SJ Designs Jewelry Challenge

From Sara jo

Welcome to March!  I don't know how you're feeling, but this new year is already flying by for me!  This year, my husband Eric has decided to issue me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... we're calling it the Honey Do List.

Eric and I were so inspired by the response to last month's Honey Do List challenge that we decided to do a blog post to announce the inspiration for the March challenge in hopes of getting folks excited about playing along!  Once again, Eric has offered up some of his photography as a jumping off place.

our inspiration

I chose to go the Monochrome route

'Monochrome' bracelet

beaded beads from

http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com/

polymer beads from too Aquarius

old buttons and Vintaj components

go to the blog on march 21

 http://sjdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com/

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

Erin Prais Hintz Child of God Blog Hop

Erin is hosting a Blog hop inspired by this story. She created polymer beads just for this hop, and I was a lucky winner from one of the ABS Studio Saturday posts. This is the bead I received---gorgeous!

'you are a child of God, and with credentials like that you can do anything'

At first I started to make a bracelet but it didn't show Erin's bead the way I wanted, and ended up with this necklace. By the way, Erin's bead spins around so you can read it all.

I wanted the piece to be bright and cheerful because knowing I'm a child of God makes me very happy.

Included in the necklace are flowered polymer beads from Too Aquarius,teal lampwork beads from Lynda's Bead Dreams, green vintage beads, a jasper bead, tiny Czech bead, plus a lot of Vintaj Components; washers, 'Hope' ring, 'Believe' Ring, a flower pendant, and chain. Honestly I'm not happy with the placement of those rings. They look fine in the photo but not when worn.  I wanted to redo it but simply ran out of time.

Closeup of the beads

I encourage you to read the inspiration for these beads and the blog hop.  Also visit Erin's blog to see what the other participants have made.

I Fell Off The Wagon

First, I want to thank everyone who commented on my Bead Soup Reveal and The Challenge of Travel Reveal. I had so much fun with both and met a few new jewelry and bead designers.

And now for the confession. At the end of last year I decided I needed to use up the beads in my stash before buying more. I allowed myself to purchase the necessary components and findings like clasps, spacers, wire, crimps etc, and beads that were required for a customer request, and once for a bead challenge.

I'm surprised that I lasted so long because it sure isn't easy when every blog I visit had some awesome beads they made or purchased themselves. And finally I caved. It was just about a month ago, and once I started, I just kept going. So here are the offenders; the beads that I just couldn't live without:


These are the cutest little lampwork beads I've ever seen. From Pebble Dreams



And Too Aquarius makes these wonderful polymer beads. I've purchased them before and just had to have more for my Challenge of Travel.



Also from Too Aquarius



From Penny at Fagins Daughter
I considered these findings....don't you agree?



More from Fagins Daughter; mostly vintage, and yes, there are definitely beads in here.



I purchased some wire from Fusion Beads, and they just happened to have a great coupon. But I needed to spend just a bit more in order to make the limit. These Jade beads are gorgeous, and of course I love anything Vintaj. If you haven't signed up for Fusion Beads emails you are missing out on some great discounts from time to time, plus free shipping over $25.00.



I purchased a little surprise from Erin for my daughter's Christmas present. I can't show it here just in case she reads this post. But when it arrived there was a sweet coupon that I just had to take advantage of. I purchased one of her Motley Owls, and a beautiful polymer shell pendant.
On the back the pendant reads 'You can't cross the sea merely standing on the shore'. Erin has the most beautiful packaging.



And I just had to share what I won from Heather Power's Bead Fest Pity Party (the prize was a coupon to her site). The little squirrel, fox, and bird house are just adorable!


I'm going to hop back on the wagon and see how long I can continue this self-imposed 'bead diet'. If you want to join me I could use the company.

The Challenge of Travel

If you’ve been reading my blog for long you already know I love to travel. In fact I crave it. So when Erin offered up the Challenge of Travel I signed up right away. The challenge was to pick a region we do not live in (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania). Then we were to pick a nation from that region, or let Erin Choose for us. I chose the Oceania region, and since this was a challenge I let Erin choose the Nation, which is Kiribati.



