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Total matches for beadwork: 187

Adariel

Adariel

Adariel is most certainly independently-minded, truly appreciating the people who know the difference between having a strong will and being pushy or closed off.  Even so, she's happy to encourage the uncertain and the timid to find their own voice and sing.

Well.  I had something completely different in mind when I started this project.  It's all the better for running off in a totally different direction, though.  The wings from start to finish were a wince-inducing four-day project, in part due to the several different types of stabilizing and reinforcing necessary to make certain that two points could distribute the weight without problem.  (Sure she only weights 0.8 ounces, but I'm thorough.)  And after the project shifted dramatically, I was aware that I would probably need more beads only to find... those exact type/color combination were no longer manufactured.  Well.  That's where the lovely light mint green diamonds on her back and stomach come from.  Necessity is the mother of... something.  Beads?

Ultimately, she's designed to hang somewhere.  Around a neck as a necklace, on a hook somewhere to show off her loveliness; whatever.  And with Swarovski crystals for eyes and two swirled green "moonglow" beads as tail accents, there's quite a lot of sparkly loveliness to show off.

(Sold)

 

Date: 27 June 2013
Nienne

Nienne

Nienne is a jewel dragon who loves night life in the city.  Or rather, he enjoys hanging around city parks and observing all of the interesting people who pass by at night.  His very favorite things are fireworks in the summer, but he doesn't mind a little stargazing with is people watching.  If you happen to be out for a stroll on a nice evening, and particularly if you have some peanuts to spare, he may just pay you a visit.

Oh, man.  I was aiming for "simple".  I mean, kind of.  Compared to... I'm not sure, exactly; point being, I kind of simplified a little.  And wound up deciding that what I really wanted to do was reinforce the little guy's wings so they could be fully extended without problem.  I succeeded!  ...And in in process managed to work some wire loose in the wings and then had to do things over and there was a little bit of screaming and some cursing I'd rather not repeat, but Nienne was obviously grateful so no harm done.  This resulted in stable but still perfectly flexible wings to go with the rest of his fully poseable (legs, toes, neck, waist, tail, and of course wings) form.  I quite happily managed to improve the internal structure as well; so while there aren't many poses in these pictures, so many more are possible and easily held.  (What can I say; I'm confident in the stability of my work, but I'm still the artist so I'm stupidly careful about it too.)

Ultimately this guy has a full wingspan of 9 inches, is about 5.5 inches from the tip of his nose to his tail, and stands at about 2 inches tall at the shoulder.  He was made by hand with love and beads and passion and thread and beads and wire and fabric and beads and hand aches.  And some beads.

(Sold.)

Date: 15 March 2013
Simple Snake Bracelets

Simple Snake Bracelets

2013 is a Year of the Snake, and I just wanted to do something a little simpler.  Almost subtle, even!  But only almost.  I mean, I'm still me.

(For Sale: Milk Snake, Rattle Snake, Green Tree Python)

Date: 28 January 2013
Lady Abigail

Lady Abigail

Lady Abigail (or just Abby to her friends) is still a little new at this.  Oh, she knows how to march, knows every whistle and command, can walk in step or run ahead and around.  It's the whole armor thing that she has yet to get used to.  Her handler thought it might be a good idea to get her started with something custom-made, something unique and personal.  Hey, even chocobos like to feel special.

I'd been thinking about making a fully-wired, completely poseable chocobo for some time now.  I just hadn't actually given in to such insane ideas until now.  The reception to my Desert Bus chocobos was just so good that I felt I should really push myself and rise to the ridiculously complicated challenge.  But I'm glad I did!  The result is lovely Abby with a wired beak, head and neck, legs, toes, wings (all of her primary feathers are also wired) and tail.  And she has claws!  I've been wanting to put claws on a chocobo for years!

And then, after all that, I decided she needed armor.  (Because I'm kind of unsmart.)  So... I went right for some scrap leather I've had for years and started cutting.  Well that was a learning experience, but seeing as how the result makes me extremely happy, it was worth the work.  Stylized forget-me-nots are the flowers that grace Abby's armor, and once I figured out how to firmly secure rhinestones to leather, I couldn't resist having some "flower buds" on her helmet/mask.  Both pieces of armor attach easily with little handmade hook and eye findings and chain, and it's really easier than it looks.

