Saturday, November 29, 2008

Chain Maille Kits for Sale




I'm presenting some kits on my website that can turn you into a chain mailler in no time! Using the provided jump rings and instructions you can turn a pile of rings and some crystals into a beautiful bracelet that will mystify your friends. I'm always getting comments like "How did the crystals get in there?" or "How do the crystals stay in there? Are they on a wire?"
You can learn the answer to both these questions in the easy to read color instructions. If you're curious my web site is:

http://www.new-bel.com/Kits.html

Friday, November 28, 2008

A Nice Blog




I found this blog that has cool wooden animals that this man makes for his children. He also sells them and I think going back to a simpler type of toy will benefit the kids! They have enough with batteries and things that talk back. These more simpler toys will get their imagination going!
http://dadswoodentoys.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Off Again





Whew! I've just barely unpacked from my trip last week and I'm off again! This time to Oviedo to be with my family for the Thanksgiving holiday. I'm so thankful to have them to be with over the holiday. Of course I wish I could be with all my family. That's the big problem with our mobile world. Everyone lives so far apart that families can't be together except in extraordinary circumstances. Oh well, I'm happy to have them all healthy and safe and I'll get to see them when I'm able.

The silversmithing class is coming to an end. I made this Rivoli ring this week. I used a blue Swarovski Rivoli and set it in sterling silver. There are some errors but the next one will be better.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Retreat Planning




Wow, time flies when you're having fun! This past week just flew by and I have been having fun! We had a combined meet-up of members from both Florida Jewelry Artist Retreat Group and Florida Beaders group at The 3 Bears Bead Shop in Umatilla, Florida. There were four of us able to make it and we all had a great time! We started out getting acquainted then went bead shopping, then we talked about our coming retreat, and then went bead shopping, then went to lunch and then back to bead shopping! We also got a little time in for learning. Alice W actually had a real student who did a very good job wrapping a beautiful ring! Bebee G, Alice S and myself worked on perfecting our wrapped loops. As the sun went down, Alice S and myself went to Bebee's beautiful home on the St. John's River and spent the night there. This is where the January Jewelry Artist's retreat will be held and boy, will it be a good one!
The above pictures are of a pretty wire crocheted necklace and earrings along with a Byzantine necklace with a dichroic glass pendant made by my friend, Tammy Walkoff.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Snow and Ice




I forgot to mention that the cabochon on the chain is Mother-of-Pearl and I made the setting in my silversmithing workshop at my rock and gem club!
The above pictures are of a necklace that I completed yesterday. I call it Snow and Ice.

Time Flies!!





I've been reminded, by a friend, that I've neglected this blog and boy was she right!!!
I can't believe that I haven't posted since July! Since then my granddaughter has grown so much! She's almost four months old now and I got to see her in October. I'll see her again right after Christmas. Not soon enough!
I arrived home to FL from my summer travels to NY, TN, NC and SC in mid-August. I was just in time for a visit from TS Fay. No damage here but lots of flooding in Fort Pierce! September was spent getting settled, teaching and catching up on my jewelry making. October I traveled with a friend up to GA (yes I traveled again!) to William Holland School of Lapidary Arts. I had a week long class with a great teacher, Howard Siegel, in fused chain making. I did make some really nice stuff. I'll post pictures here. I got to see my daughter and family on that trip and visited all my beady haunts, too! I've been teaching and making more jewelry. I think I'm addicted. A day isn't a day unless I've completed at least one piece of jewelry!
The three pieces I posted are all from Wm Holland. They are all made with fine silver and are fused. If you'd like details just email me.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Baby Time



It's been a very busy month. I worked at my old job until July 16th. During that time I was involved with seeking out old high school buddies. The Seton Hall High School (Patchogue, NY) class of 1959 is planning a 50th (can you imagine!) reunion. I'm on the contact committee and have had fun locating old friends. We had one meeting where we were able to get together and plan. Of course, no one has aged, NOT! I also was able to have dinner with an old friend and her husband. That was such a thrill. I can't wait for the reunion next year!
I left NY and traveled to South Carolina. My daughter had not had her baby, yet, so I was able to help once she was in the hospital. Daphne Elizabeth arrived at 12:07PM on the 23rd of July just one day after her brother's 4th birthday and one day before her mom and dad's 9th wedding anniversary! It'll be a busy month for them that's for sure!
Mother and baby are doing well and so far Daphne is a very good baby! My jewelry making has taken a back seat to baby and big brother but I will get back to it asap!
The necklace in the picture is one of my better sellers in NY. It's made with Mykonos beads strung with seed beads and glass beads. I love it and I now have to make another on for me!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Travel Time


