8/08/2024

Labradorite and amethyst

About two months ago I blogged about my "jewelry burnout" and what I did instead. So far things haven't changed much. I am struggling my way through my second embroidery kit, but only touched beads once during the last month to loom a custom bracelet.

Are there sounds you like in crafting? I love the tiny pop in bead looming when pushing the beads into the space between the warps (not just the sound, but also the way it feels) and I love the sound of a needle and thread going through bead embroidery foundation - so much that I started missing them more than actually making jewelry. They have something deeply satisfying to me.
I know, it's really weird, isn't it?
However, that is what finally did the trick and made me grab a labradorite cabochon from my stash without any plan whatsoever. Just glueing the cab onto the foundation felt like a good start, even if der Dekan tried to steal the cap of the glue tube once again.

I picked some bead colors for the bezel that I thought would work well with the colors of the labradorite, a grey shimmering kind of golden, metallic silver, and - maybe a bit surprising - a kind of green-golden metallic.
After doing the bezel, which was the easy part, I was completely lost.
I would have wanted to make some unusual, playful, but all I could think of was quite classic and, to me, not very imaginative and a bit boring.
In the end, I just succumbed to the idea of a classic bead embroidery pendant. I still have some lovely frosted amethyst in my stash from years ago which actually was another color working beautifully with the stone, but this edging looked a little bland to me, so I added another layer to it with tiny silver "rays".



This pendant developed over a few days which is pretty slow for me, but the heat and a hurting thumb joint didn't help and there were quite a few breaks.
So I'm still not sure if it has been enough to give me a good kick in the butt, so I will finally be tackling my list of ideas again (without forgetting about my embroidery which came to a stop due to heat and a mistake which means there will have to be some ripping out, argh). We will see, I guess ;-)


10 comments:

  1. OH wow; this is so beautiful!

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  2. Hi - This is gorgeous and you have a great talent! Your bead choices go perfectly with the multiple colors of the laboradorite gemstone. Laboradorite is one of my very favorite gems. I would love to see what you do with the amethyst, which is my amulet (because I am Aquarian.) It was as privilege to get a peek into your craftwork. Thanks - Angie, www.yourtrueselfblog.com

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    1. Thank you, Angie, for stopping by and your kind comment!
      The beads around the labradorite are the frosted amethyst beads, a very soft look thanks to the lighter color and matte finish.
      You made me think of a set of amethyst beads that has been waiting in my stash patiently, though. Maybe it's time I had an idea for those!

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  3. Absolutely gorgeous! And classic. I find it’s hard to be inspired all the time. That said switching between mediums seems to help. Not a sound, but on bead embroidery, I love that feeling when a bead falls into just the write spot. You can probably do that consistently. I can’t. I feel the same way about a perfectly placed quilting stitch.

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    1. Thank you, Michelle!
      I don't know if I can do that consistently, I never really thought much about it. I can tell you that I definitely can't do it in embroidery (but hopefully will eventually!). As for sounds, I even love the sound in my course video when the instructor snips off the threads 😂 They just can't be too loud and intrusive, like in some ASMR videos.
      I can imagine that, a perfectly placed quilting stitch sounds very satisfying!

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  4. So much beautiful . don't forget to make some more embroidery. you are god gifted.

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