Fairy Tale Bead Swap

Some time back, I joined another one of Lori Anderson's awesome bead swaps...this one had a Fairy Tale theme!  My swap partner was Geneva Collins, and unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to photograph the beads she sent me before creating the piece because I was so excited to start building!

And now...for the unveiling.....

Titiana's Folly

 

I have to include this little intro from Geneva herself:

"Titiana, Queen of the Fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and her mischievous husband Oberon have taken time out from their scheming and love potions for Puck, Bottom and the rest of the crew to gather some enchanted gems from deep within the forest for you to adorn yourself.

Included in this sweet little charm bracelet full of magical wonders is Moon Pearls hand beaded components, assembled by Geneva herself:

The moss green glass fluted beads are "magic seedpods" and were fashioned into charms.  The actual bracelet is constructed of Spectra glass beads using fine wire...they kept cutting my beading thread!  They are gorgeous golden colors and have a cool textured finish.  It is sort of hard to see the beads under the charms, but they are wired in RAW weave.

 Also fashioned into charms are Crystallized starlight and dewdrops (Preciosia Czech rounds and bicones) and Golden Globes to symbolize Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (metal spacers).

To top it off, a vintage brass button...Shakespeare's hand.  The button is gorgeous and is definitely a modern button (modern meaning of the 1900's).  It is actually fashioned after Victoria's hand (Queen Victoria, that is) as Victoria's hand buttons were wildly popular in the mid to late 1800's.  It is a gorgeous component, nonetheless, and right up my alley!  Of course, I did not damage the button...the shank is still intact.  Here is a closer look:

I wanted to include a picture of the piece being worn...please forgive the fact that it was taken in the evening with (oh, no!), yes, a flash.  Unfortunately, the flash didn't work out too well :(

 

So, there is my contribution to this awesome blog party!  Be sure to visit the participants below and to comment on their blogs!

I will be unable to participate in the actual blog hop until Sunday.  My husband inadvertently signed us up last week for a car racing event his work is paying for ($300/person package) that takes place on the same day as the party.  Needless to say, I have to go, so I will be hopping every one's blog maybe late Saturday, but definitely Sunday!

Now, go hoppin'!

Lori Anderson, Pretty Things

Rebecca Anderson, Song Beads

Courtney Breul, Beads By Breul 

Loretta Carstensen, Designs by Loretta

Evelyn Hall, Dragon Lady Evelyn

Sandy Richardson, Sandy's Coloring Box

Dana James, Dana's Jewelry Design

Tara Plote, Newbie Beader

Christine Brandel, A Hot Piece of Glass

****Alterity Button Jewelry...You Are Here!****

Joanna Matuszczyk, Filcowe

Jenni Connolly, Jenni Bead

****Geneva Collins, Torque Story...My Swap partner!****

Elisabeth Auld, Beads For Busy Gals

Sally Russick, Wireworked

Mary McGraw, MK's Creative Musings

Norma Turvey, Moonlit Fantaseas

Erin Prais-Hintz, Treasures Found 

Stephanie Haussler, Pixybug Designs

Shai Williams, Shaia's Ramblings

Johanna Rhodes, Fire Phoenix Creations

Sandi Lee James, Do Be Do Bead Do

Sweet Addy Designs

Valerie Norton, Hot Fused Glass

What's Old Is New Again

The latest spring Artbeads.com design challenge was "What's Old Is New Again".  The piece was to celebrate spring and I had all intentions on getting this done well before the end of April!  For this piece, I chose elements reminiscent of Miriam Haskell and added an antique carved button for that actual old piece!

The piece began with pretty pastel resin flowers which I wired to brass filigree components with coordinating seed beads and baby pink opaque fire polish beads.   This actually took several tries to figure out how to make everything stay in place!  The resin flowers were very fun to work with with the ample hole in the center to the forgiving way they had as they were wired and unwired several times. These resin flower and leaf components were combined with new and vintage glass beads from my stash which were wired together.

All of the components were attached with this great silver rollo chain which is actually a base metal chain with silver plating.  I love the rollo chains as they are so often found on vintage pieces and when combined with modern elements truly does give them that vintage flair!  What I loved most about these rollo chains this:  metal base chains are sometimes a little soft and tend to bend out of shape easily.  With these rollo chains, the individual links are soldered shut, so no fear of the chain breaking!

For the finishing touch, I took a large antique carved mother of pearl button and embellished it with resin flowers and leaves.  Exquisite!

Disclaimer:  This is NOT a paid post.  Artbeads.com furnished the supplies to create this piece from my original design free of charge in exchange for my honest review of components used.  Artbeads.com did not pay me for my time or this article.