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.

Donna Karan style

This morning I watched an interview with Donna Karan for the first time on "The View". The designer was promoting her Spring/Summer 2010 collection. I don't follow her work so I can't say that I'm a fan but I loved what she said about her inspiration for this collection...words like: airy, beachie, summer @ the Hamptons, organic, natural fibers...it was delightful to listen to her  and learn that we don't need to be so eloquent to talk about our work...sometimes few key words are enough and the work will speak for itself.

I loved that she is working with white, off white,  grey and touches of ultra light blues - the designer herself was all in black but incredibly her outfit screamed summer and I loved the jewelry. I took few pics of the TV...so the images are not sharp but good enough to feel DKNY™'s mood.

 

  Great shoes...great color palette...layers of clothes to be played with it.

The triple strand necklace is great and very casula chic. Impossible to tell what beads are those but I could swear to God that they are dyied shell, dyed bamboo coral or made out of rubber...large knots between...hmmmmmm...maybe I can find it on her website. Totally modern expressions.

I loved the gladiator sandals...we are definitely living on a Greek-Roman mood...

I never had doubt about her elegance I just never had watched her on TV before.

I might become a fan now.  

★★★★★

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:

"EXPOSED" book signing

I gave away few copies of "Bead and Wire Jewelry Exposed" at the Create Your Style with CRYSTALLIZED™  Swarovski Elements  Workshops last February 5th.

It was a great way to promote "Exposed". I signed all copies and gave to the ladies Brazilian chocolate bombons "Garoto" to all. 

At the FW Publications booth during the CHA Show last January, the 3 authors of "Bead and Wire Jewelry Exposed" striking a pose.

From left: this blogger, Margot Potter and Katie Hacker.

Create Your Style with CRYSTALLIZED™ workshop

On last February 5th I guided a workshop for Crystallized™. 

It was my 3rd year teaching for CYS in Tucson and I my class was sold out.

It was really something because I did so little on marketing. 

The best of all was to meet so many nice ladies eager to learn from me.

The project was at first glance a piece of cake but once again 2 hours were not enough for so many loops and dangles. Thank God, CYS gave me more 30 minutes and most of them finished their piece in the class.

As usual I did have a not so lovely" lady" who did not like the quality of the findings used on my piece..actually not all findings but specifically the plated findings. The only thing I have to say to her ( and I am doing this here because she did not say a thing to me but to another student) is that it's sad that she couldn't see that a necklace like this one( picture below) if were made entirely with sterling silver findings would cost her at least 3 times the price that CYS charged her for the class. 

In the DIY market I do work only with brands that provides wonderful and high tech products to my designs at a low cost.

Nobody should have high expectations when it comes to street wear jewelry...many of these items are seasonal and disposable.

When it comes to my pieces I believe that when someone gets tired of it,  she can always go back and  re invent it...re use the crystals because those are timeless.

I am happy with the results of my class and on y next workshops I will make clear prior to registration what kind of findings participants will be working with....just in case the registration fee it doesn't give a clue by itself about the general findings applied in it.

For now I only have to celebrate!

Thank you CRYSTALLIZED™ Swarovski Elements!

Thank you Beadalon!

Thank you Star's Clasps!

My  Rendezvous necklace

  

Rendezvous Necklace

                                                                               back

A moment of clarifying 

Me worrrking for the money, honey!

Alexandre Herchcovitch

I decided not to take pictures of the runway show because I wanted to see without filters and enjoy the moment. I was able to find on the Net great professional pictures from www.Style.com  and here are my favorite looks.

                                                          

                                                  

                                              

I 've got goose bumps all over my body. The strong atmosphere and the well tailored work put on each piece reflected on the runway. The applications of CRYSTALLIZED™ Swarovski Elements on his clothes were nicely done and well balanced, sometimes a small group of flat backs placed here and there and other times a jacket was covered in the back with small jet crystals and the effect was gorgeous. I saw a color palette never experienced and considered by me before...Can you imagine mauve, hyacinth, topaz, golden shade and a touch of erinite all together?! I created an work board inspired by some of  Herchcovitch ideas and 

I will create a jewelry piece inspired by his vision. 

I am not a fashion specialist and I don't know the fashion lingo so I am not adding captions to the pictures above.

I forgot to add few hyacinth crystals but the components above captured some of Herchco aesthetic for his Fall/Winter 2010 collection.   

MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEKMercedez-Benz

I was invited 2 go 2 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York to see the latest collection of a Brazilian designer. I got sick last week but I decided to take several drugs to accelerate my recover  because I wanted to get at least better enough to drive to Manhattan...and I did. I was really happy that I got to go because I've learned that this was the last season that the fashion week happens at the tents in Bryan Park ( by the way, one of my favorite spots in Manhattan). Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week will start next September at the Lincoln Center complex. Another favorite spot in Manhattan....very chic and definitely an artsy atmosphere.

Below is the invitation that as matter of fact I loved it! Yes, I am showing you everything because for me was a big deal...I always wanted to see the runway shows.

The invitation was for the fabulous, unique, trendsetter, visionary Alexandre Herchcovitch show. I followed the beginning of Herchcovitch career in the middle of the 90's in Brazil and at the time he was the only Brazilian designer who de constructed fashion in Brazil. "Hercho" thinks outside the box and he is more than a designer, more than a talented man who can make clothes to cover people's body. He goes beyond design.

He brought invention, creativity, new resources and technology for the Brazilian fashion. There is always  a very well studied concept behind each of his collections and he never was a slave of Brazil and its tropical stereotypes. 

I like his ability to envision upcoming trends and his ability to translate his vision into clothes. 

More to come...

Alexander McQueen - interrupted talent

Last Thursday the fashion world was caught by assault with the sudden death of Alexander McQueen...My level of perplexity was such high that I couldn't even process the news.  The designer killed himself by hanging. His mother died on last February and its possible that he lost himself when he lost his mother. It's deeply sad to realize that such talented person will no longer provide beauty to our eyes and to our senses.  I wasn't a big follower of his carrer but I had such admiration for his ability to transcend design concepts and bring surrealism to the fashion world.

The latest issue of Womens Wear Daily brings the designer on its cover and an pays homage to

his work with a 8 pages tribute. I am sure all the most important magazines will release a special issue on upcoming weeks.

I selected few moments of his extraordinary craftmanship and mindblowing design approach.

   

                                             Shipwreck - Spring 2003.

                                             "the girl who lived in the tree "- Fall 2008.

                                    A fashion illustration by R. Toledo for Nordstrom -  2003 

My fellow designer Margot Potter wrote a beautiful post on her blog in homage to McQueen, check it out. 

Strongest trend ever

Hello everybody! I am on the road and today I am blogging from Downtown- Los Angeles. I am @ the Garment  District walking around and watching the trends and new looks for the upcoming season.

Conveniently I have 2 designs to share with you featuring "chain"..yes...it might sounds boring but chain remains the strongest component in the jewelry making market. I cannot believe how many different styles and finishings I have already seen it and the day is not over yet.

Below is a bracelet I created for Beadalon using stringing wire as "spacing bars". The clasp is one of the "Upper Clasp" styles that is in the new Beadalon catalog. I added CRYSTALLIZED Swarovski Elements to bring that "treasure" style like to the multi-strand bracelet.

Next design is a necklace featuring heavy chain, sparking thread  wrapped around a small section of a star  key ring - talking about "stars",  according with WWD stars will be one of the hottest shape for Spring / Summer 2010...you can create chains of stars using jump rings to connect several them together. I added  two crystal red magma twisted stones by CRYSTALLIZED to jazz up the necklaine...SENSUALITEE equals LIBERTEE....

Have an expressive modernized day!!! 

"SOLITUDE" RING

y

"Solitude" ring named after Billie Holliday track "Solitude" by Duke Ellington.

Simple set up close up

(Table set up over view)

I had a pilot workshop last night at my house. I invited a small group of f old friends and new friends to be part of it.

The ring was originally designed by WW and I was the first person to see it and I loved. I got a permission to teach a workshop  from him. I submitted to CRYSTALLIZED™ and I got their support.

The ring is made of stainless steel square and half-round wire and a single 18 x 13mm oval CRYSTALLIZED™ stone.

I offered 2 stones so the wearer can switch back and forth between 2 colors. I picked erinite and smoked topaz foiled - both look great and my girls loved the look.

I learned a lot through this experience and I can tell for sure how long it will take it to finish one ring and  more than that, the types of issues that can happen during the making of it.

The experience was great and I was on the table as a student as well and thank to WW ( who was who taught during the pilot) we all finished  our pieces...my one will be on my mothers index finger soon.

Above few pictures of one more CRYSTALLIZED™ with Swarovski Elements event.

Solitude rings all made with fancy CRYSTALLIZED™ Swarovski Elements stones: 18 x 13mm oval smoked topaz and erinite foiled stones and  10mm cushion fire opal and lime stones.

