Monday, June 23, 2008

My hands f-ing hurt

And I'm looking for ways to amuse myself that does not involve gripping needles. Obviously, that means no knitting or beading. Boo! But I do have a few pretty things to show you all.

First up is one of my happiest and most favorite purchases. The first time I heard of Leah Fairbanks was reading an article about her in Bead & Button. I fell in love with her beads. She has a garden theme running throughout and her use of color is amazing! I walked past her booth on my last rounds at Bead&Button on Sunday and I had to stop and admire...and buy. She had a necklace around her neck with one of her beads as the focal bead and strung with gemstones and that became my inspiration. I had bought a few strands of faceted amethysts on the first day of B&B and I knew that's what I was going to use them for. All I was missing were the crystal squaredells and I set off on a last minute hunt for them! The last thing I did before I went to bed after I got back was put this necklace together. I absolutely love it! The price is high since the bead was expensive, but also it's going to take that much for me to part with it :) Sorry all!

Necklace with Leah Fairbanks bead


Next up...and why my hands are currently hurting a lot...I started working on this almost immediately after I returned from Bead&Button. Laura McCabe had one of these in class and I loved it! I was inspired for the color and in trying to bead from my stash, I realized that I had the perfect beads to make the spiral ndebele strap. The ball is Laura McCabe's "Crown Jewel" design with Swarovski rivolis and bicones. Yum.
the first Crown Jewel


This is probably my second favorite necklace right now, right after the Leah Fairbanks bead one. There are probably more of these to come. It's also over on etsy.

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