Leather Feather Blog Hop (and Week #36 of Year O Earring Project) by Rachel Mallis

Several weeks ago, Rachel Mallis of mintmonarch.com, put out a call for designers to use her new leather feathers in a fun and exciting way!  I was one of the lucky designers who answered the call. =)  Rachel sent GORGEOUS sage colored leather feathers, to me.  I was over the moon!  SO GORGEOUS!

I went straight to work - thinking..... comparing.....sampling.....thinking.....and more thinking.  I decided that the beautiful leather called for something just as gorgeous - Swarovski crystals.  So, with a custom combo - I put these AWESOME earrings together.

They feature 8 different colors of crystals, hand made head pins, hand made ear wires - that feature Swarovski rondelles, and bright copper bead caps that I smooshed down to make a custom cover for the feathers.  I LOVE them!  Tell me what YOU think?


Check out what my friends did!

Rachel Mallis (host) http://www.mintmonarch.com/

Inge von Roos https://ingetraud.wordpress.com/

Lori Blanchard alainnjewelry.WordPress.com

Linda Anderson http://fromTheBeadBoard.blogspot.com (You are HERE!)

Deb Fortin www.mhotistudio.blogspot.ca

Rebecca Robertson White http://morganafeycreations.121hub.com/#sec-blog

Lucy Bejarano http://lucybejaranojewelry.blogspot.com

Jenny Kyrlach http://anafiassa.blogspot.com/

Marina Rios http://fancifuldevices.blogspot.com/ 

Georgie Marcu https://instagram.com/nearlylostjewelry/

Christina Taylor www.dreamcatjewelry.wordpress.com

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Week #35 - Burning in my brain

Ever had one of those ideas that just keeps stewing and brewing in your brain?  Just something you WANT to do, but not really sure HOW or with WHAT?  Well, that's what this week's earrings are all about..... an idea I've had for eons and FINALLY figuring out how to do them with the appropriate beads. 

I picked these gems up at an Intergem Show.  Living in MN - they only come once a year - where in DC they come every 3 months.  What a change!  =(   Anyway, I picked up these little crystal drops from one of my favorite vendors, Ina and George, and have looked at them for FAR too long.

The holes are SMALL so 20g wouldn't fit through them.   I didn't have the right color in 24 and honestly, wasn't sure they'd even be strong enough with 24g wire....so I started digging through my bag o wire.  I found this wire that was twisted....and guess what?!  It fit through the holes!  The twisted wire gives more stability than a single wire and while some didn't fit - the majority did. 

Here they are!

 

They can be YOURS! 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Week #34 - Fun with Fibers!

Whatdya get when you take 1 girl who has 52  pairs of earrings to make, a package of bead caps and some wool?  A pair of earrings that include bead caps and wool. =) duh! ;)


Somewhere out my brain, I thought to myself "Self, what if you took some ribbon or something and wrapped it around a round frame? That'd look kinda cool"  Enter bead caps that I'd ordered from an online store, with some sweet fuschia Swarovski cubes and BLAM! HOT EARRINGS! =)
In all actuality, I was inspired by this photo from Munsinger Gardens, here in St. Cloud, MN.  I love the color of the purple plants and was excited to find my Swarovski crystal and wool matched!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"It's the Final Countdown".....

Well, this is it - the final hours of my 30s. 

The 30s were some of the best years of my life.  I remember this 10+ years ago, and was SUPER excited for the next 10 years - right now.....I'm not.  As a matter of fact, I'm kinda scared. 

My 30s were the most AWESOME years - some of the most CHALLENGING - but SO AWESOME!

Things that didn't really go as planned:
- Moving home
- Ending my career
- Still being single
- Gaining all my weight back
- Not having a family by now
- Not owning a home
- Being in a difficult financial situation
- Feeling like I'm wishing my life away
- Depression has returned
- Struggle with perfectionism has reared it's ugly head again
- Spending 45+ days in the hospital
- Replacing work meetings with doctor meetings
- Learning about the medical system in a way I never wanted to

Things that were awesome about my 30s include:
- Falling in love - although it was unrequited
- Having an INCREDIBLE group of friends, for most of those years
- Friends got married
- Tons of birthday parties
- Going to Puerto Rico!!
- Friends getting pregnant
- Having the most INCREDIBLE body of my life
- Discovering an INCREDIBLE love of jewelry
- Discovering that I'm an artist
- Learning that I'm stronger than I ever dreamed
- Understanding what it means to truly TRUST IN THE LORD with ALL your heart
- Surviving 19 months with 0 income
- Seeing God's hand working directly
- Realizing that I'm not perfect - can't be - never will be
- Seeing myself grow up
- Seeing several folks come to Christ
- Being able to support family through difficult times
- Having the honor of being in 2 weddings


Prayers for my 40s:
- To find the love of my life
- Start a family *better hurry!*
- Come to realize my dreams
- Buy a house near water
- Enjoy another 10 years with my father
- Figuring out how to make my jewelry business successful enough that I don't have to be in charge of it for the rest of my  life
- Growing in my relationship with Christ
- Establishing deep friendships
- Learning to manage my life better
- Being the best example of a Godly woman - that's possible
- Seeing amazing things happen to ME

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Week #33 - Memorial Earrings

Last Monday, I received a text that no one wants to receive.  My uncle died.  Earlier that morning, he'd called to get fuel oil delivered to his farm.... within 2 hours (and before the fuel arrived) he was gone.  He'd fallen face first on the ground.  A woman, who happened to be a nurse, had driven by his home and thought something didn't look right.  She turned around and tried CPR - to no avail.  She also called the rescue squad but he was already blue. 

