BEEN KNITTING!

Well i have been busy buy knitting not beading,it suddenly took over,the dollar went up and i found Ravelry and knitting Paradise and was gone.
so much has changed since i seriously knitted years ago,self striping yarn,patterns everyhwere,bamboo,alpaca,fine merino,cashmere and the colours are like wow,you should see Tart,what a red.
My other blog is www.rainforestknitter.blogspot.com i was going to be barefoot knitter but someone already had it!

If you are interested in knitting,pop over and see how versatile i am,haha,if you are thinking of coming back to knitting,please do,join knitting paradise forum and away you go.
I did make somple simple stuff for xmas gifts in beading,glad i know how.
Happy 2012 to everyone!!!

BEEN BEADING!

Didnt realize it has been so long since i posted,have made and nearly made a few things since Feb,although its the last thing i finished i just love this pattern.With some money for my birthday i bought this patter,Butterfly Wings,by Mikki Ferrugiaro from artfire,i changed two colours and it came out mag,i am not great on diagrams and did the two drop peyote from the word chart,enjoyed every minute!

RIVOLI PENDANT

This is light and dark a two sided pendant that i made after beading around a rivoli for another project i thought i would do 2 contrasting sides.One side is copper/greens,the other silver/light purple.It's a cute pendant and is also for sale,i have so much stuff,$40us plus postage.
Email me at juliacraftylady@gmail if interested.

The floods here in australia have devastated so many people,an instant inland tsnumai,death destruction and mud everywhere,sad and awful.As usual aussies came back with spirit and thousands of volunteers decended on Brisbane and cleaned up other peoples homes and businesses.

BLUE MONDAY

I just had to make another one of these and in blue it's gorgeous,Blue Monday is for sale,$80 us, plus postage,if interested please email me atjuliacraftylady@gmail.com ,it has a blue swarovski rivoli,and crystals,and can have a pendant loop on it or glued to brooch pin.

BOLLYWOOD LOTUS

OH MY did i enjoy this one to bits,i bought the pattern from Sabine Lippert at TRY TO BEAD,i saw it in pinks and saw a lotus,the other colours did nothing for me,it was called Granada,10 euros which is $13au.
Well this is so clever,all the twists and turns,different size beads,and the colour and sparkle,and as the back gets tighter to encase the rivoli,it pops up and becomes 3D or layered.I am over the moon with this one,i love lotus,and i love this pattern.

EGYPTIAN QUEEN WITH LAPIS

I thought this pattern looked amazing,it is one of Juanitas,www.jayceepatterns.com ,and boy was i right,it was very interesting to learn,and the gold delica band that holds it together is great too,though hidden at the back.Here in oz i got my gold delicas from Cranberry.com,this is my 3rd bracelet in a row and i was wondering what to make next,well wowee keep looking.

December Already

Well i thought i posted recently but seems i didnt,i have been beading,yah i found some things i really wanted to do,and strung a necklace from nepal beads,from etsy. I also made a ring,a huge triangle swarovski from beading in the rain on US Ebay,best price i could find.It turned out to match a dress i bought,co-ordinated yet again.
The 2 bracelets i just finished were from BeadworkDec/Jan 2011,pages 77 and 66.The gothic butterfly one is done in red and black,and has wings ,the other was called ouroboros,well thats a snake eating its tail and it looks like a plant to me,even if its an odd one,so i called it Triffid! Its so easy to make herringbone look like flowers and the copper sequins sewn on really topped it off.
The last thing is a little star,from a pattern on try to beads blog,its free,simple and very cute.I upped the size of the crystals so Cleo could wear it around her neck,its a twinkle twinkle as she loves that song,swarovskis for a 3 year old,sure why not!if her name is Cleopatra!
At least i know she wont see it on my blog,unlike my cousins work that i'll put up later.
Its the weirdest summer we have had for years,its cool and very very wet,when its usually 30 c overnight and up to 40c in the day,i am loving the cool but fibro pain is so bad i am wondering if its too wet.

Green Sunshine

I have just finished working on this stone,a 27mm lily cut swarovski rivoli,bought from BeadingInThe Rain on ebay.This was from my first buy from Judi and my 2nd lot is on its way,time to spend when the oz dollar is up so high.
Well i have been beading in the rain,its been pouring here for weeks,the kind of grey tedium that goes on and on and maybe we will flood.
I followed a tutorial on a site by oceania i think it was,and enjoyed doing it,would be better if i had my new glasses,next week,yah,and my fibro hands didnt just seize up,really i couldnt make them do a thing and just had to stop.
I finally got to give my granddaughter her dress i knitted her for her 3rd birthday,it was a pattern called tropical lily on ravelry.com and is open at the back like an apron with straps over the shoulder,she looks so cute but was being shy,when nanny arrived swooped on her and put it on,happy 3rd birthday Cleopatra.

Long time no bead !

