Thursday, January 10, 2008

77 Days of Elving . . . more or less!

Well, the Vorenberg Workshop elves were a pesky lot this past holiday season. Nag, nag, nag -- and bicker, bicker, bicker over their employer's project list. Then they dragged their heels about leaving, insisting that there surely must be just one more thing to make.

No photos were taken of all the knitted and crocheted headwarmers, caps, shawls, scarves, and toddler and baby sweaters nor of the wardrobe of handmade dolly clothes but those rascal elves did allow time for quick shots of most of the beaded items.


This is the Mandy daughter's Christmas bracelet, the first cuff bracelet I have ever made. It is titled "From Sea to Shining Sea" because it was conceived and executed throughout the 2007 World Series baseball games and you just know which song is played during the 7th-inning stretch of every game, right? Mandy holds an MFA in media arts so I took great license with the design which was centered around a misshapen face I molded, then stained. Vintage rivolis and flatback peridot gems flank the bracelet.







Our daughter Melissa loves green nearly as much as I do and her Christmas bracelet is entitled "In a Zen Mood". Yet another handmade face finished with a copper patina is surrounded by Chinese chrysophrase nuggets, green turquiose chips, polished green stone nuggets, and vintage rivolis.



Elena, our oldest daughter, fell in love with this necklace design in a beading magazine while visiting last summer. It only seemed logical that it must be made for her. The necklace was made up with a "gazillion" Swarovski crystals, black charlotte beads, black and crystal seed beeds and finished with a sterling silver S clasp.




We have eight December birthdays in our family now with the addition of tiny Baby Natalie on December 15th, who is the granddaughter of our daughter-in-law, Shelley, and our son, David. Shelley's birthday is two days before Christmas and we always strive to make it extra special. She is a burgundy girl and this bracelet features vintage rivolis surrounded by freshwater pearls, garnet chips, and crystals.



Son David's birthday is the week before Christmas and he is always a great challenge to make an interesting gift for. A beautiful edition of The Tolkien Miscellany was accompanied by this "Tolkienish" dagger bookmark which I crafted out of another face I molded and gave a bronzed patina. The hilt of the dagger features a piece of faceted Tibetan turquoise held with bronze metallic beads and the blade is fashioned out of the same beads in peyote stitch.




Daughter Jennifer is a blue person and this bracelet's design seemed a natural fit especially with all the snow she experienced in the northern part of New Mexico in the weeks before Christmas. Her cuff bracelet was done in a different manner in that I made a peyote strip the width and length of the brass blank, then embellished it with freshwater pearls and cobalt blue glass beads of every shape and size. It is titled "Arctic Blooms".





"Winter Zen" was made in a similar manner to most of the gift bracelets utilizing a winter palette of colors. It, too, has a handmade face and vintage rivolis, freshwater pearls, and green sea glass pieces. Since it has not gone to it's intended recipient yet, she shall remain nameless here . . .





Alas, my dear husband's new sweater is far from being finished. Knitting for a six-foot, seven-inch tall man is a great challenge under normal circumstances but with all the handmade gifties being churned out by those boisterous elves here, I am sorry to say that only twelve inches of the back of Jim's sweater has been completed.
Knew I shouldn't trust those elves to get it done . . .

17 comments:

GraceBeading said...

Kathy.. those are amazing! Each and every one in their own right, you were one very busy girl - well you and the 'elves' I mean.

Great stuff, thanks for sharing the photos.

Artifax said...

Wow! You weren't kidding about those buys elves. A veritable workshop full of wonders! As always I am just awed by your beading talent :) And I think if you wanted to ... those to-die-for, drop-dead gorgeous cuffs could be your BJP entries for the rest of the year :) Each and every one is a true masterpiece of art!!

Lin Moon said...

Wow, I was impressed with the first bracelet, then I scrolled down and down - you have been busy! I just love "Winter Zen", but they are all wonderful!

The Lone Beader® said...

I love the cuffs! Those are great! :D

girlgonethreadwild said...

Wowza, you got me smiling ear to ear over here Kathy. Those bracelets are amazing; thank you for stopping by my blog & joining in on the charity doll... more details coming very soon. Have a wonderfully creative weekend, Monica :)

Padparadscha said...

OMG ! These are wonderful ! It's difficult to say which one I prefer, I like them all. The cross is stunning it looks like a vintage piece.

s said...

Hi Kathy and thank you for the post on my Altered Art Blog.
Also I just have to say I love your the cuff bracelets.
Sunni

artandtea said...

Kathy, your work is stunning! Thanks for sharing.
-Karen

ACey said...

These are all beautiful. The elves have made me dizzy with their productivity. Each one too beautiful to pick a favorite among them.

KV said...

Thank you, one and all, for your enthusiasm and encouragement!


Kathy

Timaree said...

Goodness, I'm surprised you could even start a sweater with all that you got done! Very pretty stuff too. I'll bet everyone, except maybe your husband, were thrilled and I'll bet your husband is used to waiting for the kids to be taken care of first.

Anonymous said...

I haven't made a cuff. It looks tricky. two of my beading friends are going to take that cross class. I finished my beaded page.
http://mindpencilpaperart.blogspot.com/
let me know what you think.

Beverly Herman said...

Such beautiful bead embroidered cuffs!!

Zara Penney said...

Funny Kathy but there must be a reason for it. I was going through emails I missed and came upon this set of photos.
Darling girl they are as beautiful as is your soul.
And this is high praise from the mad beader as you well know.
hugs and lots of squeazy love.
ZP

a2susan said...

I love the way you personalized every gift, you have very lucky family members. And I'm sure you have an understanding husband...

Ellen said...

Gorgeous work Kathy, I love all the cuffs I bet they were well received gifts ;9
I like the cross you made, I did one for my Mother a few years back & yours is the only other one I have seen

CC said...

Oh, my! It looks like the "handmade bug" bit you this holiday season too! But your handmade items were a gazillion times more ambitious & beautiful than I could imagine! I am SO amazed!
And here I am in mid February just trying to catch up! ;D
BEAUTIFUL WORK!
Warmest aloha,
CC