Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Beading like there is no tomorrow...

Now, The Beach-challenge is done. I have tried different ideas but settled on this one: a bit kitchy bracelet that got named "After The Storm".


I was born in Jurmala - little town close to Riga, lying along the beach of the Baltic coast, known for its spa-resorts. We have moved to the capital when I was five, but still were spending summers there. I remember walking on the beach days after first autums storms. Than the sea surface would be calm as a mirror, the air is clear and is smells only like the sea air can do. And than there are piles of sea-weed all the way along the shore. As a kid, I loved to play with those piles and search for treasures. Sometimes, one could find pieces of amber amongst the junk. I think my mom still keeps my colelction of beach findings.

I have faced two personal challenges while making this bracelet. First of all, I am still very uncomfortable with blending colors. Usually, you would see many shades of the same color or two close neighbors in the same piece. Here I blended two different parts of the spectrum, and I liked the result ;)
My second personal challenge was to bead a 3D-freeform peyote. Also a thing that I have never tried before (inspired by art of the fellow EBW team member Dini Alves, actually). This is just a pretty pale first try, but I will surely come back to this technique - it gives such a freedom! Like spreading-your-wings-and-just-letting-it-go sort of feeling!
I will put it in my Etsy shop shortly.



And this is the second piece that I'd like to share with you today - a comission necklace made for a friend of mine. I had some trouble with attaching the cabs to the rope; you see my third solution. I've had some brainstorming with other beaders from PärlPlatsen and got some good critique about what could be improved. The person who ordered it liked the necklace in its current state, though. And it looked quite well around the neck, actually. :)

The large stone is onyx, two smaller one are obsidians.

And this is just a picture to show the Jablonex seed beads in all their glory. Love those!
That's all for today :) Thank you for visiting my blog!

9 comments:

BeadsForever said...

Both of your new pieces are beautiful. I loved reading about your life on the beach.

bani said...

Oh I love the beach bracelet! Gorgeous!

Marlaine said...

Your beach theme bracelet is gorgeous. Is it for the Tropical Holiday challenge?

GrandmaMarilyn said...

They are both beautiful. Happy I was able to see your beauties.

Foxan said...

Thank you so much!

No, this is not for the Tropical holiday - I have decided to skip the EBW challenge this month. It's made for one of the Swedish challenges.

Take care :)
Olga

beadsandblooms said...

Both very beautiful creations. I love the way the blue beads flow into the amber in your bracelet.

pärlbesatt said...

Åh, stranden påminner mig om ett halsband jag gjort och som finns på min sida lite längre bort. Fast ditt är ju tusen gånger finare förstås.

Foxan said...

Pärlbesatt: Ja, faktiskt! Mitt är inte finare, det är annorlunda ;)

Swanee said...

Olga, your "After the Storm" bracelet is FANTASTIC. I absolutely love it! Please let us know how you do in the Swedish Challenge. If you give us the link, I would go and vote for you. After the challenge, you should think about sending it in for publication!