3rd Annual Handmade Ornament Swap & Hop - Hosted by Sally Russick

Merry Christmas Y'all,

It is time for me to show you the ornament that I received from Veralynne Malone of Designed by Vera .

First just let me say a few things about my swap partner Veralynne.  She is a very talented lady that lives in the mostly sunny state of Florida my neighbor to the southeast of Alabama.  I first became familiar with Veralynne when Sally did the Black and White challenge you can read about it here.   Veralynne also participated in Sally's Cabochon challenge and this was the first time she did a beaded bezel and in my opinion she did a wonderful job for being her first time.  You can read about her adventure with a beaded bezel here.  Veralynne was also in Jeannie's Do Over challenge where she did another beaded bezel.  I must say she did another wonderful job.  I believe she is getting hooked you can read about it here.

So I bet you want to see what Veralynne created for my tree. Well okay here it is...

   Veralynne started out with a beautiful frosty glass ornament and covered it in a crocheted lace and toped it with a pine cone decoration and at the bottom she hung a manger scene that yes, she beaded a bezel around.  I love the ornament and can not wait till the tree is up so I can hang it where I can see it everyday.

Thank you so much Veralynne for the beautiful ornament.  Thank you Sally for yet another wonderful blog hop to where I was able to make a new friend.

Now hop on over to see what the other participant partners made and received.

List of Holiday Ornament Swappers

Sally Russick and Beth and Evie McCord

Erin Prais-Hintz and Melissa Trudinger

Karen Williams and Shirley Moore

Lori Finney and Alicia Marinache

D Lynne Bowland and Paula Kramer

Kim Bender Hora and Jenny Davies Reazor

Becky Pancake and Lori Anderson

Veralynne Malone and Therese Frank

Tanya Goodwin and Sandi Volpe

Jeanette Ryan and Rochelle Brisson

Patti Vanderbloemen and Susan Kennedy

Happy beading Y'all,

Therese

Rolling Blog Hop - Hosted by Christine of One Kiss Creations

Hi Y'all,

A short while back, Christine of On Kiss Creations blog asked some creative and inspiring women if they would like to participate in a loose kind of blog hop, I was one of those women.  Instead of everyone posting on the same day, we would post as we got our projects done, with an end of November deadline. As you can see I did not meet that deadline, but Christine is a very polite and understanding person and allowed me and Erin a little more time.  She sent each of us a package containing vintage wooden spools like you see on the above badge (badge compliments of Hope's wonderful photography and Janet's tweaking...thanks ladies~it looks great!) and a few more goodies, that we could use or not, but the spools must be used.  Christine found the spools while antiquing in New Jersey.

Here is what I received from Christine...

In my design I used the large spool, the matte finished gray beads, the 1.5 mm cube beads, the blue iris and hematite size 11 delicas, and the Labradorite bead. 

I would like to dedicate this blog post to my Great Grandma Emma Prosser, Grandma Francis Prosser, Grandma Veronica Neuhalfen, and my Mom Alice Neuhalfen Prosser. All of these women have influenced me in one way or an other in my love of creating. 

As far back as I can remember my Mom has always sewed.  My first memories of this is when I was 5 years old sitting under the table with my dolls and picking up my Mom's material scraps as she cut out patterns. I would take the larger pieces wrap them around the doll's body and take a thin strip of material and use it as a belt.  At that age I still could not tie a bow, but I could tie a knot.When I got a little older my Mom would let me use scissors and a darning needle with embroidery floss. She showed me how to do a baste stitch and that was all it took I was hooked, and a crafter was born! 

My Mom's Mom, Grandma Veronica Neuhalfen, was a quilter.  I can remember sitting around a quilt wrack in the living room in her farm house, as a little girl watching about five or six women with little tiny needles, talking and rocking their hands up and down while they made tiny little stitches.  When I got into my young adult years I started making quilts, although I never got the hang of quilting by hand, I used the sewing machine.

