siggybeads

creations and inspirations

[dappermouth]

Still, you would have loved me only if I had been something holy.

[siggybeads]

Cangames Recap

Cangames was great!

 It’s the best I’ve done at a show yet. I got several business cards out and got some very kind and encouraging comments from some of my fellow vendors and makers. I’m certainly going to try to go back next year.

My bestseller was sort of ironically was a style of earrings I made a few pairs of on a whim. I need to make more and see if they do just as well elsewhere. 

All in all a very positive experience!

[siggybeads]

Earring displays for Cangames.

An assortment of earrings inspired by steampunk themes, horror movies, gaming, and my current video game obsession (Stardew Valley), with some random pretty things for good measure.

This is also earring display prop take... I’ve lost count... I may hate this one the least of all the ones I’ve tried. It’s less messy than the last one and much more stable than the first one many moons ago. I still don’t love how it looks of course, but at least it’s somewhat practical. I’m going to poke at it some more post convention and get some siggybeads branded earring cars if this ends up being the one. 

[siggybeads]

Cangames

Come see me at Cangames this weekend (May 17th to 19th) at The Rideau Curling Club, 715 Cooper St in Ottawa!

I’ll be there from noon until 7pm on friday, and 9am until 7pm on saturday and sunday!

Hope to see you there!

[siggybeads]

[siggybeads]

coming soon...

siggybeads on etsy!

[creativeinspiration]

Color Palette Generator

I’m not sure why I just found out about this but….amazing! So fast and simple!

[junipermint]

Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of decoden and polymer clay questions about what to use to as a gloss/glaze. Almost every time the first response is “Clear nail polish, duh!”.

This needs to stop if people want to be creating quality items. Sometimes I’m afraid to buy handmade things for fear that they have been sealed with clear nail polish and they will deteriorate over time. I want to buy things that will last!

[unrequitedstar]

I’ve reblogged this before - but it’s sooooo important. crafting signal boost 

[aicosu]

Oh jeez, I didn’t even know that was a thing. No - never use nail polish thats a horrible idea. 

[siggybeads]

It’s my friend’s daughter’s birthday in about two weeks and I wanted to make her something special.

With a little input from mom regarding colours I came up with this trio of fun, cute earrings!

Blue bugs, green faeries and peace signs with ruby crystals for a july baby.

I’m still very much on a ‘make all the earrings’ kick, but I finished up a few necklaces today as well.

[siggybeads]

Rather than going to bed at a normal time like a rational person, I stayed up way too late to finish this off.

The first image shows my inspiration, the Land of Heat and Clockwork, from Homestuck.

The next shows the full necklace, made from glass beads, decorative gears and silver plated findings.

The final two images are the focal point of the piece, one in artificial light and one natural to show the intricacy lost in the flash. 

All those little jump rings give the piece amazing movement when worn, even if they were totally frustrating to deal with as I made it.

I am not 100% happy with the red-orange dangle. The colour is perfect but the shape isn’t, so I’m going to keep an eye out for something I like better.

[siggybeads]

Right now I’m trying to do my version of fan art. I can’t draw, but I can usually make a pile of beads, findings and other things into something fun and wearable.

I adore a weird webcomic type thing called Homestuck, and I’m currently rereading it. I was inspired by the first image, from the webcomic, and after digging through my supplies, I’ve started creating a necklace based on it!

[siggybeads]

These  brightly coloured wooden shapes caught my eye while out shopping earlier and immediately screamed to be made into some fun summery earrings. 

Some silver plated finding and a few peridot nuggets later I came up with these.

At just over 4 inches long they aren’t quite suitable for everyday wear perhaps, but great for a day at the beach or an afternoon on a patio with a cool drink. 

[bravestghost-deactivated2019070]

shading colour tips

hey yall its me the Art Mom™ to help you shade pretty

rule 1: DO NOT SHADE WITH BLACK. EVER. IT NEVER LOOKS GOOD. 

red- shade with a slightly darker shade of purple

orange- slightly darker and more saturated shade of red

yellow- i think like..a peach could work but make it a really light peach

green- shade with darker and less saturated shade of blue or teal

blue- shade with purple

purple- a shade thats darker than the purple you’re using and maybe a little pink (MAYBE blue)

pink- darker shade of red

white- a really light lavender or blue..or i guess any really light colour??

black- okay listen dont use pure black to colour anything unless you want to leave it with flat colours because you cant really shade black lol

grey- a slightly darker shade of purple or blue (less saturated)

brown- slightly darker and less saturated shade of purple or red

aaaaand thats all i got lol. let me know if there is anything i should add to this list!!

[valmoxium]

If you’re a visual learner…

I made some Balls of Colour to go with Art Mom™’s post:

[renzaku69]

i needed this in my life for so long!

[siggybeads]

This is my entry for the June challenge at http://tacklethatbeadstash.blogspot.ca/

The theme is the colours turquoise blue, pink, green and white, represented here with turquoise, peridot, rose quartz and faux pearls in a super long (3 inches!) earring with lots of movement.

[siggybeads]

My two most recent projects.

First is my entry for the May Challenge for http://tacklethatbeadstash.blogspot.ca/. The theme is eyes. I had a leftover eye cabochon from a project I did a few years ago.

Second is a bracelet inspired by the Winter Soldier from the Captain America movies. I’m going to see the movie on the weekend and when I was digging through my stash for the beads for the the eye pendant I found the reddish star bead. Perfect accessory for the evening!

The lighting saga continues. Once upon a time I wanted to be a videographer when I grew up. The huge, heavy VHS camera I got for Christmas as a teen is long gone, but I still have the tripod and the super bright light that came with it. It’s better than the full spectrum mini fluorescent but still not quite right.

[truebluemeandyou]

DIY Macrame Earrings

You only need to know one macrame knot to make these earrings: the Lark’s Head Knot.

This is how easy it is to make a Lark’s Head Knot (more macrame knots here).

Find the DIY Macrame Earrings Tutorial from Moois Van M(i) here.

These DIY Wire Wrapped Threaded Tassel Earrings from Design Thrift also use the Lark’s Head Knot. Find the tutorial here. 

[siggybeads]

My project for this month’s challenge at tacklethatbeadstash.blogspot.ca!

The theme was the colours green, gold and purple, which are among my favourites so this project was really fun. I made a freeform cuff bracelet with glass and semi-precious stone beads, as well as a pair of earrings using the leftover larger beads. The centerpiece of the bracelet is a dyed howlite teardrop in a lovely grape colour.

The lighting is sadly sub-par. I’ve switched to a full spectrum fluorescent blub in my craft room, which helps keep away the winter blues, but clearly isn’t great for photography. Time to research lighting solutions.