Showing posts with label Necklaces. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Necklaces. Show all posts

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Echo Creative Club Reveal - January 2014



I am the lucky recipient of the January Echo Creative Club beads handmade by Jeannie K. Dukic of JKD Studio. So what is Echo Creative Club? I'm looking for experienced jewelry designers to use my art beads and pendants for FREE. What does the name, Echo Creative mean? Echo is something you put out there and it comes back. I put my beads out there and they come back in a creative design from you.


I received the Acanthus pendant and matching Polarity beads  - the rich purple and fuschia with just a hint of gold are gorgeous!! These pendants were inspired by Jeannie's love of Greek and Roman mythology and architecture.When I saw the pendant, I knew I had to design with it! When I was a child, I wanted to be an architect and I still love taking pictures of the decorative ornamentation and fretwork on buildings.


I kept the necklace simple and added some decorative, architectural- like elements to highlight the beautiful Acanthus pendant.


I hung the pendant from a small, stamped circle and used filigree balls, dyed freshwater pearls, stamped puff beads, crystal beads with filigree tubes, delicate raw copper chain and a toggle that mimics the pendant, with the Acanthus pendant and Polarity beads.


For this pair of earrings, I wire wrapped a set of Polarity beads with silver flower bead caps and leaf dangles.


To highlight the gold in the Polarity beads, I wire wrapped a leaf bead cap and tiny balls to the beads and gave them a bit of swing hanging them from twist jump rings.


I want to thank Jeannie and Kara for this amazing opportunity - it's been an honor to be able to design with Jeannie's beautiful pendant and beads!!

Mallory Hoffman is the January Echo Creative Club Featured Guest - please check out her blog and Etsy shop.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Into the Forest Blog Hop Reveal

The lovely, Lisa Lodge, of Pine Ridge Treasures had a sign-up for another of her fun blog hops - this one with the "Forest" theme.  We were sent a bead kit and were asked to use beads from our own stash and asked not to go out and buy additional beads.


                                                                           I received the Tiger Eye kit


When I decided to sit down and get to work on my kit, I remembered that I had recently bought a pendant that would go perfectly with my beads. It's a dark brown metal puff bead that has a great texture and is very light-weight.


I strung most of the bigger beads with the metal pendant and added some of my beautiful green recycled sari silk.


The toggle I used has a texture that reminds me of bark.


This morning, I thought I'd make the earrings I had in mind - I love how they turned out! The teardrop and gold beads are from my kit and I added the silver disc from my stash.


Thank you for stopping by! Please hop over to all of the other jewelry designers to see their beautiful creations!


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, Carolyn's Creations
Janine Lucas, Esfera Travel Blog
Jasvanti Patel, Jewelry by Jasvanti
Shaiha Williams,   Shaiha's Ramblings
Kay Thomerson, Kayz Kreationz
Karla Morgan, Texas Pepper Jams
Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera
Toltec  Jewels, Jewel School Friends
Christie Searle Murrow, Charis Designs Jewelry
Molly Alexander, Beautifully Broken Me
Monique Urquhart, A Half-Baked Notion
Janet Bocciardi, Honey from the Bee
Dini Bruinsma, Angaza by Changes
Heather Richter, Desert Jewelry Designs
Christina Miles, Wings n Scales
Elizabeth Engriser, Bead Contagion
Alice Peterson, Alice Dreaming
Alicia Marinache, All the Pretty Things
Kay Mallery,TBD
Catherine Yvonne King, Catherine's Musings
Alice Craddick, Alice's Beads and Baubles
Ema Kilroy, Ema K Designs



Saturday, December 7, 2013

I Love Clay Blog Hop

When Lisa Lodge of Pine Ridge Treasures put out the call for sign-ups for the 'I Love Clay Blog Hop', I didn't realize life would be as busy as it is right now!! But, I always love joining Lisa's blog hops because they are always fun and make me stretch my design abilities.


I received some adorable clay beads made by Tori Sophia Designs.



I decided to use some of my beautiful seaglass beads from ZnetShows and went to work! I wire wrapped the seaglass beads with copper wire and attached them to antique copper double spiral links. I attached the cute fish pendant with Irish waxed linen, added copper chain and a little "fish-hook" toggle.



Please check out all of the lovely designers and their designs. I will be going through the hop on Monday since I'm meeting my sisters in NYC this weekend! Enjoy the 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
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

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Vintage Treasure Necklaces

I love vintage earrings and pins and have a hard time parting with them. I have a stash that keeps on growing, so I decided to make some necklaces to supply the stores that I sell in locally.

