Sheherezada

 

Am fost multa vreme o cititoare pasionata de basme, din toate partile lumii. Cred ca unul din cele mai exotice este "1001 de nopti"; povesti impletite la nesfirsit intr-un amestec de culori, mister, magie... totul intamplandu-se sub coloanele zvelte ale unui palat arab (arhitectura araba este una din cele mai delicat si bogat impodobite pe care o stiu). De aceea am numit acest colier Sheherezada, pentru ca la fel ca in "1001 de nopti", nu mi-am pus nici o opreliste  imaginatiei si l-am decorat cu cele mai bogate pietre si margele: un cabochon din aventurin invaluit intr-o ceata de culori, de la beige si auriu pana la rosu, margele de nisip japoneze rosu-cireasa, terracota, maro metalic si aurii, perle Swarovski in culoarea "burgundy", cristale cehesti rosu-granat, margele rotunde tip ochi-de-pisica.

Exceptand piatra, care este prinsa intr-o tesatura de margele in peyote, tot colierul este realizat in diverse variatii ale tehnicii os-de-hering, una din tehnicile mele preferate, pentru versatilitatea sa.

Cea de-a doua poza arata si schita cu care am inceput lucrul. Nu stiu daca va puteti da seama... dar cred ca seamana destul de mult cu ce mi-am imaginat!

Daca nu era evident... sunt extrem de incantata de acest colier (am o scuza: abia l-am terminat!)

 

I used to be an avid reader of fairy tales, from all over the world. I believe that one of the most exotic tales is the one of "1001 nights"; stories endlessly flowing from each other in a mixture of colours, mystery, magic... everything happening under the elegant columns of an arab palace (the arab architecture is one of the most delicate and intricately decorated architecture that I know). This is why I called this necklace Sheherezade, because, just like in "1001 nights", I let my imagination flow freely, and I decorated it with the richest beads and stones: an aventurine cabochon in misty shades of beige, gold, and red, Toho seed beads in cherry-red, terracota, metalic brown, and gold, burgundy Swarovski pearls, garnet czech crystals, cat-eye beads.

Excepting the stone, which is held by a network of beads made in peyote style, all the necklace is made with different variations of the herringbone stitching technique, which is one of my favourite techniques, for its amazing versatility.

The second photo also shows the sketch I did before starting the necklace. I don't know if you can see it... but I think it looks very much like what I had imagined.

If it isn't yet obvious... yes, I'm extremely pleased with this necklace (I do have an excuse: I just finished it!)

Si alt fel de flori

 

Inca incerc sa inteleg de ce cele mai minunate insiratoare de margele de pe Etsy sunt din Israel (si care in general fac chestia asta ca mijloc de existenta, aaaaargh...). Oricum, preferata si modelul meu este Miriam cu magazinul CieloDesign (verificati-i opera aici: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cielodesign/  daca vreti sa va doara sufletul)  si cu acesti trandafiri de la ea m-am inspirat. Stilul meu este insa ceva mai asimetric decat al ei.

Trandafirii sunt realizati in principal din margele roz cehesti, cu un pandantiv de piatra si o margea din sticla de Murano in nuante de maro aproape identice (din pacate nu stiu ce piatra este aceea).

Planuiesc sa mai incerc niste trandafiri in curand... imi plac foarte tare.

 

I'm still trying to understand why the most wonderful beaders on Etsy are mostly from Israel (and they do that for living, aaargh...). My favourite and my model is Miriam from the CieloDesign shop (you can check her work here, if you want to get a heartache: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cielodesign/). These roses are inspired from hers, but style is a bit more aymmetric.

The roses are mostly made of pink silver-lined czech seed beads, with a stone pendant and a Murano glass bead in matching brown colour (unfortunately, I don't know what the stone is).

I'm planning to try a few more roses soon... I like them very much.

Margele matematice: flori (2)

 

 

Tin la acest colier, din doua motive. Primul, pentru ca pandantivul este o margea margelita care imi apartine (ok, inspirata din cele de pe Beadinfinitum). Iar al doilea, pentru ca reprezinta un foarte bun exemplu al procesului de "desfacere si regenerare" prin care trec margelele mele. Si, din fericire, a supravietuit pana la momentul regenerarii ;-)  (am sertare cu margele care inca mai asteapta).  Prima poza reprezinta colierul asa cum era acum cativa ani, cea de-a doua asa cum e acum, reinsirat de pe ata pe nylon si cu pandantivul agatat de o panglica tesuta in stitch St. Petersburg.

