A very popular stone

We are starting a new week  and I am bringing back a relatively old piece made for my Summer/2009 line because old is new and new is old. There will be always a place for turquoise (Chinese stabilized turquoise) and clear crystals on your accessory box. The background is a sunny and very blue sky.

Fernando Dasilva © 2009.

Love and mothers are forever

Because red is love, red is passion,  red is fertility, red is heart, red is drama, and drama is synonym of mother  and I can't imagine life without my mother.

Design featuring Murano glass heart pendant with milefiliore and gold foil details.

Design by Fernando Dasilva © 2010.

Artbeads.com and Copacabana

Last November, the folks of Artbeads.com generously sent me few jewelry components that I requested with the intention of using in some of the designs I was creating for "Modern Expressions".

Unfortunately I ended up using only a fabulous ultra cool sterling silver clasp that I've spotted on their website but a few other components were temporarily forgotten on my fabulous and exciting stash of jewels.

Initially I wanted to create a fabulous and substantial necklace using the shell pendants you are seeing on these sexy pair of earrings. 

I loved the etched shells that have been around for awhile and the details of these in particular caught my eyes at Artbeads.com website...they are called blacklip shell wavy pendant black cross stitch)...whooof

I have to say that they were not what I was expecting simply because they are light weight. I am terrible figuring certain things out through websites, like measurements, sizes, thickness..serious!
I am one of those people who like to touch things, to see close by.

Well, it came the day that I decided that I could do something else with them because they are still very pretty and here they are. I create a sassy design incorporating both colors.

I only requested one of each of the colors I picked, so why not to make a pair of earrings with both... Below is the image of my sexy, summerish, "Copacabana nights" earrings.

Because I got black motifs in one shell  and orange/rusty in the other one, I decided to keep its mood and I am betting on black/red and black/white for Summer strongly.
So I mixed them with gun metal star charms, Indian red, jet and greige Swarovski Elements and red aluminum chain.
If you are wondering how I turn both shells into double hole pendants the answer is : I used glue on bails from Beadalon attached with Bead Fix adhesive square in the back (my new thing...I am so dig in it ).

The necklace is from my own collection...it was designed quite time ago  and it features 14ky gold chain and ruby, cherry chalcedony and sunstones briolettes. It doesn't match the earrings but I think coordinates very well...besides I have always been a huge fan o mixing metal colors...and these days it's so IN.

I don't think I need to tell you that now I love those shells and I am glad that I asked the folks of Artbeads.com to send it to me. I did not use for what I intent for at first sign but they do made my earrings inspiration fabulous and fresh..and you know..they do remind me of Copacabana and the mermaids from Ipanema.

Product quote from this blogger:  ☆☆☆ out of 5.

See you next!

Disclosure:  Blacklip and red lip wavy shell pendants - cross stitch ( SHL-LP88/89) were kindly provided free-of-charge by Artbeads.com, within the frames of Artbeads.com blogging program. The author of this blog has not received any payment from above-mentioned company. The post above represents only personal opinion of the blog author.

One among my favorites CRYSTALLIZED™ special effect

I am so dig in crystal red magma special effect launched by Crystallized™ last year. A rich red shade that can be placed between Light SIam and Indian Red, I already consider the red magma effect the perfect shade for everything that exudes latin flavor - seduction, passion and sensuality, a translation of fire that born inside a vulcan and is spilled to the earth with strong destruction power.

The image below is a small corner of one of the projects made for Modern Expressions.   

Connections, links, rings, circles, and then more connections.

Sneak peek of the day

Another design 4 "Modern Expressions"

Simplicity for a day.

What is this?

Manuscript finished

Hi everybody!
I am back!
Blogging must to be pleasant and done on the right time...my apologies for not posting regularly during the last 3 months.
Now that  my Modern Expressions's manuscript is finished I can re stabilish my initial goals for this blog.

The pics below are a sneak peeks of what's within.
Just a little corner image of a design that is in the book, just to keep you mouth watering...lol
just to tease your imagination.

So I decided to ask you what do you think the picture below is.

If you write me something, you will be automatically eligible for a surprise give away. You can say it is: a section of a necklace, a section of a bracelet, a section of a color variation or none of the above...I don't know.

