Another pretty piece for Mom....

Here's another of my favorite necklaces for Mom: this one is a sweet, delicate single strand necklace that would be perfect to wear with a summery linen blouse or top. I used a triple strands of tiny seed beads in pearlized cream interspersed with teeny tiny clear Swarovski crystals as the main necklace base. Along the way, I added knobby sterling silver spacer beads between pairs of off-white Swarovski crystal pearls , and luminous oval four-sided cats eye beads in luscious spring green. The cats eye beads are nestled between tiny crystals that catch the light at the most unexpected moments.

This is a pretty piece that has a lacy, feminine look. The clasp is an easy to use hook and eye configuration.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/72708539/springtime-green-lacy-beaded-necklace

Happy Easter!

In case I'm not able to return here before Sunday, I want to wish everyone a very Happy Easter. Although not everyone celebrates this day as a religious holiday, it's also a celebration of new life, and the awakening of nature from its deep winter sleep. I'm always excited to watch new buds forming on the tree branches, and tender young sprouts poking up from beneath the damp blanket of mulch. I'm always in a state of anticipation as I wait for signs that the darling perennials that I planted so lovingly last year have survived the harsh winter.

A number of years ago, a little later in spring, I was working in my corner raised flower bed, loosening up the dirt, preparing to spread new mulch. As I lifted up some foliage, I was pleasantly surprised to have revealed a bunny den! Over the entry to the little cave, the mom bunny had carefully arranged a camouflage of dried leaves and grasses. But, I could still see the tiny little baby bunnies curled up together in a tight little furry ball, content and oblivious to any danger. The next day, as I returned for another look....they were gone! Mama had apparently sensed my presence and moved her brood to another location. I wonder if she moved them to my neighbors yard and closer to his beautiful vegetable garden (I don't think he's a fan of bunnies!)

Happy Spring to all!

Hand beaded choker for Easter or Mother's Day...

I grew up in a family of three girls, me being the middle child. The celebration of Easter for us was not only a joyful experience honoring our Risen Lord as we attended the traditional sunrise service on Easter Sunday, but it was also a fashion event. My mother always took us shopping in the weeks before Easter, and made sure that her three girls were dressed to the T's. Our dresses were made of frilly taffeta and lace....the fuller, the better. Luscious sherbet shades of pink, yellow, and cream.....decorative lace collars, silk sashes....we were beautiful. Easter bonnets were also the rage -- white straw head pieces decorated with artificial daisies, pansies, and ribbons. I remember one year feeling oh, so special, because the ribbon around the brim of my bonnet was so long, that I could actually sit on it. I felt so amazingly beautiful (and probably even at that young age,  a little sexy.)

In recollecting the beauty of spring tulips and hyacinths blooming early, I've created this beautiful hand-beaded choker in luscious, pearly pink. The three pink stones are pink quartz. Added glimmer comes from the beautiful  cathedral cut Czech fire polished beads that are worked into the choker. What a pretty piece.

Thinking of warmer weather....

Here in Chicagoland, we have a great sense of anticipation regarding the weather. This time of year, we are passionately yearning for that glorious moment in time called SPRING! And I really mean "moment" -- sometimes it's just a nanosecond. If you've lived in the Midwest for any length of time, you know that "spring" is a concept that is sometimes elusive. It can be rainy, gloomy, and gray for weeks on end...and then BAM.....it's 83 degrees and humid. That doesn't constitute our ideal of spring. So we tend to talk a lot about the weather here. We're never happy, and lament constantly about whatever our plight might be regarding the day's weather....perhaps a 20-degree plunge from yesterday's high of 68, to a miserable damp 48 today.

So, thinking of this, I thought I'd share with you a picture from the sunny, warm Riviera Maya, taken last year on our vacation in February. Ahhhhh meeeeeeeeeee. Sunshine, sandy beaches, ocean breezes.....Mojitos....You get the picture!

Rain, rain, go away...

