Rondelle Challenge - Sue & Donna Rock!

 A few weeks back, Sue from Suebeads threw out a Rondelle Challenge and gave five lucky readers a set of her enameled rondelles.  It's a new shape for her, so she's giving us a chance to work with them and show off the possibilities!

I decided to take these rondelles from Sue and combine them with some of her other lampworked glass as well as more glass from Donna Millard.  I ended up with three pieces to share...the first is this memory wire bracelet that features lots of bright colors and shapes:

 I love the pinks and oranges together. 

 I made up some twisted blue wire beads to pull in the blues.  I love how the shape of the wire wrapping mimics the shape of the blue lampworked bead from Sue.

The second piece is a sweet pendant hanging from a simple fuchsia choker wire.  I created a little stack of handmade goodness including one of the rondelles.

I had a set of two big blue pearls from a Hawaii trip in recent years and was able to use them here and in the bracelet.  

The final piece ended up strung!  I was working with wire and created a lot of links.  Then, after walking away for a while, I ended up cutting them all apart and starting over.

I strung this asymmetric section and then attached it to some nice long leather with a fancy clasp at the bag.  

 The piece ends up hanging really long and I love it.

The rest of the rondelle bunch can be seen at their blogs linked here:

Holly Westfall - SilverRose Designs

Erin Prais-Hintz - Treasures Found...Inspiration Everywhere

Barbara Fernald - Barbara S. Fernald Jewelry

Kristi Harrison - It's a New Day

and, you're already here with Jen Judd Rocks!  :)

Thanks again to Sue for the great idea and the great beads!!

BTW: Starting with Earrings

I've had some random pairs of earrings hanging around on my bead table for a long time now so on this Bead Table Wednesday, I'm sharing progress!  I think I made them back when I lived in Alabama so it must be at least a year since that's how long I've been in Hampton.  My goal has always been to make up a necklace and bracelet to go with each and create a full-up set.  They sit over in a little bowl waiting for me to get inspired.  I know we all have different selling experiences, but I've found that I frequently get asked for something to go with whatever piece I create...so I've gotten better about making things that coordinate.  I try not to get too matchity matchy so that each piece can stand on its own.  Long story short is that I finally got some of these sets done. 


The first pair of earrings that I decided to tackle feature lampwork by Kathy Perras (I just went back to make sure I cited this artist right and figured out I bought these in April of 2010, nice.)  They have a great periwinkle purple and grassy green that I paired with silver and aquamarine.  (I just noticed that both earrings have the nugget on the same side instead of being opposite as I would put them now...will have to go back and switch one around.)

I stayed with the periwinkle color and added some Donna Millard lampwork and a couple of her new vintage tin bead caps then finished it off with a summery green suede cord and my new fave steel wire. 

 I went for a different look with the bracelet and used lots of the aquamarine nuggets to highlight a focal group with more of Donna's glass, a little wood and more vintage periwinkle glass.

 Here's the whole set together...it's listed in my shop now.

The second pair of earrings I decided to work with have a different feeling to them...more earthy with the turquoise and forest green Barbara Lewis enameled rounds.

 This necklace took me off the artisan bead path and over into my semi-precious stones where I picked out this big green garnet nugget for the centerpiece.  It's highlighted with some rolled paper beads, turquoise heishi, a little brass and then steel wire to finish and connect to the smooth brown leather.

 I went with memory wire for a simple bangle with little danglies at the end.

 And here's the whole thing all together which is also listed as a set in my Etsy shop!

Hope everyone's having a great, productive week clearing off the bead tables on this Bead Table Wednesday!

I've Been Seen at Art Bead Scene

Many thanks to Lori, my Pretty Things friend and a contributor at the Art Bead Scene! 

 She picked my design from this month's ABS challenge, Ophelia, to feature this week!

I have to share the love on this because it's all about the Art Beads!!

- My friend, Sandra, bought the set last week from my Etsy shop!

- Juls' ribbed turquoise glass rounds are amazing

- I just bought a couple more sets of disks kinda like 

that yellow one from HMB Studios.

- I'm going to another Barbara Lewis class in July to learn how to 

make more beads like that blue enameled one in the middle.

- The blue and green disks came from Donna Millard with some amazing little vintage

metal bead caps and now I want to try to make some myself.  I only

cut myself once on the first try.

I need to try to sell some more stuff so I can justify the $ I spent on more artisan goodness this week.  I'll share some bead porn later this week after all the fun little yellow envelopes make it to my little mailbox.

Art Bead Scene Challenge for June

My offering for this month's Art Bead Scene challenge is this set--a necklace, bracelet and earrings--that features some lampwork bead goodness.  I used leather, brass, copper, and chain as my "neutrals" to highlight the vibrant colors of these artisan's beads.  

This whole set is listed in my Etsy shop for sale.  :)

About the beads:

~The Tribal Turquoise set of ribbed rounds came from Juls Cannon at Julsbeads.

~The big disks in blue and green are from a set that Donna Millard created and which I coveted for a while before finally deciding to go for ownership.  The set came with a bunch of her hand-cut tin bead caps which I'm saving for later.

~The little yellow highlight disk is from HMB Studios.  It's not a wacky chunky piece--those are my favorites by Heather--but I tend to have a lot of her disks around because they're just so yummy.  (I just clicked over to her shop to check my links and there are some awesome wacky chunkies that I now want but I'm still in the midst of my two week off-the-craft-supply challenge!  Dang!!)

