Sunday, June 22, 2014

Break From Tradition Challenge

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Hi Y'all,

Way back on December 15, 2013 Cynthia Machata asked a few of us beady people if we would like to participate in a little challenge with some large Howlite spikes some are black and some are white. Of course we all said yes and told her what colors we would prefer.  I chose a combination of both black and white.

Well, I received my spikes way back on Dec. 21, 2013 and my mind went blank.  I set them aside and pretty much forgot about them, until I was looking for something and came across them, so I put them out on my bead table and would look at them, and yes you got it, I still did not know what to do with them.

On May 17, 2014 Cynthia asked how we were doing with the spikes and wanted to know if we would prefer a rolling hop or a set date for a hop.  We all pretty much decided a set date, so the date was set to June 22, 2014.  Now I am a person that when is given a deadline I get things done, because I suffer from that syndrome of I do not want to let anyone down.  So I got a few different types of beads out in various colors and shapes and stated playing around.  

This is what I created with the black spikes...



The spikes are large and have two holes drilled through the base.  I chose some two hole Rula's in teal variegated with bronze and size 8 bronze seed beads.  I sewed all the spikes together with the Rula's and seed beads as spacers between the spikes.  Then I had the problem of what kind of clasp did I want to use. I remembered I had some bronze colored silk material, so I ripped off a piece and tied it on to both ends of the bracelet.  My friend Crystie came over one day to bead and I showed her this piece. She tied it around her neck and said "Oh what a cool choker this makes."  I told her it was meant to be a bracelet, but I see now, it can be both.

This is what I created with the white spikes...




I used Cubic Right Angle Weave (CRAW) for the white spikes.  I used size 9 purple seed beads and 3 mm Jonquil bicones and made a rectangle and then I spaced the spikes in the middle.  On the ends I used 4 mm purple cubes and made brick stitched pyramids and added a toggle clasp.  Take my word for it this bracelet looks better worn then it does in these pictures.

Both of these bracelets make quite a statement when worn.  Someone will think twice before grabbing your wrist if you are wearing one of these bracelets.

Thank you Cynthia for inviting me to play with these huge spikes, I had fun creating with them once the inspiration hit.

Thank you to y'all for stopping by, please leave a comment, cause I love hearing what you have to say.

Now go by and visit the other lucky participants and see what they created with their spikes.


Happy beading Y'all,
Therese

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

A Time To Stitch Five


Hi Y'all,

It is time for the A Time To Stitch 5 reveal.  Back in May 2012, I asked Christine Altmiller if she would be interested in co-hosting a stitching challenge.  Where we would pick a couple of stitches and asked that if y'all were interested in learning bead weaving to try our challenge and of course it was open to all bead weavers no matter their experience.  We had 21 to sign up and a few that had never worked with seed beads before.  It was so much fun that Christine and I decided to keep this challenge going, so every three or four months  we put out the challenge with new stitches and ideas.  ATTS 5's challenge was to take any stitch you prefer and make 3 bracelets with that same stitch using either different beads or different colors to show how one stitch could change in the way it looks just by changing the color or the beads used.

I got started on this challenge right away and as the result of stating early I was able to do nine different bracelets in three different stitches.  I chose Peyote, Herringbone, and Right Angle Weave.  Here is what I created.


The first bracelet I used size 8 silver lined clear seed beads and size 3 mm bicones in assorted colors in 6 count even peyote.
The second bracelet is the same style as the first I changed the color to silver lined size 8 seed beads and 3 mm brown glass pearls.
The third bracelet I used size 11 triangles in matte Hematite and shiny Hematite in 8 count even peyote.


The first bracelet I used size 11 triangles in green iris and blue iris with a Czech glass button for the clasp.
The second bracelet I used purple 4 mm cubes and size 9 seed beads in purple iridescent with a hard plastic decorative button clasp.
The third bracelet I used 1.5 mm cubes in matte gold iris and blue iris with a slide clasp. (this one is my favorite)


I am a big fan of Jill Wiseman and this is her Fantaisa bracelet design/tutorial.
The first bracelet (from the bottom) is done with 4 mm orange AB bicones and 3 mm Indian pink bicones and green size 11 seed beads.
The second bracelet is 4 mm peach glass pearls, 3 mm brown glass pearls, and bronze size 11 seed beads.
The third bracelet is 4 mm red bicones, 3 x 1.5 mm roundels, silver size 11 seed beads. 

I want to thank my wonderful co-host Christine, for coming up with ATTS 5's challenge idea, and thank you to all that are participating in the go around of ATTS.
A big thank you to all that have stopped by to seeing what I have posted and I hope you leave a comment, because I enjoy hearing from you.
Now please go by and visit the other participants in this challenge.

