Chunky Spiral and Rocky Road

September 6, 2010 in Jewelry Preview by Ashley | No comments

ChunkySB

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The “Chunky Spiral Rope Bracelet”

The design of this bracelet is not a new one. I’ve made this bracelet before but in different styles. I got the idea for this bracelet because of my want for a thicker bracelet.

It came out better than I expected so I decided it need a new style toggle clasps. I’m in total love with this new design. You will most definitely see a lot of this one in the near future.

Stitches Used:

*Double Spiral Stitch

*Flat peyote Stitch

 

StrawberryRRB

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The “ Strawberry Rocky Road Bracelet”

Here’s a bracelet that’s very rare in my shop. Cuff style bracelets has to be my favorite type of bracelet but I don’t make them often or as wide as this one.

The idea behind this design came about organically. I picked my color combo first. The stones I used I had came across those a few days before I started this bracelet and decide to find a way to work them in.

After I had my supplies my design became more clear and I went with it. I have to say I’m most proud of this bracelet.

 

Stitches Used:

*Flat Peyote Stitch

Thanks for stopping by DMG’s blog. Peace and love, Ashley

Dazzle Everyday!!!

Feedback is always welcome.

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A little Eye Stress

August 31, 2010 in Dazzling Updates by Ashley | No comments

Hi there!

I’m coming in with a little update.

My left eye has been giving me a little trouble lately. It seems to hurt when I’m working on the computer or beading. So I’m guessing I’ve been doing to much of both. So for this week I will be doing much less of both and maybe getting more sleep in.

So I’m sorry in advance for the lack of twittering, blogging, and new jewelry. I’ll be back in full swing soon. Peace and love, Ashley

Dazzle Everyday!!!

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Bead Weaving Basics Part 2

August 26, 2010 in Tutorials by Ashley | No comments

Hellooooo!

Tutorial number 2 in the bead weaving basics series is the…

Brick Stitch

Lets begin by gathering our supplies.

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For this stitch you will need some seed beads (I used size 11’s here), a beading needle, thread, and your ladder stitch piece from tutorial one.

 

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First we’ll string on one bead. Then we’ll take our needle and insert it from the back of our work under the thread that joins the first two beads in the ladder stitch work.

 

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Next we’ll run our needle back up only through the bead that we just stitched on.

 

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Move on to the next space and repeat.

We will continue stringing on one bead and running it under the thread that holds our ladder stitch piece together until we reach the end of the row.

 

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Once we reach the end of the row we’ll then turn our work over and continue in the same way until we reach the end.

Note: Always turn your work over once you reach the end of an row.

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Since I’m making an earring out of my piece here, I decided to stop at the second to last row. But you can continue on.

That’s it the Brick Stitch! I hope you all find this tutorial helpful. You may notice I’m starting of with stitches that can be combined to form an item. So not only will you learn the stitches but you will learn a whole bead weaved project.

Thanks for stopping by DMG’s blog. Peace and love, Ashley

Dazzle Everyday!!!

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New Facebook Page!

August 25, 2010 in Dazzling Updates by Ashley | No comments

I’ve finally got around to getting a Facebook page, woot! I’m still setting up and getting use to it.  How I feel about it is still to be determined.

You can find me here.

Peace and love, Ashley

Dazzle Everyday!!!

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To Plan or Not To Plan?

August 23, 2010 in Lets Just Chat by Ashley | No comments

Lately I’ve been into “no thinking beading” or “unplanned beading” . What I mean is I found I do some of my best work by just picking out my color palate, picking up my needle, and going at it.

Beading this way I feel pushes me to be more creative and daring in my designs. As I bead the “unplanned beading” way I also find that I  get a flood of idea’s for other projects.

Just something I was thinking about and I decided to share.

Thanks for stopping by DMG’s blog! Peace and love, Ashley

Dazzle Everyday!!! 

Must you plan out your projects before you start?

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Golden Triangles, and Lovely Loops

August 23, 2010 in Jewelry Preview by Ashley | No comments

Hello! Today I have two previews to share. The first item up for preview is the “Golden Triangles” BB Ring.

This ring started as a plain beaded band ring, the only difference was that I used size 15 seed beads which are the smallest I’ve seen. I loved the out come and I was ready to post it. But I felt I did that type of ring often, so I began to brainstorm (<—-remember that word from school? lol).

 

I decided to revisit the “Eye of the Diamond” ring. I was all set to recreate that ring with slight changes until an idea I had a while ago but never tried popped into my head, the idea was to form a diamond shape using the ring its self as the middle of the diamond and the fringe or edges as the top and bottom. I said to myself why not and gave it a go. That’s how the “Golden Triangles” ring was born.

 

I’ve since made a ring closer to my original idea of forming a triangle which I will post soon.GoldTriRing 

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Stitches Used:

*The peyote stitch

*The brick stitch

 

The next item up for preview is the “Lovely Loops” Chandelier Shorties.

These earrings started off as an experimental necklace. The loops was suppose to be what connect what ever pendant I came up with to a rope style necklace. As I continued the loops the Chandelier Shorties popped into my head. This was the same day I had made them so the idea was still fresh.

I decided to see what it would look like as an earring. I was a little doubtful that I would like it. But I did and I continued on to the next earring to complete the pair. That’s when disaster struck! I ran out of the beads I was using. I was so in love that color combo. I  put them aside until I got around to ordering more of that color and started with a new color combo which are pictured below.

That’s how the “Lovely Loops” were born.

