Ghosts, Ravens and ZomBEEs! Oh my!

After a small hiatus, I'm back for a new challenge and a little fun!  A few weeks ago, I was sent a DARLING little bead.... a zomBEE!  Isn't that ADORABLE made by the outstanding - Laney Mead.  It's part of the Art Elements Blog Hop and I'm SO EXCITED!!  This is the first time I've played along with the Art Elements gals and it was SUCH an adventure!

I received the zomBEE a few weeks ago and as soon as I saw it I thought to myself - I know *exactly* what I'm gonna do!  Oh the plans of mice and men.  LOL!  So... being honest.... I put it off.  After all, I knew what I was doing - just had to do it.  You're laughing, aren't you? =)

Yeah - it just didn't do what I wanted it to do.  I ended up breaking a bead (I nearly cried) and that made me COMPLETELY revise what I had planned to do.  SO - the idea of making an adorable talisman with the zomBEE and some other adorable themed beads was out de door.  I struggled getting the black I have to work.... so I went for "pretty" zomBEE...if that exists. LOL!

Instead, I decided to go with a sweet little ghost (which was made by Val Moser), a "raven" (Bo Hulley) and my sweet zomBEE (Laney Mead).  I added a flower (because bee's need flowers, right?), some GORG blue czech beads, some *expensive* czech petals and a custom made silver clasp.  (I like to challenge myself to do something new to me, whenever I partake in a challenge - so the clasp was my 'new to me' challenge).  I do love this piece and I'm quite proud of it.  What do YOU think?

Yes, it's bright and cheerful.  Yes...it's a little more "fancy" than usual... but I kinda love it. 

THANK YOU Laney Mead and the Art Elements team!  I had a BLAST, was stretched and ended up with a pretty great piece.  (If I do say so, myself ;) ) Check out every one's pieces, too!





Guests

http://fromthebeadboard.blogspot.com/ - Linda

http://www.beadsforbusygals.com/ - Elizabeth Auld


Team

http://www.lesleywatt.com/ - Lesley Watt

http://www.glassaddictions.com/blog - Jennifer Cameron

http://dianaptaszynski.indiemade.com/blog - Diana Ptaszynski

https://jdaviesreazor.com/blog/ - Jenny Davis-Reazor

http://suebeads.blogspot.com - Susan Kennedy

http://blueberribeads.co.uk/ - Caroline Dewison

http://phantasmcreation.blogspot.co.uk/ - Lindsay Starr

http://cmendola.blogspot.co.uk/- Cathy Spiey Mendola

http://saraccino.blogspot.co.uk/ - Claire Fabian

http://silverniknats.blogspot.co.uk/ - Niky Sayers

http://laneymead.co.uk/ - Laney Mead

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Creative Spark! WOOHOO!

Hey Y'all - Now that some of the excitement of the next issue of Creative Spark has simmered a bit - I thought I'd crank it up again. =)  As a reminder: Creative Spark is an E-mag featuring products from ZNetShows.  They have just redone their website and it's ON FLEEK!!  SOOO much better than the previous version - WOW!

This time, I was chosen to make some jewelry - Hooray!  I got to play with their sea glass tubes, their NEW 3x2mm crystals and their AWESOME sea glass nuggets!




You can see MY pieces, below the magazine - including their item codes so YOU can check out the exact pieces I used (and get some for yourself!)

My necklace design came very quickly to me.  I love the idea of the tubes swelling and contracting around the neck.  The crystals were the perfect addition, to add just a touch of sparkle and interest.  One thing I did find, is that the small tubes may require smaller headpins.  They are tiny little holes.  I absolutely LOVE the piece and when it's on - it's even more fun and interesting.

