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!

The Winners and Dressing Up Your Donut!

The winners of a pair of Gemstone Donuts from my Rings&Things goodie bag, determined by a random number generator, are Needlewings of A Frayed of Fibers and Stonesetter. Congratulations to both! Each of you will receive a pair of donuts, one of Picture Jasper and one of the green donuts. Please send me an email with your name and address so that I can mail your donuts to you. Enjoy!

A big thank you to all who visited my blog and participated. Your visits and comments are so appreciated.

Green Aventurine and Jade

Picture Jasper

Thank you to Dave of Rings&Things for sending me such a generous goodie bag.

Not having much experience in working with donuts, I decided I would look around to see how fellow beaders dress up their donuts.

Of course, there is always the easy way out, which I choose when I created my multi-gemstone and donut necklace with premade bails. A nice selection of these metal donut bails can be found at Rings&Things.

Then there are the more creative and gorgeous ways of doing it too.

Cyndi of Beading Arts has a free tutorial for a simple square stitch bail for a donut; while About.com:Beadwork has a free tutorial for making a Peyote Stitched Donut Bail. For something a little different check out Kassie's beadwork bail, she even has a variety of tutorials that can be purchased. If only I can purchase time and patience...

Wrapping wire around the donut to create your very own simple, or glorious, or elaborate bail is another option and I found many tutorials for beginners and advanced wire workers on Jewelrylessons.com.  They were all very beautiful, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be this one... simple yet different, wrapped by made by Edis Treasures at Jewelrylessons.com

Tiger Eye Donut dressed by EdisTreasures

Have a good week, everyone!

Donuts are good for you, aren't they?

In October I was informed by Dave of Ring & Things that I was the lucky winner of their monthly goodie bag, Yeah! So I waited with anticipation and then they arrived, Gemstone Donuts, the kind of donuts that are good for you, no calories, no guilt, no extra inches around the waistline!

I LOVE natural gemstones, in fact, it was what lured me into beading in the first place, and this goodie bag was filled with spectacular specimens of mother nature's goodies.

The first one, I just had to make something with right away, was a square smooth donut, so greyishly green, so different, and so aptly name Silver Mist Jasper. I used a sterling silver donut bail to center it on a necklace of colorful faceted round gemstones for some holiday, no, not just the holidays, for some year-round cheer. Do you like it?

Next check out these fabulous shapes. Unlike the usual smooth donuts, some are nicely faceted and add dimension to the donut. The triangular faceted shape is known as Trillion, and the gemstone shown in the picture is Green Jade, a beautiful shade of green. There are even faceted octagonal donuts.

 

The patterned Picture Jasper is a work of art in itself, each gemstone a miniature picture of a scenic desert landscape. 

What can one do with these donuts? A pendant, as I have in the piece shown above with a traditional strand of gemstones, or with leather for a rustic look, silk for the soft look, or even as a center piece for a lariat. Some beadwork wrapped around it, oh my! The possibilities as they say are endless. I started another necklace using a square Snowflake Obsidian donut, some black leather cord and contrasting red sponge coral beads.....  that should be eye catching! 

Would you like to work with some gemstone donuts? 

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post to be considered for two drawings for a pair of gemstone donuts, courtesy of Rings & Things. Spread the word by posting about it in your blog and you will be entered twice. 

The winners will receive a pair of gemstone donuts, one from each set - the brown set and the green set, let me know which one from each pair you would prefer.

Shades of brown faceted Picture Jasper Donuts - let me know which one you would like, if you win.

Shades of green, square green Aventurine and green Jade (with the speckles) Donuts - pick one of the two.

If you like to make a statement with gemstone jewelry, you will love these donuts, they are certainly substantial, each one 50mm at its widest. Don't you think they would look good with your fall and winter wardrobe?

I will draw the two lucky winners next Sunday the 14th of November. 

As a Rings & Things Blog Partner I received these beads free of charge and I am not compensated by Rings & Things for my opinions, etc.