Again, it's been a while since I posted. Let me play catch-up. I left my home in early June. I went to Mary's house and then to Jackie's baby shower. We will soon be welcoming Makenzie Sloan. From there I journeyed to Liz's and enjoyed myself watching Brandon in his karate classes. Moving on my next stop was Cosby, TN. I had a wonderful time at my first bead retreat! What a great group of women! We had Jim
Mc Intosh teach us wire wrapping.
We taught each other different techniques and projects. I learned bead crochet, Kumihimo, Viking Knit and polymer clay. I taught the Cellini bracelet project. I haven't finished any of the projects but I will! I'm still working on the bead crochet. I'm still working on my St. Petersburg lariat so since nothing is finished I'm choosing to post a picture of a necklace that I made with the St. Petersburg stitch. My daughter was given this one as a Christmas gift.
After that inspiring gathering I drove the remainder of the way to NY. I've been working at my old job as a dialysis nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital for the past two weeks. It is really great to see everyone again. I've attended a small conference held by the American Nephrology Nurse Association. I renewed some old friendships, had a great dinner, learned something new and earned some continuing educations points.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008


Since returning from California I've been busy! Recovering from my once-a-year cold was not too bad after starting on antibiotics. Next time I take a flight I'm loading myself up with vitamins and some type of immunity booster.
Well, anyway, my busyness consists of, what else, teaching and jewelry making. I'm really enjoying the silver smithing class! I've made four rings and the bracelet that you see above. They are by no means perfect but I always give myself learning room. With the price of silver I can afford to scrap it unless the mistake is really glaring! Maybe in a year or so I'll look at them and not be able to stand them and then scrap it but for now I'm enjoying wearing them. More pictures to come!

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Black Tourmaline


Digging in Ocean View Mines resulted in the beautiful piece of black tourmaline. Since my 4 y/o grandson did some digging along side me that day I made this pendant for him. He still talks about the day he "went inside the mountain"!


Wow, how time passes! I feel like May just started and here it's half over! I've been to San Diego and back. I celebrated Mother's Day with my son and his beautiful family.
The two pictures above are pieces made by a budding jewelry designer and she's only 8 years old! Emma took immediately to the patterns. She easily followed directions for the Victorian Garden, made for her mom, and then proceeded to make one for herself! The yellow cat's eye and leopard beaded bracelet is her own design. She made it from start to finish with no help from me! The beads were given to her by my good friend, Linda. She is into all things science and math. Boy am I proud!

Friday, April 25, 2008

On the Road Again!



The traveling season is here again! In the next few months I will have visited Orlando, FL, San Diego, CA, Columbia, SC, and Long Island, NY. I'll be back at my old job in NY for six to eight weeks. I'll also be teaching jewelry making while I'm there! I'll spend the remainder of the summer in SC helping my daughter adjust to being mother of two instead of one! It'll be my pleasure to spend the time with her, my grandson and my new granddaughter! Speaking of my grandson....he has started taking karate lessons! At just 3 1/2 he is soooo excited about this! I could just hear the excitement in his voice while he was telling me all about the stripes he will get on his belt with each class! I can't wait to see him in his class!

The Spider Web or Dream Catcher is a piece done after reading the instructions on one of my Yahoo wire groups. I love it and call it Dream On! I've told the tale of the little copper butterfly being tempted by the sparkles in the center of the web. You can see that he or she gave into the temptation and can be seen flying away with one of the pretties!
I've been teaching classes these past two weeks. The above blue cab was made during one of the two wire wrap classes that I taught and the necklace is Helm's Weave or Parallel Weave that was Saturday's class. Always a big hit is the Victorian Garden Bracelet. That was Wednesday's class and I'll be teaching it again on Monday 4/28 and 5/28 at Beads & Baubles in Fort Pierce, FL. For more info on my classes go to:

http://www.new-bel.com/Classes.html

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Busy Month




I've had a great month but very busy! I traveled to Irmo, SC for Easter celebrations and some R&R. I visited with my daughter and her family. My 3 1/2 y/o grandson is such a great kid! He's getting to be a regular boy instead of a toddler. It's wonderful to see the transformation. Funny, how fast they grow up! Soon he'll be a big brother when his sister arrives sometime in July! He's just getting used to the idea and we'll see how he adjusts. He, like most of the young males in this family, is enamored with Grease, the movie! He stands on the coffee table (oh my!) and sings Grease Lightning! He still insists that Greased Lightning is the man singing (John Travolta) and not the car. Each night after his bath he has his mom fix his hair Danny Zuko style. How cute!
I got to go to Beckham's Barn and drool over all the beautiful rocks! I picked up some slabs to make a few cabochons, lepord jasper, tiger eye, agate and few others. I've started on the lepord jasper already. I also went to the bead shop on Harbison. It's fairly new and I'll be teaching some wire classes there this summer when I'm there to assist my daughter with the new arrival. She is a distributor for Kazuri beads so I took the oportunity to pick up a few. I made some pendants and strung them on 18" neck wires. They are for sale in my Etsy store. I love them!

