beautifully broken me: Lorelei Eurto

10/8/11

Lorelei and Shannon's Lima Beads Blog Hop

Here is a picture of the beautiful beads that Lorelei and Shannon picked for their Lima Beads Blog Hop:

Aren't those just the most beautiful colors? I love the combination of colors and textures, and did my best to use as much of the kit as I could.

Without further ado, here's my necklace (please excuse the pictures - I had to use artificial light and couldn't find my light box anywhere!):

I really wanted to highlight the ribbon and the gorgeous glass drops, and still include most of the other elements without the design getting too fussy.

The three pressed glass flowers are wired to the brass filigree focal with copper wire.

I tried a new technique weaving seed beads around the glass beads, and I really like the effect.

Thanks for stopping by! For the links to the rest of the participants and some amazing eye candy, hop on over to Lorelei's blog here.

1/21/11

Fusion Beads Blog Hop

It's about time for another blog hop, and this one is a really fun one! On Wednesday I posted a picture of the beads that were on my beading table that day. Well, they were there because I was working on my design for Lorelei Eurto's Fusion Beads Blog Hop. It works this way: Lorelei posted a list of items for participants to order from Fusionbeads.com, and we were to make a piece of jewelry from them and post them on our blog today. Here is another picture of the beads:

I just love the earthy tones and especially love the owl toggle clasp. I always think of the word "wisdom" when I think of owls, so that is the theme I went with for my piece:

“The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I added some of my own beads from my stash, as well as a gorgeous"wisdom" ceramic bead by Diane Hawkey, also from Fusionbeads.com.

With a few different gauges of sterling wire I created 'barbells' that I twisted to secure the ends of the olive leather cord, as well as using them sporadically as accents in my links.

I drilled another hole in the bottom of toggle and used it as a part of the focal, along with the olive Lucite leaf and the ceramic wisdom bead.

The overall effect is organic and simple:

Take some time to tour the other participants' blogs:

* If you are interested in purchasing this piece, it is for sale in my etsy shop.

1/20/11

Sneak Peek...

Tomorrow is the reveal for Lorelei Eurto's Fusion Beads Blog Hop, and I wanted to give you a sneak peek of what I made for the hop:

That's it for now - tune in tomorrow!

1/19/11

Bead Table Wednesday: What Are You Working On?

Hello! Today is Bead Table Wednesday, so here's a picture of the beads I'm working with today:

I am (finally) able to sit down and work on my piece for Lorelei Eurto's Fusion Beads Reader's Challenge after getting 5 loads of laundry done yesterday - 5 LOADS! Who has that much laundry? Crazy! But it is done and I can create today - yea!

Heather Powers of Humblebeads started this idea and it is so fun to see what everyone has going on. So...what are you working on this week? Take a picture of your bead table and upload the picture to the BTW Flickr group, and while you are there, check out the other works-in-progress!

12/17/10

Let's Hop!

It's that time again! The talented Lorelei Eurto issued a second Michael's Reader's challenge, and today is the reveal!

Here's how it works: Lorelei picks out beads and chain at her local Michael's store, posts pictures of her finds, and whoever wants to participate purchases the same items, adds two additional beads or colors, adds their own focal and clasp and posts pictures of their pieces and links to the other participants' sites.

Here are the items she picked out (aren't they beautiful?):

And here is my finished piece, called "On The Fringe":

I took cues from the beautiful turquoises and blues reflected in the peacock-hued potato pearls and the warm tones of the mother of pearl ovals, adding teal, gunmetal and black seed beads and tawny antiqued copper accents, making up many, many, many, many (you get the idea) charms that dangle like fringe from the gunmetal chain.

For fun, I added some extra 'fringe' coming off of the larger loop, adding more movement to the piece.

Thanks so much for organizing this fun challenge Lorelei! Now take some time and check out the other participants' creations and get ready for some serious eye candy!

12/16/10

Are You Ready To Hop?

Here is a teaser preview of tomorrow's Michael's Blog Hop:

Tune in tomorrow for the finished piece! For more information about this hop, check out Lorelei Eurto's blog: http://lorelei1141.blogspot.com/

10/27/10

Has It Really Been This Long?

Hello! I feel like I've been absent for ages! I've been out with the crud that's going around - yuk! It's had me unmotivated and really tired, and blogging was the last thing I wanted to do. But now I'm back up and (slowly) going, and wanted to share a quick post before I go clean the house and do laundry...

So, I had beads left over from Lorelei's Michael's Challenge, and wanted to use them up with another design:

Nothing too fancy, but I wanted to include the two design elements I wasn't able to incorporate in my first design: The small green pearls and the dreaded white chain (lol).

I'm surprised and pleasantly pleased with how this turned out. I made sure to frame the white chain with a dark copper chain and the green pearls, and it really takes the stark contrast down a few notches.

Well, that's it for now! If you want to purchase this necklace, it will be for sale in my etsy shop shortly!

10/17/10

Lorelei's Michael's Blog Hop

I wanted to share a really fun Blog Hop that Lorelei Eurto has going on her blog:

Lorelei had anyone who wanted to participate in this blog hop to go to Michael's and purchase these beads (don't you just love all the different colors and textures?):

Participants were then to create a piece of jewelry using all of the beads and the chain and then post pictures of what they made.

So, without further ado, here is my challenge piece:

I've had the collage/ICE Resin focal made for quite some time, and have been waiting for a project in which to use it. the colors from this challenge perfectly suited the old-fashioned but modern feel of my focal, and I jumped right in.

I have to admit, I tried and tried (and tried, and tried, and tried), but couldn't work in the white chain or tiny green pearls (ask my husband - I think he saw about 10 incarnations of this necklace before I finally admitted defeat!).

What a fun challenge! I encourage you to go over to Lorelei's blog and to the blogs listed below to check out the amazing jewelry made with these beads:

Mary Harding

Hilary of Fryestyle

For My Sweet Daughter

My Life Under the Bus

Kristie of DreamSomeDesigns

Erin of Treasuresfound

Beading by Malin de Koning

Nayas Organized Chaos

Crafty Hope

Rosebud For the Love of Beads

Thanks so much Lorelei for hosting this fun hop!

10/15/10

The Michael's Blog Hop

Lorelei Eurto is hosting a blog hop, and I wanted to give you a sneak peek at what it is all about! Lorelei asked all artists who wanted to participate in this blog hop to go to Michael's and purchase these specific bead strands:

We were to create a piece of jewelry using all of these beads in some way and unveil them on our blogs on Sunday. Come back then to see how I used the beads in my piece, and for links to all the other participating artists' blogs to see their jewelry as well!

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I have a theory: all people have had their hearts broken by actions of others as well as choices they have made themselves. By learning from those situations and being able to work through them and come out of them, we grow our character. By picking up the pieces of a broken life and putting them back together, a person cannot help but be changed. This change is a beautiful thing that results in a deeper understanding of others and their situations, and gives us a chance to share our experiences with them, showing them that there is a way out - a light at the end of the tunnel. I believe that I have been not just broken, but put back together by God in a beautiful way - a way that I never could have imagined on my own - and I wanted to share that sense of hope and peace with whoever happens to read this blog. So there it is...

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