Time to make Some Christmas Jewelry!

These are some of the beads that I will be using for my Christmas jewelry.  I hope to make a dramatic necklace, a subtle bracelet, and some AMAZING earrings!  This will be an interesting challenge.

Ok, I have 4 more photos to show you.

You know there had to be some green in this set.  I love the mixture of greens in these beads.  Very pretty.

These beads are very lightweight.  I plan to intersperse these as bits of shock beads for the jewelry.  I want them to be where you don't think they should be. 

This "Mother and Child" heart bead is what I will use for the focal, but since there is no sparkle so, I'll have to do something about that.  I think it needs sparlies!

I added some glitter to the focal.  Truly, it looks better in person than in this photo. 

All I have to do now is seal this heart so the glitter doesn't come off.

















These are my components. 
Soon you'll see what I did with them.
How would you use these components?

I spent the day in my Woman Cave

Isn't it great?  I love my cave!  You can't see my car, but it's next to the pink chair.  Pixie gets in the back seat and goes to sleep.  We are both very happy in our cave, and I get a lot done whether it be felting or polymer clay.  I'm outside while still being inside. 

Do you have a cave?
What do you do in your cave?

New Jewelry in My Etsy Store

I just listed some jewelry in my Etsy store with more to come.

Yes, Gasp!!!!

I'll show you what I just listed.

This is the start of a series of rings I call

You Can't Wear These with a Glove!

This is a copper nesting ring.

If you would like to check it out, click

HERE.

As the week goes on,

I'll be listing more of these rings.

They are fun!!

I made this Tiger Heart directly on the end of the key.

It's really fun!

No clasp needed.

The chain is really long.

Just slip the necklace over your head,

and you are ready to go.

Click

HERE

to see the necklace.

Here's a change of pace.

I made these earrings with some of my flower lampwork disc beads and red spacers.

Nummy and fun!

I see these earrings dressing up jeans on casual Friday or accenting a sleek cocktail dress at a party.

Click

HERE

for a closer look!

More listing coming soon!

Check them out!!!

Keiara by bykeiara on Etsy! How fun!!!

She makes such cute critters.

She makes earrings, too.

Let's visit Keiara's store on Etsy.

It's called 

bykeiara.

Here we go!!!

Are these owl earrings cute or what?

Keiara made these.

She made the beads then turned these precious little owls into

earrings!

Click

HERE

to see these on Etsy.

Doesn't this necklace remind you of the ocean?

Keiara made the beads and the necklace.

Click 

HERE

to see these on Etsy.

 

 Need some beautiful beads?

Take a look at these made by Keiara.

There are other colors, but since pink is my favorite color...

Click

HERE

to see these on Etsy.

All right, I've switched colors.

Isn't this bracelet nummy?

Keiara made both the beads and the bracelet.

Click

HERE

to see this bracelet on Etsy.

Like bunnies?

Look at this one that Keiara made. 

Click 

HERE

to get a better look at this on Etsy.

Isn't he cute?

 

While you're on Etsy, be sure to add

bykeiara

to your favorites and your circle.

I just did.

 

Enjoy!

 

So, Are You Sure You Don't Want to Enter

that blog hop?

that challenge?

that contest?

Think about it.

Each necklace that I am going to show you was made as a result of a blog hop, a challenge or a contest.

I made this necklace using polymer clay focal beads.

I hate to say this, but I don't remember which blog challenge this was for, but I do remember it was at a time when I couldn't make glass beads, so I used polymer clay.

Again, I don't remember why I made this, but I knew for this challenge or hop or contest,  I had to put myself out there.

I think this challenge had something to do with color.

I wish I had recorded why I made this.

I can't remember why I made this piece, but it's primarily polymer clay.

I love the beads even though they are not what I normally like.

I'm looking forward to fall to wear this!

I really wish I had recorded the reason why I made this necklace.

It's made of glass bead hollows.

I love the colors and the fun.

I wear it often.

This necklace was from a challenge by the Art Bead Scene Blog.

I love the way it turned out.

I'm glad I made this necklace.

Fear can prevent us from getting out there and seeing our own potential.

Even if you're nervous.

Even if you think that no one will like what you make.

Who cares?

Do it!

Find those blog hops.

Find those challenges.

Find those contests.

Growth only happens with pain.

Stretch your ideas.

Develop your creativity.

You won't be sorry you did.

I'm not sorry.

I only wish I could remember why I made four of these necklaces.

From now on,

I'm documenting!

I'm Sorry! I didn't Buy Handmade, but there was such a good Sale at Charaming Charlie's, I couldn't resist!!!

As a bit proponent of buying and selling handmade,

I feel guilty today.

