ZNet Shows and On-Line 'Zine

I was able to be creative recently and it's something I haven't been able to do in a long time. First because I had no ideas, no desire, no Muse speaking to me. Second, when I finally felt I was going to hear from my long-absent Muse, I went and broke my ankle (in three places, no less) and had to have surgery on it. I wasn't confident/controlled enough on my crutches to get down into my craft room (even if it was only one step) because, the one time I tried, I lost my balance and fell again (without the same consequences as before, thank God!) so I wasn't about to try until recently.

That said, I was one of the group of designers for ZNet.com asked to participate in designing some jewelry for their upcoming on-line 'zine and received a bunch of lovely beads to work with. Me being me, I made earrings. I love earrings. I think I've mentioned before how much I love earrings because they are so feminine and swing-y. Here's what I managed to create using ZNet's recycled sea-glass beads (and some of my own). Enjoy! )Also, here's the link to the On-Line E'Zine and a link to the sea-glass page on ZNet's web site)

Clockwise from top: Dolphins, teal sea-glass
tubes and sea-foam pearls, light blue starfish
 and baby blue tulip-style beads all of
recycled sea-glass and a few of my own beads.

Top right; black recycled sea glass, multicolored
findings, orange sea glass.
Bottom left; teal sea glass tubes, orange sea glass,
garnet pearls on copper wire.

Top right;  pearls in black, gray, & white with
red sea glass and red crystal accents.
Bottom left; red and blue sea glass, white
pearls, & green crystals.

Top to bottom; two green sea glass squares,
teal sea glass tubes; green sea glass square,
yellow Czech glass squares; green sea glass,
white pearls on copper wire. 

Hope you enjoyed seeing them as much as I enjoyed making them.

(addendum) I wrote this right after I made these and I've since made several more earrings from ZNet's sea glass. I'll post them later.

Black & White Challenge Blog Hop

Sally over at The Studio Sublime challenged us to a hop wherein we made jewelry using only the colors of black and white (not counting wire). Y'know, I've got black beads and white beads all over but I've never (except once) sat down with the express purpose of putting them together. So, here's my contribution to her unique (to me, at least) hop challenge:

had some black chiffon that worked beautifully
I'm really getting more into mixing in ribbon or
fabric into my jewelry. Love it.

going for the asymetrical style with this pair

It was really difficult not to add in red. I

wanted to SO badly!

                                           top to bottom: grayish crystals, milky grey/white

pearls trapped in a cage-like finding (Michael's)

and black faceted crystal dangles.

                                              Going for simple with these: the longer pair,

I used some cream/white glass pearls from

ZnetShows.com, the wire is copper that I

heated to ball up and dumped in cold water

to cause that rosy pink coloring. (hope it

still falls within the rules!) I did two pair

because I just wanted simple as well as

simple with a touch more elegance.

                                                 these are major shoulder sweepers! again,

I used material for the lower part, black and

white batik/African style print from a fan

that broke so I salvaged the cloth. It went

perfect with the round black and white beads.

again, top to bottom: cream/white glass pearls

from ZnetShows, white(ish) man-made blister

pearls, cones from Michaels and inside are a

small black bead, white pearl and larger black bead

(to keep things from pulling up too far into the cone)

                                           recycled white glass/sea glass from ZnetShows

strung with a silver finding and black seed bead.

                                          top to bottom: black bead, end caps from a small

set of vials I decided not to use, white glass beads

white man-made "shell" rounds (Michael's again)

So, that's my contribution to this challenge. Thanks, Sally, for the kick in the pants to get the ol' Muse thinking and creating again.  Please visit the other participants to see what they've done!
 

Sally Russick  (HOSTESS)

Monique Urquhart

Patti Vanderbloemen

Veralynne Malone

Duane Clark

D Lynne Bowland

Michelle Buettner

Pam Sears  (**YOU ARE HERE**)

Therese Frank

Dawn Doucette

Nicole Rennell

Cynthia Machata

Alice Peterson

Carolyn Lawson

Evelyn Shelby

Ailsa Cordner

Michelle Escano

Mischelle Fanucchi

Jess Green

Adrienne Berry

Lynsey Brooks

Kashmira Patel

Ann Schroeder

Marlene Cupo

Susan F.

Susan Kennedy

Kathy Lindemer

Paula Kramer

Lisa Johnson

Sandi Volpe

Donna Bradley

Karin Slaton

Jasvanti Patel

Stefanie Teufel

Liz Engriser

Christine Altmiller

Com-Mission Complete

Yes, I have managed to finish the other two commissioned lanyards. You saw the purple, hot pink & black one in the previous post, here; these two were requested as black & silver and black & gray, respectively. 

 BLACK AND GRAY LANYARD


the tag has a couple of dragonflies on it and
reads "Handcrafted For You By:
The Crazy Creative Corner"



the "tan" in the bead is a lot more gray looking
in normal light (stoopid iPhones)

again, the color is more black and a creamy white than
the lighting in the pic shows.

BLACK AND SILVER LANYARD

the focal stone is a pyrite.. again, the colors
aren't quite how they look in life. It's much
more gray/silver in look.



MUCH more gray and silver in real life!!!

   I'm taking this Friday off work and plan to do a lot of bracelet and lanyard making (I've got a LOT of earrings right now... SO easy to make!)  I also plan to use the three day weekend (have Friday off, remember? Keep up, here... or do you need more coffee?) to take and post pics on here and on Etsy. AND on Facebook... Keep an eye peeled!

Lanyards and Upcoming Photos

I'm really getting into designing lanyards recently.  My pal, Witchi-poo, is selling them at her office and I'm making a "plan of attack" to go after business at our local Kaiser offices, too.  I mean, what woman wouldn't prefer to wear a lanyard that looks more like jewelry than most on the market?  If you wear the ones normally sold, they're just industrial nylon and they tangle with your necklace if you try to wear one.  Let's start wearing lanyards that ARE necklaces!  And, buying more than one means you have style choices for the whole week! Not a bad idea, eh!? 

Anyway, at Witchi-poo's office, they've been going so fast, they're more commission than pre-made right now. I've got two on order (I need to buy some beads in the right color) and I just finished one last night (that's the only pic I have right now... sorry it's not better quality, but iPhones only do so much, y'know?).  I'm hoping to get ahead of the curve so I can make a larger number for selling, both in person and on Etsy.



Black, hot pink and purple by request.  I used a
hammered and inked disc I bought from Melinda Orr
to cover the tag holder so it would look more
like a necklace. Thanks, Melinda!

 Man, the ideas are a-poppin' right now!

Have a great one!


Aqua and yellow on silver chain.
It's hanging out at Witchi-poo's office,
waiting for it's Forever Home.
If you want it, it's just $20...
email me and we'll work it out!