Wow, I won 3rd prize!

Last time, I told you that I have entered a beading contest by PärlPlatsen - Summer Memories.

One of my necklaces has taken the 3rd prize, and the other one - the 4th. All entries can be viewed in this gallery, please click on the pictures to see them in full size.

The 3rd prize winner is The Ray of Light, featuring Anita Spångberg's gorgeous fused glass cab (which, actually, has inspired the rest of the necklace).
It reminds me of sun-rays, bright and hot. This was my first experiment with a RAW - rope.
The second necklace was my favorite of these two, as the matter of fact. It is named after the town of my birth - Júrmala. A popular Latvian song, "Pie dzintara júras" ("By the amber sea") was on my mind in the process of making it.
I've used aqua terra jasper (variscite) stones in two different shapes. It was a nice material to work with!


One more news - this week I've been featured in Etsy Team Latvia blog. There are going to be new stories of all the group members every Tuesday! Everybody is welcome to have a look, the girs do truly AMAZING work! There are not just beadweavers in this team, but also painters, photographers, taylors, embroiderers, sculptors, etc. All united by Latvia - the country where theyir roots are from.

I am working on a free-form brickstitch tutorial that will be posted here. Stay tuned!

Sorry for being idle!

Folks, I did not intend to disappear like this, it just happened.

Duties first: Etsy BeadWeavers had another Monthly challenge, Red Carpet.
The winner is Miriam Cielo with a GORGEOUS necklace! Congratulations!!!

And here are all entries:

The topic of next month is HUMOR.

Right, now I have some explaining to do. The matter is that my mom was here for a visit. I did not feel like hanging online all the time. That would explain my absence from the beading forums and Etsy Beadweavers Yahoo group.

I thought I'd just bombard you with pictures of the items that I've been making. None are for sale, all to give away :)

1. White simple everyday set for my mom:

(these are my first beaded earrings!!!)

2. Also for my mom, ogalala lace-based necklace (pattern by Katie Debuque in Bead and Button 2001 46:68)

I made this one only because 90% of inhabitants of a Russian beading site, biser.info, have this necklace in their galleries, group pressure I guess... I'll never EVER make another one, I was so incredibly bored! But it looks nice on mum's neck, and that is what makes it worth it!

3. More stuff for mom. This is not an original design either. The setting of the cab is beaded for one of the lessons of Galina Pchelkina's course. The chain is free pattern of Sandra Halpenny available here. It's sort of a simple and timeless necklace. Not exactly my style, but totally wearable!

The cab is a wild Russian beauty - a rare stone called "scarn" from Valentina's shop.

4. My mother loves amethyst. And here is another simple pair of earrings:

5. This is a present for a good friend of mother's. Светлана Ивановна, С Днем Рождения!

6. My homework for Galina Pchelkina's lesson Nr. 5 - a medallion. Have no idea what to do with it. yet.

7. Finally a Foxan/MadeByOlga style: a present for my baby-brother's fiancé, with close-ups:


8. Two more pieces were submitted for a local beading contest. I'll blog about those after the 25th of May.


Hugs, time to go to bed... But now you know why I was idle!