Art Jewelry Element June Component of the Month Challenge

Hi Y'all,

I was one of the lucky winners to participate with the lovely ladies of Art Jewelry Elements blog.  This month it was Linda Landig's turn to supply the components to be used in the challenge.  Here are Linda's beautiful clay components for this challenge.

Here is the one I received...

I forgot to take a picture of mine before I started creating my piece.

Those that create with clay, whether it is natural or polymer clay, always amaze me with the designs they can create.  Linda uses natural clay for her designs.

Here is what I created to hang my pendant from...

I enjoy stitching Cellini spiral and I knew it would be a good stitch to show case the beautiful colors in the clay pendant Linda sent to me.  So I went to my stash of seed beads and pulled out the colors that I felt best matched the colors in the pendant and got busy.  As I was stitching the spiral I was thinking of what I would use to finish the necklace.  As I was looking for glass pearls for Pearls, Pearls, Pearls, another blog hop I did this month, I came across these 10 mm teal and 3 mm purplish rose colored glass pearls, Bingo! they were a great match.  I also through in some 4 mm light gold glass pearls and some Topaz crystals. Bodda Boom Bodda Bing! "Summer Daisies" was born. 

Thank you to Linda and all the ladies associated with Art Jewelry Elements, I had a wonderful time playing and creating for this month's challenge.  

Thank you to you for stopping by and visiting my blog post.  Please leave a comment I like hearing from you.

Now go by Art Jewelry Element blog and click on the links to the others participating in this hop.  

Happy beading Y'all,

Therese

Pearls, Pearls, Pearls - hosted by MiShel Designs

Hi Y'all,

Welcome to Pearls, Pearls, Pearls! blog hop hosted by Shel of MiShel Designs blog.  Shel has a true love for pearls whether they are natural or glass.  So she thought she would have a blog hop showcasing, you got it, Pearls! If you would like to find out some great tips on the care of pearls go here.

I too love pearls natural and glass.  I wish my stash had more natural pearls, but I also love the look of glass pearls, which I have tons.

Would you like to see what I created for this blog hop?  Of course you do, so lets get with it, shall we.

I have never knotted a necklace before and I like the look of knots between pearls.  I had bought these white freshwater pearls at a Gem and Mineral show here in Montgomery, AL back in November 2013.  I thought the color was gorgeous and the price was with in my budget.  The only thing I did not realize until I got home is that they were large hole pearls.  Oh well not a problem I could always string them on cord or leather.  So that is what I did.  I had some black 2 mm cord in my stash and some lampwork glass beads made by Sabine Detrich, she was my second Bead Soup partner in 2012.  As you can see there is a little bit of space between the knots, pearls, and the glass beads, but I think I did well for the first time tying knots.

I had enough to make a bracelet.  I did better at the knot tying in the bracelet.

Earrings. One day I will get the lengths the same in a pair of earrings.

I made a trip to Hunstville, AL back in April of 2013 and while I was there I visited a unique bead store called  Mary Bead Store.  I bought a lot of different gem stones and these peacock freshwater pearls.  At the Gem and Mineral show I bought these Blue Lace Agate spears.  When I was looking through my stash for something to pair with the pearls the agate spears seemed to be the best match. What do you think?  I separated the pearls and agate spears with 3 mm jet bicones. The jet bicones look like knots between the pearls and agate.  They are all strung on flex wire, with a lobster claw clasp.

I had enough pearls and bicones to make a matching bracelet.  I tried the agate spears, but they did not look right in the bracelet.  I really love the color of these pearls.

Last but not least an necklace out of glass pearls.

Scrumptious Scallops designed by Carolyn Cave, the tutorial for this necklace was published in the June 2014 Bead and Button magazine.  When I saw this one I thought I had to make it for the Pearls challenge.  It looks difficult, but it is really rather simple and had it done in a matter of hours.  The hardest part was deciding on what colors I wanted to use.

Well that is it for me on this blog hop.  If you would like to see more go on over to Shel's blog and after reading and viewing what Shel has created, click on the links to the other blogs participating in this hop.

