Vampire Bat Angie

I have to admit it to myself, I am not very good with jewelry at the moment. There's a pair of earrings in my drawer that is only waiting for me to decide on earwires. There are also a few small beaded hearts in a baggie waiting to be used in something. I keep picking things up and putting them down again.

Feeling so little motivation right now has a lot to do with what's going on, in the big world and in my small world.
Luckily that doesn't seem to mean that I can't get creative at all. My muse obviously thought that it was about time for me to work on a doll design that - together with two others - has been on my table for months now. This time I actually doodled a sketch of three outfits (during a meeting when I wasn't needed) that had already been in my head even months before that, more to remind me than to follow them in detail.
My doll outfits develop during the process, and not even I can tell what they are going to look like in the end.

For this one, I used an Angie doll for the very first time, a lovely Topper brunette with the head mold P10.
Her hair color doomed her to become the bat lady. You may remember that I have become quite fascinated with bead embroidery wings (ooh, just had an idea for another design), and I definitely saw Angie mostly in black with bat wings. If I still rerooted heads, I might even have been tempted to give her black hair. And call her Angelina for a more romantic vampire name.

The first decision was about the dress being tight or an opulent ball gown style, the flowing nightgown style was out right from the start. One thought that popped into my head, probably because I had been watching old Addams Family episodes on YouTube, had been a dress like that of Morticia, but first, Morticia is not a vampire, and second, I want to make my own designs.
So the dress finally became tight, but there is no plunging neckline, no long sleeves - not only because they are difficult to make with beads as the arms are so close to the body, but because I wanted the contrast of the arms against the wings - and instead of the "tentacles" at the bottom the skirt flares out at a higher point and is a little longer at the back.

To sew crystals to part of the skirt, was a spontaneous decision. Black and siam red is a combo that is irresistible to me. Only when it got dark and I turned the light on, I noticed that I had used both dark and regular siam crystals. It's hard to believe as in these pictures the dark siam seems almost black, but in daylight you have to look very close to tell them apart if you use black thread. Luckily, I liked the effect of different "blood drops" and therefore just added a few more of the light siam crystals instead of ripping everything out.

As usual, I beaded and beaded on the dress until then it was almost too late to make the shoes. Will I ever learn?
Then I realized that I have never thought about vampires' shoes before. Ballerinas, high heels, slippers? I took the easy way out with some simple sandals because they aren't seen underneath the long dress, anyway. They have slim ankle straps, soles and two straps across the toes.

Much more interesting are the wings, at least to me.
I haven't succeeded in getting a good video (yet, I will keep trying) that shows the sparkle of the silver lined red bugle beads against the AB shimmer of the shiny black sequins.
I could have used matte black sequins or shiny ones without the AB finish, but I love the effect of black exploding into color with a small movement.

You know I love making accessories, but they wouldn't have worked in this case.
Angelina just got a small choker with a "vampire bite".

I am still contemplating either trying my hand on some red lips and vampire teeth for her myself or outsourcing the task to someone who's quite probably better at it.
Even that doesn't happen, however, I am really happy with my dark beauty!

Update April 2024:
I finally tried my hand at a vampire smile, but after many attempts, I gave up on the teeth because they didn't go together with the eyes, and I really didn't want to mess up the eyes. A wide smile didn't fit and just two white dots looked ridiculous, at least to me, as if she had crumbs on her mouth or something.
The red lips, however, work much better with her overall look than the pink ones did!

Angie and Dawn were registered trademarks of the Topper Company. I am not affiliated with Topper in any way.

Light butterfly

In September last year I made a black moth. I have always been attracted to black animals, birds, dogs, bunnies, and of course cats (okay, so cockroaches may be an exception). I bead embroidered the moth with wings full of sequins in different black tones, shiny, matte, AB, it was so much fun.

Only a few weeks later I decided to translate the idea into color with a big exotic butterfly from a beautiful glass cab and many differently colored sequins.

Both pieces sold quite quickly and I never got around to blog about them (that's a euphemism for my being too lazy or not motivated enough to blog much at all).

A few days ago I went through one of my inspections again and chose another old piece for ripping up (I wish my mind wouldn't tell me that they are in that drawer crying for help "nooo, don't do it"). While I was busy doing that, I remembered how I made it. It's funny what people use to measure the time of working something. For me it's usually movies or episodes of TV shows, in this case X-Files and the 1960 version of "The Village of the Damned".
My thoughts kept roaming and finally led me to these two winged creatures, probably because in one of my FB sale groups our topic was "Butterflies" at that time.
I love to make wings and I love the effect of sequins.
Not black this time, no colors, how about white and silver? After all I had a whole bunch of seed beads in white tones and silver right before me.

That's how the light butterfly came to life. I don't know if he was born from light or if he's bearing light, but I could easily spin a few fantasy stories around him.

Now don't worry, my dark side hasn't disappeared, actually I grabbed two of the black skulls right after. More wings, I'm afraid.
Who knows, though, what will come after those? Maybe another ripped up piece will talk to me and tell me something completely new!

