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

Znet Shows Beachy Challenge

Well... I know I work best under the wire but,,, sheesh!  Anyway, I once again am part of the design team for Znetshows.com and this time they paired us up. My Beachy Beady Partner is Suzette over at Ellie's Bijoux.  What we were supposed to do was choose beads for our partners! Wow! Talk about mixing it up. I loved what Suzette sent me:  Here's a peek at the scrumptious pile of goodies I received:

Aren't they just awesome?  Gotta tell ya, though, I had an interesting time figuring out how I was going to use those lovely pearls!  BUT!  Here's what I came up with, enjoy:

Chinese Crystal Bling Ball in Olive
BDS1912 (BDS1912-22)

I wasn't sure, at first, how to use those "bling balls" but I remembered I had some cupped glass in my stash that I'd been hording saving and they worked wonderfully. I think they look a lot like artichokes (I'm sorry, I see things a weeeee bit differently) so these are Artichoke Heart earrings.

                                                     1) Cultured Sea Glass center-drilled
                                                       bottle lip-style P28 (P28-B30)
                                                     2) Sponge Coral twig beads
                                                         CB158 (CD158-05)
                                                     3) Glass Pearls BDS1617
                                                          (BDS1617-39FIVE)
                                                     4) Synthetic Calsilica Donut
                                                          BDS1746 (BDS1746-03)

I call these Boat & Buoys. Can you see why?  And I added the sponge coral twigs and glass pearls because they just seemed to work. (that's how I roll!)

                                             1) Base Metal alloy Bead - Twisted Vine
                                                 Wreath Charm M0111 (M0022-AB)
                                             2) Syntheti Calsilica Donuts BDS1746
                                                 (BDS1746-03)
                                             3) Chinese Turquoise Barrel Beads - bamboo
                                                  shape w/rondelle spacers TQS24 (TQS24-04)

This is Turquoise Skies.  The only part that doesn't come from ZnetShows are the washers in back, there. I hammered the bejabbers out of a couple washers, dabbed them with "Stream" alchol inks and buffed them with Ren-Wax to seal.  I like how these turned out. I am having a hard time not keeping them.  Of course, I have more of these components so I could always make myself a pair!

                                                    used the aforementioned sponge coral
                                                    twigs and Chinese glass pearls for this

Those of you who follow me know I can make earrings all day long and no problem.  But I can never make a necklace and leave it at that. The necklace MUST be accompanied by a pair of earrings.  So, here's a set I call Silver Beaches using the sponge coral and glass pearls.  I wire wrapped the pearls to the coral and hung it and some gorgeous recycled sari ribbon from a washer I hammered. I'd actually worked on the washer for another project but had set it aside. The hammering on it just made me think of a sandy beach (don't ask why.... did I mention I'm not really a beachy person?  I am much more a mountains and forest person... Saner Sister is the beachy person)  Anyway, paired with the ribbon it just all seemed to go well together.  The necklace is approximately 18" long and the earrings not quite 2" long. I also added a blue glass bead from the sea glass to the earrings so it had that touch of blue in the necklace.

And there you have it.  I still have plenty of beads and glass left so I'm sure there will be more stuff coming.  I also finally bought my ferric acid and have plans to try some etching soon (for why I've been absent, check out my previous post here).  To see what my partner in crime, Suzette, did go here and be prepared to ooh and ahh over her jewels!   Also be sure to check out the ZnetShows Blog as they are having a give away! With all the yummy stuff they have available, you'll want to be sure to hop on over and enter as well as see what other pairs have come up with in their challenges.

