Sequintastic September Blog Hop - hosted by Sarah Sequins

Hi Y'all,

Welcome to the Sequintastic September Blog Hop Hosted by Sarah of Saturday Sequins blog.

I have never worked with sequins before this challenge, so of course I had to join in on the fun.  I knew right away that I was going to do a cuff, but what was I going to do on the cuff, that was the question.  Luckily Sarah gave us a couple of months to come up with an idea, but the procrastinator in me would not let me start until a week and a half ago.  I literally just finished my cuff today (Friday).

I don't ever think to do progress pictures until I am writing the blog post and I get one of those "Duh I could of had a V8!" slap my forehead type moments.  I did get one picture of me working on my cuff when I was on the beading retreat in Florida.

Well okay you can see the colors I chose to use but not the design of the cuff.   I find in bead embroidery that I like to just design as I go.  Like a painter with a blank canvas, I just begin to add color and let the beads, well in this case sequins, say what they want to be.  So let me introduce to you "Trip the Lights Fandango"

When I went to Joann's to find sequins these two colors said pick me, pick me, so how could I refuse.

I started out with the lime green seed beads in the wave, but it just did not look like enough, so I added the teal seed beads, then I started adding the sequins.

But is still did not feel right, so I added the pink bugle beads.

But it still was kind of blah.  I had these rose ravolis and everything just fell into place.

I backed my cuff with olive green ultra suede and brick stitched the lime green seed beads around the edge. 

Um yeah, I know the clasp is not centered but that is an easy fix.

Thank you Sarah for having a great idea for a challenge.  I had fun with this one and will gladly sign up to do another one of your challenges again.

Thanks Y'all for stopping by to see what I made for this challenge and now please hop on over to the other participants in this blog hop and see what beauties they created.

Participants!!!!

Host: Sarah... http://saturdaysequins.com

Dita... http://alankarshilpa.blogspot.com

Ambra... http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com

Audrey... http://hotpinkquilts.blogspot.com

Stacy... http://iridalsattic.blogspot.co.uk

Karen W...  http://baublicious.blogspot.com

Lori...  http://www.prettythingsblog.com

Lisa... http://lisabinkley.typepad.com

Carmi... http://resincrafts.blogspot.com

Dawn Marie...  http://designsbydawnmarie.blogspot.com

Jeannie... http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog 

Shirlee... http://www.shirleestuff.blogspot.com

Linda... http://www.lilysofthevalleyjewerly.blogspot.com 

Corrine... http://www.sparkledaysstudio.com

Gutukas... http://atradimutakeliais.blogspot.com

Shannon... http://uptwnsh-fallingintothesky.blogspot.com

Mallory... http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com

Cyndi... http://www.beading-arts.com

Maneki... http://wildrosesandblackberries.blogspot.com 

Maryanne... http://zingalasworkshop.blogspot.com

Ine... http://jewelsbyine.blogspot.com

Karen... http://www.overthemoon-design.com

Kepi... http://kepirasmussen.blogspot.com

Jennifer... http://jenniferstumpf.blogspot.com

Misty...  http://thejollyfatelf.blogspot.com

Dot... http://speediebeadie.blogspot.com

Hope... http://craftyhope.blogspot.com

Cynthia... http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com

Micheladas... http://www.micheladasmusings.blogspot.com

Shirley...  http://www.beadsandbread.blogspot.com

Karla... http://texaspepperjams.blogspot.com

Eleanor... http://eleanorpigman.blogspot.com

Therese... http://theresestreasures59.blogspot.com (you are here)

Rita... http://www.toltecjewels.blogspot.com 

Robyn... http://rcponders.wordpress.com

Stepha... http://skwds.blogspot.com

Sue... http://suebeads.blogspot.com

Cate... http://fulgorine.wordpress.com

Amy... http://Loraamyjames.com

Happy hopping Y'all,

Therese

Fair Entries

Hi Y'all,

Well last Thursday I packed up five necklaces and took them down to the Creative Living Center at the Coliseum fair grounds to be entered in this years fair.  I took two bead woven necklaces to be entered in the hand crafted jewelry category and three bead strung necklaces to be entered into the Gem and Mineral category.  Here are the pieces I entered.

