BSBP Reveal!

Without further ado...here are my Bead Soup goods:

First, I loved up on that big-ass gorgeous focal from my partner, Bianca.  It was a raucously colorful piece, so I wasn't sure exactly which way to go.  I spent a few nights pulling beads out of the stash trying to find the perfect combination, but wasn't satisfied with any of them.  They didn't let the focal sing the way I wanted.

So, while sitting and crocheting with some fat yarn, I realized that I could find some fat yarn to go with the bead.  Then, I could figure out how to make a big, dramatic pin to adorn a hat or scarf.  After wandering through Michael's late on a Saturday night trying to find the perfect background for this glasperlen, I picked this subtle blue that picks out the highlights from the cool colors of the bead and accents the warm colors....

I used a big, blunt safety pin that I found in a hardware store bin.  I think the size of the steel pin is perfect for the size of the focal.  It can be used up on the hat or, if I get another Michael's coupon, it could be used on a matching scarf!

Since the BSBP rules say that I have to use both the focal and the clasp (but not necessarily in the same piece), I went a different direction with the pretty silver heart-shaped hook and eye clasp that Bianca chose...yes.  They're earrings!  I turned the clasp into two cute little pendants and made earrings!!

I snipped off the hook and eye from the clasp pieces, filed off the rough spots, and then strung them with some wonderful lampworked glass from Bianca and another of my favorite artists, Heather at HMB Studios.

So, what do you think?  Did I go far enough out of the soup box?  haaaaaaaaaaaaaa

This is the third of three reveals, so there's a nice list of goodness that you can tour around and see today.  Here are links to all of them!

First, you have to go see my partner Bianca:

Bianca Odenthal, Zydies Glasperlen

Then, you can head out and see the rest!!!

Hostess, Lori Anderson, Pretty Things

Agi Kiss, Moonsafari Beads 

Alice Peterson, Alice Dreaming

Alison Sachs, Beads by Earthtones

Amanda Dittloff, Passion Smashin'

Andra Marasteanu, Bijoux de Monanage

Angie Szlovak, SweetBeads

Anitra Gordy, Leelu Creations

Ann Sherwood, Ann's Blog

Arlene Dean, A Glass Bash

Audrey Belanger, Dreams of an Absolution

Barb Solem, Vivi Magoo Presents

Barbara Blaszczyk, laboratorim Flory

Becky Pancake, Becky Pancake Bead Designs

Bianca Odenthal, Zydies Glasperlen

Birgit Klughardt, GitesBeads

Bobbie Rafferty, Beadsong Jewelry

Bonnie Coursolle,  Jasper Gems

Cece Cormier, The Beading Yogini

Charlene Jacka, Clay Space

Cherrie Fick, En La Lumie're

Cheryl Foiles, Get Your Bead On

Christie Murrow, Charis Designs Jewelry

Christina Miles, Wings n Scales

Christina Stofmeel, Feng Beads

Christine Stonefield, Sweet Girl Design

Cindy Cima Edwards, Live to Design

CJ Bauschka, 4 His Glory Creations

Claire Smith, Embergrass Jewelry

Cynthia Riggs, Cynth's Blog

Dana Fowler, Trunk Full of Treasure

Dawn Pierro, Turtle Moon Designs

Dee Elgie, Cherry Obsidia

Donetta Farrington, Simply Gorgeous

Dot Lewallwn, Speedie Beadie

Elizabeth Bunn, Elizabeth Beads

Eva Kovacs, Ewa gyongyos vilaga!

Evelyn Duberry, Sheba Makeda

Fay Wolfenden, Torch Fairy

Fen Li, Bead Flora Jewels

Gail Zwang, Angel Moose Enterprises

Geneva Collins, Torque Story

Grace Dorsey, Fan of the Flame

Gretchen Nation,  Art Food Lodging

Hannah Annear, Squintessential

Heather Goldsmith, As I Bead It

Heather Otto, The Craft Hopper

Heidi Kingman, My Bead Therapy

Hope Smitherman, Crafty Hope

Isolina Perez, Isolina Perez

Jacqueline Keller, CreARTelier

Jane Haag, Did You Make Something Today?

