Evie's Tool Emporium

If you are looking for my BSBP8 post click this link BSBP8


Hi blog readers. The May meeting at Upper Midwest Bead Society was fun. The presenters were Michelle and Dave from Evie's Tool Emporium and Tool Raider. They spoke about jewelry tools and how to use them correctly. We got to play with the tools when the talk was over. If you are a tool junkie like I am you should check out their Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/EviesToolEmporium
They have quality tools at reasonable prices. I bought a ring mandrel, split ring pliers,and a hole punch. All tools that I am sure will get lots of use. They have texturing  hammers, stamps, mandrels, pliers of many types, punches, burrs, dapping sets, disc cutters, and much more. If you are  in need of any jewelry tools I recommend them.

Bead Soup Is Served

Hi and thank you for visiting my blog today. It's the reveal of the Bead Soup Blog Party #8. The biggest bead party of the year. I feel honored to be part of this and I appreciate all the work our hostess, the amazing Lori Anderson and her family do to make this possible. A huge thank you to Lori. I would like to introduce you to my partner Beth Emery. She is a very talented bead artist from Alaska. http://www.storiesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com/ is her blog. She does beautiful metal work (some of which she sent me, Yeah!) and asymmetrical jewelry. She is inspired by nature and natural elements. I can hardly wait to see what she made with the soup I sent her. Please check out her blog. Beth spoiled me with three wonderful soups this time around.

The first soup I worked with was the purple. My favorite beady thing to do is bead embroidery so I started with the beautiful Charoite cabochon from Russia. I bezeled the cab and added fringe with seed beads, rullas, bicone and saucer crystals, pearls, and faceted drops. Since she included C-lon I decided to do kumihimo straps. I sanded and painted the bead caps with nail polish because the gold detracted from the focal. I am pleased with how this necklace turned out. It is my favorite from this challenge.

 

I used the aqua soup for the second piece that I made. I told Beth that aqua was my favorite color so she included lots of it for me to work with, Beth made the focal and stamped it with love grows. Stamping is one talent I do not have so I appreciated her making this for me to use. I hung three aqua sterling silver wrapped flowers from the bottom and a purple and white flower from the soup on top. In fact everything in this necklace except the oval chain, four extra purple lucite flowers, a brass hoop, jump rings, and the clasp came from the soup. I hung the small aqua lentils from the chain and threaded the silk ribbon through it. Both ends of the chain have more of the flowers on them. On the left of the chain I made a link with the large matte lentils and an Indonesian seed bead. The next link is amazonite nuggets and more of the Indonesian seeds. I have never used beads from Indonesia before. Next is a pair of purple lucite flowers with an aqua pearl between them. Then I made links with the amazonite ovals, aqua pearls, and transparent aqua rounds. I used a brass toggle clasp on the end. The first link on the other side of the chain was made by stringing the seed bead mix on 26 gauge wire and wrapping it around a brass hoop from my stash. I put three of the pearls in the center. The following round is a tagua nut ring. I have not worked with tagua nut components before and I liked it. Above that is a repeat of the other side.

 

I made earrings to go with the aqua necklace out of two of the amazonite oval links and flowers that Beth sent.

Then I made a coordinating bracelet. I strung the glass sea “opal” rounds on turquoise cord and knotted it with aqua seed beads. I used the mother of pearl button Beth sent as the clasp. The two stamped brass dangles that say bloom and thrive along with two more of the soup flower are attached to the loop end. It is a simple bracelet but one that I am sure I will wear often.

 

My last piece with the aqua soup is a pair of earrings. I told Beth that I like using unusual materials. So she included Christmas tree lights to challenge me. I beaded around them with aqua seed beads from my soup and added the aqua drops as fringe. I put an Indonesian seed bead and a transparent round above the lights and wire wrapped a loop to make earrings out of them. They look like dainty flowers to me and I had fun coming up with a design for them. I don't think anyone else made similar earrings LOL. I do still need to put the ear wires on though.

 

My third soup was copper colored. I made a two strand necklace with it. Beth made the focal, the heart shaped button and the magic stamped polymer clay piece. She really spoiled me with all of the pieces she made special for me. I feel lucky that she took the time to do this. She included a red link from Miss Fickle Media. I have been coveting owning some of her work so I was thrilled that Beth included this in my soup. I wrapped a glass and an onyx dagger from it. I used the red glass heart and drilled the love stamped copper heart so I could make it into a link. She included carnelian nuggets and I made them into links also. The wavy copper ovals are from my stash. I made spiral links to match the spiral I put on the focal with magnetic copper wire. This wire was left over from rewiring a 1966 Corvette headlight motor. To me this wire looks so much darker and richer than regular copper wire. It has the added benefit of a coating so It doesn't turn green like regular copper wire does. The end of the outside strand is stones and copper seed beads. I used the copper clasp from my soup to finish the end of this necklace. The center of the inside strand is a bird in a ring. This is what I had the hardest time with. The bird would flop over and not lay properly for me. A friend who is not a beader suggested I wire it on a ring and that worked perfectly. I used the small faceted glass beads in sets of three with the amber rounds inside of copper rings from my stash between them. Copper twisted ovals unify this stand with the outside one. This strand is finished with copper chain.

