave it a layer of resin to protect the Pearlex. I found the resin also added some wonderful depth to the stampings. I will say, looking at the charms closely in these pictures, I definately need to work on my finishing. Lots of rough edges showing! Notes on size: the small charms are about the size of a nickel.

charms_all
charms_swirls
charms_gears
charms_flowers

I have some more of these in the works right now, so I will try to get the edges looking better. I have also been trying to work with some of the crystals I won, but I keep tearing things apart.... blah.

Quote: Children are born true scientists. They spontaneously experiment and experience and reexperience again. They select, combine, and test, seeking to find order in their experiences - "which is the mostest? which is the leastest?" They smell, taste, bite, and touch-test for hardness, softness, springiness, roughness, smoothness, coldness, warmness: they heft, shake, punch, squeeze, push, crush, rub, and try to pull things apart.
R. Buckminster Fuller (1895 - 1983)
Pin It!

Friday, April 6, 2012

You Might be a Beadweaver if...

I started this list with the first three entries on the Yahoo Group Seedbeadersters and then several of the wonderful members of the group joined in. Feel free to add more in the comments, maybe we can get a sequel out of this!

redbeads

You Might be a Beadweaver if…



...You have ever spent 20 minutes lying on the carpet picking up seed beads.
...You spend more per month on seed beads than you do on clothes (or groceries!).
...Your fire evacuation plan includes how to get the seed beads out of the house.
…You find your mom's jewelry box is full of stuff you've made and she says, "Don't you remember you gave that to me?" When you obviously didn't (true story)
...You plan your trips around bead shops in the area you're visiting.
...You get embroiled in many a 'best seedbead brand' flamewar on your favorite seedbead forum. (same goes for beading thread brands/types)
...Your cats are named Miyuki, Matsumo & Czech.
...You sign up for a locally offered history class titled 'Sacred Peyote" and are crushed when you realize it doesn't involve seed beads!
...You're known as 'that crazy bead person' at the local craft shops (instead of 'that crazy cat lady'- or in my case: that crazy emu lady)
...The local bead shops call you for advice on what seedbead colors, brands & sizes they should stock for this season.
...You're currently feuding with your favorite local bead shop because they won't order seedbeads in the quantity/colors you require.
...You almost sign up for a Community Education class titled "RAW", but pass when you realize it's about dieting instead of your favorite bead stitch.
... you ever scour thru the furbaby's hair to find missing beads
... you ever have to pry a bead out from the furbaby's mouth, cuz it is a gemstone bead & worth too much to have to dig out of the "yard" later on.
... When going on a flight you pick the best seat for beading, who cares about the view or the ability to be near the isle! Just be able to do beadwork in peace & with the best light!
... at garage sales or resale shops you look at old wedding dresses just for the beadwork!
... your significant other says he needs to go to the home improvement store & you happily go along for beading support, um... I mean moral support!
...You find yourself scanning the jewelry counter at the local thrift store for vintage beads... because you plan to take it apart and use the beads in another project.
... You keep a pair of pantyhose or knee highs in your drawer, even though you don't wear them, because they make good filters when using the vacuum to pick up beads.
...You buy items like butter, snacks etc, based on whether or not the container would be good to store beads in.
...You go to Bass Pro Outdoor World or Cabela's not to buy sporting goods or look at the fish, but to purchase fishing line to use as beading thread.
...You scour garage sales for beads and it makes your day when you find some.
...You can tell the difference between glass or plastic beads without even touching them.
...If you see a sign that says "bead shop" or "beads for sale" when out with your family, they all groan because they know this is going to take a while. (This works for book stores too in my case.)
...You bounce up and down happily when you find an old vellux blanket at a garage sale dirt cheap, even though it has holes in it, because you know you will have beading mats for a long time to come.
...Your best friend comes directly to you when her daughter's prom comes up. She knows the jewelry you make will not only be one of a kind, and match perfectly, but it will also be free or very cheap "just for her."
...Your significant other is not surprised to find beads in the bed... or under the table... or in the bathroom sink etc etc.
Pin It!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Happy Easter(soon)!

Since one of my first patterns posted to this blog was an Easter Lily ring, I decided to post another one this year. This one features a colorful Easter egg hiding in some grass.

ring_easter_egg

As a bonus this week, I am also posting a buzzy bumblebee ring! ring_bumblebee

Quote: They have Easter egg hunts in Philadelphia, and if the kids don't find the eggs, they get booed.
Bob Uecker
Pin It!

Monday, April 2, 2012

What I Made Monday

This week I finally made the Seedbeadersters (yahoo group I belong to) bead along project for January! The project is the Vanguard Ribbon Bracelet by CSD Designs. I made mine with black and silver seed beads and a clasp I got a while back at Michael's. After putting the whole thing together, I am thinking the clasp is actually too big, but I am not sure. Then of course the question becomes: "Do I really doubt that the clasp is too big, or do I just not want to take the whole thing apart?" Have you ever done that? Left a design you aren't quite happy with, because you aren't unhappy enough to redo it?

bracelet2

bracelet1 bracelet3

Quote: Every success is built on the ability to do better than good enough.
Author Unknown
Pin It!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...