Well apart from needing new glasses and not beading much,i spent september in bed,hot delirious fluey,and very very ill,i thought this was the worst thing i had had in years,then i got the vomit bug and sept was a nightmare i dont want to repeat.
I have streted a beautiful project but it will have to wait till i pick up my glasses,fibro even stuffs youre eyes about,but i strung a couple of bits,stringing is my first love and when i actually design myself.
The first pic is the butterfly bail from Kassie Inman,her pattern,that i was going to make a jungle theme necklace but that fizzled out.
The orchids i got 3 of as a present and they were glorious.
Purple elephants is what you see after pink ones i suppose lol,i loved these etsy elephant beads,and they have a tiny purple crystal poked into eack one as the holes were so big.
Verdigris is my current fave,bits and peices from shops all over,etsy,australia etc,and in a big surge of creativity,it was born.
The paua power bracelet just fell together and is amazing in the sunlight.
It has been raining here for weeks and driving people crazy,soggy dogs,school holidays and mud everywhere,friends booked in for camping holidays,we got 8" of rain in 24 hours,deafening on a tin roof.

A New Baby and Some Bits.

Firstly i have a new grandbaby,Seth James Wolfgang White,my son and his partner produced a beautiful baby boy,i am 51 and have 3 grandchildren who i love to bits.
I have been knitting a top in 100% bamboo by Cleckheaton,its the softest loveliest yarn and i am a slow and doddery knitter but its nice to do.
The crystal bracelet was on the cover of beadwork and caught my eye,i get my crystals from abovefashion on ebay and picked all the colours and sizes needed,then went back and got more to make 2 xmas presents.
The necklace of crystals.....well nearly 2 years ago i bought a poodle puppy and the father dogs owner gave me her grandmothers crystals as she liked my jewellery and wanted me to do something with them,easy huh! No way! i have struggled with every colour bead,silver/gold ,pendants drops etc,and finally have decided on this monochrome deco style,now i know why i have seen these always strung together at antique stalls and shops,the are weird to work with as some things deplete there colour,others dull it,some of the colours take over etc etc,not sure whether to email her the pics before sending,or front up with them and hand them over,the pendant would look better and sound less clanky if it was one peice but i havent seen one,(or i would have bought it lol).
The blue set is a london blue topaz,a topaz hit with heat and it goes that colour,as i was born in London and love the colour it was bought for me as a present from OMG Tourmaline on etsy,the other blues are glass,its cute and light to wear and clashes beautifully with my vampire red hair.

INTERMISSION..........

Well i have been away,not physically but mentally,my beads stopped talking to mr,my muse escaped through an open window,and the worst of it was after the panic i didnt care.
I have never gone for long without my hands crafting something,so i bought some crochet patterns,found some free ones and knitting ones and joined some crochet groups and a fibro group.
So i have made a scarf,(yet to block it)kept up with the posts on beading groups,and finished this.
This pic was in Diane Fitzgeralds calendar,i have her book,i Love her book,so made this,with a glass cab eye,small enamel blue scarab,some brass pharoahs,chain and a snake toggle.It felt great and i got lots of feedback on the net and real life.
I was only well enough to leave the house twice for short times in 7 weeks,i think that and that i was racing to bead,buy more,find more patterns and doing nought else made beading a bit job like and i burnt out,i have lots of unfinished projects and thats not me.
I did read SIG"S chapter of her book at beadedbear.com and that made me feel better,and while i am knitting ideas for the jungle challenge are pricking at the back of my brain,i am not in a rush i'll wait and see.
The cicada,snake metal mesh necklace,and turquoise sticks are all etsy buys.

More Art Nouveau

I came across this pattern at Beadcoop,by Beadholden aka Lesha McPherson,and just had to do it.I changed two colours of beads and think the silver lined crystal really makes it pop.The toggle wasnt a toggle at all but a silver stamping and i used a toggle bar as well.
The weather here in oz is lovely,bright sunny autumn days,cooler nights and as usual i have a fluey type virus thing and am doing not much,my beads arent talking to me and i have a few new goodies from Etsy as i have been buying while the dollarAU is worth 90c US.

NEPAL bracelet and earrings

I am really thrilled with how this came out,its for a turquoise challenge on Beaddreamz group,i had some beads but found the nepal bead on Etsy for $4,and the copper/sterling ones i bought from Szarka at magpie turquoise,go and check her out if you want to max the cash,she has so much you'd like to buy.
It was hard to get a clear pic as its drizzly and grey most days latley,and i have been very ill and had an eye infection,so at least this makes me feel i have done something this week.

New new new nouveau

This is my latest offering and one i enjoyed immensly making.I used to do decoupage and this was a bit like it.I used rivoli's for the first time but instead of beading them i used settings i bought from Etsy,againlol.
The title is for Dr Who fans,in an episode where the Dr and Rose land in the future opposite the city of new new york,the doctor explains that it has actually been rebuilt 15 times so should be called new,new new,15 times york,new new york for short.I love the art nouveau style though my big love is Deco,if i was rich i would collect deco everything.

Bouquet Cuff

This is a simple garden bracelet i just did.I used wine/red 8 delicas as a base and then just added the flowers and leaves,glued stitched onto aluminium blank covered in ultrasuede.I love the tri colour flowers.
The other pic is my 8 week old grandson Chester,i didnt make him,he looks just like his mother,not as she did as a baby but right now,should be fun watching him grow up.