TGIF!

by Cindy on February 25, 2011

Hello everyone….

Where did the week go? Disappeared again.

I have a little something to show you today…no, no, not my Bead Soup piece! You’ll have to wait until tomorrow for that.

I made a Dreaming in Sepia – style necklace. My favorite component is the old religious medal for St. Terese of the Child of Jesus. On the back of the medal, it states “I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth”. I used sterling silver chain and annealed steel wire for the coil work and clasp. There are polygon Swarovski crystals in Black Diamond. Everything you need to know to make your own Dreaming in Sepia necklace is in the brand new book Wire Style 2 by Denise Peck. You’ll find the full tutorial inside…in fact, I referred to it when I made this version. I’ll add this to my Etsy shop soon.

dreaminginsepiasttherese

I’ll part with a shot of my little helper. He’s caught up in designing jewelry as well!

bead-soup-mix-my-helper

Oh, and please stop by tomorrow for the Bead Soup Blog Party! You’ll see what I made with these wire links, and there might just be a little give away too!

{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }

Lori Anderson February 25, 2011 at 1:40 pm: Your little guy and my little guy should get together — Zack adores beads!
Lisa February 25, 2011 at 1:49 pm: Love your necklace! Especially love your little man working with his hands! I used to teach 4 yr olds, and my favorite time with them was craft-time! Loved watching what their little minds told their hands to create. Even though we all worked on the same piece, everybody’s was different. Unique to their own creativity. Have a great weekend! Can’t wait to join you and everyone else for the Bead Soup Blog Party! Love looking and blog-hopping, just haven’t been brave enough to join in with this yet! 🙂
sharon b February 25, 2011 at 1:52 pm: Your necklace is so gorgeous Cindy! I am so drawn to the religious pieces these days, I think it is my therapy as I work thru my STUFF. I have found some beautiful pieces at my flea market hat I will sho soon, but you piece is gorgeous!!
Those littl hands are precious also! Have a great weekend.
Erin Prais-Hintz February 25, 2011 at 2:22 pm: You know my daugther was published in the September 2009 issue of Bead Trends for a pair of earrings she made for me in February. She was 7 when she made them, 8 when the magazine came out. Now she was published again with our Bead Star win this year! So you can totally encourage that. Now that my daughter has finally pierced ears she can make her own earrings (or I might find mine missing!)
Enjoy the day!
Erin
Alice February 25, 2011 at 2:28 pm: What a lovely necklace! I’ve never tried steel wire as I’m afraid it will rust, but I do love the look of it. I’ll have to give it a whirl.

Those wire links are wonderful and I can’t wait to see your bead soup reveal tomorrow. I’m liking the gold color.

When your son grows up he may not remember what he made or that he worked with beads, but he will remember crafting with mom. What special memories you are making for both of you.

Have a lovely weekend!
Patty February 25, 2011 at 2:29 pm: Oh that necklace is just yummy!!! So is the little one – Happy friday!
Tracy February 25, 2011 at 2:38 pm: Sooo… pretty. My kids (boy and girl) love the beads too. I like that they can join me sometimes with their own set of beads and I can encourage their creativity while I work on my own pieces. Your photography is just beautiful Cindy. Such great light and interesting angles.
Wendy February 25, 2011 at 2:58 pm: lovely necklace! 🙂
Kristen February 25, 2011 at 3:12 pm: i
Kristen February 25, 2011 at 3:13 pm: OOPS that was not my comment!!! What a cute little helper! I have one of those too! Oh those copper links are gorgeous!!!! I can not wait til tomorrow!!!
Cristi Clothier February 25, 2011 at 3:31 pm: Hi Cindy! Your new necklace is beautiful. I just received Wire Style 2 in the mail yesterday and fell in love with your Siren’s Song necklace. It so serene and girlie!

Both my boys, ages 5 and 3, follow me into my studio when I am in there beading. They always want my hammers (expensive!), my bench block, and any scrap wire I might have so that they “can do what Mommy’s doing”. Theire second favorite thing to mess with is my dapping block set.
Lana Kinney February 25, 2011 at 3:41 pm: How sweet, brings back such fond memoires of when my now 15yr old 6’1″ son was my ” little man man” shh! actually don’t tell him but he still is and will always be my “little man! man!” i can’t wait to see your bead soup creation & that necklace is so pretty Happy TGIF i’ll be tuning in tom. 🙂
kim February 25, 2011 at 3:44 pm: The new necklace is wonderful….just think what he will be creating when he gets your age!! Can’t wait to see all the bead soup beauties. Have a great weekend.
esther February 25, 2011 at 4:08 pm: what a beautiful necklace Cindy!! and with this little helper .. what can be wrong?!!
Elisabeth February 25, 2011 at 4:24 pm: Cindy – I got my WS2 in the mail day before yesterday and really loved all your pieces. I need to challenge myself to take the next step past the simple wire wrapping I’ve been doing and the new book will sure do that! You should teach a class :-). I’ll miss you at Bead Fest Wire but totally understand why :-). P.S. BFBG is just how I shorten Beads For Busy Gals
sandi m February 25, 2011 at 4:50 pm: Great piece Cindy. My WS2 copy is on its way ~ can’t wait to see everyone’s work.