 

I care about this necklace for 2 reasons. The first is that the pendant is a beaded bead of my own creation (ok, it is inspired by the designs from Beadinfinitum, but it's mine). And the second is that it makes a very good example of the process of "destroy and regenerate" that my beads are suffering. And because, fortunately, it got to the moment of regeneration ;-) (I have full drawers of beads that are still waiting for that). The first picture is the necklace as it used to be a few years ago, the second the way it is now, transfered from cotton thread to nylon and hanging from a beaded ribbon in St. Petersburg stitch.

Margele matematice: flori

 O pereche de cercei pe care din pacate i-am desfacut (dupa ce ma bucurasem in mod suficient de ei); margelele och-de-pisica roz folosite in ei au fost "reciclate" in colierul din ultima poza.

 

 

Un pandantiv rosu si unul auriu (pot fi purtate si ca brose), realizate in aceeasi tehnica.

 

Un colier realizat din materiale destul de pretioase: aproape exclusiv margele de sticla (inclusiv cele ovale cu ape gri), cristale de Boemia si perle de cultura. Straluceste extrem de frumos, vine cu avertismentul ca este destul de greu datorita sticlei folosite.

 

Grupurile de margele in forma de floare sunt poate cele mai feminine din categoria margelelor matematice. Nu sunt si cel mai greu de realizat! Secretul lor sta mai degraba in dimensiunea margelelor; pandantivele si colierul din ultima poza folosesc margelele mai mari deasupra, in vreme ce colierul rosu-si-negru le foloseste in partea de jos.

Preferatul meu este colierul din ultima poza (l-am numit "Ciresi si piersici"), care foloseste o intreaga colectie de pietre semipretioase: unakite in partea de jos, agate vopsite fuchsia (banuiesc, nu sunt foarte sigura ce sunt) la mijloc, si ochi de pisica in partea de sus. Dealtfel, acest colier a fost deja vandut. :-)

 

Flower-shaped bead clusters are maybe the most feminine type of math beads. Not the hardest ones to make, though! Their secret lies mostly in choosing the right bead sizes; the pendant and the necklace in the last photo are using the larger beads on top, while the red and black necklaces uses them in the lower part.

My favourite is the necklace in the last photo (I called it "Cherries and peaches") which uses an entire collection of semiprecious stones: unakite in the lower part, bright pink coloured agates in the middle (I suspect, I'm not totally sure what they are) and cat-eyes on the top. By the way, this necklace is sold. :-)

Margele "matematice"

 

Inca nu m-am hotarat cum sa le numesc. In engleza, ele se numesc "beaded beads", dar traducerea "margele margelite" suna cam ciudat, nu?  Au fost unele din primele lucruri pe care le-am descoperit in materie de margelit, si inca sunt fascinata de ele. In principiu, o "margea matematica" reprezinta un grup de mai multe alte margele de diferite dimensiuni care alcatuiesc o forma tridimensionala, de preferinta simetrica, si sunt tinute intr-o structura solida doar prin firul dintre ele si pozitionarea lor (fara a trisa folosind sarma sau lipiciul).  Asta se potriveste perfect educatiei mele (arhitectura, geometrie, structuri...) dar si firii (incredibil, dar chiar mi-a placut matematica!)

Pagina cea mai minunata cu modele de margele matematice este www.beadinfinitum.com , creata de doua americance care sunt si... profesoare de matematica. Dintre modelele lor, cea in forma de sfera (denumita de ele "octhaedral cluster") este una din preferatele mele. Pe acea pagina de internet se vand instructiunile pentru a realiza aceste margele, dar... nici nu mi le permit si nici nu mi se pare atat de interesant. Prefer sa descopar eu secretul lor. Iar pentru acestea, prima data am avut nevoie sa realizez un model tridimensional pe calculator pentru a-mi da seama cum sunt facute!

Cuburile folosite in primul colier sunt oarecum o variatie a aceluiasi tip de margea.

 

In english, these are called "beaded beads" (which sounds rather strange in a romanian translation). I call them "math beads". They were one of the first things I found in beading, and I'm still fascinated by them. A "math bead" is a cluster of more beads of different shapes and sizes which make a solid 3-dimensional shape, and are connected only through the beading thread (without tricks like glue and wire). This fits perfectly with my education (architecture, geometry, various structures...) but also with my nature (incredibly, I was a girl who like mathematics!)

