BeadFest Bead Bounty!

I am so sad that BeadFest is over this year. I've really made some good beady friends over the past year that I only get to see in person at shows such as this, and I don't want to have to wait another year!

The other great thing about BeadFest is all of the beads!!! Last year I bought tons of crystals...a lot of which I still have. My style has changed to using almost exclusively artisan beads as the main components, and I'm also looking at making some more gemstone pieces. So that's what my bead stash consisted of this year!

First off, the gemstone hoard! I hit Dakota Stones--hard! They have great quality and good prices, plus they were super nice! I got a bunch of labradorite (my favorite), some cool hematite that looks like silver, pyrite, pink opal...and other good stuff!


My other bead purchases where made in Artisan Alley. I really wish I had bought more...thank goodness for the internet! ;)

XAZ Bead Co. Handmade Raku Feast!

Adorable earring components from Starry Road Studio!

 I made bought lots and lots of pretties from Firefly Design Studio, and Michelle is a sweetheart! I love her work and the colors she gets from her glazes!

Firefly Design Studios, take 1!

Sweet flowers from Firefly!

And yet more fun from Firefly Design Studios!

Then, I also was lucky enough to be included in the Art Bead Swap organized by the ever-lovely Diana of Suburban Girl Studio! I was paired up with the uber-talented Melinda Orr, who is a magician with metals!

This first pairing are patinaed and enameled, and are gorgeous! I know I will be hoarding these for a while as I let ideas swirl in my brain for creating something equally gorgeous with them!

Next, Melinda gave me an assortment of fun trinkets to play with, all of them awesome, along with some lengths of leather she had worked with!

 

Finally, I am in love with this last piece Melinda gifted me with. It is simply stunning and magical, and a photo can not do it justice. I'm still deciding if it wants to be a bracelet component, or a pendant...but whatever it turns into, it will be one of my personal pieces to treasure!

Now do you understand why I miss BeadFest already?

BeadFest Silver Glass Class with Sara LaGrand!

I have wanted to take a lampworking class since...well, forever! Ok, not quite forever, but considering my first class where I learned to make beads was about 10 years ago, I was overdue. I needed something to help hone my skills, get the creative juices flowing and just give me a boost creatively. I've tried to get in to classes in my area and Rochester, and have always been turned down because they fill up immediately.

Cool pink and dark caramel bead! Super cool reactions around the edge of the lines!

So I was thrilled to see that BeadFest brought back lampwork classes, and that there was a class of high interest to me--Silver Glass. For those of you who don't know the behind-the-scences of the glass world, silver glass refers to specialized 104 COE glasses that have a high silver content. These glasses, when worked properly, give incredible iridescence, sheen, and pops of color you can't get with regular soda lime glass. The "worked properly" part is crucial--some are easy to master, while others are downright persnickity, and all of them cost around $80-$100 PER POUND. So this isn't a material you feel great just experimenting wildly with!

Top 2: Views of a Triton Bead; Bottom Left: Gold Fumed rose bead (the base started as off-white and turned pink!); Bottom Right: Cool reaction when silver glass is placed over a pale moss green transparent

The instructor was Sara Sally LaGrand. The name rung a very quiet bell--turns out she was President of the ISGB (International Society of Glass Beadmakers) a few years back, and has been working with glass for 17 years. I'd say she knows her stuff!

Sara was an incredibly patient and generous teacher. She showed us some very specific techniques to try, but also allowed us to experiment and play a bit. I learned so much just by watching her work in the flame that I was able to address some bad habits then and there.

My play bead: 2 different silver glass for the flower petals...Amazing range of colors with little effort!

My favorite bead is one only a mother could love, because, frankly, it's totally ridiculous! I'm not one into drawing...and we were attempting a bead with a fish "drawn" on the surface with glass. The thing on my bead? Not. A. Fish.

Not a fish. More like a newt in a bad toupee...

I started laughing when I picked up my beads, because the delightful little guy looks like some cartoonish representation of the fish that walked out of the primordial soup, trying to be a reptile! But I do love him, because he reminds me that there is delight in failure (and if you saw what we *had* been going for, you'd agree).

ZnetShows Partner Picks Summer Challenge Reveal!

Well, it's been a heck of a few weeks since I signed up for this challenge! I selected some beads to be sent to my partner, Kay of Kayzcreationz, and she sent me a very pretty grouping of beads!

I knew I would be busy with the end of school, but figured once it was out, I could design my heart away...then, I broke my right hand. Yep, I'm right-handed.

This is what can happen when you take on a sidewalk and gravity at the same time, kids.

Before I even really had time to adjust to my new left-handedness, my mother had to be rushed to the hospital and was very ill for a few days with a nasty infection. She's still there, but is supposed to thankfully come home Monday--4 weeks later! So to say that I have been busy with non-jewelry matters is an understatement.

But I'm also stubborn. ;)

While I can't do any great wire work right now, or too much knotting, I can make basic loops and strung pieces with my left hand, using my right as little as possible. Who knew?

So without further delay, here are the pieces that I was able to create for the ZnetShows Challenge. I apologize for the pictures, which I had to take on the fly (like most everything these days!).

