Beads, Flowers and Dragonflies!

I originally created this as a spiraled suncatcher and then I thought: "Hey - it's wire - it's got lots of uses!" So I wrapped it around a black metal wall sconce. While it's not long enough to go around the way I wanted it to, it gives me the inspiration to make some that ARE long enough. This is created from beads spun onto 24 ga wire - just a random selection of leftover beads, french beaded leaves, victorian beaded flowers, lucite flowers with Swarovski Crystal stamens and pistils and Swarovski Crystal dragonflies with beaded wings. It was easy, fun and it's truly beautiful. (If I do say so myself!) I just sold one like this at the gift shop where I sell some of my work - AND a photo of a piece similar to this one was featured in the Baltimore Sun this past Saturday! YAY!

French Beaded Rose

This little fleur is actually huge. It's got five layers of petals. The interior is AB gold miyuki 11/0 seeds and the outer petals are a mix of AB gold, maize, light brown and matte cream. I had to use two floral wires, bent in half to support the weight of the flower, and a ton of floral tape. The stem, which you can't see, is finished in green ribbon. I was going to add leaves, but I felt that would be gilding the lily (or rose, as the case may be!)

French Beaded Flower - My first one! YAY!

Well, I was asked to teach Victorian and French beading recently. I can do Victorian, but I'd never done French, so for the past two nights I've been teaching myself. Last night I worked on just getting the technique right. Thank GOD for a bead spinner! Tonight I started at around 11:00 PM (it's now 3:40 am) and finished up at about 1:30 a.m. I'm tired, but I accomplished my goal and now I just have to finesse it a little. The leaves are too small for the flower, but overall, I'm happy.