My unique jewelry designs in elegant styles are all handmade from semiprecious stones, genuine pearls and tiny beads composing a whole world of colors and shapes in each piece: flowers, hearts, ladybugs, butterflies. I am inspired by nature and one of my most important goals is to express in my jewelry the eternal qualities of our highest feelings.
Imagine a small piece of jewelry in which color, form and shape is combined in order to please the eye.
I think a lot about my pieces. Sometimes I get inspired by the semiprecious stones I find. I put them together with pearls and/or colorful seed beads in a specific design, carefully coordinating the colors to achieve a natural, shaded look by incorporating several nuances of beads for each color I choose.
My goal is to create stylized designs that bring more beauty to everyday life, inspire good feelings and increase self-awareness in the lasting symbols that are always present: love, faith, sincerity, purity, hope, renewal, and good luck.
My artistic soul was always fascinated by Cameos. They are witnesses of elegant styles for many great Ladies in history.
To create this beautiful, one of a kind brooch I used a vintage Victorian Cameo found in a antique store. It did not have a frame or a setting so it was the perfect object for me to embellish with love. I framed it with small coral beads and size 15 gold and copper seed beads from Japanese Miyuki, sewn one bead at a time, in a design that would enhance its natural beauty. The brooch measures approx. 47 mm x 45 mm x15 mm and has a strong, good quality pin back. It is beautifully finished with leather (see last picture) and my initials IM are stamped into the sterling silver palette that is applied to the back of the brooch. A lovely conversation piece!
I created this Cameo Brooch for the August 2009 Etsy Beadweavers Challenge. The theme is 'First Ladies of Style' and the Cameo Brooch is a tribute to the feminine beauty.
Cameos held a very important place in history from the ancient Egypt, Roman Empire, ancient Greece to the Renaissance revival and 19-th century France, where Cameos became the "most sought after jewel by Queens and Princesses throughout Europe".
SEARCH EBW Team and EBWC for other unique beautiful beaded creations. Please visit the EBW Blog at http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/ to see more entries. Between August 9th and 15th, you'll be able to vote for your favorite.
Presenting the 2009 Bead-It-Forward beaded quilts. Auctioned at the Bead Social during the Bead and Button Show in June 2009, each quilt combines 100 squares from bead artists around the world. Jeanette Shanigan is the founder and organizer of this annual fundraising project, which began in 2006.
Fire Mountain Gems and Beads purchased three of the nine 2009 beaded quilts. The Bead Artists Against Breast Cancer auction brought in over $14,000, with the proceeds benefiting the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center.
This is The Beadweaving Emporium's (at 1000markets) first beadweaving challenge, titled: "New Horizons".
Vote between: July 9-15th.
Please vote for your favorite artist on the voting poll. We will announce the winner July 16th and the winner will choose the theme for our next challenge for September.
These friendly & fun challenges are beneficial to our market for several reasons. They are a great way to increase our beadweaving skills, inspire us in a new and unexpected ways, and give us the opportunity to showcase our works. We ask that you please take the time to review the challenge pieces and then go to our offsite Beadweaving Emporium Blog at http://www.thebeadweavingemporium.blogspot.com to vote for your favorite. The voting polls will be open from July 9th through July 15th, 2009.
Voting begins on Thursday July 9th and ends midnight July 15th. You can click on the item in the text list below the mosaic linking to the Etsy Shop listing of each entrant. You can read the description of the item there.
"This is a gift. I own two other of your brooches which were given to me as gifts. I want to give this one to a good friend celebrating her 70th birthday". Barbara made my day! It is good to know there are people out there who appreciate your work, that you can be "found" by word of mouth, that little by little your pieces become collectibles.
The other one was sold in March 2007 at ARTFX, a Gallery in Annapolis, MD. Here is Barbara, again:
"Dear Ileana,
That first one was from my son, Michael and I love it. The second one was serendipity...my business partners saw it in a craft store in Annapolis where we are located and got it for me for my birthday. It is more rectangular in shape but with concave sides in browns and blacks. I like that one also!>
I still have the picture, I will show it here. It flatters me but it humbles me at the same time to see my work becomming collectibles.
