Saturday, May 17, 2014

Earrings Everyday, We're All Ears, May 2014 Challenge


Zigzag Nerite shells - Neritina Communis - from Atlantis Shell Co

I love the inspiration picture for the May challenge!  I am a long time collector of shells, with two bowls and a tea cup full, but I don't have any as beautiful as the shells in this picture.


I love the color combination of red and black and have several outfits with these colors.


So, I made two pairs of earrings, slightly different, the second pair adding the cream color from the shells.


I was happy with how the earrings turned out, and tried to take pictures that did them justice.


Thank you for stopping by!  Please visit Earrings Everyday for the links to all of the challenge participants blogs and see the lovely earrings they have created for this month's challenge.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Bead Soup Blog Party 2014

Welcome to my reveal for the 8th Bead Soup Blog Party, hosted by Lori Anderson of PrettyThings

This is my fourth time to participate in Lori Anderson's BSBP and I have partnered with some very talented and creative jewelry artists! This year is no exception as I was partnered with the very talented Lauren Potts of Lp's Jewelry.

Lauren sent me two batches of beautiful soup ingredients, one in shades of blues, purples and greens, that includes a Lauren's handmade copper pendant, a copper clasp, ribbon crimps and bird charms. I love the lampwork beads that Lauren's boyfriend made and the faceted Amethyst is gorgeous! The other batch includes Lauren's handmade brass pendant, handmade clasp, an earthy mix of beads and brass chain and ribbon crimp. 
My first serving of bead soup is a necklace made with Lauren's handmade bronze pendant. I added a wire wrapped bail to the pendant, adding one of the large agate rounds (love these beads!). I added dangles of crystals and pearls to the top of the pendant. I strung several long lengths of brown wax linen to the bail and added another large agate round and a domed brass washer. I randomly knotted some beads and crystals from my own stash. The necklace is finished with Lauren's handmade clasp at the back.
 For my second serving of bead soup, I made a bracelet using the beautiful lampwork beads, faceted amethyst, green “opal jasper” rounds and the copper clasp. I added the Caribbean blue opal Swarovski crystals and copper spacer's from my stash. 
 I also made a pair of matching earrings, using the bird charms and two of the lampwork beads.
 And I was so inspired by these beautiful blue chalcedony drops, that I made another pair of earrings, using a pair of Rebekah Payne's Ridged Rounds polymer clay beads. My granddaughter love this blue and has asked if she can have these earrings when she's older (she's to young for dangle earrings) :-)
  
 
Oh, my goodness! This was just the tip of the iceberg! I still have so much left to work with and have several projects laid out on my bead table.

Please visit Laurens blog to see what she created with the Bead Soup ingredients that I sent her.

Thank you, Lauren for being such a great partner and sending a wonderfully inspiring Bead Soup!

Thank you, Lori, for taking time to organize the BSBP and working so hard to make everything run smoothly!  We appreciate your family's help too!

Thanks for visiting today! Please visit Lori's blog for links for all of the Bead Soup Blog Party participants!

My Soup Ingredients Have Arrived!

My bead soup ingredients actually arrived several weeks ago and I had started the blog post, but never published it (D'oh!), which I discovered when I logged in to work on my BSBP Hop post.  So, before you see my Bead Soup creations on May 10th, below are the wonderful ingredients that I received from my BSBP partner, Lauren Potts.


Lauren was very generous, sending ingredients for two soups, one in beautiful blues, purples and greens and another in lovely earth tones. She also included extra beads and pendants for future inspiration!
 
And, since I know that Lauren has already received her package from me, below is picture of the soup ingredients that I sent.
Please join me for the Bead Soup Blog Party reveal on May 10th to see what I was inspired to make with Lauren's soup ingredients!