The course I am taking...

Some of you know already that I am taking a course from a Russian beadweaving master, Galina Pchelkina via biser.info.
I took it because I felt stuck in peyote and bead embroideries, like sitting in a comfort zone for all too long. Russian beaders are insanely versatile in their use of techniques! Anyhow, I joined the course. First lesson was simple (chains), so was the 2nd (cab settings). The third was a plain nightmare: Right Angle Weave in combination with strict following the pattern (I was seriously considering dropping out, but Galina kicked my butt). And here is the lesson four. I loved it!

All patterns that have been used are copyright of Galina. I just have added some personal touches to them, but all the credit should go to my teacher.

Blue lace:
The Other Sister Boleyn:



A fragment of a necklace that I have to finish (hope to get my carnelian beads soon!).

You must be able to speak at least some Russian to take the course. It is free of charge, open for registration until May the 1st.

Take care!

Time Machine Challenge - we have a winner!

Most sincere congratulations to beadsbyvezsuzs!
Stunning masterpiece, please check it out here.

The topic for the next challenge is Red Carpet (by RachelesOrignals). The idea is to bead for a movie-star of your choice.
Well... Sofia Loren or Cate Blanchet? Classic beauty or elvish extravagance?
Will see. I have not decided upon entering yet, all depends on availability of time.

Water... Everywhere is water...

Guys, now it is official: I am hooked on blues and turquoise.
I have bought those cool dyed dragon-skin agates at Facett. It was kind of an impuls-buy. That's why I wanted to make something with them as soon as possible, otherwise they would have joined other things in my stash-pile.

I have borrowed the idea from Karton, with her kind permission (thanks for showing it to me, Kristina!).

So, these are the stones:

And here is what I have done with them:


This is the view from behind:

And this is the fringe-part:

I think those two do match :)

Fairytale geography continues - Due East

I bought this beautiful Afghan Lapis Lazuli cab from Stardust - a little lapidary shop in the Old City of Stockholm. It became immideately clear that it is going to be a solitair as well, I would not like to match it with other stones.


The bowl on the picture was bought in Morocco. It is handpainted - the lines are not perfectly straight and the pattern is not perfectly symmetrical. That's why I like it so much.
I wanted to make my pendant the same way, and used the very first sketch without trying to make it flawlessly symmetrical.
The idea for the pattern came to me from traditional Persian textiles.

Love affair: me and Russian gems

I've just finished another pendant with a stone from Valentina's shop.
This time, it is marvelous Russian jasper. It started talking to me not more than a week ago, asking for ivory, pearls and furs. Imagine that!

The inspiration for it came from two sources. The pendant itsef is inspired by the book of fairytales of people of Northern Russia that I bought to my sons. But the technical part of making it got inspiration from beadwork of a talented Russian artist Guzell Bakeeva, a piece of bead embroidery on fur.

I called it Due North. Well, the timing is not perfect, perhaps (lagom till sommaren). But hey - when stones start talking to you, it's impossible to just ignore it!



And yes, it is not supposed to be symmetric or straight!

P.S. I have used a small bit of a Fair Trade reindeer (caribou) pelt, produced by Saami-people in North of Sweden.

And again - Etsy Beadweavers April Challenge!

I have said it before and I say it again - I am very proud of being an Etsy Beadweaver! Just look at the incredible examples of creativity at its best in this mosaic:

I decided not to participate this month.
You know the drill: the pole is open from 9th to 15th at http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/
Come and vote for your favorites!

Have a fabulous day! :)
I'm off to work to write even more project proposals. Happy-happy, joy-joy, sarcasm-sarcasm...

More Russian Fairytales

This pendant is made for the Smyckestillbehör competition. Together with other entries, it is listed in their blog. Everybody is welcome to have a look and leave thier comments on any of the entering creations before the 20th of April.

The inspiration for this necklace comes from fairytales of Pavel Bozhov, a famous Russian writer. Born in Ural (as my mother), he was writing about the hidden treasuries of this remarkable part of Russia: the mines rich with gems and precious metals and people rich with talent.

The story tells about a skillful miner that wanted to make a flower of stone that would have come alive. The poor guy had some set-backs on his way and made several beta-versions before coming up with his final creation, the angel's trumpet inspired stone flower. Well, I will pick the white Angel's flower some other time.

For now - the pendant is made with Charoite, a rare stone with rich natural lilac color. It is mined only in one place on entire planet - on the banks of river Chara in Yakutia region in north of Russia.






Take care!

Finally - my Facett creation

I have started mking this cuff at Facett. Finally, I wanted to make an embroidered cuff as every self-respecting bead-embroiderer does ;) Or, rather, all normal people start with small pieces (like cufs), and just overambitious freaks like myself make humangous collars their first projects.

Oceania is going to be for sale at Etsy.