Janeen Sorensen, Wild Vanilla Designs

Jean Peter, Jean P. Designs

** You're here.  :)  Jennifer Judd, Jen Judd Rocks

Jennifer L Justman, Soul's Fire Designs

Joanna Matuszczyk, Bizuteria z filcu

Joanne Brown, Jo's Jewels

Joanne Lockwood, Jo Bunkum

Joyce Becker, Joyce's Joyful Gems

Judy Riley, Three Red Beads

Karen Mitchell, Over the Moon Design

Karen Williams, Baublicious

Karin von Hoeren, Creative Ideen

Karla Morgan, Texas Pepper Jams

Kashmira Patel, Sadafule .. always in bloom!

Kate Richbourg, We Can Make That at Home

Katrin Lembke, AllesPerle

Kathy Combs, Torched in Texas

Kathy Lindemer, Bay Moon Design

Kay Thomerson, Kayz Kreationz

Kelley Fogle, My Life, One Bead at at Time

Kelly Hosford Patterson, Traveling Side Show

Klaudette Koon, Only Road

Lara Lutrick, Lampwork Beads by Lara

Laura Guenther, Blue Antiquities

Laurie Lalonde, HourGlass Studio

Lilik Kristiani, Soul of My Embodiment

Linda Younkman, Lindy's Designs

Lisa Chapman, Beach Cat Beads

Lisa Lodge, Pine Ridge Treasures

Loretta Carstensen, Designs by Loretta

Lori Bergmann, Lori Bergmann Design

Lori Dorrington, Lori's Adventures in Etsy Land

Lupe Meter, Gem's PC Corner

Lynn Davis, LLYYNN

Malin de Koning, Beading by Malin

Mandi Effron, Craft-o-licious

Mandy Williamson, Mimi's Beading

Margot Potter, The Impatient Crafter

Maria Rosa Sharrow, Willow Street Shops

Marianne Baxter, Simply Seablime Jewelry

Marina Dobrynina, Savon Feutre

Marjolein Trewavas, Room for Change

Marelene Cupo, Amazing Designs

Marsha Neal, Marsha Neal Studio

Marta Kaczerowska, uhuhu

Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs

Melissa Trudinger, Bead Recipes

Menka Gupta, Menka's Jewelry Blog

Michelle Burnett, Reverie and Revival

Michelle Escano-Caballero, The Cabby Crafter

Miko Wiropati, Uniquely Yunikua

Milla Hope,  LB Creative Arts and Crafts

Mimi Gardner, Other Curiosities

Miranda Ackerley, MirandackArts

Natalie McKenna, grubbi

Noemi Baena, fuego, metal, y color

Pam Ferrari, Ferrari Originals

Pam Sears, Crazy Creative Corner

Penny Neville, Copper Penny

Rachel Baron, R. Baron Designs

Rachel Myers, Rockabead Jewelry

Rana Wilson, Definitive Designs by R. Wilson

Rebecca Anderson, Song Beads

Rebecca Sirevaag, Becca's Place

Riki Schumacher, Riki Jewelry

Rose Binoya, Ahtee's Blog

Rossana De Gaspari, Rdegas Blog

Sally Anderson, Wild Sally Road

Sandi James, Do Be Do Bead Do

Sandi Volpe, Sandi Volpe

Sandra Wollberg, City of Brass Stories

Sarah Small, blog by salla

Shai Williams, Shaiha's Ramblings

Shawn Mills, Shawn Marie Designs with Bent Wire

Sheila Davis, Stone Designs by Sheila

Sheryl Stephens, Babble Bead

Shiraz Biggie, Secret Song Designs

Solange Collin,  Ahowin Handcrafted Jewelry

Sonya Stille, Dreamin' of Beads

Stephanie Dixon, The Dixon Chick

Susan Kennedy, Sue Beads

Susan Sheehan, Strands of Thought

Suzann Sladcik Wilson, Beadphoria

Sweet Freedom, Sweet Freedom Designs

Tabatha Dinger, Modernly Created

Tania Hagen, Pelima Jewellery Design

Tanya Boden, Fusion Muse

Terry Carter, Tapping Flamingo

Tracy Stillman, Tracy Stillman Designs

BSBPartiers - Bianca & Jen

Back in July, I got matched up for the Bead Soup Blog Party with lovely glass bead artist Bianca Odenthal.  I wrote about our initial matchup here.

