Wrapped, Stacked and Layered.

The REVEAL..
SATURDAY APRIL 21

That is the title of the challenge that the lovely Tracy over at “Make Bracelets” has put together.

 I thought well why the heck not...cause I’ve been banging out the bangles

since my girl FancifulDevices had put out her " Gypsy Bangle Stacks tutorial”.


It all started modestly enough

A few Czech seed beads...some glass beads and a swallow

charm I had from a past life.

Then I had some blue and grey ties from pajamas

and old sweat pants cause I have a hard time throwing anything away

well cause I might be able to use that someday...

and a miracle happened.

I did use em...

I threaded those old cords onto the wire, wrapped them,

fluffed em..splashed some ink on  them here and there...

added buttons and bows and bells and whistles.

Then it was...

add some fabric and wrap that and wrap that again

and then what about those filagree beads you never used and

then all those seed beads you have so many of...

And then Anvil Artifacts sent me some cool brown agate beads

those will go nice with these... and two plain bangles from my

real hippy days.

Then I thought about “White Wedding”

Nice day for a white wedding


You know that old timey song from Billy Idol...
hey I think he was wearing bangle stacks in that video of the song...
anyhow what about making something for the alternative bride...
The bride that he was singing about.
so I did these with Miriam Haskell like pearls and crystals and such.

So while I was in my “White Period"

back in...oh yeah March...

I added these to the mix..

Time to start waxing them...which is what we learned

in our tutorial by the incomparable Fancifuldevices...

so I gooed on the wax...wow!  Instant aging...

Looks as if Keith Richards wore these everyday since

the 70s while he was rollin around in the gutters and
sweatin on stage and such.

Yeah I’m kinda obsessed with these...I have tried everything

I could think of so far....I’m not done yet...So many beads out there

unbangled...needing to be ...wanting to be.

orphans left alone without a purpose in life

flailing about aimlessly...wanting to belong...

littering the hiways and byways and the bottoms of you drawerways.


The Final Forty

A cumulation of my efforts and all of my techniques

so far.....

Hey...wanna make your own bangle stacks?

Here’s Fancifuldevices TUTE

Haven’t seen enough?

Want to see the rest of the gang that entered the challenge?

As soon as I can figure out how to do the link to the other

80 people that joined this I will post it down here..

Sorry couldn’t get it to work so....

This is Tracy’s site where you will find the rest of the challengers

The list of banglers

enjoy the day and have fun looking at all these creative ladies..

A little trip to the desert

We went on a day trip to the desert to visit a friend

of Mr. Beatnheart...

The desert at this time of year is just beautiful...

perfect weather , spring wildflowers...

I haven’t been out of the city in many months...

it was wonderful to just hear the wind blow and

hear nothing but the birds.

To some people this looks like a pile of junk...

I was in rusty heaven...I mean look!  old beer cans!

The kind you use to use an opener on...how long

ago was that?  jeez, I can’t even remember.  You

know before pop tops.  Ah some of you youngsters

won’t even remember that... poor things...

The dude that invented the pop top can

I bought quite a few of these home...assemblages,

props....I see all kinds of stuff happening here.

Joshua Trees 

an old dump...paradise!

Jeez even in the middle of nowhere I’m “shopping”.
Wish I had me a shovel.

clear blue skies...fabulous rock formations

Linchens?  gorgeous colors what ever they (it) is.

Raven's nest...We watched her as we dined al fresco

on the terrace.

an old ghost town...

once a very prosperous gold mine...we heard

that now that gold is so high they are back in there mining...

We were near Lancaster/ Palmdale area...

some of you may know it from the famous David Hockney painting

PEARBLOSSOM HIGHWAY

My Signature Style

Upon learning a craft skill art whatever you

want to call it, you plug away and take apart

and put back together and try and try again

until finally you get something you actually

like...  that happened with these earrings.

They felt right, looked beautiful sexy on

and  even my evil twin liked em.

they sold immediately.

so I wasn’t the only one.

So what does one do then...?

do it again.

Repeat the formula...

and call it “my signature piece”

these too sold right away.

sweet lady who bought the first gave me rave reviews

on my feedback.. so keeps me going....and makes

me feel like I am on the right path in finding myself

and my style.

I don’t like to repeat myself but I’m still enjoying making

these...it’s a learning process and I like to think I’m improving

on each go round.  And there are so many beads...so many different

ways of looking at the same thing.

and to think two months ago I never wire wrapped a thing in my life.

And so I made this....geez what a struggle!

I got the focal down because it’s “my signature style”

but then what?   A necklace?!  They are hard for

me ....what do I do now?   So much space to fill...

Remembered I had some leather cording...maybe that

will work...

Hey where’s Ralph Lauren?  Wouldn’t this go with all

his American Indian layered denim prairie skirt thing?

Anyhow happy with it (for now)..listed it in the shop...

and on to the next project. 

 What’ya know...My Signature Style...

Next time with fabulous beads by Kim... Numinositybeads

Her handmade lampworked beads are killer cool,

sexy as hell and so inspirational...

Ah just couldn’t wait...went into the studio and

just made these...hot off the press..

Never had beads like this before...

wow the depth, intensity,

layers of colors and things going on in there.

And thinking of my girl Kim doing whatever it

is that she does to make these happen down

 North -of-the border

in Bisbee, Arizona.

