Andy Velletri

Andy came to meet me during a trunk show at Ornamentea and showed me some of his wire wrapping projects. Wow, that man can wrap!!!! Notice in the picture that Andy not only wire wrapped his focal point, but also wire wrapped a hand made clasp for the back of the necklace. I really like the way Andy worked in some 7 mm cubes I made. They blend so well with the stone chips - a very nice compliment for the copper wire.



This necklace show cases Andy's hand made bamboo beads. Andy once explained it to me and it is a many step process to get that bamboo looking so good. The blue beads in this necklace are some 9 mm rounds I made. The earthy tones of the glazed clay and bamboo are a wonderful visual match.

Andy teaches classes at Bead Delite in Raleigh, NC. His gallery of work can be seen here. Click away for a real eye treat!

Thanks for looking!

- Elaine

New View on Ornamentea

Hey take a look at Ornamentea's new redo of my stuff - thanks Sandy!!!

And here is just a little something to get your creative brain juices going:

Birds on a Wire ribbon

Remember to check in on Art Bead Scene and enter the monthly challenge - you could win some really yummy beads!

Tracy Thomasson

Hi - Well Tracy Thomasson has been at it again. She aways makes my pieces look so good! I'm not sure how these double cord necklaces were made but I am really loving them!

The spacer looking beads in the middle of the 3 sets of beads in this photo are a new design I am trying out. this is a great way to "fasten" a necklace. No clasp needed and you don't need to fiddle with a clasp behind your neck.

Last, but obviously not least, another version of the "Tangle" shape. I especially like the way Tracy wrapped the cord ends right above the Tangle. Blue is my favorite color so I am really loving this one! You can see more of her creations on her Flickr account.

Thanks again to Tracy Thomasson for making this earth a more beautiful place to be!

- Elaine

Stringing Magazine

Again I want to say how excited I am to be featured in the summer issue of Stringing.

Since this was my first try ever at submitting to a magazine everything has been a learning process for me. Cynthia Deis, the owner of Ornamentea and Panopolie in Raleigh, NC originally encouraged me to try and was the one to get me motivated to get this done.

This Double Donut necklace is one of the featured projects.

Along with these three sets of earrings.

The photos that the people at Stringing took are way better than these of mine - they really did a great job of making me look good!

They were also very helpful at answering my questions and made the whole process run smoothly. I'll definitely be submitting more in the future.



If you are wondering, I have been working hard at getting all of these items out to the bead shops and to Ornamentea to post on their on line store. I'm not done yet, but if you are looking to purchase some of these pieces and don't see what you want, stop by again in a week or two and we will be ready. Between having one of my kids graduate from high school, one getting ready for the SAT while looking at colleges and one graduate from middle school, band banquets, band concerts, soccer tournaments and other end of the school year shindigs I have gotten behind. Also, keep an I here and I'll be posting other ideas to make with those same pieces.

Thanks for all your support and remember to send me pictures of your finished pieces!

- Elaine