Winner of my Fish Bead Giveaway

The winner of my Fish Bead giveaway from the previous post is...

Kym Hunter of KymHunterDesigns. Congratulations Kym. Please email me your address and I will get your brass Fish Bead out to you.
Thank you to all you visited me and had nice things to say about my necklace. See you again soon.
Enjoy your weekend and have a Happy Independance Day!

Hot Summers and Fish Beads and a Giveaway!

Mortira of Inspirational Beading has posted today about her wish list for fish beads. Check out her blog post for a variety of fun fish beads for your summer beading. Reading her post reminded me of a fish bead necklace that I strung together not too long ago.

I purchased a necklace made by Tibetan artisans from Nepal. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of the original design. I decided to take it apart and re-string it... and here is my design. I used only the beads that were part of the original necklace, stabilized turquoise beads, red coral discs, tiny brass spacer beads and a brass hook and eye clasp.

Don't you love the vivid detail on the reversible fish bead, It is made of brass, and has a turquoise cabochon for eyes (on both sides). I call this 'Hot Summers in Florida!' The heat, the beach and the fishing...

The original necklace had two such fish beads, but as you can see I only used one of them. So I will gladly give away the other fish bead (Note: only the fish bead) to one randomly chosen commenter, so that you can design your own fun summer necklace. The fish bead I am giving away looks quite like the one pictured above. To be entered in my giveaway, please leave a comment, telling me what you would like to make with such a fish bead. Spreading the word about this giveway would be appreciated too. I will pick a winner on June 30.

Have a fun summer!

Do Not Forget to Sign Up!

It's Lori Anderson's 6th Bead Soup Blog Party and this is the weekend to sign up.

I have, and so have many other beaders.

To sign up, its simple, just fill out the entry form.

Happy Friday!

Ear Earrings for your Ears

Does that sound like a tongue-twister? But is is more than that.
Check out the earrings made by artisan Percy Lau of London, England.

She specializes in miniature body part jewelry.

A little third ear?

Can you imagine freaking people out by wearing something so realistic?

An earring for your little third ear?

My husband read about this 'genetic disorder' on gizmodo and brought it to my attention.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Summer Grilling, with gemstones?

Shish Kebabs make a perfect Summer meal, satisfying both meat lovers, just keep the veggies out; and the veggie lovers, just skewer more veggies, alike. For some history about the dish and for delicious variations check out Kathy Master's How to Shish Kebabs on Startcooking.com. 

pic courtesy of startcooking.com

But I am thinking of Shish Kebabs of a different kind.
What about us gemstone lovers? So this is my receipe for ...

Gemstone Shish Kebabs

• A pair of metal headpins, 2 " or longer, choice of metal depending on your personal preference.
• Select suitably sized gemstone beads, again there is plenty of other types of beads to choose from as well... pearls, crystals, and so on. Sizing is important to keep the kebab lightweight. You can use a single variety of bead, or mix it up to suit your palate. 
• Metal spacers increase the flavor, again you have a choice of metals. Mix a variety of metals on the same kebab, sure why not? That could be quite a treat.
• Skewer the beads one by one, alternate with metal spacers as desired.
• Top it off with a round bead, metal or even a crystal for some sparkle.
• Hang on an ear wire of your choice, again style and metal of your choice.

As you can see there are endless combinations... So enjoy your Summer with some delicious gemstone Shish Kebabs. 

Here is a look at some I made...

Turquoise Shish Kebabs

Aquamarine Shish Kebabs

Carnelian Shish Kebabs

Enjoy your Summer!

Happiness is..... BEADS, BeAdS and more beads...

It really does not take too much to make me happy. Take this past Saturday for instance... Sitting down with my coffee mug for some blog hopping and hopped along to A Bead a Day and I could not believe my eyes! Rings&Things is bringing their travelling bead show to Tampa FL.  Wow! Only draw back is that the show is on for one afternoon only and on a working day no less!

Necklace made with donut pendant I won from Rings & Things

Not a problem.... still very excited, still very happy, sent some emails to some beading friends, checked out the Rings&Things web site, took the virtual tour, made my mouth water... got myself an invitation, and now to sit back and plan if I can take half day off from work to attend the show.

Have you been to a Ring&Things bead show? Please tell me about it? Worth taking half-a-day off from work? No, don't tell me, I know the answer to that question. If you want to find out if the travelling bead show is coming to a location near you, check out their 2012 show calendar.

Turquoise and Copper, A great combination.

Pairing Turquoise with Copper never fails, the warm glow of copper and the cool embrace of blue is always a winning combination.
Take a look at this pair of earrings... natural Turquoise coins, with a pair of Copper charms from Melinda Orr of Orrtec, love them! They are light-weight, playful and eye-catching, a perfect pair of earrings for Summer!