~The big enamel blue bead is one that I made during a Painting with Fire workshop with Barbara Lewis.

On the challenge inspiration:

Ophelia by Odilon Redon
c. 1900-05; Pastel on paper mounted on board, 19 7/8 x 26 1/2 in; The Woodner Collection
"The depiction of Ophelia seems not at all tragic, but rather an idyllic scene of a naked bather in a limpid pool of flowers. The design and colour scheme is masterly and original, being merely suggestive of the tragedy of death after rejection and madness." - Tony Thomas

There are lots of other challenge pieces out in this Flickr group.  :)

Zebra Stripes & Shells?

Obviously!

I fell in love with this Donna Millard bead as soon as I saw it.  I just loooooove those stripes and the whole organic feel of it.  I have serious problems when I see her updates--there really isn't any of her work that I don't love and I have to hold myself back because I already have a big stack of them!  I'm just happy that I finally sat down and crafted something up with this one. 

So, how about those little striped shells?  I've never seen anything like them and when a little Happy Mango holiday coupon came out, I did a little splurging.  They're called "Columbilia shells."  I think they're just perfect little zebra striped bits!!  It's all mixed up with amethyst, green garnet, & lava rock rounds along with a couple of HMBStudios lampwork disks.   It has been hard for me to go symmetric, but I really think it was the best thing to do to really feature this bead.  I was able to go asymmetric on the bracelet instead.  haaaaaaaaaaa

I'm off to get these babies posted to Etsy...then if I sell them I can buy some more of Donna's beads!  haaaaaaaaaaa

Lovin' on Donna Millard Beads

I'm enjoying a "family day" (meaning a no-work day) with my beads!!  I'm so excited!

I decided to start with a gorgeous art glass focal and this spectacular bit from Donna Millard, one of my faves, screamed out, "MEEEEeeee," and I obliged.

This is the original picture from Donna's Etsy listing for "Wild & Crazy"

As I happen to have a few orange beads in my collection...oh, and a few purple...I went to town and here's the end result for the necklace:

This baby has satin pearls, some vintage glass (that I picked up in Hawaii in 2008 and makes me think fondly of my friends Lauren & Marc...many hugs to you guys!), some vintage and Czech glass and then a sterling silver chain bail to put all the attention where it needs to be on that gorgeous artisan bead.  I decided to go with an adjustable clasp so that the focal could be adjusted to work with lots of necklines.

I couldn't stop with that and broke out the memory wire to finish up a coordinating bracelet with more of Donna's beads.

And then some earrings...why not?

Feel free to shop your heart out on my Etsy site...just added this set.  Or, if you live nearby here in Hampton, call me and you can see it in person!  :)

Missing My Blog Family!

I can't believe it has been over a week since I last posted!!  But, alas, I have been moving my household...including two ridiculous cats and a boatload of crafty stuff...and am finally down to just a few boxes left in my cute/tiny apartment.  I've been living without connectivity for a while...other than my little phone...and that has felt just about crippling for communicating. But, the cable people girl was here last night and now I'm back in action!!

I've been down to Bead Haven a few times to chat with Joanne and plan my first teaching gig...whoo hooo!  I'm starting small with an asymmetric bracelet class and I'm so excited to do some research and paw through everything she has in the store.  haaaaaaaaa  That's coming up in a couple of weeks.  Plus, I have a holiday weekend coming up so that means lots of time for beach strolling and being inspired in the morning with hot afternoons in the coolness of the workshop.  I'm soooo looking forward to it.

In the meantime, I actually found some time before I left Alabama to shoppity shop.  It's all about the orange on these Donna Millard beads.  There's a matching focal, too, that's just sooooo sweet!

Plus, the antique and flea markets back in my hometown, Bedford, Pa., provided lots of distractions while I was home visiting.  I can't wait to show you the vintage goodies I found!

I have to get ready for a little PT before it gets up to the 100's again...great.  :)

"I need a 'wow' piece for a lime-green dress."

First, off, many thanks to my friend, Stella, who hosted a little show for me the other day out by her pool.  I probably ate most of the cheese and drank most of the wine, but I also had a great time feeling the love of my friends for my jewels.  And, yes, Stella is one of those girls in the picture that I posted the other day so we've known each other a loooooong time.  haaaaaaa  Somehow, though, we haven't aged a bit...isn't that perfect?  haaaaaaaaaa

Okay, then, onto the business of this post.  One of the girls at the party the other night is specifically in the market for a special piece to go with a simple, summery lime green dress.  So, I told her I'd take the challenge.  She's going to her hometown in week for big family graduation parties and wants to have something that everyone will ogle.  That's some pressure, but I love working with green so I sat down last night right away to work it.  I opened up my "special glass" drawer and right away saw this kick-ass focal from Donna Millard.  (By the way, she is killin' me with the new beads...they have to be my latest faves.)

And the rest of the piece worked itself out from there...

- Funky blue jasper faceted nuggets
- Vintage turquoise lucite rounds
- Smooth onyx nuggets
- Lime green pearls & South American beans

And since everything was there on the table, there's a bracelet and little earrings to complete the set...

Cross your fingers for me...I hope this is "wow" enough for her!!!

***Post update from a week later...she LOVED the whole set!!!  :)