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

Lampwork spacers giveaway

Julie of Indian Creek Art Glass is having a giveaway of some her surplus lampwork spacers on June 8, 2013.

Please visit her blog to enter (click on the link above).

Thanks for visiting.

Carolyn

Google Reader replacement

With Google discontinuing their Google Reader for blogs, I was wondering if anyone has found a replacement? 

Please share what you have found for good or bad.  I haven't had a chance to do any investigating myself.

Thanks for reading

Carolyn

I can't believe it has been almost a month since the last time I posted.  Where does the time go?

      I won a guest pass to The Whole Bead Show in Lynnwood from Kristi Bowman of Kristi Bowman Design for the first weekend in May.  I met Kristi and Linda Landig of Linda Landig Jewelry.  Both very nice ladies.  Linda was there helping Kristi.

Kristi had some of her components and also some of her finished jewelry.  I bought several of her components.

Not sure if you can really see how gorgeous these components of Kristi's are.  I bought a Tree of Life, some small leaves, five petal flowers, and drop or egg shaped components with one hole at the top and three holes at the bottom and a snakeskin texture down the center.

.

I also visited Judith Billig, a lampwork bead maker, and bought some autumn colored leaves and matching spacers.  I have learned that if I don't buy the autumn colors when I see them, I will be out of luck later.  Now to come up with a design.


I visited several other vendors and bought some other beads which I will have to cover in my next post as I am out of time tonight.

Thanks for stopping by.  Comments are welcome any time.  Just have to figure out how to reply to them.

Carolyn

Spring Fling Challenge

This was a post I started early this week but didn't finish, so I am turning it into my reveal post for Amy's Spring Fling Challenge.

This Saturday, April 20, is the reveal date for Amybeads' Spring Fling Challenge.  Amy and one of her previous Bead Soup Blog Party partners went together to sponsor the challenge.  Alenka made the pretty dragonfly pendant and Amy supplied the beads.



This is the selection of beads that were sent to the participants.



Here is the picture off Amy's website that is so much clearer than mine.



Below are the pictures of what I made from selections.  I used some of all the beads except for the crackle beads in the upper left corner of the picture above.

I used a glue-on bail for the pendant.  I glued it on at an angle so that the dragonfly is not straight up and down.

I added touches of green with Preciosa twin beads. 

I also added lavender/pinkish glass pearls to extend the length of the necklace.

In this picture is you can see the green Preciosa twin beads.

I used a triple ring toggle clasp to give the necklace some additional length.  It is 15 inches and the additional extension makes it 16 1/2 inches.

Here are the matching earring that I made using purple beads, white mirror beads and the navy pearls.

Here is a closer look at the pendant where you can see that the bail is off-set from the top of the dragonfly's head.


Here is a link to Amy's blog to see her creation and the list of the other participants:  Spring Fling Challenge

Thanks for stopping by.  Comments are welcome.

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

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