beautifully broken me: A Grateful Artist

11/16/13

Lampwork and Clay Blog Hop

Welcome to the "Lampwork and Clay" Blog Hop hosted by the fabulous Lisa Lodge of A Grateful Artist blog fame! For this hop, Lisa sent participants bead kits with either lampwork artists' beads or ceramic artists' beads along with some complimentary beads and we were to make something from our selection.

Without further ado, here is my finished bracelet:

The beautiful lavender and blue beads are from lampwork artist Lisa Anderson, and the seed beads came with my kit as well. I first created a chain from silver plated jump rings on to which I threaded the seed beads. Then I took 1mm black leather and strung the antique shank button and the lampwork beads with knots in between to hold the beads in place. Then I secured the jump ring chain to the leather using more jump rings.

The result is a funky, unique and casual bracelet that will go with just about anything!

As always, big thanks go out to Lisa Lodge for hosting this great hop. Please take a few minutes to check out the beautiful submissions by these other fantastic artists:

Your hostess: Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs

Melissa Trudinger, Bead Recipes

Kathy Zeigler Lindemer, Bay Moon Design

Laurie Vyselaar, Lefthand Jewelry

Annette Rivers, MamaOwl's Mess

Karin King, The Sparkle Things Blog

Shaiha Williams, Shaiha's Ramblings

Mimi Gardner, Baubles, Beads and Other Curiosities

Dee Alcalde, Agape Creations Jewelry

Kay Thomerson, Kayz Kreationz

Karla Morgan, Texas Pepper Jams

Lori Jean Poppe, Lorillijean Creative Corner

Eleanor Burian Moore, The Charmed Life

Leah Mifflin Tees, My Beady Little Eyes

Terri Wlaschin, Dances in Fog

Sharyl McMillian-Nelson, Sharyl's Jewelry

Jo-Ann Woolverton, It's a Beadiful Creation

Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera

Linda Aspenson Bergstrom, TBD

Toltec Jewels, Jewel School Friends

Judy Turner, Silver Rains

Gloria Allen, Gloria Allen Designs

Kathleen Douglas, Washoe Kat's

Connie Tipton, TBD

Christie Searle Murrow, Charis Designs Jewelry

Andrea Glick-Zenith, ZenithJade Creations

Michele Dotson, Star Jewels

Chris Eisenberg, Wanderware

Jennifer Clifford, TBD

Kathleen Breeding, 99 Bottles of Beads on the Wall

Molly Alexander, Beautifully Broken Me

Loretta, Loretta's Boutique

Carolyn Lawson, Carolyns Creations

Shirley Moore, Beads and Bread

Bonnie Coursolle, Jasper's Gems

Alice Craddick, Alice's Beads and Baubles

8/24/13

Summer Color Surprise Blog Hop

Welcome to the reveal for the Summer Color Surprise Blog Hop hosted by the lovely Lisa Lodge of A Grateful Artist.

The hop rules are simple: Lisa sent each of us beads in colors of her choosing to use in our pieces (you can see the beads she sent me here). We could make anything we wanted to make, adding beads from our own stash, but we could not purchase new beads.

The beads Lisa sent me are in beautiful earth tones, reminding me of the Southwest: rich browns, clay reds and sandy tones, to which I added some muted mustard-colored marble rough cut rounds and a vintage wooden bead.

Lisa also included some antiqued brass bead caps, and I decided to accentuate those warm colors with antique bronze wirework.

I love the way this necklace turned out! If you are interested, it is available in my Etsy shop.

As always, thank you to Lisa for hosting this hop. If you have a few minutes, check out the pieces created by these other talented artists:

Your Hostess: Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Chris Eisenberg, Wander Ware

Audrey Belanger, Dreams of an Absolution

Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs

Melissa Trudinger, Bead Recipes

Monique Urquhart, A Half-Baked Notion

Beti Horvath, Stringing Fool

Charlene Bausinger Jacka, Clay Space

Tara Plote, The Newbie Beader's Blog

Renetha Williams Stanziano, Lamplight Crafts

Leah Mifflin Tees, My Beady Little Eyes

Kathy Zeigler Lindemer, Bay Moon Design

Toltec Jewels, Toltec Jewels for Jewel School Friends

Molly Alexander, Beautifully Broken Me

Alicia Marinache, All the Pretty Things

Laurie Vyselaar, Lefthand Jewelry

Eleanor Burian-Mohr, The Charmed Life

Julie Lockhart, Copar Aingeal

Dolores Rami, CraftyD's Creations

Elizabeth Bunn, Elizabeth Beads

Mowse Doyle, Mowse Made This

Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera

Candida Elkins Castleberry, Spun Sugar Beadworks

Shaiha Williams, Shaiha's Ramblings

Christie Searle Murrow, Charis Designs Jewelry

Andrea Glick-Zenith, ZenithJade Creations

8/23/13

Summer Color Surprise Blog Hop Is Tomorrow!

Get ready for the reveal for tomorrow's Summer Color Surprise Blog Hop hosted by the lovely Lisa Lodge of A Grateful Artist.

The hop rules are simple: Lisa sent each of us beads to use in our pieces. We could make anything we wanted to make, adding beads from our own stash, but we could not purchase new beads. Perfect - I have so many beads to use that I knew this hop was for me!

Here's a photo of the beads Lisa sent me (sorry about the low quality - my camera was acting up!):

Check back tomorrow to see my finished piece!

10/13/12

My Bead Table Blog Hop

Welcome to the Hop!

Last month I told you about this fun blog hop hosted by Lisa Lodge of A Grateful Artist (formerly Pine Ridge Treasures) blog fame, and today is the day!

For this hop, Lisa took various beads and components that didn't necessarily go together, but were all on top of her bead table, and packaged them up and sent them out. The challenge was for us to add some of our own beads to make fun new designs.

Here are photos of the beads Lisa sent to me:

Aren't these fun mixes?

Here are the pieces I made from the beads:

Design #1: "Fringed"

The first design is a fun, fringy bangle-style bracelet featuring lots of salmon, coral and red tones with some clear and opalescent glass beads thrown in for a little sparkle. There are approximately 70 charms dangling from the front half of this bracelet, with the back half covered by bright red coiled artistic wire.

Design #2: "Holiday Cheer"

The second design is a simple bangle bracelet using the fun red and green-toned lampwork beads. I used the same red coiled artistic wire in this design, and toned down the brightness of the color combination a bit with dark annealed steel wire wrapped messily around the whole bracelet. I added the little charm in back for some movement and added interest.

Design #3: "Naturally"

The third piece I made with the beads is a long wrap bracelet in greens and copper using the jade and green glass rounds. (Apparently I was on a bracelet binge!) I wore this one yesterday, and I just might keep it for myself!

Design #4: "Simple Formality"

This necklace is a long, simple design with a fun focal that hangs from an antiqued silver toggle clasp. I needed a dressy necklace that would compliment a couple of my holiday outfits, and this one fits the bill!

I really had fun putting these designs together. I'm always interested to see what other artists are amassing on their desks (thank goodness I'm not the only one with a gazillion beads on my worktable!), and these mixes really made me think about how to turn Lisa's beads into designs reflecting my own style. (I am still trying to figure out how to use the acrylic flower petals, and will post pictures after I figure out what to create with them.)

And again, thank you so much, Lisa, for hosting this fun Hop!