Past blog hops and challenges

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Art Jewelry Elements Component of the Month March Challenge

I was fortunate enough to have my name drawn out of a hat (well, Jo's pottery dish) to win one of Art Jewelry Elements Components of the Month to make something with.  Jo Tinley of Daisychain Design made the component of the month for March, a hollow bead that she made and stamped with daisys.  The daisys she stamped on the bead led to my use of the daisy beads in the necklace.

I had enough of the sea green daisys to have six for the necklace and two for earrings.  I strung alternating copper beads and the daisys with the Component of the Month as the center piece.



Daisy bead necklace and earrings


Close-up of the hollow bead made by Jo


Earrings


Close-up of the clasp
 Please be sure to stop by and visit all the others that made something with this month's component.  Component of the month reveal

Thanks for stopping by.

Carolyn

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Operation Tackle That Bead Stash March Challenge

Here is what I created for the Operation Tackle That Bead Stash March Challenge.


I used beads from my stash, bluey-lavender, pink, and grey twisted beads with silver seed beads and purple glass leaves.

What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by.

Carolyn


Thursday, March 7, 2013

Working on....

Am working on the March Operation Tackle That Bead Stash challenge.  You are to make something (for me it's jewelry) with a minimum of three pastel colors.  One entry per person (you can make as many items as you want and submit them but only one of them counts for the challenge) goes into a drawing and for an extra chance you can add the twist which this month is to add leaves. 

Now why couldn't this have been the challenge for February so I could have used my
Challenge of Music set.  

Pastel colors and leaves.  It fits the bill but one of the requirements for the challenge is that the item can not be made before March 1, 2013.  Oh, well, it just gives me an excuse to create something else.













This time around I have to make some choices.

Lilac and grey with pops of pink in the front? with mid-lavender leaves

Lilac, grey, pink, grey? with mid-lavender leaves


Lilac and grey with mid-lavender leaves?


Which one should I make?  Although there are white beads in the pictures, I decided against using them as they over-powered the pastel colors.  The leaves are a matt mid-lavender.

Let me know your thoughts and I will reveal the chosen color scheme next week when I finish. 

Pictures of the entries have to be submitted by 6pm (GMT) March 31.  I think that is 10am that morning for me here in the Northwest. 

Anyone is welcome to join in the challenge.  Follow the link at the beginning of the blog.

Thanks for stopping by.

Carolyn

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Free bead giveaway

I was reading my list of blogs that I follow and blog A Half-Baked Notion stated that Cyndi at Beading Arts is having a free bead giveaway.  Here is a link to Cyndi's blog:  beading arts bead giveaway

Below is a sample of some of the beads donated by The Best Beads, beautiful Czech beads. 



Hurry on over.  The giveaway is only open until March 6, 2013.

Thanks for stopping by.

Carolyn

Friday, March 1, 2013

Challenge of Music reveal

Erin Prais-Hintz of Treasures-Found.blogspot.com issued a challenge to make something, be it jewelry or some other craft, that was inspired by a piece of instrumental music.  I thought of a song right away but it had a single word at the very end of the music.  I asked Erin about it and she said to go for.  Then I had to try and find the music.  It wasn't readily available at home.  So what to do?

One of the types of music Erin wanted us to listen to was music that paints a series of pictures.  My friend and beading partner Evelyn found some music that she wanted to use as her challenge piece so I listened along with her and decided to use her piece of music for the challenge also.  If you look at her piece and then at my piece you would not believe that we listened to the same piece.

Ralph Vaughan Williams was an English composer of many types of music, symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music and film scores.  The music that I listened to was "A Pastoral Symphony (Symphony No. 3)" which draws on his experience as an ambulance driver in World War I.  He would go up a hill to view the sunset.  There is a cadenza for trumpet in the second movement that is based on a bugler's practice where the bugler repeatedly played an interval of a flattened seventh instead of an octave.  It was first played January 26, 1922 in London conducted by Adrian Boult.

Here is a link to YouTube: A Pastoral Symphony

It has four movements, each different.  The first is Molto moderato which is contentedly calm in tone but has a darker central section.  It often features solo instruments.  This is the section that I listened to to make my piece.  The second movement is Lento moderato a slow movement opening with a horn solo followed by a cello solo leading to the trumpet cadenza.  The third movement is Moderato pesante which is introduced by a brass section followed by some fast music (the only time fast music appears in the symphony).  The fourth and final movement is Lento starting with a wordless soprano voice sung over a soft drumroll.  The orchestra then begins a elegiac rhapsody followed by an impassioned outpouring of feeling followed by violins playing the opening soprano melody with the soprano singing the music into silence.

 Here is what I created:


A Pastoral Symphony Necklace and Earrings
The set is made from peach and yellow opaque beads with pink, Lt. green, and amethyst faceted beads.  Also included at aqua glass disks and Lt green glass leaves. 

My information was obtained from Wikipedia and the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society websites.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit all the other bloggers that participated in the Challenge of Music.