Thank you so much Shel for coming up with this wonderful idea to create with and show off Pearl, Pearl. Pearls!!!!!!! I had a lot of fun creating. 

Happy beading Y'all,

Therese

CC7A June Challenge hosted by Cynthia Machata

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Hi Y'all,

Welcome to the June CC7A challenge. If you would like to learn more about this group you can visit here.

This month is Cynthia Machata's month and here is what she sent out to us...

The old is the white silk, the new and blue are the stone beads, and the borrowed is the leaf toggle clasp.

When we found out the different themes of each of the CC7A participates, we all had comments about each theme.  When it came to Cynthia's we all told stories of our weddings.  Everyone was a little amazed with the story of my wedding, so I thought I would share it with y'all.

My Wedding Story

I have been married one time in my life, so far, to a rough and gruff biker guy way back on April 16, 1983.

Our wedding took place in the yard of our friends Alice and Mac Stone in Dickinson, TX.  There was about 80 to 100 people there most I did not know.  It was a beautiful day temperature in the 70's and blue skies.

My M.O.H. was Alice Stone, her daughter Rachel was my flower girl.  My Dad John Prosser gave me away, he escorted me down an isle of motorcycles, all Harley Davidsons (not seen in pictures).  We were married by J.O.P. of Harrison Co., TX.  Russell Frank, the cousin of my hubby, Randy Frank, was his Best Man. My Sister Charlotte, and my friend Carolyn, were my Bride Maids.   

Everyone had a blast at the reception afterward that lasted the whole weekend.  All of the liquor brought to the event went into the trash can punch, with the exception of the beer and the Champagne used to toast the wedding. I have no idea who the shirtless guy is in the picture with my Dad.  Not in these picture, but in the crowd of people at the wedding, there was a woman sun bathing during the ceremony, which I thought was pretty wild!  I heard stories and saw pictures of somethings that happened at the party after me and Randy left for the night, that are common for a biker party, but not appropriate to mention here.  I made all of the tops, head dresses, and decorations.  I also made the cake.  I had a very tight budget and in all I spent around 150.00.

I am no longer married to Randy, our marriage ended politely on April 18, 2000, but we remained good friends until he died on December 5, 2008.  We had one child, a son, Ryan, born August 13, 1983.

Now back to the challenge.  Here is what I made with the components that Cynthia sent to me...

I wanted to use the beautiful blue oval stone drops in my piece, but I just did not know how I wanted to display them in a necklace, so I went to my favorite place to get inspiration, which is Pinterest.  I found this bead tutorial available on Bead Magic.  The pattern used roundells, but I substituted 10 mm glass pearls in the necklace.  I braided the white silk to go around the back of the necklace and off set the leaf toggle, so it could be seen in the front, I did not want to hide the pretty clasp in the back. 

I had the greenish blue stones left so I made a pair of earrings using 4 mm milky white AB glass cubes and blue seed beads brick stitched around the stones.  To tie in the color of the stones I used some greenish blue 4 mm glass cubes at the top where the ear hook were attached.

Well I hope that y'all enjoyed your visit to my blog post today and that I did not bore you with my story of my wedding.  Thank you for stopping by and please leave a comment I love to hear what y'all have to say.

Thank you again to Alicia, our founder and to Cynthia, for sending these great components to work with, along with a great theme for the month of June.

Now please go by and visit the other six participants in this month's challenge.

1. Monique

2. Christine

3. Sally

4. Therese (you are here)

5. Alicia

6. Cynthia

7. Emma

Happy beading Y'all,

Therese

Break From Tradition Challenge

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.

Therese

Bobbie

Christine

Janet

Cynthia

Happy beading Y'all,

Therese

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  

Christine

Participants

Kim

Maryanne

Lola

Dagi

Shirley

Alenka

LiliKrist

Amy

Crystie

Sally

Cynthia

Bobbie

Karin

LizE

Becky Pancake

Karin G.

Ana

Wendy

Mary H.

Jasvanti

Happy beading Y'all,

Therese