To Alice about annealed dark steel wire: Don’t be afaid. The secret to prevent rust is twofold ~ a good thorough cleaning to remove the coating on the metal using a brass brush and/or steel wool, then protect the metal with Renaissance Wax using a soft cloth and light buffing. And of course, keep your piece away from water – no tumbling required!
Brenda Schweder’s “Steel Wire Jewelry” book is just hitting bookstores and she’s a great teacher, too! (I’m a former student.) One last thing – don’t ever use your good cutters, pliers or tools on steel. Go give it a try.
Laura February 25, 2011 at 4:51 pm: What a precious helper! I’ll be back tomorrow for soup and i just received notice from Amazon that my wire style 2 shipped today, can’t wait!
Judy February 25, 2011 at 5:37 pm: Beautiful necklace! It has a wonderful vintage feel to it and will go with anything.
I could use a helper like that….mine growls when I ask for help.
Cindy February 25, 2011 at 6:04 pm: Sandi, thank you for the tips for working with steel wire. I agree with everything you said! I have had some rusting once when I wasn’t careful and got my necklace wet. And ditto about using good wire cutters…I know I’ve made the blade dull on mine due to using it, the steel is much harder to cut than copper or silver. It is such a great economical choice though, especially when you want the look of silver.
diane cook February 25, 2011 at 6:05 pm: This is a beautiful necklace Cindy…and I love the name =)
Your little helper could turn out to be a Keith Lo Bue one day….
xoxo
jenni Connolly February 25, 2011 at 6:43 pm: The necklace is beautiful.And I love the links.
These are definately on my list of things to learn. Will keep a look out on etsy for the book.
Jenni
Malin de Koning February 25, 2011 at 7:46 pm: Your blog has been given the Awesome Blog Award!

Read about it here:
http://beadingbymalindekoning.blogspot.com/2011/02/awesome-blog-award.html
Raquel February 25, 2011 at 8:42 pm: Gotta to get your blog into my weekly reading material. I will stop by for another look. Love the design. Wire 2 ok Gotta check it out. Thanks for sharing.
staci smith February 25, 2011 at 9:04 pm: Cindy- where do you get the steel wire? And does it tarnish…is it hard to work then sterling? I saw you used it in the book, but never heard of it before. It would be a nice alternative to sterling.

Thanks!
Sally February 25, 2011 at 9:17 pm: Cindy, I love the necklace, so pretty. I can’t wait to hop around the blogs to see what kind of “soup” everyone made. Hopefully, I will have time to participate next time around. Your little helper is a cutie! 🙂
Beth Bricker February 25, 2011 at 10:27 pm: Cindy, the necklace is great. I always had a project for my son to work on when I was preparing for craft show, he would make ornaments or something small to sell and then he would use the money for Christmas presents. As he got older he helped at antique shows and would even buy things to resell in my booth. Now he is a wonderful artist/photographer and makes money on ebay selling things. Keep encouraging your son, you never know what could happen.
I can’t wait to see your bead soup jewelry, it’s been great fun.
Shelby February 25, 2011 at 10:54 pm: Cindy, what a wonderful necklace. I can’t wait to get WS2. Went to B&N..not yet:( Such a wonderful little helper. I love when my daughter “helps.”
So excited to see what you did with your bead soup. See you tomorrow:)
Pattie February 25, 2011 at 11:47 pm: Lit’l Mama,

I’m truly loving the beautiful simplicity of this new piece. It really show cases your amazing wire work. I tend to use steal wire quite q bit. Especially when the wire will be stressed with weight or pulling. Jump rings of steal are much less likely to pull open. Course here the steal is guaranteed to patina and rust, so I treat them with transparent urethane when they have reached that just right patina look!

Enjoy these days with your trusty sidekick they end all to soon!
Pattie 😉
Mazatlan Mx.
Debbie February 26, 2011 at 1:12 am: Love your necklace Cindy!!! I will be back tomorrow.
Beads are fun at all ages.
Renate February 26, 2011 at 2:59 am: Your wire work and coiling is just gorgeous! The necklace is beautiful and those copper links – swoon!
Janet McDonald February 26, 2011 at 3:08 am: Stunning Cindy…you Always bring it on!! xx
Virginie February 26, 2011 at 4:08 am: How cute is your little man, beading away so he is ^_^ cute or what. Look forward to your BSP piece and giveaway!! smile, Virginie
lorelei February 26, 2011 at 9:36 am: Just gorgeous! I didn’t expect less from you though, you always think outside the box! Nice necklace, looks fun to wear! I love the simple necklace too!