Dispatch From Phar Lepht

Musings, ramblings, rants, and raves from Phar Lepht, Texas by a tent show gypsy.

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Location: Phar Lepht, Texas, United States

I am a bead and wirework jewelry artist living in the desert southwest trying to make a living with my art. Happily married for 30+ years to Cecil(also an artist) and have two sons, Noah and Nathan (who is Down's Syndrome).

Saturday, November 08, 2008

New Stuff for the Winter

It has been ages since I posted any of my creations so here are a few:

picasso jasper, lava rock

turquoise, hand made glass

jungle jasper, copper

carnelian, fire agate

as you can see, I have been doing a lot more with metals other than silver. Not only because of the cost but I love the look of copper and pewter as well.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

OtHeRWorLdLEE GoOdS booth






Here are a few pics of my new booth tablecloths and easels for the jewelry. They are a bit dark but I think one can get an idea of how it all appeared, at least an inkling. Notice the beautiful wood easels and pad holders in the first and fourth pics. I am very happy with those! One of the nicest things about them other than appearance is that they come apart to store flat...very important feature. The picture with my new bags is really dark but none-the-less I sold three of them!









Thursday, February 28, 2008

Bag Age

One of my newest projects is my beaded bags. I hate to sew, I mean I HATE to SEW! So in order to create what I wanted, I found a crafty friend who makes purses, bags, etc. for the shows and asked her if she would use my pattern and my chosen materials to sew the bags for me and I would do all the rest, woven handles, beadwork, decoration, etc. I think they turned out wonderfully ...what do you think? Sizes are about 4" w x 5 or 6" L for the body of the bag and can be worn around the neck to hold a cell phone, wild money, tube of lip gloss or whatever.





Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Beaded Earrings


Here are some of my new earrings, some of which are fairly complex beadwork. The top three sets use a technique of beading around a round bead in the center and the bottom two sets are beaded around a glass tube.

The picture doesn't really do them justice as earrings always look best when they are hanging not laying on a scanner!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Bracelet Bingo




Not sure how these will come out (or where on the page). The first is a macrame bracelet using vintage African trade beads along with some African sand cast beads. It was fun to make.

The second is a multiple charm that is a flower garden using Czech glass mostly. The last is another macrame with some nice glass and lampwork by Beads Unique.

New Year, New Gear




One thing that is new is that I didn't make the trek to Tucson this year to buy materials. Fact is I have plenty of materials in my studio other than the usual stuff I always need to stock up on. Now that the silver people and some of the bead people come to town and that I have a good supplier that is local that carries some of the standards...I really don't have a good excuse to go and blow a bunch of moola. Now that Cec is making more jewelry, I do want to take him for sure next year if possible and that means saving up starting NOW!

Enough blab...here are a few new things I have made for the upcoming show at the end of this month:

The one on the left is a piece that highlights the beautiful lampwork beads made by another El Paso artist Tamara St. Jean. She has just started making beads and man, she is really good! The one on the left is a wirework piece with lampwork by Karen Cascio...love her beads!

The piece in the center above is basically a reflection of my creative process right now, full, colorful and opaque. I call it "Fiesta". There is lots more but I am having a time getting the pics to come up in the spots I want them to so I will have to work on that!

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Decorate your BAG

Here's some purse jewelry that I made for the leather shop in Ruidoso.

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Sunday, April 15, 2007

Fringe Benefits


Here is the latest pair of beaded earrings that I completed while at the beach in North Carolina. They were an order I had from Tucson. Was sitting outside a bead show watching an incredible sunset when a woman noticed my earrings and ordered a pair.
These take a considerable amount of time but are relaxing and meditative for me to do. Unfortunately the pictures really don't do them justice as they need to be viewed hanging on a pair of ears not crinkled up on a scanner. There are some copper metallic seed beads that really are neat as well as the twisted bugle beads that just don't show up here.