I loved the orange sea glass diamonds, and they reminded me of a blazing sunset. Since the theme is built around summer and the beach, I added the blue large hole crystals, and one of my own iridescent clear drops for sparkle. I love how these turned out!

Next, I wanted to use more of the green crackle agate, which I love, love, love! These earrings can be worn any time of year, not just for summer.

My final piece, which took a bit longer than normal, is the necklace built around the focal chosen for me by my partner. When I saw it, I immediately had a vision for it, and I came pretty close! I used the pewter fish and sea-foam green pebbles to accent the focal. For the necklace, I paired some glass rice pearls in a sandy brown with more of the pebbles. I finished it off with some copper chain, because I wanted to keep the brown theme...but now I am wondering how it would look with silver?

Complete necklace

 

Close up of the focal

 I'd like to invite you to see the rest of the designers' reveals on the ZnetShows blog. A special shout out goes to Hope Smithermen, of Crafty Hope, who helped to organize this swap and blog hop!

ZnetShows Partner Picks Preview!

Once again the generous people at ZnetShows have created another design challenge. This time we were paired up with another artist, who got to select an assortment of beads from ZnetShows stock to send to us. And since it's summertime, the theme has to do with summer and the beach.

All of the designers will be holding a blog hop this Saturday, July 6^th. For now here is a preview of what my partner sent to me. I was paired up with Kay from KayzKreationz. Here is what Kay chose to send to me!

Crystal, sea glass & fishies!

Shell focal

Coordinating beads!

Make sure to stop back on July 6 to see what I create!

Ain't No Junk in *this* Trunk Show!

This weekend I am holding an online trunk show via Artisans Open Market on Facebook. Click HERE to visit the show & see what I have for sale! The show runs until Sunday, June 30th at 11pm EST.

Not a Facebook member? Don't worry, I'll be re-stocking my Etsy shop next week! :)

ZNet Shows Diamonds in the Rough Reveal!

If you follow this little blog o' mine, you may remember that I was part of the design team that was selected to  play with the new sea glass components from Znet Shows. Well, they are an extremely generous group of people, because I was also allowed to partake in their newest design endeavor; taking some overlooked wholesale beads, and giving them some fresh life.

I was allowed to chose from a long list of beads that were being passed over, and Znet sent me a huge collection of beads to play with for free! Every beader's dream, right? You can also enter to win a gift certificate from Znet Shows, so you can play with some of their cool beads--check out the end of this post for how!

One of the first stones I wanted were the carnelian flats. They were perfectly organic in their irregular shapes and the color was beautiful and deep. The warmth of the stones begged to be coupled with some lighter, more feminine components, including a lovely mauve shell pendant.

 

Here is a close-up of the pendant. I added an opalescent quartz nugget to make it more 3-dimensional.

Below are a pair of matching earrings, which are surprisingly light, for having the big chunky carnelian beads. I made some copper ear wires to finish them off.

For the next piece, I knotted the rhyolite nuggets on some irish waxed linen, and used one of my own lampwork beads as a focal.

 

Next I grabbed some of the round tiger's eye beads, and made some funky, freeform earrings. A photo can't quite catch how fun these are, since they have a ton of movement to them!

I also grabbed some tiger's eye, this time in a cube shape, to make this funky, tribal, bib collar necklace. It's strung on a piece of black rat tail, so the bib can be the star of the show!

Finally, I was able to craft one more necklace. I wanted to use another of the gorgeous shell flower pendants that I was sent. What came to mind was a perfect necklace for summer. Shimmering whites, with a hint of mauve from the pearls, perfect to with that little sundress you've been waiting to wear!

I did not get to all of the beautiful beads that were sent my way--there were so many of them! I also received some tiny bamboo coral rounds, some poppy jasper rounds, cool grey fire agate beads, and a pair of smaller flower pendants.

If you want to see the actual beads, click on the links above...and if you fall in love and buy some pretties, tell them Rachel sent you!

Now, if you would like to get some chances to win a $20 gift certificate from Znet Shows, check out the Diamonds in the Rough Top 20 vote on Facebook! Click on an individual picture, then click "like" to vote for it--and you can vote for more than one! Good luck!

Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge Reveal #7!

I am finally caught up with this challenge! Woohoo! Life was incredibly crazy in March, but I was finally able to find some time to work on some new earrings using my own lampwork and some ceramic beads from Diana Ptaszynski of Suburban Girl Beads. So let's see what I came up with!


Here are simple silver hoops with Diana's ceramic drops. Love these for their simplicity and their movement!

 Next, a pair of my lampwork beads, with some wire-wrapped glass briolettes.

Fun spiraled lampwork, pair with opalite, one of my favorite beads!

Click the picture to go to the Etsy listing!

Love this pair a LOT! My lampwork, gorgeous peachy-amber crystals, and handformed copper ear wires.

Click the picture to go to the Etsy listing!

Finally, a simple pair of mosaic-look beads in all sorts of neutral shades, paired with goldstone and more copper.

Please be sure to check the rest of the entries for the challenge by clicking on the thumbnails below!

