Good Post Day

In more ways than one! I've had a lot of lovely handmade beads come to the door this week. Want to see? Prepare for bead eye candy!

Clockwise from left: Polymer clay beauties I won from Art Bead Scene's birthday giveaway by Something to do with Your Hands, bumble bees by Izzybeads, double paddle beads by Earthshine Beads, a collection of lampwork I got on eBay (madasaboxoffrogs), and a ceramic elephant focal from Bo Hulley Beads.

They are all gorgeous *swoon*, but I am quickly finding myself addicted to the paddle beads by Earthshine Beads. They're the perfect size and a fun shape. I can see lots of potential in these.

Now, go forth and buy some beads! They're so worth it. :)

Giveaway!

Wouldn't you love a bit of Spring? I felt like making a wirework piece, so I dug through my stash and made a little practice pendant. And it could be yours!

I used a beautiful little cabochon by Laney Mead and wrapped it in swirls of pure brass wire. The cab has a warm, burgundy background with lime leaves and a pretty little blue and yellow blossom. There's a sweet little bubble at the center of the flower that sparkles just right in the sunshine.

And I'm giving it away! all you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post.

International entries welcomed!

You can enter until January 31st.

There's no need to share this on your blog, Facebook, etc., but if you want to spread the word and a little bit of Spring, then thank you!

Colour Palette Blog Hop Reveal

Today is the reveal for the Colour Palette Blog Hop organised by Bonnie at Jasper's Gems. Bonnie challenged us to choose one of three (or all three!) colour paletes.

My first choice, and probably the most eye catching, was the vibrant palette with those adorable little birds.

I played around with some beads and finally decided on using a pair of gorgeous, antique African trade beads my friend Solange of Ahowin sent me. The bright yellow was perfect. The beads also have off-white, black, and tiny swirls of earthy red.

  
I paired them with riverstone gemstones for added white and a natural touch. On top of the trade beads sits a stack of vintage glass washers in black (from the 1900s) and double ended headpins I used as spacers. All the red tipped findings were made by me, and added a little extra colour.

Finally, I added tiny, faceted light blue sapphires. I decided to dangle these from the earwires instead of wire wrapping them in place. It adds to the organic flow of the earrings.

I also chose the palette with the bright orange lily. I made a simple pair of drop earrings with lampwork beads, copper, and enameled headpins.

The speckled beads are by Tan Grey and the orange pair is by Laney Mead (who's also in this blog hop!). For the vibrant green, I used some of my handmade enameled headpins.

The speckled lampwork beads have a few shades shades of orange and an earthy red. I hung the drops on copper ear wires I made to add a bit more of that burnt red.

 

Have a look at the other blogs to see what they made! And a big thank you to Bonnie for this inspiring blog hop.

Roberta Fauntroy
http://thevirtualbeadsociety.wordpress.com/

Alicia Marinache

http://www.allprettythings.ca/

Leah Curtis

http://beadyeyedbunny.blogspot.co.uk

Cheryl Dunham

www.renaissance-jewelry.blogspot.com

Andrea Trank

www.heavenlanecreations.com

Shai Williams

http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com/

Penny Houghton
www.smellynelly.blogspot.com

Maria Rosa Sharrow
www.willowstreetshops.blogspot.ca/

Laney
http://laney-izzybeads.blogspot.ca/

Nancy Smith
http://www.wirednan.blogspot.ca/

Neena Shilvock
www.capriliciousjewellery.com

Bonnie Coursolle

http://jaspersgems.blogspot.ca/

More beautiful art beads...

Guess what? In my last post I shared with you that I won some of Gaea's handmade beads. Well, they've arrived! And they're gorgeous. It's a beautiful set of ceramics in earthy and pastel colors. I'll share photos soon, I promise!

But for now, I have more art beads to share. I won an absolutely stunning set of beads from Caroline of BlueberriBeads. You can see the exact set I won here. And now for some photos of what I've made so far...

In this bracelet, I used Caroline's stoneware dragonfly, copper lentil, stoneware barrel, and her beautiful silvered glass lampwork spotty barrel.

I went with a natural, beachy theme and added some faceted aqua quartz from my friend Tanya of FusionMuse. The beads are wrapped in solid brass wire and finished with a handmade clasp.


 

Here's another pic of that gorgeous dragonfly bead. This bracelet had a lot of ooohs and ahhhhs at a recent show and will be listed in my Etsy soon.





I've made another bracelet with Caroline's beads that has some scrummy larimar and heat patinated brass chain. It'll have to wait for another blog post, though.

Something that has managed to find its way into my shop, is gemstone earrings. I made two pairs of copper earrings with my handmade rosy ball end headpins. I love how the little balls of copper add that extra bit of detail to these earrings.
 

Aren't those gemstones yummy? The yellow pair has faceted yellow sapphires and smooth citrine drops. I love how the citrine sparkles.

The red pair has faceted rubies and the daintiest Turundu sapphires. All those little facets add a surprising amount of sparkle.

I love making these little rustic earrings. A bit of sparkle, a splash of color, and just the right amount of femininity mixed with rustic simplicity. What could be better? If you'd like to see more photos, you can find them here.