My Handmade Wedding, Part 1

It's been a while since I've blogged huh? Well here's just a little of what I've been up to for the past few months :)

A little over a month ago I married my best friend and companion of over 9 years. This being a crafty blog, I thought I'd talk a bit about the crafty and handmade aspects of my wedding. After going through our wedding pictures, I realized that so much of my wedding was handmade that there was just too much to talk about for one blog post! So for now, I'm going to show the jewelry and attire.

Before I start, I'd like to give a shout-out to the highly talented Jason and Juvenia, who took all the photos you are about to see and own the copyright on said photos. Check out more of their fantastic photography at www.jasonandjuvenia.com.

For my and my bridesmaids' hair, I taught myself to make wire-wrapped hairpins using Swarovski crystals, freshwater pearls, and various shapes of silver-lined Japanese seed beads. They're surprisingly easy and fun to make!

I probably had 18 or so in my hair:

For my bridesmaids' hairpins, I used purple crystals and purple glass beads...

...To match their purple dresses. Anyone starting to see a color theme here? ;) Here's Alexa, a friend of many years to both me and my husband:

And my sister and maid-of-honor Peggy (left), and my buddy Lieza (right):

Since the bridesmaids' dresses came up high on the neck, I made all of them bracelets instead of necklaces, and I also made their matching earrings. The bracelets are in triangle weave, and use Czech drop beads, Japanese fringe drops, Japanese seed beads, Swarovski crystal, freshwater pearls, and the new peanut-shaped Japanese seed beads:

Did I mention how talented Jason and Juvenia are? Check out the resolution on the original size of the photo above; you can see the individual size 15° seed beads!

For my own bridal jewelry, I wanted to create something ambitious because I usually don't get the chance to wear extravagant jewelry, and what better excuse to do so than at my own wedding? I wanted a necklace with a bunch of beaded beads, in pearls and clear crystals to match my gown. I also wanted the beaded beads to hang like charms as opposed to being strung through, so I created a scaffold of three layers of loops of pearls and crystals, so that I could hang a beaded bead from each loop. I originally wanted to make over a dozen beaded beads alternating between pearls and crystals, but this many beaded beads wouldn't drape right, so I settled on seven beaded beads made out of freshwater pearls and Japanese seed beads:

The focal is a Teardrop Bubbles beaded bead (using the same pearls as this one), combined with two Bubble Box beaded beads and four Double Bubble Jacks beaded beads in two different sizes. The earrings are also Double Bubble Jacks beaded beads.

Here I am all dressed up :)

My mother sewed my gown out of smooth and quite comfortable silk. I know little about sewing, but I think she did a fantastic job:

We coordinated our efforts to balance the complexity of the jewelry with the simplicity of the dress:

Here I am with my Ma. Anyone recognize her necklace?

One final shout-out to Etsy sellers simplybeautyveils (my veil matched the dress perfectly!) and elegantgartershop (great for something blue!) for the rest of my bridal accessories. Next time: flowers and wedding favors!

Wedding Soiree Set

I don't know about you, but I have had one busy summer so far. I've been attending a number of weddings, showers, and parties, plus I've been planning my own wedding, set to take place just over a week from today. It's very exciting, but it has definitely been cutting into my beading time!

Fortunately I have found a few ways to incorporate beadwork into my busy schedule. One of my best friends from high school was married this past weekend, and I had the great honor of creating her bridal jewelry. After sitting down with her over a large stack of back issues of Beadwork and Bead & Button magazines, she decided on the Summer Soiree necklace by Marcia Decoster from the August/September '09 issue of Beadwork Magazine.

I made a few adjustments to the original design; I used cream crystal pearls instead of silver ones to match my friend's wedding dress, and I could not for the life of me find a triangular focal crystal similar to the one used in the original design. Therefore, I used a round focal crystal, and I also made a minor adjustment to the crystal sequin fringe as well.

The pattern was quite straightforward to follow and stitch together. It should be doable for anyone experienced in right angle weave and bezeling techniques.

I also made her a matching bracelet in the same style.

I used a 16 mm Swarovski rivoli for the focal, which also served as the clasp. The crystal sequins made it tricky to put on, but also prevented it from falling off.

My friend's wedding was beautiful, and it was an absolute joy to be a part of it. Now I just need to finish my own wedding jewelry!