The most wonderful page presenting beaded beads is www.beadinfinitum.com, which bealongs to 2 american women, who are also... math teachers. Among their models, the sphere one (called by them "octhaedral cluster")  is one of my favourites. The instructions to make such beads are sold on that webpage; but unfortunately I can't afford them, and... it's more fun to find out their secret on my own. For these, the first time I had to make a 3-D computer model in order to understand them!

The cubes used in the first necklace are rather a variation of the same type of bead.

Dantela albastra

Inca un colier albastru... Tehnica cu care a fost realizat acest colier e destul de simpla (mai ales tinand seama cat de frumos e rezultatul) si se numeste "oglala".  Ceea ce nu inseamna ca nu e consumatoare de timp! Eram destul de aproape de a tipa cand am terminat colierul. In mod ciudat, am mai multa rabdare cu lucrurile complicate, decat cu cele care sunt oarecum repetitive.

 

Another blue necklace... The technique used in this necklace is rather simple (especially considering the beauty of the result) and it's called "oglala stitch". Which doesn't mean it's not time-consumming! I was pretty close to the screaming point when I finished the necklace. Strangely, I have more patience with complicated things than with the ones that repeat themselves (somehow).

Indragostita de albastru

Acesta e unul din primele mele coliere profesioniste si de care am fost foarte mandra cand l-am realizat. Totul a pornit de la margeaua lunga de sticla cu foita de argint, cumparata intr-un Craciun la Praga (Praga este probabil paradisul european al margelelor!) S-au mai adaugat margele tip ochi-de-pisica, margele acrilice, margelute in forma de floricica desfacute dintr-un colier probabil mai in varsta decat mine, cristale albastre (cumparate bineinteles tot de la Praga!) si margele de nisip lucrate in stilul freeform peyote. Si bineinteles, un acces de inspiratie; colierele de tip freeform au nevoie de asta poate mai mult decat altele.

 

This is one of my first "professional-looking" necklaces, and I used to be extremely proud of it after I finished it. Everything started from the long silver-foiled glass bead that I bought during a Christmas in Prague (I believe Prague is the european paradise of beads!). I added cat-eye beads, acrilics, flower-shaped beads that I cut from a necklace probably older than myself, blue bohemian crystals (bought of course during the same Prague Christmas!) and seed beads that I worked in a technique called freeform peyote. And, of course, a lot of inspiration; freeform necklaces need it maybe even more than others.

Frunze de iarna

Un set colier+cercei in ceea ce eu numesc un verde "rece" (de aceea si referirea la iarna). Elementul deosebit pentru acest colier este faptul ca se inchide in fata, prin incuietoarea mare in forma de frunza. 

Cerceii sunt inspirati de cei realizati de Gwen Fisher, de pe www.beadinfinitum.com (un site de care eu sunt absolut fascinata!)

Materiale folosite: pentru flori: cristale, discuri sticla, margelute de nisip, margelute opalit. Pentru sirag: perle de cultura, pietre semipretioase ovale aduse de o prietena din Australia (recunosc ca nu stiu ce sunt).

 

A set of necklace+earrings in what I call a "cold" shade of green (that's why it made me think of winter).

The special element of this necklace is the fact that it closes in the front, with the leaf-shaped toggle clasp. The earrings are inspired by Gwen Fisher's, from www.beadinfinitum.com (a site that fascinates me!)

Materials used: for the flowers: crystals, glass beads, seed beads, opalite round beads. In between: pearls and semiprecious pillow-shaped stones that a friend brought from Australia (I confess I don't know what they are)

Frunze de noiembrie

Am atatea margele ca nu stiu nici in ce ordine sa le afisez... pentru ca acum e iarna, hai sa adaug un colier ceva mai "iernatic". Sursa de inspiratie: pamantul acoperit de frunze la sfarsitul toamnei. Triste, ofilite... si totusi frumoase.

Materiale folosite: O piatra mare de citrin prinsa in fir de cupru pentru medalion, margele de sticla, plastic si pietre semipretioase, atat rotunde cat si chipsuri (granat, ochi de tigru, piatra soarelui, jasp), frunze de sticla galbena cumparate in Praga pentru accent.

 

As now it's winter, let's add a more "winter-like" necklace. The inspiration for this one: the ground covered in leaves at the end of the autumn. Dead, sad, and still... beautiful.

Materials I used: A large citrine stone wrapped in copper wire as a pendant, glass beads, plastic and seed beads, semiprecious stones, both rounded and chips (garnet, tiger eye, gold sandstone, picture jasper), and honey-coloured leaves that I bought in Prague as accents.