Allegory Gallery – Bead in the New Year

04 Sunday Jan 2026

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I always enjoy Allegory Gallery‘s Bead in the New Year calendar of prompts. It really gets me thinking and helps me be creative. I’m going to try to do something for the prompt each day, though I will sometimes be working ahead and sometimes be working behind.

Day #1 – Make a pair of earrings

Earrings with textured drops in orange, gold and green with rustic black and copper beads.

For these earrings, I used beautiful polymer headpins by Kimberly Rogers of numinosity, black metal spacers, and rustic metal beads. Love these!

Day #2 – Design a new bracelet

Bracelet with brass bar, various metal beads, black, dark red, and turquoise beads.

This is a simple stretch bracelet. The beauty part of it is that I’ve wanted to use a metal bar in a bracelet for a while but had never done it. This prompt helped me get it done. Now it is ready for stacking.

Day #3 – Create a non-symmetrical necklace

Necklace with small pendant featuring orange and brown bird, orange/yellow and dark red beads on one side and long brown beads with black spacers on the other.

I’ve had this little bird charm on my desk planning to put it into a charm necklace. (I have a billion charms planning to put them into a charm necklace that never gets made!) I’ve been cleaning off my desk, and there were a couple of Allegory Gallery kits with beads perfect for the little charm, so I used those for the necklace. The toggle clasp is from Allegory Gallery‘s fine pewter line.

Day # 4 – Finish a project that you have started

Dish full of a variety of green beads with a necklace with a fancy star shaped glass pendant in a variety of greens on green wire cord with gold findings.

I got a Patti Cahill lampwork pendant at the same time as I got a Czech fire polished glass mystery bag in green, green Austrian crystals, and green seed beads from Allegory Gallery. All of the beads went with the pendant so well, I got stuck in wanting to try to use them together. I kept trying different ideas, but they were not working. This prompt gave me the push to move along to something that would work. I used WoolyWire to make a bail and then strung it on SilverSilk, both in colors that are perfect colors for the pendant as well. I think it turned out very nice.

Day #5 – Use natural fibers

Necklace with large wooden pendant featuring a cat in purple with accents of gold and orange, rough amethyst beads, rustic copper beads and colorful cotton cord at the back.

It’s not the 5th yet, but I’m working ahead since I don’t have a lot of time during the week. I absolutely love how this turned out. I’ve used both cotton cord and waxed linen. The cotton cord was originally going to be a bracelet, but it just didn’t lay right. I was in my bead closet, and the Allegory Gallery box was on the floor with the lid off with this wooden pendant with Andrew Thornton‘s artwork laying on the top. It has a lot of colors that the cotton cord does. I had thought about using the cord in the front to hang the pendant off. That looked nice, but what looked (and felt) even nicer is having the cord in the back and the rough amethyst in front with rustic metal. This looks great on.

I’m going to enjoy making things for the rest of the prompts. I’ve already gotten out materials for Day 6, and hope to have another week of makes by my next blog post.

Finally, A Post!

20 Saturday Dec 2025

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It’s been so long since I posted, that WordPress logged me out, and I had to look up my password. But here I am. I hadn’t been making much, so it feels good to get some studio time.

Necklace with sparkly pink, and a variety of pink and brown beads in graduated size.

I’ve had this necklace in mind since I bought the sparkly beads. They are from the Ava Motherwell Collection. She had an online trunk show at Allegory Gallery. I love seeing the items on video, and also having a limited amount to choose from, since I like everything on Ava’s website. I have a brown and pink dress I made this for. I also got the Czech glass from Allegory Gallery.

Bracelet with various colored peace sign beads and various colored eye spacer beads.

I’ve been making stretch bracelets lately. I like that they don’t have a visible connection point (I hide the tied stringing material in a large hole bead) and they stack well. I love a bracelet stack. I got the peace sign beads from Allegory Gallery. I saw the eye beads from Nostalgica and knew they were the perfect spacer.

