Dark Bloom Challenge Blog Hop reveal

Today is the day for the reveal of Andrew Thornton's Dark Bloom Challenge blog hop.

To participate, you had to purchase a Design Kit.  This kit features a selection of Japanese hex-cut seed beads, premium Czech glass (both vintage and new), iron corrugated rounds, an iron filigree bead, lampwork glass, Irish waxed linen, a gunmetal toggle, vintage moon-glow lucite, and recycled African glass beads.  The kit also includes a Luxury Bead Blend.

Each kit comes with a special, handmade component that remains a mystery until it arrives at my door! The Mystery Component might actually be more than just one bead or pendant.  It's always a surprise.  The Mystery Component is publicly revealed about a one month before the actual reveal day.

For this challenge, Andrew made polymer clay coin pendants.  He saw a similar stylized flower motif on an old Roman vessel and thought that he would translate it into a jewelry component.  He used a dark purply-black base and then hit the raised details with violet Gilder's Paste.

I always try to do Andrew's beads justice and am never sure that I succeed.  I was able to make a bracelet which I forgot to get a picture of, a second bracelet which I did get a picture of, a necklace, two pairs of earrings, and some wine glass charms.

For the necklace I used the mystery component, the Czech glass beads, the recycled glass beads and the gunmetal toggle clasp.

I next made a set of four wine glass charms using the matte seed beads (pink, purple, and gray) from the luxury mix.

I made a bracelet from some of the smaller beads.

I made a couple of pairs of earrings.

I have a few leftover beads that I will be using in the next couple of weeks and I will have an "after the blog hop reveal".

Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to visit the other participants in the Dark Bloom Challenge. 

Hannah
Karin Grosset Grange
Carolyn Lawson
Holly Baldwin
Jeanne Steck
Ann Schroeder
Kari Asbury
Andrew Thornton, Laurel Ross, Alison Herrington, Geri Colgrove, and Crystal Lombardo Farrell
Here is a link to Andrew's blog:  dark-bloom-challenge-reveal


Carolyn

Good Earth Challenge reveal

Today is the day for the reveal for Andrew Thornton's Good Earth Challenge.  Each of the participants purchased a bead kit from Andrew that was stuffed with goodies.

Included in the kit is a Luxury Bead Blend that consists of Japanese Miyuki seed beads, Toho seed beads Czech glass. African recycled glass, jasper, agate, gold plated daisy spacers, quartz, Chinese crystal, goldstone, Swarovski crystals, ventage sequins, German glass, vintage Japanese glass, Swarovski crystal pearls.

The kit also features a selection of Japanese hex-cut seed beads, premium Czech glass (both new and vintage), vintage brass rounds, Indian glass, Irish waxed linen, a vintage Hamilton gold bead, artisan ceramic rounds.  (Bead descriptions are from Andrew's blog.)

It also includes the gorgeous mystery components that Andrew made himself.  A set of five faux Moroccan Amber beads made out of polymer clay.  Just my colors.  Love them already.  He included a leaf charm also made of polymer clay.



I loved working with these colors.  Things just sort of flowed together.

First up I used the Irish waxed linen cord, the faux Morocan amber beads and some of the Czech glass beads (if the nuggets aren't Czech glass please let me know so I can correct this) to make a bracelet. I also used the gold star spacers.

  

Here is another view of the bracelet.  I have left the cord hanging as I am trying to decide whether I want to add dangles.

I next made a necklace using the leaf pendant, Czech and Indian glass beads.  This I strung on wire

Andrew is very generous and I have lots of seed beads left.  I also need to make a couple pairs of earrings to match the bracelet and necklace.

Thanks for stopping by and please visit the other participants at Andrew's blog.

Pearls, Pearls, Pearls Blog Hop reveal

Today is the reveal for MiShel Designs' pearl challenge.  We were tasked with making something (It didn't have to be jewelry!) from pearls.  It could be made from freshwater pearls or glass pearls, just had to be a any type of pearl.  I have done a couple of pearl challenges already this year and was ready for another one.

I used the pearls that are in the mid and lower right of the picture to make my item.

I used three of the flat pearls and 12 of the round pearls to make a bracelet.  I added copper seed beads to pick up on the copper sheen on the pearls.  I used a fold-over clasp in copper and added two of the round pearls on head pins to the clasp in order to weight it down so it won't turn. 

I took the picture below on a necklace form so that you can get an idea of the full size of the bracelet.

I think the picture below shows the sheen on the pearls.  What do you think?

