QUEEN of Hearts

When I was a kid one of my favorite books was "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll and of course my very favorite character was the "Red Queen" or "Queen of Hearts"! I loved nothing more than to run around for hours screaming "Off with her Head!" at the top of my lungs, I'm sure I drove everyone around me absolutely crazy.

Last October when it came time to start making items for Halloween the first thing that came to my mind was "Queen of Hearts" Scepters and Crowns...

Now I can run around screaming "Off with her head!" in style! ☺














May you always BEAD happy! ~Cova

Praying Mantis

Last March for National Craft Month I joined a 30 day beading challenge, a challenge always seems to be the best way to get me to explore new avenues and think outside my box. So when I got to the day that I was supposed to make a piece of jewelry inspired by an animal, I went way outside the box and designed a Praying Mantis.

I find  Praying Mantis to be one of the most fascinating of all the insects, I love that they look like cartoon characters even in real life.

I am still working a few of the kinks out of this design and they still need to be scaled down in size but each one gets a little closer to perfect. Until then, I just keep gaining new cartoonie friends to keep me company. :)

May you always BEAD happy! ~Cova

Octopus

I love making bead and wire critters and when I found out a friend's favorite was an Octopus, I had to try making one. I have to admit it was a little tricky trying to figure out how to get the body attached to all those legs and took more that few attempts before I made one that actually resembled an Octopus but...

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!"

May you always BEAD happy! ~Cova

Necklaces

A few summers ago my mailman Kevin stopped to chat with me while I was outside grouting a mosaic. It turned out that he was a stained glass artist and he wondered if I would like to have all the scrap glass he had no use for to use in my mosaics. I didn't think much more about it because I just figured that he was just making friendly conversation about a common interest but about a week later I came home from work to find three bins of glass on my porch.

I have been unable to make any mosaics with the glass for one reason or another so rather than have it sit in a closet collecting dust, I have decided to incorporate it into my jewelry designs. 

I no longer get see Kevin because he had to stop working due to an inherited circulatory problem. I miss our conversations, think of his kindness often and I am so happy to be putting his amazing gift to use in the form of Necklaces.

May you always BEAD happy! ~Cova

Masks

Everyone wears many Masks everyday. Maybe not literally, which is why it is so much fun to play dress up. Masks are such a wonderful way to add to a costume and I have discovered that they are one of my very favorite things to make.

My first couple of masks were masquerade masks...

And I kept adding more details with a twist...

When I decided to try a Sugar Skull Mask for Dia De Los Muertos, my designs became a lot more complicated and ornate...

These are the latest of versions of my Masquerade Masks but these attach to the face with Beautiful Shimmery Copper Ribbons...

May you always BEAD happy! ~Cova