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

Christine Stonefield, Sweet Girl Design  ~~~~ you are here ~~~~

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

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

Christine Stonefield, Sweet Girl Design  ~~~~you are here~~~~

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

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.

7000 Bracelets for Hope

ZnetShows offered their design team the opportunity to contribute bracelets for The Global Genes Project, a patient advocacy organization that supports those who are affected with rare and unusual genes.

Their symbol is a blue jean ribbon, so we were asked to pick two different sea glass, crystal or pearl beads and make bracelets.

I picked cultured sea glass oval ring beads in light sapphire and Chinese crystal octagon beads in light sapphire.

I chose the sea glass oval bead so I could use it as the toggle, and added Chinese crystal rondelles and brass beads as charms.

For the second bracelet, I used the lovely light sapphire faceted octagon beads, Thai silver puff beads and a small Hope charm.

 I'll be mailing these bracelets out to:
Global Genes
c/o 7000 Bracelets of Hope
28 Argonaut, Suite 150
Aliso Viejo, CA  92656 

Please consider donating to this worthy cause.

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!!

Click to view Fall 2013 Creative Spark on GLOSSI.COM

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!!

Seasons Blog Hop Reveal

When Lisa Lodge of A Grateful Artist-Pine Ridge Treasures announced her Seasons Blog Hop way back in February, I thought it would be a fun hop to join!! Her idea was to send out beads and then the participants would 1/ Create jewelry that represents one of the four seasons or 2/ Create jewelry that represents a "season" in your life. Thank you, Lisa, for this fun, inspiring hop!!

When I received my beautiful selection of beads, I kept thinking spring, renewal, soft rains and new beginnings. I love the soft rains and pastel colors of the first blooms of spring - these beads represent that, to me.

I chose the biggest lampwork bead as the focal and started adding beads around it to make a bracelet. All of the round beads are from Lisa and the flower beads are from my stash.

                  
                                                    I think I'll keep this one!! I love the sweet, little butterflies!!

I found this wonderful poem by Alice C. Batemam 

The Renewal of Spring

The tiny tender shoots of green  
Reminding us that this is spring  
The cold dark winter left behind  
The summer sun now on our mind

The feeling that all will be well 
We leave behind our winter shell  
To go explore a warmer world 
To watch the buds as they unfurl 

To smell the earth, damp from its rest  
To feel inside we've passed a test  
We've made it through another year 
To watch new life as it appears

We take long walks, inhaling deep  
The rich new smells from after sleep  
The earth awakening again  
Shaking off the winter's pain

Drinking in the fragile sun 
Showing us that we have won  
Another round of cold and frost  
We've paid the price of winter's cost

We are renewed, as is the earth  
We are enhanced to see the birth  
Of all the green and growing shoots  
With fragile stems and fragile roots

If they can make it through the cold
We know that we can then be bold
Enough to feel our own release
And give our souls much-needed peace

Thank you for stopping by - please check out all of the beautiful designs!!

Hostess: Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Kathy Zeigler Lindemer, Bay Moon Design

Cassi Paslick, Beads: Rolling Downhill

Stephanie Sanner Haussler, PixyBug Designs

Leah Mifflin Tees, My Beady Little Eyes

Karin Slaton, BackStory Beads

Audrey Belanger, Dreams of an Absolution

Lori Jean Poppe, Lorillijean Creative Corner

Karla Morgan, Texas Pepper Jams

Christine Stonefield, Sweet Girl Design     ---- you are here ----

Eleanor Burian-Mohr, The Charmed Life

Alicia Marinache,  All the Pretty Things

Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera

Kay Thomerson, Kayz Kreationz

Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs

Toltec Jewels, Toltec Jewels for Jewel School Friends

Lennis Carrier, Windbent

Erin Kenny, Beadifultherapy

Tanya Goodwin, A Work in Progress

Cilla Watkins, Tell Your Girlfriends

Renetha Williams Stanziano, Lamplight Crafts

Christie Searle Murrow, Charis Designs Jewelry

Sierra Barrett, Giraffe Can Has

Melissa Trudinger, Bead Recipes

Shirley Jones Moore, Beads and Bread

Dawn Horner, Northern Adornments

Charlene Bausinger Jacka, Clay Space

Tara Plote, The Newbie Beader's Blog

Candida Elkins Castleberry, Spun Sugar Beadworks

Miranda Ackerley, Daze and Days

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.

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".