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 

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

Pine Ridge Treasures' Favorite Things Blog Hop

Hello everyone. It is time for another challenge from Lisa Lodge at A Grateful Artist.

For this challenge, this is what I received in the mail:

 The sea glass beads here in the bottom left corner are very dark blue, not black, as are the stand of sea glass beads with the strands.

A couple of things jumped out at me and my muse was moving me right along with one piece...but...I don't think my muse had thought it through...I am going to have to take this one apart and rethink it. But I took a picture so that you could see where I was going..

I think I was trying to do a net stitch??? But I will have to go back and redo this one.

Up next is a necklace and earring set I created using some of my challenge beads and some I had on hand.

The blue spotted beads I got from a blow out sale at Fire Mountain Gems last year and I just happened to find them when looking through my blue beads..I think they go quite nicely.

Next I found a pattern by Deborah Roberti at www.AroundTheBeadingTable.com It is called Crystal Picot Bracelet.  I really liked it, but once I got going, the sea glass beads and the glass green, aqua and white made it really heavy. So I opted to only do five sections. 

Not really sure about this one either...I think the weight of the beads would lend better to a necklace.

Then I created a couple of sets of earrings.

 The little "water drops" beside the fish are a very very light blue. But they reminded me of water drops and fish need water.

Here I used some of the blue sea glass to accent the silver and crystal charms. Again, the crystal is really light blue. 

So here is my offering for this challenge.

For more wonderful eye candy hop over to Lisa's page and see what the other designers created.

Till next time...

Keep on Beading!

Veralynne

Gentle Hues Challenge - November 2015

Today is the revel for Lisa Lodges Gentle Hues Challenge. When I first received the beads, I thought wow, how springy they look. How can I come up with something fall like. Below is what I received.

The purple and pink beads in the bag, I am going to do bead weaving with. I have the pattern, but didn't get it finished. The rest of the stash were beautiful pearls. I used almost all of them.  

Since I couldn't do anything fall, I decided to do something using all the colors as I have a friend that is into pastels and pearls. So this is what I created.

You can't see it well in this picture, but I used crystals between the pearls. The pattern I came up with is in the center of each strand there are 5 pearls of one color, then as you progress outward, the colors slowly change to the opposite color. So on the first strand with the bigger pearls, in the middle is white on the left and lavender on the right, but by the time you get to the back,  it is lavender on the right and white on the left. Talk about having to focus!

Here is a close up of the earrings, and in the picture you can see some of the crystals that I used.

Thanks for stopping by and viewing my piece. Come back on the 21st and I will have a new challenge posted.

Til then...

Keep on Beading

Veralynne

Ceramic Disk Challenge 2015

Today is the revel for the Ceramic Disk Challenge sponsored by Lisa Lodge of A Grateful Artist.

When I first got my ceramic disks, I ordered two sets, I really wasn't sure what to do with them. I went through many ideas, then just set them aside.

 I knew they would work in a bracelet..but what kind...hmmm...well I finally hit upon the solution. I had my macrame book out as I am really wanting to get into it again and, chaching, a macrame bracelet...I am still not real good at it, but I did get a bracelet done and a key ring dangle.

I really like how the bracelet turned out...I can see where I think I did the stitch wrong, but I will get it.

Thanks to Lisa for this challenge and hop back Nov 7th for her next one!

We're All Ears :: August Inspiration -(more canyon pictures here)

We're All Ears :: August Inspiration -(more canyon pictures here)

One of the least accessible and most photographed vistas in the American Southwest is Antelope Canyon.
Antelope Canyon in northern Arizona is home to some magnificent slot canyons. According to Wikipedia, the Navajo people have a name for the Upper Antelope Canyon - Tsé bighánílíní - which means "the place where water runs through rocks." Slot canyons are chasms eroded over eons by wind and rain and raging floods to create one of the most spectacular natural masterpieces. Antelope Canyon is located on the Navajo Reservation and can only be accessed by licensed tours with a guide and a permit to visit them. At certain times of the day, light penetrates the canyons bathing the entire area in a haze of liquid gold. At certain places magical shafts of light - sometimes referred to as "God Spots" - penetrate to the canyon floor, as if a cosmic stage performance is about to begin. These magic shafts of light only penetrate the secret chambers of the canyons for around 30 minutes each day from late May to late June. The undulating views of the sandstone walls play with your depth perceptions and make for fantastic living sculptures that will continue to shift and change with the coming years. 

(This is the shot I chose)

"Lower antelope 1 md" by User:Moondigger - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons.

I loved all the pictures, but this one drew me in. And as luck had it..I had beads that I thought would pay homage to the wonderful earthy colors of the cave. I had several designs in mind, but life has really gotten in my way the past few weeks so I was only able to do one. I hope to finish up the other ideas I had and post at a later date. 

So here is my offering for this challenge. I thread wrapped the beads back and forth around the silver tone metal earring hoops.

The stones just seem to mimic the swirls, dips, and rises in the stones of the cave. Beautiful earthly colors.  For more great ear candy by other designers check out Erin's blog page. 

For now..

Keep on Beading

Veralynne

Seed Bead Explosion - Color A

Again I have embarked on another challenge hosted by Lisa Lodge at A Grateful Artist - Pine Ridge Treasure. I was supposed to have posted yesterday, but life got in the way. So here is my offering for Seed Bead Explosion.

Luckily I remembered to take a picture of the beads she sent. I have never worked with the mini duos or double holed spikes before so I had to do some research into designs.
























My first piece I used a spiral pattern using most of the beads in the kit. Then using the brick stitch created the pendant. (My first go at the brick stitch). I changed the beads sizes and color combo's about every 4 inches in the necklase. I used a simple toggle clasp in the back.

 

For the earrings I used the brick stitch again to go around the circle.

For the duos I used a design I found on Bead Fusion and then added the spikes. It didn't come out quite like I had planned, so it will have to sit on the back burner for now til I have time to play more with it. 

 

My third piece which I never got to start because life got in the way will be using the two holed triangles. If you follow my blog, I should have it finished in a couple of weeks and will post it here.

Thanks for looking and stay tuned for more challenges.

So for now...

Keep on Beading

Veralynne