Playing with PRAW

I couldn't stop after making the little cubes (shown in the previous entry). First came a dice...

 PRAW (especially its 6-based version) is just perfect for mimicking the strict but graceful geometry of snowflakes...

Christmas commissions

After seeing my jewellery (which can't be avoided, since I wear them every day), my colleague wished to buy /order some beadwork from me as Christmas presents for her daughters. I showed them some of my stash to choose, but she had own ideas too.

1) Seeing my  bronze necklace, she asked whether I could make a similar one - only in deep green, if possibly (her daughter is blonde with greenish eyes). Sure, I said... But who had been thought that finding deep green beads in the fitting sizes is so difficult a task... I started to think that green is an accursed colour in beading....

 2) My try with Nóra Tóth's "Zinga" pattern , with very simple colour choice. I made it without a special purpose, and it was just lying around in my stash - but now luckily it found a new home.

3) These earrings were a bit challenging, but really fun to make. The problem was that I hadn't remembered clearly my colleague's instructions. The request was a little cube-shaped earring "in yellow, orange or red" - or did she said rather "yellow, orange and red"?  I wasn't sure, so I went for the latter version...

They're are little "unfilled" cubes, all edge consisting of 5 CRAW units made with 15/0 seed beads. (So basically, a cube made from cubes. Cubeception XD)
If you think abut it, CRAW is actually three-dimensional in itself, but earlier I used it mainly for two-dimensional projects like the "celestial" set from the previous entry (OK, except for Maria's little crown). But these now, they're really 3D!

I've got no idea for a fitting title... :)

Well, I really don't know, what to do... Cannot decide, whether I should carry on with this blog, after abandoning it for months.  But until I make up my mind, I'll try to post some projects from last year I have now deemed worth showing (they'll came as pre-prepared timed entries in the following weeks) - will they be the start of a new beginning? Or a farewell? Don't know...

 "Purple haze"

My first and presumably last try with the color "Crystal lilac" from Swarovski. Looks lovely, but these newer colored coatings (Crystal Shiny Lacquer, and DeLite they're called, if I'm not mistaken) are not really my cup of tea. The pattern is a version of my "Freiheit" design, but I used here 6 mm round beads instead of 8 mms, so the result is smaller.

And why "purple haze"? It's not easy to explain in English, but in Hungarian we say "halványlila gőzöm sincs róla" (literally translated: I've got not even pale purple steam about this), when we have absolutely no idea about something. :)

When I made these sun-and-moon earrings, I already thought about making a matching necklace too - with stars, obviously, to complete the concept - but somehow I never had time for it.
But when I had bought this T-shirt last summer, there were no more excuses...

Circulus vitiosus

Um seine Hobbys finanzieren zu können, man muss ja Geld verdienen. Aber neben Arbeit ist es nicht einfach, Zeit für die Hobbys zu finden... Klar, ich habe jetzt ein viel komplizierteres Problem sehr vereinfacht, im Grunde genommen ist es aber doch so. Man hat ja entweder Geld, oder Freizeit, oder Inspiration - aber alle gleichzeitig... das kommt ja selten.

Ich habe aber manches gefädelt, wenn auch nicht viel, konnte aber mich nicht dazu bringen, sie zu posten. Jetzt werde ich versuchen, das Versäumnis nachzuholen.

 Für meine Schwester zu ihrem Namenstag. Ich hatte dann nur eine sehr limitierte Perlenauswahl bei mir, und sollte schnell etwas improvisieren - bin aber zufrieden mit dem Ergebnis. Ich möchte mit dem Muster noch weiter experimentieren, mal sehen, was daraus kommen wird...








Versuche mit 8 mm Chatons. Diese Blauen waren eigentlich nur Probestücke - da sie aber so niedlich geworden sind, werde ich sie behalten.
Dieses Design möchte ich dennoch bei einem größeren Projekt zu verwenden, Gott weiß aber nur, wenn...

Verwendete Materialien: Chaton 8 mm, Bicones 4 mm, Pearls 3 mm, Rocailles 15/0

Helluin

Normally I'm not very fond of special coatings, such as AB effect. Sure, they are beautiful, but too extravagant for me. But this 'light sapphire shimmer' chaton was just too interesting... It reminded me of the star Sirius twinkling in the evening sky  (Being not well-versed in astronomy, it's almost the only star I can recognize...)
Unfortunately couldn't find bicones in the same color, so I've chosen "air blue opal 2 AB" and "aquamarine AB". Totally out of my comfort zone... but the result is kinda pretty, I think. Shiny and flashy, no doubt - but small enough for being not too flamboyant.
Oh yes, as for the name: in The Silmarillion by Tolkien, Helluin is the elvish name for the star Sirius. (hel- meaning 'ice' and 'luin' = 'blue')

Pattern of the "Shinzou" bracelet

Last year I made some bracelets matching to my "Freiheit"-pendants. I wanted to make a tutorial for the bracelet as well, but unfortunately it took a long time to finish it. But finally, it's here - many thanks to Nicole from Drei kleine Perlen for testing it! You can see her beautiful version here. Actually, I was encouraged to publish the pattern by seeing how great her version turned out. (I had been a bit uncertain at the beginning, whether the pattern will be usable or not...)

You can find the tutorial here: Shinzou bracelet

In case you have any problem with it, please, let me know! (As Nicole pointed out, choosing the right thread can be a crucial point...)

Here are the versions I've made so far: teal (later supplemented with a ring too), copper, black-silver and green.

PS: I know, the picture is not the best, but they looked so fun together... like a vambrace :)

Kokoro no kakera

Sounds cute, doesn't it? It means something like "fragment of heart"  in Japanese, and it was mentioned so often in the anime Princess Tutu, that even I could learn it :)

I like this series very much, so it's easy to understand, that the heart-shaped pendants by Swarovski reminded me inmediately of the heart-shards, which have a central role in the story. (In order to defeat a monster, the prince of the tale had sacrificed his own heart. The main character, Ahiru tries to collect the scattered pieces and so returning to him his lost feelings...)

This pendant, however, isn't meant to be a replica of any of the jewels in the film (the heart-shards were there simply red gems, while Tutu's pendant has a totally different design). It's only inspired by the story, nothing more...