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LLearrings 

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Stitches Used:

*The ladder stitch

*The brick stitch

Both of these earrings are up for sale the Golden Triangles BB ring here and the Lovely Loops here.

Thanks for stopping by DMG’s blog. Peace and love, Ashley

Dazzle Everyday!!!

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Container Houses, Urban farming, and Recon?

August 14, 2010 in Loving those Links by Ashley | No comments

loving those links

Hello everyone! Another “loving those links” coming at ya.

I’ve recently launched a search on how to  minimizing my life. I found out stuff/clutter makes me crazy lol. So during my search I found out some wonderful information, I even found a blog called Stone Soup. Which is about minimalist home cooking. Yes cooking! I’ve been reading this blog for about 2-3 weeks and I absolutely love it. Here’s a great post giving 18 tips for minimizing your food cost. I’ll be trying to incorporate some of these practices into my life.

 

Shipping containers has become a popular building material as of late and I must say I’m in love with the idea of a container house and not the size you all may be thinking of.

 

As you may know if you read last weeks “loving those links” I’ve been interested in growing my own food when I get enough space that is. I’ve come across a great website called Home Grown. I’ve been following their blog and site for about 3 weeks now. There’s so much useful information, but what really interested me was the blog posts about Urban Farmers. This was the first time I heard of urban farms, I was surprised some of these farms even raise animals!

 

Repurposing, reconstruction, reusing what ever you may call it is my thing. Making old new and the not so stylish stylish is what I love.  While reading one of my favorite blogs I came across a great post entitled “Jewelry Makeover Inspiration and Tutorials”. Of course being a jewelry maker and lover I was all over this post. I’m thinking a trip to a vintage and or a thrift shop is in my near future.

That’s all I’m loving this week until next week. Peace and love, Ashley

Dazzle Everyday!!!

I would like to see what you all are loving!?

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Bead Weaving Basics Part 1

August 10, 2010 in Tutorials by Ashley | 1 comment

Hello everyone! I wanted to start doing tutorials here and there. I was going to start off with a whole project, then I got to thinking. Not everyone will be able to follow along if they don’t know the basic bead weaving stitches. So I decided to start off with the basics. There will be 5 parts in all.

The Ladder Stitch

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I’ll be using bugle beads for this stitch. Bugle beads are the most common beads used in the ladder stitch, but most any bead can be used. There are two ways to do the ladder stitch, I’ll be showing you the way I use most often.

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First we want to start off by stringing on two bugle beads, leaving a good 4-6 inch tail to weave back into the work.

Note: Some bead weavers use tape or a stop bead (a bead loosely tied at the end) to prevent the beads from slipping off. When I first started I’ve only used tape. However, now I use nothing.

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Next we are going to insert out needle up through the first bead strung and pull through.

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Now we are going to take our needle and pass down through the second bead strung.

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Next we are going to pick up one bead…

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…and insert our needle down the second bead strung again.

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Next we are going to run our needle up through the last bead added. You are going to continue this was until you reached your desired length.

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Now you know how to do the ladder stitch! Simple huh?

Note: Every time I use the ladder stitch I run my needle back through the entire work to strengthen it, this is not required. Its just something I started doing not to long ago.

I hope this tutorial helped someone. I really enjoyed making this so I hoped you liked. Peace and love, Ashley

Dazzle Everyday!!!

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Worms, Ruffles, and Curls!?

August 6, 2010 in Loving those Links by Ashley | No comments

loving those links

Hello all! Finally! Yes I know its been a bit since we had a “Loving those links!” These post will continue from now on every Friday. Lets get started shall we.

Gala Darlings Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems part 1, 2, and 3 are a must read.

 

I’ve been into the whole green seen for a bit now and I figured it was about time I started putting to use some of what I learned. Starting with composting. I found some great info about indoor composting. I have yet to  put this great information to use. Why you may ask? I have a fear…… of……. bugs. Ok I said it. Yes the whole worm part creeps me out!

 

Along with trying to be more eco friendly I decided to make use of of clothes that are either to big (not many) or to small (a good amount). I found a great little post on Thread banger with a lot of great button down shirt projects I would like to try.

 

Last week I was itching to try something new (jewelry wise) and I did. On my little search for inspiration I came across a variation on the peyote stitch, ruffles and curls. I haven’t tried this stitch yet but I plan too!

 

Oh I almost forgot this one! This one makes me happy :D . I’m so gun ho about living more eco friendly (I should really do a “What I’m loving” on this topic), I even started researching about growing my own food. But of course the whole bug thing comes into play…. I found a couple solutions to this “problem” but this one is my favorite. 66 things you can grow at home in a container! Who knew! Amazing!

Until next week. Peace and love, Ashley

Dazzle Everyday!!!

I would love to know what you thought about this weeks links?

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Golden Ice

August 5, 2010 in Jewelry Preview by Ashley | No comments

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Hello everyone!

Today’s Jewelry Preview is of the “Golden Ice BB Ring”

You may recognize this color combo from the “Shell Chandelier Shorties”. While making the Shell Chandelier Shorties I fell in love with the color combo and wanted to make something else with it. I decided on a ring, but couldn’t make up my mind on if I wanted it to have a pattern or not like the Chandelier Shorties.  I decided to use both. The pattern comes in with the colors (pearly white, gold lined blue, pearly white and so on). The abstract of it all comes in with the width of each stripe. So that’s how I came up with this Beaded Band Ring.

This ring is now available in my Etsy Shop.

Stitches Used:

*the peyote stitch

Thanks for stopping by DMG’s blog. Peace and love, Ashley

Dazzle Everyday!!!

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