I put together a sparkle bracelet from Nostalgica. Those are so addictive. I wanted one with green, and this turned out so pretty.

Bracelet stack with silver, silver and turquoise bangles with a green and clear crystal cup chain bracelet.

Last but not least, I joined the Allegory Gallery Creative Make-Along this month. I always have fun chatting and usually end up making something I like. It helps me carve out the time to put together something I’ve been thinking about. I got a bunch of incredible Czech glass from Allegory Gallery. I loved these beads, even though I find bigger beads difficult to use sometimes. But I just couldn’t pass these up. I was going to look through my pendant box, but first I decided to see if I had any special treasures by Andrew Thornton. I did with this enamel pendant. I never have the right crimp covers. I need to get some larger ones, especially for when the crimps are in front like this. But I love the necklace.

Necklace with large lightly striped mint green and grey glass beads and a black and white pendant featuring a fantastical bird/girl creature.

It has been fun to be creative again. I forgot to write a blog post when I made the first couple of pieces, so I’m getting back to that now too.

Artists for Animals Auction Coming Soon

30 Thursday Oct 2025

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I was taking stock of what I have made for the Artists for Animals Auction so far. I have about half of what I usually have. I wanted fewer things so I will have fewer leftovers, but I want a few more. I made two today and will make a few more during the weekend. Then maybe I will make some during the auction. I see other people post as the auction goes on. I’ve always posted all my stuff right at the beginning. I can see how it works. I have so many ideas!

Necklace with ceramic cat pendant with floral design and various colors and shapes of Czech glass beads to match the colors of the flowers on the cat.

Loralee Kolton gifted me this cool cat pendant. I love it! I decided to use it for the auction. Much of this Czech glass is from Allegory Gallery. The clasp is my favorite type of lobster from Nostalgica. It swivels, so easy to use.

Patti Vanderbloemen gifted me so many amazing beads for the auction. I’ve been slowly using them.

Earrings with orange/brown lampwork beads, turquoise, and turquoise, gold, red, and brown flora design ceramic headpins.

The Judith Billig lampwork bicones are from Patti. I used turquoise and what I believe are Mary Harding headpins. I got them in a destash, so I’m not sure.

I hope to show you some more things before the auction starts. It runs November 10 – 16, 2025. Come visit!

Creativity!

26 Sunday Oct 2025

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While it might have been smart to work on my Artists for Animals items and listings this weekend since there are only two more weekends between now and when it starts, I felt quite creative for some other projects, so I just let myself enjoy those.

Necklace with large curved blue/green/tan glass bead focal, gold coated purple/blue Czech glass cluster beads, blue/green stone rounds, metallic blue-grey pearls and antique brass-gold chain.

I got the large handmade curved glass bead from Andrew Thornton, though I don’t remember the artist. It is so pretty, and very different for me. I hoped I was up to the creative challenge. It was in a box, and every time I opened the box to see what was inside, the bead would make me sigh with its beauty. Finally, I got it out, and started with the clusters of the small Czech glass beads near the focal. It took some time to decide how to use them on each side. I originally tried to use some light blue gemstones too, but they weren’t quite the right color. I figured I would use chain at the back, but I wasn’t sure how much. When I looked through my gemstones and found the blue rounds in just the right color and size, I was thrilled! The little metallic pearls were on my table just waiting to be spacers. When I went to look through my chain, I was so glad I had bought the large, round flat chain from Allegory Gallery. The half finished necklace had been sitting on my table for a day, and then I attended an Allegory Gallery Creative Make-Along. There is something magical about those. Not only is it fun to chat with people, but it does seem to make me more creative or help me solve design issues. So enjoyable, and I was able to finish this necklace during that time.

Necklace with large white, green and black discs in front with small matte black pointy drops, seed bead and O ring spacers, blue and green glass rounds, blue, black and gold vintage German rounds and a blue green swirl Czech glass button as a clasp.