Friday, March 14, 2008

Gift Cabochons



These two picture jasper cabochons were made by and given to me by my friend and mentor Linda. Linda lives in CA and got me started in jewelry making. I've had so much fun and have met so many great people since I started making jewelry. So much thanks for everything, Linda!
I wrapped the two cabs with square copper wire and half round copper wire.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008


Here we are! Two friends and me on dress-up night on the cruise. We had a real nice time.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Wire, wire, oh wire!


As I said earlier I didn't take to wire wrapping right off the bat. I think the thought of having to buy all that sterling silver and gold-filled wire turned me off. I've since discovered that I don't have to use those wires. Almost any soft wire gives me the results that I want! Of course taking the classes from Eni Oken on the cruise last week really got my enthusiasm up! I am humbled by her expertise! I bought all her tutorials on a cd and I've been trying them out. Today I made use of the turquoise donut that I bought at Wm Holland school last year. This is the picture of it. It took me about 3 hours while watching TV. It is Eni's design. Her tutorials are easy to read and follow. That CD was such a good investment!
Today I finished up some of the aquamarines that I got at Ocean View mine. I'm in the process of wrapping one of them. My cabbing class is finished. I think I want to repeat it in the fall. Hannah is such a great teacher and I learned so much from her and I know if I take it again I'll learn that much more.
I also had a couple of very nice ladies come to my home, today, with some beautiful cabs that they made at the St. Lucie Co. Rock & Gem Club's open workshop. They want me to wire wrap them! I'm so flattered. We seem to agree on less is more and I can't wait to start wrapping them!
Tomorrow is another class. The beautiful Victorian Garden is the project at Beads & Baubles in Fort Pierce.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Tailored Cabochon


I learned wire wrapping up in William Holland Lapidary Arts School in Young Harris, GA in Sept of 2006. When I first started ww I wasn't too sure that I liked it. I had a great teacher but I left thinking that I wouldn't be doing too much of that! I did pieces off and on for the past 1 1/2 years but it wasn't until the past month that I've gotten into it full force. I have collected so many cabs and I have been making some of my own cabs that I have had a lot to choose from. My one big draw back was the wire. Sterling silver is so expensive. I try to keep some sterling in stock but it's usually round for making jump rings. I didn't want to go to the expense of buying the square and half round wire needed for wrapping! Finally I decided to try it with the round wire. I used my favorite wire Para Wire and started wrapping using a smaller gauge for the actual wrap. They turned out great! So I kept going. I'm not fond of all the "frou, frous" at the top. I'm more the tailored person. The picture shows a picture jasper cab I came up with last week and I'm really happy with it! Now back to work to make more!

Bead Cruise 2008


I have been a real slacker where my blog is concerned! Being home has been good for me. Of course I don't stay put for very long! I left on a cruise 3/1 and I just got home. It was so much fun! I was a cruise virgin and I certainly did enjoy my first cruise. I went with a group of beaders. We took classes while at sea. My classes were taught by Eni Oken, a world renowned wire worker and Marsha DeCoster also world renowned in the beading world. I've come back so much more knowledgeable! Aside from the great classes I have to say that everyone of the people that I met during the cruise was a pleasure. From my fellow beaders to the ship's staff to the people in Jamaica they were all interesting, polite and fun. Our waiter, "Ping", had us in stitches every night. He was so entertaining. It seems he is from Thailand. He works for six months at a time and has two months off. Whew, what a schedule! He has a wife and two children that must miss him a lot.
A comment on the picture. I made this bracelet tonight. I used beads made by my NY friend Lea Avroch. They are so beautiful. The color is a deep teal with flecks of silver. The beads have such depth and shine that I sit mesemerized stareing at them!
they kind of remind me of the water's of the Carribiean.
I keep thinking and going back to the cruise in my mind. My body even seems like it is still on the ship!
I will try to be better and post here more often!

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Daisy Chain Bracelet


Now I'm really home! It's always bittersweet to come home. On one hand I'm happy to be here with my "things" (computer, Tivo, TV, bed, kitchen, tools, etc). I can move around or not as I please. I don't have to be nice to anyone.....except myself. On the other hand I miss everyone! I've been in the company of at least one of my grandchildren everyday for the past month and I miss them! I never get "too much" of them! My children and their spouses are all such good and interesting people that I don't tire of their company, either.
I've unpacked, organized and reorganized my jewelry making supplies and I'm gearing up for a full month of teaching! The picture here is of a bracelet I call Daisy Chain. It is made with the pattern Victorian Garden. My teacher, Linda Wilder, of La Mesa, CA taught me this while I was there in early December. It is a big hit and this is my version of it with all pearls instead of the pearl and crystal combo. If you're in the Fort Pierce, FL area I will be teaching this at Beads and Baubles the end of January. If you're in the San Diego area this pattern is taught at the Bouncing Bead in La Mesa.