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/

Liebster award, eh?

I'd never heard of this until Laney from Izzybeads nominated me, but it sounds like fun! It's a little way of finding out about bloggers, promoting other bloggers, and , well, it's a bit of fun. Thanks, Laney!

I've been making some earrings for a challenge and working on my BSBP reveal, so I thought I'd take a moment to finally fill this out. Enjoy!

So here goes. Laney asked me these questions:

 

1.  Are you tidy or untidy when you are working on your craft?

Bit of both, really. There is method to the madness that is my supply stash, but I don't have a craft room. I have to put my tools and beads away after I use them every day, so I don't make too much of a mess. The box my supplies are in IS a mess.

2.  What is your favourite colour?

I have a few. My favourites have always been blue, black, and green (especially combinations of blue and black of black and green!). I'm starting to love other colours and will use any colour in my designs. Orange and purple are coming to mind, and I'm using more white and earth tones.

 

3.  What is it that inspires the craft that you do?

The need to do it. I find the materials inspiring and making something with them very satisfying. It's my creative outlet, plus I love beads. I find nature inspiring, most of all, colour, and the quirks of what is or isn't beautiful. I'm drawn to mixed media as well, and find that style inspiring.

 

4.  Are you a night owl or a morning lark?

I can be both.

 

5.  Who do you admire and why?

I admire all sorts of people. I'm a shy people lover. I admire people who are good at what they do and people who tried very hard to get there.

6.  What is your favourite meal?

I'm not a favourite meal kind of person. I like Italian food, oriental food...my hubby and I do a lot of cooking. But mostly him :)

 

7.  Where would you like to live, anywhere in the world and if money was no object.

Very tough question. I love beautiful remote places. I always felt I could live out in the Scottish Highlands in one of those old stone houses. Somewhere I could go on remote walks would be nice.

 

8.  If you could be an animal for the day, which one and why?

Not sure about that! You expect me to say a bunny, don't you? :)

 

9.  If you could choose any time in history to live, which era and why?

I used to think I was born a couple hundred years late. I love craftsmanship and working with my hands and simple life (ehem, internet...). But I love the freedoms we have today.

 

10.  How do you start your craft/piece of art, with sketches or just get on with it?

I get on with it. I very rarely sketch something. I shuffle the beads around or get a mental picture. I go with what feels and looks right with some thought about the interest of the materials.

 

11.  Do you have a favourite artist and why?

Many, many. I'm eclectic, but I have favourite artists in different styles. Ivona Posavi PŠak for wirework, Luthien Thye for assemblage, Mary Anne Melo for that other-worldy-middle earth style. There are many artists I admire daily.

 

And there you have it! Apparently I'm supposed to nominate some bloggers, but I'll have to do that bit later.

 

The rules of the award are as follows..
- List 11 random facts about yourself

- Answer the 11 questions which are given to you by your nominator

- Ask 11 questions for all the bloggers that you nominate to win the award

- Nominate 9 bloggers with less than 200 followers to win the award

- Go to each of the nominees' pages to inform them about their nomination

- Thank the blogger who nominated you by mentioning them and linking their blog in your post

 

Tree of life

I don't know why I didn't try these sooner. These tree pendants are so fun to make. The possibilities are endless! And that's one of the things I love about wirework. I feel challenged to keep making, to keeping finding out what can be made, what you can do with wire...

 

This is the second tree of life pendant I've made. It's wire wrapped in copper on a hammered base. I used peridot chips for the leaves and teeny tiny garnets for the apples. There are little apples peeking out from the leaves, and even a little one at the top of the tree.

I like how this one turned out and will hopefully make one or two more. I only have so many of those little garnets though! This one went in my shop today.

And in other news, it's the weekend! I received a large order of clay in the mail yesterday (well, it was large for me!). I'm hoping to make a few things to stock up my shop this weekend, including some of my Hare Jumping Over the Moon pendants. We'll see!

Have a great weekend!

That long?

Has it really been 3 weeks since I last blogged? They say time flies when you're having fun...And despite the sudden cold snap in weather, I have been! I've been making lots of new polymer clay beads for my shop, and it's going wonderfully.

I've had some talented customers grace my shop and love seeing what they make with my beads. My new Facebook page has seen a lot of activity lately, too. I am grateful for all the people who take the time to peek at my page and share in my passion.

And now that the shop is stocked (or it was this morning!), I have some time to play with beads myself. I have no shortage of inspiring beads having received some from my partner, Marcia from The Alternative Foundry, in the 7th BSBP and my talented friend in France, Solange from Ahowin. I have some ideas for the African trade beads Solange sent me and a few designs ready to be born for the Bead Soup Blog Party®. I did make a pair of earrings this week with some handmade findings. I've been playing with my little blowtorch. It's almost addictive as beads!

These earrings have garnet and peridot gemstones. Some of the garnets are the tiniest I've seen!

Hope you're having a great week. Thanks for reading - happy beading!

