Earring Swap & Blog Hop!

Who doesn't love earrings? Well, maybe people who hate fun, but for the rest of us, earrings are both fun to make and fun to wear!

Jessica Murray, of Whimsical Monkey, organized a wonderful artisan earring swap and corresponding blog hop. We were paired up, received a list of "likes" from our partner and were charged with creating a pair of earrings for that person.

I was paired up with Shellie Grady of Creative Ecletica, who was faced with a move during all of this, so she has been one busy woman!

Here are the earrings that I sent to Shellie, who said she loved both purple and turqouise:

In the pic above, you get both the front and side view of how they look. The pic is a smidge blurred, because they wouldn't stop swinging! Here they are, nice and still.

Sadly, I haven't yet received my earrings from Shellie...fingers crossed they are in today's mail and I can update the blog pronto!

In the meantime, please check out the rest of the participants:


Inge von Roos: ingetraud.wordpress.com
 Nancy Smith: wirednan.blogspot.ca
Marianne Baxter: http://www.simplyseablimejewelry.blogspot.com/
Leah Tees: mybeadylittleeyes.blogspot.ca
Andrea Trank: www.heavenlanecreations.com
Miranda Ackerley: http://blog.mirandack.com/
Cheri Mitchell-Reed: http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/
Susan Kennedy: www.suebeads.blogspot.com
Michele Dotson: http://star-jewels.blogspot.com/
Deanna Cox: www.deannaaki.WordPress.com
Shelley Graham Turner: www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com
Ingrid McCue: www.wrappedinsilver.com
Lennis Carrier: http://windbent.wordpress.com
Ginger Davis Allman: http://thebluebottletree.com/
Mary Anne Flesch: www.handcraftedserenity.blogspot.com
Nicole Valentine Rimmer: www.nvalentine.blogspot.com
Stephanie Weiss: uniquelymebwd.blogspot.com/
Silvia Sernicola: http://pipa-the-latest.blogspot.it/
Karla Morgan: www.TexasPepperJams.blogspot.com
Kay Thomerson: http://KayzKreationz.blogspot.com
Paula Hisel: http://simplybeadiful.weebly.com/simply-stated.html
Carol Dillman: http://dillmansdallies.blogspot.com/
Spun Sugar Beadworks: Spunsugarbeadworks.blogspot.com
Tara Plote: http://newbiebeader.blogspot.com/
Rachel Baron: http://rbarondesigns.blogspot.com/   <----You are here! :)
Laurie Keefe: http://treeofliferootedinmysoul.blogspot.com/
Kashmira Patel: http://sadafulee.blogspot.com
Gina Hockett: http://www.freestyleelements.blogspot.com
Shellie Grindy: http://www.creativeeclectica.com/  <---My partner
Shai Williams: http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com/
Dyanne Cantrell: http://deelitefuljewelrycreations.blogspot.com
Mimi Gardner: www.OtherCuriosities.blogspot.com
Jessica McMullen: http://pheonixgatedesigns.blogspot.com/
Jennifer LaVite: www.drygulchbeadsandjewelry.blogspot.com
Laura Medeiros: http://zoeowyn.blogspot.com/
Alenka Obid: www.pepita-handmade.blogspot.com
Elsie Fonseca: http://www.ladelizchica.blogspot.com/
Cheryl Dunham: www.renaissance-jewelry.blogspot.com
Sandra McGriff: http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.ca
Tania Spivey: http://moobiegrace.blogspot.com/
Mowse Doyle:  http://mowsemadethis.blogspot.com

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!

Even more behind...

The Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge Reveal, part 5 was supposed to be today. Well, it *is* today, it's just that *someone* wasn't able to fit everything in these past two weeks. I'm a special education teacher, and IEP season concluded this past Thursday--so anyone who works in education can probably understand completely when I say the last few weeks was a little busy. For the rest of you folks, just imagine drowning in paperwork...and sprinkle some lemon juice on those resulting paper cuts.

