Shiny Things Gallery | Search
Total matches for beaded: 83
What It Wants
The heart wants. You know how it is.
Upon fully disassembling a bag of random shinies given to me, I made plans to use bits and pieces. ...I then immediately lost track of those plans and have been doing whatever I want since, but this one kind of begged to happen. The rhinestone heart centerpiece was just on a boring silver chain, and what good is that? It deserves more. Most of the beads were the ones gifted to me, but there are plenty of others I've had for years that could be tossed in. Hey, I tried for simple, I mostly succeeded.
Currently Available.
Winter Nights
I keep trying not to quote "Zooropa" lyrics, but that's exactly what this feels like to me. I'm deeply happy with the result but this is not a project that I saw coming. Whoops? Very sparkly whoops?
The blue really hits you first, that luscious indigo/cobalt/color of dark sky not-quite-black. And then then the little purples and greens are definitely there when you start inspecting it. Which is, basically, impossible to show in 10 pictures, let alone 20, but I tried. Lighting matters, obviously. I had all these beads and I wanted to use them. So I did. Exciting stuff, this. It was just really nice to have no plans and come out of a two day project which should probably not have been a two day project *cough* with... well, sparkly.
Currently Available.
Despite the Inevitability of Death, I Will Live in Defiance
This one's been kicking around in my head for a while, in various forms. I picked up the Swarovski skull before anything else, seemingly ages ago... and wouldn't you know it, I never actually checked to make sure the hole was properly drilled all the way through. It wasn't, but I make it work. Like I made one broken scale bead work. Is the back a mess? Yes. That's because all these strings required extra lines, knots, and additional stabilization to make it wearable. I played with the band design for quite some time and find this to both be comfortable and sit around the neck in the way I wanted it to, plus it's incredibly customizable for the person who ultimately wishes to own it.
Basically, I wanted a sincerely impossible to miss, apparently impossible to photograph, comfortable and strong piece of """statement jewelry""" and am remarkably happy with the result. For the record, the top center jewel actually isn't black, but "dark rainbow", and getting the camera to pick up the subtle blend of darker colors is... not... a great time. I tried. The jewel which drops from that is, like the tiny jewel between the larger ones, a crystal which reflects the full color spectrum depending on the light and your position while viewing it. It's a screaming rainbow disasterpiece.
(For sale.)
I Could Strangle You With a String of Beads
Long, long ago, I came across an article with a very dismissive tone which stated that working with beads was inherently useless. Beads were not useful for anything but decoration, and therefore it was kind of ridiculous to choose to work with them. My thought upon reading this article... is the title of the piece. I've never come across it again despite looking, though I have found similar articles. None have had the same dismissive tone, luckily. Makes me wonder if it was edited at some point, but some years later... at least there's this.
Admittedly, it's exactly what it looks like: I dug through my bead drawers and tried to come up with a decent selection of different beads to string together into a lariat necklace. With a Swarovski skull dangle at the bottom, of course. My sentiment remains, with or without the article existing.
(For sale.)
Domesticated Rainbow
I just. Needed to use some of these beads that I have coveted for years. But also it has been The Year of 2020 and we need more mf rainbows.
Initially it started with a rainbow 2-hole bead mix and then somewhat exploded from there. Not to mention the "yeah, sure, why not, all the things" decision of jet black and clear crystal AB Swarovsky beads. While I'm not usually too fond of regular strung necklaces for so many reasons, I tried to use a few techniques I'd picked up to make sure the multiple strands could properly distribute the weight, with a few holding knots between heavier sections to make sure nothing would be accidentally pulling the whole thing apart. I'm also very fond of those "prismatic beads" near the center (see the close up photo) because they actually reflect the full spectrum, it's just that trying to photograph them tends to get one color or another. Because of course pictures would be difficult.
Sold.
Distant Shores
It draws you in, sometimes. That call from distant shores.
This was a "tinkering project" in the middle of so very many more. I've had this agate pendant for an awfully long time and just pulled it out of a drawer to set on my desk. The little pieces came together slowly: labradorite beads, seraphinite beads, abalone chip beads, acrylic "silver crackle" beads, and silver. I briefly contemplated gold, but... nah.
Generally I'm very happy with the result, but I was using a different clear enamel coating to bring out the color on the pendant and it shows brushstrokes. Guess I'll know for next time. So far so good on the other elements of the enamel test, but. Argh.
(Available for sale.)
Solana
You know what 2020 needs? A bright, cheerful, soft chocobo, big enough to help you barrel through! Solana is just such a chocobo, sweet and friendly and ready to remind you there's light at the end of that tunnel, but sometimes you just gotta kick your way through. She offers her services.
I felt an exceedingly bright rainbow chocobo to be extremely necessary for the Desert Bus for Hope Craft-Along this year. I had not actually planned on doing fully wired legs, but that just kind of happened. And then a simplistic wired tail to go along with it... and while it doesn't necessarily look like it, simplistic wired wings for a few poses. There, see? Simplicity! With a few very small beaded accents that are actually ridiculously rainbow, but photographs just do not show them off. And some iridescent pigment that is almost too subtle for the camera, which is a surprise but also the intent, so score there.
I am pleased that I did not accidentally lie about the size, because she's less than 15 inches in all dimensions. 12.5 inches tall to the top of her head (just under 15 inches including crest), with a full wingspan of 12 inches, and just under 7 inches from chest to tail.
Sold for a much appreciated $2,350 to duaiwe!
Programming Harmony
I finally justified the beads I picked up at an antique store! Ahem. Well when I ran across a couple of circuit board pieces encased in resin, I kept digging for a few more things, then set it all aside for a while. Desert Bus for Hope 2019 was apparently just the right time to dig them out again, add a bunch of other things I had to the mix, and come out with this. Even cyberpunk uber-hackers need a little flash, right?
As for the name, the poem All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace by Richard Brautigan had a bit of an impact on me, long long ago when I was just discovering that science fiction had an endless clinging hold on me.