She also needed that lovely blue velvet blanket.  Yes, real silk velvet.  Yes, it attracts light colored fuzzies like crazy, but it's SO SOFT and shimmery and yes.

And of course she's my chocobo, so she needed a touch of bling.  I beaded her a couple of wired "anklets" and then decided her wings needed a little sparkle, so I made her some "wingbands" too.  She seems to like them.

Abby's a big girl.  In her "natural" pose, she stands 12 inches high to the very top of her crest.  With her tail up, she's 6 inches from her chest to her tail, but with her tail extended out that measurement jumps to just over 10 inches.  Fully extended, her wingspan is 15.5 inches.  She can quite solidly support a Square-Enix action figure bareback, and can easily support the lighter ones with full armor on.

She's playful, sweet and loves her greens.  But she won't turn down a slice of cheesecake.  Just so you know.

(Sold.)

Date: 05 January 2013
Shyguy Bracelet

Shyguy Bracelet

I don't know why, I'm just a sucker for Shyguys.  You can imagine how happy Yoshi's Island made me, then.  They're bouncy and colorful and make delightfully terrible noises--what's not to love?

(For Sale)

Date: 22 November 2012
Shyguy Bracelet

Shyguy Bracelet

I don't know why, I'm just a sucker for Shyguys.  You can imagine how happy Yoshi's Island made me, then.  They're bouncy and colorful and make delightfully terrible noises--what's not to love?

(For Sale)

Date: 20 November 2012
Peacock Cuff

Peacock Cuff

An old, battered peacock cabochon I'd gotten years ago at a discount really needed a new life. Add leftover seed beads, some wire scraps, Swarovski crystals and a band of super-soft black leather I'd been playing with and... results! There's a little extra dusted gold detailing along the top and bottom, since... well, shiny.

I so needed to do something simple.  Even if hand-sewing leather is full of cursing.

(Sold)

Date: 20 October 2012
Nine Dragons Collar

Nine Dragons Collar

Legends insist that the Five Great Desert Temples are guarded by nine dragon siblings; two to each directional temple, the eldest one in the center.  They are fair dragons, now, and certainly would not do harm to anyone who approached without mallice in their heart; but they will defend their land and each other from fools.  The treasure, you see, is what changes with every telling.  Is it gold?  Jewels?  Knowledge?  Power beyond human comprehension?  No one has ever managed to return to tell.

Last time I was in Georgia, I went dragon hunting.  Which is to say that my (very patient, supportive) partner in crime and I spent 15 minutes combing through a huge bin of cloisonne beads just to find these tiny articulated dragons that I had never seen anywhere before.  I had to have them!  They were all just a touch beat up, and I kept one that had been broken (he's fixed now, though).  The ones used in the necklace were cleaned up a little and reinforced, but all of the little nicks and bends were kept.  They've got more personality that way.

I don't really want to talk about how much time it took, because I just plain did not start counting and I refuse to look back and see how many days I was working on it.  The upper part was a very "I wonder what would happen if..." thing that took way longer than I expected due to reinforcing absolutely everything for stability, and then the netting that lead down to the dragons... just kind of happened.  And of course I wanted to practice more with beading around cabochons, so.  Yes.  Um, I don't know what happened, but at least it's shiny?

Normally when I do this kind of netting, I go over every diamond meticulously to get them all to be that perfect diamond shape... but this time, I left a few "loose".  It's a stylistic choice; the dragons themselves look like ancient treasures, so I wanted the rest of the necklace to reflect that.  It's not any less strong or solidly built, it just looks "a little old".  The same "stylistic choice" exists with the ever so slight angling of the fiber optic stone so that it catches the light more easily.  It's supposed to be magic, after all.

The one problem with having a scrawnier neck than anyone you know is trying to model a collar that's technically just a little too big for you even on the tightest setting.  Ah well, I tried.

(For Sale)

Date: 16 October 2012