Well, Bianca's from Germany, so I had the extra coolness of getting a package that looks all "foreign" and interesting...

She set me up with a wonderful little box of beauties, including this pretty postcard and a beautiful little box holding her handmade glass beads. 

 Look at that pretty artwork on the bookmark!  And, I was thrilled to find my own Zydies Glasperlen treasures inside...

 
Bianca posted a better picture of that big focal bead on her blog here.

Our reveal is this Saturday, the 25th, along with the rest of the BSBPartiers...so, come back and see how I used this big beauty in a bit of a different way.  Just a hint...I've been into knitting and crochet lately, so I had to follow that path a bit...hmmmmm...can you guess what I made?

Making wishes

It's very rare that I sit still.  Well, I guess I have to qualify that and say that when I do sit still, I usually end up falling asleep.  Apparently my way of coping with life changes and dealing with stress is to keep my hands full.  Literally.  They're full of yarn, wire, beads, material, or even my keyboard.  It's not a bad thing, I guess, because I love feeling productive and making things that are pretty or interesting or sometimes even both. 

But, I think I need to learn how to be more peaceful.  I need to be more comfortable just sitting and not doing anything.  So, that's what I'm going to wish for this evening.  I suppose I should put the computer away and turn off the TV.  

I wish for personal peace.

Have you wished for anything lately? 

(p.s. this is my sweet nephew, Austin, whose wish for candy came true, as you can see by the smears of yummy on his face!)

Kiersten Giles Cone Challenge Reveal!

A few weeks ago I was selected to participate in a little blog challenge...and today's the big reveal day!  The centerpieces for the adventure are these handmade copper cones from Kiersten Giles of The Cerebral Dilettante blog fame.

Prolific inspirer and fellow blogger, Lorelei, picked five of us, plus herself, to push the limits of cone creativity.  They're a pretty standard component in jewelry, especially in multi-strand pieces.  So, it was time to think about cones differently...the gauntlet she threw at us was all about unique!!!!

Well...here's my take...

I immediately noticed the gently folded edge along the top of the etched copper and thought of rolled paper.  That led me to a cone reversal so that instead of something flowing out of the cone, I'd have something flow up...

ooooohhhh....like a farmer's market bouquet!  You can see some of my sketches at an earlier post here.

This first piece isn't so much jewelry as it is a little decorative ornament that could hang somewhere to liven up a space with sweet little copper and brass flowers and tendrils in a perfect copper "vase."

I have somehow managed to accumulate a massive stash of tiny flower pieces so I went to town with them and a variety of brass and copper headpins and created a bunch of different flowers by layering the little components along with some metal spacers.  I didn't want to create massive wire-wrapped stems, so I opted for some heavy duty glue to keep the flowers together at the ends of the headpins.  Just in case you try this...open some windows when you work with glue or you'll have a mysterious headache for two days...haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I was digging through my "scrap" wire container looking for small pieces to make spirals and happened upon a bunch of copper and brass that I had used to practice "balling" with my microtorch.  Because I was going for a rustic mix of metals, the odd fired finish at the ends was perfect for more tendril-looking spirals.

My second cone was destined for a similar treatment but with a little bit of a different finish....it became a pendant:

I used a silver pendant "blank" and glued the cone in place.  I used some clear glue (less fumes, since I figured that drama out) to fill in and create a kind of resin background.

Then, I added the flower bouquet!  A few sets of leaves from my "metal component" stash drawer rounded out the little nosegay. 

With a simple little copper ball chain, it's a really pretty accent to a plain white t-shirt!  The flower stems are all attached to a base wrapped loop, so they can actually be rearranged within the cone/vase.

Here's a shot of the working stems as I tried to decide how many to use and create the varied heights that would make the bouquet look balanced and unique.

And, there you have it!  Cones on the up instead of the down!!!  

I was thinking as I made this that I should do a tutorial...if you think that's a good idea, let me know in the comments and I'll work on some pictures of the in-construction piece so you can see how it all came together.  :)

And, now to point you in the direction of my fellow cone-ites for today's challenge reveal:

The host:

Lorelei Eurto at her Blog

The Crazier Sister at Crazy Creative Corner

BeadBug at Copper Glass and Recycled Trash

Yay!Jewelry at the YaY! Jewelry blog

Lori Michaud at the Artfully Ornamental blog

Thanks for stopping by!  

