I have been making earrings!

It seems like forever, since I have shared some looming thoughts here on my Blog, so let me share what I have been doing since I left New York.

I'll be showing/selling at an Art Festival this weekend, Oct 2 & Oct 3, The Fells Point Festival in Baltimore Maryland. It is my favorite festival of all and the only festival I choose to show/sell my work, looming and hand woven beading.

Here are just a few of the types of earrings I have been making for this weekend.








I really prefer to loom, but earrings are a bit more tedious to loom, so I hand weave my earrings. Monday, I'll be getting back to my home base of looming. I'll be starting a new cell phone bag, one that is very colorful. This will be a photograph taken by a beading friend, Jean Upton. She takes wonderful wild life pictures. One in particular caught my eye, so I'll be starting that one first.

December 15, 2010 is the deadline for submissions to the IBA contest. They have a specific 'bead looming' catagory, so I am also submitting something for this special event. I'll be sharing what I am looming as I go, so you will notice tons of looming going on, starting Monday! I can't wait!!

My beadwork lives in New York!

It was a wonderful journey, creating a cell phone bag for someone I highly respect, then to give it to her in person.....I was crying first, then she welled up after noticing it was a picture of her Dad! This was a great time and I am glad she asked, "Does anyone have a camera?", because my head was spinning too much to even consider a picture!

She had to rush out the door to change her clothes so she could catch a plane, but we were asked to wait for the elevator so RR could take it down with us. When the elevator doors opened, she was walking on saying, "Erin, Erin, Erin!", and we talked further.

She is such a fine roll model to many....I really enjoyed my 'one time' meeting with her and glad she loved the cell phone bag!

Consider a matching set!

Now that I have completed the fringe, for this cell phone bag, I am able to step back and consider how it will be worn. It is large enough to make a statement, (3 3/4" wide by 7" deep, including the fringe).Therefore, I like to think about what other jewelry accessories would work.

A pair of earrings are a must, with this bag! Nothing too long, or would overwhelm the size of the bag, but at least, something to spread out the color combination, created in this cell phone bag.

The fringe had to include the color way of 'both sides' of the bag. Therefore, I opted to pick up the dark browns with a slight touch of blue. The fringe also includes some sterling silver caps so I could match the sterling in the strap and earrings. This way, these can be worn with copper or sterling, maybe even rose gold!

The other side of the bag has a predominant blue color, but this is great for a change of clothes. This makes this cell phone bag that much more interchangeable!

You can see, through following my stages of this bag, that there is more to consider then just the actual panel being loomed, at that time. So many steps and ways to think about, always will end up working out in the end to be something more versatile then originally thought!

Final steps of a loom woven cell phone bag!

I have made such great headway the past few days. This is a gift I am giving late next week, so I am still very much on schedule, if not ahead. The picture above shows how the 'zip' up the base of each panel, after I have 'zipped' up the sides. Because of my techniques, used to finish each woven panel, there are no warps to reweave or tie in, or even use for a fringe....(which I never suggest to do as they will stretch and move while used!). With each pass, to secure the bottom, I added a Toho Permanent Metallic Light Copper Bead, 11/0. Not only did I want to add more detail and bring out the color of the medal I used to accent, but I will use these for the fringes I am adding next.

You may notice, in all of my cell phone bags photographed on my web site, I create a separate 'epaulet' in colors to match both sides of the bag and to secure the strap. This is the most stable way to add a strap. The epaulet is sewn in multiple areas, so the strap is more anchored then if I started the strap directly from the side edge.

You will also notice the 'spring clasp' I use to attach the strap to the epaulet. This is because this portion of the strap takes the most stress of movement. This means of attaching, allows for tons of movement. Not only that, the strap can be removed using the clasps or if the strap breaks (which it won't) it can be remade much easier and reattached quickly.

You can see that both epaulets are positioned not to interfere with the pattern, but also match the colors of beads used. There have been times where I fringed the outside lines of the epaulets, or even attached a dangle at the base.

This is one side, of RR photographed in College during her days of playing basketball.

The other side is of her Dad's life in the Air Force, in particular with the 'Tuskegee Airmen'.

Notice how the strap, or beaded tubes, stones and pearls match both sides. After I complete the fringe, I'll make a matching pair of earrings.

Zipping Up Loom Woven Panels!

