August Monthly Challenge by ABS

August Monthly Challenge by ABS

Twelve Princesses on the Way to the Dance

Kay Nieslen

Published in 1923

Watercolor and ink

At Art Bead Scene this month the above picture was given as inspiration. I fell in love with it. I know the story so this scene by Kay Nieslen was awesome!

It took a while to decide what to make as the colors weren't something I normally use. But I was looking on Etsy and found some fiber beads by Eleanore at Fiber Beads.  They were just the colors I wanted.

Again, I use these challenges to step out of the box to try something new. I wanted to do a cuff bracelet using the fiber beads. 

I got the fiber beads and other beads I had chosen to go with them sewn on the shiny black backing, but ran out of time to put the whole thing together.  

So I am posting what I do have and hope to get the rest finished soon.

The rice pearls I used are reminiscent of the "leaves" in the trees, the black material is the night sky and the the fiber beads are the colors for the dresses.

I plan to encircle the outside of the bracelet with the rice pearls and the gold seed beads.  

Thanks for looking.

Til next time

Keep on Beading

V 

A Day at the beach Design Challenge by Facet

Hi all. Time again for another challenge. At Facet this month we were challenged to do something beachy. Using the colors of the beach, waves, and sky.

I had a lot of sea glass from Znetshows that I needed to use up so I pulled them out of my stash, then got an email they had some new sea glass Sea Life, so I ordered the cute little green turtles. I mean what beach isn't complete without a turtle or two.

The colors I used were aqua, green, red, topaz and some glass rondelles that had had aqua and green running through them. 

I wanted to try something out of the box so I created loops at each end to put silk cord through so you tie it in the back, and then I used bead weaving thread to make a fringe out of sand colored seed beads to represent the sand on the beach.  Plus a set of earrings to match.

This is what I came up with:

I am not sure how I like the fringe yet, I may still redo some of it. And I think I need to make the silk cord in back longer, it didn't tie quite right. But other than that I was very pleased with it. 

I have the colors of the beach with two turtles now more beachy can you get!!!

Til next time..

Keep on Beading!

V

We're All Ears :: August Inspiration :: Moths

We're All Ears :: August Inspiration :: Moths

OH Yes! It is that time again. Time when Erin challenges us with a new theme... this time it is MOTHS!  Aren't they beautiful!  Talk about color, and designs!  Would keep a beader busy for quite a while!

If you want a little insight into moths, you can check out the website at We're All Ears

When I saw the challenge I was like "YES" I think moths get a bad rap. They are beautiful, just like butterflies!

What drew me in first was the ones with the eyes! Just couldn't get it out of my mind, so that is what I went with. 

I would say that they have a bit of Bohemian look to them. But we all know we do what the beads want. And I know tassels are the in thing, so I tried my hand at some. Kind of fun!

So without further ado...here is what I made:

Do you think I could get the eyes to look at me all at the same time. NO....and one eye is going the wrong way, but hey at least it is looking at you.

I really like how these turned out and and I think I may keep them. 

So until next month

   Keep on beading!

V

Bling It Up! in July by Facet Jewelry

For July, Facet Jewelry challenged us to Bling it Up! I am a 60's child, so bling is right up my alley!

I thought about doing some earrings but couldn't decided. THEN while checking out Toocutebeads.com I came across a bracelet that inspired me as I has similar beads. It was called Dazzling - Graphic - Bracelet. 

So I went through my beads and came up with the beads and then strung my piece on white Fireline so that the beads would lay nicer. I really love the rhinestone dividers. That is what caught my eye to begin with at Toocutebeads. 

And here is my offering:

The clasp is magnetic so it goes on really easy. It is an 8 inch bracelet. 

For more great Bling it Up eye candy head over to Facet Jewelry and check it out.

Til next time,
Keep on Beading

V

Christmas in July Linky Party

Now I know a lot of people don't like Christmas in July....says it takes away from the holiday. BUT for us crafter's, if we don't start in July, we won't be finished by Christmas.

But for me I love looking at the new ideas and see if there are any I can use for my holiday gifts!

For my idea I created a Christmas colored stretchy bracelet with matching earrings out of BUTTONS. I love working with buttons. They are so versatile.
You can do so much with them in the various colors! 

Just the right accessory to throw on as you go out the door during the holidays. It isn't showy or sparkly but it lets everyone know you are in the holiday spirit. 

For more great ideas, head over to Stone Cottage Adventures and become inspired!

Til next time..

Keep on Beading

V 

Pine Ridge Treasures' Pearls Blog Hop July 2017

Hello again...it is time for Lisa Lodges, Pine Ridge Treasures' Pearls Blog Hop.

I love doing these as Lisa always has such great kits to use for the challenges.