Oldies but Goodies - More black and white

Black and white - a classic combination. Of course it would have been mean to demand from our members only to show black AND white pieces for the new Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge, but if black or white (with merely a hint of color here and there), the collage all brings them together nicely, don't you think? Of course there's more to see if you click through to the challenge.

1 Cat's Wire
2 Jewelry Art by Dawn
3 RioRita
4 My Bijou Life
5 The Crafty Chimp

Oldies but Goodies - Red and black

Red and black is a color combination that will likely never go out of style - and it's definitely one of my favorites.
You can encounter it in all kinds of places.
Nature for example, just think of certain snakes, frogs, and spiders whose red and black can be a warning sign.
Think of gothic fashion. I never really thought about it, but is the black standing for the night and red for the blood?

Depending on the kind of red you use you can also achieve different looks. You can accent black with just a bit of bright red. You can tone down red with some black. Or how about teaming up black and a very dark rich red instead of a bright one?

Whatever your favorite black and red combination is, maybe you will find it in the pictures I chose from this week's Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge.

1 and 9 RioRita
2 and 6 VMCdesigns
3 and 7 Cat's Wire
4 and 10 MC Stoneworks
5 and 8 Jewelry Art by Dawn

Oldies but Goodies - Gothic

I know I have been neglecting this blog lately and I'm still quite a bit away from being able to dive back in fully, mostly due to health reasons that are cutting both in my computer and my creative time. There haven't even been Oldies but Goodies although the challenges themselves did not take a break.
At least I'll be trying to bring you some pictures until I'll be fully back.
Let's start with this week's Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge, please enjoy the topic "Gothic".

1 and 5 MC Stoneworks
2 and 6 Cat's Wire
3 and 8 Violetmoon's Corner
4 and 7 Jewelry Art by Dawn

Tackle that stash - Cab on cab earrings

It's not the first time that I have been experimenting with what I like to call "cab on cab". It simply means that there's not just one cabochon in a wire knit setting, but two.

In this case I used oval mother of pearl disks. Of course it makes sense that the bottom cab is as flat as possible which makes it easier to hold the top cab in place when making the bezel. A slight dome is fine, but flat is better.
I had two of those disks that came to me via a destash, now I needed to find two cabs that worked in both look and size. From the same destash I had two black acrylic cabs that worked like a charm. In fact they were the only ones in my stash that fit so perfectly, and I liked the contrast between the shimmering grey-white and the black, too.

When looking at the earrings you can see the mother of pearl shimmering around the black, and if the angle is right, there's the illusion of a mother of pearl ring surrounding the top cab.
From the side, however, you notice the domed look.

So far all the pieces I made like that are rather small, but I think eventually I'll have to explore the possibilities of a bigger piece.

The earrings are available in my DaWanda shop.

Tackle that stash - Black wire knit ring with acrylic cabochon

Is it Friday already? I completely forgot! Not only did I have to look after my Esme since last weekend who was sick and refused to eat even the finest snacks I had to offer, but I have also been working on a project for which I had to order the beads *gasp* It's a bead looming project and if I am missing one or more colors, there's nothing I can do. Now I only wish I knew where I have hidden my polymer clay ...

Oh well. I set myself a challenge, so I had to make something quickly, a simple design this time.

Oldies but Goodies - Black and White

Normally I would tell you to not just see things black or white, but today I got nothing but black and white for you!
If you want see everything from this week's Oldies but Goodies Challenge at the Jewelry Artisans Community, you find it here. You are more than welcome to join us to play!

1 Robin's Jewelry, Antiques, & Collectibles
2 RioRita
3 Cat's Wire
4 MC Stoneworks
5 Violetmoon's Corner
6 Jewelry Art by Dawn

Finishing touches

You know how from time to time I'm trying to finish stuff. I'm definitely not the only one with a load of WIPs around or with a stash of beads etc. that could buy me my own tennis court (no, I don't play tennis which makes the decision for the stash a lot easier) and every, now and then the moment comes to calm your own bad conscience and finish a WIP or use up a few beads (wire, cabs, clay, yarn, whatever your poison may be). Afterwards you can happily start fourteen new WIPs and put in a huge bead order and it will feel so right!

I actually did both (AND even listed an item) and I hope you are as impressed as I am about myself. I think I earned myself the right to order Delicas in abundance later. Now if I could get enough peace to take photos, everything would be fine, but it's hard to concentrate on the right lighting with a yelling cat sitting in front of the door. So you will only get to see pictures of one piece now.

This necklace actually started out as a sample for a custom order. The middle part is spool knit fine silver with my beloved dark red and black Swarovski crystals, a color combination that I'm crazy about because it looks so luscious. I crocheted a very slim silver rope to go on each side and added a little focus to where the spool knit part meets the rope by wrapping around two rows of crystals.

It's dainty, it's elegant, it sparkles ... and it will hopefully be listed in my shop tomorrow!

