sasha + max studio

Wishing you and your families a safe and happy holiday. Vicki, Sasha + Max  xxx

In our design office we have a competition called the Blonde Awards. The winner is whoever has done or said the most silliest things over the year. Now, I am a blonde, but it is all in jest, and is not meant to offend any blondes out there. Believe me, may non blondes have won it over the years!! The winner is announced at the annual Christmas lunch this Friday, and gets given a Barbie doll as a trophy (and I make a nice dress for Barbie so she is nicely customized.) So here's Barbie with her Sasha+ Max Studio frock and necklace. I used Japanese fabric for the dress wihich has a sassy side split, and french ribbon trim. Czech glass was used with crimps as beads for her necklace. She looks kinda cute I think.

Green, how I love it , may be a bit too much of late as it is a constant feature in recent pieces . Here's some new work. Lots of green. I really love how Gardanne's beads look like birds eyes - they go well with Round Rabbit's owl. Wise Owl Holiday Linked   Linked - the chunky chain and the glass links... The Pod bracelet was created as I wanted something simple yet not, if that makes sense?  

Some recent items to come out of the weekends studio work during Sydney's rainy weather. Marrakesh Bracelet Bumble bee Earrings Zen Necklace      

  Some new pieces using a warmer wood than I usually use, with some lovely happy ceramic and polymer beads by Gaea, Round Rabbit, MaryAnn Carroll and Humblebeads.   Harlequin Canary Spring All now in the Etsy store. Have a great week, and thanks for stopping by.

We have just returned from a week in Queenstown, New Zealand. It is on the South Island, Lord of the Rings country. Queenstown  What a beautiful place - everywhere  you look is the most mind blowing view. The view from Coronet Peak ski fields  The worst snow storm in 80 years meant lots of great skiing and very chilly weather. The view from our apartment This was our our second visit and I'm sure there will be more to come. We could quite happily live there - bring on lotto.... oh well, back to reality and work tomorrow.

It's been a good beading weekend, making lots of pieces to restock the shops which had been cleared out somewhat by a fabulous wholesale order to a Queensland store, Urban Dweller.  Amanda of Urban Dweller is always scouting for crafty goodies, so we are very happy to be part of that! Here are some of the weekend newbies. Raining again today after a wonderfully warm week, so please excuse the quality of the lighting for the photos. Pink Chunky Bracelet Green Apple and Wood I also got a lovely package of ceramic components from Nancy of Round Rabbit on Friday, and the earrings all feature her pieces. Fringe earrings Plum Raku Earrings Plum Ribbed Earrings

Hi, I'm back after a long blog hiatus. I've been working,  beading , reading other blogs, but lost my own blog mojo hence the break. I was trawling around my bead stash and found some great pendants made from Japanese fabric in resin. I've had them for years, waiting for a project. Sadly the shop I bought them from does not seem to sell them any more, so these will be very limited edition. Lampwork beads for the red pair by Blue Seraphim,  the green pair are by Australian lampwork artist Angela Gensch of Genschi . Kimono Earrings Obi Earrings

Serendipity Bracelet It's been a luxurious mega 5 day break in Australia for Easter and our ANZAC memorial day. It's back to work tomorrow (unless the $25M lottery comes my way tonight- it could happen..!). As it's has been raining in Sydney pretty well  non stop, there's been a lot of beading and cat time, and family feasts. Here are some of the highlights. Excuse some of the photo quality - it's been so dark here that some major editing was required. Lush Bracelet Max cat relaxing to purrfection Thanks for the comments on my last post - I tweaked the cathedral motif necklace just a wee bit with an extra jump ring so it sits neatly, and I'm now happy with the results. Chartres Necklace

A long silence on the blog front, finally broken to say all the best to you and your families over the Easter period.  Valentina Necklace I've just finished reading Audrey Niffenegger's book, Her Fearful Symmetry, which was a darkly beautiful book about twins, ghosts and souls. I think it has subliminally influenced these pieces. I've had these beautiful Chinook pendants for a while. With the weather in Australia cooling down as winter approaches, both seem appropriate, as they are very dark and moody, with gorgeous architectural details. I wear a lot of black (architects and designers do that, goodness knows why except we don't like to clash with our design schemes maybe?), so I'm not scared of this style, but I know it might be a bit fierce for some. The square pendant necklace  is combined with 2 types of onyx - symmetrical but not. I think this one with the circle pendant needs rework- love the black chain from Miss Ficklemedia, but my composition i...

