Sharpin Designs Blog

Getting Ready for Halloween

10/21/2018

I love Halloween. I love dressing up for the day, decorating the house, seeing all the kids in their costumes and, of course, all the candy. Each year I make a piece of jewelry to go with my costume for the year. This year I knew I had to make this necklace when I saw it at the Heart of Texas Bead Retreat. Nora Pero was there and this is her design, called The Dark Side. She's also a polymer clay artist - I may have worn her out getting some amazing tips from her, but that's another story!

This design incorporates a bit of bead embroidery and a bit of beadweaving - the perfect combo. I did decide to do a RAW necklace instead of a metal chain, but other than that I followed directions (I know - unusual for me!).

I'm super happy with this, as well as how quickly it worked up. Nora's instructions were great and her polymer clay cab was perfect.

Happy Halloween my Spooky Friends!

Care'

Bling Bling

9/24/2018

A girl has to have her bling!

In our Dallas Bead Society meeting this month we worked on a Bling Ring pattern (pictures below). I loved this so much I decided to make a bracelet. Several members of our group made bangles and I knew I had to have one. I love it and I plan to make a few more in other colors.

Happy beading!

Care'

Dragon Cuff

8/26/2018

Okay, I broke my rule - the rule to finish up UFOs before starting something new. But, sometimes you come across something you HAVE to do RIGHT NOW! That was the case with the Ouroboros Dragon Cuff designed by Michelle Leonardo. You can find the pattern in the August/September 2018 issue of Beadwork if you'd like to make your own.

This was a lot of fun to make. The main part of the body was a breeze to whip up - especially once I finally managed to get the correct dagger beads after ordering three sets that were one-hole instead of two-hole - but that's another story.

The head was tricky and really pushed me with freeform peyote, but it was fun to make.

Okay - back to UFOs . ..

Happy Beading!

Care'

Working on UFOs

7/30/2018

We all have them. Those Unfinished Objects that taunt us from their respective corners, begging us to pick them up and finish them for once and all. It's funny because, when I first started beading and crocheting, I swore I would never do that. Fast forward a few years and they are everywhere. Some of it stashed so long ago I don't even remember them.

This particular one is from a class I took a few years back with Shelly Nybakke called "Robust Rendezvous." Shelly is an amazing teacher and fun to be around, so if you ever get a chance to take one of her classes I highly recommend doing so.

During class I managed to do about three of the "loops" you see on the front of the necklace. I had a different class the following day so this was stashed away to be worked on later. A few weeks ago I found this again while looking for some projects to finish up at a bead retreat I attended. I was super excited to see this one as I really wanted to finish this. While Shelly's original design is stunning, I knew I wanted something a bit more simple, so I made some modifications to suit my taste. I call mine "A Simple Rendezvous." since it's much less complex than Shelly's.

What was really cool about her instructions is I picked up several components from it that I plan to use it future work. In fact, I used the clasp for a piece I also finished up this week (more on that later).

Hope you like it. I'm off to tackle some more UFOs this week!

Happy Beading!

Care'

A Short Wrap

3/18/2018

I use to bead weave like a mad person. I would complete a project within one or two days and quickly move onto the next. I just could not get enough and I wanted to make everything I saw. A few years ago I started slowing down a bit and getting more focused. I think it was timed when I started crocheting more. I still love to bead, but I find I'm more selective in what I do now. I've also started limiting my color pallet to what I love - black, silver, black, gray, black, white, black . . .

When I saw the "It's A Wrap" bracelet by Bekki Haliey of whimbeads.com, I knew I wanted to make it. I've actually had the tutorial for quite some time, but I knew it was time to dust it off when my local bead society decided to do it together.

Her version is two separate bracelets, each made to wrap around the wrist multiple times. Where I have magmatamas, she uses drop beads. Her versions are simply gorgeous and it's worth an image search to see her work.

Rather than making the long versions like she did - because I never seem to wear the wrap bracelets I made - I decided to make two much shorter versions. Here are some more pics.

This was a quick project to work on with fantastic results. The best part is the tutorial would easily work for other projects, such as long chains.

Happy Beading!

