Finally Friday

I'm skidding in sideways with my Finally Friday post because I literally put it together this morning! The inspiration was the fabulous palette above from Design Seeds.


'Leaving Summer Behind'

These earrings were inspired by the cooler (and much appreciated) weather we've had for the last few days. The onset of cooler weather always makes me think of Autumn, my favorite season.



I took a bit of liberty with the colors in the palette as you can see. I chose the warmer colors of Vintaj Brass rather than the tan tones in the palette. The lovely lampwork beads were from Whitney Street Studio, and I thought they represented most of the other colors in the palette nicely. Perched on top of the Vintaj brass domed washers is a Swarovski emerald bicone to add a bit of brightness.



I have to thank Shannon for hosting this fun challenge every week. Please check out her blog to see what she made, and maybe even play along.

Art Jewelry Elements June Challenge

This lovely photo is our inspiration for the month of June at Art Jewelry Elements. It was taken by Jennifer Cameron on her recent trip to Florida.

As a kid, my family took a vacation every summer, and my husband and I have continue the tradition with our own family. We love picking up shells, rocks, and driftwood along the shore. Each year when summer approaches, I'm eager to plan our next trip. We travel by car so we can see the sights as we go from state to state, and by the time we are heading home, we are already planning for the next year.



The different colors here work so well together in nature, but not necessarily in a piece of jewelry. I had a difficult time finding just the right beads. Some were too pastel, some were too dark. But after several times of stringing and restringing it finally worked.



I started with an etched, patinated copper 'Athena'link from Melinda Orr. Also included is a Czech nautilus shell, red lava beads, aqua faceted glass beads, a couple pale pink lampwork beads from Jane Perla, a dark brown lampwork spacer from That Bead Girl, a little stone bead, and some little freshwater pearl dangles which helped fill the space between the beads and the etched link. The beads are set off with sterling beads and clasp.


'Pocketful of Sea Shells'

Be sure to visit the Art Jewelry Elements blog on the 18th to see what others have made.

Andrew Thornton's Spring Challenge

Yes, three posts in two days. Unusual for me, I know. I was starting to think I had bit off more than I could chew by signing up for two challenges and Shannon’s weekly 'Finally Fridays' challenges. On the other hand I need this kind of push to keep me at the bead table.


From Andrew's Blog

Andrew collaborated with Lima Beads and came up with a lovely spring inspired kit for this challenge. I just clicked ‘add to cart’, and soon the kit was traveling to my mail box. The kit includes the sweetest bunny toggle from Green Girls, a tiny pewter bunny charm from Tierra Cast, a darling ceramic bird charm from Earthenwood Studio, a little tagua nut large hole bead, a pair of Lucite leaf charms, a hammered chain, two tubes of seed beads, and a variety of Czech beads.

I like to get some mileage out of kits like this and spread the goodness around to several pieces. The first piece I made was this bracelet made with four of the faceted fire polished Czech beads from the kit, some vintage green beads, wasabi deep cut Czech beads, green Druk glass beads, a dyed howlite tube bead, Vintaj chain and components, and some sweet lampwork spacer beads.


'Lime-A-Rita'

The second piece, another bracelet (which I’ve been making a lot of lately) includes the apple green Czech beads, a large turquoise dyed howlite bead, lampwork beads from Twinstar and Lynda’s Bead Dreams, a polymer bead from Heather Powers, a Bali bead and sterling silver spacers and clasp.


'A Gentle Breeze'

These earrings include the Lucite leaves and a couple of the Czech beads from the kit, plus triangle wood beads and a variety of Vintaj chain.


'Jungle Fever'

The inspiration for this last piece came when I saw a little bird on our porch with a wad of fiber in her beak ready to use it to build her nest. This necklace is made with the sweet ceramic bird, a peach colored ‘sugared’ lampwork bead from Fire & Fibers, Vintaj components, and a silk dangle from a destash over at Objects and Elements. I’m thinking I need something more on the chain, so I might take it apart and redo just the chain part. Also, I don’t have a name for this one. Any ideas?



I didn’t get a chance to use the chain, the bunny charm, tagua nut bead, the tiny green glass beads, the seed beads or the bunny clasp. But I hope to make something with these soon. Thanks for stopping by. Please visit Andrew’s blog for the list of participants.

The Challenge of Literature

For many of us, being born in the early 1960’s meant families with a single income where the father worked and the mother stayed home to raise the children. It was also a time where buying for the sake of buying was unheard of. In our family there were few toys and we were not exposed to many books, so I never developed a love for reading.

Fast forward to today. If you were to visit our house you would see a virtual library in each of the kids’ bedrooms. Our children love to read, and we have all genres of books one could imagine. I credit my mother for our children’s interest in reading. She cared for them when I worked full time in another city. Every day she would read to the kids, and bought Golden Books and other fun books at garage sales. The joy of reading was just one of the wonderful gifts my mother gave to our children.

But I do remember a few of my own childhood favorites such as Kavik The wolf Dog, written by Walt Morey in 1968, and of course I still have my first Little House on the Prairie hardback book. And I’ll never forget the cute story about Ralph, the star mouse in Beverly Cleary’s The Mouse and the Motorcycle from 1965. But my favorite book is The Borrowers, first in a series of fantasy novels by Mary Norton. (Oh how the fantasy genre has changed since 1952—the year The Borrowers was first published.)



In case you didn’t know, The Borrowers are tiny people who borrow things to survive while trying to keep their existence a secret. Who knows, maybe there are Borrowers living behind the walls in your home. The piece I made represents al l the little things the Borrowers might have ‘borrowed’ if they lived in my house. So if you’re still with me after that long intro, here is my piece inspired by The Borrowers.


'The Borrowers'







I have a little bowl where I keep little odds and ends, bits and pieces just for such an occasion. Included in the bracelet are washers, buttons, bingo game piece, watch face, tiny 8 ball bead, safety pin, paper clip, Barbie doll sandal donated by my daughter, various keys, odd beads, wrapped jacks game piece, and other interesting bits. I’m not sure who would want such an odd bracelet, but hopefully it makes someone smile.

Thanks for stopping by, and thanks to Erin for another fantastic and fun challenge! Please be sure to visit all the other participants to see what they made.

Erin Prais-Hintz
Rebecca Anderson
Rose Binoya
Lori Bowring Michaud
Shannon Chomanszuk
Marlene Cupo
Jenny Davies-Reazor
Kim Dworak
Beth Emery
Therese Frank
Amy Freeland
K Hutchinson
Kristina Johansson
Jennifer Justman
Susan Kennedy
Linda Landig
Lisa Lodge
Lisa Lowe
Kirsi Luostarinen
Beth McCord
Melissa Meman
Sharon Misuraco
Tracey Nanstad
Melinda Orr
Kashmira Patel
Alice Peterson
Sally Russick
Niky Sayers
Pam Sears
Amy Severino
Tracy Stillman
Emma Todd
Melissa Trudinger
Lesley Watt
Shai Williams