we're all ears January

our  inspiration

'Dune'

Lizard daggers from scorched earth

beads from my stash

'Blue on Blue'

daggers from scorched Earth

glass beads from my stash

'Fiesta'

beads from Graceful Willow

we're all ears November

our inspiration is pods

water pods

spikes from shorched earth

two primitive pods from something todobeds

aqua beads from Grubbi 

thanks for stopping by.

Visit the Earrings everyday blog on the20th to see more

We're All Ears

This month the theme is dance

'the waltz'

Ceramic yellow beads from scorched earth,

tiny aqua beads from Earthshine Beads, Antique Floral connectors

'The Tango'

polymer beads from Graceful Willow, Ancient scrolls from Melinda Orr,tiny orange beads from the Bead spacer shop.

See more at Earrings Every Day

ABS April Challenge

Our Inspiration for April ABS Challenge

Self- Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940

By Frida Kahlo

Oil on Canvas

Vintaj focal flanked by green polymer discs from Grubbi

and yellow polymer round beads from too aquariouhttps://www.etsy.com/shop/tooaquariuss

Close up of the focal beads

'Amazon Queen'

Made with blue -green lampwork beads

black spacers,, faceted yellow glass beads, and feather drops from Scorched Earth

And yes one is longer but I'm OK with that.

Check out what others have made on April 30

We're All Ears February Challenge

Our inspiration are lovely flower girls created by Lim Zhi

Malaysian artist and photographer Lim Zhi Wei (a.k.a Limzy) is the creator of these whimsical flower girls. She has a passion for turning every day objects into things of delicate beauty. For 2015, Limzy created a very limited run of a calendar of her Flowergirls. How marvelous would it be to gaze on those dreamy beauties every day of the year! The beauty of this art is that it is ephemeral. It will not last. Yet Limzy has captured the essence of the bloom in such a spectacularly unique way and preserved it in her prints. You can follow Lim Zhi Wei on Instagram and Facebook or on her blog, Love, Limzy.

There are several flower girls to choose from

I chose these because I love Calla lilies.

'Calla Lily'

 Beautiful drops from Scorched Earth

Disk beads from Twinstar. 

And sweet polymer beads from Graceful Willow

Please visit the Earrings Everyday blog to see more of  the art and the earrings 

New Things

I have my first show at the end of February and finally bought some of these hemp necklace displays. I really like them as apposed to the leatherette.

Beautiful beads from Something to do beads

love these beads from Grubbi

Wonderful crackled ceramic bead caps from Balelaceramics

I can never get enough of Schorched Earth Beads

We're All Ears :: January

Our inspiration is the Pantone 2015 Fashion Colors for Spring

I was going to make a pair of earrings for each color but that proved to be too much.

 For the custard color:

'Sunset Cruise'

Ceramic drops from Scorched Earth

Burnt Horn beads, tiny glass beads from The Spacer Bead Shop

Patina beads from Miss Ficklemedia & brass earwires from Vintaj.

For the blues I put them together:

'North Wind'

Ceramic Beads from Grubbi

Swarvoski Crystals, and Vintaj Brass drops

For Marsala;

'Red, Red Wine'

Glass beads from my stash

Tiny glass beads from the Spacer Bead Shop

 And Vintaj brass drops and earwires

For the Lavender Herb:

'Lavender Field'

Two frosted beads from Fire and  Fibers

Green Fluorite beads

Tiny purple beads from the Spacer Bead Shop

For Lucite Green and Tangerine:

'Psychedelic'

Green Czech Beads

Tiny orange beads from the Bead Spacer Shop

Tiny blue spacers, sorry I don't know the artist

Purple beads and brass flower drops

For Toasted Almond:

Two ceramic beads from Grubbi

Everything is from Vintaj

Be sure visit Earrings Every Day to see what others have made.

Lorelei's Stinky Dog Challenge

I'm so excited for Lorelei's Stinky Dog Challenge!

Above is the kit we purchase, and of course I just had to add a few extras in my cart.

'Uncharted Island'
I used the Mykonos cones from the kit along with orange drops from Scorched Earth
Turquoise Magnesite beads, Czech Cathedral beads from Stinky Dog Beads and brass earwires.