I chose the necklace that I did for the Bead Soup Blog Hop.  I got such great review of this piece during the hop and from those that have seen this piece in person.  How could I not enter this piece?

The same goes for the necklace I did for Amy's Summer Lovin' challenge at her blog I love how this necklace turned out. It is my very first all on my own no tutorial piece that I created with RAW.  The pendant is also the fist time I made a bezel without the focal being glued down to a foundation piece first.  I have had so many offers to buy this one, but this one is just not for sale.

This necklace is made with red died coral, black onyx, and the most gorgeous round Blood stone I have ever seen.

This long necklace is made with graduated sizes of Porcelain Jasper and between the Jasper is graduated sizes of light pink crystal rondells. This picture dose not do this necklace justice.  This necklace is 30 inches long and heavy, but yet not a pain to wear.

And my last entry is the piece I did for mine and Christine's one on one challenge "She made, She made" You will have to come back on October 1st to see this one.  I can tell you though it is a beauty.

I will not know how I did until I visit the fair sometime during the first week in October.  My Brother and his wife usually work at the fair and will know before me, but I think after last year's mistake in telling, they will not spoil the surprise this year.  Let's just say my Brother still rubs his arm when he sees me! ;-)

Happy beading Y'all,

Therese

Blog Award Blog Hop

Hi Y'all,

If I have done this right today is Saturday the 22nd of September and y'all are reading about who I presented these awards to.

I am out of town this weekend at a Beading Retreat in Crestview, FL, had to do this post on Thursday night.
Ok I know you want to know who I presented these awards to so go get you a cup of something good a snack of some sort and sit back and read all about the awards and the people they have been given to.

First award is the Artistic Blogger Award:

  A blogger whose work (their artistic talent) is consistently beautiful...
I chose Nancy Dale of NEDbeads blog.  Nancy is an awesome bead weaver her pieces are amazingly beautiful.  Nancy also shares some of her works of art in the form of tutorials, so others can recreate her piece and put a little bit of them selves into the piece.  Nancy was also part of the Battle of the Beadsmiths this year which she made it through to round two where she was pair up with Helena of Manek-Manek another super talented bead weaver.  You can see Nancy's battle piece here.  If you would like to see more of Nancy's pieces of art and maybe purchase a piece or a tutorial you can find them in her Etsy shop.







Second award is the Style Blogger Award:

A blog that uses style to inspire; a blog that is photographically beautiful...
I chose Shannon Chomanczuk of For My Sweet Daughter blog.  Shannon's blog is always full of beautiful photos of her jewelry designs. Shannon also does a Finally Friday color challenge where every Friday she  has made a piece of jewelry that was inspired by the color palette from the previous Friday.  You can check out one of her Finally Friday posts here.  Shannon also does a post on Tuesdays titled Tuesday Tips where she talks about gel nail polish and other tips on keeping your nails looking good.  You can see one of her Tuesday Tips here.  Shannon also has an Etsy shop go check it out she does fabulous jewelry pieces.







Third award is the Journalistic Blogger Award:

A blog that is really well written, informative, and inspires discussion...
I chose Erin Prais-Hintz of Treasures Found Inspiration Everywhere blog. Erin is a wonderfully kind and giving person that loves to write and read as well as make beautiful works of wearable art.  Erin also makes a line of polymer clay pendants with inspiring sayings on each pendant.  I have been a part of a few of the challenges Erin has hosted, the latest being her Challenge of Travel, my country was Kenya in Africa. Erin's next challenge is the Challenge of Color which is coming up in November.  One of my most favorite challenges of Erin's was when we, her followers, were able to join in and help write a story.  It was so much fun to come back read and put in your two cents to the story. You can read the whole story here. Another favorite post of Erin's that I truly enjoyed reading was when she told everyone of her dream of owning her own bead store, you can read about it here.  I do hope that this dream becomes a reality for her one day.
Erin also has an Etsy shop where you can find her Simple Truths pendants.