The republic of Kiribati is an island group in Micronesia straddling the equator. Kiribati's 33 atolls and one raised coral island are scattered over an area of 3.5 million km, however their land mass comprises of only 810 sq. km. Kiribati has a population of roughly 90,000 people. While there are sandy beaches and warm water year round, Kiribati has almost no tourists. Getting there is not cheap or easy, but if by chance you find yourself there, you should be prepared to rough it.




The average high temperatures are quite reasonable compared to other well-known places in the tropics but the humidity more than makes up for this, making it feel very sauna-like. Industry includes fishing and handmade crafts. Exports include coconuts, seaweed, fish, and Copra which is dried coconut kernels from which oil is obtained. Agriculture includes Copra, taro, sweet potatoes and fish.

I chose to tell the story of Kiribati through the pieces I made; all earrings, because I can't seem to stop making them.

Nearly every article I read reported the Kiribati people to be very polite, laid back, warm and friendly, and very welcoming to tourists. They love to dance and host lavish celebrations with colorful costumes.

The earrings below represent the people of Kiribati, their personality and colorful costumes. I used polymer flower beads from Too Aquarious, tiny lampwork beads from Pebble Dreams, and Vintaj Brass.


'South Pacific Paradise'

These earrings represent their heritage, hard work, pride, and independence. I used lampwork beads from Flameart, Copper dangles from Missficklemedia, and Vintaj Brass.


'Polynesia'

Kiribati is home to the South Pacific's largest marine reserve. It is also one of the low-lying Pacific island states seen as highly vulnerable to rising sea levels and global warming, and frequently lends its voice to calls for action on climate change. In the last couple years there have been articles predicting the entire island chain sinking under water, and the prospect of finding land elsewhere or even settling in Australia.

These earrings represent both fresh and salt water; the very water they depend on for living and making an income may very well be the thing that destroys this beautiful nation. Made with tiny lampwork beads from Pebble Dreams, and sterling silver.


'Drops of Water'

Not everything is bright and colorful in Kiribati. Tarawa is the capital of Kiribati. South Tarawa is one of the most densely populated, severely poverty-stricken places in the world. Other islands have far fewer people, but getting to them can be difficult, and conditions are even more primitive. These earrings represent the darker side; poverty, overcrowding, lack of jobs, and wondering if or when they will have to leave the islands. The earrings are made with Czech nuggets, Swarovski pearls and crystals, and sterling silver.


'Storm Brewing'



A big thanks to Erin for hosting another fun challenge. Please visit Erin's blog for the list of the other participants.

Finally Friday

If you are looking to enter the Art Bead Love Tour giveaway please follow this link. The giveaway ends on June 17th.


Beaded Bright

I really enjoyed this Design Seeds color palette with the warm colors tempered with my favorite color-aqua. So here’s the piece I made. I can’t seem to stop making bracelets! Maybe I need an intervention, but really I love making them.


'Budapest Spice Market'

I named it ‘Budapest Spice Market’. I wish I could say the inspiration came from visiting there, but I’ve only seen blog articles on this beautiful place. The name popped into my head while creating the piece, and so there you have it.

There are a couple lampwork beads from Lyndas Lampwork, and one from Two Sister’s Designs. And I could not help adding that sweet floral polymer clay bead from Too Aquarius, it’s my last one—sniff, sniff. The gorgeous metal clasp and components are from Keirsten Giles, my recent Bead Swap partner. Oh it was difficult to let go of that sweet clasp! Keirsten does magical things with copper! Also included are a couple orange fiber beads from Gritty Bird, and a dark orange and aqua lampwork bead I believe from Quinlan Glass.

Thanks for visiting! Please check out Shannon's blog to see what she created, and to play along.

Finally Friday

The inspiration this week is Design Seeds 'Lotus Tints'. Though the inspiration photo includes soft colors, I realized I don't have a lot of pastel beads. So I used beads in the same colors, but a bit brighter.

The Earrings are made with colorful polymer beads from Too Aquarius. I just love these becuse they go with anything. (Remind me that I need to order more. Oh wait, I'm still on my bead diet.) Also included are a couple berry colored vintage beads and two sweet apple green glass beads. I used sterling silver headpins and earwires. I'm using my sterling sparingly, which kills me because I love using it as much as I do Vintaj and copper. While I was making these I was thinking of all things summer. The name 'Lemonade Stand' came to mind, though I'm not sure why. At any rate, the name stuck and so there you have it.


