Spike Earrings

A few months ago I purchased a couple of spike beads in different sizes and colors, just in case I would come up with something to do with 'em. And lets face it, I just love a bit of dangerous looking pieces, especially with spikes, lol.
I've been planning on incorporating them in various bead embroidery projects, I've just put it on ice for now until the bead embroidery piece I'm working on now is finished.

This afternoon, I decided that I wanted to play around and experiment, and possible come up with my own, very simple pattern using spike beads.
I took notes as I moved on and found a style that I liked. I also decided to make a second pair of earrings using the same pattern, just different colors, heh.

I'm not sure if I'm gonna release the pattern, or just keep it to myself, or on whatever platform I would release it on, we'll see :)

BTW - 28th of November 2012

I have been a little bit occupied these two weeks, where I haven't ended up making a single post since the last one.
The holidays are getting even closer, and I'm starting to feel it even, for each day that passes by.
I haven't been beading too much, if I should be honest. I suppose I ended up with one of those annoying creative blocks :)
I also ran out of two bead colors, which are essential for my "Marie Antoinette" necklace. I had to put that one aside until they would arrive in the mail, which they did yesterday :D

Well, while I've been waiting for those beads to arrive, I've actually been playing around with some bead stitches and flower patterns - reading "The Beaded Garden" by Diane Fitzgerald, to get some basics back into my head.
Short story; I ended up trying her way of creating beaded roses, and it went better then I expected. After mastering it, instead of just leaving the finished flower, I decided to create a little brooch of it. And I ended up adding two netted leaves to accompany the rose.
I actually had so fun experimenting with different sizes on the netted leaves, I ended up making a pair of earrings with two of 'em.

I haven't been posting any updates lately on my "Marie Antoinette" necklace, I apologize for that, and here's a picture of how far I am on it now :)

Necklace: Frost Heart

Yesterday, I managed to finish up a necklace I've been working on. The necklace is a Christmas present for someone.
I decided to take a break from my Marie Antoinette piece and do this one. Well, I ran out of a bead color I need for that piece anyway, so why not take a break until I have them back in my stash again? :)

What inspired me to create this little heart-shaped pendant is actually the cat's eye tear drop cabochon in the center. I love that cab so much, and I actually got it in my collection by pure luck, from one of those cabochon mixes. I've looked, and the store I bought the mix from doesn't sell exactly this tear drop shape separately at all. I was just lucky to get it, heh.

I laid the cabochon onto my sketch book and began to doodle, until I had the heart shape.
When it comes to choosing colors, I ended up just with white for beads, but with different surface treatments on the beads (pearly, aurora borealis etc.). I thought that white would really compliment the cold blue color of the cabochon in a perfect way.

For once, I also decided to add the clasp starting from the pendant itself. I thought it would be a nice change to do something a little different.
As for the chain, I ended up doing a thinner chain with spiral stitch, using 11/0's as the core bead and 15/0's for the spiral. To add some dimension to the chain, I incorporated a quartz crystal bead in random places in the chain as I went a long creating it.

Bead Embroidered Cross Pendant

I got a "hint" some time ago from my cousin that he wanted pendant with a cross, and now, with Christmas getting closer, I decided to respond to his hint.

Of the fact that this is for a male, I also had to go back and think out of my feminine box and try to work it as masculine - or Unisex as possible.
I think I managed to create a pretty unisex piece though, the more I stare at it, the more I actually notice that it doesn't really yell any specific gender around the pendant.

I wanted to add something extra, and just not bead embroidered a "bead-painted" cross, so I decided to add a little 8mm Black Onyx cabochon to give the piece some soul, heh.
The colors I chose for this piece where kinda dark, as I wanted the cross itself to be in gunmetal, I decided that a black background would enhance the shiny gunmetal beads, which makes out the shape of the cross even more when the light hits it. However, just a black and "grey" piece would be a tad bit boring, so I decided to add a row around the first rows around the cab, with gold metal iris beads, and I personally like it :P

It wasn't that hard to pick out a chain, as I had a piece left of gunmetal plated chain from previous projects. I didn't want to make it complicated and add a clasp, so I just made it about 60 cm and attached both ends of the chain together, so it can easily be slid on and off the neck.