Here is what I was sent:

In my creations I used every thing but the little bluish green crystals.

Here is a collage of what I made, plus I will have pictures of each item.

The first set I did was the one with the aqua and grey pearls with Turquoise faux beads. I had the pendant laying around and decided it looked really good with it. I made matching earring to go with it. 

The next two sets I went online to find some stitched patterns at Beadmagic.com. So the second one I based off of Madlen. I used the basic stitch but added my own twist to it. In this set I used the aqua and grey beads again with some salmon and black beads along with crystal seed beads.

 
 

I think I may need to do a bit of adjusting but I like how it came out.

The third set I made I chose Zefir from Beadmagic.com. I love their designs to use to get those juices flowing.

For this one I used the clear crystals, white pearls and the closure from Lisa.

The rest of colored pearls and the multi-colored seed beads were from my stash. I couldn't get the crystal's to show their bling even on the black.

 
 

In this one you can kinda see the bling. The colored pearls are light lavender and maroon. They really match the seeds beads well. And the pearls are from Lisa from another challenge last year!  

So there you have it. My offering for this Pearl Challenge. For more eye candy hop over to Lisa's.

Til next time..

Keep on beading

See ya soon

V

We're All Ears :: July Inspiration :: Visual Music

Yes, it's that time again. I missed last months, but was determined to do this month.  

We were challenged to create earrings based on "visual music" created by" artist named Oskar Fischinger. If that name doesn't sound familiar, you likely have seen his work in the animated Disney classic, 

Fantasia. His work is the opening with the graphical representation of the notes. ( #GoogleDoodle).

So Miss Erin our challenge master, tasked us with finding some "visual music" and create!

I looked through the list she gave us.(

http://earrings-everyday.blogspot.com/2017/07/were-all-ears-july-inspiration-visual.html) and decided to go with Debussy, Syrinx (solo flute)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_yf7FIyu1Y which you can see at the above link.

To me I really enjoyed the visual aspect of it. Reminded me of a vacuum hose sucking up dust bunnies. :-)

Any way...I went through my stash and found some clear tubing that kinda went with the theme. I then modpodged on some colored paper and drew black lines with a permanent marker.  I then added some Swarovski colored crystals to chain and had it coming out the bottom to represent the tube swallowing the colors and turning the tube colors. The top didn't turn out quite like I had in mind. but it worked.  So here is my "visual music" inspired earrings:

And then a close up..

For more eye candy check out .Miss Erins webpage .

Till next time...

Keep on beading!

V

Art Bead Scene Blog: June 2017 Monthly Challenge

Oh my...two blog postings...I can't contain myself. And I will have one more coming soon. So maybe June was the catalyst I needed to get blogging again. I don't know, but when I saw the art for the June challenge, wellll, I am a 60's child and bright neon colors are for me.

So I was hopping around on Etsy to find a really cool bead or pendant with these colors and came upon Nathalie of My Garden of Love and what do you think she had....yep...ALL kinds of wild neon colored beads. It was so hard to choose! I could have bought them all. Really you have to check out her site.

Anyway, I also had some bright colored wooden beads that said they wanted to play. And then a neon roll of satin cord dropped in to play too. But even with all this something was missing, needed something with punch!

Black...or course, I needed something to tone down the bright colors...so I rummaged around in my black bead stash and found some black oval felty/velvet beads that had been lying around for ever just waiting to be used.

With all these wonderful "toys" to play with I decided it had to be simple so that I could show case the pendant. I never knotted before, but I figured why not....(pun intended)

So I put all my toys together with my knotted satin cord and this is what I came up with.

As you can see, I looped on an extra pink bead at the end and made an open loop on the other end so that I could just slide the cord over the bead. Works!

Here you can see the focal up close. I purchased another one too. But that is for a future piece. Don't you just LOVE the colors!!!!

To check out what others did, go to our board on Pinterest where all the cool beaders go.....

Til next time

     Bead On

V

Facet June Design Challenge, UPCYCLE,

Hi ya'all. Yeah I know, I have been absent for a while....blame it on life. That's all I can say without going into gory detail...

SO....when Facet had their monthly challenge for June I knew I had to participate. I mean who doesn't upcycle????  I was ready and chomping at the bit.

A few years back when I was really into thrift store hopping and buying most anything, (I am more conservative now) I picked up a bag of ZAKS toys.

I knew I still had them laying around, so I dug them out and decided since July 4th was around the corner, I would make my color scheme red,white, and blue.

My first piece is the necklace...

As you can see, I wire wrapped (along with a bit of super glue) using some bead that I had on hand.