But I did want to acknowledge the rest of the worls that was able to get their beautiful earrings made for weeks 9 & 10. Please click below for the links to some beautiful creations, and in two weeks, I will have four pairs of pretties to share!

Art Jewelry Elements Earrings Challenge, Reveal #4

I had some catching up to do, since I only was able to get one pair of earrings done for the last reveal. I thought about using a pair I had already made, just to stay on track, but that felt like cheating given the nature of the challenge is to *create* new earrings!

I am also running low on art beads, my own included! I just haven't had time to torch, and when I do, it's freezing! So I was so happy to run across Elaine Robitaille's Etsy shop, Too Aquarius! My first pair of earrings feature her blue polymer clay flower beads. They are stunning, and I can't believe they are clay!

Simple design, but the flower beads deserve the spotlight!

For my next pair, I also used Elaine's beads, this time a pink floral bead. They are gorgeous,so they deserved to be surrounded by more gorgeousness (is that a word? It is now!). So I used Swarovski (r) crystals and garnets to complement the clay beads.

Crystal and garnets for the pink flowers

 For my final pair, I used two of my own handmade lampwork beads, which feature to popular silver glass nicknamed "raku" for the cool myriad of colors that can be coaxed out the glass. Again, the earring design is simple, but I like that the focus of these earrings are the art beads themselves.

Lampwork & crystals...what can be better?

Now that we are all caught up with the challenge, please make sure to check out the other participants in the Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge!

Art Jewelry Elements 3rd Reveal...and I'm behind already!

The past two weeks have been extra crazy for me, and I am already behind on my earring creation for the Art Jewelry Elements earring challenge...plus I am away from my studio for the next few days, so I will have a lot of catching up to do once I am back at work!

But, and this is a good but, the earrings I do have to share are awesome, mainly because of the art jewelry element I am including.

Week 5 Earrings

Aren't those scarabs amazing? I have been hoarding them since August, when I bought them at BeadFest Philadelphia from Diana of Suburban Girl Studios LLC. And these earring are mine, all MINE! I love everything Egyptian, and will be adding these beauties to my own personal collection.

Since I only have one pair to share, have fun checking out the rest of the creations by clicking the links below!

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!

Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge

I am thrilled to take part in the Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge! I love doing various challenges and blog hops because they force me to find the time to be creative; it's too easy for me to put my muse in the back seat when life gets hectic--and that makes her very, very cranky!

What is great about this challenge is that we have to use an art jewelry element in the earrings--this mean there has to be handmade components, minimizing the mass-produced as much as possible. As someone who also makes handmade lampwork, I am very passionate about using handmade components as much as possible!

My first two pairs just happen to use clay components from the same artist: White Clover Kiln. I wanted to use two different artists' beads, but when my muse hollers, I listen.

The first pair turned out so beautiful--it's nice to have a vision make it to reality!

The camera can't catch the beautiful hues in the purple clay domes, which cradle pewter bead caps, and opalite rounds. Opalite is one of my favorite "stones" even if it is manmade. I love the iridescent quality, and it pairs beautifully with the purple and silver tones.

Next are a pair of dangling "flowers".

The purple flowers are again from White Clover Kiln, and have a gorgeous underhue (is that a word?) of a periwinkle blue. I paired some seed beads with the clay flowers to give the illusion of real flowers, and used some funky head pins I found at one of my local bead stores. I love these, too--they will be hard to put up for sale!

Be sure to visit Art Jewelry Elements today, so you can see all of the gorgeous creations other artists have put together. The talent is astounding and somewhat intimidating! But most of all, it is inspiring!

Earrings, earrings and more earrings!

While at BeadFest, I bought a lot of great artisan made beads--especially clay beads! Since I've gotten back, the only thing I've felt compelled to make have been earrings...but who can blame me when I have such pretty beads to work with? Here are snapshots of my most recent creations, all of which are available in my Etsy shop!

Blue Butterfly Wing

Blue Bell

Daisy

Purple Cogs

Thanks for looking!