 Hosts:
Therese  

Participants

Happy beading Y'all,
Therese  



Monday, May 26, 2014

CC7A May Challenge Seasons

Introducing: The Creative Continuum of Seven Artists ~ an adventure in art creating with friends :: All Pretty Things

Hi Y'all,

It is time for May's reveal for the CC7A and this month we are creating with the package Alicia sent to the other six in the group of seven.
  
Back in the latter months of 2013 Alicia Marinache of All the Pretty Things blog asked seven of her blog friends if we would like to participate in a challenge that would cover 7 months, of course we all said yes. So we were assigned months, we picked themes for our months, and shipped out packages with all sorts of little goodies to design with.

Here is a picture of what Alicia sent to me to create with...



Alicia sent me Rose Quartz in a cabochon and 8 mm round beads.  It took me a little while to think of what I was going to make with my set.  I did not want to do bead embroidery this time I have done that with every month's challenge so far.  So I used my newly learned, and still learning, skill wire wrapping. Also since Alicia is a wire wrapper too, it is a tribute to her far better skills as a wrapper.

I had seen on Pinterest wire wrapped Tree of Life with a cab in the background and I had my inspiration. My first idea was to use different colors of seed beads on the branches to represent the different seasons in the year, but after making the tree I decided that I just did not like how it looked once I got the chain made, so back to the drawing board I went.  Here is the final design... 


The Rose Quartz represents Spring, the green Jade represents Summer, the orange Carnelian represents Autumn, and the icy blue Aquamarine represents Winter.  I used silver wire as to not take away from the natural beauty of the stones.


I had several of the beads left from the chain I made so I wire wrapped a bracelet.  This is a very simple design that is very easy to make.

You can not have a full set with out earrings.  

  The whole set.  The neck chain is 22" long and has a lobster clasp.

Thank you Alicia for this great idea of bring together six of us talented ladies to join you in this adventure of creating something new each month with the package provided.  It was a joy creating with the Rose Quartz that you sent to me.

Next month is Cynthia's month her theme is "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, so be sure to come back next month and see what I created with the package Cynthia sent.

Now please go and visit my fellow CC7A members and see what they created with Alicia'a package.


1. Monique

3. Sally
4. Therese (you are here)
5. Alicia
6. Cynthia
7. Emma

Happy beading Y'all,
Therese


Tuesday, May 6, 2014

10 Best Historical Cities in the United States

Hi Y'all,

No jewelry this time I wanted to share my excitement with y'all, the city I live in is one of the 10 best historical cities in the USA.  I am going to share with you the 10 best starting with the 10th and working down to the 1st, so here goes...

10th


New Orleans
in 1718, French colonist Sieur de Bienville established a port city named La Nouvelle Orleans near where the Mississippi River met the Gulf of Mexico. Much of the city was destroyed by fire during the brief period of Spanish rule (many of the city's historical buildings were built by the Spanish, not the French). The city came into U.S. control as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. New Orleans also witnessed the culminating battle of the War of 1812, where Andrew Jackson's troops - joined by Jean Lafitte -defeated British forces.
Photo courtesy of Spondylolithesis/iStock

9th

Philadelphia
It's impossible to study U.S. history without exploring the history of Philadelphia, the birthplace of American democracy. Independence Hall, in the heart of what is now Philly's Independence National Historic Park, witnessed the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and the formation of the U.S. Constitution 11 years later. While historians debate Betsy Ross's true role in creating the original American Flag, the famous seamstress made her home in Philadelphia.


8th

Santa Fe
Pueblo settlements in and around Santa Fe date back to the 10th century, but the city itself wasn't established until 1607. It became the capital of the Spanish province of Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico in 1610, making it the oldest state capital in the country, and it's also home to the nation's oldest public building (the Palace of the Governors) and the oldest community celebration, the Santa Fe Fiesta, first held in 1712 to commemorate the Spanish reconquest of New Mexico.

Photo courtesy of MarkKane.net

7th

Boston
From baseball to higher education and everything in between, Boston's rich history is evident everywhere you look. Incorporated as a town in 1630, Boston saw the founding of the first college in North America - Harvard University - in 1630, just 16 years after the pilgrims first arrived. In 1773, the infamous Boston Tea Party was the first act of open rebellion against British colonial rule, setting in motion events that would eventually lead to the birthing of a new nation.