When my Dad did his tour in Veit Nam we lived in his home town in Pennsylvania.  My Great Grandma Emma Prosser live up on the side of Hickory Mountain and I would go to her house all the time and sit on a little stool by her old Singer sewing machine.  She would sew and tell me stories of her life when she was a young girl.  I was so amazed with her sewing machine, because it was not like my Mom's Singer, her's was an old trundle machine.  She also did not use patterns she would take my measurements and make me little outfits.  I am so grateful that I had that time with my Great Grandma Emma.  When my Dad returned from Veit Nam we went to Germany and while we were in Germany my Great Grandma Emma passed away.

After returning from Germany and moving to Alabama back in 1970, I would go spend the summers in Pennsylvania with Grandma Francis Prosser, my Dad's Mom.  My Grandma Prosser crocheted and knitted.  I would love to watch her hands move so fast and the item she was making just appear in front of your eyes, it was so fascinating to me.  I would pull here pattern books out and look at them.  In one of the books there was a camisole that I fell in love with and I just had to have it, so I asked her if she would make it for me and she said well I could but I'm not, you are going to make it.  I was wide eyed and told her that I could not do it, she said sure you can I will teach you.  So my very first crocheting project was done with a size 00 needle and thread. Oh and no I never finished the project, but I never forgot the lessons I was taught, and went on to making many many afghans. 

I am so thankful to have and had all these amazing and talented women in my life to teach and nourish my natural abilities.

Here is what I created with one of the spools that Christine sent...

I have been wanting to etch metal, so I finely tried it.  I found a stamp that said smile.  Why smile, well because when I think back on those memories from above, they make me smile.  I measured the spool and cut a piece of copper sheeting to fit around the spool. Stamped it with StazOn ink using the smile stamp and a stamp with little hearts around the edges of the copper.  

I took the etched piece of copper over to my friend Morning's shop and used the torch to anneal the copper, so it would bend around the spool then I punched holes in the back and riveted the ends together.  I wanted the word smile to stand out so I used some blue patina ink to highlight the word and hearts.   I used the Zig Zag stitch in the tassel to represent the Zig Zag stitching from my Mom's sewing machine the best stitch to use with knit material.

The spool is hanging on my very first Viking knit it is not that good, but I thought it tied into my theme of this necklace.  I also used yarn to do a Kumihimo braid to represent the yarn crafts that my Grandma Prosser did. 

Well there you have it my creation "Smile".

Thank you Christine for your generosity and friendship.  This challenge really pushed me to do something different then what I would normally do. 

Here is the list of women that have already posted.

Janet  ~  Hope  ~  Tanya  ~  Maryanne  ~  Bobbie  ~  Cynthia  ~  Lisa  ~  Liz  ~  Kim  ~  Cynthia again  ~ Karin

Christine

Erin is the last to post and will be doing so soon.

Happy beading Y'all,

Therese

I Love Clay Blog Hop Hosted by Lisa Lodge

Hi Y'all,

Well it is time to reveal what I made with the beautiful clay components Lisa of Grateful Artist blog sent to me.  Here is a picture of what she sent to me a few months ago.

I lost the sheet that Lisa sent with the clay components, so I can not tell you who created these lovely clay components, but I do know the pendant was not made by the same person that made the beads.

I thought that the pendant was so pretty when I opened the package a few months back and how the beads matched it so well I was surprised when I read that they were by different artists.  I knew what I wanted to do and it involved CRAW, but as the date got closer to the reveal I had a change of mind and started a Herringbone rope.  I just was not feeling the rope, so I did a Kumihimo rope, did not like that one either.  I was walking by my bead table and noticed that the pendant was laying by some Tiger's Eye gemstones and I thought, yes that is perfect.  I also pulled out some Lapis as a contrast color and here is what I created.

The Tiger's Eye has the same tones of brown and golden tan as the pendant, and the rich blue of the Lapis compliments the brown well. I am really pleased with the results.

Thank you Lisa for hosting such great challenges they really make you think hard before creating something with the beautiful components that you send.