Fabric. Dye. Love.

Bright colors make me happy.

Goodwill scores make me happy.

Ergo creating bright colors on "gently used" white t-shirts and clothes makes me happy.

It's not exactly tie-dying, but "scrunch" dying, according to the tutorial I used to create these babies.  I found it on the Dharma Trading Co. website while shopping around for fabric art things I don't need.  There's another type of application called "ice dying" that I really want to try, but I haven't gotten the  large tubs that I'll need to keep it from making a disaster in my tiny apartment.  The managers are gonna love it when they see my carpet upon move out...when I eventually get to leave...haaaaaaaaaaa

Anyway, this is a bunch of fiber reactive dye that my mom gave me as a treat for my birthday (She's very good with the wishlist!)  combined with lots of white "things" that I picked up at a few local thrift shops.  They're all prepped with the special detergent and jammed into cups and containers.

 Because there's a lot of powder involved, I had to wear protection.  The mask and gloves make it feel much more "official."  Official what?  I'm not sure.

Here's a stack of goods after they've been dyed and rinsed once but before they've been washed in the special detergent that takes out all the extra dye molecules.  (I love that I can use the word molecules in a sentence on my blog.)

And here are some results!  A very earthy t-shirt...I gave it to my trainer in return for kicking my ass.  :)

And a cute little girl's shirt

And a funky pattern of pink and purple that I love...on a t-shirt, I think.

I did a bunch of little onesies and baby t-shirts...they're so cute and mini!!!  My friend, Meghan, is, thankfully, having a baby girl any day now so they have someplace to go.

And, finally, my XL t-shirt that I cut and turned into a little summer infinity scarf!  I made a few and love them all...need to find some bigger t-shirts since they make the best circles.  XXL = bigger infinity.

I have scads more "whites" that are dying to be colorful....haaaaaaaaa  But, I have to wait for my third box of colors to come in from Dharma.  It's gotten to the point of ordering five or so new colors every week.  And, I've only had two sessions of dying.  I'm going with some more blues next time...stay tuned!

Sketch Peek: Inspired by Cones!

My lovely friend, Elisabeth, sent me a birthday present a few weeks ago to help get the inspirational mojo back.  There was a book called The Crafter's Devotional and a big, spiral-bound black journal.  The Devotional is another blog party story that I'm sharing with lots of other creative minds out there who are looking for some more mojo.  But, that's another story for another day.

I decided to start in on the journal with a few ROE (rules of engagement):

- there's no pressure to fill the book

- start in the middle...so it doesn't look like the whole thing's empty when I stop in two weeks

- if something looks ugly or uninspiring or irritating, the page can come out

- only write on one side of each page...that's how I work my "to do" list at work because I hate it when the pen bleeds through to the other side

- try to use the book once a week, but don't stress if you don't

- use it for arts and crafts ideas AND whatever else I want like cool vocabulary words (yesterday I had to look up solipsism and profligacy while reading Newsweek)

- keep a black sharpie in the spine since that's my favorite writing utensil

My first project page....

I had some major brainstorming/idea generation the other day right after I heard from Lorelei with an invitation to be part of her latest blog challenge.  You can see the details at Lorelei's blog, but the basics:  There are six designers tasked to come up with something cool with gorgeous handmade copper cones from Keirsten of Cerebral Dilettante:

It felt great to sketch out a few ideas and then just randomly push out and record the ideas as they occurred.  I actually used the ideas to generate the final pieces...well, almost final.  There's still a few things to work on.  Lorelei asked us to really push the limits of our imagination and try something unexpected...and I did!  I can't wait to share the results during the reveal on 1 August, so be on the lookout!!!

Bead Soup En Route to Bianca!!!

It's the 6th Bead Soup Blog Party!

I'm paired up with Ms. Bianca Odenthal, an amazing artist from Germany.

Her blog is here:   Zydies Glasperlen

We're slated for the 25 August 2012 reveal date, so we'll both see you back then, for sure!

I shopped through my stash and came up with lot of handmade goodies to send her way.  I'm amazed at all the things I have on my worktable that I've actually created myself!

Since I can't reveal the goods until Bianca sees them, I used a really cool iPhone app called WordFoto to create a typographical image of it...I highly recommend it!  I've spent hours playing with it...