Photo courtesy of coleong/iStock

6th

St. Augustine, Fla.
Nicknamed the "Old City," St. Augustine was the first European settlement in the U.S., discovered in 1565 some 55 years before the pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock. History is in evidence throughout the city, from the preserved walls of 17th century Castillo de San Marcos to the beautiful Flagler College, built as a hotel by Henry Flagler during St. Augustine's rise in popularity as a winter resort town in the late 19th century.

Photo courtesy of Floridashistoriccoast.com

5th

Charleston, S.C.
Founded by English colonists in 1670, Charleston was one of the continent's most prosperous and influential cities by the mid-18th century, thanks to its production of rice, indigo and cotton on large, slave-worked plantations. This prosperity would continue until Civil War fighting largely devastated the Antebellum city. Luckily, Charleston also produced one of the nation's earliest historical preservation societies, so walking through the historic streets feels like stepping back in time.

Photo courtesy of Bill Stamatis/iStock

4th

Savannah, Ga.
Recorded history of Savannah begins in 1733, the year when General James Oglethorpe and the good ship Anne made landfall along the Savannah River front and the colony of Georgia was established. Considered America's first planned city, Savannah still has 22 of its original 24 public squares, thanks in part to the Historic Savannah Foundation who helped forge one of the country's largest National Historic Landmarks, Savannah's Historic District.


3rd

Williamsburg, Va.
From 1699 to 1780, Williamsburg was the political and cultural hub of the largest and most influential American colony, Virginia. Not only does Williamsburg have a storied history, it's managed to bring that history to life right before visitors' eyes in Colonial Williamsburg, a re-creation of what the influential Virginia colony might have been like on the brink of the Revolutionary War.

Photo courtesy of Brianna May/iStock

2nd

Annapolis, Md.
Founded as a small English community in 1649, Annapolis was known by several other names before it was named after the Queen in 1702. During the early years of the 18th century, the colonial capital was a political, economic and cultural powerhouse, and the Maryland State House, built in 1772, is the first and only state house to serve as the nation's capitol, which it did from 1783 to 1784.

Photo courtesy of VisitAnnapolis.org

1st

Montgomery, Ala.
In 1819, two small settlements of cotton plantations merged together to form the town of Montgomery. During the Civil War, Montgomery was home of the First White House of the Confederacy, where Jefferson Davis and his family lived, but its most important historical contributions came during the Civil Rights movement as the site of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The city also had the first electric street car system, and the first flight school set up by the Wright Brothers.

Photo courtesy of VisitingMontgomery.com

Montgomery is the city I live in and it is the 1st best 10 of the historical cities in the USA what an honor to be recognized.  The photo above is of 1 Court Square and it shows the view up Dexter Ave to the Capitol steps. There is a lot of historical places to visit just in this area of Montgomery alone, not to mention the other parts of the city and surrounding cities, such as Prattville just to the north of Montgomery in Autauga County, Selma to the west of Montgomery in Dallas County, Mobile to the south of Montgomery in Mobile County, Birmingham and Huntsville to the north of Montgomery in Jefferson County and Madison County.  The whole state of Alabama is bursting with history, so if you are ever incline, please come and pay Alabama and especially the city Montgomery a visit.

The above pictures and commentary was taken from this web site 10best.com

The other nine cities have always been on my bucket list to visit and I have every intention of checking each of them off my list one day. Congratulations to all for making the 10 Best list.

Happy beading Y'all,
Therese

Saturday, April 26, 2014

The Creative Continuum of Seven Artist - April Challenge - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

Introducing: The Creative Continuum of Seven Artists ~ an adventure in art creating with friends :: All Pretty Things

Hi Y'all,

Well it is April 26th and this time around in the CC7A challenge it is my month.  Here is a small recap about this challenge...
Back in the latter months of 2013 Alicia Marinache of All the Pretty Things blog asked seven of her blog friends if we would like to participate in a challenge that would cover 7 months, of course we all said yes. So we were assigned months, we picked themes for our months, and shipped out packages with all sorts of little goodies to design with.

The theme I chose for my month is "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". Why you ask? Well simple really, April's birthstone is a diamond and the Beatles's song "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" kept playing over and over in my head.  If you are not familiar with the song you can listen to it here

This is what I sent to my six other CC7A participants.

This is what I created with my package that I kept for myself.