Please go and see what the other participants in the I Love Clay Blog Hop.

Your hostess:  Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Melissa Trudinger, Bead Recipes

Kathy Zeigler Lindemer, Bay Moon Design

Eleanor Burian Moore, The Charmed Life

Jo-Ann Woolverton, It's a Beadiful Creation

Chris Eisenberg, Wanderware

Carolyn Lawson, Carolyns Creations

Bonnie Coursolle, Jasper's Gems

Dolores Raml, Crafty D's Creations

Therese Frank, Therese's Treasures

Christine Stonefield, Sweet Girl Design

Carolyn Lawson, Carolyn's Creations

Mowse Doyle, Mowse Made This 

Janine Lucas, Esfera Travel Blog

Karin Grosset Grange, Ginkgo et Coquelicot

Kelli Nelson, Zenith Jade Creations

Ann Schroeder, Bead Love

Jasvanti Patel, Jewelry by Jasvanti

Candida Castleberry, Sugar Spun Beadworks

Robin Reed, Artistry HCBD

Katrina Taylor, I Wanna Go Out

Happy beading Y'all,

Therese

November She Made/She Made

I can not believe it is November 30th already, as a mater of fact I forgot until 5:00 am central time that today was the reveal day for the She Made/She Made challenge between Christine of One Kiss Creations blog and myself.   So Happy belated Thanksgiving to all of my American blog readers and Happy Holidays to everyone.

Back in October I received an email from a lady that had seen a necklace and earring set, that my cousin, who lives in Maryland, had purchased from me one summer at a family reunion.  She wanted to know if I could make her a set just like that one.  Well as you all know when we create it is usually a one of a kind piece, especially when it is made with an art bead.  So after a few emails to find out what necklace and earring set she was talking about, I told her that I could make her a set similar, but not exactly like the one my cousin has, and I sent her pictures of the MarshaNealStudio tiles I had left in my stash.  

Which were also the ones I had for mine and Christine's SM/SM challenge.  After seeing the tiles she wanted both sets.  So I emailed Christine and told her about the tiles and she agreed that the Marsha Neal tiles would be our November reveal.  So this is what I made and sent to the lady, to whom was very pleased with what she received.

I had a hard time with this one because of the color of the tiles, but I settled with 2 mm dark brown leather and sliver base metal filigree beads and silver base metal round beads.  I hung the earrings on Sterling silver ear hooks.

On this one I used 1.5 mm dark brown leather with 10 mm brown died matte finish Agate beads and 8 mm Sodalite beads these beads help bring out the blue tint in the tile pendant.

Well I know these are not  very creative, but it was what my customer wanted and that is what counts.

Please go by Christine's blog to see the beautifully colorful creations she made with her MarshaNealStudio tiles.

December is Christine's pick I can not wait to find out what she has chosen to work with.

Happy beading Y'all,

Therese 

Birthday Challenge 2



 

 

 

 



If you are looking for the Freeform Found Objects post click here.


Hi, Y'all,

Welcome to my second blog post for today.  Today Saturday November 16th is my 54th birthday and I thought that I would through another birthday challenge party and invite a few ladies that I have met in person and those that I will hopefully be meeting in the future at some point in my travels.  The glass cabs that they are working with were made by me.  I am learning how to do a few things to add to my list of skills and glass fusing is just one of the new skills that I am learning.

Speaking of traveling I will be in Michigan on the 16th, so if I do not get around to commenting on y'all blogs I will as soon as I get back home on Tuesday the 19th.

I really do not know how to put into words just how these lovely ladies brighten my days when I read their blogs, facebook posts and even an email or two.  For the ladies that I have had the pleasure of meeting in person, well they are just as kind, caring, loving, generous, and  funny as they are in their posts.

Here is a toast to each of these ladies.

To Lola, my very first Bead Soup partner and the first of these ladies that I met in person back in 2011 on a brisk October day in Wisconsin.  May your days all be sunny, bright and bearable!

