Abby Kiker

I am a costume designer by training and profession. I teach costume design at a small liberal arts college in the mountains of North Georgia. I also have a private studio, Blue tAbby Studios, which is largely a line of hand-beaded jewelry. I have a lot of jewelry that I have designed and made, but now I am expanding my body of work to include beaded "paintings", or wall art. Most of my work is created on a bead loom, using glass seed beads. I am also happy to design costumes as a freelance designer. I hope you enjoy my work, and please contact me with questions!


Portfolio:

Jewelry designs of Blue tAbby Studios

Here are some of my woven jewelry designs. Not all of them are recent, and I have sold some pieces, but most are available. If you like what you see, contact me!

Galaxy Quest “Galaxy Quest”

This statement necklace took about 3 years to make. It's fully lined in black leather, and finished with silver piping.

Effants “Effants ”

In this picture, the weaving is finished, but the piece itself is not. The finished product was made into a bangle bracelet, lined with embossed leather, and trimmed with agate beads around both top and bottom edges.

Faux Tattoo armband “Faux Tattoo armband”

This pattern is perfect for those who are intrigued by tattoos but don't want to commit!

Puttin' On the Ritz bow tie necklace “Puttin' On the Ritz bow tie necklace”

These 2 beaded bow ties are more examples of the bow tie necklace that is listed separately. These designs are plaid and paisley. I was trying to imitate fabrics that are regularly used in menswear for bow ties and vests. Neither of these pictured are finished, but were finished after the photo with either gold or silver chains and matching clasps.

Glass "Paintings" and Wall Art

I am expanding my body of bead work to include wall art. My first piece is shown here, and I plan to upload more in the future!

Deep Forest:  pattern “Deep Forest: pattern”

Lots of paper had to be taped together to create this pattern. Usually I am very precise about rows, columns, colors, etc. This time, I simply roughed in blocks of color, based on my research photo. (A note about the research photo: I found a royalty free photo online that I liked.)

Deep Forest:  Finished “Deep Forest: Finished”

The finished size is approximately 51/2" x 6". I used a variety of types of beads, unlike my previous work, where the beads are very uniform in size and shape. The finished piece is hand sewn onto smooth green leather, then hand sewn onto navy blue embossed leather.

Deep Forest:  Finished “Deep Forest: Finished”

After mounting to both green and blue leather, I placed the whole piece in an 8"x8" shadowbox frame. It currently sits on a shelf in my home, but can easily hang on a wall as well.