I buy quite a bit of my vintage pieces from a local antique store, Westerville Antiques - it's so fun haggling with Mike over the price of the pieces!

Here are a couple of the necklaces I made - I kept them simple to highlight the beautiful vintage piece.





Thursday, September 26, 2013

Creative Spark Magazine ~ Premier Issue

ZnetShows Design Team members were asked to pick out items with the challenge theme "Rings and Bling" and design jewelry. Once our jewelry was created and photographed, Hope Smitherman, put together a fabulous Glossi magazine.

I'm one of the featured designers (pages 29-32) and my earrings are on the cover! Thanks, Hope!!


I love fall, so I started with the beautiful Chinese crystal teardrops-Autumn leaves (ZMX-04-06) and found a green Aqua Terra Jasper stone in the shape of a leaf, for the pendant. Then, I used copper leaf chain, green sari silk, a flower toggle and a leaf charm to finish it.


I used the ringy antique brass chain (M0478-AB) and went blingy with the pinks from the Chinese crystal teardrops-Autumn leaves. I had the pink Chinese crystal pendant in my stash - it matched perfectly!



I had to have the beautiful Chinese crystal teardrops-transparent gold (RS257-124) and made earrings with faceted Chinese crystal glass coins-peridot and Chinese crystal rondelles-Metallic gold (RT138-103).


For this pair of earrings, I used my "signature crown" as a base for the beautiful Chinese crystal rondelles and teardrops.



Check out Creative Spark to see all of the beautiful "Rings and Bling" designs from the Premier Issue - there are so many beautiful jewelry designs and designers!!

Friday, July 5, 2013

ZnetShows Partner Picks Summer Challenge and Giveaway

ZnetShows has another challenge for its design team - we were paired up, sent beads our partner picked out and asked to design jewelry.

My partner is Hope Smitherman of Crafty Hope - here is her Etsy shop.

Hope's selection of beads is both colorful and beautiful!


I made a chainmaille Mobius Rose (also known as a Love Knot) and attached that to a Chinese crystal with a beadcap and three crystal dangles.



I made a pair of simple, swingy earrings with the antique brass Freeform charm. I added an aqua Sea Glass nugget bead (S38-B30) to the charm - I love brass and aqua together!


I used light green Irish waxed linen cord, light sapphire Sea Glass nugget beads (S39-B31SFIVE), light green Sea Glass beads (BDS-1865-43), and a smoky quartz Sea Glass button spacer for this bracelet.


I love the colors in labradorite, so I made this necklace using the black Glass beads, an olive Sea Glass tusk (S42-B22FOUR), blue opal Sea Glass bead (S03-46FIVE) and a Swarovski crystal.



Personally, I think turquoise can go with any color, so I paired a turquoise Howlite oval bead with the orange Aqua Terra Jasper beads and copper.



There will be a giveaway with this challenge - check the ZnetShows blog on Saturday, July 6th to enter to win beads and see the list of participants in the ZnetShows Partner Picks Summer Challenge.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

ZnetShows Baby Conch Shells

Bill Zhang of ZnetShows sent some more lovely beach glass beads and I was a lucky recipient of the baby conch shell beads!!

                                                                 Look at all of the pretty colors ..............


I used the lovely turquoise bay baby conchs and attached them to a piece of wire I shaped and then hammered for texture.



                        I love the jet black conch shells and added freshwater pearls to complement them.



I just bought these pink faceted glass teardrops and they matched the blossom pink conch shell perfectly! I added a crystal between each teardrop for a bit more sparkle.



I had tangerine bottle-neck style rings (S55-B83SFIVE) in my stash and attached a royal blue conch shell, a peridot green tusk bead and a silver starfish to chain - I love these bright, summery colors together!



I just received this beautiful Japanese Chirimen Kimono cord from StinkyDogBeads (love that name)
and had to use it! I attached a royal blue conch shell to a small piece of the cord, then made tiny dangles with fuschia and blue crystals, and attached them to the copper chain.



Ombre is hot right now, so I made a necklace using some of the blues. I had some glass rondelle beads from Auntie's Beads and attached the conch shells to them.



Thank you Bill for the sweet conch shells!! Go to ZnetShows  to see all of their beautiful beach glass beads, gemstones, and crystals. They also have a facebook page and blog that will keep you up to date on their latest "happenings".

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

ZnetShows Diamond in the Rough Challenge

Bill Zhang of ZnetShows - wholesale beads - offered  a new challenge to those of us who created designs with their beautiful sea glass. The challenge was to design jewelry using beads that are a little less flashy and often overlooked. I was up for the challenge since I haven't seen a bead at ZnetShows that I don't want to work with!!