To Marla, my first Secret Santa through the Beading Daily Forum, I am still using those goodies that you sent and the beautiful bracelet is still a favorite of mine.  I met Marla one day in June 2012 she came to Montgomery after dropping here daughter off at the Birmingham Airport.  We went to lunch and then I took her on a tour of downtown Montgomery.  May your days be filled with the love of family and friends.

To Christine, my A Time To Stitch challenge and She Made/She Made co-host, and the third of these ladies that I met on a warm July 2012 day in Pennsylvania.  May your days be filled with music and laughter along with a Manhattan or two!

To Amy and Maryanne, two beautiful as they are talented ladies, that I met on another day in the same month of July in Maryland.  May your days be filled with beads, paper and ideas a plenty for any last minute party or meeting.

To Bobbie, you knew my brother before me and that was a blessing for me, because it gave us one more special thing in common.  I met Bobbie at the Kentuck Arts Festival October 2012.  May your days be filled with humor, so it can be pasted on to all of us.

To Crystie, my dear sweet friend. I am so glad that we have reconnected and have become each other's crutch.  May you always be with grace.

To Kristen, even though we have not met in person yet, I feel as though we have, since we talk on the phone every once in a while. I hope to get to meet you in 2014.  May your iron always be hot and ready to press.

To Cynthia, Alicia, and Shirley, I am looking forward to the day that we will meet.  Alicia since this is a very short trip to Michigan I will not be coming into Canada, but the next time I am up there I hope to meet you then. Cynthia and Shirley I hope to meet you both this next spring if all goes well that is.  May your days be full of smiles, sunshine and love.

I am not finished with my piece, but I am going to show you what I have finished so far.

 As you can see the thread going off to the left of the piece.  I am in love with this cab for one it is in my favorite colors, another is that everything is just falling into place on this one.  I need to do the back stitching around the edge and then add a bail.  You will see this pendant again in the ATTS 4 challenge in January.  The rope I plan to make is one of the challenge stitches.

Cyrstie is not finished with her's either, which is partly my fault since I did not remind her of the challenge until about two weeks ago.  Crystie just had gastric bypass surgery in October and it took her a little while to get back to feeling like her old self again, but anyway she promised to keep working on it in her spare time.  Crystie is also a very busy hair dresser and this is coming up on a very busy time for her. You know everyone wants a new do for the Holidays.
Here is what Cyrstie has done so far.

This is Crystie's second time doing bead embroidery.  Crystie is a Freeform peyote bead weaver.

Thank you to all of you wonderful ladies for agreeing to participate in my birthday challenge.  Thank you to those of you stopping by to see what this birthday challenge is all about and I hope that you leave a comment and go on to visit all of these beautifully talented ladies blogs, to see what they have created with the glass cab that I gifted to each of them.

Birthday Challenge Participates

Alicia

Amy

Bobbie

Christine

Cynthia

Kristen

Lola

Marla

Maryanne

Shirley

Therese and Crystie (you are here)

Happy beading Y'all,

Therese

Found Objects Captured Treasures Freeform Peyote Blog Hop

If you are looking for the Birthday Challenge 2 post click here

Hi Y'all,

I am addicted to challenges!  Try as I may I find it hard to pass them up, heck I even host them.  You maybe wondering why I am starting with this.  Well I will tell ya.  I am a structured bead weaver I follow instructions and conform to the way it should be done.  So when it comes to being free and going any which way and just letting go, yeah you guessed it, I have a real hard time with it.  So why in the world did I sign up to do freeform???   

I think the freeform work I have seen other beaders do is gorgeous!  The way they make it seem so simple and flowing is amazing to me.  This is my third freeform piece and I think I am getting a little better at just letting go and not over thinking it. I am still doing skinny pieces, but I really like how this one tuned out. 

I have been saving, Um okay hording, these pewter buttons that I have collected over the years form friends and purchased at various places.  So I decided that my found objects would be the pewter buttons.

I wore my bracelet to a meeting with the Gem and Mineral Society tonight and it was very comfortable to wear, I also got many complements on it as well.

