AJE Component of the Month - April Reveal!

I'm one of the lucky participants for this month's Art Jewelry Elements Component of the Month challenge. Each of us received a beautiful, handmade clasp by Lesley Watt to use. Here's a recap of all the clasps...

I received the shell clasp right in the center of the photo above. It's a beautiful sandy color with a wash of sea-tones in greeny-blues. If you've been following my work recently, you'll know I've had a bit of an obsession with sea themes and bracelets.

So, what did I make? I bet you can't guess...

I'll admit this was a bit tricky for me. The soft colors of the sea shell Lesley made were beautifully subtle, but a bit of a challenge for me to pair with beads I already have in my stash. I immediately chose the fluorite gems for their soft colors and the sea themed lampwork tab focal by Kitzbitz Art Glass.

I used the hook clasp that Lesley included as the clasp on my bracelet and moved the shell to a more prominent place on the bracelet. I've actually used it as a connector.

 

I added some lampwork by Meital Plotnik in sunset colors and more of those subtle sea-tones to pick up on the colors in the shell.

I added a couple of amazonite coins and some starfish charms to finish it off. Et voila! A beachy bracelet with a touch of color from the sunset.

Thanks again to Lesley and the AJE team!


Guests
Johana Nunez
Leah Curtis
Perri Jackson


AJE Team
 Lesley Watt
Keirsten GIles
Caroline Dewison
Rebekah Payne
Jenny Davies-Reazor
Jen Cameron
Diana Ptaszynski
Kristen Stevens
Francesca Watson
Melissa Meman
Linda Landig
Sue Kennedy

Drum roll...

The guessing game giveaway has now ended. There were a lot more comments than I expected on this little giveaway! Thank you all for joining in.

Now, it's time to let you know who won. I think she must have a 6th sense because she made the very first comment and guessed exactly the right number! The winner iiisss...

Rebecca Anderson!

Congrats, Rebecca! I wil contact you with the 15% coupon code and details. 

PS. there were exactly 51 beads in the photo - 11 bunnies and 40 birds.

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. :)

Guessing Game Giveaway!

It seems like all I blog about is giveaways! But when I was taking photos of my recent beads, I couldn't resist using them for a quick game. All you have to do is guess how many beads you think are in this little basket. Easy!

The prize is a 15% off coupon to use in my Etsy shop.

Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment with your guess.

Extra entry for sharing this post on your Facebook, blog, or wherever you like! Come back and guess again.

Deadline is Sunday the 13th of April.

The closest guess wins. Simple! Here's a little hint...somewhere between 1 and 72. Good luck! :)

Winner announced!

Here we go! I promised one of you lovely people a bracelet I made using supplies from Jewellery Quarter. Thank you all for taking the time to comment on and share my giveaway! Now, on to the winner...

I applied a number to each comment (plus you folks who had trouble commenting!) and used a random number generator to choose. Our winner is...

Sandra!

Congratulations, Sandra! Your Spring bracelet will be flying to you soon.

From one giveaway to another...

I have been jumping up and down all week waiting for this day! Last week, I won a giveaway Anne from Jewellery Quarter hosted to celebrate her 1000th sale. She gave away $100 worth of items from her shop on Etsy. Anne even let me choose what I wanted!

I couldn't quite picture what $100 worth of beads looked like. But now I can!

There are brass and copper coloured stampings, Czech glass, flowers, decorative clasps, sari silk, gemstones galore...apatite, fluorite, quartz, and a few types of agate. Wow! I can't get over how much stuff there is. I was so inspired, I whipped up a bracelet from this stash.

 

And that brings us to my giveaway! I'm going to give this bracelet away to one lucky winner. All the materials I used came from Anne's shop (except a few Vintaj headpins). The bracelet is perfect for Spring! I curved the brass coloured bird, so it fits nicely on the wrist, and used sari silk to make up the rest of the bracelet. The clasp is one of the lovely floral textured ones I got from Anne and a few of her Czech glass flowers. 

Here's how to enter:

Comment on this blog post telling me you'd like to win!

Share this post on Facebook, your blog, etc. Comment again 

letting me know what you did.

Deadline is Mach 31st

That's all you have to do! I will number all your comments and choose the winner using a random number generator. 

 Happy Spring!

A quick introduction...

I am so excited about this year's BSBP! I've been paired with the lovely and talented Caroline from BlueberriBeads! How exciting is that? I'm really looking forward to this swap, as I love her clay beads so much.

After chatting to Caroline, I came up with a soup that I hope she'll enjoy using. Well, I can't show you it yet because she hasn't seen it! But I will share a gratuitous blurred teaser pic. Here it is...

Ta da! Yeah, I'm not giving much away...I even wanted the colour to be a surprise. Sorry, Caroline!

The real purpose is to give a little shout out for my lovely partner and head you in the direction of her blog and shop! I'm sure most of you are already familiar with Caroline's beautiful beads, but just in case, please check out her blog and shop, BlueberriBeads. You'll love it!