What's New

Well, I got home last night and decided I really needed to have some creative time. Puppy snuggles aside (and all the funny things Zackery is doing now that he's settling in) I needed to make something!  So I did.  Here are a couple collages for you to enjoy:



Clock-wise from top left: 1) "In Bloom" - created with light blue crystal rondelles and cone findings from Michael's, blue plastic flowers (been hording them so long I don't remember where they're from), white oval/rounds from Znetshows.com, and all held in place by handmade copper headpins; 2) "Chilean Dance" - red donuts from Znetshows.com, South American style beads are from a necklace a dear friend down in Chile gave me that recently broke (if you can't fix it, recycle it!); 3) "Earth to Sky" - blue ceramic beads from Michael's, small, South American connector bead also from that same Chilean necklace; 4) "Belly Dance Diva" - again with my take on Kristi Bowman's "Aladdin" earring tute - blue-ish crystal rondelles held to silver cones (all from Michael's) by copper wire, gold recycled sari ribbon from Willow Mist Acres on Etsy (looooove her recycled ribbons, by the way!)

Again, clock-wise starting with the large picture: 1) "African Dreams" - material is from a fan I had that finally gave up the ghost, tucked into silver cones and accented with black seed beads and black & white beads from Michael's (these are real shoulder sweepers); 2) "Flight of the Condor" - again with the beads from the Chilean necklace, opalescent ovals from Znetshows.com; 3) "Harem Whispers" - starting from the top and going down, dark teal/green crystal rondelles, pink(-ish) ceramic flat rounds topping gold-toned cones (all from Michael's) and recycled sari ribbon from Willow Mist Acres. (did I mention I loooove her ribbons?)

Wish I could have made more, but a certain mischevious puppy was calling and it started getting later.  I will say, of all the earrings, only those I make with the hand-crafted Chilean beads will never be for sale. As I mentioned, the necklace they came from was given to me by a dear friend so I will be keeping any and all remakes from those.

On to other things, now.  Once again, ZnetShows is asking us to design... THIS time with a partner.  What we were asked to do was pick out several items we would like to ship to our assigned partners.  I was assigned Suzette from Ellie's Bijou and I'm excited to see, a) what she does with what I picked for her and, b) what I can do with what she picked for me.  Wanna see what she sent me?  Of course you do!  Here it is:

Aren't they gor-ge-mous!?  I've got ideas already percolating in my head (although, if you're paying attention, you'll notice I've already used two beads from this stash....)
And, finally, I guess no one really wanted any of my magazine destash as there were no responses.  I'll give it one more try.  If you want these:

...then make a comment specifially regarding them. (although comments about my jewelry is always welcome, as well!)

What I Did & Didn't Do This Weekend

You know how you lay plans for your day (or weekend, as the case may be) and have every intention of sticking to that plan? Come High Water or Unexpected Guests!!  Well... there comes a time (or three or a dozen) in every creative persons crafty life when they sit down in their studio and all intentions and plans go right out the window and they end up doing something entirely different.

This weekend was one of those times for me. I had every intent of getting to know my new Jewelers Saw (and probably several blades) over the holiday weekend (which, pause... Thank You, again, to all our Service members, past present and future. I truly, deeply appreciate all of you...) but, when I was sitting, doodling in my notebook a day or so before the weekend, an idea for a bracelet I'd been trying to figure out popped into my head. Along with a necklace. I doodled and played and, yes! the idea would definitely work! So, instead of sawing metal, I was clipping wire.

I started by practicing with my 18g steel wire (because, honestly, that's SO much less expensive than my copper wire!) in order to figure out length for each piece and the size of the loops I would need.  The rough wire practice actually worked, so I pulled out the copper in 12 & 14g and went to work. And here are the results of that work:


The bracelet... recycle sari ribbon, yellow crystal rondelles,
and 18g copper wire to hold the ribbon. It's bangle-style.

 

The "front" of the bangle. This was taken with my iPhone
and Instaframe would not let me put both fish in the picture.
Rest assured, the right side is a mirror image of the left. I
went with bangle instead of cuff or even a catch so that
the wire wouldn't catch on anything.  Curling the tales of
the fish was a epiphany I had while doodling and made it
easy to attach the fish to the bangle but not get in the way.

 

The necklace! OOOOHHH! I about giggled when this idea
doodled itself out. It has the look of an old-fashioned
fishing net (such as would have been used in Bible times)
and just make the necklace really work. 