On a gloomy, gray, rainy day, it seemed appropriate to cook a nice dinner. I'm making pecan-encrusted baked chicken, and will serve it with a nice crisp tossed salad. Yum! It smells good already!

I'm actually having a lot of fun tweeting on Twitter. My list of followers is growing, and I've learned quite a lot from the interactions. I learned about the Chicago Bead Society and about a new online venue for handcrafters! Rings & Things offered a tutorial on creating a leather and stone bracelet, and Fusion Beads has a tutorial on knotting pearls. Very informative.

I'm finishing up a new leather macramé bracelet tonight made with opalite and amazonite. It's got some Swarovski crystals mixed in for a really cool, elegant look. You will like it!

Another version - macrame leather bracelet in yellow and blue....

Here's another version. I like the color combinations in this one: yellow barrel African trade beads and cobalt blue and bronze seed beads.


Brown leather macrame bracelet with hammered brass rinks, yellow trade beads, and cobalt and bronze seed beads.





 

The finished bracelet...

I posted a picture earlier of a brass link and leather macrame bracelet I was working on. Well here's the finished product! The piece coordinates with my bright Moroccan-inspired dangle earrings. I've used the same hammered brass links and colorful African trade beads. The macrame portion is done in dark brown 1 mm round leather thong. It's now for sale in my Etsy shop!




Brown leather macrame and brass link bracelet



On a rainy day....

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The sun can't shine every day (unless you live in Arizona)....and it won't! So like today, which was rainy, windy, and overcast, I got busy with some of my ongoing design projects, finished a few things and started some new ones. I would have liked to do some photography as well, but that will have to wait.

In the past I've struggled with finding the ultimate setup for an indoor photo shoot. I've got several special daylight fluorescent bulbs with reflectors, a white backdrop, and some other stuff, but it's really a challenge to drag it all out and set it up. I've tried a homemade lightbox, but haven't been happy with the results. What I need is an ART & PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO! My husband tells me some day I'll have one...but I'm not holding my breath.

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Alas the cool little jazz-playing widget I added is not working...

I've removed the Amazon MP3 widget until I can figure out why it's not working. I thought it was a cool addition to my blog. One of my friends alerted me to the fact that nothing was appearing. You're supposed to see a small rectangular box portraying the artist, the name of the song, and a black "play" arrow. Stay tuned, though. I'll figure something else out eventually.

My invitation.....

I've got 2 (yes TWO) followers! How exciting that is! Join them and FOLLOW me on my blog!

My favorite music...

You may have noticed that I added a little widget to this blog that plays snippets and sound bytes from different jazz artists. Jazz and particularly smooth jazz, has been my delight for about the last 10 years. I have a strong background in music, and come from a family well-versed in the classical masterpieces. I studied piano as a child, then flute, and also sang in choral groups, including a stint in an acapella jazz ensemble. That was particularly fun and memorable!

Now my favorite artists include Peter White, whose smooth melodies on guitar can lull me into a dream state,  David Benoit -- OMG a veritable genius on the keyboards! -- Marc Antoine - with his very cosmopolitan interpretations on guitar,  and other artists such as Down to the Bone, The Rippingtons, The Jazzmasters, and of course my absolute favorite, American jazz performer, pianist, and radio personality Ramsey Lewis, born and raised in Chicago - (almost) my home town (I'm a suburbanite.)

Oh....and I can't forget Michael Buble! He is sooooooo cooool!

Another project!

I had a vision in my mind of creating a bracelet to match my Moroccan-style brass earrings. Right now I seem to be fixated on antique-finished brass - not brass-colored plate over base metal, but 100% brass links, chain, findings, etc. Anyway, in thinking about this bracelet, I had the notion to use leather cord and use macrame knotting techniques. I dabbled in macrame years ago but needing a refresher course, I trotted over to the local Michael's in search of a macrame book. A young clerk, seeing me perusing the craft books asked if I needed help finding something. When I said I was looking for books on macrame, she eyed me with a puzzled expression....."What's macrame?" she said. I just had to smile! (Am I that old?)

