October Fest challenge

The blog Jewelry School Friends is having a blog challenge that is a little unusual in that you can make items that do not involve beads or beading.  It's being called A Jewelry, Craft, Bead, Home & Hearth Creative Challenge for Blogs, Facebook Pages, and the JSF page.

See this link for more details:

october-fest-jewelry-craft-bead-home
I believe there are a couple of more openings if anyone is interested.










I already have an idea for a necklace and possibly earrings.  The big reveal is October 28, so please come back to see what I made and to visit the other bloggers in the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.

Carolyn

Vintage jewelry

My mother recently died and we have been going through her jewelry and there are strung necklaces, pearls, Avon, and Sarah Coventry pieces.  Some of the jewelry dates back to the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.  Does anyone know of a book or website that will give me some information on the value/collectablity of these items?

Thanks for stopping by.

Carolyn

Vintage jewelry

Creative Chaos giveaway

Have been missing in action for the blog postings I should have been posting but have been reading the ones that I follow.

One of the blogs that I follow, Creative Chaos, is having a bead giveaway for the month of September (isn't this a great giveaway?)
plus and is also having some short-time giveaways.  See her blog post here:  creativechaos

Here is a link to another of Skye's giveaways: faux suede giveaway.  I think this one is still open.

Here's another one:  Pay It Forward and free beads You can enter for the Pay It Forward spot or for the free beads.

Didn't realize how much I had missed.

Thanks for stopping by.

Carolyn

"Mis-matched" Earring Swap

I was selected to be one of the participants in Diana of Suburban Girl Studio's "Mis-matched" Artbead

Earring Swap.

I was matched up with Sarah of bysalla.blogspot.com.   Here are the earrings that I received.

Thanks for stopping by.

Carolyn

Inspiration & Collaboration: the social artist giveaway

The new blog Inspiration and Collaboration; the social artist is having a fabulous giveaway of a set of beads that Staci Louise of Artisan Accents and Genea of Genea Beads collaborated on.

Aren't they fabulous!!!  My name is in the pot!  I would love to win a set.  You can enter through this link:  giveaway-time

Good luck everyone!

Thanks for stopping by.

Carolyn

My Dream Jewelry Studio Sweeeptstakes

As I was exploring and reading new blogs, I ran across "A Half-Baked Notion"'s blog and she was talking about this sweepstakes. 

It sounds fabulous with 30 prizes  from Craftoptics, Rio Grande and CraftArtEdu to be won.

Click on this link to enter: mydreamjewelrystudio

Good luck everyone and thanks for stopping by.

Carolyn

Upcoming blog hop

Lisa Lodge of Pine Ridge Treasures is having a "Bead Table" blog hop.  I am one of twenty-five participants who paid a small fee to receive random stuff from Lisa's bead table. 

What's in the bead kit? Various beads and components in a variety of colors and shapes. Items that don't necessarily "match". The idea is to find a way to combine these items with "extra/orphan" beads and components from your work area into a fun design.  Here is what I received:

Lots of yellows, golds, and oranges.  I have already made one item and am working on another. 

I am going to attempt some wire wrapping so wish me luck.  Haven't done any before and hopefully this won't be too ambitious.

I hoe you will come back and join me and the other participants for the "Bead Table" blog hop on October 13.

Thanks for stopping by.

Carolyn 

Free book giveaway - Bead & Wire Jewelry Exposed

AllFreeJewelryMaking Giveaway: Bead & Wire Jewelry Exposed

Posted by Kelly S. on August 28th, 2012 at 04:31pm

So you’ve mastered wire wrapping, you’re bored with the same old beading patterns, and you’re asking yourself “What’s next?” The answer? Bead & Wire Jewelry Exposed! This designer jewelry project book is filled with tutorials that turn the world of beading and wirework as you know it totally topsy turvy. And today’s your lucky day, because we’re giving away a signed copy of Bead & Wire Jewelry Exposed for free to one lucky winner!

Click on the link above to signup for the free book giveaway.

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