Care'

2018 Annual Texas Bead Retreat

1/22/2018

Another year is in the books! Once again, I had an amazing time. Normally I take a million classes while I'm there and come home with a ton of UFOs, but this year I decided to focus a bit more and try and knock out some of my already existing UFOs. As usual, I took three projects with me, but managed to add four more. BUT, I finished two! YAY me! That may be a record.

Here's what I did this year. First up is the Il Braccialetto della Marchesa bracelet designed by Helena Tang-Lim of Manek-Manek Beads. I've made this one before and gifted to my mom. She was wearing it this past holiday season and I decided I needed one too. Isn't it awesome? I've done a few of Helena's patterns (and own several more) and her designs are simply stunning.

Next up is the Le soleil beadwoven bracelet designed by Edwige Denyszyn. This was part of a class I took with her Friday evening. I always loving trying out stuff that Edwige dreams up. She has a unique approach and eye, so working through her designs is always fun. And, I usually learn something new from her. Plus, she's just a blast to hang out with.

I decided to try something new this year - PMC (Precious Metal Clay). I've always wanted to give it a try but the amount of equipment and supplies you need is a bit much if you aren't sure you are committed. This class, taught by Barbara Bessire of Almost Matching Designs, gave us an opportunity to do all the fun stuff while she did the heavy lifting. Under her guidance, we made our pieces in class, then she took them home to fire and tumble overnight. The next morning we were all like little kids opening up our packages to see how our stuff turned out. She also brought a ton of her own designs with her for inspiration, which was great. I really liked her style. Her stuff is more organic and it made the whole thing very approachable. I made a cross, a pendant, and five tiny little stars. I'm already working out what I want to do with them.

If you think this looked like fun - it was. And, if you are a beader looking for a fun, affordable, and relaxing retreat, check out TexasBeadRetreat.com. We meet every year in January in Temple, Texas. And, if you happen to be in the Dallas area, you can always com hang out with me the first Saturday of the moth with DBS - Dallas Bead Society. You can check out their website at DallasBeadSociety.org. Both groups are also on Facebook, so you can check out what everyone has made.

Today my plan is to rest, rest, and rest some more.

Happy Beading!

Care'

Starfish Necklace

8/21/2017

Earlier this month a beading buddy of mine brought her starfish with her. It reminded me that I had this project on my "to do" list, After petting her finished piece for a while (and, truthfully, trying to hide it in MY bag), I decided it was time to get cracking on mine.

The starfish pendant is designed by Diane Dennis and works up pretty quickly. I used pewter-toned beads and pearls and finished up in an afternoon. I then spent most of the time trying to decide what type of chain I wanted to make. Evenually I settled on PRAW with silver seed beads and gold seed beads sprinkled throughout.

I love how this turned out!

I'm sure more of these are in my future.

BEad Happy!

Care'

A Little Bling for your Monday

3/6/2017

This weekend at Dallas Bead Society (DBS) one of our members, Janice Lyn, taught a class on Cubic Right Angle Weave (CRAW) to get the members ready for an upcoming workshop with Dianne Dennis. I've done CRAW for a while and it is one of my favorite stitches, but when I saw Janice Lyn's design I knew I had to make a bracelet (even though I have a million bracelets).

I modified the design just a bit, but as I worked I knew I finally had something for the charm I've had FOREVER. I like how it turned out - simple and sweet but still enough bling to catch the eye.

Happy Beading!

Care'

It's Really All You Need

1/31/2017

This past weekend I attended the Texas Bead Retreat in Temple, Texas. It's an annual event that has been going on for at least 15 years, and I started attending about 4 years ago. It's always a ton of fun with lots of men and women who share the love of beads, gems, beadweaving, laughing, and general merriment.

The past year or so my focus has been more on my crochet work, so I knew I needed to find a project that I could use to "get back into it" and finish during the weekend. The #beadlove project was the perfect fit. Plus, add in anything designed by Marcia DeCoster and I'm sold.

Marcia has set up a blog where she offers the free instructions as well as a gallery of the letters that have been completed by other beaders. It's amazing to see how everyone's letters are turning out. So inspiring!

With #beadlove,

Care'