Dark Waters Design Challenge...Reveal Time!

I was so excited when I saw that Andrew Thornton was starting up his design challenge kits again. It's always a treat to get my hands on one of these precious, limited quantity, beady filled treats! This month's kit was filled with shades of watery blues and greens from clear tropical waters to deep dark oceans...truly gorgeous! This time Andrew really gave us a treat with this beautiful seahorse pendant...the "mystery" component...which is a surprise item included in all kits.

I really love this seahorse pendant but found myself really stump for designing anything with it from the beads included in the kit... I spent several days thinking on it then decided to look through my other beads for possible inspiration...that's when I found these beauties! A few small turquoise rondelles from my stash and the wax linen included with the design kit and suddenly a design was coming together. 

 I have worn this necklace twice and I am really struggling with whether I should keep it for myself or list it in one of my shops for sale... But enough about that...now for some earrings... The kit included two of these beads so naturally they had to be earrings! 

Again, I struggled over using elements from the kit and ultimately went with items from my own stash to complete this fun design. I love the look of mix metals, especially the warm of copper and the cool of silver...I think these earrings pull that off perfectly. They are very light weight. 

and one more pair of earrings...I really love the look of the antiqued copper with the teal and turquoise colors in these beads...so warm and tropical...I need a vacation!

I hand formed these earrings including ear hooks from one piece of wire for each and hammered each side of the wire for texture. 

I hope you enjoyed my creations for the Dark Waters Challenge. Please stop by Andrew's blog here to see what he created as well as the other participants or visit the links below. Remember if you want to play along next time you have to follow Andrew's blog and be quick only a limited number of kits and they always go fast!

Shay Williams http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com/

Jeanne Steck http://www.gemsbyjeannemarie.blogspot.com

Christina Porter http://queenbeedesignsny.com/?page_id=62

Kari Asbury http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com you are here :)

Molly Alexander http://beautifullybrokenme.blogspot.com

Andrew Thornton, Marian Howarth, Julie Katz, Crystal Farrel, Laurel Ross, Alison Herrington http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/

We're All Ears April Challenge...

I've just discovered that each month the Earrings Everyday blog does a little inspiration challenge...I really need to pay attention sometimes! Anyway, I happen to catch the post for April's inspiration when I was catching up on the recent posts and decided (at the last minute) it would be fun to whip up some cute earrings and play along.

Seeing the picture I actually had an immediate idea...just had to find the beads in my current disorganization/reorganization...hopefully I'll have a post on that later. You can click here to see the original post including the inspiration for April's design.

Apologies for the somewhat crummy picture...I was experimenting...since my photo cube is unavailable during the re-organziation. Lampwork beads from Pinocean. Enamel leaves from Sue Beads. Ceramic birds from Gaea. They don't have a name yet...I'm not so great at naming my jewelry...so if you have any ideas feel free to help a girl out and post suggestions in comments! :)

And my adventure into wholesale begins...

I'll begin with a little back story... about this time last year I decided to do my first wholesale trade show. It was a last minute decision but by the end of the experience I had gained a wonderful mentor, lots of potential leads and a wealth of experience...I even made enough cash and carry sales to cover my show expenses and make a small profit. All in all, it was a success in my book. Of course, it's been a long year since that show...but I always believe everything happens when it's supposed to and how it's meant to be...

So now here we are in February, just after losing my day job, I received a call inviting me back to that wholesale trade show. This time I had even less time to prepare (just 2 weeks) but so much more knowledge and over the last year, I had made some changes, done some things to move toward this goal. Turns out this time was even better! While the show was a bit slow this time, I did manage to put my networking skills to use and came away with tons of connections, a lead for another trade show done bi-annually and my first wholesale order!

My jewelry is now available in Skamania Lodge gift shop...below is an excerpt from their website...

"Welcome to Skamania Lodge...