Forth award is the Educator Blogger Award:

A blogger that provides great tutorials that are easy to follow...
I chose KJ(short for Kathy Jo) of KJ's Beadacious Beads.  KJ is another very talented bead weaver, that has pushed me in the right direction a time or two.  The latest was with CRAW(cubic right angle weave).  You see she had made a beautiful CRAW beaded bead to go on a Asian inspired cuff she was making, and on one of her blog post she had the tutorial for the bead.  I left a comment stating that I would love to make this bead if I could ever understand CRAW.  Well a day later I got an email from her with a link to a fabulous tutorial on CRAW.  Now I can CRAW! Thank you KJ.  You can see that beautiful Asian inspired cuff here and the tutorial for the beaded bead here.






Fifth award is the Newbie Blogger Award:

A favorite new blog with less then 100 follower and less then a year old...
I chose Alenka of Pepita-Handmade blog.  Alenka lives in Slovenia and she started her blog in June of this year.  She is a polymer clay artist that has also just recently picked up bead weaving and is loving it.  That is not uncommon for most of us that have tried bead weaving, it is very easy to get hooked. I first met Alenka this past Bead Soup Blog Party she was my friend Amy of Amybeads partner.  I love what she sent to Amy to create with and after visiting her blog I decided to follow her. Alenka has also signed up for mine and Christine's " A Time To Stitch 2" challenge I can not wait to see what she has created for the challenge.







Well I hope that you have enjoyed reading about the people I have awarded and the reasons why they got their awards.  Here are the rest of the Ladies participating in the Blog Awards blog hop, please go by and see all of their choices for these awards.  I will be hoping when I get back from my retreat on Sunday.

Alicia http://www.allprettythings.ca/

Christine http://onekisscreations.blogspot.com/

Gloria http://newendstudio.blogspot.com/

Janice http://bikbikroro.blogspot.com/

Kashmira http://sadafulee.blogspot.com/

Therese http://theresestreasures59.blogspot.com/

Val http://missvalscreations.blogspot.com/

One more thing before I end this post.  Each person I awarded these awards to can also choose five people to award, and so on, and so on.
Oh boy this is going to be a very award winning weekend Woo Hoo!

Happy blog hoping Y'all,
Therese

Blogger Award

Hi Y'all,

Cynthia Machata at Antiquity Travelers has developed a new way of giving awards.  She is making a week long event out of it.  It started when Marcela at Fashionadictas awarded Cynthia with these three awards...

 Cynthia then chose these wonderful blogs to receive these awards and each day this past week she has featured one of the list of Ladies on her blog. I will be featured tomorrow Friday, September 21st.

Alicia http://www.allprettythings.ca/

Christine http://onekisscreations.blogspot.com/

Gloria http://newendstudio.blogspot.com/

Janice http://bikbikroro.blogspot.com/

Kashmira http://sadafulee.blogspot.com/

Therese http://theresestreasures59.blogspot.com/

Val http://missvalscreations.blogspot.com/

 I am so honored to be apart of such a wonderful and talented group of lovely Ladies, thank you Cynthia for including me in this mix.  Please take the time to check out these blogs if you do not already know or follow these blogs.  Each of these Ladies have their own unique style and craft.

Oh but this is not the end of the story, oh no folks!  Cynthia has come up with a new twist in the blog awards.  On Saturday, September 22 the above Ladies will be presenting the following awards to certain blogs of their choice...

This is going to be a blog award blog hop.  We will link our post up on linky tools to Cynthia's blog and of course each of us will have the list of our blog links on our blogs so you can enjoy hopping to each blog to see everyone's nominations.

So please come back on Saturday the 22nd to see to who will be receiving these awards.

