Saturday, November 3, 2012

Ears to You Blog Hop

Amy Freeland, of Copper Diem fame, is truly a generous soul.  She makes and donates tons of jewelry to numerous organizations...and I like that.  Well, this blog hop entails making 3 pair of earrings and donating them to Ears to You, whose mission is to provide earrings to lift the spirits of women undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.  A fabulous idea!
 
The only requirements for the earrings (3-5 pairs for this hop) is that they be new, and lead and nickel-free.  They welcome a variety of earrings, including silver, gold, hoops, dangles, pierced or clipped. 
 
I have three craft shows this month.  I have only done home shows in the past.  My very first craft show is today (Saturday) and it has the weirdest hours - 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM, continuing at 6:00 PM - 8:30PM.  It then continues tomorrow at 7:30 AM - 2:00 PM.   I have had a serious set-back with a bulging disc in my back, which is pinching the nerves in my right leg (particularly my sciatica nerve), coupled with a flare-up of bursitis in my hip.  My right leg is useless to me.  I also just found out that I tore my meniscus in my left leg.  Went to the orthopedic yesterday to get some shots and drugs...I hope I make it! Luckily, my sweet niece Sarah has agreed to help me tomorrow!
 
Anyhow, my point in boring you with my physical ailments is that my crazy schedule has only allowed me to make 3 pairs of earrings - but I guarantee, I will be sending Ears to You more earrings!  Here they are:
 
I think these are my favorite! Gorgeous beads by OutWest (LOVE her beads!) Handmade sterling silver ear wires.
 
These were so hard to photograph!  They are much prettier hanging!  Anyhow, really cool lamp work beads by Rachel Bishop of Puffafish - she calls the bead style "asteroids" - LOVE THEM!  I added some pewter beads, silver bead caps, and handmade sterling silver ear wires.
I love this style of earring - I banged on some 10 gauge Sterling wire to make a paddle shape, textured the remainder of the wire, punched a hole for the ear wires and added some very cool lamp work beads.  I am normally so organized and can tell you the bead artist - but these were orphans from a full set used a long time ago, and I cannot remember her/his name (shame on me!) 
 
I already mailed my earrings and received the sweetest email from Ruth Crane of Ears to You. I sent my earrings as if they were a jewelry purchase:
 
Tip if you have not sent your earrings, or if you will send more in the future:  Ears to You does not save the boxes  - they hang the earrings on their own earring cards.  So, save yourself the expense of using your pretty boxes!
 
Thank you so much for stopping by today! Your comments are so very much appreciated!  Please be sure to visit the other participants for this most worthy cause!  Due to my crazy schedule, I won't be able to visit all participants until Sunday night or Monday - but I will get to it, I promise!
  
 
My Addictions <------------You are here!
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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Beautiful beads!

 
(click on pics for larger view)

I wish my pictures could capture the real beauty of these lampwork beads by Maryse Fritzsch-Thillens (GlassBeadArt on Etsy).  She calls them "Sparkling Rocks" - and do they ever sparkle!  I bought some of these beads earlier this year and I begged her to make me some more.  Well, I received them last week and I am working like a mad woman to create more items for my upcoming shows (first one is this weekend). 
 

I think this bracelet came out so nice!  I have been making most of my findings of late - jump rings clasps, ear wires.  I made the toggle clasp based on a design I learned from Handcrafted Wire Findings (Denise Peck and Jane Dickerson-this is an AWESOME BOOK!).  I antiqued the sterling in Liver of Sulfur, buffed, and then it spent quite a bit of time in my tumbler.  I liked this bracelet so much that I used up all the beads from Maryse in the following two bracelets...


I also made this necklace with sweet beads by Nan Emmet of Spirited Earth. I was lucky to be in her shop while she was uploading!  Her beads go FAST!

The clasp design on this copper necklace is by the talented Cindy Wimmer - though I cannot remember the issue date, it was published in Step by Step Wire Jewelry Magazine. 
 

Donna Millard posted a picture on Facebook  of these cobalt blue lampwork beads in the shape of a snowflake, which she then fused with sterling silver.  Well, I showed a picture of the beads to my Mom and my sister - who then begged for multiple necklaces for Christmas for themselves and as gifts.  All I have to do is attach the silver chain to these and I am done.  Donna's bead are some of my all time favorites.
 
Hurricane Sandy is over now - I lost power for about two hours last night (Monday evening), but other than that, all is well.  My backyard, however, looks like soup.  SO.MUCH.RAIN. 

I will be back on Saturday for the Ears to You Blog Hop hosted by Amy Freeland of Copper Diem. This is a blog hop for earrings donated to "Ears to You" - a charitable organization that donates earrings to women who are in the hospital for cancer treatment - an excellent cause!
 
Thanks so much for stopping by - I love to read your comments!


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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Wine Country

I live in Northern Virginia - not my favorite place in the world, for sure.  It's too crowded, the traffic is awful, the summers are waaaaay to hot for this Mid-Western transplant.  But this past weekend, I went to Wine Country, Virginia.  I am only a 30 minute drive to a vineyard in Prince William County in Virginia.  But, we drove about 45 minutes to Warren and Faquier Counties.  I don't drink very much anymore - but I go for the company and the gorgeous scenery.

