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.

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!

Objects and Elements: Summer Reader's Challenge

I have to say that I was really intrigued by the most recent Reader's Challenge issued by Objects and Elements: Show Us Your Summer Color. The only rule is that, to enter, you must incorporate something from their product line into your final piece. Since I have been drooling over their Recycled Silk Sari Ribbon for a while now, this seemed like an opportunity to order some of them and to just play!

In addition to the silk sari ribbon, I also ordered some of their Enameled Head Pins in both cool and warm tones to use. Below is what I came up with:

The other elements I incorporated into this piece are: a handmade etched copper pendant that reverses to a collaged and altered book page, ceramic and glass beads, and copper, steel, brass and sterling wire.

All the entries are posted here: www.objectsandelements.typepad.com, and you can vote for your favorite one.

I am really pleased with how the necklace turned out - very colorful and playful, just like summer!