Thank you Karen Williams and Mandi Ainsworth for hosting another Freeform challenge, maybe by the third one I will be able to really just let go and bead. 

Now please go by and check out what all the other participates have created.  I am sure y'all are going to be blown away with the talent that these freeform beaders possess.

Captured Treasures Blog Hop Participants

Mandi Ainsworth - host       www.beadcircle.com  

Karen Williams - host          http://baublicious.blogspot.com/   

Anna Belous                        http://www.anabel27.com/

SaraBeth Cullinan              http://sarabethsbellydancingbeadblog.blogspot.com/

Nancy Dale                           www.nedbeads.blogspot.com

Regina Roper                       http://baublicious.blogspot.com/  

Lisa Jones                             http://baublicious.blogspot.com/  

Romana Tschunko              http://romana-handmadewithlove.blogspot.cz/

Catherine Chinoy                http://peapodbeads.blogspot.co.uk/

Therese Frank                      http://www.theresestreasures59.blogspot.com

Naan Pocen                         http://stellulastyles.blogspot.com/

Annita Wilson                       http://awjewelryandbeadwork.blogspot.com/

Lies Koster                            http://huisvlijtigliesje.blogspot.com/

Halina Trolle                         www.mybeadworld.blogspot.com

Sally Russick                                    http://thestudiosublime.com/blog-2/

Judy Pennington                 http://emboideringmydreams.blogspot.com/

She Made She Made October Reveal

Hi Y'all,

Wow can you believe it is the end of October already!  It seems like the older I get the faster the years go by.  Christine and I have been having a great time creating with our gifted stash, here is what I picked for October...

The resin rose, mine is red and Christine's is turquoise, and some 14 mm yellow Fire Agate.

Here is what I made...

 

I have not just strung a necklace in a while and these beautiful 14 mm Fire Agate beads just want to be in a simple strung necklace.  I paired them up with 10 mm yellow Agate and 4 mm Carnelian with copper findings.  I like all the warm colors in this piece it reminds me of fall leaves.

 

I had two of the 14 mm beads left so I took some 20 gauge silver wire and made a pair of earrings.  I am trying to do better with the wire wrapping, but still not there. 

 

I thought long and hard on the rose pendant.  I wanted to put it on something more then just a chain, but what type of rope did I want to bead.  I started with a CRAW rope but then I was not feeling it, so I ripped it out.  Then I started a peyote rope, but nah.  Then I thought about Herringbone spiral, but I just did that for my last challenge, so I went to Russian spiral and was satisfied.  I had some 3x4mm red roundels and some 3 mm AB clear bicones and did a little decorative section on each side of the pendant area.  I used the few crystals I had left from the decorative area and used them in the bail.

 

Please go by Christine's blog and see what she has created with the 14 mm Fire Agate and resin rose.

 

Happy beading Y'all,

Therese



6th Do Over Challenge Hosted by Jeannie K. Dukic

Hi Y'all,

Well a few months ago Jeannie K Dukic put out the call for those that wanted to sign up for her annual Do Over Challenge.  The challenge was open for the first twenty people that signed up and was willing to play by her rules.

The Rules 

The do over piece is an old piece of jewelry, that Jeannie, did not like or did not sell for one reason or another.  When you sign up you will receive the piece for free, but you must pay for the S&H fee for either one or two pieces.  

When you receive the piece or pieces you must use 50% of the piece in your new design.  If you got two pieces you can mix the two together and create one or more pieces.  The pieces are not refundable, if you do not like what you received and do not wish to participate Jeannie will send you a bill for the piece you received, the piece can not be sent back to Jeannie.

I have been following the do over challenge for a little while and this time around I jumped at the chance to participate.  I loved the mystery of what I would receive in the mail from Jeannie and also fretted that I would not be able to come up with a design, but once my piece arrived I knew right away what I was going to do.

Here is what I received from Jeannie:

A necklace made with shell daggers, lime green and turquoise dyed Howlite disks, a brass Starfish pendant, all connected to a chain.

