Dawn Doucette Published in Beadwork Magazine

I'm super excited to finally be able to share this with you guys!  I created a piece last spring... literally one year ago this month, submitted it to Beadwork to see if they wanted to publish it.  And they did... but it was slated for the June/July 2015 issue... holy cats Batman, how am I supposed to not say anything to anybody for a whole entire year?  Because yeah... that took patience, then lots of distraction... then I sort of kind of lost track of time until BAM!  Beadwork is emailing me to mail me back my necklace because the issue has hit newsstands!

I love, love, love this necklace!!! I'm totally a sucker for a beaded spiral rope... add crystals and it makes me all weak in the knees and starry eyed.  In this rope I wanted to give it a fun texture!  As an ambassador for Cousin Corporation I also wanted to showcase some of their beads.  The rope itself is made with 4mm bicones in the aqua/gold mirror beads as well as their Crystazzi brand crystals in Crystal A/B and Indicolite!

But to have just a spiral rope alone wasn't enough!  I loved this turquoise and orange peacock charm from Cousin too, so I had to dress it up in true Dawn fashion.  Add a beaded carnelian component, some great Swarovski crystal copper bicones and BAM!!!  Now that's a flirty, fun, sparkly necklace! 

Look I'm on the cover, no really it's just sitting on the cover!

All of the crystals and the peacock charms can be purchased through Cousin Corporation's consumer website:  Primabead.com 

If you aren't a Beadwork subscriber, you can pick up your copy at any number of retail locations or subscribe to their digital mag at beadworkmagazine.com.

It's so great to have this piece back in my hands.  It's one of those pieces that seemed to take a LONG time to make... because I was literally going around and around in circles... one inch at a time.  Stay tuned for another project I'm working on with Swarovski Flatback crystals now offered through Cousin Corp.  It's a little DIY to bling up my new apartment... Can't wait to share!

Peace, love and sparkles!
~Dawn

Custom Jewelry Inspired by the Peacock - and my sister

"Hey Dawn, I know it's short notice and I was going to wear that set you made me last year to go with my grey dress, but it really didn't go, so I was wondering if there's any way possible that you can make me something to go with this dress I bought for a wedding."  *Yes, this was spoken as all one sentence for those of us that are grammar conscience.*

"Sure, how "short" is short notice?" 

"Oh, a week from Saturday..."

Yes, the things we do for family are priceless.  This was an actual conversation had between my baby sister and I last Tuesday... and after she emailed me a picture of her wearing the new dress she had purchased, I knew exactly what I was going to make her for the wedding she's going to this weekend.

Short notice and custom made aren't often used in the same sentence, but when inspiration is ready to cooperate (and I can hand-deliver the pieces eliminating shipping time) then once in a while magic can happen!

Peacock Amore... that's the inspiration behind this custom beaded set.  I made a necklace and bracelet using the teal that is the color of her dress with black and cobalt blue accents.  It'll give the pieces even more options to wear again and again.  This set is going to be a staple in my baby sister's wardrobe.

When I delivered it to her yesterday, her response was priceless... "How do you DO that?"

My response:  I pointed my very high-energy niece (4) and nephew (3) whom I love more than words and responded "How do YOU do THAT?" :)  

Brenda will be the belle of the ball, second to the bride herself and true royal beauty in the eyes of her husband! 

So Many WIP - So Little Time

My motto through college (or should we say my excuse for procrastination) was "I work better under pressure!"  Have you ever said the same thing?

In this case, it really is about many, many projects all going on simultaneously!  I have "online" work that makes my eyes go batty... then I have my commissioned jewelry orders that make my artisan heart go pitter patter.

Because my to do list is thissssssssssssssssssssssssssss long, I'm going to get back to it and leave you with pictures of just 3 of my current projects that I've organized and have ready to start.

Coral, Turquoise and Gold Ensemble

Bold & Festive

Don't call me proud... I'm a peacock!