Sunday, March 21, 2010

Happy Spring

Today is the first day of Spring, and after a little snowfall yesterday, we have sunny skies and warm(er) temperatures. In honor of this delightful day, I bring you my latest Artbeads creation.

When I heard the theme was "The Beauty of Spring" I went immediately to the Czech Glass and selected large bell flowers in translucent white and pink crystal. I also chose small fuchsia crystal and a blue/purple/jonquil combination. I knew balled headpins would add the detail the flowers needed. Because I would be using plain loop connections, I only needed 1 1/4" long headpins. Here's my tray of goodies before I got started:





I was going for the look of a group of naturalized flowers that had just burst forth from the ground. While we do have a few shoots peeking out from the muddy ground, we're still about a month away from flowers, so I had to use my memory and imagination for inspiration. Fixing the looped flowers to chain would give the clustering look I wanted. I started with the largest beads, since I had fewer of those. I added a tiny daisy spacer to the headpin, and then the glass flower.




Are you wondering about that out-of-place coral round? Well, that's what I use to measure so I get uniform loops. It takes 1 cm of wire to turn a plain loop. My red bead is a 10mm. So, by placing it on my headpin, making a flush cut above it, and then removing the bead, all my loops will be even. I ended up making more than 60 for this necklace, so having a guide really helped.




Here's the cut wire just before I made the loop:



Enough of the tutorial! I know you really just want to see the end result! Here's the necklace:




And a closer view:




I made these silver connectors to help space out the crowded chains. I like a lush fullness but not a jumbled mess!




I liked the connectors so much, I thought they would make nice earrings:



And just for fun, I made a hula-hoop inspired pair:


How did you celebrate the first day of Spring? To win a pair of earrings, leave a comment and let me know! Become a follower or link to this post on your blog, and you'll get a second entry. I'll draw the winning names on March 31 -- one for the hoops and one for the dangles.

Disclaimer: I have received these beads (glass flowers and headpins) free of charge from Artbeads.com. My review is my own opinion and I have not been paid for this endorsement.

7 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, this makes me so happy! What a great design! I am going to put those beads on my wish list!! Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lisa,
    My photos don't do them justice. You'd love the subtle colors -- the white has a wonderful iridescence, and the blues are laced with purple and yellow-green.
    Glad you like the design.
    Karin

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those are beautiful! Here, the crocuses are up. I've only got a few here & there -- I need to plant more in the fall. They are too small to do much for the garden but they make me so happy when they come up.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Karin you are so talented! The flower necklace design just made me smile. I think I liked the drop-style earrings best.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  6. For Stacy, who was having trouble with the "verify"

    "Oliver and I celebrated the first day of Spring by attending my Master Recycler's Program fieldtrip to the local transfer station and landfill.
    Then went to the Rogue Creamery for CHEESE FESTIVAL!!
    Good day, hope you had one too=)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sorry to be late posting this: Lisa wins the hoops and Kate wins the dangles. Thanks for playing!

    ReplyDelete