A Mish-Mash of Goings On....

Well, my Fundraising efforts on behalf of Miracle Horse Rescue have yielded just over $2,500 from September 5 - October 31st - $2,543.00 to be exact!  Thank you to everyone who shared my photo bombs on Facebook, including my Sales Ads!  

I have decided that I want to continue my efforts, and revamped my listings a bit.  From now on, 50% of all proceeds from sales in my shop will be donated to Miracle Horse Rescue.  Except, items made from the generosity of those artists who have donated beads to me - I am donating 100% of the proceeds from those sales.  Many thanks to Jan Onipenco of Molten Mayhem and Jeannie Dukic of  Jewelry by Jeannie!  

I am very slowly working through my stash of lampwork beads from Jan.  Specifically, this set:

The focal bead is quite large 1 1/4" - and the colors are just fabulous!! I made a necklace with  - yes - a link from Cindy Wimmer's new book, The Missing Link.

This link is the Corona link - I love the bare wire and coils together in one link!

I had EXTREMELY bright sunshine this morning - so taking Lolita outside for a photo session was not going to happen.  So instead, she stood in front of my closed basement door in natural daylight - I think this picture looks passable!

Yep - I made earrings with the two smallest beads in the set - these are so lightweight!

I have managed to carve an hour here..an hour there...to make other items as well.  I have 3 shows coming up, so time is of the essence!

Cute little lampwork birdie and matching beads by Donna Millard.

This sweet bronze flower charm by LeAnn Weih was begging to be attached!

I added another link from Cindy's book here - it's double hoops wrapped together.   In her book, the links are larger - these are teeny tiny!

Matching earrings with hand cut bead caps. Love the rustic finish on these beads.

I finally made the ear wires for my fold formed leaves!  Those are actually garnets nestled inside the leaves - another stone that just not photograph well!  They are actually a deep, deep red.

Tiny (4mm) Sun Stone cubes.  I added a teeny weeny tendril in copper.

More gorgeous lampwork from Donna Millard.

Instead of plain hoops, I added coils to these - very small!  The rustic rounds are by Jody Brimhall of Inspire Glass Studio.

I had two of these lovely, turquoise lampwork beads by Lynda Cogbill of Lyndas Lampwork left over from my bracelet I gave away a couple of weeks ago.  This is my favorite style of earring, made from heavy gauge wire and a large loop at the top.  Perhaps I like this because I get to bang the metal and let out any frustrations...I dunno...

I still cannot believe it is November 2nd!  Halloween was a relative bust in my neighborhood.  Although the forecast was for rain to hold off until well after 9:00 PM, it starting coming down in buckets by 6:30 PM.  Poor kids! And, someone had the audacity to post on Facebook that there are only 9 Sunday's until Christmas!  Ugh.....

Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Monday

My last post was related to Jeannie Dukic's Echo Creative Club.  Well, to continue my train of thought, Jeannie makes some really cool beads people!  Last week, she posted a picture on her blog of the most awesome Owlete I have ever seen! I had to have one...so I bought two! :)

I cannot get over the detail in this bead and I swear, if you are walking around the room, those little eyes made of Swarovski crystals follow you!  I cannot wait to make a bracelet with this little guy hanging as a charm! :)

In the picture above - those little Art Deco charms look just like metal! Yet, they are incredibly lightweight!  I see those charms with some oxidized silver very soon...

Stoneware beads in polymer clay - the texture is just amazing!

In other jewelry-related news...I have recently been addicted (yes...addicted) to making bangle bracelets.  I cannot tell you the satisfaction I receive from taking a length of heavy gauge metal, soldering the seam, and forming it into a bracelet!   I made 4 sets of 3 bangles (1 set went to my niece).

If you look closely - no three sets are the same.  Different textures, different gauges of wire, some have 3 coils and some some have 2...

Making these bracelets have piqued my interest in soldering.  I have several cabochons I will be working on in the hopes to make pendants and/or bracelet connectors.  Time will tell...

I still love my wire wrapping, too.  I had a set of 21 gorgeous lampwork beads by Inspire Glass Studio. They so wanted to stay together!  Gorgeous deep reds, blues, yellows - even matte black beads. So I wrapped them up into a 2-strand necklace.  Oh my, this took a couple of hours of wrapping!  But, I do love how it turned out!

One of these days, I will learn the art of photographing long necklaces - it just looks so blah sitting there!  I am still trying to find the right mannequin to be my model...In the meantime, my slab of granite will have to do!

Yesterday (Sunday) and today, Northern Virginia has been blessed with LOW HUMIDITY and beautiful blue skies!  Unheard of in the Summer - so I am headed out to bask in this weather before it turns ugly again!

Have a lovely week - thank you so much for stopping by!