New Work!

When you read this post, I will have just gotten back from a week long trip to St. Maarten with my boyfriend, celebrating our 50th birthdays - his was just after Christmas, mine is in May!  Since I won't have time to show you what my new beady inspiration will be from photos of that trip, I thought I'd just show you what I've been working on lately!

 First, I've been working on some round beads, and playing with frit reactions with silver foil! 

 Some sold immediately on FaceBook, which was really nice. Others are now listed in my etsy store.

I'll be working on more of these when I get back from my trip!

I've also been working on perfecting my beads using the bicone bead roller.  I love this shape!

I did some in the same colorways as the round beads, and then some with color wrapped around the middle.

I think my favorites, though, are the last two on this mandrel - the tribal looking ones and the softened bicones on the bottom.  There are many possibilities I'll also be revisiting!

I've also been doing a lot of work on my house, so I've been relaxing doing some bead weaving.  It's a new obsession, I think.  I made this one for me, with one of my favorite beads of all time!

It's hard to see, but these seed beads (Jonquil Rainbow Jet Lined size 11 from Toho) have the most amazing rainbow look and go perfectly with this black metallic heart I made.

I knew I wanted to use the bronze Saki Silver clasp, it goes perfectly with the imprinted swirl design on the heart.  But I had a hard time visualizing how I wanted to connect the heart to the necklace.  I thought about many things, but finally decided on this bronze bail.

I'm really happy with how it came out.

I made this necklace for my mom, with a ceramic flower pendant from White Clover Kiln.  It took me a really long time to decide one, find and finally receive the seed beads, but I'm happy I waited.

I made a spiral rope with size 11s as the base rose, and then the loops are size 15s and size 8s.  The contrast gives the spiral rope some nice texture.

I had the perfect clasp in my stash - a Swarovski box clasp I purchased from A Grain of Sand a very long time ago!

My mom loved her necklace!

Currently, I'm working on finishing this beaded bezel ammonite cab I made - I was in the mood for some color and I'm excited to finish this - maybe while I'm on my trip.

And I'm already planning my next project - deciding which pendant to use to make a spiral rope for myself; I love these colors, and this will most definitely be with my on my trip - if I have enough time in between laying on the beach, drinking fruity drinks and eating, I may just get to it!

When your schedule gets tight, what do you work on?  Have you tried anything new lately?

Susan Kennedy
SueBeads Etsy
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