I beaded around my cab with blue iris size 11 Delicas and size 15 round seed beads I had some black small roundels in my stash that I beaded around the cab. I brick stitched silver lined clear size 8 seed beads around the outer edge of the cab and added 3 mm blue crystals and picot with size 15 silver lined clear seed beads. The neck strap is done in CRAW with size 8 blue and down the front center I used clear 3mm bicones.  I did not have enough of the blue seed beads to keep going so on the ends I used the silver lined clear seed beads and made a toggle clasp with them as well.  To give the necklace more length and to use some of the other beads in the package and connected the cab to the neck strap.  I laid the cab on it's side to represent the line in the song "The girl with the kaleidoscope eyes"

Thank you Alicia for giving me April, this month holds a lot of sentimental value to me. Thank you to all of you for stopping by, now please go visit the other CC7A bunch.  Next month will be Alicia's month so be sure to come back to see what we have created with what Alicia sent to us.

1. Monique
3. Sally
4. Therese (you are here)
5. Alicia
6. Cynthia
7. Emma

Happy beading Y'all




Monday, April 21, 2014

CC7A April Reveal Reminder and ATTS 5 Participant List

Introducing: The Creative Continuum of Seven Artists ~ an adventure in art creating with friends :: All Pretty Things

Hi Y'all

This is a reminder that on April 26, 2014 will be the April reveal for The Creative Continuum of Seven Artists.  April is my month and my theme is "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds".  Here is what I sent to my six fellow Artists.

This is a picture of my set, I did not take pictures before I sent them out.  Everyone got one of my dichroic glass cabs, 12 or 14 mm stone lentil beads, small blue stone roundels, 8 mm  Opalite, and various sizes and shapes of clear glass beads.

Please come back on the 26th and see what myself, Alicia, Emma, Monique, Sally, Cynthia, and Christine have created for the April challenge of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds!






 Now on to the participant list of A Time To Stitch 5

Christine and I had a nice turn out for our 5th time around for this challenge.  We enjoy presenting this challenge, because it is always a thrill to see all the different creations y'all do with the stitches suggested.  This time around we are asking that one chooses their favorite stitch and make three of the same pieces but changing something in each piece, either the color, size of bead or shape of bead, to see that with these slight changes the whole piece changes.

Here is the list of participants, without their blog links, that will come later.

1. Therese (Host)
2. Christine (Host)
3. Kim 
4. Janet
5. Maryanne
6. Lola
7. Dagi
8. Shirley
9. Alenka
10. LiliKrist
11. Amy
12. Crystie
13. Sally
14. Cynthia
15. Bobbie
16. Karin S.
17. LizE
18. Becky Pancake
19. Karin G.
20. Ana
21. Wendy
22. Mary H.
23 Jasvanti

Christine and I are so looking for to seeing what each of our participants and each other makes.

If you missed this go around, be on the look out for ATTS 6 to be announced in September for a reveal in January 2015.

Happy beading Y'all,
Therese

Monday, April 14, 2014

Shibori Ribbon Blog Hop - hosted by Tanya Goodwin

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Hi Y'all,

Today is the reveal day for the Shibori Ribbon Blog Hop Challenge hosted by Tanya Goodwin of A Work In Progress blog.  Tanya was giving away five nine inch pieces of shibori ribbon for a challenge, but I missed out on the drawing, Tanya said if I had my own shibori ribbon  I could participate in the blog hop.

I have never done anything with shibori ribbon, but I have been drooling over all the beautiful designs and creations I have been seeing on Facebook and Pintrest.  I ordered some of the ribbon from AriaDesignStudio on Etsy with the full intentions of making a cuff, well that did not happen.  So I was so happy when Tanya included me in to her blog hop, because now I had to do something with the ribbon.

Well inspiration did not come easily to me for this challenge, until the other day when I was on Facebook and I saw a simple design and I thought yeah I can do something like that.  So lucky for me I had this weekend off from work, because Tanya sent out an email with the reveal date reminder and I was thinking I had until the 16th.  So I got busy with my design and here is what it turned out to be.


I cut a 3 1/2 inch square out of bead backing and covered it with the ribbon.  I cinched the ribbon in the middle and fanned the ends out.  I had the Czech glass button for a few years now and thought it would be great as the focal in my piece.  I wanted to keep it simple so other then the bezel of seed beads around the button I used 4 mm fire polished Czech beads to embellish and then size 8 silver lined clear seed beads for the brick stitch around the out side of the piece and the bail. I had a silk ribbon string that matched my piece so I used it for the neck strap.

Things I learned from using the shibori ribbon: 
1- it snags very easily 
2- don't pull it to taunt if you want the pleats to show 
3- tack it down when you get the look that you want.  
It would have also helped if I had another hand to hold the ribbon in place while I tacked it down LOL!

Thank you Tanya for allowing me to participate in the blog hop it was fun playing with my ribbon, I will be using shibori ribbon again.

Now please go by and see what the others have done with their ribbon.

Tanya   (our host)
Therese  (you are here)