The Monday collection - A black cat crossing your path ...

... signifies that the animal is going somewhere.

Pretty smart of you to say that, Groucho Marx. Of course it could also be that said black cat crosses your path back and forth whining like a baby to get your attention and ... oops, I think I was a little distracted here by something that is happening right this minute and that will make me need a straightjacket if it goes on for much longer ...

I proudly present some great black cats, #5 of my Halloween collections.

My blog layout doesn't like the large collections. Please click the picture to get to the original collection!

Kitty Halloween

Halloween is creeping nearer and cats, well, they are always creeping around here (except Greebo who is snoring up a storm right now) and how things sometimes go ... I lost my Halloween witch cuff. Not really lost as in "no idea where it is, I have been looking everywhere!", but as in "ooooh, I like, did you want to keep that?". Money changed hands in a dark alley at midnight, the witch flew off with someone else and I had the best excuse to make another one for myself. Alright, baby! Or maybe alright, kitty?

P.S. The tail is crocheted from wire with beads. I didn't lose the touch for the hook, hehe.

Self defense

Have you been in that situation before? You just happen to go for a little walk, see that murky castle up on that hill and think you'll go by to check out their ancestor gallery. When you knock on the castle door, it just opens up by itself and the next thing you know is a vampire charging at you, obviously being very interested in your neck?

Now wouldn't you feel better if you had something to defend yourself with? Like a cross?

Ok, seriously now. I have no idea if this cross works against vampires, but it sure looks as if it should.

Dark red and black Swarovski crystals around a big black glass cab on black wire make a pretty stunning combination. This is a statement piece. It's huge, it's sparkly and it's impossible not to see. How could I have resisted to make it??

You can find it in my ArtFire studio now.

Care for a dance with the vampire?

I am still not done with my knitting spool. Not at all. Although so many ideas haunt my poor old brain, sometimes the crochet hook has to go to sleep and give up its place to the spool.
The other day I bought some cheap boxes with beads that were on sale. One of them contained a black mix, the other one a purple mix and both of them contained big seed beads of which the purple ones are silver-lined. Suddenly I just happened to have my black and metallic purple wire in reach (even true, there was no planning whatsoever involved at first).
So the beads went onto the wires and row for row the necklace was growing. Take a closer look to find out what exactly I did ;-)
The result looks really best in the dark, I found, just with a little light on (shhh, I still got one of the old light bulbs in my lamp, but don't tell the EU). I tried to take a picture to show you the effect, but I am not a good enough photographer (yet *lol*) to take good enough night photographs. You'll just have to believe me that the light makes for a dark, mysterious sparkle.
Black and purple makes me think of Victorian times, but also of a kind of classic understatement that seems dark and dull one moment and suddenly gets lightened up to reveal the subtle colors. It doesn't always have to be black and red to get into the right mood ...
Imagine a gorgeous dress swishing across the stone floor when you go to meet the handsome vampire and have a dance with him, this necklace sparkling on your white throat.


P.S.
For your information ;-) No, I haven't read or seen any of the "new" vampire books or movies, but I have to admit I still think I could fall for the vampire Lestat, prince of the darkness - and I'm not talking the guy in the movie I don't even want to mention! And by the way, you'll find this necklace in my DaWanda shop ...

Sunshine

Blue sky with cotton ball clouds, that was my chance to take some pictures outside. Officially spring began yesterday, but it doesn't feel very springlike with those temperatures. So I wandered outside packed up in a t-shirt, a sweatshirt and a big jacket. Anyone know the movie "A Christmas story"? The little brother who couldn't get his arms down anymore from being all wrapped up in jackets, a scarf and a big anorak? I felt a little like him except I didn't fall on my back and had to lie there like a bug until someone came to the rescue.
My hopes for some good pictures were destroyed, though. Not enough light out there yet, maybe later in the afternoon. Instead I did some chores around the house - yes, litter boxes came first, I don't dare making my furry masters mad ;-) - and then fiddled around with something I had begun to work on last night. It started out as a large ring and two little ones, then I put the little ones that I had intended to turn into earrings aside. One of these days I'll have to clean this "aside", stuff is piling up there!
You want to see what became of the large ring? Turn it into an infinity sign , combine it with a sterling silver ring and a fine chain and voilà, a collier is born :-)



Much better than cleaning litter boxes, I can tell you ...
Just now the tall guy (my husband) has arrived from our small local zoo. He brought an injured prairie dog who needs some time away from his or her family. Don't we all? Even if we don't bite each other? Poor baby, I hope he/she will feel better soon and then I will show you a picture.

And now, have a great weekend, all of you, while I hurry downstairs to get the stove cooking instead of the crochet hook ;-)

P.S. Listening to Mr. (got informed about that by the tall guy) Prairie Dog (any name suggestions?) squeaking and whistling I made another piece that is totally unusual for me. I call it the quartz trio and as you can see there is not a bit of crochet in it! ;-)