Monday, August 1, 2016

Year of Jewelry Project - Week 27 -

This week's challenge is amethyst... not so much for me! 

I am helping out as an advisor for the month's  beading  challenge in a Facebook group Seed Beads and More.  The challenge is to make a rope of beads... There are several types of rope to choose from, my specialty is Cellini, so I am making up a few different pieces made with varying lengths of Cellini stitch ropes..

I like this one :) 

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Year of Jewelry Project - Week 26 - Sapphire

This piece is made for the project week 26, which is Sapphire. While these are not real sapphires, they are the color. I love blue, and I posses a lot of sapphires, even this color in some jewelry, but most of my loose sapphires are of different colors.. I could have made a ring or something with  them, and it would have been right on target, but I don't like the stones that are not this color... But, they are getting expensive... so... I substituted the glass for the stone and I found this pendant a while back, thinking I would make some sort of nice necklace to go with it...

Here's my chance.

I started out with a Spiral Cellini stitch (seems my go to stitch this year) which is made in 15/0, 11/0, 6/0. and 8/0 seed beads in sapphire blue, rainbow gold, antique bronze and black.

I thought the midpoint of the necklace needed to be a bit different, so it morphed into a cylindrical Peyote stitch of all antique bronze color,  and then  back to the Cellini stitch.  The rest of the 'chain' is made of a modified Right Angle Weave stitch, or RAW.  I used the antique bronze and the sapphire glass beads for this, the closure is a loop and bar type, which needs to be replaced. I found that I really don't like this type of closure on a necklace. It needs to be something a bit sturdier I feel.

The pendant is a bought blue and antique bronze piece that I really like, it is shiny and solid at the same time.



Monday, May 2, 2016

Year of Jewelry- Week 8 - Garnet

This isn't quite garnets, but it is a deep red, I don't know if the camera captured that fact well enough, but it is a really nice mixture of garnet colored crystal and glass beads. I added a bit of amber color to set it off.
The base of the necklace would be a Cellini Spiral stitch with  15/0, 11/0, 6/0, and  8/0 glass beads of varying colors, mostly red and gold.

The drop pendant is a glass bead in garnet color, topped with a gold plated metal bead. I like that it gives a bit of texture right next to the shiny glass.

Above the Cellini stitch is crystal and glass beads ending in a chain and string of glass beads with a simple screw clasp.


Monday, March 28, 2016

2016 Year of Jewelry - Week 13-

This necklace was inspired by the focal bead that I received from Lea Avrock, it is ceramic with sandy colors of tan, gold and pink. I love the color combination, and I used crystal and glass beads to compliment the bead turned pendant. 
The base of the necklace is the Spiral Cellini stitch  again! It is comprise of 15/0, 10/0, and 6/0 seed beads, the rest is made of glass and crystal, ending in a loop and bar closure. It features a gold plated circular charm for show :)



Thursday, February 11, 2016

Friday, February 5, 2016

Week 6- Year of Jewelry Project- Full Fathom Five

This week's  scheduled subject was the painting by Jackson Pollock, Full Fathom Five.
It was the first of his paintings(1947) that used the "drip method" and was kind of cool, I suppose if you like that sort of painting...
I am skeptical when it comes to avant gard paintings... and to say the least, that is what his were.

Anyway, I kind of halfway cheated... ok, so I really cheated. I am NOT showing the piece that I have been working on for the whole of the week... I am including the bracelet that I made to match the Self-Portrait necklace at the beginning of the year. Gosh! The beginning of the year... I'm already describing it that way!

So this is the bracelet, done in flat, even count peyote stitch, with 11/0 triangle seed beads. It is bordered with triangles, and the focal is the polished lava stone, held in place by both triangles, crystals, and glass beads.

I kind of like this bracelet!



Kind of hate that Blogger will not allow me to rotate it around to the normal view point. 





Friday, January 15, 2016

Week 3- Weaving and Braiding

Week 3.

I didn't actually follow the theme, but came close. If this was made out of wire or yarn, or even leather, it would have... but I chose enamel on copper.

I love this knot, and use it over and over.

The color is a bit drab, but I kind of like it being one color.

I haven't finished it off yet, the chain maille is not  quite what I wanted, and I'm not great with making it. But I wanted a bit to connect the pendant with the chain, so I'll go back and redo that part until I get it to where I like it.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Year of Jewelry Project - Week 2 - Rose Quartz

 This Rose Quartz and Moss Jasper(which is part of the chalcedony family, green Hornblende that cause the pattern to resemble moss. Often used as a synonym for Moss Agate, though Moss Agate is translucent whereas Moss Jasper is opaque) necklace is probably my favorite so far this year. It is made with silver wire, glass, metal, and crystal beads to compliment the colors of the stones. 

These stones are not something that I use much, they both, the quartz and the jasper are both light colors that many people steer away from, especially the pink. I've found that many people prefer deeper colors, unless it is early Spring here. Maybe that isn't the case in other parts of the country, but out here, brighter, or deeper colors reign.






Friday, January 1, 2016

2016 Year of Jewelry Project - Week 1





Hi all, I'm Maire Covert, I'm from the Permian Basin in Texas (desert)... I make several types of jewelry, I started out beading when I was a kid, I do mainly peyote and Cellini now, string when I'm terribly busy...but... I do other stuff, too. I work in metals, vinyl, resins, paper, polymer clay, metal clay, and really love to use odds and ends. I'm hoping to show more of my work this year.

I can't wait to see the gorgeous jewelry everyone makes!

