Midnight Serpent

There's an old tale passed down by the Serpent Clan that parents tell their children, of a little lost girl in the woods. She was alone and frightened and came upon a clearing that she didn't recognize--but she could see the stars above. "Midnight Serpent, Midnight Serpent, wrap the night around me and keep me safe until I get home." She said, over and over as she walked until she was too exhausted to go on. She woke up the next morning to find herself just outside of her village, a small diamond mark on her neck... maybe from the Midnight Serpent.

Of course Charlie here (of unidentified gender... don't ask) isn't quite as serious as all that. He's a sweet and friendly, fun-loving midnight serpent with a penchant for sparkling and the night life.

Charlie is a maaaaajor accomplishment for me. The serpent is enormous in terms of my dragon bracelets, and took some days. How many days? I don't want to know. I really don't even come close to wanting to estimate. Many. Lots and lots and lots of time and beads, with a Swarovski crystal tongue and eyes. And some tail accents. Of course my camera and I fought over trying to get the incredible colors right... and this is pretty close. There's nothing like seeing it in person, though.

(For Sale)

Harlequin

A mischievous smile that doesn't show up in the eyes, that's what you have to look for. There's a little something beneath that laugh which you should be careful of. Luckily a little sparkle is just the distraction you need to get past without a second thought.

The color combination of black, red and purple was given to me as a possibility. This is actually the second idea that came to mind, as the first only caused much ARGH since black-coated wire strips when you so much as breathe on it and I'll just suffer that aggravation later. So the aggravation I ultimately put up with took me two days to figure out how to put together. The solution was deceptively simple... but time-consuming. Go figure. I just wanted to do a little something different with the netting idea. Swarovski crystals were an obvious accent choice.

As for the clasp, currently there's just a little hook in the back that hooks to the netting of the opposite side, as I have a scrawny little neck. It's designed so that I can easily add an extension chain, though, so it's very versatile.

(For Sale)

Fuck Cancer Take 2

1,120 beads, 12 sterling silver jump rings, one sterling silver clasp, and an enduring message. You may recall my first bracelet/choker, given to my friend Zellie Blake.

Apologies for the sad news, but she recently passed away. To me, that was even more reason to make another bracelet. Seriously, cancer, fuck you. And so I like to this charity auction in memory of Zellie Blake. May we carry the light that shines so brightly that not even death can hope to dim it. Going to the winner are this little beauty and a brand new copy of Zellie's book, Lightning Spliced. All proceeds go directly to the American Cancer Society. And if you just want to check out Zellie's book, please do. All proceeds from that go directly to the American Cancer Society, as well.

Fuck Cancer

I can only imagine that it's a sentiment shared by most living things, nevermind just humans. Made as a gift for the lovely and talented Zellie Blake, apparently it was appreciated. Laughter is the best medicine, after all.

I'd made this piece with the intent that it could be worn as a choker or a doubled bracelet, as both look pretty spiffy. And it's not like anyone can argue with the words.

Chasing After Midnight Flowers

It is a blessing to be able to witness one of the midnight flowers opening. Humans have to rely on their memories if they even happen to be capable of witnessing such splendor--these are not things that can be captured on film. Creatures of the fae persuasion, however, have the power to preserve these flowers and turn them into delicate pieces of jewelry. It seems simple enough, of course, but it becomes a bit of an obsession to capture the midnight flowers at the exact right moment when their color is absolute perfection...

Yes, that is a real preserved cattleya orchid. I wish I knew the method of preservation, because it looks and feels like glass but is obviously a resin of some sort. I've had this orchid for about two years, wondering what to do with it... and of course it would be just an accident that I had it laying next to an "I've got to do something different or I will scream" project. Therefore, this choker was born. Exciting, right? It's not as heavy as it looks; while the orchid itself does have a bit of weight, the beaded "net" is almost weightless. The chain at the back helps everything to even out. So, well, yay!

(Sold)

Tron Pixel Bracelet

In celebration of my favorite program. Mmm, obsessions renewed. This is a classic-style Tron insignia bracelet with a little bit of flair. What can I say, I'm all up for a little bit of sparkly geeky flair (obviously).

Great reason to try cube beads, yes? It was my first time with them, and... well, I do like them. They make for a nice look even when I didn't manage to catch all of the mildly deformed ones (though I imagine I'm the only human being in the world to notice all of the little nearly-microscopic gaps), but they don't drape and flow nearly as well as smooth, round delicas. They're still smooth to the touch and flexible, though, and it's always nice to work with something larger than delicas, even if just barely. Getting that double band piece to work, though... I don't even want to think about it. It'll be easier to do it again after the first time, but the amount of time and effort involved in just that detail was way beyond what I was prepared for when I ridiculously thought, "Hey, I want to make this different!" Add to that the fact that I had to remove a whole row of beads from the bottom portion just so it would drape better over a wrist... yeah, I don't want to think about it anymore. LET'S PRETEND IT DIDN'T HAPPEN AND BE HAPPY.

As always, I make all of my beaded pieces by hand, bead by bead, with a needle and thread, no looms involved. Because I am completely, undeniably, stupidly insane.

(Sold.)

Tron Lives Bracelet Set

I loved Tron: Legacy. But all it really did was remind me of how much I loved the original Tron... and the character. We could have had it all...

Design-wise, I decided to go for old-style text in new-style colors. Each individual bracelet is comprised of 1,372 tiny glass beads, each individually woven together, and one Swarovski button. Woven together with super-strong thread, by hand. I can dream, can't I?

(For Sale)

Rinzler Pixel Bracelet

Well, um. Well. I suppose I should have predicted this wandering completely out of control. More cube beads, and they're really not as consistent as I'd like them to be, so that took a little extra effort to get around. The panel itself went just fine. I started that little "window" portion as being completely open, and that seemed simple but interesting and worked well... but didn't let the bracelet lay against the skin very smoothly. It could have worked, sure, but I was not satisfied. So I stabilized it with a few lines. And a few extra beads along the interior. And it took so much longer than it should have, but here it is.

(Sold)