Billie Holliday - Solitude

" Four Seasons of Beading™ " book

My friend and jewelry designer Margot Potter (who got 2 of her designs on the cover - congrats, Madge!) just wrote a post about "Four Seasons of Beading™ "book at the Beadalon blog .

It was great that she highlighted this release because I have forgotten about...imagine!?!

This book is a very nice addition to the DIY market...it was a pleasure to be part of this second book edited by the fabulous Barb Switzer.

Once again the book made me smile just scanning through its pages.

I am very satisfied with the beauty shots of all my pieces in it. Art direction (Brad Snow), photography (Mathew Owen) and stylish (Tammy Steiner)  did a outstanding work.

The final result is what I expect to see when I handle my designs to a publishing company...a metalanguage...art interacting with art.

Below the 3 pieces I created for the book:

Spring

Title: Papaya Flower necklace

Fall


Saint Laurent tassel necklace

September Rendezvous necklace

All designs by Fernando Dasilva © 2009 for "Four Seasons of Beading" © DRG

FABULOUS JEWELRY ON FABULOUS WOMEN ON TV

I am constantly following the look of some of my favorites female TV hostess, news anchor and actresses through the TV, magazines and Internet.

There are many of these women who love to add glamour to their outfits accessorizing with fabulous jewelry.

I have been watching ABC News for many years and although I watch Fox as well and other networks I am hooked on "GMA" - pretty much because of the charisma of professionals like Diane Sawyer, Robbin Roberts, Sam Champion among many others.

Robbin Roberts is a beadholic...she is always wearing trendy sets of necklaces and earrings that complements her outfits. This woman must have a huge trunk with jewels because she likes all styles you can imagine.

Marisol Rodriguez rocks when it comes to style and she also loves the bling.

Last year I took pictures of some of these women while they were on screen...yes , it's crazy but I hope I could identify some of the beads but nope...couldn't distinguish at all but you can have an idea of what I am talking about... Here are few of these moments:

Cynthia McFadden...OMG !!! This woman is trees chic! She is ultra elegant on camera and she looks  phenomenal all the time. She is a co-anchor of "Nightline" of ABC News...very intelligent and she brings lots of unique angles to really interesting stories. She has a very remarkable life story  as well but let's focus on her taste.

Wow!  She keeps wowing me...

Last Friday she was wearing another killer necklace with ocean like color stones on gold chain - there were at least 2 long strands together and it was amazing.

The picture below was taken in 2009...sorry I can't remember when it was broadcasted and I wasn't thinking about blogging about her. I just wanted to keep on my "Inspirational" file so I did not write down the date at all.

Cynthia was wearing this layered necklace with amazing bling on...we can't tell what it is...it could've been CZs, CRYSTALLIZED or gems stones...this jewelry touching the black outfit and paired with her eyes was  a recipe for major glamourama moment.

The next picture below is Kelly Ripa...she co-hosts the morning show "Regis and Kelly".

I like her look and she keeps it edgy and sophisticated and pairs it with long necklaces. She keeps all very young and trendy what really matches with her fun and sassy personality. On that day she had red stylettos on - great and unexpected choice because most women would go with black.

Last but not least the amazing cook Rachel Ray who makes every meal look so easy and delishhhh.

She has been wearing lots of beaded jewelry and thats is good for our DIY market.

I personally love her earrings choices. She does all styles but most of the time she is wearing trendy  pieces that got a focal pendant on...occasionally she layers more than one necklace.

That day she did not have necklace on but most of the time she does.

I have to mention that I simply adore Barbara Walters style when it comes to substantial and hogh-end jewelry...particular her many multi-strand necklaces that I have seen her wearing. Big bucks and high quality stones...huge sleeping beauty turquoise beads...huge Tahitian pearls...all fabulously expensive!!! One of these days I will capture her with my camera and will show you.

I think that although we've been seen a sudden reduction on some fields of the DIY market, the fashion industry and celebrities and stylists have been adding lots of beads to their wardrobe lately. Even high-end jewelry brands like David Yurman has released collections of beaded necklaces finished with high carat metal.

So, let's keep going because not everybody only like seed beads!

Thank GOD!!!

PS...timeless jewelry trends based on the fabulous women featured on this post: chain, beads, crystals, hoops.

I do assume that all of them are assisted by professional stylists but I want to believe that they got the last word on what they wear at work.

Thanks to their amazing and talented stylists.

XoXo.