Skamania Lodge, a magnificent Washington State 

mountain resort nestled on 175 wooded acres, is located in the 

spectacular Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. 

The rustic yet elegant, grand mountain Lodge is located 

just 45 miles east of Portland, Oregon, on the Washington side of the Columbia River."

I love the variety of items selected for the first order...a selection of Petite Tulip Earrings in spring colors, several pairs of earrings from our Mini Gypsy Collection, Ephemera Pendant necklaces and a beautiful variety of one of a kind Earrings.

A gorgeous selection of one of a kind necklaces...including my design published in the April, 2013 Bead Trends...and the special request to create coordinating earrings and a bracelet so these could be sold as sets.

and last, but certainly not least, a specially created selection of ribbon wrap bracelets! I love the way these turn out...a few were selected from my stock on hand but the majority were created just for this order and I think they turned out beautifully. 

Now onto a few design challenges, blog hops, shop updates and putting together my marketing plan...busy, busy, busy!

Deep Waters Challenge...Mystery Component Revealed!

So exciting that Andrew Thornton has decided to do his design challenge kits again! I was a bit sad that I missed the Radiant Orchid Challenge but I have managed to grab a deep waters kit and it is gorgeous!

As always Andrew provided lots of goodies for design inspiration. I've been very busy finalizing my first wholesale order, which I will blog about soon, but I wanted to get this quick post up for the reveal of the mystery component. A gorgeous polymer clay seahorse pendant! I have so many ideas now I just need to get to work designing.

Please join me on April 24 for the design reveal and blog hop to see what everyone else created with their kits!

A bit about my swap partner and soup has arrived!

and by soup I mean BEAD soup...the very best kind! I am pleased to be participating in the 8th Annual Bead Soup Blog Party, hosted by the lovely Lori Anderson...visit her blog here for more information on this annual event. This is my second time participating and I just can't say enough about what a wonderful party it is! Lori is quite ill at this time, but with the help of a wonderful, supportive husband and son, as well as several wonderful ladies in the bead community, she has managed to bring 400+ jewelry designers together and partner us, so we can swap beady goodness and create beautiful designs. THANK YOU Lori and as always...love, light and healing to you. THANK YOU Rick and Lisa...I know your help to Lori and the community was invaluable when bringing together the final lists and answering questions in Lori down time. Now onto the beady goodness and my lovely partner...

Kashmira Patel, of Sadafulee...Always in Bloom is my partner for this blog party. I hope you will click on her name and a take a visit to her blog. It talks about how she got into jewelry making and her connections with Project Why in New Dehli...an organization helping area slum kids. Kashmira and I were already facebook and bead group friends so this is a nice opportunity to get to know more about her. As we were preparing and exchanging soups, she was also preparing for the annual Bead Cruise...of course I'm jealous! So it will be very exciting to see all the lovely photos and hear about the fun...she also took the soup I sent her so at least it got to travel along! But enough on that...back to what I received...the packaging was simple and lovely, and included to separate soups.

First a gorgeous spring assortment which includes a focal from Barbara Bechtel, painted wood beads from Hope Smitherman, seaglass, african tube beads, silver findings and natural stones...Kashmira notes she isn't sure what they are...I believe they are unakite but I haven't had a chance to pull out my gemstone reference sampler yet to check for sure. I definitely see several inspiring designs here...so much gorgeous color!

Second a beautiful earthy assortment which includes a special butterfly pendant, Kashmira notes it was difficult to part with...hopefully I do it justice...it is gorgeous! Coordinating green beads...which I have something similar, might be a type of stone or marble, have to check...black lava bead, brown/gold stone beads and rudrasksha beads...which are seeds used in prayer strands in India. I have seen them before but never worked with them in anything so really looking forward to seeing how the designs come together...which of course many swirling with this soup as well!

I am so inspired by all the delightful goodies I received...I've fondled them, searched through my stash to see what else I might want to add, and even just looked over them for hours pondering the possibilities! Below is a picture of what I sent to Kashimira...