I also did some pearl earrings.

I had some gold pearls left from an earlier challenge and combined them with some gold twisted ovals.




I had other gold pearls and combined them with some clear cathedral beads.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit some of the other participants:

Octoberfest 13 Reveal

Today is the reveal for Jewelry School Friends second annual Octoberfest.  This blog hop celebrates the fall season by sharing recipes, jewelry, beads, home decor, family, & friends.

I design jewelry and would like to share several pieces that I made. 

The first piece is made of yellow rounds and black shell squares.  I found the shell beads on the discontinued rack a couple of months ago and thought they would come in handy at some point.  The yellow beads I have had for several years.

The second piece I made used up the last of the black shell beads and some orange rounds that I have had for several years.

I made matching earrings for each set.

The last piece I made was for a challenge that just ended, The Bead Shop in Liverpool.  I had bought some autumn themed glass beads.  Orange and brown leaves along with brown ovals and yellow rounds.  I made a matching bracelet and two sets of coordinating earrings.

Thank you for visiting.  Please visit Jewel School for a list of the other participants.

Summer Elements Blog Hop

Today is the reveal for Rita of Toltec Jewels' Summer Elements Blog Hop.  The hop is to celebrate our favorite element of summer whether it be beads, jewelry, photos, a summer recipe, a campfire song, a craft, family memories, a poem, anything we would like to share.

I can remember spending 4th of July at the beach with family when I was in grade school.  We had such fun shooting off fireworks and cooking food and marshmallows in the fire pits.  Staying up late.  Racing around chasing each other.  I don't know why we ever stopped doing this but I haven't thought about this in years.

I used a premade copper chain bracelet and attached different silver seashell charms along with beaded headpins with sea aqua rounds and twisted rectangles.  There are also copper-colored ribbed beads and aqua and butter-colored beads.

This bracelet reminds me of being at the beach with the water and the sand, finding seashells and having fun.

Please join me in doing some blog-hopping to see what everyone has done.  Here is a link to Rita's blog to view a list of the participants:  summer-elements-blog-hop

Thanks for stopping by.

Carolyn

7th Bead Soup Blog Hop second reveal

Some of you stopped by to see my initial post about the upcoming second reveal for the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party.  Here are the pictures I posted of what my partner,Chris Miller, sent me.

Purple jade, Marsha Neal pendant, Ivory Cinnabar

Pressed glass and pearls

Jade in white and purple

Pressed glass beads, purple colored jade

Pearls



Cinnabar, white jade and silver beadcaps



Marsha Neal pendant, silver findings including toggle clasp



Here is what I made with her goodies.



I decided to use antique copper for the findings.  I used a pinch bail to attach Marsh Neal's pendant to the necklace.  I also incorporated the ivory cinnabar and purple jade nuggets.  I used antique copper spacers and black seed beads.



Here are the earrings that were made using the ivory cinnabar and purple jade nuggets.

Here is another view of the entire set.

Here is another set that I made with Chris' goodies

I used Chris' white jade rounds, her flat purple jade rectangles and the silver flowered toggle clasp that she sent.

Here is a close-up of the silver connectors from my stash that I used in the necklace.  I used three of the connectors to help lengthen the necklace.  I also used silver daisy spacers on either side of the purple beads.

 

Here is a close-up of the earrings that I made for this set. 

Here is the last set that I made from my Bead Soup.

Here is a close up of the diamond shaped spacers the I purchased to contrast with the square shape of the pressed glass beads that Chris supplied.  I used daisy spacers on each side of the square beads and silver seed beeds between the glass beads and pearls.

Close up of the earrings for this set.

I was also able to make a bracelet for this set.

Be sure to visit my partner's website:  http://dzeyenrstudio.blogspot.com/  to see what she made with what I sent her.

The full list of blogs that are featured in the second reveal are available here:

7th-bead-soup-blog-party-2nd-reveal

I want to thank Lori Anderson, our hostess, for the super work she has done in putting on these blog hops.  The first one was on March 30 (7th-bead-soup-blog-party-first-reveal) and the third one will be on April 20.

Thank you for viewing what I made.  I apologize for the pictures, not sure what happened.  I will be trying to replace them with better ones so please check back next weekend.  I will also have a link to the list of blogs for the third reveal.

Please leave a comment as I love to read them.

Thank you for stopping by.

Carolyn

Bead Soup Blog Party partner

I have been remiss in not introducing my Bead Soup Blog Party partner. 