First up - Linden Vineyards.  This consensus is that this is the favorite of our group because of the wine, the scenery, and the baguette with cheese and summer sausage (we like to eat, too!)





 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Next up, Hume Vineyard.  Not nearly as scenic as Linden, but we were greeted with this view.  This is a tiny winery - so quiet and peaceful.

 
 
The owners of Hume live in this home, located right next to the winery. I would love to live here!
 
Our last stop was Naked Mountain.  Not my favorite - it was very crowded and not nearly as scenic as the others.  I was not even inspired to take a picture.
 
I leave you with my FAVORITE picture of the day.  This is Ella - she was vineyard hopping with her Mom and she is the friendliest pup!  Made me miss my Sam and Abby all the more....
 
 
 
 
Hoping you have a great week!  Thanks so much for stopping by!
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Friday, October 19, 2012

The Do Over Challenge Blog Hop

Jeannie Dukic is hosting this fun challenge - she sends what she describes as "an old, tired, boring piece of her jewelry " with instructions to  "work  your magic and turn it into something beautiful and amazing".  The only requirement is to use at least 50% of the beads - and we are allowed to add beads from our own stash.

I must digress for just a moment to mention that Jeannie is truly one of the most creative and talented designers that I have come across.  She creates beautiful art beads from polymer clay, and her jewelry designs are sophisticated and down right gorgeous!  She is also a mixed-media artist...SO.MUCH.TALENT.
This is a picture from Jeannie's blog  - which features her handmade pendants and beads - a GORGEOUS braclet, indeed!!
Okay, back to the deal at hand.  Jeannie sent me a 49" (THAT'S FORTY-NINE INCHES!) strand of beautiful carnelian and golden jade beads, which she had strung into a lariat:
This is really a beautiful mix of colors and the lariat included two very nice drops that terminate the necklace.  Now, my first thought was to take the carnelian drops and make very simple earrings.  But, since attending ArtBliss last month and having a wonderful heart-to-heart conversation with the inspirational Stacie Florer - I really wanted to "step outside of my comfort zone", "follow my instincts", and do something different.

So, I punched out some copper discs, which I then textured with one of my hammers, and soldered tiny silver bezels onto the discs.  I set two tiny amber cabachons into the bezels, and then I strung some of the carnelian and golden jade to the discs.  The earrings hang from handmade, sterling earwires.
I still had 48 1/2" of beads to use up!  So, I wanted to make a multi-strand bracelet - but again - I wanted it to be a little different from what I would normally do.  I headed to my disgustingly huge stash of art beads and found two copper paisly cone endcaps handmade by the talented Kristi Bowman (her work is AMAZING!).  I also recently purchased the most awesome handmade twisted copper clasps by Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp.  Both of these woman are so multi-talented in both their jewelry and component designs, and I am so happy that I found their shops! These two handmade copper elements were meant for each other!
The bracelet was "okay" - I mean all the elements were there, but it was missing something.  So, I got out my sheet metal and chased, and folded, and formed, etc....until I came up with this nifty little piece that works amazingly well as a focal.
The bracelet spent an inordinate amount of time in my tumbler to work harden the focal - and believe me - it is work hardened!  I added a a coat of Permalac and Renaissance Wax to protect the finish.

This is truly the most comfortable multi-strand bracelet to wear!  I like it! :)
Thank you so much Jeannie for aiding me in pushing my self out of my doldrum, every-day designs!  I HAD A BLAST!

Please be sure to visit all the participans in this fun challenge!  And, I thank you for stopping by and taking the time to leave comments!


Miranda Ackerley http://mirandack.com/
Patti Vanderbloemen http://myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com/ - That's Me!

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Friday, October 12, 2012

Blogging...

In reading through my long list of blogs that I like to keep up with, the first I always notice is the blog banner.  There are some beautiful banners out there in web land....the pictures are crisp, the colors are vibrant.  But mine...ugh.
 
Every time I try to create a new blog banner, my pictures--and text for that matter -- are always blurry.  I do not understand this.  My pictures within my blog are never blurry.  But once they are slapped in that banner...forget it!
 
My "go to" photo editing software is Photoshop.  I have also used Picasa and Pic Monkey. I have finagled the resolution...blur.  I have used the "original" photos - completely unedited and untouched...blur.  It does not seem to matter which program I use as the results are always the same...blur.
 
When viewing my banner in the photo-editing program (pick any one of the above), everything is crisp.  But when I placed within my blog - blur.
 
 
Example - this is a picture of a recent necklace (gorgeous beads by Barbara Bechtel by the way) - see how crisp?  Now look at it in my banner.  Ugh.
 
So, I am leaving my computer early today - feeling frustrated and old...with any luck, I will run into a teenager who has more knowledge of computers who can teach this old dog new tricks.
 
I hope you have a wonderful weekend - thanks for stopping by!
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