Happy beading Y'all,

Therese

Beading Babes Project 6

Hi Y'all,

It is time to reveal what I did with the Beading Babes project 6 choices.  Just a little recap on how Beading Babes works.  Every other month Karyn White of Releases by Rufydoof blog, the wonderful founder of the Beading Babes, selects 2 to 4 projects from either Beadwork or Bead and Button magazines that we can choose from to reproduce our version of the pattern.  One can do all or some of the projects.  For project 6 these following patterns were chose for us to choose from:

1. Retro Daisies by Janice Chatham published in the April 2012 Bead and Button magazine

2. Ripple Effect by Sherry Serafini published in the June/July 2011 Beadwork magazine

3. Soutastic Soutache Earrings by Amee McNamara published in the June 2012 Bead and Button magazine

4. Josephine's Collar by Jill Devon published in the June/July 2011 Beadwork magazine

I love all four of these choices and I bought the supplies for all four, but I ended up only getting two of the patterns done.  I did the Retro Daisies in two different color ways and I did the Ripple Effect, so without further ado here are my versions of these two patterns. 

 The first pattern I did was the Retro Daisies it was the least time consuming of the patterns.

This one I did in pastel colors of aqua, pink and light green netted base.

This one I did in jewel tone colors of dark red, blue and a green netted base.  The toggle in this one was made by Lesley Watts of the The Gossiping Goddess blog and these can be purchased in her Esty shop.

My second choice was the Ripple Effect it took me about 15 hours to make this one, but it was worth the time.

I chose a Czech glass button as the focal for my cuff.

Well there y'all go my pieces for Beading Babes project 6.  Beading Babes has grown by hundreds since Karyn started the Beading Babes group on facebook here we post our pictures on the facebook page and those of us with blogs do blog posts as well.  Thank you for stopping by I hope you enjoyed what you saw.

Happy beading Y'all

Therese

A Time To Stitch 2

Hi Y'all,

Christine and I had so much fun co-hosting "A Time To Stitch" a few months ago that we decided to do another one.  Same rules as before, we offer two stitches to choose from this time around the stitches are Right Angle Weave and St. Petersburg.  You can choose to do one or both of the stitches.  It is open to first time bead weavers to the advanced bead weavers.  The object is to just have fun.  There is no pressure to complete a project, just post what you have done at the time of the reveal.

Karen Williams of Baublicious blog is letting us use her tutorial for Right Angle Weave click here for the tutorial.

This is an excellent video tutorial on Cubic Right Angle Weave.

This is an excellent video tutorial on the basic St. Petersburg stitch.


There are many tutorials of these stitches on You tube.  Google is a good source to find patterns that use these stitches, Beadwork and Bead & Button websites and magazines are other good sources.   The magazines most of the time have patterns using Right Angle Weave (RAW) or Cubic Right Angle Weave (CRAW).

Christine and I hope that you will come and play along with us in creating or learning with these two versatile stitches.  Sign ups start today Sept. 4 through Sept. 8.  Just leave a comment telling us that you would like to join in and please if your email address is not connected to your blog leave your email address with your comment it is very important that we have a way to get in touch with you.

Happy beading Y'all,
Therese

Challenge Of Travel Blog Hop

Hi Y'all,

Today is the reveal to Challenge of Travel Blog Hop hosted by Erin of Treasures Found blog and Marcie of La Bella Joya blog.  These two ladies put their heads together and thought up a fantastic blog hop of travel around the world inspired by the Olympics.   The Challenge goes like this... select a region of the planet that you do not live on and choose an inspiration nation from within that region (or better yet, have one chosen for you!).  I chose the continent of Africa and then I chose for Erin and Marcie to surprise me with a county, they chose for me Kenya.   So come along with me on a journey to Kenya.

The following photos, facts, and commentary is copied from The National Geographic website.

Fast Facts

Population:

33,830,000

Capital:

Nairobi; 2,818,000

Area:

580,367 square kilometers (224,081 square miles)

Language:

English, Kiswahili, numerous indigenous languages

Religion:

Protestant, Roman Catholic, indigenous beliefs, Muslim

Currency:

Kenyan shilling

Life Expectancy:

46

GDP per Capita:

U.S. $1,100

Literacy Percent:

85

The East African country of Kenya rises from a low coastal plain on the Indian Ocean to mountains and plateaus at its center. Most Kenyans live in the highlands, and Nairobi, the capital, is here at an altitude of 1,700 meters (5,500 feet). Even though Nairobi is near the Equator, its high elevation brings cooler air. To the west of Nairobi the land descends to the north-south running Great Rift Valley—the valley floor is at its lowest near Lake Turkana in the deserts of northern Kenya. Around Lake Turkana, scientists have discovered some of humankind's earliest ancestors—a fossil known as Kenya Man was dated at 3.5 to 3.2 million years old.

