What do you get when you take 80ish, awesome jewelry designers, give them a partner, have them swap beads and make something? The 2nd Annual Bead Peeps Swap N Hop!
First - lemme give a shout out to each person who has worked hard, send beads, anxiously waited by their mailbox, worked hard to make something and even harder to write a blog post. Without YOU, this wouldn't be possible!
Second - A HUGE shout out to my partner, Natalie Davidson of http://www.northshoredays.com, for sending me an INCREDIBLY generous package of goodies, encouraging me and being a good friend - even if I accidentally called at 4am. =)
Ok - on with the goods!
Natalie told me that the theme of my goodies was "flight"
So, I started with an INCREDIBLE package from Natalie. She sent ALL OF THIS - including but not limited to:
- Malaysian pearls
- Turquoise, blue matte and a variety of green glass beads (drool worthy!)
- Cathedral cut, green czech beads
- A package of Natalie-made beads - including an ombre of turquoise beads, a feather focal and butterfly toggle
- BEAUTIFUL orange lampwork beads
- Sinful turquoise rondelles
- Lovely foiled beads from Thailand
- A GORGEOUS crystal wrapped focal
- Sweet blue and green wire - which was SUPER slippery
- Awesome flowers
- STUNNING NZ Paua shell beads and focal
- Some itty bitty serpentine heishi beads
AND
- A slew of sweet charms - a feather, a butterfly (which she made!), dragonflies, itty bitty birdies, hummingbirds
PLUS
A tote bag (how did she know that I LOVE bags?!), magnetic bookmarks - which I LOVE AND some quite "interesting" white chocolate (which I also LOVE)....with lemon and pop rocks inside.
Can you say....SPOILED?!
****You can click on any photo to see a larger version*****
Natalie's photo is MUCH better than mine =)
I was kinda overwhelmed. So, I decided to just focus on the theme....flight. I'd start something...look for supplies to finish and then...couldn't find anything I wanted - which happened a few times. (Shocker =) ) SO - as the time was drawing near...things were getting desperate...so I did what any good designer would do.... I went through my stash.
I found a few of this and a few of that...nothing really spoke to me....until I found....a wing! YES! Wings go with flight! I was on to something! Yellow goes with turquoise....and the wing has turquoise in it....eeek! Here we go.....
(As a side note: one of my goals for this hop, is to learn something new. I have used 4 new techniques between my necklace - daisies, S links, making the clasp bar, and I've never made the type of bracelet with those materials)
This piece features Natalie's handmade clasp and ombre beads. My handmade S links and daisies, and the INCREDIBLE lampwork of Kim Snider. *droool*
****You can click on any photo to see a larger version*****
So, once that was finished..... I moved on to the real project.....the one I'd thought of as SOON as I opened her packages..... a bracelet. It's all hand wrapped and and features her handmade butterfly charm, as the clasp. I tried to do an ombre-esque piece using her favorite glass beads that she sent. I used some in this and hoarded the rest. (tee-hee) I also added some of the butterfly charms she sent me. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this bracelet and am SO PROUD of it! It just makes me happy!
And finally - gotta have some EARRINGS!
These feature Natalie's flower beads, her handmade ombre beads and her dragonflies. I love how they turned out!
I have had a GREAT adventure and am SO THANKFUL for Natalie! I hope I did you proud, partner! #BeadPeepsSwap!
Check out what everyone else did HERE!
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Thanks Linda for hosting this hop with amazing artists. The bracelet is my favourite, its chunky, bright and fun
ReplyDeleteKudos to you Linda for learning new techniques. The butterfly wing necklace is lovely. Thanx for hosting this fun challenge.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous designs! I really love the necklace just wonderful and so great you threw in learning some new techniques. Thank you for another wonderful Swap 'n Hop!
