New jewelry & a little summer

 

Remember when I recently posted about going to the Rings & Things bead show?  Well, I dug right in and got some work done, including this necklace made entirely from African Trade beads and found the perfect piece of vintage jewelry in my stash for the pendant.  It measures about 32" long, not including the pendant.  I've got 6 new pieces made, all of whioch are now for sale at The Flying Pig, but will post maybe half of them today & the rest in a day or so, too many photos for 1 post otherwise! 

For some reason, we're (by we, I mean Gary-lol) still finding photographing jewelry difficult, although it gets better each time.  Today it seems I can't get the colors right, not sure if it's my eyes because I didn't sleep much last night, or if it's the monitor, whatever the case may be, please bear with me.   

I think you'll just have to make a road trip to Algoma to see waht these really look like:)  This one is labradorite, trade beads, coin pearls & some of the prettiest freshwater pearls that I''ve ever owned.  They're really a darkish kind of blue/purple, but seem to change a bit in the light.   

There, finally!  This color is more what it really looks like.  The focal is a gorgeous lampwork bead, from a series of tree of life beads, this being one of the nightime versions showing the moon behind the branches.  I love this bead!  This one measures about 24", not including the drop.   

Last one for today, I feel like an infomercial:)  This one is about 28" long with the drop of stick pearls being about 2 and1/2" long.  Finally got smart & wired those little puppies together, they always want to spin aruond in different directions otherwise, drove me crazy!  Besides stones from the lake that we picked, there's sunstone with the faintest gold glint to it, coin & regular freshwater pearls.  So there you have it, that's what I've been doing lately!  Still want to tear down some large sheets of watercolor paper today, so I can get some walnut ink stained & others nature printed.  Here in WI, fall is happening quickly and we'll be stuck in the house before we know it.  If not stuck in here, it'll be too cold to do that kind of thing outside at least.   

Not sure why, but we didn't spend as much time by the beach in Algoma this summer.  Actually, I honestly don't know what happened to summer this year.  All I do know is poof-it's almost gone! 

This old lighthouse is a favorite sight of mine.  Nothing fancy, but if I look at a picture of it any time of the year, I can hear the waves & feel the warmth of the sun.  Lighthouse paintings are a favorite thing it seems, in Door County.  You see them everywhere, and I do mean everywhere.  It's ok, I suppose, and if I could paint one I'm sure I'd think it was fabulous:)  ok, I'm rambling, so lets move on----- 

There's a cool boardwalk that's lit & has benches along the way, lining the beach in Algoma.  For such a small town, it's a nice touch.  It's not a huge beach, or a fancy beach, but still---it's a beach!  And I'm always surprised at how few people go there.  It's rare that you can't grab a picnic table.  I keep a bag of books, pens, sketch pad, etc in the car so if we decide to stop there, I can go sit at a table & read or art while looking & listening to the water-one of my favorite things to do.  Well, looks like I ended up with a bunch of pictures after all!  ONe more & then I'll stop-promise!  Our passion flower has been putting on quite a show for the last few weeks, putting out a new flower almost everyday, which is about how long they last-one day!  But oh so worth it!

Comments

[cheesehead with sticks]

Beautiful jewelry and beautiful flower! (I wonder if I could manage not to kill one of those passion flower plant things... ha!)

[sarahelizabeth]

I'm always surprised about how few people are at Algoma beach too! We love it there :) You are right-this summer went by way too fast! But I love fall, and I'm even starting to enjoy winter (until about February, then I'm sick of it!)

[Tammy Vitale]

oh - lovely post. Gorgeous lampwork bead. Maybe someday I'll be able to make some like that! And the beach pictures are wonderful....I love the water. Lucky I have lots of it around me! have I mentioned what great wraps you do?!

[leah]

beautiful jewelry! those beads in the first piece are great.

[Dave Robertson]

I like what you've done with those trade beads! In the top 2 photos, the chevron-ish beads have a nice zigzag look that I've not noticed before. Must be the way your design works--very cool.

Keep up the great work!

--Dave
at Rings & Things