Hematite bracelet/anklet

I've had this post ready to be posted for some days now and I have to apologize for draggin' my feet on it.
This bracelet/anklet was born from a Bead&Button bracelet project Even the Odds, which I started on the 4th of July at our little get-together with some fellow beaders Lucy and MdmB, but didn't get too far at first, since it had been a while since I made anything with seed beads and there were a couple of very interesting magazines to scan through also. If you wanna read more about our little yakin'&beadin' party, you can visit MdmB's blog, where she gives a little overview and some pictures of what went down.
Anyways... a day later I finished the bracelet on my own at home. I made it long enough to fit as a bracelet for a guy or, in my case, as an anklet :D
I used the rest of the hematite cubes and some Delica 11/0 beads that I had also brought back from my trip to England, but hadn't gotten a chance to use yet. The piece feels really nice and heavy and cold to wear. For me, the jewelry has to have a neat feel to it - that's part of its beauty and character. I also love the way the light plays off the hematite beads.

See postitus oli juba valmis paar päeva tagasi ja pean vabandama, et nii kaua venitasin sellega. See käeehe/jalaehe sündis Bead&Buttoni projekti järgi, mida Lucy ja MdmBga koos eelmine nädal meisterdasime (kes tahab üritusest täpsemalt lugeda, võib piiluda MdmB blogist, kus ta natuke jutustab ning pilte näitab) Alguses mul ei saanud vedama selle keega, polnud kaua aega seemnekatest midagi teinud ning oli muudki huvitavat teha :D Päev hiljem ma lõpetasin selle kodus iseseisvalt. Tegin selle piisavalt pika, et mõnele meesinimesele soovi korral ka ümber käe mahuks, kuid minule sobib ta rohkem jalakeeks.
Kasutasin sinna ära kõik oma ülejäänud hematiidikuubikud ning ka Delica seemnehelmed, mille olin tagasi Inglismaalt toonud, kuid polnud veel kasutust leidnud. Kee on kandes hästi mõnusalt jahe ning raske, mis mulle meeldib. Minu arust lisab see ehtele ilu ning iseloomu. Ka köidab mind valguse mäng hematiidil.

Color specter 1/2

We are halfway through the year already. I can hardly believe it! That means that the Christmas is here soon!!!
Isetegija forum Color Specter project is also halfway completed. Here is a little overview of my projects. I am a little surprised that I was able to stick with it and actually not skip a month. I was a little late with a few of them, but got them done soon after in the next month.

Pool aastat on läbi juba. Suudan seda vaevalt uskuda!!! See tähendab vaid seda, et varsti on jõulud käes!!!
Isetegija käsitööfoorumi Värvispektri projekt on ka poolenisti läbi juba. Siin on väike ülevaade minu värvitöödest. Ma olen isegi veidike üllatunud, et ma olen suutnud nii püsivalt sellega tegeleda ning pole ühtegi kuud vahele jätnud. Paaris kuus jäin natuke hiljaks, aga lõpuks said nad ikka kõik kenasti valmis.

January - WHITE , February - RED

March - PURPLE, April - GREEN

May - PINK, June - YELLOW

Tins of Tallinn

Last summer I had started experimenting with some other craft techniques. Well, I've been experimenting with different craft projects as long as I can remember, but this was something new for me. I wanted to try serviette technique combined with the crackle technique. I finished few projects such as some flower pots and tea containers but wasn't really happy with any of them, so I kinda set it all aside and all the supplies and paints that I had bought were just sitting somewhere in a bag all this time. Unfortunately this happens with many of my projects and new ideas, but the good news is that often times I do return to them a while later and eventually use the supplies and ideas
Same happened with this project. Last summer I had also rescued some old soviet kitchen tins from my grandparents house, but some of them had already been ruined with a permanent marker to convert them into nail and screw containers :D ......So, the best I could do with those, was to give them a new life. The pictures on the tins are copies of actual photographs/postcards of Tallinn Old Town from the 1920's taken by brothers Parikased. I love those postcards and have been attempting to collect them for a little while. Maybe some day I will write a separate posting on the old postcards that I have and their history.
I am quite pleased with the way these tins turned out. I think they make great gifts, and in fact they have made wonderful gifts for some of my friends who are leaving Estonia this summer to remember Tallinn by.

