Baublicious: sea glass

Showing posts with label sea glass. Show all posts

Saturday, August 20, 2016

ZnetShows New Sea Glass Arrivals Blog Hop & Challenge

Late last month Hope Smitherman sent out invitations for a mini Blog Hop and Challenge using some of ZnetShows newest cultured sea glass styles. I love sea glass, so saying yes was really easy. We were invited to chose from three different styles - two were different types of 'nuggets', and the third were two-hole buttons.

I decided I HAD to work with the buttons, then debated my second choice before falling in love with the central drop pendant in this set.

This blue is one of the rarest colors in my collection of 'natural' sea glass

When the beads arrived, I discovered that the thread holes in the pendant set were large enough that a size 11 seed bead could slip right through. I was tempted to find some way to use them so that they laid flat in the design the way they do on my beading mat in this photos, but couldn't quite come up with a solution I liked this time around. Which is kind of funny, because that's how I decided to use the buttons.

The flat, rounded shape of buttons, with their smooth surface, reminded me of skipping stones, so I decided to make a summer beach cuff where they'd act as the main focal. Using size 8 seed beads to create a chunkier than normal base, I first stitched a Lacework Cuff using random right angle weave.

Lacework Cuff Base with two sea glass buttons for closures

Then it was time to add additional buttons for surface texture.

Starting to decorate the surface

Adding one button at a time, I then worked several layers of sea-frond fringe around that button before moving on to the next.

The finished cuff, Skipping Stones

In the end, I decided I liked the way the cuff looked with only half of its length embellished. It's designed for the buttons to be worn on the outside edge of the wrist. This way, the underside of the wrist just has a flat band; less likely to catch on clothing and such.

It's hard to photograph on my own wrist, but here's the idea.

So I finished the cuff, time to do something with the drop pendant. I wanted to use for a summer necklace of 'beach treasures' that looked nice enough to wear to a evening out. I ended up doing some simple bead stringing with size 15 seed beads and a couple different styles of two-hole beads.

Using the freeform nuggets and pendants as well as more buttons

I used the buttons as links as well as for the closure

Isn't the seaglass pendant pretty? I wanted a very simple necklace that let it shine.

So that's what I came up with. Now it's time to see what everyone else made! Here's the full list of designers:

close-up: adding fringe behind the buttons

ZnetShows Blog
Amy Severino
Andrea Trank
Becky Pancake
Blanca Medina
Christina Miles
Karen Williams
Karla Morgan
Kathy Lindemer
Shaiha Williams
Susan Bowie
Veralynne Malone

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Creative Spark Seaglass Spectacular

Summer 2015 Creative Spark ezine

I love sea glass! When I go to the shore, it's a real challenge for me to walk along the beach at a normal pace, because sooner or later I get caught up in the search for the elusive sea glass. Especially the rarer colors, such as the deep cobalt/sapphire blue that's my favorite find. I can get so caught up in the search, I'd miss the sailboat regatta tacking around the bouys fifty feet out from shore. Or the kite surfer dancing across the waves, or my husband waiting patiently for me a mile up the beach. Oops!

Then, I discovered ZnetShows' cultured sea glass beads. I can't truthfully state that I've completely abandoned my search for seaglass in the tide line, but I CAN say that I am much more easily distracted from the search.

ZnetShow.com's cultured sea glass is so lovely - it comes in all sorts of wonderful shapes, though I'm particularly fond of the more organic 'shard' designs that echo the shapes of 'natural' sea glass. So you can imagine how excited I was to be invited to participate in summer, sea glass edition of Creative Spark.

Sea glass shards from ZnetsShows' website. They say 'fish fins' to me!

Hope Smitherman, Creative Spark's fearless editor, asked us to work with a sea-inspired or 'summer' theme. While the main focus is on jewelry design, she also asked for upcycling/recycling and non-jewelry designs.

Sea-themed and non-jewelry? Yep, you know where I went. I quickly finished up Spike, my second Happy Fish. He now sports sea glass tail fins. And he's joined by his younger bother Pete, who sports deep blue tail fins. I finished both up back in June, and have been waiting to say anything ever since. You can see them both in the pages of Creative Spark, along with a sneak peek at work on my newest freeform peyote fish. It's still in very much in progress.

My contribution may just be the quirkiest, but looking through the other artists incredible designs is simply inspiring. Flipping through the pages, I find my fingers itching to go digging through my stash to play with more sea glass!

Take a look and see what I mean: Creative Spark, Summer 2015.

Thank you Hope, for once again putting together such a gorgeous magazine!