Both free enterprise and a measure of political debate helped make Kenya one of Africa's most stable nations after it achieved independence from Britain in 1963. But, more recently, corruption has been an undermining force, and the government—pressured for reform—moved to a multiparty system in the late 1990s. Barriers to progress are high population growth, electricity shortages, and inefficiency in key sectors.

Forty ethnic groups, including Kikuyu farmers and Maasai cattle herders, crowd the countryside, still home to three-quarters of Kenya's people. Intense competition for arable land drives thousands to cities, where unemployment is high. In Nairobi, East Africa's commercial hub, skyscrapers abruptly give way to slums. The government has stepped up efforts to stem poaching, particularly of the elephant and black rhino. Tourism is essential to the economy, and Kenya is one of Africa's major safari destinations.

 

Kenya

Photograph by Jen Eudy, My Shot

Sunset falls on a Maasai boy on Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve.

Amboseli National Reserve

Photograph by George Steinmetz

Watered by underground streams from Mount Kilimanjaro, the marshes and grasslands of Amboseli National Reserve provide a dry-season refuge for elephants that draw visitors to Kenya from all over the world. The savannas around Amboseli are also a battleground, where wide-ranging wildlife comes into conflict with growing numbers of Maasai and their cattle.

Giraffes

Photograph by Mitch Walters, My Shot

Rapid growth in the number of people living just outside the unfenced Masai Mara National Reserve threatens its giraffes, which compete with livestock for a diminishing food supply. Scientists say the giraffe population has fallen by more than half over the last three decades.

 

African Lion

Photograph by Michael Nichols

A lion passes a row of vultures along a river's edge. The big cats once roamed most of the continent. Today they are found only in parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

This is the part of my piece that represents the large animals that can be found in the Masai Mara National Reserve.

Samburu Bride

Photograph by Annie Katz/Getty Images

Beaded necklaces coil around the neck and shoulders of a young Samburu bride. Worn during other important ceremonies as well, such elaborate ornaments can be handed down from mother to daughter for generations.

Maasai People

Photograph by Wietske van de Zande, My Shot

The Maasai people of East Africa have always gone their own way. For them, each 12-month span contains two years—a year of plenty, olaari, that coincides with the rainy season, followed by a year of hunger, olameyu, that begins when the rains end.

This is the part of my necklace that represents the Masai Samburu tribe.

When I was told that Kenya was going to be my country to get inspiration from the first thing I thought of was a bright color beaded collar, but alas there would not be enough time to do such an elaborate project so I settled for peyote ropes.  While I was doing my search on Kenya I came across a website that explained about the colors in the Masai peoples beaded jewelry. (copied from http://www.africanelements.com)

 Colours

For the Masai people the colours of the beadwork have special significance.

Red - danger, ferocity, bravery, strength, and it is the colour of the blood of the important cow that is slaughtered when the community comes together in celebration.

Blue - the sky and the water that gives the life to the grass and the cattle

Green - represents the land, the grass and health

Orange is the colour of hospitality.

Yellow Also suggests hospitality because it is the colour of the animal skins on guest beds.

White – Purity, health, peace and the colour of the important milk

Black - the people, hardships in life

In my piece I chose to use red, green, orange, blue, and yellow. Two of the peyote ropes are done in size 11 seed beads and the focal rope is done in red and green size 11 and orange, blue, and yellow in size 8 seed beads.

The carved animals were carved in Kenya, but were purchased from my local bead store High Strung Beads.  I used a copper toggle clasp copper is a metal that can be found in Kenya and is used to trade for goods. I used wooden beads in my piece to represent the forest in the mountainous areas of Kenya.

I made the bracelet using shells and amazonite to represent the coastal area of Kenya.

Well I hope you enjoy your trip to Kenya as much as I enjoyed taking you there. Now hop on board your next flight to your next destination by clicking on Erin's blog link here.  Who knows what wonders you will discover.

Happy trails to you until we meet again...

Therese