Happy New Year 2012

I'm well and truly launched for 2012. Seven poems accepted for publishing, my manuscript off to AUP shortly to be considered for publication  and my Etsy store back up and running.

The 23 December quakes were horrible. I was making a cheesecake for Christmas day when they struck and I simply lost heart, sat in a chair and didn't want to move. In the end I have myself a good talking to, "Self", I said, "Get on with it or you'll have a lousy Christmas." After a stern lecture, and against all my instincts which were telling me to sit tight and hang onto something, I got up and kept going.

I figure I have it easy. My house is ok, I didn't lose anyone in the Christchurch quakes. A few broken ornaments and a sense of the impermanence of things are things I can learn to live with. After all:

.

Emotions are messy, you can't put them in neat little jars.

If we're lucky we acquire the tools we need to cope. 

That's a pretty corny attempt to segue into a few pics of my studio. So it's time to get to work making jewelry and writing. Happy new year one and all and look forward to sharing my journey with you.

Add caption

A new design series for me. I've been wanting to bring more recycled materials into my work. The central motif and leaves are cut from a biscuit tin. I formed the flower, doming it and making a large cab shape. The beaded beads are my design. the neck ring is neoprene. The end caps, sterling silver, again, my own silver work.

I'm planning to upcycle more materials. It's important to me.

The pictures to follow are my explorations in making beaded beads based on polyhedron templates. I'm fascinated with self-supporting beaded beads. It's not easy to achieve as woven beads tend to articulate and attempts to make a hollow structure usually collapse. By placing crystals at certain points in the design, I achieved a self supporting structure. They're also light, making them good for earring designs. I plan on making a necklace from the red and black beads. I found that by using beads a size down, I created a smaller accent bead which will act as spacers between the larger ornamental beads. The outcome of my experiments is very pleasing.

Top view of the 5 sided beaded bead.

My favourite beaded bead, the 5 sided polyhedron. Made with size 11 seed beads and 4mm fire polished crystals.

The top view of the 4 sided polyhedron bead.

I then moved on to a 4 sided polyhedron. This beaded bead is made from size 11 seed beads, 3mm, 4mm and 6mm fire polished crystals.