Yesterday, my wonderful friend, JoAnn and I went to

Charming Charlie's in Woodbury.

She's visiting from Michigan, so I knew I had to take her somewhere fun.

To make a long story short,

Charming Charlie's was having a clearance sale.

Buy one clearance item, get one free.

Oh, no!!!

I'm sorry!

I couldn't resist.

Here's what I bought.

Purses weren't on sale, but that was what I went in there to buy.

So, do you like my new purse?

I love it!

Shoes were on clearance, but they weren't buy one get one free.

JoAnn and I bought the same shoe in different sizes.

My rule with jewelry is that if I can't make it, I will buy it.

These were where I didn't buy homemade.

However, look!

I like these, especially the long earrings.

(They hang past my shoulders!) 

They will give the ladies at church something to talk about!!!

I do love these things!

Sorry I didn't buy hand made, but they were buy one get one free!!!

Next time,

Hand made, and

NO MORE

Charming Charlie's for a long, long time!!!

Plastic and Pearls!

I found these at a local thrift store.

As you can see, I paid $1.61 for this entire bag of beads, I mean toys.

Here's a better look.

I sorted the bag into what I thought would be useable beads, really beads.

Cubes

 

 

Spheres

Body parts

Flower discs

Here's what happened.  This necklace looks great as I wear it!

The body parts add that special touch. 

I also used glass pearls as spacers.

Love this!  It's a choker.

A bracelet with glass pearls and a "charm" I found in the toys.

Last but not least, the flower discs with pearls make great earrings!!

So, what do you think?

Have you ever done anything this silly before?

Another Piece of Jewelry for the Bead and Button Show

It was clearly a last minute idea,

but,

it worked.

I made two new pieces of jewelry to wear to the Bead and Button Show.

I leave tomorrow.

Anyway, to make a long story short,

I deliberately left one at home because it was just too big and didn't go with the rest of my jewelry.

It's a popcorn bracelet, and I'll show you that when I get home.

Anyway,

I decided that I wanted a bone bracelet.

I love making bones and skulls.

There are no skulls in this bracelet, just

bones and crystals.

I am wearing it with another bracelet, and,

unless I can make more bracelets while I'm there,

this will have to do.

See, how fun?

I added both silver wire and silver foil to my beads!

Now, I'm thinking,

should I make more bones for my Etsy store?

What do you think?

I like the neutral ones, and I like the colored ones.

If you were to buy some bones from me,

what color or colors would you choose?

Let me know!

Handmade on a Sunday

Ah, the fun of a treasury.

This one is called

Handmade on a Sunday

and you can find it 

HERE!

With all the resellers now on Etsy,

it's refreshing to know that each of these artists makes their own product by hand!!

 

 

If you have a few minutes and you want to help support handmade,

go to Etsy.com

click on all the links, favorite this treasury, and, possibly share.

A comment would be nice, too.

The more comments and clicks the better chance there is to make front page.

Thank you!!

If you want to see some great glass!

Click

HERE!

Here's a quick sample of what you will see!

It's one of Nikki's lizards!!!

Click here to see it!

Here's one of Amy's beautiful sets!

Click HERE to see it!

This is one of Gelly's Piggies!

Click HERE to see it!

There are a lot of other glass artists in this treasury!

See it here!

Oh, just a secret, they really do have gas!!

Ask me how I know!!

Oxygen and Propane.

We all need that to make beads!

 

It's Time to Start Thinking About the Jewelry I'm Going to Wear to the Bead and Button Show.

You can tell that spring is almost here!

The urge to get started on jewelry to wear to the Bead And Button Show is in the air!

I can just smell the fresh air of jewelry design floating around my house.

Although it's still a work in progress,

I have started one piece of jewelry based on a tutorial written by Lori Peterson from 

Lori and Kim on Etsy.

These two ladies make and sell fun, colorful murrini to use when making lampwork beads.

The beads are called Candy Jacks.

I had made a few and strung them on a chain.

Whenever I wore my Candy Jacks, people would literally ask me to take my necklace off and let them fondle the beads.

The Ah-ha moment came when I realized a necklace made with Candy Jacks would be fun to wear!

This is the necklace that people like to touch.

I started to make a few each time I torched.  I made between 6 and 10 a day.

The pile adds up quickly.

I've started to string them now.  The necklace isn't finished by a long shot, but visions of earrings and a bracelet to match are dancing in my head.  I might need some help with ideas for earrings.  This necklace is starting to get heavy.  Earrings can't be that heavy!

If you have any ideas for coordinating earrings, let me know.

Anyway, I'm still making Candy Jacks, and I probably will be making them for a while.