The Znet Team will choose 20 designs and have a Facebook voting contest. The winners will receive gift certificates from ZnetShows to shop to their hearts' content! WooHoo - 3 of my pieces were chosen for the Facebook contest!! My colorful butterfly bracelet, my chains and shell flower necklace, and my blue Murano-style necklace! Thank you to Bill and his team!!

We were told to choose beads that we could easily work with to beads that would be challenging to work with, so I picked quite a mix of colors and styles! Click on the pictures below for a better view of the beads.



I started with the beautiful yellow and green Fire Agates (yellow-BDS1593-12 and green-BDS1591-06) and added pink Druzy beads to make fun, colorful earrings.



I love these colors together, so fun and happy, so I continued with them. I pulled a fuschia Turquoise butterfly out of my stash and made a bracelet around it. I started by adding different bead caps to the pink Druzy and yellow Fire Agate beads (BDS1593-12). Then, I used the smaller green Fire Agates (BDS1591-06) to make flowers by adding a bead caps and purple Swarovski crystals. I bought yellow bell flowers at Gahanna Bead Studio and added a purple Swarovski crystals to those, too. A silver flower toggle finishes the bracelet.



I made a chain necklace with black, gunmetal and copper chains, and attached the lovely shell flower pendants (PDG288-03) to the ends. I added a silver wavy disc and Swarovski crystal to each flower and wrapped them to the chain. Next, I strung white freshwater pearls to each side of the chain.                                                            
                                                               The necklace can be worn symmetrically


                                                       or asymmetrically, to see more of the freshwater pearls.


I wasn't sure what to do with the pretty Prehnite nuggets (BDS1565-18) until I found some light green crystals that I had received from another challenge - I knew they would work perfectly! I made a simple necklace with a tassel of crystals - this is a fun, swingy necklace that I wear often.

 

Next up, the sweet olive Jade donut pendant (BDG118-17D). I made a bail for the donut using 3mm gold crystals - I also made two additional circles. I strung green and pink freshwater pearls, the African silver leaf rondelles (BDS1517-17) and gold crystals, attached that to the crystal circles and used beige recycled sari silk to finish it. One of the crystal circles is used as part of the toggle.



For the next two necklaces, I used the lovely Murano style glass pendants. The blue pendant (PT467-02)has gold, red, blue and turquoise in it, so I wire wrapped goldstone rondelle beads (BDS367-08), faceted red glass beads, and Lapis and Amazonite round beads. I connected them together with square wire jump rings (my new favorite jump rings!), attached the pendant to one of my handmade bails and .....Voila! I love how this turned out!



The pretty yellow Murano style glass pendant (PT472-04) has gold, a red heart and lime green. I attached the pendant to a silver hammered circle and added colorful, tiny gears near the top of it. I wrapped faceted goldstone rondelle beads (BDS367-08) to the chain, added another circle to one side and a heart toggle to the other. I wove lime green silk cord through the gunmetal chain to finish the necklace.



I found two more silver hammered circles in my stash and wire wrapped white Howlite rondelle beads (BDS366-09), black crystals and silver wavy discs to them.


                              I attached the shell rectangular prism beads (BDS416-09) to gold chain to make fun, swingy earrings.


I was stuck on what to do with the, extra large bamboo coral tube beads (CB25-25) until two days ago. I added coral colored seed beads to jump rings, then attached several together to make a short chain. I connected it all together with two different types of silver chain and a circle toggle.

 
                                                                             I love the bamboo coral!!


The cool irregular shell pendant (PDG283-13)was one of the first items I picked from the list Bill sent - I thought it would be easy to work with, but it tilts to one side and ended up being quite a challenge! I, finally, attached it to black chain, for contrast, and wire wrapped some vintage glass pearls to the chain. It's a short necklace, seventeen inches, and I love how it looks on!!



For my final necklace, I strung bamboo coral twig beads (CB13-09), coral crystals and light blue sea glass beads - I added a turquoise bay fancy shard sea glass pendant (P18-B28) to the center. Then, I wove light blue cotton cord through silver chain and attached that, with a toggle, to the ends.




Thank you for taking the time to look at my jewelry designs!! I really enjoyed this challenge and want to Thank Bill Zhang and the Znet Team for this amazing opportunity!! Stop by ZnetShows to check out all of their fabulous beads!

Time to start voting!! Go to this Facebook page to see the 20 beautiful designs that were chosen!! Voting will continue through May 23 - Good Luck to everyone!!

                          Please visit the ZnetShows blog and check out all of the designers and their fabulous designs!!