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

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

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

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

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.

 

Erin Prais-Hintz Alenka Obid Ali McCarthy Alicia Marinache Amy Severino Amy Grass Carolyn Lawson  you are here Cece Cormier Cynthia Riggs Ema Kilroy Emanda Johnson Emma Todd Erin Kenny Evelyn Shelby  Evie and Beth McCord Gerd Andersson Holly Westfall Jennifer Justman Jenny Davies-Reazor Jess Green Judy Campbell Karla Morgan Kay Thomerson Kristina Johansson Lola Surwillo Lynn White Malin de Koning Mallory Hoffman Mary K McGraw Melissa Meman Melissa Trudinger Michelle Escano Michelle Bourbonniere Michelle Heim Michelle Mach Molly Alexander Molly Schaller Monique Urquhart Niky Sayers Pam Farren Rebecca Anderson Sally Russick Sharon Palac Sharon Driscoll Susan Kennedy Tari Kahrs Tracy Stillman Veralynne Malone