I should be done with this cell phone bag, by the end of this week! I can't tell you how excited I am to have completed such a project by 'loom weaving' the panels! I have only ever made a cell phone bag using the 'Brick Stitch' method of beading. It allowed me to not worry with all the 'warps', but seemed to take forever to complete.

Finally, I thought hard about my loom weaving techniques and wondered if they could be put to the test of creating a cell phone bag! IT WORKED WONDERFULLY! My head is spinning with other bags and things to create using the loom weaving method. Not 'ONE', I repeat, 'NOT ONE' warp thread was woven back in! This is a very secure method of finishing the warps so you should be seeing more from me along these lines! (I'll be doing something similar with the SLN split loom necklace)

Notice the picture below. I have the two panels 'zipped' together.

Because the loom weaving of these pictures were 'left to right', it made the beads lay in an awkward position for the cell phone bag to 'wrap around'. My answer to this was to zip up the sides using (3) extra beads. The looseness of the extra beads, allow for the 'wrap' to look more 'circular', as I wanted. The only other way to get that 'wrap' would have been to loom the pictures/panels 'top to bottom' on the loom. It surely would have made the beads sit in the right direction, but I would have been loom weaving rows 81 beads wide! When I add the epilates the sides will be even more secure.

With each pass, I also added a Toho Permanent Light Copper Metallic 11/0 bead. This is the accent color I include with each step of the construction. My reasoning is to 'pick up' the same metallic light copper color of the medal I bead bezeled and attached to the front of one panel, "Tuskegee Airmen".


After I complete the opposite side, zipping it together, I will bead some epilates to add at the top of the sides. These will hold the 'closed jump ring' I secure for the strap to be attached. Then I will consider a fringe, or no fringe.

An article about 'Beading'!

The MJSA Journal, article published about 'Beading', has hit the stands! (I'll get my copy later this week.) If you have never seen this magazine, please do your self a favor and take a look through the on line site or better yet, order a copy! There so so much great information and facts about jewelry making and supplies. A true 'brass tacts' jewelry making subscription!

Last June I was asked to conduct a 'phone interview', with one of the free lance authors of MJSA, who was including work and information about five or six various bead artists. It was exciting to think that my bead work and looming would be highlighted in a article to include beading with semi precious gems and fine silver, but what a wonderful step forward for seed beads!

The title of this article is, "Creative uses for beads - Inexpensive jewelry materials with high fashion potential". Well, seed beads can get expensive, but at least I feel I am making head-way with getting seed beading noticed as 'jewelry' and not just a 'craft'!! Thanks MJSA!

Composing the parts for the Cell Phone Bag

I have loomed a bit more on the opposite panel, of the Cell Phone Bag I am creating to take along on my NY trip to GMA. I'd like to loom a few more rows before I share this panel with you.

Let me show you my selection of 'accent beads' I picked out, which will be used for parts of the strap and the fringe.

The colors of the beads above, will match either side of the cell phone, depending on which side out it's worn. I may not be using all of the beads pictured, but I will more then likely use some of each you see.

I'll also add some beaded bead tubes to the strap, by beading tubes to match the colors as well. These aways lend themselves to carrying over the 'seed bead' medium, as opposed to just using larger beads or gems.

My thoughts are to pick up the grays, browns, blacks and blues. Notice the 'light copper' color Permanent Toho Metallic Beads. This will help to tie in the 'medal I will be bezeling and attaching to the panel I am looming right.

At first thought, I was going to graph/pattern a picture of RR, sitting at the GMA desk. Thinking more I decided against that pattern idea because I asked my self, "who would want to wear something with there picture, front and center." Not Me! I opted to create a more special feel. Since the first side of the panel is RR during her College Basket Ball Days, I created the other panel of something also dear to her heart, her Dad. He was a pilot with the 'Tuskegee Airmen'. She talked about this publicly many times. Here is a picture of an Airman's medal, all pilots received.

This will be bead bezeled and attached to the panel I am looming right now. This is the reason I used the 'light copper' accents on the strap and in my beaded bead tubes. I'll also add an ever-so-small splash of the same Permanent Copper Metallic Toho Bead to the fringe.

All of the parts, I am sharing here, were compiled in between the looming of the panels. This production type beading really helps me to finish a project much sooner then expected. This way, it gets exciting to put all the parts together, which it's time!

Above all, I am very pleased to have found a way to loom cell phone bags, without the muss of 'dealing with the warps'!