'Lemonade Stand'

This playful bracelet also includes a Too Aquarius polymer bead, along with three lampwork drum beads (one tan and two sky blue) from Twinstar, some wasabi colored cut glass nuggets, berry colored rainbow soocho jade beads, a died lime green howlite bead and Vintaj components. Still thinking about all things summer; ballgames, picnics, and summer vacations (which I need badly), and the fact that everyone seems to be going here and there all summer long, I named this piece 'Elsewhere'


'Elsewhere'

These Finally Friday events are posted at Shannon's blog each Friday. Check it out today and play along with us. Thanks Shannon for hosting these every week!

A Bit of Randomness

From Design Seeds

This lovely photo has nothing to do with anything, except that I thought it was beautiful and that you'll most likely need a mental vacation after reading all the way to the bottom. And just a warning, this is a long post so grab your favorite beverage and snack and settle in (unless you don't want to, which is fine--no pressure).

On household appliances: Aren’t they supposed to make less work for us?

A while back our washing machine gave out, so we purchased an L.G. high efficiency front loading set which I really like. But it wasn’t long until I noticed a foul odor in the washer and on the clothes. I took a look online and there were many ways to combat this, most of which require a bit of work. The odor is caused by mold getting under the rubber door seal (which is caused by the low water levels and cool water temperatures) . Some suggest regular wiping of the drum, rubber seal, and glass door with bleach. Others recommend running one or two hot water/extra water loads a week in order to clean out the seal. Other suggestions were to buy a special cleaner just for this purpose, or to buy some sort of air filter thingy to keep the air flowing. Seems like a lot of cleaning for an appliance that is supposed to do the cleaning for you. Now I just leave the door open after each load and it seems to work fairly well.



We’ve always had Hoover vacuums. When our trusty vacuum bit the dust (no pun intended) we purchased a Hoover bagless wind tunnel. I have no complaint about the quality of the suction, but it’s the high maintenance that frustrates me. Each time I vacuum, one or both of the filters get clogged after just doing a couple rooms. So I have to take the filters out and clean them. One is a foam filter which must be cleaned with water, which means it has to dry before you can use it again. The other filter is a HEPA filter which must be vacuumed clean. Also, the filter in the canister itself gets clogged with very fine dust, and has to be completely torn apart to be cleaned. Honestly, why do we need filters to filter dirt that is just going into a canister in the first place? And why do we need a HEPA filter for dirt that is already in our home?

On Blog Stuff

Have you noticed that when you click on a blog photo it comes up in a ‘Lightbox’ format? I don’t particularly like it and found a way to get around this. If you’d like to disable Lightbox on your blog, log in to Blogger and select “No” next to Lightbox in the Settings Posts and Comments section (new interface) or the Settings Formatting section (old interface).

Also, I’ve become addicted to the blog Design Seeds after participating in Erin’s recent color challenge. Check out her blog for some amazing inspiration. And she’s made a book too! I apologize in advance if you get hooked….and you will.

On Making Goals

I didn’t make any new year’s resolutions, or choose a word for the year (don’t even remember what word I chose last year), but I did set some goals for myself. You know the ones; eat healthier, be more active, be kinder, get organized, yada yada yada. And I put myself on a diet—a bead diet. I will do my best to use up my huge stash of beads before buying more. I know it will be difficult because so many of you keep tempting me with pretty photos of your own beads. Already I’ve had to restrain myself from hitting the ‘add to cart’ button, and it’s only January 10th!



Here’s my own bit of eye candy for you; sweet floral polymer beads I received in the mail today from Too Aquarius. Aren’t they darling? And I was the lucky winner of the recent ABS Studio Saturday giveaway and recieved these beautiful ceramic pendants from Melanie at Earthenwood Studios. Also I won these gorgeous bracelets from Shanti at Sunshine Bliss Studio! Lucky me!

So if you've stuck with me this far, give yourself a pat on the back. Have a wonderful Wednesday!