Next are the earrings: They were a little harder to do because I used three of the toy pieces stack on each other and getting the head pins just right and doing the wire wrapping, PLUS putting a hole in the middle piece....well it took me a while. But here they are.

For the last piece I did a pin/brooch: I would say it was the easiest...but it wasn't and I won't bore you with all the little details....lol. Suffice it to say I used super glue on this one too!

Sooo there you have them, my offerings to the Gods of Upcycling.

For more beauties and to even vote hop over to Facet and check them out.

Til next time...

            Bead on!

V

Swap n Hop 2017

Hi everyone...well today is the reveal...for Linda Anderson with  Bead Peeps.


When I signed up, I didn't realize I would soooo busy with taxes this year, but I haven't had hardly any time to even breath.


I am even posting from work today! And of course I don't have the before picture because it is at home on my desktop....


But I have the pictures of what I completed.  My partner was Minnette Miller! And she has had a rough time too. But that is not my story to tell.  SOOOO anyway...below is what I made with the beautiful beads she sent me.


First is the necklace. She sent me such cool beads with a sea vibe, that I couldn't not do it. And for some reason, the color peachy/orange kinda decided to be in the bunch. The chain she sent is awesome and I want to know where she got it because I want some! It is full of jump rings on jump rings...loved it!  I haven't put a clasp on yet as I haven't decided it I want it to pull on or have a clasp... The aqua, well aqua means water and the color just seemed to jive with everything else! In the bottom left I have a close up of the bigger beads she sent. I forgot to turn the blue glass shell over, but there is a pearl in it.

Then she sent some cool beads that I made into earrings...The white glass beads on the bottom feel like they were sand blasted. Very cool! Then she sent those cute green glass beads with pink flowers, so I topped it off with pink pearls.  I really like it. Might have to keep these. The picture on the right shows off the bead caps better.

Next she sent me the cutest set of smiley face glass beads...I really love these. Very simple but they are just happy looking.

The last set of earrings...I managed to get one done because the bead for the second wouldn't go down on the wire since it is doubled...but I have a bead reamer that I will use gently to make the hole bigger. But here they are.

I still have some beads left...

Plus some more that are going to be made into a bracelet.  So that is my offering for this challenge. I am sure I will be in more. So til next time....

Keep on beading!!

Veralynne!

 

Bead Soup Blog Party Bead Hoarders Edition 2017

And Now The Sequel........... 

Below is the first post about Lori's BSBP and what I sent my partner and what my partner, Laurie Vyselaar sent me. Below all that....is what I made with the goodies I got.

Hello all, it is time for one of Miss Lori's Bead Soup Blog Party's. We are so glad that she has been able to do this and that her awesome recovery will continue. We so missed her!

And if you have wondered where I have been, well I am a tax preparer, so until April 18 I will be somewhat scarce but I will be beading!!!!!

     So for this soup party I was matched with the talented Laurie Vyselaar. She is just a hop skip and jump south of me in Fl!

     First: what I sent her!  

                   

NOW for what she sent me! And I can't wait to get working on them!

                    

    I see a "Garden Party". I love Dry Gulch beads and her designs!!! And those cute little lampwork beads from Marie Sawyer....I am keeping them for me! I see some cute earrings in the making with them.  Then that awesome Man on the Moon Pendant that Lauri made. Can't wait to get to that...I can see it with seed beads....

     I am sure I won't get all done by the dead line but I will have the "Garden Party" ready!

⚞⚞⚞⚟⚟⚟

Well, I can tell you "Garden Party" didn't happen. After I got all the beads together I wanted to use, they refused to play nice...So they just sat on my work table for about a week....with me staring at them. So then I started going through my stash thinking about what I might have that would work, but nothing garden party popped up....sigh...but I found some other beads that complimented the hand painted piece by Dry Gulch and the green beads and the blueish green crystals. And this is what I came up with:

  

I really love how purple and the golden green beads really work with the pendant! You cant really see it well in the picture, but there is purple in the pendant.

 And  for the other beads that didn't want to play nice I made earrings out of them....and they look really good! Those were the flowers for my "garden party". Oh well, I like them better this way!

As for those super cute glass birds...here is what I did. Though the picture doesn't show the true color. The beads are grey and white.

Then...that marvelous man in the moon pendant, I wanted to do something really neat, And I did get started, making a spiral necklace for it,  but I ran out of the dark grey pearls, so until I get more it will have to wait. But for the pendant it's self, I have some black and white beads and crystal beads that I am going to bead around with. Hopefully I will get it finished soon, I have been so busy with tax season...no time to bead.....

Here is a close up of the beads so you can see the blue in the middle.

For more beauties hope over to Lori's Pretty Things Bead Soup Party.

Until next time...which is April 8th..

Keep on beading!