Fellow Australian  Etsian,  Deb of Georgica Designs , has writtten a little feature on us that you can read by clicking this link to her blog . Deb makes fabulous fabric cards - her shop can be found at  Georgica Designs , Thanks so much Deb!!!

Some new bracelets from the very warm Sasha+Max studio. The first uses some really really chunky beads by Artybecca, paired with onyx. black gunmetal rollo chain and lucite. All Fired Up The second is a favourite colour combination of mine, turquoise, orange and wood. Love that little toggle by Tierracast. Allegra Bracelet

I think I've gone bit craaaazy this afternoon - it is 41C here, and its 6PM  day 6 of 30 plus weather, and a 150 year record. I'm weather obsessed.. always have been since I was a kid ...  anywho.. . back to beads! Regular readers might have observed that I' ve got a thing for birds and hearts - just can't help myself.  Well today its hearts a plenty. Jennifer of Blue Seraphim made the sweetest glass hearts - if you're quick you can grab a set at her store . that is,  if I don't give in and buy some more myself.  I've made 2 pieces with them. Bless Your Heart Necklace This one has a nice casual feel, and I like that the heart is off to the side.I'm a big fan of assymetry. Heart of Glass Necklace Not much to this one, I know. I wanted to let the hearts speak for themselves - they are so beautiful and voluptuous. Nancy of Round Rabbit also makes amazing porcelain hearts that are total contrast - grabbed about 4 on the last RR update bin...

Aren't these beads just sooo dramatic? Definitely for a girl who wants to be seen. They were part of my post Christmas bead blitz, and have been made by Patricia and Valentin Hernandez. The beads remind me of the circus with a touch of Moulin Rouge thrown in for good measure. These earrings have been added to the Big Cartel shop

Olivia Necklace Well, we are very excited to announce, (after a lot of busy work making new pieces and shuffling pieces around) Sasha and Max Studio is now on Big Cartel - you can click on the link to the right of this post to take you there, or the captions to the images in this post. Olivia Earrings What does this mean for you?  You don't need to set up an account to purchase, and it is a very streamlined PayPal checkout. It's been set up in Australian Dollars for now - We'll monitor what the feedback is and whether this deters OS buyers.  It's a work in progress with new stock being added as fast as our hands (and paws) can bead. Hana Necklace Green Nugget Earrings Sasha+ Max Studio is still on Etsy and Madeit.com.au, and we'll have different stock in each store, so have a cruise around the stores, or why not become a Facebook Fan to get new updates,  as new stock will be added regularly. And we love feedback - we would love your comments on...

Well here we are in 2011.Wishing you all the best of health and good fortune for the year to come, and many thanks to you for reading our little blog last year. Resolutions? Here's my "wish" list: - Get regular exercise, get fit for skiing, work less hours and hopefully by default lose weight and become a svelte nymph. -  Be a better friend - Get out of my own preoccupied head space and make time to write to and call my family and friends more often. - Buy less beads, or sell more jewellery to buy more - not doing too well so far on this one - the Etsy sale was a slow one (like, zero sales..thats the holidays I guess...) and the bead spending this holiday season has outweighed the sales.... but, I say, the Australian dollar vs USD exchange rate is so good.... - Make more jewellery,  and use up the aforementioned potential bead overstock. - Challenge myself design wise with my jewellery design. - Assess and review if Etsy is the best venue for Sasha+Max as ...