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!

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.