She is Chris White of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  She has been beading for 6 years and has been published in Bead Trends magazine monthly for the last two years.  She was the featured designer in June 2012.  She does beadweaving and stringing.  She makes the most fabulous jewelry.  I especially liked her black Tila bead bracelet that was in the September 2012 issue.  To see some of her work you can visit her Etsy shop at:  White Dog Jewelry.

This will be her second Bead Soup Blog Party and mine also.  Here are the beads that Chris sent me.

Thanks for stopping by.

Carolyn

I think I am back with a bang

I have completed and submitted a picture for the January Challenge with Operation Tackle That Bead Stash. 

I have the February Challenge necklace and earrings done, the picture just have to be emailed to the hostess.

I entered a bracelet in Shipwreck Beads bracelet contest. 

I have also entered the Bead Soup Blog Hop but don't know which reveal I will have.

I have also entered the Challenge of Music Blog Hop.

Thanks for stopping by.  Please come again.  Will have some information on my Bead Soup Blog Hop partner.

Carolyn

Please vote for my bracelet

I have entered a Valentine bracelet

in Shipwreck Beads bracelet contest.  Please visit this link and vote (hopefully for mine) http://www.shipwreckbeads.com/static/support/valentines.html.  Mine is on the first page, first column, bottom (8th) row.

Please feel free to visit the site and come back and make a comment.

Thanks for stopping by.

Carolyn

Challenge of Travel reveal

Sorry this wasn't posted at with the other posts but the scheduler didn't work the way it was supposed to.

I signed up for Erin's blog hop as soon as I heard about it.  I have always liked traveling, getting on a plane and arriving some place that you have never been before.  Getting the chance to visit places and see the sights.

When I signed up, I had the option of choosing my own country or letting Erin choose for me.  I chose the continent, Asia, and Erin chose the country, South Korea. 

South Korea!  I immediately thought of the TV series M*A*S*H.  Taking place in the early 1950s at the time of the Korean War.  Never mind that it was actually filmed in California.

South Korea was created after World War II when Korea was divided with Russia having a trusteeship over the north and the United States having trusteeship over the south.  This was supposed to be temporary but the North would not agree to holding elections and establishing a national government.  An election was held for the South and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) was proclaimed on August 15, 1948.  The United Nations recognized the Republic of Korea as the sole legal government of Korea in December 1948.

Below is the flag for South Korea called Taegukki (Taeguki means harmonious state of movement for yin and yang and ki means flag).  The red stands for Yang and the blue for Yin.  Yin and yang are opposites and struggle with each other while they cooperate in harmony thus taeguki.  The symbols in the corners are called Kwae and mean the principle of movement and harmony.  These different symbols mean heaven (Kun) (upper left), fire (Yi) (lower left), water (Kam) (upper right), and earth (Kon) (lower right), thus the movement of all objects in the universe and the movement of the universe itself.

·         image by Željko Heimer (information on the flag came from  "FOTW Flags Of The World website at http://flagspot.net/flags/")

Seoul is the capital and largest city with 11,000,000 of the reported 48,900,000 population living there.  The best months to visit are April, May, September and October.  You can stay in the country for up to 30 days with no visa and up to 90 days with a tourist visa.  Travel within the country is reasonably fast with fast and comfortable buses and trains along with domestic air flights.  There are well maintained roads and rental cars are available.  There are many choices for rooms and restaurants to meet every price point.  Many people speak at least a little English and some of the street signs are written in English.  There are plenty of tourist attractions depending on what you are interested in.  You can also shop, hike, play golf, visit museums, or temples.

Here is what I started with to make my South Korean represented jewelry.  The large square stones are jade from South Korea in a kind of grassy green with black markings, thus the black seed beads and cubes. 

Earrings made from the black cubes and 3-sided Korean jade.

Bracelet with Korean jade and black accents.

  

 

 Matching necklace

Thanks for stopping by.  Please stop by the other participants and see where they have traveled and what they have made.

