Jobs between

I have a customer who owns a gift shop in Louisiana and I provide stringing service to her.

She sent me a box last week with lots of pretty high gemstones to be assembled and among all this strand of kyanite caught my attention. I restrung with white Beadalon® stringing wire, wire guardian™ and  satin silver bead bumpers™ between...it was strung on silk  but considering that the sharp edges of the holes would eventually cut the silk again I went for the stringing wire that will provide longevity to the wearer.

On my side of the job I played with beach glass (picture above), CRYSTALLIZED™ elements and bright blue aluminum chain...it might make the book or not.

Beads and divas on the table

I did not mention anything about the last projects for Modern Expressions but things are going well. It's not flowing like I wanted because I had to stop to take care of other projects between but  last week was very productive. I made 5 new pieces and I loved all of them.

As you can see on the picture below my work station was musically ecletic as it can get. Art Deco is one of my favorite art movements and I am always checking on it for inspiration.

The past week was a female singers week dominating the atmosphere of my studio and setting me in the right mood for design. I went from Angelique Kidjo to Mariah Carey with no regrets. I got Barbra, Whitney, Mariah, Angelique, Joyce, Martinalia, Preta Gil  and Madonna all together on my studio and the party was all day intense...divas are intense.

I listened to 2 old records of Joyce and Johnny Alf, two amazing Brazilian songwriter and singers. I played "O grande circo mistico" a play soundtrack written by Chico Buarque e Edu Lobo performed bys everal artists and among them my all time diva Gal Costa - this record is a must have for any lover of Brazilian music. I recently bought a record by Seu Jorge, a very talented artists that has emerged in the Brazilian pop scene..his music is a mixing of soul, Brazilian funk and rap and samba...can you imagine all that 2gedar!?! So fun and up beat!

On the other hand yesterday I did not play a single song.

Getting back to last week's work, I played with lamp-work, crystals and paper marche beads - I did not use all of them but  the lampwork beads will be featured for the first time on my work for Modern Express -  it doesn't talk to my style on daily basis but I am experimenting new materials on this book and they are indeed very popular and people like it and it's not about only make a product that I like but make a product that can reach a wider audience. We will see!!!

A cool and deceiving look on this paper marche bead and good pick of colors on my lamp work beads selection.

The color above is Indian pink...one of my new favorite from CRYSTALLIZED™ Swarovski Elements.

Modern past, modern future

Posts have been rares for reasons beyond my control but I am back and things will get better and better!
Lets' not talking about bad expereinces and let's celebrate design.
I've found 3 old pieces that I could see me making them  tomorrow. I love to work with "serious" stuff as much as I like to work with fun components.
The best thing is that both pieces have found their places ong time ago...bravo!

The necklace above was made for a fabulous woman who loves purple.
I myself consider purple a perfect color to make a fashion statement. A black strapless dress bejeweled by a set like the one above and a red burgundy pair of hills would set you apart on a special night.
I mixed 2 shades and 2 grades or amethyst and hndknotted using dark purple silk.

The earrings showing above was made 7 years ago when Peruvian opals hit the market and everybody went crazy.

 I used fancy cuts and 14 k yellow gold.

The necklace above is one of my all time favorites. I loved the flat hexago cuts and the high quality of those crystal quartz beads.
I used a sterling silver box clasp set with moonstone  cabochons. This look is one of the looks that I iwll work with for Modern expressions...at the end all the pices above are very modern-expression.