 

Of course, if you follow my blog, you know I can't make
other jewelry without making earrings. I can always make
earrings and stop, but I can never make anything else and
not make earrings. Never have figured out why. Except that
I'm just weird that way ;)


As you can see from both the bracelet & necklace, curling the fish tails in makes attachment to anything else (or each other) relatively simple. I'm keeping this set but I can now make more. I also think the steel wire might look good as the necklace and may try that next.  I'm really liking this so the poor saw may just have to wait a little longer ;)

Kristi Bowman's Design With My Own Tweak

Kristi Bowman is one of the blogs I enjoy following. I can get so inspired by her work! So imagine my excitement when one of her sets of earrings ended up in and issue of Step by Step Wire Jewelry magazine? Her earrings are titled Aladdin's Lamp and I just loved them!  Since they were in the magazine as a tutorial, I know it's ok for me to create these earrings with my own twist, but I give TOTAL credit for the inspiration to Kristi. Here are my two interpretations of her original work:



This pair is called Scheherazade's Dance. I used large hole
purple glass beads, recycled gold sari ribbon and
copper wire. They're a little on the long side, but I
love them!



Another view of Scheherazade's Dance

This pair is called 1,001 Nights. I used a pinky/purply
sari ribbon and the beads are from Javabead.com by
the very talented Russ Powers. I had been hoarding
these beads until I went back and saw Kristi's tutorial
again and knew I had to make these!

 

View II of 1,001 Nights. Aren't the colors in those
beads just gorgous!?

So that's all I managed to do this weekend. We've been very busy with our church and a Revival meeting we're having the rest of this week.  I highly recommend you follow Kristi for great inspiration (and drool-worthy work) and go check out Java Beads for handblown glass beads that will melt your mind.

WEDNESDAY CHALLENGES

Mellisaover at Chinook Jewelry is doing a Wednesday challenge each week.  She's putting up a pic of one of the focal beads she's made and asked us to show her the beads, chain, cord, etc., that we'd use with it.  It's hard for me, not because I can't find anything, but because I want to go in SO many directions at once.  Having to narrow it down so the bead pics don't look like a TOTAL mess is hard.  But, okay.  Here are my choices.  It was harder to decide what to use for the focal to hang from, I had three items I was looking at (all will be pictured) but I think I'd end up going with the chain. 
This is Mellisa's pendent:

Cute, huh?

My choice of beads are:


These aren't as yellow as the beads on the right imply, they
are a lighter color that go well with the creamy yellow in
the pendant and would bring that color out, I think.

 

I decided these glass teal beads would be a good accent so
the creamy yellow wouldn't be overwhelming.



These are creamier in color than the monitor
shows (it's also possible the background
washed out some of it and made them whiter
than they are)  I like them for added interest
and to off-set the yellow glass beads juuuust a bit.

  

I liked the richness of this color ribbon for the
pendent to depend from, but....



....I also like this velvet cord (it's much
richer than the monitor shows)
 Again, buuuut......

 

...I finally settled on this as what I would
use to hang the pendant. Love the brushed
look and the way the chain echoes the shape
of the pendent. 

So, these are the beads and findings I envision to go with Mellisa's pendent bead. I went for simplicity because I want the beauty of the pendent to shine through.  I also think I'd make it a long necklace... maybe 12" to 14" in total.
So, what's your vision?

....AAAAAND CUT!

Whelp!  That's the end of the First Annual Virtual Craft Show.  I hope everyone had as much fun as I did.  I know winner announcements are up-coming so, as soon as Lori lets me know who has won my giveaway, we'll be contacting each other for all the info exchange necessary.

On another note, the discount at my Etsy store is currently closed but stick around.  When we get closer to the holiday, there may be another one!



Autumn Sunset

 Now, on to the private drawing I was having for my Etsy store... I only had six people who ended up entered in my private (not part of the Virtual Craft Show) drawing but I'm still not going to tell you who the winner is until tomorrow.  Once I've got the name, and if you left a way for me to contact you, I will let you know and contact you for your mailing address.