Necklace codes:

RS274-47AB     Chinese crystal designer glass rondelle Beads faceted 47AB-Opaque Sky Blue AB (about 150-pc-str) 
RS274-46AB     Chinese crystal designer glass rondelle Beads faceted 46AB-Opaque Blue Opal AB (about 150-pc-str)  
RS274-43AB     Chinese crystal designer glass rondelle Beads faceted 43AB-Opaque Seafoam Green AB (about 150-pc-str)
S93-B01     Cultured Sea Glass tube Beads 01-Crystal (strand length 8 inches)       14x4mm
S81-B01     Cultured Sea Glass tube Beads 01-Crystal (strand length 8 inches)       about 9x4mm
S92-B01 - Cultured Sea Glass tube Beads about 6x4mm 01-Crystal (strand length 8 inches) 

The bracelet started as a much different idea, but in the end, I love the way that it turned out.  I used the nuggets as a starting point.  When I think of sea glass, I always think of pearls - so I added a sweet little strand of pearls - but it was still missing something.  So, I went to my supply of ribbons and found some lovely, soft and wispy yellow silk, to add.  The silk kind of ties everything together and adds a touch of whimsy to the piece. 

Bracelet codes:
S38-B39     Cultured Sea Glass nugget Beads 39-Periwinkle Changes -periwinkle blue color (7-pc-str)
S38-B84     Cultured Sea Glass nugget Beads 84-Lemon (7-pc-str)
S38-B88     Cultured Sea Glass nugget Beads 88 - Light Aqua `Coke` bottle Seafoam (7-pc-str)
S38-B06     Cultured Sea Glass nugget Beads 06-Blossom Pink (7-pc-str)

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To be sure you don’t miss out on any of my crazy adventures, you can sign up to follow my blog by email or news servers using the links in the right column of my page. You can also follow me on Facebook get updates about blog posts, my latest jewelry designs, show schedule, and other happenings!
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JSBArts Beach Blog Hop

Hello Dear Friends - Please excuse my tardy entry.  You don't wanna know and frankly - who needs excuses? Right?

So, a few weeks ago, I received some hand crafted, one of a kind beads from Shawna Barnes of JSB Arts. Her theme was Summer Lovin'!

 TOTALLY exciting!  I love EVERY.THING. beach so I was ALL OVER this! =)

I will say - I was VERY challenged with this round.  For a couple of reasons - personal reasons, as you see above and I really had no.idea. what to do with the beads I was sent.  They were in colors I wasn't expecting, so it really took me a while to kinda think through how *I* could make them shine.

What I received - sweet beads and some silk

After thinking long and hard.... I decided to go with some gorgeous beach colored glass beads I had.  I loved that they helped bring the neutral color of the designer beads, up to a beachy look.  I, also, found some GORGEOUS Amazonite that tied all the colors together.

Now, to figure out how to put it together.... I could just string it - but why?  Does jewelry cable really help the design?  Not really.  So, I went through my drawer of goodness and found some beautiful green/tealy waxed linen cording that was PERFECTION!  I have never used it, so in keeping with another challenge I've issued myself, to continue learning and trying new products during challenges, I dug in.  =)

It took me 3 tries to FINALLY get it to where I liked it, the knots worked well together, even spacing etc.... but I fell in love with it.  Pretty proud, indeed!

My piece - ceramic beads, glass beads, Amazonite, bead caps and a gorgeous anchor charm

Details of handmade beads and cute linen in between

If I were to do it again, I'd have made the knots a bit bigger, but otherwise - very proud of this bracelet and am VERY excited to wear it!



Thank you, Shawna for putting this together!. Check out some of my friends work here:

To see more of Shawna's components available for purchase, please see her Artisan Component Marketplace store.

Linda A. - http://fromthebeadboard.blogspot.com/
Kelly P. - http://travelingsideshow.blogspot.com/
Wendy S. - http://dragonflydreamers.blogspot.ca/
Lori S. - http://beadaddicted.blogspot.com
Shaiha W.  - http://www.shaihasramblings.com
Carolyn - http://Carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com

Debbie E. - https://www.facebook.com/designsbydebbi

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To be sure you don’t miss out on any of my crazy adventures, you can sign up to follow my blog by email or news servers using the links in the right column of my page. You can also follow me on Facebook get updates about blog posts, my latest jewelry designs, show schedule, and other happenings!
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