Attempts at Asymmetry

I've been attempting to design some asymmetrical beaded beads:



OK, these beaded beads still have radial symmetry, so I don't think they count as being asymmetrical. Still, it's a big step away from designing around platonic solid structures that I'm used to working with.

Can you tell that I like purple? ;)

Summertime Necklace

For Artbeads.com's latest "Summertime" blogger partner theme, I decided to sample a completely different jewelry component than I usually work with. Out of the vast selection of pendants available at Artbeads.com, I chose this large floral pendant that reminds me of a great big bunch of sunflowers. I also picked out some smooth and faceted glass roundelles from Artbeads' glass beads category to match the colors in the pendant. I then paired the set with some of my own handmade beaded beads, some fire-polished round glass beads from my own stash, and a sterling silver clasp.

At nearly 5 cm long, this pendant is much bigger than the other kinds of focals that I usually work with.



When I color-match beaded beads to focal beads or lampwork beads, I sometimes make a prototype beaded bead with different colors on each face. For this design, I experimented with a variety of combinations of brown and white on each eye:

I even went so far as to make this beaded bead in yellow, red, and cream:

..But I eventually decided to go with the yellow, red, and brown color palette, to better-mimic the look of a sunflower. I'm still not sure if I'm happy with my decision... Clearly, working with yellow isn't my strong suit!

To compensate for the lack of brown on the pendant, I wove the bail out of brown seed beads using peyote stitch. Normally I would try to make the bail out of wire, but in this case peyote does the job just fine.

Full disclosure: The stoneware pendant and glass roundelles used in this necklace were received as a gift from Artbeads.com. No payment was made for the review of these products.

Gold and Glass, and Silver and Pearls

I finished a few new pieces, which feature design and color variations on some of my previous pieces.

The first is a pair of mini Disco Ball earrings in purple and gold. This pair arose from a continuation of my Royal Purples color phase, although the purple Czech firepolish beads in these earrings have a goldluster finish, which tilts them towards the red direction on the color wheel.

This next piece arose from another color experiment, only in a color combination I don't usually work with. It's a pink and gold color variation of this necklace, only the lampwork beads are from the Czech Republic. I wove the Squared Circles beaded beads in colors to match the lampwork beads, and I used some Swarovski bicones as spacers.

This necklace turned out much more gold and pink than I had expected. I think it's because I usually don't wear so much pink or bling myself. If I could find these lampwork beads in red and gold, it should make a fancy holiday necklace.

For this last piece, I experimented in making 5- and 6-fold prism variations of my Double Bubble Jacks design, with peacock pearls and the appropriate design modification for pearls. Both variations worked! I used a 6-fold version strung though two points for the focal, accompanied by two 5-fold versions. I think that a 6-fold version is the limit for this design though; I tried making a 7-fold version but it didn't turn out very well.

I used Bali silver beads and green and purple round pearls to string this necklace, and I was amazed at how the green round pearls bring out the green and red colors in the peacock drop pearls in the beaded beads. Margie Deeb talks about this kind of color play all the time, and boy is it the truth!

The earrings and Squared Circles necklace are available for purchase in my Etsy shop, along with tutorials for all three beaded bead designs. As for the pearl necklace... I don't think I can part with it :)

New Earrings and Pendants in the Shop

I finally got around to listing a few new pieces that I've had sitting around for a while. First there's this pair of earrings in a Disco Ball variation, woven with Czech glass and some interesting matte seed beads:

Next I have another pair in the same design, but in a dark blue color palette and with freshwater pearls:

Then there's a Light Clusters pendant with more freshwater pearls, in red and silver...

...and in red and gold:

All of these pieces can be found in my Etsy shop. I also have tutorials for these designs as well if you'd like to make your own.

New Circle Starburst Pendants

I listed some new Circle Starburst pendants in the shop.

I listed this one, which uses a Southwestern teal, brown, and silver palette.

This pendant uses purple, blue, and green seedies with a little bit of silver, along with an alexandrite shade of lentil beads. The differing colors and seed bead finishes resulted in a different overall effect than I had expected:

Finally, this pendant uses Swarovski crystal circle pendants for lots of sparkle. I'm much happier with the "snowball" look of this pendant compared to its Teardrop Bubbles cousin. The blue seed beads give added contrast to enhance the look of the design.

All three pendants are available in my Etsy shop. The Circle Starburst pattern is available at beAd Infinitum if you'd like to make your own.