Good luck!

THE JOYFUL MADNESS CONTINUES!

Yes, it's the 3rd day of the Virtual Craft Show! Hope everyone's having a TOTAL blast!  Please, be sure to visit Lori's blog, Pretty Things, to enter for all the MAH-velous giveaways available!  Be sure to check each person's site(s) to view their beautiful products.  Be sure to spread the word to all your friends (and their husbands!) about the ton of gorgeous that's available for sale.  Go check the following ladies and their products out:

Sally Russick

 

www.WireWorked.com

www.WireWorked.etsy.com

 

Sandi Volpe

 http://www.etsy.com/shop/SandiVolpe

www.SandiVolpe.com

Susan Lloyd

 

 http://www.facebook.com/designsbysusan

 http://designsbysusan-dbs.blogspot.com

 

Mallory Hoffman

 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/rosebud101

http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com/

 

Kim Ballor

 

Kim's Etsy Shop

Kim's blog

Jelveh Jaferian

 

www.etsy.com/shop/jelvehdesigns

www.jelvehdesigns.blogspot.com

 

Wendy Blum

www.sandnseadesigns.com
www.etsy.com/shop/beachjewels72
www.facebook.com/lampworkjewelry
http://beachjewelsbywendy.blogspot.com

 

Elisabeth Auld

 

www.beadsforbusygals.etsy.com

www.beadsforbusygals.com

 

Patsy Evins

 

 http://www.PatsyEvinsStudio.com/ 

 http://www.PatsyEvinsStudio.com/blog
http://www.PatsyEvinsStudio.Etsy.com

 http://www.PatsyEvinsStudio.Artfire.com/

~Autumn Sunset~
Etsy Store Giveaway



...and don't forget, I have a separate giveaway for those who purchase from my Etsy store and mention their purchase on their blogs, Facebook page or Twitter account, and/or comment about their purchase on my Facebook page.  Just remember, be sure to leave me your blog or email address so I can contact the winner.

Happy Shopping!

AAALMOST THERE! WE'RE AAAAALLMOST THERE!

 So, we're just hours away from the First Annual Craft Show!  Now, for those who are entering the contests, you need to be sure you comment on the Pretty Things blog, here, because that's the only way (following their instructions) to win one of the Big Prize Give-Aways.  While I'm not going to be listed for all the days of the Craft Show, I will be listed for most of them.  So, check (and comment) often.

HOWEVER!!  For those of you who buy from me at my Etsy store, I'll have a different drawing for you to be entered in.  Note the lovely, Autumnal colored necklace to the left (along with it's close up, Mr. DeMill).  If you buy from my store, that will be one entry.  If you go to my Facebook Page and like my page as well as comment on your purchase, that will be a second entry.  If you have a blog and comment on your purchase from my store there, that will be a third entry, you just need to be sure and leave a comment with me, along with a link to your blog, so I can see it. (please note, it is only one entry if you buy from me, not one entry per perchase).  This drawing will be held Dec. 3rd and the winner announced Dec. 4th.

 This necklace is a side project from the ABS November Challenge (I got into a Fall colors mood) and is strung on chocolate ribbon with a deep Autumn Sunset glass focal bead, caramel ceramic beads and copper accent beads. This giveaway is worth $30.00.

 

We're also going to be including some of Saner Sister's crochet work in the store.  Here's a tease of one of her scarves.  It's made from Country Look yarn in the color "Regal Earth" (altho' I call it Forest Road) and is a rich, earth-toned brown with forest-green accents in the yarn.  It's quite soft and very warm and her scarves will be $40.00 in our store.  There will be three others listed as well, a yummy forest green (which I've been drooling over), a stormy dark gray and a cool, creamy white.  If you have another color preference, please convo me on Etsy and I'll pass your request on to Saner Sister.

If you'll check to the right of this post, just under my Facebook page link, you'll find the link to my Etsy shop, or just click here to get to it..

Shop On, Friends! :)