I’ve been dreaming about this necklace since I saw a necklace made with discs and a whole bunch of charms. It might be saved on my Pinterest page, but the chances of me finding it are slim. I’d be curious what it looks like. Probably nothing like this. I think it was much more lush. I tried this with some charms, but I like things to all show and not be touching, so mine was necessarily more spare. I used black seed beads with colorful O rings in between, a strand of green and blue glass rounds, larger vintage German resin rounds, and black matte spike drops. The resin and discs in front are from Ava Motherwell Collection. The green and blue glass beads and the Czech glass button I used as a clasp are from Allegory Gallery.

It was fun to get these done. I have several pair of earrings and at least one necklace I’d like to make before the auction. We’ll see what I get done. My auctions will benefit Madison Cat Project.

Gearing Up for the Artists for Animals Auction

19 Sunday Oct 2025

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The next Artists for Animals Auction is fast upon our heals November 10 – 16, 2025. Time sneaks up on me! Lucky for me, I create for it throughout the year, but as it gets near, I need to take stock of what I have. I haven’t done an inventory yet, but I did make a necklace I’ve been planning to make.

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I love these vessels pendants from Allegory Gallery. I’ve been planning to make a necklace with one for myself. I’m not sure I have any left, but I think I have a plain glazed one. However, I thought someone at the auction might like this one with a cat on it. I used green, black, red and metallic beads. It could read vaguely Christmas if someone wanted to wear it to a holiday party, but I think it can also just be seen as a nice color mix to be worn all year. This is my favorite kind of necklace to make, just very relaxing.

I also made a bracelet this weekend for myself. I’m continuing my trend of stretch bracelets. They stack so well. I had bought some beads from Allegory Gallery that I thought would go with a dress, but the blue was off. No worries. I love the beads, and will be happy to use them in something. Honestly, I could even see wearing the bracelet with the dress, I just added more beads than I would have if the blue had matched.

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Most of the beads are from Allegory Gallery. The gold and verdigris bead is from Ava Motherwell Collection, and the carved red and dotty turquoise beads are from Kimberly Rogers of numinosity. In addition to making beautiful beads and pendants herself, she shares items she buys at Tucson and other places.

Once I take inventory, I can decide what else I should make for the auction. I have many ideas, but I don’t want to make too much.

New Beads, New Designs

12 Sunday Oct 2025

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I got a delivery of wonderful beads from Allegory Gallery this week, and new beads always produce much inspiration. I made two necklaces.

Necklace with black skeleton pendant, green and black glass beads, and white bone button clasp.

I got the Andrew Thornton enamel skeleton a few orders ago. I’m not normally a skeleton person, but I loved this one. There is a soft, multi-color glitter effect on it that I could not capture in a photo. I used a multi-color rhinestone spacer above the floral bead cap and iris coated seed beads between the glass beads to echo that glitter. I had been planning black beads with small green gemstone spacers that ended up getting used in another necklace. I still stuck with the black and green theme. Allegory Gallery got a bunch of vintage buttons in. I tried to get a green Czech glass spider button, but they were popular! I’m normally not a spider person either, but it would have been so perfect. I think the bone is a good second choice.

Necklace with a variety of glass and resin beads including red and white polka dot, gold, multi-color, blue and green.

Allegory Gallery had an Ava Motherwell Collection trunk show recently. I love that! Ava has so much good stuff, and seeing it on video makes it easier to choose. German and Italian resin beads helped keep a necklace on this scale from being too heavy. I also used German and/or Czech glass beads from some recent new stock at Allegory Gallery. I used just a few things from my own stash.

If you like this look, but a little more restrained, check out Leetie Lovendale. I wore a Leetie necklace the other day, and that inspired this linked necklace. I started to limit it to a red/black/gold color palette but just kept adding things. I did limit some textured/patterned beads I was going to add so this busy necklace wasn’t too busy for me. I think it’s very fun. It will look good with an all black outfit.

I’m feeling so creative lately; I can’t wait to make more!