I eventually found several books that I really love, including one by Suzen Millodot entitled Ornamental Knots for Beaded Jewellery, which is really more about the art of tying decorative knots. The knots that Suzen demonstrates in the book are incredibly sophisticated and intricate, and possibly way beyond my skill level. But nevertheless, I love a challenge and will eventually try to duplicate some of them!

Here's the brass link and leather macrame bracelet I'm working on.

This is really an interesting book. Suzen's pieces are beautifully designed and crafted.

The perfect Mother's Day gift...

Are you looking for a fabulous Mother's Day gift? Check out this gorgeous gold necklace. It has little squares of turquoise-colored aqua terra jasper, gleaming gold-filled beads, and fancy gold-dipped pearls circled with genuine Swarovksi crystals.

At the center hangs a Swarovski starfish shape in "crystal golden shadow" color. Mom will absolutely adore this piece!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/69487813/classy-crystal-studded-gold-pearl/

New studio on ArtFire!

I have a new studio on ArtFire! ArtFire is a venue for artisants to display and sell their art work and handmade designs. I've started uploading my beautiful jewelry pieces, and will be adding more soon.

I hope you will stop by to take a look.

http://www.noellelabelle.artfire.com/

Now I'm Tweeting! (Or is it Twittering?)

What a fast paced world. I'm twittering and tweeting now, and feel like a top caught up in a whirling dervish. I'm exaggerating of course. But Twitter is a continuous feed of snippets and bits thrown out there in rapid-fire succession by all of the people you are following. Just throw out a thought and it's captured in the spin!

Check out the twitter feed I've added to my blog. It's on the left hand side if you scroll down.

Back to the semblance of "normal"....

Luckily, my husband is out of the woods in regards to his recent “confrontation with death” (as he would say -- and he's right – pulmonary embolisms are nothing to sneeze at.) Things are beginning to return to normal, and for that I’m thankful.

In the meantime, I’m pondering what real-life venues I should be pursuing this spring and summer. I want to promote my business, and I think real life events will be fun and worthwhile. I did a Christmas promotion at my company this past year which was terrifically successful! Everyone absolutely ADORED my jewelry pieces (that’s why I call my company NoelleLaBelle, Jewelry to Adore.)  

I’ve decided that just for April, and ONLY for my blog fans, I’m going to offer a 10% savings discount for anything purchased from my Etsy shop at http://www.noellelabelle.etsy.com/. Etsy is great because #1) customers can purchase with a credit card via Pay Pal (you don’t need a Pay Pal account), and #2) I can offer discount codes to the people I choose! For this discount, please enter the following code at checkout: NLBBLOGFANS. Happy Shopping!

More crystal items featured on NoelleLaBelle.etsy.com.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/71331194/sunflower-crystal-dangle-earrings

http://www.etsy.com/listing/71361472/swarovski-crystal-drop-earrings-with

Be prepared for "The Wrench"....

One can have the best laid plans, but if you're "thrown a wrench," that's what you must deal with. My weekend design plans were a bit forestalled this week by the hospitalization of my husband. He developed a PE Thursday night (pulmondary embolism...or blood clot in his lung) which required a trip to the local ER. This is a potentially dangerous situation, and the medical staff told us over and over again how lucky he was to have paid attention to his symptoms. The ER staff was wonderful and both doctors and nurses on the telemetry unit have been awesome. He's doing fine, and will hopefully be home tomorrow.

Despite the events of the past few days, I did get to squeeze in some time to create some new Swarovski crystal earrings. Swarovski crystals have an amazing sparkle and flash that is world renowned, and really hard to resist! I simply can't get enough of them. Since I do custom work, if you see an earring design that you like, and a color in mind, most likely I can create a pair of earrings just for you. You can send me a message on my website. http://www/noellelabelle.etsy.com.

Dangle earrings with sterling silver earwires and beads, Swarovski crystals in rose and crystal with aurora borealis finish.