Uncle Chester

It's been a difficult week and Saturday was the funeral.  Things I learned about him:
- He had taken 60 hours of ground, flight school
- He donated 136 pints of blood - nearly 17 gallons (no wonder he was so pale!)
- You could set the clock by him.....9am he was at McDonalds. 
- He was very well loved, despite never marrying, having a girlfriend or a family of his own
- He was ready to be called to the Lord
- He'd spent time with the Lord that morning - reading his Bible and doing his daily devotional. - The Pastor noted that he'd had his quiet time and the Lord said "Chester, I wanna continue this conversation" - which REALLY was an incredible picture in my mind (and frankly, brings tears to my eyes)
- He was a farmer most of his life, except when he was in the service
- He served at Ft. Belvoire and I had worked there, as well, when I lived in the DC area
- Church was often canceled on Sunday nights during the Fair, so that the entire church could go cheer him and my other Uncle Wally on, at the Demo Derby

So, to honor him and his love of cows - I present this week's earrings:

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Week #32 - I love me some, Colah!

Week 32!  What a week, too!

This week's installment is full of COLOR!  Those who know me, know I'm kinda a freak for rainbows and bright colors...... check out this week's manicure:

 

I rest my case. =)

So, when I saw these GORGEOUS stained glass window-ish, handmade, lampwork beads - I KNEW they needed to be in my grubby little hands. =)  I added some bead caps, and some INCREDIBLE Swarovski pendants.  

 

DEFINITELY some of my favorite-est earrings so far!  Hooray!  What do YOU think?


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

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

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

ZNetShows Summer 2015 Creative Spark!

What do get when you take a bunch of designers, lovely sea glass beads and tell them to go crazy?  Why a magazine, of course!

This Summer's Edition of the ZNetShows  Creative Spark Magazine

As a part of their design team, I was chosen to make some pieces with their INCREDIBLE Sea Glass Beads (seriously DROOL worthy!)  My favorites include the Purple tubes, which I used in my earrings:

Love the components on the bottom?  Contact me for more info!

I also fell in LOVE with the crystal barrels and the turquoise lava beads - OMGoodness!  A-MAZ-ING!  I used both of these in my necklace, as well as a starfish I, also, made. =)

 You can read more about my pieces and their inspiration in Creative Spark! 

A few notes about ZNetShows.com sea glass beads section:

- You can browse by SHAPE or COLOR
- They offer several strands when you purchase
- I like that I can even search for something I can't find right away
- They also have INCREDIBLE lava beads!
- They have an OUTSTANDING selection of different colors
- They even offer pendants!

I hope that you will try out some new designs with this GORGEOUS Sea Glass from ZNetShows.com - BEAUTIFUL sea glass, indeed!


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~



Disclosure:
I was compensated with free beads for my time and design skills.  My opinions of the products are STRICTLY my own and were NOT influenced by the company or the fact that I received beads from them.   




 

Week #31 - Bead Caps Keep A Comin'!

So, this is week #3 of bead caps.  =) 

I didn't realize how EXPENSIVE these little buggers can be!  Holy man!  So, a little confession to make - sometimes I troll certain websites for folks who are selling their beads....I won't say which for fear that someone else may become my competition...but anyway. =)  I found this listing that a woman had put up saying that she had bead caps.  I clicked on the link and saw a smattering of bead caps, and not really sure how many or what they REALLY looked like - but I bit the bullet.  I bought them from her, and she was kind enough to send them to me. 

When the package arrived, I nearly dropped it on the floor - it was HEAVY!  I weren't expectin' that.  I opened the bag....and my jaw about hit the same spot as the envelope!  That sucker was PACKED with bead caps.  SO!  You can see a *small* sampling of the goodies that I received and have sorted.  I've got about 3/4 of the bag left.  

I decided this this week, I hadn't really worked with pearls too much so I pulled out my organizer of pearls and settled on these pink marquis sweethearts.  I used some of the caps from the bag and matched the pearls with some GORGEOUS, round, Jonquil/Antique pink Swarovski crystals.  I LOVE how they turned out.  What do YOU think?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Week #30 - "Joy of" Earrings

If you've been a fan of mine for a while, you probably have read somewhere that I lived in the DC area for 13+ years and during my last 2ish years there, I started learning how to make jewelry.  There were 2 local bead stores (LBS) within 6 miles of my place and 2 big box stores with about 3 miles.  So to say I was SPOILED is an UNDERSTATEMENT.  I had no idea!

One of those LBS, The Joy of Beading, is where I really learned and took off.  The owners were VERY encouraging in my jewelry.  I really loved learning and they loved teaching. =)  They had some of the most beautiful beads, I'd ever seen!  It was always something new and interesting.  The sweet store ended up closing, not long after I moved - which devastated me.  SO!  This pair of earrings is kind of an ode to them....

The head pins were hand crafted (by me!) and the large crystals are from their store.  They are SPECTACULAR in real life - a GORGEOUS montana, disco type, rondelle.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~