 

The last piece I made is a pair of earrings to go with the copper necklace. I used a copper twisted oval link, a faceted glass bead, and a copper drop for these. I had a wonderful time taking part in this blog hop and I used most of what Beth sent me. To see what the other participants made with their soups please click on Lori's link http://www.prettythingsblog.com/2014/05/welcome-to-8th-bead-soup-blog-party.html

Thanx for stopping by and I hope you like what I made for this blog hop.

Focusing on Life: Evening Moments

Our prompt this week for Focusing on Life was evening moments. I knew the moment I read the prompt what I would photograph. One of my favorite things about country life is the beautiful sunsets I get to see each day. I sit in my lazy boy and make jewelry as the sun is setting.  Unfortunately this week was busy at the beginning and raining at the end so I did not get a new photo to show. I decided to show one of my favorite old ones. This is a beautiful sunset reflected in my old hall window. After we remodeled there is no hall window now. When I think of sunsets this picture always comes to mind. Isn't is gorgeous? To see what the other participants photographed for their evening moments please click on Sally's link http://thestudiosublime.com/  Thank you for visiting.

Jeannie Dukic hosts Do Over Challenges and today is the reveal for Do Over7.It is my second time participating in her challenges. She is a extremely talented polymer clay artist. I had the good fortune to meet her at the last Twin Cities Bead Bazaar. I was wearing a necklace she made and I won as a giveaway. She sends pieces from her early days that did not sell and we remake them. The picture above is what she sent.They are made with iris freshwater pearls and Swarovski sapphire crystals. They are a very pretty set but I could see that it needed a third color so I added aqua.Here is what I made.

Since tassels are so popular now I made one with Jeannie's links and jump rings. I suspended it from a lampworked bead that I got at a bead show but I did not get the artist's name. I put it on a simple chain and added three of Jeannie's links on each side. To update the bracelet I took off one of the two sapphire crystals and added an aqua one instead. I did the same for the earrings. Jeannie made such beautiful wraps that I did not want to change them so I found a way to use them as they were. The only thing that I added was chain, the lampworked bead, and earwires.All that I had left was two crystals. I even used the clasp that Jeannie sent. I am pleased with how this design came out. To see the rest of the Do Over Challenge pieces please click on Jeannie's link  http://site.jkdjewelry.com/
Thank you Jeannie for this great challenge it was so much fun.Here is a close up of the focal.

Point of Focus

Today was the Demo & Do day at the bead group I belong to. I look forward to this day all year. We get together and have four 50 minute classes taught by our members. There are six choices as to classes at each session  and pot luck lunch. Over the years I have participated I have learned a lot from these classes.  This year I taught my first class there. I was very nervous about teaching but it went well. All my students grasped the technique and they said I was a good teacher. Yeah. Sally at http://thestudiosublime.com/ asked us to photograph  "a crisp, clear moment of focus" this week for Focusing on Life. She called it the point of focus.  She wanted us to photograph a moment in our lives that  looking at the photograph would bring back instant memories. My first time teaching is something I will always remember. The photo above is of  two of my students. I am passionate about beading and I want others to feel that passion. I try in any way I can to promote beading so teaching this class was something I could do to further that cause. I want days like this to continue so I try to do my part to see that it happens. I enjoyed teaching and I am sure I will do it again. If you would like to see what the other participants focused on this week  please click Sally's link about.

Today is the Color of Dreams blog hop. I received this amazing center bead by artist Patricia Handshuh from http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com . Isn't it great that there is so much detail in something so small? It is the size of my thumbnail.  I knew I had to make it the focal of a delicate  necklace. The colors make me think of spring. I stitched around it with the colors in the bead to make it more prominent.  Then made herringbone straps and a clasp. Herringbone is a stitch I have not done before. I won the book "Mastering Herringbone Stitch" by Melinda Barta on a giveaway by Jean Yates at http://prettykittydogmoonjewelry.blogspot.com and used it to help me grow.  Jean does the best book reviews I have ever read. My dream is to make my jewelry the focus of my life. I want to get published. I have not felt that my creations were good enough yet but I am getting there. I have not had the courage to submit anything yet but it is my dream. I keep saying that I am going to open an etsy store and be a real business but I have not done so yet either. Maybe this piece will be the catalyst for some action.  These are the thing I thought about as I stitched this necklace. To see what the other participants dream about please click on the link above. Thank you for visiting my blog today, and a big thank you to Rita for including me in this inspirational hop, and thank you to Patricia for her amazing pillow bead.

Focusing on Life:Morning

The Focusing on Life theme for April is Moments. This weeks photo prompt is morning. Here is what Sally had to say
Let us start week fourteen with morning moments.
:that quiet routine that starts our day.
:the mad dash to get the kids out the door
:the 3am feeding
:the few stolen moments waiting for the train
:the morning coffee/tea.  The first sip always taste so good!
What is your morning moments?
My mornings begin with turning on the tv morning news and beading. This shot is my messy bead board Friday morning when I loaded  the last of the beads on to my kumihimo disc to make braided straps for a necklace.  I use a clothes pin to add weight and have something solid to hang onto. I don't drink coffee, or have kids to get off to school, and I like to be up a while before I eat so I start right out with beading. To see how others see morning moments click on the link below to go to Sally's blog  http://thestudiosublime.com/