Red set

I made this beaded set during the last few days. The necklace is netting from a Russian book called Bead Fantasy. The only difference from the design in the book is how I ended the necklace, as I didn't like the original that much. I like interlinked swags much better.

The bracelet is a simple peyote tube, I made up my mind to use this technique while I was working on the swags.











In the meantime I've decided to learn wire jewelry. So I ordered a starter kit from Wig Jig and I've started reading the two online complimentary books that I have been granted access to download from their site. The designs are beautiful, I can't wait to have the tools to start learning! But first, I need to get the order shipped all the way to Cyprus... *sigh*

Middle of the (working) week

Wednesday evening, two more days to go and it's weekend, yay!
I decided today to play around with tubular peyote, something that I haven't done in over two years. This is the result. It worked up very quickly, and I merely wanted to play with the different bead colours and sizes, to see what pattern it emerges.
Note to self - I have to learn to read a tubular graph to work more intricate patterns.

Btw, the picture doesn't show it, but ALL the beads I used are green, not white :)




In the reading department, I'm *still* reading the ghost short stories, it goes a little slowly as every evening I'm reading one story in bed (hoping that a ghost will appear maybe?)

Another orange

Finally, I finished my second orange necklace. I think I have enough orange to last me for a while *lol*.
Hm...while fetching my orange blouse to 'test' with the new necklace, I noticed in the back of my wardrobe a striking yellow one... and I don't have any jewelry to go with it... :-\

So it's Monday evening

I'm working on a new necklace, but it's not finished, so I can't post it just yet. But it's ORANGE again! *lol*

In the reading department, I'm in the middle of a collection of true haunting short stories, caled The Ghost's Companion by Peter Haining. It is a book I received through Bookcrossing, and it will continue it's journey to the US after I've finished reading it. It's a rather old book, published 1977, and upon researching on the internet, I haven't found it mentioned in many places. A rarity.

So far it's quite interesting, but I might be biased, as I always like stories of the supernatural *lol*.
This quote from the book is reasoning pretty well with me:
"I am a man who has made a lifetime search after what is to be found beyond death".

I have to start somewhere...

Most of the stuff you will see here is about books and beads.

Reading is my oldest hobby, I have practically read thousands of books since childhood and I still continue to do so at a staggering pace. In 2005 I have read 130 books and in 2006 my goal of 150 books has been achieved and surpased: finished 170 books, yayy to me!
My reading pleasures consist of romantic suspense, paranormal romance and a *subgengre* created by a group of book enthusiasts at the bookrelay.com forum, called 'sick shit'.
This mini-genre encompasses books about serial killers, psychos, descriptions with gruesome and gory details *grins*. The gorier, the better!

Some of the book pages I frequent are:
www.bookcrossing.com - the place where I've learned to let go of my collection of books *sigh* - my bookcrossing page is here: kislany.bookcrossing.com
www.bookmooch.com - THE best and most 'in' trading site over the net - it's geared towards the whole world. If you want to see the books I have available in my bookmooch inventory, just follow this link: http://bookmooch.com/m/inventory/kislany
www.titletrader.com - another international trading site, however bookmooch is, in my oppinion', way better!

Although reading is my main hobby, I've recently got also the beading bug. I'm particularly interested in seed beading, i.e. beadweaving with seed beads.

I started beading about 3 years ago, and after a while, I left it at that, still not quite sure why - I got bored, or sidetracked, or something else. After two years, however, here I am again, beading like there's nothing else around *lol*.

For all my jewelry pieces, visit my Webshots page at: community.webshots.com/user/marikasbeading03

Below are a couple of things I've done recently (since December, really).

This is a netting piece with dark seedbeads and wooden beads as accent. It was taken from a Russian beading book (of which I have quite a few at home - check out www.ozon.ru for books to buy directly from Russia - it ships all over the world).

This bracelet is called Sherazade Candy, after a pattern by www.serial-beader.com
It's a pretty popular stitch, particularly among the French beaders.
The necklace below, which I beaded yesterday, has a rather striking colour combination. Not by chance. It goes very well with an orange blouse I have (colour identical with the ligher orange in this necklace), and so far I didn't have any jewelry to go with it. Well, now I have.
And yes, I've got a bracelet or necklace to go with almost every outfit I have at home, *lol*. Sometimes I get the urge to buy a particular blouse just so it can match some jewelry I previously made!