Monday, February 4, 2013

Sea Grass Pendant and Necklace with Cultured Sea Glass Beads

Sea Grass pendant, freeform beaded fringe by Karen Williams

Last week I shared a process photo of my Sea Grass pendant in this post. The fringe is nice and stiff and sticks out in an arch around the lower half of the beaded circle. I was inspired by the wonderful cultured sea glass shards sent to me by ZnetShows (it's been fun watching them set up their booth at Tuscon) and a photo of Button Sedge from the book Archipelageo: Portraits of Life in the World's Most Remote Island Sanctuary.

Fimbristylis cymosa, Button Sedge or Mauʻu ʻakiʻaki

Once I finished the pendant, I broke out my sketchbook and started playing with different ideas to turn it into a necklace. Did I want a polished look with a beaded rope, or a more organic finish working with more of ZnetShow's sea glass beads?

two design sketches for Sea Grass, freeform beaded necklace by Karen Williams

I decided to stick with a more organic design. Originally in my sketch, I'd envisioned some additional lines of freeform beading snaking up along and around the sea glass, but decided I liked the cleaner lines. Here's the finished piece:

Sea Grass, freeform beaded necklace by Karen Williams

I added some dyed red stones as accents, echoing the deep red seed beads in the fringed pendant.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Focus on Life 4/52 - Create Art

Choose a media and run with it, Sally suggested in this week's photo essay prompt. Create Art! I already knew what I'd be working with - the cultured sea glass beads from ZnetShows which had arrived the previous week.

I love sea glass. My husband teases me when we go to the beach because I spend so much time searching for sea glass along the tide line I forget to look at anything else.

And here was 'sea glass', with it's soft matte finish and not a sharp edge anywhere to be found, delivered directly to my door. Lovely! And so much of it. A true embarrassment of riches.

Apparently they sent their packets out in 'color families'. Mine, as you can see, was very, very green. After getting over my initial shock at the color, (I hadn't designed with green in ages) I began to sketch. Then to stitch.

I just wish my hands worked faster. This is as far as I've gotten:

New Growth, freeform beaded necklace with cultured 'sea glass' shards by Karen Williams

New Growth, freeform beaded necklace with 'sea glass' shards

The green glass shards reminded me of the new growth from my earlier post, so I decided to give them an enchanted garden to grow through. I think it needs more layers, but am letting it rest for a little first, just in case it really is done.

This piece - very much still in process - also works with the green shards. It was inspired by a photograph of a clump of sea grass from one of my favorite books, Archipelageo: Portraits of Life in the World's Most Remote Island Sanctuary. Destined to become a pendant, I turned the design upside down.

More fringe to go, then vine work around the ring leading up into the bail. Not sure what I think - I'm reserving judgement for now.

Now let's go see what everyone else cooked up this past week by visiting the Studio Sublime.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

A Little Underdone

With a little clever photography, I could claim that my Bead Soup piece is complete, combining right angle weave 'links' with the lovely sea glass bezels and fused glass focal created by my fabulous swap partner Kimberly Roberts. I definitely finished enough to get a feel for the final piece.

But the truth of the matter is, it's not yet done. Late arrivals of my soup mix due to hurricane Irene, unexpected time requirements in my other work and design challenges all left me really running behind on this one. If it hadn't been for the need to follow through to show Kimberly's pieces, I might have thrown in the towel.

My orginal thought was a solid freeform peyote collar

The large, square, transparent glass focal was a real challenge for me. The shape didn't lend itself to my more organic stitching, and I wrestled with the issue of transparency - do I bead behind it or do I let it stand alone? I considered creating a solid freeform peyote collar, with beading behind to provide a backdrop for the focal, but it just didn't feel right. Too heavy and solid for the focal bead.

Stitching the right angle weave closed around the wire

I finally decided to echo the open feel and shape of the focal with my right angle weave links. Each link is stitched around a 20 gauge wire core to give it strength and stability. I taped the ends with acid-free artists' tape and then painted the tape with a little acrylic to help it blend (the white tape would have shown through the bead work).

For each link I worked three rows of right angle weave the length of the circumference, like a long narrow ribbon. And then I'd lace it closed around the wire, pinching it into shape as I went.

I'd originally thought I'd use the sea glass bezels in a separate piece, but when I laid them out amongst the links they looked right, so they were added in as well. When the piece is complete, the links will graduate smaller around the neck.

So now check out the other Bead Soup participants' work:

The Hostess, Lori Anderson and her partner, Manuela Wutschke