sasha + max studio

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

The rain keeps falling ( I swear we will need that ark I mentioned a couple of weeks ago...have to Google how to build one soon!)  and the temperature is dropping in the southern hemisphere....  we need a surge of colour and pattern to keep happy!.. I like to think of these as little medals to happiness. These Japanese necklaces now in the Etsy and Made it Stores

Aimi necklace created with another of LeAnn of Summer Studio 's pendants. I love this cord colour- I was not sure if all the patterns would clash but it works somehow  - I think I need to make myself one of these to go with my myriad of black dresses. Aya necklace made using a finer chirimen cord - it doesn't sit so flat when laid out for the photo - when worn it hangs really nicely. Coral pendant by Chinook .

A good day for creating - it has been raining for what seems like forever in Sydney, with more to come. Pendant from Summers Studio combined with sweet striped czech glass seed beads. Red coral and Japanese cord collar necklace. These new pieces are now in the Sasha + Max Etsy store.

All  sorts of beady joys arrived via the mailman this week -   I went on a ceramic pendant buying binge a couple of weeks ago and the fruits of my searches have been arriving.-  more Japanese cord, some huge and lovely hearts from Round Rabbit, and some stunning ceramic bits and pieces from Chinook . Still more to come.! As today is Australia Day, a public holiday here, I have made a couple of necklaces with Round Rabbit's pendants. I was experimenting with different bail styles - one simple with seed beads, one a bit on the fancy side. .........I'm not really a valentine's day girl,  I just love hearts, honest !

Happy Sunday. A piece made today with Japanese chirimen cord, jade, brass and a Round Rabbit pendant. The cord was a bit tricky (and time consuming) to finish as I did not want ends exposed. I'm happy with the results and will continue to play with other ideas on a few new pieces.

So do stringing supplies count ? (shh my etsy friends from whom I have ordered beads during a supposed bead diet .. our little secret ... - it is hard enough giving up nice food, chocolate etc during the festive party season, let alone stay on a bead diet too.... at least beads aren't fattening!) I found a source of affordable Japanese chirimen cord in Japan called Fabric Tales and went (a wee bit) crazy - I have a thing for Japanese prints, have a decent stash of Japanese fabrics, and now will put these gorgeous cords to use in some creations over the holidays. Max, ever the curious cat, seems to have taken a shine to them too as you can see in the photo. Made sale no.2 on my 3 month old Etsy shop  - my Oriental Dreaming necklace which used the Chirimen cord (from another source) and was personal favorite. Sales have been slow but I guess don't mind (not too much.anyway...) as I keep reminding myself that this is my creative time, and that things take time to build. ...