Vintage pieces are such fun! These five molded flowers (See below where I turned one over so you can see evidence of the mold) are very well crafted in a buttery shade of yellow with nice aqua lines that pop the flower and bring your attention to it! I acquired them just a few years ago but the vendor didn’t know their story. My title suggests they do have stories to tell…

The beads are Indian recycled glass in exactly the right aqua shade separated by faceted plastic spacers, again in the matching color. The clasp is a glass circle in “that” color. Earrings are the spacer beads with vintage plastic flowers to relate to the yellow ones. I suspect only in my mind do beads have relationships with one another.

The necklace is 22″ long and is priced at $69 for the set. The yellow vintage beads are approximately 1 3/4″ in diameter.

A Max Moment

Attention, South Shore locals!

The second and last Open Studio of this season Saturday & Sunday, September 18 & 19, 2021 at my studio in Hull Village. For more info, visit http://www.hullartists.com

The nautilus shape has always fascinated me, mostly for its infinity circle which in my mind goes on endlessly and offers a myriad of secrets in its center, invisible to the naked eye. I also have a collection of nautilus shells, tucked away in a glass cabinet in my studio, and only remembered at this very moment. I collected them over the years at visits to great beaches in Hawaii, Indonesia, Bali, and a real gem on a snorkeling trip in Baja, Mexico. No I did not encounter it in the transparent blue waters, but when an enterprising local pulled his put-put up to our boat and offered large ones for sale.

This necklace has a certain mystery to it too. I was rummaging through Drawer # 50, one of the three large ones across the bottom, and pulled out a large plastic bag with interesting pieces of shell beads. Therein was this necklace, completely made except for the clasp. Easy. Meant to be this month’s showpiece.

The necklace features antique pieces of “Acra” shell, as I understood the vendor when I purchased them at a big California bead show, probably 15-20 years ago. I did my homework, as I always do for my dear Readers, and the shells are found, carved and drilled in Ghana, on the Atlantic coast of Africa, and named for Accra, its capital. The centerpiece shell is from the Naga tribe, a landlocked people in the Himalayas who traded with shells in lieu of money. Traders bought their beads and sold them at bead shows. The sterling silver melon beads are from one of my favorite Indian vendors of that era, as are the spacer beads and the nautilus sterling silver piece. I have a larger nautilus in my stash for a future necklace.

This neckpiece sits nicely on the neck at 19″ long plus the 3″ of the center shell. I recommend your silver earrings to accompany this striking necklace. $99 plus $8 shipping.

A Max Moment

Max enjoys his naps, especially when he can cuddle his blankie. Well, here he is preferring my garden shoe over his blankie. My stinky shoe smell wins over his stinky blankie smell!!!

OPEN STUDIOS IN MY HULL STUDIO

Calling all locals. Open Studio details in sidebar on the right side of this blog. See you this weekend! Open 10-4.

Going through Drawer 16, the pink drawer in my Chinese Apothecary Chest, produced several packets of these odd-colored beads.  Neither pink nor rose, I found I had enough for two necklaces and not until I was writing up the tags did I realize I didn’t know what color to call them.  Obviously, I had to make up a new name:  Burnt Rose.

The first necklace I made, “Romance Retold” has three distinct types of glass beads:  the flat oblongs seen near the clasp and elsewhere; round beads blending clear glass and burnt rose; and specialty flower beads, also two-colored.  The centerpiece I chose is multi-colored with a small amount of burnt rose.  It is the work of Jenny Friske-Baer (CA), whose beads I used to buy when I lived in San Luis Obispo, CA.

This necklace is 21” plus the centerpiece of 2”.  The clasp and earrings are hammered gold metal.  The earrings measure 1 3/8” long and feature a flower bead.  The necklace weighs 1.9 ounces. The set is $99 plus $8 shipping.

Burnt Rose #2

My foray into Burnt Rose continued with Czech glass square beads in this new color plus two colors (black and pale beige) blended in with burnt rose clearly the predominant tone.  The centerpiece glass bead created by Louise Erskine (MA) pulls you to look closely at layers of burnt rose and gold deeply embedded to make this transparent bead almost opaque.  The lampwork glass beads next to the centerpiece are proudly pink with white and gold.  Four beads away are two more artisan beads in rose and gold.

