Sunday, June 29, 2014

My post today is for Krafty Max's Age of the Dragonfly Challenge. I am a day late posting this because I was away from the internet since Friday. I always try to learn something new when I enter a challenge. This time it was using Vintaj patina on a brass dragonfly. I made the body blue and the wings green, even though this is not how real dragonflies look I liked it. I heated the patina for better adherence and sealed it when I was done. I enjoyed the experience and I am sure that I will use patinas again. I strung two beading wires  with a blue and green seed bead mix and used oval brass beads to keep the strands together. I finished the necklace with a brass toggle clasp. The dragonfly hangs from a wire coiled around the center brass oval bead. Next I made a dragonfly pin from wire and seed beads. Then I used the same seed beads as the necklace and strung them on memory wire to make a bracelet. I used a beautiful dragonfly button for the focal.  I hope you like what I created for this challenge.
Posted by at 7:44 PM 4 comments

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Today is the reveal for A Time To Stitch 5. This is a blog hop put on by Therese Frank of http://theresestreasures59.blogspot.com/ and Christine Altmiller of http://onekisscreations.blogspot.com/. This is a stitching challenge. We were to choose our favorite stitch and do it in three colors, three sizes, or three shapes of beads. My choice was size and my stitch was spiral rope. The pic above shows the results. The rope on the left is made with size 8 beads on a size 6 core. Here is a pic of the completed necklace.
I used a beautiful faceted agate for the focal and the seed beads from the rope as fringe. I stitched a bail and accented it with a blue crystal rondelle. I put blue glass flowers on the ends of the rope to finish them and used black crystal rondelles to pick up some of the focal bead color. I added gold chain so it can be adjusted in size for different necklines.
My second necklace uses size 11 seeds beads on a size 8 core. The focal for this necklace is an enameled piece from C-Koop Beads. The clasp is a stitched button and loop from a Melinda Barta pattern that appeared in "Beadwork" magazine. I have used this clasp several times and I like it. It is fast and easy along with being pretty.  My third piece Uses size 15 seed beads on a size 11 core. It is shown unfinished (did you notice the thread?) in the first pic in this post. I did not get it finished. My Mom passed away June 7th and I have been attending to family obligations. Unfortunately when I packed I left my bag containing this project on my bead table instead of getting it into my suitcase. I did not get home until today so I apologize for not being done on time. This has never happened to me before.  I am serious about the challenges that I sign up to do and I have always finished them on time. The focal I am going to use in  this piece is a lampworked heart in white and blue that I got in Sacramento when I went to my niece's wedding. I think that my pic does a good job of showing the three sizes of beads in one of my favorite stitches. I will post a pic of the size 15 spiral rope necklace  next week. I would like to show one more pic.
This pic shows how different spiral rope can look just by changing the colors of beads that you choose. The necklace on the left is made with a repeating pattern of five different bead colors over and over again. The rope on the right is the same size 11 beads with a five bead repeat in three colors. I hope that you like what I made. Now please click on Therese or Christine's link to see what the other participants made.




Posted by at 2:57 PM 14 comments

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Waxed Linen Blog Hop

If you are looking for my BSBP8 post click here BSBP8

Today is the day for the reveal of the waxed Linen blog hop. Diana Pataszynsi of http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com is the organizer of this challenge. I had been thinking of doing a piece with waxed linen so when I saw her challenge I thought it was the perfect time. I started out to do a macrame piece in pink and black. I tried four different arrangements of black and magenta cord and none of them looked right to me so I put those colors away for a bit. The first item I made is a necklace. I have also been wanting to learn bead chorchet so I decided to combine the two ideas in one piece. However it just looked messy , not at all what I wanted so on to plan B which I really like. I chose one of Diana's beautiful porcelain pendants as my focal. I used denim blue, green, and cream linen cord because they are the colors in the pendant. I knotted seed beads in threes along each cord so they looked like picots. The cord looks like vines to me so I thought it suited the pendant well as the center of the pendant looks like leaves. All of the cording is knotted onto the loops on Diana's pendant I also knotted more of the cord below the pendant for fringe. The clasp is a recycled faceted white bead and a cord loop. This necklace has a light, delicate, feminine feel to it and I am happy with how it turned out. I have received several comments already when I wore this necklace.

Piece number two is a bracelet. It is four strands (Actually two strands folded in half and knotted around the button) in pink and black. I chose an antique black button for the clasp on this piece. The first strand that I strung is the hematite colored peanut beads with pink pearls. For strand number two I used gold lined pink size 11 seed beads and larger black glass faceted coins. Then I strung black size 8 seed beads with pink coral shaped beads. My last strand is swirled dark and light pink glass tube beads with the black 8's between them. I tried knotting between the pearls and the peanut beads in the first strand but it looked better to me just strung. I knotted around the four strands on the clasp loop because I thought four strands of cord would be difficult to use as a clasp on a bracelet. I ended the cords with a knot with a gold lined pink seed bead above it. I have had two friends want to buy this bracelet already. I want to say thank you to Diana for hosting the event. It was great fun to design these two pieces and I am sure I will include more waxed linen in my future designs. Please see what the other participants made by clicking on the links below.
 









Sarajo Wentling http://sjdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com








Johana Nunez Rivera http://www.artincendi.com



Barbara Bechtel http://secondsurf.com














Sharyl McMillian-Nelson http://www.sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com










Thank you for stopping by. I would enjoy hearing your comments.








Posted by at 1:32 AM 48 comments

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Znetshows Summer Challenge

If you are looking for my BSBP8 post click here BSBP8

I am taking part in the summer challenge at http://www.znetshows.com .  I have had the pleasure of designing for them for a little over a year and it has been fun. They have quality materials at reasonable prices. They specialize in cultured sea glass but they also have beautiful crystals, metal components, and stones.  To see what they have to offer please click the link above. For the summer challenge I am to design two pieces or sets of jewelry. One is to be a daytime casual piece and one is to be a dressy nighttime piece. I chose the colors black and olive to work with in this challenge. The photo above is the items that they sent me to work with. If you would like to see what I design please stop back after the emagazine goes live.  My photos will be turned in by June 13 and the hop will be after that.

Posted by at 12:53 PM 2 comments

Monday, May 19, 2014

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.
Posted by at 12:27 PM 4 comments

Friday, May 9, 2014

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.


Posted by at 11:54 PM 153 comments

Saturday, April 26, 2014

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.

Posted by at 1:02 PM 22 comments
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