Seeds, Beads, and Knotting

05 Sunday Oct 2025

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I had a wonderful creative weekend. The state of things can make it difficult to focus, but I believe it is healthful to do positive things. I haven’t been as creative as I think is good for me, so I’m working to change that. I did well this weekend.

Three bracelets made from various African beads and metal.

Candie Cooper has been showing bracelets with African beads and metal. I decided to make some. I have a ton of African beads. Many of these are from Allegory Gallery. Some are from Kimberly Rogers of numinosity. She buys extra in Tucson and shares. I have often wanted to make stretch bracelets because they are such good stackers and don’t have an obvious clasp that can mar a design. I’m happy to get practice with stretch bracelets because I’ve always been nervous about my knots. I found a video I use that works well for me.

African bead bracelets and silver and turquoise bangle bracelets on wrist.

Stretch bracelets add into a stack well. I got a bunch of silver bracelets my dad used to wear and copper ones he made. He doesn’t wear them any more, and I thought some African beads would go great with them. The silver and turquoise one here is a favorite.

Necklace made of rudraksha seeds, metal bead caps and memento mori pendant.

I had part of the above necklace in mind since I saw a rudraksha seed and silver bead cap necklace project in the book World Beads by Janet Coles and Robert Budwig. I got a bunch of rudraksha seed beads from Allegory Gallery. I had a small bag sitting out with this project in mind. This weekend while looking for something else, I spilled some beads and found another little bag. That gave me the push I needed. I used bumpy and smooth bead caps. I had a rudraksha pendant, but it had a silver cap on it, and I didn’t like the look with the other metal bead caps, so I looked for a different pendant. I really think this memento mori pendant by Andrew Thornton suits the necklace perfectly.

Necklace made of pink and blue enamel pendant with metallic cat and blue/metallic beads and pink beads.

I made this necklace twice this weekend. Originally, I had pinkish Czech glass crystals in an oblong shape. I did like the look of it, but when I took a picture, the Czech glass was very much a peachy pink and just didn’t sit well. I decided to change those out for these pink vintage glass beads. Although they make pink a bit more primary than the other beads did with the gorgeous light blue Venetian glass, I find it more pleasing. I love how the metallic accents in the beads echo the metallic cat on the pendant. I really love the Venetian strand I got from Nostalgica. It’s so lovely.

Using Special Treasures

14 Sunday Sep 2025

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I have a special enamel pendant made by Andrew Thornton. It has gorgeous colors like mixed tourmaline, gold accents, and a wonderful rustic prong setting. Sometimes when you have a really special bead or pendant, you hesitate to use it because you don’t think you will do it justice.

Prong set enamel pendant with gold, green, pink and rose made into a necklace with mixed tourmaline and gold stardust beads.

After I’d had the pendant a little while, I saw a strand of mixed tourmaline on an Allegory Gallery live, and I recognized it was the exact colors of the pendant. I was so pleased the strand looked as great as I imagined with the pendant. I wanted to bring out the gold a bit more, so I added a few gold stardust beads to the front. Love it!

Then I decided to use another Andrew Thornton pendant treasure. It’s a very flashy stone that Andrew set. He stamped the back of the setting.

Necklace showing back of silver pendant stamped with a design.

I had gotten it into my head that I wanted to match it with yellow stones like yellow opal, so I had several strands to choose from. I had also recently gotten a strand of green gemstones from Allegory Gallery for another project. When I looked at it all together, the yellow stones sort of faded with the flash of the pendant. I tried to resist using the green stones since they were meant for something else, but they just looked so good. I did want to use a few of the yellow stones, and I separated the two with a couple of stamped metal beads that refer to the stamped back of the pendant.

Necklace with flashy stone showing red, orange, green, yellow and blue colors set in silver with yellow stones, stamped silver and green stones.

I’m also very pleased with how this one turned out. It was fun to use a couple of real treasures that I will enjoy wearing.

Long Weekend

01 Monday Sep 2025

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I made several things over the long weekend. I started with some winter themed earrings for the upcoming Artists for Animals Auction. I think oh, that’s far away. But it’s September already, and the auction is November 10 – 16, 2025. It’ll be here before we know it.