Eelmine suvi tekkis mul huvi katsetada millegi uuega. Nii kaua kui ma mäletan, olen ma alati igasugu uusi käsitööliike proovinud. Seekord siis salvrätitehnika ning kraklee. Ma lõpetasin paar projekti, aga ei olnud just vaimustuses oma tulemustest ning jätsin kogu asja mõneks ajaks sinnapaika. Kahjuks juhtub seda tihti minu erinevate ettevõtmiste ning ideedega, kuid hea on asja juures see, et lõpuks leian ma tee ikkagi nendeni ning lõpetan enamuse neist.

Sama juhtus selle projektiga. Eelmisel suvel õnnestus mul päästa vanavanemate majast mõned vanad nõukaaegsed plekk purgid, kuigi mõned neist olid juba lootusetult markeriga kruvide ning naelte purkideks vorbitud. Parim, mida ma nende heaks suutsin teha, oli anda neile sel viisil uus elu. Pildid purkidel on koopiad vendade Parikased postkaartidest 1920date Tallinna Vanalinnast, mida ma olen mõnda aega üritanud koguda. Võibolla mõnes teises postituses räägin natuke pikemalt nendest postkaartidest ning nende ajaloost.

Ma olen üsna rahul nende purkide lõpptulemusega. Minu arvates saab neid väga edukalt kasutada kingitustena ning tegelikult on nad ideaalsed kingid meenutamaks Tallinna mõnedele minu sõpradele, kes lahkuvad sel suvel Eestist.

Rudraksha and hematite

Some of you might remember.... from my trip to England in last November I had brought back some interesting beads - rudraksha beads, seeds of a large evergreen broad-leaved tree that grows in the area from the Gangetic Plain to the foothills of the Himalayas. I found them very interesting, but for a long time was unable to come up with a way of using them in my jewelry, since I had difficulty successfully matching them with any other material in my inventory. From the same trip I had also brought back a few strands of hematite cubes, which I hadn't had much more success in finding a use for. So yesterday as I was just going through all the beads and other interesting jewelry stuff that I have accumulated over the past year these two just miraculously found each other!! I'm tellin' ya, it was a love at first sight, a match made in heaven!!! :D I added some 2mm sterling beads, which brought the whole thing to perfection. But that is just my humble opinion and I better let you be the judge.
It is a simple design and just an easy stringing job, but it's not always the complex extravagant wire work that creates the effect, but the beauty in simplicity and harmony of materials.

Mõned teist ehk mäletavad veel.... oma novembrikuiselt reisilt Inglismaale tõin ma tagasi ühed huvitavad helmed - rudraksha helmed, mis on Himaalaja jalamil kasvava laialehelise igihalja puu seemned. Kuigi nad olid minu tähelepanu köitnud, ei osanud ma pikka aega neid oma ehetes kasutada, kuna mul ei õnnestunud leida nendega kokkusobivaid materjale. Samalt reisilt olin ma kaasa toonud ka paar nööritäit hematiidi kuubikuid, millele ei osanud ka leida õiget kasutust. Aga siis eile, sorteerides oma helmevarusid ning muud ehtekraami, mis sul aasta jooksul kogunenud on, leidsid need kaks ühtäkki teineteist! No ma ütlen, lausa armastus esimesest silmapilgust!! Ma lisasin veel 2mm hõbehelmeid, mis viis asja täiuseni ;) Aga see on vaid minu tagasihoidlik arvamus ning eks igaüks otsustagu ise. Disain on lihtne ning töö oli kerge helmeste nöörile lükkimine, aga alati ei loo efekti keerukas traadiväänamine, vaid lihtsuse ilu ning materjalide omavaheline harmoonia.

Stardust vol.2

Do you still remember those earrings???

They have finally found a new owner, and a lovely one I might add! I could not have thought of a more fitting person to wear them. Well, and I think that they were received quite warmly, since a matching necklace was ordered the same day. As I was nearly completed with the necklace I happened to come across some shisha mirrors that had been left over from another embroidery project (which I still haven't completed to this day, but am thinking about) and when playing around with the pendant and the mirrors they somehow ended up together, which I think created a pretty cool super-hyper-mega-sparkling-effect that might not be so apparent on the photos unfortunately.
Anyways... using mirrors in this piece gave me a couple ideas for some future projects which will hopefully see daylight soon.