Here is what I created with the necklace after I took it apart.

A friend of my Mom's gave me a box of shells, and a bunch of seed beads all she asked is that I make her something with one of the shells.  So when I got the necklace from Jeannie I went to the box of shells and pick this one out, because I liked the colors in this one.  I went to my stash of gemstones and pulled out the 

4 mm turquoise dyed Howlite rounds to go with the turquoise dyed Howlite disks from the necklace. The seed beads are Toho size 15 and size 8 bronze and Toho size 11 bronze matte finish.  The end result is this shell bead embroider pendant with fringe made using the Howlite disks and shell daggers from the necklace.

I hung the pendant on a leather necklace.  I call this piece "By The Seashore".  

This how it will look when worn.

I made these earrings using the lime green Howlite disks from the necklace, hot pink 6X8 mm roundels, 

4X6 mm roundels, and  2X4 mm roundels from my stash. I strung them onto 22 gauge silver wire. I named these "Tutti Fruiti" 

With the rest of the shell daggers from the necklace and the roundels I made this Princess style necklace, that I called "Bright Colorful Beach"

The only part of the necklace I did not use was the chain and the brass Starfish.

I had a great time creating with the necklace that Jeannie sent to me.  Thank you Jeannie this was a fun challenge.  I hope to be able to participate in another one of your Do Over Challenges.

Now please go and see what the others have created with their Do Over pieces.

Jeannie K Dukic
Penny Houghton
Susan Delaney
Becky Pancake
Therese Frank
Donetta Farrington
Molly Alexander
Mowse Doyle
Renetha Stanziano
Ginger Davis Allman
Kathy Richardson
Christie Murrow
Veralynne Malone
Shai Williams
Beti Horvath
Linda Britt
Miranda Ackerley
Mischelle Andrade
Tracy Stillman
Charlene Bausinger
Deana Hager

Oh and by the way, my Mom's friend loves the pendant that I made for her.  Thank you again Jeannine, for helping make that creation come to life.

Happy beading Y'all,

Therese

A Time To Stitch 4 Update

Hi Y'all,

Well Christine and I have tallied up the participants and all of the stitch suggestions.  We are excited to reveal the participant list and the three other stitches for this challenge.  So with out further ado here is the list and the stitches.

Your Hostesses 

Therese Frank and Christine Altmiller 

Amy Severino

Janet Bocciardi

Cynthia Machata

Alicia Marinache

Paula Kramer

Kim Hora

Dee Alcalde

Degi (Kokopelli)

Maryanne Gross

Liz E

Sally Russick

Becky Pancake

Katherine Gale

Jasvanti Patel

Karin Slaton

Alenka

Sarah Sequins

Tanya Goodwin

Debbie Rasmussen

The tally of the suggested stitches:

RAW - 2

Chenille - 2

Spiral Rope - 5

Pondo Stitch - 1

Herringbone - 1

Flat Spiral - 1

Flat Cellini - 1

Chevron - 4

Brick Stitch - 1 

CRAW - 1

The ones with the most votes 1. Spiral Rope, 2. Chevron, and tied for 3. RAW and Chenille

The four stitches are: Net stitch (mandatory), Spiral Rope, Chevron stitch, and Chenille 

Christine and I decided that the third suggested stitch would be Chenille, since RAW was in a past ATTS challenge.

Challenge Rules:

The Net stitch is the mandatory stitch and must be used in one of your pieces.  You must choose at least one of the other three stitches for your other piece.

The Spiral Rope can be done in the Spiral Rope stitch, or any of the other spiral stitches, that is your choice.

RAW can be used in your design, as long as, one of the other 4 challenge stitches is use as the main stitch.

Christine and I are pretty easy going, so if you missed the sign up and would really like to be a part of this challenge, just leave a comment on either mine or Christine's blog and we will put you on the list.

We are looking forward to see what each of you have created and the stitches you chose to use on the blog hop day January 15, 2014.

Happy beading Y'all,

Therese