Earrings with snowman charms and blue crystals.

I don’t know for sure where I got the snowman charms. I got the kitties in the teacup charms from Nostalgica.

Earrings with kitty charms in snowflake covered teacups and Santa hats.

I got the bow charms and probably the Czech glass from Allegory Gallery. The bow charms are so cute.

Earrings with red and gold Czech glass squares and gold bow charms.

The blue paisley charms were gifted to me by Patti Vanderbloemen. Patti’s beautiful jewelry also supports animals, in her case, Miracle Horse Rescue, so please check out her shop.

Earrings with blue paisley charms, crystal spacers and red Czech glass.

I got these stone heart beads from Allegory Gallery and the little matte turquoise heishi from Candie Cooper‘s shop Nostalgica. These are nice everyday earrings that will go with just about everything.

Earrings with stone heart beads and small turquoise heishi.

I don’t remember where I got the lovely angel wing connectors, but I do love how they look with the Nostalgica turquoise heishi and Allegory Gallery Quartz for these earrings.

Earrings with silver angel wing connectors, small turquoise heishi, and clear quartz beads.

It was fun to be creative. I hope to have some necklaces and other things next time.

A Bit of Inspiration

24 Sunday Aug 2025

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I saw a cute bracelet in the Sundance catalog, and it inspired me. Sort of a classic turquoise, silver, and gemstone number. I got out some materials, and as my piece started to come together, it wanted to be a necklace. So that’s what I ended up with. I think it’s lovely.

Necklace with silver focal, turquoise, silver and carnelian color agate beads.

I got several of the carved silver tubes from Allegory Gallery. I was planning to use them in earrings, and I still have enough to do that. But I like this use too. The agate beads are from a Tucson mystery box I got from Ava Motherwell. (Allegory Gallery is having a trunk show with Ava Motherwell September 17 – 18, 2025. I’m very excited!) The gold-edged turquoise beads are from Nostalgica as is the silver ring of the clasp. That may seem like a little thing, but findings can really make a piece look finished and higher end. I don’t always have the findings I want, so I’m trying to stock up on things when I see them, like nicer jump rings. I don’t know where the turquoise is from. I don’t even know if it’s really turquoise. I put everything that looks like turquoise in my turquoise box. I’m terrible at labeling things (or have been in the past. I’m a little better now.) But it was in my stash, and it was perfect.

I might end up making a coordinating bracelet. I rarely make anything matchy, but even if I don’t wear them together, a nice stretch bracelet with similar materials would be something I would get a lot of wear out of.

I also made a pair of earrings. I attended the Allegory Gallery Creative Make-Along on Friday. I was tired and joined late, but it’s fun getting together with beading friends. And interestingly, no matter how long I’ve gone without making something, a Creative Make-Along always seems to help me make at least something.

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In these, I used some cute chartreuse and dark rose charms repurposed from old earrings I loved. I used some large green Czech glass beads my friend Lisa gave me and some dark rose Austrian crystals. They’re fun! This is the kind of color combination I am really attracted to.

Earrings with tangerine checked circle components with tangerine and red mitten charms.

I made some additional earrings later in the weekend. These are for the Artists for Animals Auction coming up later this year. I’ve used some cold weather motifs. Here I’ve used handmade acrylic beads from Yvonne of MyElements with mitten charms from Allegory Gallery. I made a second pair with materials also from MyElements and Allegory Gallery.

Earrings with abstract painted acrylic components with snowflake charms.

I think Yvonne’s components look like a snowstorm, perfect for the Allegory Gallery snowflake charms.

Earrings with clear balls filled with glitter.

I like some party earrings for the holiday season. These glitter balls are perfect for that! I think they are from Allegory Gallery, but I didn’t label the bag they were in.

I’m trying not to make too many things for the auction this time. I had so many leftovers last time, and I don’t like leftovers. But it’s always fun to make.