Kas mäletate veel neid kõrvakaid???

Nad on viimaks endale omaniku leidnud ning lisaksin, et väga kauni omaniku sealjuures. Ma poleks osanud leida sobivamat inimest neid ehteid kandma. Ma arvan, et nad võeti ka üsna soojalt vastu, kuna samal päeval laekus tellimus kaelakeele. Olles peaaegu lõpetanud keega, sattusid mulle kätte shisha peeglid, mis olid üle jäänud ühest minu tikkimistööst (mis ikka veel ei ole lõpetatud, kuigi ma mõtlen sellele tihti) ning mängides ripatsi ning peeglitega olid nad ühtäkki üheks ehteks juba saanud. Minu arust lõi see väga laheda
super-hüpper-mega-sillerdava-sätendava-efekti, mis kahjuks fotole taas eriti hästi ei tahtnud jääda.
Igal juhul......peeglite kasutamine selles töös andis mulle paar ideed nende kasutamiseks ka tulevikus, mis loodetavasti näevad ilmavalgust üsna varsti.

Rõõm on kõiki taas üle pika aja tervitada!!

Ma ei hakka kokku arvutamagi, millal viimati postitasin. Vahepeal on igasugu muud tegemist olnud, millest räägin ehk kunagi hiljem. Ehetega olen ikka vaikselt tegelenud ning mõnda neist juba Isetegijas näidanud.
Venna sünnipäevaga seoses tekkis idee ning tahtmine proovida midagi meestele valmis väänata. Tuli selline kee, kuigi too tundub rohkem naisterahvaste huvi äratama. Sellest tulenevalt valmisid soovikohaselt kõrvarõngad, mis keega ideaalselt üksteist täiendaksid, kui neil poleks kaks erinevast soost omanikku. Kolmanda pildi peal on veel üks katsetus ühe huvitava kiviga, mille identiteet on mulle veel saladus, kuid näeb sellest hoolimatta väga vinge ning triibuline välja.

I am glad to greet everyone again!!!
I won't even try to remember when I posted my last posting. I've been busy with all kinds of things in the mean while, which I will fill you in on a little later. I have created some new pieces, which some of you might have seen already.
With my brother's birthday approaching I got an idea to try to make something for guys (top two pictures). This necklace seems to attract more of ladies attention than guys. I also ot an order for a pair of earrings which would make a perfect match with the necklace if they weren't owned by two different people.
On the third picture you can see an experiment with an interesting stone, which hasn't revealed its identity to me yet.

Veebruar - PUNANE vol.2

Juba kuu on möödunud minu viimasest postitusest. Ei saa just öelda, et mul oleks väga kiire kogu aeg olnud, aga polnud vist õiget tuju. Ma olen mõne asjaga vahepeal ka valmis saanud ning järgnevates postitustes näitan neid teilegi. Alustame siis sealt, kus pooleli jäi.

Kui veel mäletate, siis viimane töö, mida näitasin, oli paar punaseid mustlaskõrvarõngaid. Nädal aega tagasi saabus mulle gold filled traadi saadetis, mis koheselt kasutust leidis nende kõrvakate ümbertegemisel. Ühtlasi lisasin ka käeketi ning kaelakee sellesse komplekti. See on minu esimene punane ning kuldne ehtekomplekt. Ma ostsin omale isegi ühe väga ilusa punase pluusi, mida ehete juurde kanda. Väga lahe on asju sellises järjekorras teha!

A month has passed since my last posting. I can't say that I have been extremely busy with anything, but I guess I just haven't been in the mood. I have made a few things in between and will be showing them in the next posts. I will start where I left off.

If you remember, then the last piece I showed to you were the red Swarovski gypsy earrings. A week ago I received an order of some gold filled wire, that found an immediate use in remaking those earrings and adding a bracelet and a necklace to the set. This is my first red and gold set of jewelry. I even bough a really nice red top to go with the jewelry. I love to do that!