Earrings, Earrings, Earrings....Midnight Magic Revealed!

It's that time again! Andrew Thornton put together a special Halloween edition design kit called Midnight Magic...on 13 magical kits available and today is the big reveal! Here is a picture of the goodies we received.

and as with every kit...Andrew included a wonderful mystery component.

I had a lot of inspired ideas for this kit but I have several irons in the fire right now so to speak so I didn't get as much completed as I hoped for...but in an unusual turn for me it's all earrings this time! I only used beads and bead caps from the kit. The only additions I made are copper wire, brass wire and Vintaj findings for each pair. This first pair is VERY long at about 4.5 inches.

I love the way the copper in this pairs gives them a fall caramel apple feel...I love caramel apples at Halloween!

and this last pair another warm autumn feel...

So that's it for me this time. Andrew is working on a gallery set up today so it will be later this evening before his post is up with a complete list of participants. Please visit the links below to see what everyone created. Have a safe and happy Halloween! ~Kari


Kari Asbury
Shaiha Williams
Tammy Bowman

On Andrew Thornton's Blog:
Andrew Thornton
Alison Herrington
Laurel Ross
Geri Colgrove

Royal Feather...Reveal Time!

It't that time again to enjoy another design challenge and blog hop hosted by the wonderful Andrew Thornton! If you are not familiar with Andrew's design challenge kits you can visit his blog here for the details. Now on to the good stuff...

I usually take pictures of the kit when I receive it but this time...OOPS! forgot that part...or if I took them, I stored them in a super secret folder on my computer. If you want to see what was in the kit you can check it out here. So I really love purples and greens so I was excited to grab this one up. I played with design possibilities for several days but in the end settle on bracelets...LOTS of them! 

They are all tied on Irish waxed linen...some have plum, some olive, and some emerald green. The plum came with the kit all other colors are from my own supply. I used brass snap clasps from my supplies and one artisan charm...I'll give you the details when we get to that picture. 

Everything else is from the kit...I love how each bracelet is beautiful alone but also look great in any combination together...makes for lot of versatility...which I love in my jewelry! Isn't the polymer crown charm fantastic? Andrew made it as our mystery component this time. It has a lovely shimmer that kind of shows in the picture although never as dazzling as it is in person.

Remember that artisan charm I mentioned earlier? I won 3rd place in the ACM Jewelry Designer Contest held in July...if you have not checked out this group on Facebook you really should...tons of beady goodness all in one great location. We've also started a marketplace to shop all these lovely bead artists. Anyway...long story, longer...HAHA! I got to choose $10 worth of goodies from one of our artists shops. I chose Linda Landig...she makes wonderful ceramic goodies. I asked her to surprise. This fantastic charm is ONE of the goodies she sent me. It is a perfect element for the dark greens of this kit! and the perfect size for a bracelet charm :)

This is the first bracelet I made ...funny it's the last I'm showing. I love this combination the luster in the green beads is perfect with the dark plum color. 

I also made earrings to match this bracelet...the picture of them alone was not loading correctly...so had to resort to just sharing the picture of the pair...

and a picture of all the bracelets together...lovely combination, don't you think? So that's it for me this time. Thank you once again to Andrew for putting together wonderful kits full of inspiration and beady goodness! I hope you will check out the other participants below and see what lovelies they created! ~Kari

Kari Asbury

Ann Schroeder

Sarajo Wentling

Christina Porter

Tammy Bowman

Tara Linda

On Andrew Thornton's blog:

Andrew Thornton

Margriet Schnabel 

Keisha Russell 

Tara Linda 

Alison Herrington 

Laurel Ross 

Marcia Gilbert 

Joanne Goldberg 

Crystal Lombardo Farrell 

Cheryl Lee Tucker

Autumn Night Sky Challenge Reveal...

I love this image Lisa of Pine Ridge Treasures has been sharing as we approach the reveal date for the Autumn Night Sky bead challenge. This is my first reveal with one of Lisa's kits ...I have at least 1 each month with her from now through December. So stay tuned for lots of fun stuff! But first...it's time to see the Autumn Night Sky...

I always to snap a picture when I receive any design kits but in this case I somehow missed doing that so this picture is after I made my pieces but shows all the types of beads I received...the kit was actually very generous with 2 strands of the pearls and 2 strands of the crystals!

I have to be honest I don't work with a lot of glass pearls ...but I knew going into these challenges that many of them will contain glass pearls...so comes the challenge for me! I have been very into stack and wrap bracelets the last several months. The style just works for me...simple or extravagant or any where in between depending on how you feel that day.

I used crystals and pearls from the kit and added plum Irish waxed linen and a silver snap clasp for this triple wrap bracelet. I love it! It also goes really nicely with several bracelets I made from my Dark Bloom challenge kit from Andrew Thornton...so kudos for coordinating pieces! It's also long enough to wear as a necklace...so the options are really endless.

I also made a pair of coordinating earrings. I don't wear a lot of earrings but I always tend to make them to coordinate with my designs, especially bracelets. All beads are from the kit and I've again used the plum Irish waxed linen. I also added a pair of my twisted copper jump rings and copper ear wires. I really love these deep rich colors and everything has just the right touch of sparkle!

I have really enjoyed my first design kit from Lisa and look forward to the coming months sharing my other kits and designs with you...most of them are done at this point...so now just waiting for time to share...the anticipation is killing me! Not all of these challenges are blog hops...several are just sharing your designs in the facebook albums on the Pine Ridge Treasure page, which you can find here. I will be blogging on each challenge as well as sharing in the albums...part of my efforts to get in the habit of blogging more regularly :)

So I hope you'll check out the Facebook album to see what everyone else created...my next reveal is Royal Feather (Andrew Thornton) on October 16...hope to see you then! ~Kari