I'm starting off with this,I made it for myself, it is a conglomeration of leftover beads and a beautiful focal... a "Bellflower", from Lea Avroch. Her work is stunning, I added seed beads from 11/0 up to 6/0, delicas, tiles, crystals, glass of other shapes, resin flower caps, bugles, with a silver plated clasp. 

Happy New Year to everyone! Have fun and enjoy the creating and sharing!



Welcome 2016!

Finally, it is a New Year!

I've been looking forward to this year, I don't know why so much as that it is going to bring in a lot of changes for me personally. My jewelry is going to be more of a priority than it has been in the past, and I want to try really hard to keep up with the Year of Jewelry Project... I want to be able to complete and photograph for the whole 52 weeks of the year...

So...

I also began the Photo a Day Challenge... to take a photo a day, with hopes that one day a week it will be with my creations...

The first week of the YOJ is kind of left up to everyone, a posting of something and to introduce yourself...

This is what I posted.

Hi all, I'm Maire Covert, I'm from the Permian Basin in Texas (desert)... I make several types of jewelry, I started out beading when I was a kid, I do mainly peyote and Cellini now, string when I'm terribly busy...but... I do other stuff, too. I work in metals, vinyl, resins, paper, polymer clay, metal clay, and really love to use odds and ends. I'm hoping to show more of my work this year.
I'm getting off to a bumpy start, not the 'talisman' like last year... we had unexpected company so I'm a bit behind. Last year, I fizzled out on the project at about week 39. I did more work, just never get around to takin pictures. I made the resolution to participate fully, and even added another challenge to the list... the photo a daychallenge ... already off to a bumpy start there as well... no pressure!
I can't wait to see the gorgeous jewelry everyone makes!

I'm starting off with this,I made it for myself, it is a conglomeration of leftover beads and a beautiful focal... a "Bellflower", from Lea Avroch. Her work is stunning, I added seed beads from 11/0 up to 6/0, delicas, tiles, crystals, glass of other shapes, resin flower caps, bugles, with a silver plated clasp. Sorry that I don't have my lightbox up... another resolution is to find it a permanent home.
Happy New Year to everyone! Have fun and enjoy the creating and sharing



 This focal is the Bellflower made by Lea Avroch.
Her work was highlighted in my blog My 31 Days
Her website is here
This year, the YOJ will be a bit different, there will be colors for the monthly theme, January is Pink, which is my favorite... but I didn't quite start out with pink, now did I?

Here is a list of the 'themes'

JANUARY - Colour of the Month: PINK
Week 1 (Jan 3) - Introducing Myself & My Goals for 2016
Week 2 (Jan 10) - Rose Quartz
Week 3 (Jan 17) - Coral
Week 4 (Jan 24) - Rhodolite
Week 5 (Jan 31) - Pink with Darks & Lights

FEBRUARY - Colour of the Month: RED
Week 6 (Feb 7) - Ruby
Week 7 (Feb 14) - Red with Analagous Colours
Week 8 (Feb 21) - Garnet
Week 9 (Feb 28) - Fire Opal

MARCH - Colour of the Month: YELLOW/GOLD
Week 10 (Mar 7) - Citrine
Week 11 (Mar 14) - Sandstone
Week 12 (Mar 21) - Yellow with Split Complementary Colours
Week 13 (Mar 28) - Chrysoberyl

APRIL - Colour of the Month: WHITE/SILVER
Week 14 (Apr 4) - Moonstone
Week 15 (Apr 11) - Silver Stands Alone
Week 16 (Apr 18) - Pearl
Week 17 (Apr 25) - Herkimer Diamond

MAY - Colour of the Month: GREEN
Week 18 (May 2) - Cool Green vs. Warm Green
Week 19 (May 9) - Emerald
Week 20 (May 16) - Moss Agate
Week 21 (May 23) - Chrysoprase
Week 22 (May 30) - Peridot

JUNE - Colour of the Month: BLUE
Week 23 (Jun 6) - Blue in a Triadic Colour Scheme
Week 24 (Jun 13) - Aquamarine
Week 25 (Jun 20) - Turquoise
Week 26 (Jun 27) - Sapphire

JULY - Colour of the Month: PURPLE
Week 27 (Jul 4) - Amethyst
Week 28 (Jul 11) - Lepidolite
Week 29 (Jul 18) - Purple in a Quadratic Colour Scheme
Week 30 (Jul 25) - Charoite

AUGUST - Colour of the Month: YOUR BIRTHSTONE
Week 31 (Aug 1) - Earrings
Week 32 (Aug 8) - Pendants
Week 33 (Aug 15) - Rings
Week 34 (Aug 22) - Bracelets
Week 35 (Aug 29) - Designer's Choice

SEPTEMBER - Colour of the Month: ORANGE/COPPER
Week 36 (Sept 5) - Topaz
Week 37 (Sept 12) - Carnelian
Week 38 (Sept 19) - Peach Moonstone
Week 39 (Sept 26) - Pure Copper

OCTOBER - Colour of the Month: BROWN
Week 40 (Oct 3) -   Smoky Quartz
Week 41 (Oct 10) - Bronzite
Week 42 (Oct 17) - Staying Neutral
Week 43 (Oct 24) - Jasper
Week 44 (Oct 31) - Tiger Eye

NOVEMBER - Colour of the Month: BLACK
Week 45 (Nov 7) -  Onyx
Week 46 (Nov 14) - Hematite
Week 47 (Nov 21) - Black in Monochromatic Colour Scheme
Week 48 (Nov 28) - Fossil

DECEMBER - Colour of the Month: MULTICOLOUR
Week 49 (Dec 5) - Opal
Week 50 (Dec 12) - Ammolite
Week 51 (Dec 19) - Catch the Rainbow!
Week 52 (Dec 26) - Designer's Choice