This necklace, which I named “A Smashing Good Time”, is 19” with a gold metal toggle and circle clasp.  It weighs 4.4 ounces.  The earrings feature the proudly pink glass beads and drop 1 5/8” from the ear lobe. The set is $99 plus $8 shipping.

A Max Moment

One of Max’s endearing characteristics is his curiosity. I have previously pictured him looking up at airplanes, watching the road as we drive, and now, at home, here he is watching what is happening on the street and at the neighbor’s houses. He jumps on the chair more than once a day, searching for perpetrators who get too close to his territory. Dogs are often guilty of this infraction and they get loud barks which, of course, only I can hear. Max is now 3 1/4 years old.

This centerpiece is one of a half dozen blown glass pieces I purchased in Venice on my grand bead shopping visit to the magical island in 201. I was also celebrating a nostalgic return to my most favorite place in Europe.

The centerpiece bead struck me as a very original design, especially since four of the others I bought were one color only and the fifth was a wavy, watery blue and white which I featured in the blog of July 1, 2020.

It was pure luck that I had these smoky orangey polka dot beads to act as transitions from larger to medium sized beads. But my bead storage drawers overflow with resplendent beads guaranteed to provide just the right design highlight to any necklace. The black beads are vintage plastic which also serve the purpose of keeping the necklace light. It only weighs 4.6 ounces.

The tassel is short and speaks to the smoky colors in the hand-made glass beads. The necklace is 20″ long and the focal bead and dangle are 4″ long. I did not make any earrings as the black beads seemed too boring so I recommend wearing your favorite gold earrings–any size will do. The price is $105 and shipping is $9.

A Max Moment

“The Dish Towel Routine” “The Grocery List Routine”

We all have routines. Max too. His morning routine (right) occurs when I am settled in with my newspaper and coffee and he disappears from the living room. In a few minutes, he comes running back in with something in his mouth, screeches to a halt in front of me and stares until I look at him. I am then expected to tell him to drop it which he does, leaving it on the carpet. I am to say “Good Boy”, retrieve the object, and go back to reading the news. He finds a comfy spot near me and snoozes, his job done.

On the left is what happens later in the day if he feels like playing the game again. More drama, enjoying his loot on his bed, until I show up and a “how can you scold me for just wanting to have fun?” look covers his face.

This necklace features the soft pastels of Spring inspired by a handmade glass heart centerpiece by Lori Engel, Massachusetts. The beads are Czech glass. I selected these beads last winter to make for Spring 2020 but we were all robbed of our plans for that particular Spring. It feels good to present them this Spring as we march forward with renewed hope!

Matching earrings on silver-filled wires. The necklace measures 20″. The set is $85.

The lilacs are just blooming on the South Shore of Boston, as celebrated by these sparkling amethysts, faceted and set off with a glass seed bead separating each semi-precious gemstone. A Swarovski crystal star continues the sparkle with its well-placed facets. I found a star clasp in my stash with two extra stars serving as matching earrings with silver-filled earwires.

The necklace measures 19″. The set is $99.

A Max Moment

To satisfy Max’s need to release energy, he plays five hours a day, five days a week, at Sunshine Pet Place in Hull. On Wednesdays and Sundays, it’s Max and Me. Fortunately there is some residual fatigue from playing, so he does sleep a lot, but I try to find fun things for him to do.

One thing is this lengthy bully stick which makes me laugh when he goes around corners or through a doorway with the extra-long bully stick in his mouth, and he is stopped dead, so he has to figure it out, which he does easily. Part of that treat is making the trip to the Pet Store which is full of such wondrous things to smell, see and lick (like the open boxes of small bully sticks).

Another challenge for me was to find a place where he can run that is safe and interesting. Last October I had my second knee replacement, so I needed a flat and safe place for me and my cane. It turned out to be the commuter rail parking lot. Monstrously big, it parks 400 cars, with nary a half dozen cars in sight due to Covid. One side has ~20′ wide strip with trees, weeds and a fence that runs the whole length–perfect for a male dog always in search of a tree! Max loves it and runs up, down, and around.