 |
| my Snow Queen necklace in all its icy, sequined splendor |
Most of the beading I've seen with sequins involved bead embroidery, but I'm more of a bead weaver sort of girl, so I had to try to come up with something that better fit my personal style.
 |
| Work space with beads and inspiration - getting started |
They sat on my work table for a couple of weeks, as I tried to figure out what in the world to do with them. Then I received an odd, clear blue glass bead in a goody bag. It rather looked like a lifesaver. I almost gave it away until I had my Eureka moment - the sequins colors reminded me of snowflakes. And that blue bead suddenly had a purpose! It could be the heart of winter, trapped in an icy pendant.
I had my story! Now I could stitch.
Here's the pendant before I started adding any sequins. I couldn't resist adding some larger beads, and I'm working with five different shades of white seed beads - from stark white opaque to completely clear. The skewer helps hold everything in place while I stitch.
And then I used my Snowflakes pattern (the first thing I ever listed on Etsy).
Here's a closeup of the finished pendant (can you see - I even stacked some of the sequins, blue under white?):
 |
| Closeup pendant & central snowflakes |
So there's my contribution to the hop. Sure hope Sarah likes!
And I can't wait to see what everyone else came up with! I am definitely looking at different ways people incorporate sequins. I have some weird, long sequins that remind me of icicles or white claws that I couldn't quite figure out how to use (you can see them in the right corner of my workspace photo). If you have any ideas what to do with them, I'd love to hear them!
Participants!!!!
Host: Sarah... http://saturdaysequins.com
Dita... http://alankarshilpa.blogspot.com
Ambra... http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com
Audrey... http://hotpinkquilts.blogspot.com
Stacy... http://iridalsattic.blogspot.co.uk
Karen W... http://baublicious.blogspot.com
Lori... http://www.prettythingsblog.com
Lisa... http://lisabinkley.typepad.com
Carmi... http://resincrafts.blogspot.com
Dawn Marie... http://designsbydawnmarie.blogspot.com
Jeannie... http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog
Shirlee... http://www.shirleestuff.blogspot.com
Linda... http://www.lilysofthevalleyjewerly.blogspot.com
Corrine... http://www.sparkledaysstudio.com
Gutukas... http://atradimutakeliais.blogspot.com
Shannon... http://uptwnsh-fallingintothesky.blogspot.com
Mallory... http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com
Cyndi... http://www.beading-arts.com
Maneki... http://wildrosesandblackberries.blogspot.com
Maryanne... http://zingalasworkshop.blogspot.com
Ine... http://jewelsbyine.blogspot.com
Karen... http://www.overthemoon-design.com
Kepi... http://kepirasmussen.blogspot.com
Jennifer... http://jenniferstumpf.blogspot.com
Misty... http://thejollyfatelf.blogspot.com
Dot... http://speediebeadie.blogspot.com
Hope... http://craftyhope.blogspot.com
Cynthia... http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com
Micheladas... http://www.micheladasmusings.blogspot.com
 |
| Xtra photo - playing with sequin placement |
Shirley... http://www.beadsandbread.blogspot.com
Karla... http://texaspepperjams.blogspot.com
Eleanor... http://eleanorpigman.blogspot.com
Therese... http://theresestreasures59.blogspot.com
Rita... http://www.toltecjewels.blogspot.com
Robyn... http://rcponders.wordpress.com
Stepha... http://skwds.blogspot.com
Sue... http://suebeads.blogspot.com
Cate... http://fulgorine.wordpress.com
Amy... http://Loraamyjames.com
Are you kidding? I love it!!! A beautiful design and a wonderful and unexpected way to use sequins. Color me impressed. :)
ReplyDeleteAs for the weird sequin dagger dealies, they might work as drops on earrings. Or they could hang from the end of fringe on a necklace, like little fangs. Perfect for a caveman or vampire-inspired necklace.
Thank you for participating, Karen!!
Thanks Sarah! Glad you like! ;)
DeleteI had thought of using the daggers as fringe on this necklace, but they didn't fit. I'll definitely keep playing with them though!
You did a great job incorporating the sequins and the necklace is very done.
ReplyDeleteReally beautiful contribution. It looks like you have been doing this forever!!!! xox
ReplyDeleteI love your necklace! Using the sequins in beadweaving is a brilliant idea! I love the pendant, too. The freeform with the sequins over it is fantastic!
ReplyDeleteLove the way the sequins are asymmetrically across the stone. Bravo I think you gotta get more sequins!!
ReplyDeleteOh Wow Karen, I love your Snow Queen necklace it is beautiful! I bow down to your fantastic beading vision.
ReplyDeleteTherese
I love,love, love getting to see your creative mind at work! Your stories are always so cool. You totally rocked the sequins, my friend. And now you've got me thinking in a whole different way...yeah!
ReplyDeleteOh, I just love your necklace! How clever the focal is with your use of RAW and the beads and sequins to bring attention right to it, which is difficult, because the rest of those frothy snowflakes make me think of a sequinned smoothie somehow! Nicely done!
ReplyDeleteI love the way you incorporated sequins. The necklace is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteKaren it is a gorgeous pattern! You are so right ... they do remind me of snowflakes
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful and so perfect for a snow queen. I love how you worked in the sequins and the colors you used. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThis necklace is gorgeous!!! Especially the pendant. I love the rich pop of blue up against the more muted tones.
ReplyDeleteHi Karen this turned out simply wonderful. Great job.
ReplyDeleteNicole/Beadwright
What a fabulous merging of your bead weaving and the sequins. It makes me think of ice! Nice work!
ReplyDeleteYou did such a wonderful job of combining the unusual material into your comfort zone techniques -- and I love how the bead that looked like a lifesaver turned out to be your inspiration lifesaver (sorry, puns abound today...) Beautiful necklace! And Sarah got to my idea first, that those long sequins would be great in earrings!
ReplyDeleteStunning work -- I hope you keep playing with sequins!
ReplyDeleteI love bead weaving, and adding sequins made it all the more beautiful! Using RAW rather than peyote for your bail was nice, and complimented the beautiful woven icicles. I also considered stacking my sequins; nice choice -- the iridescence whites soften colors so beautifully! Your jewelry is gorgeous, and the winter theme is sequintastic!!
ReplyDeleteI have an idea for the interesting elongated sequins: how about layering them like feathers? Angels wings or perhaps the fine wings of a snowy owl?
Beautiful beadwork!
namaste,
rita
Absolutely gorgeous...
ReplyDeleteOh my this is stunning! I can see this being worn by a high profile actress in a movie called Snow Queen Cometh. It's just deliciously cool!
ReplyDeleteWonderful, lacy winter necklace! Love the design and how you included the sequin -- fab job!
ReplyDeleteSpectacular necklace. I love the double sequins and the asymmetrical pendant. It (almost) makes me look forward to winter (still waiting for summer here in the UK!).
ReplyDeleteThis is so beautiful, Karen! I love your theme and how it really captures the beauty of winter.
ReplyDeleteLove, love, love!!! Your story, your design... Karen I love this whole piece! You captured the spirit of the challenge and transformed it into a true work of art! Gorgeous!!
ReplyDeleteWauw, realy nice! You had a lot of patience to make this :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! What great work!
ReplyDelete