Trade beads and more

My friend in France, Solange, sent me some amazing beads as a gift. I wasn't expecting them and was so excited when they arrived!

Solange sent me a number of African trade beads, handmade brass beads, and shells. I've started using some, so they're not all in the photo. 

My favorite has to be the trade beads. They're so colorful and charming. I love that they're handmade, and each one is different than the next. But also they're filled with history. 

 

Solange has more of these beautiful beads in her shop. She has also used some in her own designs. I love them! It's the perfect time of year to add some color to my jewelry, too. Watch this space! :)

Love and Light: in memory of Tanya

Today is a day to remember a friend. Tanya made beautiful jewelry and had a love for gemstones. That's how I met her. I wanted to buy some gemstones from her. Tanya was so caring and open. We started chatting and soon became friends.

We spoke off and on about gemstones, bunnies, cats, serious topics, but over this past summer we became very close. We chatted for hours almost every day. Tan encouraged me in my jewelry and always included extras in the packages she sent me. She gave me more than beads...it's all so tiny compared to the friendship she gave me.

Tanya has been one of the most 'real' people I've known. She shared her stories with me, her love, and friendship. I liked making her laugh, and she always told me how important it was to her. How she cherished our friendship. She was a compassionate person who loved her bunnies and spread kindness.


I never got to meet Tanya. We talked about meeting. We wanted to have tea together, chat in person...I wanted to give her the big hug she deserved. And I would have, but she was taken too soon.

Some of her friends have put together a blog hop for today. We are all celebrating her 'love and hugs' and the light she spread into our lives. I made this bracelet in her memory.

One of the things Tanya loved was rabbits. I made this purple, marbled rabbit out of polymer clay. The bunny is surrounded by some of the things I love, too. There are vintage beads in purple - one of Tan's favorite colors. There are also carved goldstone flowers.

Tan loved brass, and I will forever think of her when I use it. I used all the brass wire I bought from her ages ago in other projects, but I did have some chain left from Tanya to add to it.

The roses in the bracelet remind me of a poem I wrote as a little girl when I lost another beautiful person...

Life is but a rose
Quickly fading in its prime.
Beauty fades.
With every falling petal,
A memory is made.
Make the best of the time you are given;
The memories you have made.

I miss Tanya. She was filled with love and encouragement. She always told me not to wait too long to find out you're a good person. I once told her she would leave a bigger hole in my life than she filled...That was her. Tanya gave more than anyone I know. Thank you, Tanya! xx

Others who are sharing:

Alicia Marinache All Pretty Things
Solange Colling Ahowin Handcrafted Jewelry
Liss Silverwing http://lisssilverwing.blogspot.com/
Cherry Obsidia http://cherryobsidia.blogspot.co.uk/
Pookledo www.pookledo.blogspot.co.uk
Rana Lea http://ranaleadesigns.blogspot.com/
Leah Curtis http://beadyeyedbunny.blogspot.co.uk/
Lori Anderson http://www.prettythingsblog.com/
Ingrid www.wrappedinsilver.com
Duffy Blevins http://bubbasjewels1.blogspot.com

BSBP7 has arrived!

Today I received my fantastic soup from Marcia. It's gorgeous! She was very generous, too, and included all kinds of beautiful beads. Marcia also sent the snow my way! There was a surprising inch of it outside when I went to collect my post. But this soup makes it a perfect day...

Before I show you the soup, have a look at the boxes it came in. One is of a beautiful pair of birds and the other a woman's portrait. I could learn a thing or two from Marcia's packaging!

And now, soup!

Marcia sent a variety of wonderful beads. There are gorgeous ceramics, faceted glass, flowers, and Czech glass. I love the sparkly rainbow glass on the right. There are also some vintage beads and enameled beauties.

There's not one, but three focals. The feather pendant is by The Crafty Bead. The owl (I love owls!) is by AngelWhisperer, and the mint/white bronzed connector is unmistakably by ScorchedEarthonEtsy.

Marcia made me two clasps. They're beautifully done in copper with little faceted beads and wire wrapping. The white one is really interesting with its shabby chic patina.

But that's not all. Marcia also made some button headpins for me. She sent some leather as well, and beautiful charms and connectors. The copper charms with the blue patina say 'Paris' on them.

The soup also includes some crusty lampwork beads by Numinosity. I'm not sure who made the bumpy lampwork beads, but they're beautiful, too. I was actually about to buy a pair like them on Etsy (Marcia stalked me well...).

Another thing I discovered recently was the nautilus shaped Czech glass. How did she know? Even spookier, the flower shaped shell connectors are nearly exactly like some I sent her.

And now that Marcia has received what I sent, you can see too.

This first soup has polymer clay beads and focal made by me, carved flower goldstone, hematite, tiger's eye, and a copper clasp I made.

This one has a faceted shell pendant, little shell charms, shell beads, vintage lucite, lampwork by Tan Grey, a bunny by me, and bits of 18th century pipes.

You'll have to wait until the weekend to hear what Marcia thinks of her soup. Keep an eye on her blog!