Bead Soup #7 is in the House!!

I received my bead soup from my partner, Bev of Country Frog Creations, the week before I was heading out of town...so unfortunately, I had to delay sharing her wonderful soup until now!

First off, I absolutely MUST share with you the beautiful job Bev did of packaging her soup.

Wow, I wish I was that crafty! I am creative, but crafty is something different--I'm sure some of you out there can identify. I love the little envelopes that Bev used!

Once I got past my awe of how pretty the soup looked packaged up, I dove right in and explored all the goodies in my soup! Here's a group shot:

Then, because one of the few stipulations of the Bead Soup Blog Hop is to use the focal and the clasp, here is a close up of each:

Finally, I love, love, love the old key she sent, and already have some ideas for it! Just such a cool piece!

As to what I sent Bev, since she did already receive hers, I can post the picture here. I sent one of my lampwork focals, pretty crystals, sea glass, a pale green gemstone (I think it's Amazonite) and some lead-free pewter. I sent two toggles, because I couldn't decide!

Our reveal is March 30th, so be sure to check back then, when I unveil the creation I compose using  Bev's Bead Soup!

Bead Soup Blog Hop #7 Is Coming!!

Last summer I participated in the 6th cycle of the Bead Soup Blog Hop, hosted by Lori Anderson. Well, the time for the next Bead Soup is upon us, and this time there are over 500 beading bloggers participating! As last time, Lori has broken partners up into three different reveal dates, to make surfing the blogs a little bit easier to manage.

I have been selected for the first reveal, which will be March 30--don't worry, I will remind you! I am paired up with a fellow crafty soul, Bev Breisinger, who lives just a hop, skip and a jump from my aunt down in Pittsburgh! Small world, right? Bev is a lover of all creative things, has a soft spot for cool buttons, and also dabbles in digital media. You can visit Bev's blog, Country Frog Creations to learn more about her crafty world.

Once Bev and I have both received our soup from each other, I will post my goodies and get to work! For now, here is a preview of what I sent to Bev...kind of looks like a fat hummingbird with the Photoshop filter applied, but I guarantee it's beads!

Art Jewelry Elements Earrings: Reveal #2

Welcome to the second reveal of the Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge! I have two more pairs of earrings to share, this time made with my own lampwork beads as the handmade component. To see my earrings from the first reveal click here.

The first pair has my lampwork beads which feature simple blue flowers on a black base--but I used silver glass for the flowers, so they actually display a myriad of hues, like silver glass likes to do. I decided I didn't want to just stack them with other beads, so I used some silver-tone chain to create a triangle-shaped dangle. These are a lot of fun to wear, but it was hard to get a good picture of them, since they like to swing!

The second pair was a pleasant surprise. I had an idea in my head that just didn't work out the first time. Then, after I took a little break, I got another idea. I tried to use some waxed linen cord, but I couldn't get my lampwork beads to hang correctly. So I got *really* frustrated. The next day, I just decided to go for it and try some copper wire, but used it in the same way I had planned for the linen cord. It was a little tough maneuvering the wire, but I love the results!

While I made the lampwork beads, the ultra-cool disc beads are ceramic cogs made by Marsha Neal. they have such a cool combination of coppery-green and rust colors, the camera can never do them justice.

Design Time for ZNet Shows!

If you didn't see my recent post, I was selected by ZNet Shows to receive some free Cultured Sea Glass Beads in order to design some pieces for this new bead line. Isn't that any beader's dream?

The generous selection of Sea Glass beads and pendants!

 Despite a crazy schedule, I was able to create four pieces; two earring pairs and 2 necklaces. I have another necklace design dancing in my head, but sadly, haven't been able to sit down and bring it to fruition, and the deadline is today.

When I sat down to start my designs, I thought about the purpose of the creations...they are supposed to showcase the Sea Glass, so that other beaders can get ideas on how to utilize the beads. So I put my pride away and focused on making the Sea Glass the stars of the show.

The first pair of earrings are simple, but I love them! Two rectangle pendants, with accenting blue rounds, wrapped and joined to silver ear wires.

Next, I used two of the dagger shaped beads and black crystals for the second set of earings. These were wire-wrapped on some rosy copper, and I made some simple coordinating ear wires to finish the earrings off.

For the first necklace, I stacked two of the pendants to create one, more substantial pendant, which was wrapped onto a bail and added to some silver chain. I accented the necklace with some more of the shaped sea glass, and made the necklace adjustable by using a lobster clasp and more chain. I would definitely wear this with a pretty sundress on a summer day!

With the second necklace, I wanted to make use of some of the crystals that ZNet sent, just because I can't resist anything sparkly. I'm not much of a girly-girl, but sparkles are a favorite. So I wrapped individual crystals and created a chain, with the toggle clasp off to the side. The pendant on this necklace is simple--again I wanted to showcase how easy it is to make something beautiful with these beads!

I can't thank ZNet Shows enough for their generous offer and the opportunity to get to design with some of their beads. Please check out their ZNet Shows Facebook page or ZNet Shows' blog about the challenge to see some of the other beautiful creations by other artists!