I hope she is enjoying her goodies as much as I am mine...please come back May 3 to see what I make and hop around to see all the fantastic designs! Until then...

Halloween/Day of the Dead Blog Hop Reveal Time!

When our lovely hostess, Diana suggested a Halloween/Day of the Dead Blog Hop theme I jumped right in...I love Halloween and I've been 'collecting' some wonderful goodies over the last year, perfect for this theme. If you stopped by for my last post in July...what a blogging slacker...you saw I am quite the 'collector'...so here we go!

First up...I recently purchased images from Ella of Calico Collage from her new Day of the Dead collection...I hadn't gotten around to using them yet so now was the perfect time.

These pictures where taken during my process of creating the tiles...some ended up in my creations, some went into my supply shop, a couple were purchased for pendants and a few were 'gifted' to a couple of special ladies who inspire me...you know who you are! :)

 

 

I love how this bracelet turned out...so colorful...perfectly representing the bright Day of the Dead themes. Also, my first work with steel wire...LOVE IT! The ceramic beads are from Gaea, another artist's talents I lovingly collect! :) 

Earrings using a pair of my matchstick tiles, with etched lilac beads from Havana Beads.

I am torn between this necklace and the bracelet above being my favorite...I love the bright, sunrise colors against the copper filigree. The mini lampwork beads are from artbylisi. I managed to find her when she did a special assorted listing, my first purchase but definitely not my last!

I originally planned 3 Halloween pieces also but ran out of time...I did at least manage the necklace above a fun take on the classic purple and orange colors associated with Halloween. The wonderful jack 'o lantern link is from Gaea, orange polka dot lampwork from Pink Beach and mini purple lampwork from artbylisi.

Thanks again to our hostess, Diana! Thanks to all the ladies who inspire me with their art and art beads...without you I could not do what I do! Please be sure to visit the other participants below to see what lovelies they created...I'm off to hop!

Diana Ptaszynski  http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com

Staci Smith  http://www.stacilouiseoriginals.com/

Kathleen Breeding  http://99bobotw.blogspot.com

Sue Kennedy  http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com

Dianne Miller  http://www.artbydianne.blogspot.com

Lisa Liddy  http://www.lisaliddy.wordpress.com

Toltec Jewels  http://www.JewelSchoolFriends.com

Linda Landig  http://www.LindasBeadBlog.com

Laura Medeiros  http://Www.zoeowyn.blogspot.com

Veralynne Malone  http://www.veradesigns.blogspot.com

Lynn Jobber  http://thecreativeklutz.blogspot.co.uk

Michelle McCarthy  http://www.fireflydesignstudio.blogspot.com

Karen Totten  http://www.starryroadstudio.blogspot.com

Jayne Capps  https://mamasgottodoodle.blogspot.com

Jenny Davies-Reazor  http://jdaviesreazor.com/blog

Joan Miller  http://metalmudandsand.blogspot.com/

Melissa Meman  http://melissameman.blogspot.com

Melissa Trudinger  http://www.beadrecipes.wordpress.com

Kari Asbury  http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com  you are here :)

Inge von Roos  http://www.ingetraud.wordpress.com

Andrea Glick  http://zenithjade.blogspot.com 

Stephanie LaRosa  http://Www.stringaholic.blogspot.com

Lola Surwillo  http://www.beadlolabead.com

Jennifer Cameron  http://glassaddictions.com/blog

Diane Hawkey  http://dianehawkey.blogspot.com

Kristi Harrison  http://kristibasket-itsanewday.blogspot.com

Nicole Valentine Rimmer  http://www.nvalentine.blogspot.com

Tanya Goodwin  http://www.Pixiloo.blogspot.com

Shai Williams  http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com/

Sandra McGriff  http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com

Sarajo Wentling  http://www.sjdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com