"I left you in Bisbee” assemblage earrings

Here’s where you find da beads of yer dreams

NuminosityBeads on Etsy

.

Life after Picnik

As some of you may know, Picnik, the online photo editor, is going away.  When I heard this

  I panicked...I love Picnik... I’ve been using it exclusively and now what was I going to do?

I heard about another photo editor called LaLuna and I have

What do you all use?  

gypsy bangle stacks

My girl Fancifuldevices has made a long awaited tutorial

on making these bangles.  One of the main purposes

is to clean up your stash.   Well my stash is pretty limited...

beads that I bought when I went to my first bead show and went crazy.

I bought without a vision or any ideas...just ohh look how cheap they are

and how many of them...It’s like buying shoes that don’t go with anything

and make your feet hurt...you never use them.  So anyhow...

I found it to be an exercise.

 It is starting to free me up ( well a little bit)

I don’t know if it’s because I’m a Virgo...

I don’t know if it’s because My Inner Critic

(MIC) has a voice bigger than Ethel Merman

and is constantly telling me that what I make is no good...

and the big problem with that is that I believe her most of the time.

MIC is on my left shoulder, or my right, or sometimes both.

Even these bangles which according to Fanci are to be made

happy and carefree like...heck she even puts the TV on to make hers,

I took apart and redid and didn’t like and MIC was shouting

louder and louder and finally I said ENOUGH!

so I got all carefree like...

fanciful even.

well fancifaux 

The point being...is just sitting at the bench and working

exploring and learning.  Maybe one day MIC will not

shout so loud.  Maybe she’ll give helpful and gentle advice

and not be all Mother Superior about it. 

(boy those nuns sure screwed me up)

There is nothing wrong either with being neat.   That is my

nature.  I would have been the girl with the perfect stitches on her sampler.

I would have gotten a A+.    But when that perfection holds you back

and you don’t get anything done cause you keep taking it apart, well that

isn’t good either.  

Here’s my girl and her blog.

You can get the tutorial and try this on your own

or buy some of her extraordinary creations...

She doesn’t have an inner critic from the looks of things

but an angel sits on her shoulder and guides her as she produces

some Fanciful delightful devices.

now go....

FancifulDevices

Making Do.

I try to think of myself as a person who is not wasteful.  Someone who cares deeply about the planet and
the world that we live in.  I try to make do with what I have.   Anyone can go out and just buy stuff.  I like to make it myself.

  So as I was sitting at my studio/kitchen table...my little cat Princess, now blind and elderly, clawed her

way up into my lap as I was just beginning to get started.  Not wanting to move her, after all she so bravely made her way up and was already purring madly, I decided to work with what was right in front of me.

 Normally I walk around, pick up this bead and that one, ponder it, put  it on, take it

off, try something else...I make myself crazy with indecision.  But this time was different.  Just make something with the pile that was within arms reach...so I presented myself with this challenge.

and this was the result after sitting at my workbench for nearly

two hours without getting up.

I had a dimestore plastic necklace that I got at a garage sale

this weekend.  I was planning on using just a part of it...

I never thought I’d use the beads.

Much to my surprise those beads took on a whole

new vibe once released from their old habitat.

 They looked tribal, ethnic, like old bone.

They were free!   They were happy! 

and I have discovered that sometimes it’s the

touch of the human hand that puts life

and meaning into objects.

Beauty can be in the simplest of materials.

We all think semi-precious stones, gold, silver..,

these are the status symbols of wealth and cool

but this little humble necklace already exsisted...

it was bound for the bin. 

  Giving these things a 

new life is rather thrilling....and pretty feel good.

Wisteria Time

My back garden is busting with color.

Yes it’s my favorite time of the year...

My Wisteria is in full bloom.

I planted this out of a tiny 10 gallon pot about 9 years ago.

She is now a mighty thing...

even after lots of pruning she still kicks butt each and every springtime.

In fact I think that it is the pruning that makes her stronger and prettier

each year.  

And I love her for it.

Those doors lead into our bedroom.

So as I lie there, I can see her...and smell her.

and today 88 degrees outside....magic.

The buzzing of the bees is almost thunderous...

there are millions of them.

My Ginger enjoys the view as well.

Done for another year.

   We are done with taxes and you probably could hear  a big, huge sigh of relief wherever you are.
My “earnings” are so meager, I don’t even know why I have to bother.  I guess I’m easier to get
stuff off of than the big guys with the gazzilions of dollars.  They probably pay less taxes than I do.
Hope they don’t catch me dodging the money I made from a little song we did inspired by them when I was with my little group.

   

Let’s talk about more important things...

more grown-up things 

like making beads and jewelry.

                                                                           

Here’s da beads

 Here’s what I made with them.

Zen

I took the aforementioned beads and then I

used some “decayed” bead caps meaning I took some nice

bright and shiny bead caps and then put them in Mr. B’s

"magic solution"...which takes off all the shiny crappy plating

and makes them nice and funk-a-fied.  

Then I hammered a piece of steel wire, put on some

vintage brass beads that I wish I had a million of

and attached the two together. 

  Then waxed them and buffed them.

I like the simplicity of these and the gentle lil sway

they have.  They’re like little, oh I don’t know church bells.

Now I’m off to put these in the shop and make my fortune!

A few of you have asked me if I wanted to sell some of the beads

that I’m making.  So I’m giving that some thought.  Perhaps I'll list

a few just for ducks and see how it flies.