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You are here: Home / All blog posts / Mom is a maker, too!
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December 26, 2014 by Tien Chiu

Mom is a maker, too!

I thought I’d take the opportunity to show off some of my mother’s work. In addition to scrapbooking, beading, and Christmas ornament-making, she has also taken up kumihimo and lapidary. (Yes, it runs in the family – why do you ask? 🙂 ) Lately she’s been making necklaces with beaded kumihimo braids and large pendant stones, many of which she grinds/shapes or wire-wraps herself. Here is some of her work.

First up are the half-dodecahedrons built out of beads. Mom is a retired X-ray crystallographer, so has an interest in crystal forms. For awhile she was building larger beads out of smaller ones. She figured out how to build dodecahedrons last year (“it isn’t that hard once you understand how it works,” says mom), and created some half dodecahedrons as pendants.

green and red necklace
“The green beads are a true Christmas green when viewed on their own,” says my mom, “but were too dark when combined.” So she made a second set, below.
Second attempt, this time with a thicker braid.
Second attempt, this time with a thicker braid.
Green and purple beads
Green and purple beads

In this next set, the focus is on the beaded braid and the perfectly matching stone:

kumihimo beaded braid with pendant
In this one, the focus is on the beaded braid, with the pendant as an accent.
kumhimo beaded braid with matching stone
another perfectly matched stone/braid
Perfectly matched stone and kumihimo braid. Mom is great at color matching!
Perfectly matched stone and kumihimo braid.

Mom likes Murano glass, too. Here is a necklace with some blown-glass beads:

kumihimo necklace with hollow glass beads
kumihimo necklace with hollow glass beads

 

Here’s one where she not only did the beaded braid, but wire-wrapped the stone herself:

beaded kumihimo braid with wire-wrapped stone (by mom!)
beaded kumihimo braid with wire-wrapped stone (by mom!)

And here is a perfectly lovely seashell with beaded cord and bail. I think this one is my favorite!

seashell with beaded bail
seashell with beaded bail

And here are two where she cut the stone herself:

stone pendant, carved by Mom
stone pendant, carved by Mom
Another stone pendant carved by Mom
Another stone pendant carved by Mom

And, a blast from the past – twenty years or so ago, she was making Chinese knot pendants. Here is a pendant surrounded by four pan chang knots:

Pendant in Chinese knotwork
Pendant in Chinese knotwork

What’s she up to now? Here’s the work in progress:

beaded kumhimo choker - perfect for that Little Black Dress!
beaded kumhimo choker – perfect for that Little Black Dress!

I’m very proud to have such a talented mom!

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Filed Under: All blog posts, textiles

Previous post: Merry Xmas!
Next post: Feline interlude

Comments

  1. Ruth says

    December 26, 2014 at 6:08 am

    Your mom does beautiful work!

  2. phillippa lack says

    December 26, 2014 at 4:32 pm

    great works! I am still struggling with adding beads to kumihimo braids!!

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