Marie Covert  http://thistledown-and-swaddlings.blogspot.com

Lisa Stukel  http://www.carefreejewelrybylisa.blogspot.com

Laurie Vyselaar  http://www.Lefthandjewelry.wordpress.com

Sherri Stokey  http://www.knotjustmacrame.com

Pam Traub  http://www.klassyjoolz.blogspot.com

Lori Dorrington  http://lorisglassworks.blogspot.com

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

Eleanor Burian-Mohr  http://cornerstoregoddessjewelry.blogspot.com 

Sally Russick  http://thestudiosublime.com

Dawn M. Gallop  http://www.flipflopsandpoptarts.com

Christine Damm   http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com

 

 

Bead Hoarders Reveal Time!

 

Several weeks ago I signed up to participate in Lori Anderson's Bead Hoarders Blog Hop. At the time I signed up I didn't realize I would be at an all day show on reveal day...needless to say I'll be hopping late this evening or Sunday while I sit around in my pjs recouping from the show! For those who don't know this hop is about using beads from our own stash to create...whether you hoard, stash, or save for "just the right design" the idea is use those fabulous goodies! Previously I have shared pictures of my ever growing bead addiction...some artisan goodies I just can't resist and I won't even bother to try! Participating this hop has been wonderful. I created lots of new designs...perfect timing for my show...and after I return from the show I will be having shop update which is long over due!

 

I have tons of fabulous images from Calico Collage, and a bit of serendipity revealed how perfect the matchstick (half domino) size works for bookmarks. From past designs I knew the images would be beautiful with Gaea's beads, Firelily boro beads, and Spirited Earth beads. Similar wood tiles are available in my supply shop, Asbury Avenue Designs.

 

 

 

 The matchstick tiles are also a great size for long, lightweight earrings! Again, I've combined the images with Gaea and Firelily beads. The tiles are also beautiful wrapped in filigree as seen in the last pair. The earrings on the right are my first attempts at using Ranger patinas from Vintaj to color the brass chandelier drops. They are fun and easy to use...I have many ideas for future designs with colored metals. The gorgeous glass headpins are from Havana Beads.

 

  

 I love the way these earrings turned out! Everything just really came together in creating these beauties. The first pair has charms from Tesori Trovati and boro beads from Firelily. Erin offers 3-6-9-12 month samplers and I was most fortunate to "subscribe" for almost a year in 3 and 6 month increments. These charms were from one the samplers making them an extra special treat because she only creates so many of each month. The top right earrings are Firelily beads...are you seeing a pattern here...lol! They are paired with long rectangles from Menagerie Studio, finished off with a few sparkly crystal dangles. The last pair has copper charms from Kristi Bowman Design. These I have held onto waiting for "just the right beads" and I think these boros from Firelily turned out to be perfect! The purple in the beads really picks up the purple in the copper.

 

 

 Thanks to a custom request I even got creative with some filigree, Czech firepolish, Lucite flowers and colored glass pearls. I have a huge variety of colors and sizes in the flowers and filigree so keep an eye out during the shop update for some new collections made from these!

 

 

Last but not least, I did manage to create several necklaces too! Some of these were projects started that didn't work out in the first go around so I set them aside...some were in the planning stages but never progressed past planning. I am very pleased how they all came together, sometimes creating is all about timing! These designs range from extra long to choker style and share some of my favorite artists. Menagerie Studio, Firelily, Tesori Trovati, Spirited Earth, Bo Hulley Beads, Gaea and images from Calico Collage.

 

I would like to thank Lori for hosting this hop...it has been wonderful for my creative flow! I'd also like to ask you all to send a little extra love, good thoughts, prayers, whatever Lori's way...she's had a lot of health struggles over the last few months and I know our support and caring helps her so much. Also, a big THANK YOU to all the wonderful artists who do what they do that helps inspire me to do what I do...I appreciate each of your friendships, creativity and inspiration so much!