So, wish me luck!

I'll show the progress as I go.

So, there was a day I was bored this weekend...

and I decided to make some jewelry.

Gasp!

Can you believe it?????

Here's what I made.

I've been wanting some bangles,

so I made two of them!

I love them! 

They are very eclectic.

Are you prepared for the Journey of Hope?

That's the name of my first bangle.

I don't have many of my lampwork beads with me, so I had to take apart a couple of projects.

That's okay.  I do like this bangle.

The spoon pendant says, "Hope."

The copper piece says "Journey."

I love to wear it!

It makes me think about the journey our family has been on this year.

This bangle is just a fun collection of "junk," odds and ends.

It's my Scrappy bracelet,

just bits and pieces put together for fun.

I never thought I'd use the left overs like this, but I'm glad I did.

I wear this bracelet 24/7.

It's a love knot bracelet with small "rosettes" to join the knots.

I don't have my liver of sulphur with me, so I am wearing this bracelet to help it develop a beautiful patina.

Last, but not least, is this necklace.  People look at it and then look at me when I wear it.

Minnesota is very conservative, and, to be perfectly honest,

it looks much better in person than in a photo.

I don't think I'm finished with it yet, but I don't know what to add.

I'll have to see.

I am enjoying it.

The only thing I didn't make are earrings.

Do you know, that in a year and a half, I have sold one pair of earrings?

I don't get it.

I thought I made cute earrings, but no one else seems to think so.

I think that my next challenge will be that:

make cute earrings that will sell.

I think I had better get to work on that task now.
I'll be taking a journey of hope with that idea, too.

Kick The Can

When

Love My Art Jewelry

announced their 

Art Spark Challenge for June,

I new what I was going to make!

The challenge was to think about a time when you were a teenager or younger and

design a piece of jewelry 

based on something you did well

and were proud to tell people about.

When I was a young 'un,

the things that I loved to do,

in this order,

were:

1) Read, anything and everything.

2) When I wasn't reading,

we were playing school, and I was either the teacher or the smartest kid in the class.  (Go figure, school was out, and here we were playing school.)

3) Play kick the can.  For those of us who remember, someone would find an old can laying around in the street.  (Do you wonder now how we managed to survive all of those germs?) S/he would begin to kick the can around.  Of course, others in the neighborhood would join the game until we all got bored or we were called home for supper.  I remember running all over the street, into yards, getting yelled at to stay away from the few flowers in arid New Mexico.  I remember jumping for joy when I got a turn.  I remember the occasional kick in the ankle when more than one of us attacked the can at the same time.  I also remember kicking the can so hard that I fell flat on my back! 

This monthly challenge brought back so many memories.  There were faces, bodies colliding, bent, dirty cans.

Fun in the summer, until we became too old for such nonsense.  Now, we remember.  I loved kick the can!

A Little Time for Jewelry - That and a Preview!

This is the necklace I made to honor my daughter who has a blood cancer called

multiple myeloma.

I love this necklace, and I wear it almost everyday.

Jenny can't wear jewelry in the transplant ward,

but I don't think she'd want to with the way she has been feeling anyway.

I made all the glass beads.

This red is Lauscha transparent red medium.

It's my favorite red.

It's also the color that reminded me of healthy red blood cells.

Lori Anderson, of 

Pretty Things,

suggested making a bracelet to remember this event.

Since her suggestion,

I have been looking for found objects to make a charm bracelet.

I have not been very successful with that endeavor.

To date, I have found.......

NONE.

I probably just need to think out of the box more, 

but,

my brain being what it is right now,

just doesn't want to go there!

So,

for now,

exit found objects

enter, again,

needle felting.

Here's a preview.

I have an idea, but, whether or not I can make it work,

well, we'll just have to see.

Check back later.

We both might be surprised!

Shopping Etsy: Search Word: Moss

With Spring finally here,

I decided to shop Etsy and use the search word:  Moss.

Titled:  Ring Bearers Decorative Birds Nest

in

Birdie1's shop is beautiful!

Wouldn't this make a wonderful centerpiece at a spring wedding?

I love it!

Need some real moss for your terrarium?

This should do the trick for you!

I'm thinking about this for me.  I love terrariums, and I would like more for my work area at home.

I found this in Natural Woodland's Store on Etsy.

Think you like moss?  How about some moss jewelry?

Isn't this great?

It's a Terrarium Pendant and the moss inside is live!

How cool is that!

How about a handblown Glass Orb Moss Terrarium?

Isn't this great!

You can make your own with this kit.

 

Well, did you have a great time shopping?

I love moss, 

and I might soon be a customer for some of these products.

What do you like to shop for on Etsy?