'Lazy Days of Summer'

Mykonos Leaf Charms from the kit, coral Swarovski Pearls, blue lampwork spacers from Marshall Jodie,

yellow czech beads from Arte Bella Surpluss and brass earwires. 

'Bora Bora'

Blue Luster English Cut Beads from the kit, Myknons Cast sanddollar I just had to have,

Aquamarine stones and a brass chain and clasp

'Off the Trail'

More of the darling leaf charms, green lampwork beads from Dancing Frog,

Orange spacers form Marshall Jodie, and tiny picasso glass beads added to my cart, and of course, brass earwires

'Hollywood Glam'

Silver circle from the kit along with wrapped chain beads from a Cousin giveaway I won recently, Czech 10mm Jet Cut Nuggets and sterling chain.

I ran out of time to use the entire kit but I'll get around to them.

Thanks to Lorelei for hosting this challenge and also to Stinky Dog Beads!  What a fun name and a great site to shop.

Please check out the links below to see more from Stinky Dog Beads

http://linhagberg.wordpress.com

http://beadsforbusygals.blogspot.com

http://alice-dreaming.blogspot.com

http://smellynelly.blogspot.com

http://lucybejaranojewelry.blogspot.com

http://bijouxgemsjoy.blogspot.com

http://spudandmrsbutters.blogspot.com/

http://Lorelei1141.blogspot.com

http://www.honeyfromthebee.com 

AJE Earring Challenge

It's week 33 and 34 for the Art Jewelry Elements Blog year long earring challenge.  And what a challenge it was for me this week. These photos show how much I struggled with photographing just one pair of earrings.

These earrings are made with Scorched Earth green/brown dangles and those large 'honey colored' vintage balls. It was the vintage balls that gave me grief. First, they were too large to photograph laying flat so I put them on this pottery shard.  But look how orange they are!

Next I folded a piece of card stock and hung them. This is a bit better, but still doesn't show the wonderful honey color.

So I took them outside and put them on cinder blocks.  A bit better but still very orange.

Getting very frustrated by now

Outside on a black surface. All washed out but getting closer to the honey color.

Outside with the card stock stand. Still  a bit too orange no matter what editing I do!

Any Suggestions?  I have to admit I don't know my way around the camera. I usually shoot without flash and hope for the best.  

For my second pair:

'Double Trouble' 

Also with Scorched Earth beads along with Vintaj components.

Please head over to the AJE blog to see more earrings. And be sure to visit the AJE Pinterest Board to see more.

An Experiment in Patina

I know many of you have experimented with Patina so this might be a 'done that' post to you. But for me it's something new and exciting. I'm using instructions from Denise Yezbak Moore in the February 2011 Issue of Bead Trends.  Yes it takes me that long to put things in to action. 

I'm using Vintaj 25 mm copper circles. The process takes three days or more depending on the level of patina you want. I was so excited  about how well this worked that I forgot to take a photo of the first day results.

Day two, very nice patina. Even the paper plate shines with color and salt crystals.

Day three.  I'm not happy with the results as they are more crusty than I wanted.  It's my own fault as I purchased coarse sea salt rather than fine by mistake.This is the convex side.

Concave side. I finished them with a little buffing and a light coat of Ren Wax.

'St Croix' with Scorched Earth drops.

AJE Earring Challenge

  Sunday is the reveal for weeks 27 and 28 of the Art Jewelry Elements year long Earring Challenge. In keeping with my theme of featuring a bead artist each week for as long as I can, I have made two pairs with beads from Petra of Scorched Earth. Check out her etsy shop, you'll be glad you did!  

'Let Freedom Ring' made with Petra's colorful drops, lampwork beads from Twinstar, and Vintaj components.

 

'Drifter' with Petra's rustic daggers, Vintaj components, and lampwork beads from  Something New4 you (I lost track of her since she sold on ebay and would love to find her again.  If anyone knows how to find her I would be greatful.)

  Just like the days of summer go by so quickly, it seems like we just started this challenge.  Yet here we are just over half way through the year. Thank you for sticking with me as I show off my earrings.  And please visit the AJE blog to see more wonderful earrings.