Don't forget: you answer will make you automatically eligible for a drawing of a Daliciuus™ jewelry kit.
Good luck!

The winner will be announced on Easter Sunday.

Here it is:

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.

"ZEPHYR" workshop

"Exposed" night at New Jersey Bead Society

Event sponsored by CRYSTALLIZED™ and BEADALON®

My workshop scheduled at the New Jersey Bead Society was  fantastic! All the hard work done was paid off by a very positive feedback from members and partcipants. The ladies enjoyed the project, loved the crystals components and were surprised by the high tech findings by Beadalon, including the Beadmaster tool made for the class.

The room was very spacious and the bead society members have all well prepared.

My fellow friend and  CRYSTALLIZED™ ambassador Sandi Luppo hosted the evening with a beautiful introductory speech about my work to the audience. Sandi also took some time to talk about Create Your Style and its importance and prestigee for the DIY market. I was helped by bead society member Hillary and 3 members of the White family.

I was lucky for having such nice ladies on this workshop and  seemed like they had no problem understanding my Brazilian accent. (accent!?! what accent? lol)  

The picture above is the designer's table. A sample of the "design of the day" on the right side and  on the left side my first piece made using the XILION bead...Article 5328..."Cinque Terre" necklace - everybody loved the color palette.  A copy of the book is in the center top, personal postcards on bottom center and brochures of CYS and Beadalon on the bottom.

Above one of the tables set up.

On the screen above a Beadmaster of "Zephyr" made for this workshop.

A picture of the audience listening to the president's bead society board member.

 A different angle of the crew..at this point they were working on their project.

This blogger signing a copy of "Bead and Wire jewelry - Exposed"

This blogger with Hillary and fellow Create Your Style with CRYSTALLIZED™ Swarovski Elements Ambassador  Sandi Luppo.

Petra (one of the bead society members) very happy with her lariat.

Mrs. VW in the background.

NEW JERSEY BEAD SOCIETY - MATAWAN

Today I have a workshop for 80 ladies of the New Jersey Bead Society located in Matawan. I created a version of one project from "Bead and Wire Jewelry Exposed" book co-authored with my fellow designers Katie Hacker and Margot Potter. This variation is in black tubing with CRYSTALLIZED™ Swarovski Elements in red magma, black diamond and jet colors. It suits well this season and it will holds well during the winter.  Once again BEADALON® is pairing with CRYSTALLIZED™  to sponsor this gig.

I see a workshop as a great venue to promote your designs skills, business and the brands behind you but on the other hand, is a exhausting gig. On this case, I would never be able to do it if I did not have the logistics support that BEADALON® and its team provides me. A Beadmaster™ tool was created so people can follow the instructions on screen through this flashing technologie. I had to assemble 85 kits (one member of Beadalon® did it for me the findings portion of it) and I did the crystals. Thank, God! I had to print "how's to"- another member of Beadalon® did it for me. I had to create a poster using a CRYSTALLIZED™ template and JF at Beadalon® did it for me. I don't know about yours but my fabulous print at home never works when I need most. And all that is only possible after I have all findings and tools ready to be used, function that is  done by Yvette Rodriguez- the Beadalon® marketing and event coordinator. The meeting was coordinated by one of NJBS member who is  a fellow designers as well. Last night I had W, his mom and his sister on a manufacturing assembling line style helping to get all tools unpacked and ready to go.

Serious, I don't know how some of my fellow designers do it and some of them drive their majority income from it.

I love workshops but it requires tons of work.

I wish all of my workshops were like the  ones hosted and organized by Creat Your Style™ in Tucson.

I get there and everything is ready to go. I still have to get "how's to" and kits ready but my classes are small and I love it.

So, I hope the ladies love the necklace and buy the book.

Thanks BEADALON® and thanks CRYSTALLIZED™.  I couldn't do it without you two.

I hope one day I become really rich and have a full staff doing it for me and I just have to shine like a star. lol

For the time being I better keep working my _______.

Wait for pictures and photos  on my next post.

Is working a modern expression of life?!? lordje! lol

XOXO!!!