Especially for Karen, here's a close up of the necklace made as examples for the basic bead making workshop I run...you can see the freshwater pearls and swarovski crystals much better now. There's also a shell type disks there too, forgot what they're called...
Notice the way it closes. In one end I've looped a small string of crystals and shell disks and the other end just threads thru there....
Got a LOT of comments while I was working at the shop wearing this today...might have to make a few more...I'm keeping this one.

Mel

More flowers and springtime colours! The blue focal bead is made from swap flowers and a few of my own. I'm enjoying this flowery theme very much. The pic doesn't do it justice. It's much better in person. Then there's the Kato blossom cane layered on a bead, makes for a very popular focal. And something new I'm trying, a necklace with some canes I made when I was demo-ing for a workshop earlier this week, it also looks a whole lot better in person. It's hard to capture the colours but that subtle green with the purple looks really soft and yummy with the freshwater pearls and swarovski crystals. They're all going in the shop today so I had to snap pics and run...
Till next time...

Mel

A close up!

Aussiepolyclayers, a fabulous yahoo group I'm involved in and now id Delphi format too... http://forums.delphiforums.com/Ozpolyclayers/start ...had our first flower cane swap where by everyone made one large cane which was then sent to the cane swap mistress (Wendy did a fabulous job!) who cut them up into how ever many were in the swap and sent everyone a sample of the flowers sent to her. I made my first peony cane, a beautiful full bloomed flower. I decided on an apricot colour to go with my new hair and thank goodness there were some canes made that coloured really well with it. A really lovely rose and a simple but incredibly stunning white daisy/sunflowery flower. I added a few of my own flowers too...and came up with these little beauties. It's like a little garden on a bead! Have more in my sanding tray but just had to get these onto a necklace straight away! I can't wait to use the blue/purpley coloured flowers I was sent...but it'll have to be next week. They're wanting me to work a few more hours at the winery this week and I have another class to teach...so patience grasshoppers...the blue and purple flowers are worth it...
Two thumbs up for the flower cane participants!!!