Sterling and Bamboo Necklace for Men

I am always looking for interesting beads to use with my Really Cool Jewelry for Men line. I recently came across some little hollow bamboo rods that are about an inch long and one-eighth inch in diameter. The ends are charred black. Interesting little beads, indeed! I decided I wanted to make a simple necklace with them.

While most mens beaded necklaces are assembled using relatively large beads, at least 6mm in diameter, this necklace uses just 3mm beads and the bamboo rods. I made this necklace with size 8 Czech glass beads, the bamboo stick beads and some 3mm sterling rounds to give the necklace some sparkle. This skinny necklace can be worn alone, with another necklace, or one can slip on a pendant. You can find this necklace for purchase in my ArtFire store. Click here Bamboo Necklace.

Native American Brick Stiched Earrings

Picking colors for bead work can be somewhat challenging. I decided to look at colorful song birds and use their color palette in picking the color of beads. At the left is two pair of brick stitched earrings that use the colors of song birds. I made this set of earrings in the familiar wing design. The red pair at the left is the familiar Red Cardinal while the pair below is from a less known song bird. Both of these pairs are available in my ArtFire Shop.

Native American Tapestry Beaded Earrings

Native American Tapestry Earrings

I mentioned in my last post that I had moved my studio work shop to Northern Minnesota. You can find photos of the new work shop on my ArtFire Bio page. Just click this link:

My ArtFire Bio

I am still working primarily with beading. I made these tapestry style earrings using a brick stitch. The earrings are available at my etsy store. Just click this link: Tapestry

Brown and Gold Beaded Earrings

Well, here I am again trying to get started posting to this blog on a regular basis. I have moved my leather and silver work studio to a new location in Northern Minnesota. In the mean time I have stepped away from my silver smithing work for awhile to do some bead weaving with seed beads. What I like about bead work is that it is portable. One can do bead work just about anywhere. All one needs is a beading needle, bead thread and several vial of beads. Leather work, silver work and even bead stringing requires a place set up for working.

I have been working largely with the brick stitch and peyote stitch, two very common stitching techniques. The earrings shown are brick stitched and can be found in my artfire store. Just click this link