Grandpa T's New Tie

My Grandpa T. recently celebrated his 80th birthday this past month and we had a huge surprise party for him. My Grandma had asked me this past fall to make him a bola tie that she could give to him for the occasion. So off to work I went. I had never made a bola tie before, so this was something fun and new for me to attempt. My older sister Leora had made a few so obviously the first thing I did was to go to her for advice on what I needed to do. She had some great ideas and soon I was planning the design for the project.

Grandma hadn't given me a whole lot of instructions, just that he needed something that he could wear to church and for nice occasions. This was fine with me as I tend to do my best work when I get to just mess around and experiment as I go. Not too long after I was asked to make the tie I was in one of the local bead shops and I saw some green opal that just completely inspired me to make the tie. I bought the green opal and by the next morning I had dreamt about how I wanted the tie to look.

The stone itself looks as if it has a mountain scene on it with a spark of lightning coming out of the sky hitting the mountain tops. Below the mountains it looks like a river is running in the valley below. It's a pretty cool stone. So what I wanted to do was place evergreens in the four directions with a starry night sky above, seeing as we used to do a lot of camping with the grandparents when me and my siblings were all kids. I tried to keep the design simple yet interesting. I, myself, am very happy with the final product, in fact I am still trying to figure out how on earth I will be able to make something just as cool for my dad in the future.

My Grandpa T and me.

Something for a friend

My mom had bought me some really cool lace curtains from Ikea in Phoenix a while back. They remind me of the kind of curtains people had in Germany when I lived there in the late 8o's. Anyways, when I got them they were way to long for my sliding glass door.
I can bead, but I can't sew to save my life. I even messed up hemming my sons bibs this past winter. So a friend of mine offered to hem them for me. Of course I was okay with that. So she sewed them up for me and they look great. The only thing is that she wouldn't let me pay her for them, so I finally made her something to repay her. She really likes pinks and purples. Colors I don't usually use together alot. I finally made her something with her colors and I think that it acutally turned out okay. I made it simular to the last bracelet that I made. I really like the way the bracelet lays so we'll have to see if she likes it too.

Netting Problems

I was having some problems with my netting project. I think that my stitches were too tight because the necklace was becoming very spirally. So while I was trying to figure out how to make the necklace so that it wasn't all twisted I ended up in the peyote stitch somehow. Anyways, I made a really cool bracelet with a simular color scheme. So here it is, I think that I will also will make a necklace to go along. Maybe some earrings too.

Netting Project

I just started a new project last night. I am going to make a necklace using netting with wine and garnet colored delicas and these beautiful teardrop shaped turquoise beads that I have. So I thought I would post a pic or two of what I've done so far. I'll keep ya posted on my progress and how it goes.

What are we about?

Here goes. I decided to start this blog because I'll admit it I wanted a place to post my families jewelry. My sisters and I have been beading for years and we have been making jewelry for friends and family since then. Just recently I started thinking that we really should start sharing our ideas and talent with others.

We are members of the Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma and like to bead. We really try to make our things following traditions passed down to us from family, but we also like to make original peices.

If your like me I go to pow wows and Indian art markets and table after table is all of the same. Now I don't want anyone to think that I am bashing tradition. Tradition and knowing where you come from is an important part of Indian life. I'm just saying that it would be nice to see something new that's beginnings have a flare of the traditional. That's what I try to do with my jewelry. Whether it works or not is up to you.

I will try to post pictures and the process of my stuff as I go along. Hope you all enjoy!