 

Name	Blog	Region Chosen	Inspiration Nation
Monique Urquhart	http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.ca/	Africa	Burkina Faso
Niky Sayers	http://silverniknats.blogspot.co.uk/	Africa	Egypt
Therese Frank	http://www.theresestreasures59.blogspot.com	Africa	Kenya
Raychelle Heath	http://abeadloveaffair.blogspot.com/	Africa	Lesotho
Joan Williams	www.lilrubyjewelry.wordpress.com	Africa	Mauritania
Sherri Stokey	http://www.KnotJustMacrame.com	Africa	Senegal
Regina Santerre	http://reginaswritings.blogspot.com	Africa	Seychelles
Raida Disbrow	http://havanabeads.blogspot.com	Africa	Tanzania
Kristi Wodek	http://livedinlife.blogspot.com	Africa	Zimbabwe
Sally Russick	http://www.thestudiosublime.com	Americas	Brazil
Melissa Trudinger	http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com	Americas	Mexico
Tracy Stillman	http://www.tracystillmandesigns.com	Americas	USA
Sandra Wolberg	http://city-of-brass-stories.blogspot.de	Asia	India
Tanya Goodwin	http://pixiloo.blogspot.com	Asia	Japan
Susan Kennedy	http://suebeads.blogspot.com	Asia	Japan
Beth Emery	http://storiesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com	Asia	Japan
Lisa Cone	http://inspiredadornments.blogspot.com/	Asia	Japan
Tanya Boden	http://fusionmusebangkok.blogspot.com/	Asia	Japan
Inge von Roos	http://ingetraud.wordpress.com	Asia	Laos
Erin Prais-Hintz	http://treasures-found.blogspot.com	Asia	Nepal
Dee Elgie	http://cherryobsidia.blogspot.com	Asia	Phillipines
Carolyn Lawson	http://carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com	Asia	South Korea
Lisa Stukel	http://carefreejewelrybylisa.blogspot.com	Asia	Sri Lanka
Elly Snare	http://themagicsquarefoundation.wordpress.com	Asia	Thailand
Shelley Graham Turner	http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com	Europe	Austria
Mallory Hoffman	http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com/	Europe	Bosnia Herzegovina
Paige Maxim	http://www.pmaximdesigns.blogspot.com	Europe	France
Jenny Davies-Reazor	http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog	Europe	Germany
Sharyl McMillian-Nelson	http://sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com	Europe	Greece
Evelyn Shelby	http://raindropcreationsbyevelyn.blogspot.com/	Europe	Iceland
Holly Westfall	http://silverrosedesigns.blogspot.com/	Europe	Ireland
Rebecca Siervaag	http://www.godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com	Europe	Ireland
Toltec Jewels	http://toltecjewels.blogspot.com	Europe	Ireland
Lee Koopman	http://StregaJewellry.wordpress.com	Europe	Ireland
Laren Dee Barton	http://larendeedesigns.blogspot.com	Europe	Italy
Cindy Wilson	http://www.mommysdreamcreations.blogspot.com	Europe	Norway
Kathleen Lange Klik	http://ModernNatureStudio.blogspot.com	Europe	Poland
Shaiha Williams	http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com/	Europe	Portugal
Jennifer Justman	http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/	Europe	Romania
Elsie Deliz-Fonseca	http://ladelizchica.blogspot.com	Europe	Spain
Lola Surwillo	http://www.beadlolabead.blogspot.com	Europe	Sweden
Kim Hora	http://www.kimmykats.com	Europe	Switzerland
Leanne Loftus	http://firstimpressiondesign.blogspot.com	Europe	The Netherlands
Patti Vanderbloemen	http://myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com	Europe	The Netherlands
Marcie Carroll	http://labellajoya.blogspot.com	Europe	Turkey
Marlene Cupo	http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com	Oceania	Federated States of Micronesia
Ine Vande Cappelle	http://jewelsbyine.blogspot.com	Oceania	Fiji
Tammie Everly	http://ttedesigns.blogspot.com/	Oceania	Guam
Alice Peterson	http://www.alice-dreaming.blogspot.com	Oceania	Kiribati
Elisabeth Auld	http://www.beadsforbusygals.com	Oceania	Nauru
Susan McClelland	http://mistheword12.wordpress.com/	Oceania	New Zealand
D Lynne Bowland	http://islandgirlsinsights.blogspot.com	Oceania	New Zealand
Denielle Hagerman	http://somebeadsandotherthings.com	Oceania	New Zeland
Rebecca Anderson	http://songbeads.blogspot.com	Oceania	Papua New Guinea
Mischelle Fanucchi	http://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com/	Oceania	Samoa
Kari Asbury	http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com	Oceania	Solomon Islands
Cece Cormier	http://www.thebeadingyogini.com/	Oceania	Tonga
Emma Todd	http://www.apolymerpenchant.com	Oceania	Tuvalu
Debbie Price	http://greenshoot.blogspot.com	Oceania	Vanuatu