ReplyDeleteYou did an awesome job hun. My favourite would have to be the bracelet - I love the colour gradient and I'm loving chunky jewellery at the moment. xxxx love ya partner
ReplyDeleteYour necklace is gorgeous. I love the focal, the colors and clasp. Great job using new techniques. Your daisies are wonderful. The bracelet and earrings are very cheery and perfect for spring and summer. Well done!
ReplyDeleteWhat fabulous pieces! I really, really struggle with the design aspect (which is why I like seed beading because it's more about the engineering) and I am just blown away by the gorgeous design of your necklace, the vibrancy of your bracelet and the simple prettiness of your earrings. You most certainly know a thing or two about design!
ReplyDeleteLove the daisy links, beautiful job on the necklace, but the bracelet is truly beautiful and fun something that is meant to be worn often. Learning new techniques can be challenging but hit did so magnificently!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous work Linda! I love, love, love the colour combinations (my favourite!!) and such happy, summer pieces :)
ReplyDeleteLinda the necklace is just Beautiful!!! I love colors and the texture and movement! The bracelet really is Quite Stunning I really love it, and the earrings are really lovely too!! Great Job!!!
ReplyDeleteLinda, the pieces are all lovely and the colors are so happy! The bracelet is just gorgeous - lush and rich. I'll bet it feels wonderful to wear! Thanks a million for hosting the swap. It's been great fun!
ReplyDeleteLinda, such beautiful designs and your work is gorgeous! Love that bracelet! Thanks much for all the hosting work!!
ReplyDeleteWhat great designs! I really love that bracelet.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you so much for a wonderful hop!
Love, Love Love that necklace. Very summery.....
ReplyDeleteWow! totally drool worthy ! Love the necklace. The way you have matched the components and assembled it is lovely. The bracelet and earrings are lovely too. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the butterfly wing necklace! I also love the ombre look on the bracelet.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for being a wonderful Hostess, this was a lot of fun!
Love, Love Love that necklace. Very summery.....
ReplyDeleteFirst thank you for being a wonderful host. I am in love with you gorgeous bracelet! I love how you worked your necklace and agree 100% Kims wings are gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the hosting.. great job.
ReplyDeleteLoved the graduated colour of the bracelet and of course all the green and turquoise colours are favs of mine. Gorgeous work !
Love that you used the swap as a chance to learn new techniques! I love the swap because it gives us all a chance to push ourselves creativity wise!
ReplyDeletewww.mintmonarch.com
wow, you are one lucky lady with such a great stash to work with! You did a beautiful job! I especially love the necklace.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a haul! LOL Love that you stepped out of the box with the new techniques! My favorite is the butterfly wing necklace!
ReplyDeleteWOW!! What you created is beautiful and I can't believe all the things you still create with that amazing SWAP!! ~KM
ReplyDeleteSo cute! I love the wire flowers and the rainbow piece. You layered the beads perfectly.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love that ombré bracelet! It's so cute. Awesome work I say! Thank you again so much for hosting this Swap, it's been amazing!
ReplyDeleteAwesome pieces! I love the necklace! Those are some awesome colors. I sure hope we see more designs from all those goodies!
ReplyDeleteYou really do have something to be proud of in that bracelet. The colors you had to work with were wonderfully mixed and great for the theme she sent, and you did a great job carrying through on the theme.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful and fun.
WOW!!! Love it all but especially that bracelet!
ReplyDeleteFour new techniques is impressive! The necklace is beautiful with the ombre beads as the bail and the offset clasp and, of course, the lampwork focal. The bracelet is lush and the ombre effect is adds interest and the earrings are subtle to go with everything!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work. I like all three but the bracelet is just awesome. I was trying to find how you did it. Crochet? Also I liked that you used different techniques in these three different pieces but a coherent color palette of blue-green-puple hue theme. Cool.
ReplyDeleteThe necklace certainly matches the flight theme. I love the fringe bracelets because you can use up so many different beads. You did great.
ReplyDeleteThat necklace...wow!
ReplyDeleteAnd very touched you were inspired by the BSBP.
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