Giveaways Galore!

Here are some great giveaways happening this weekend, so take some time to visit these blogs for some fabulous prizes.

First stop, say Hi to Andrew, back from Tucson and giving away some of his famous family's newly unveiled beads. These goodies are from Green Girl Studios, and my favorites are the peacock toggle and the little elephant charm. What a wonderful collection!

Picture courtesy of Andrew Thornton

Second stop, say Hi to Carol, she is giving away one of her gorgeous signature bracelets. I have not quite got the hang of making these wire beads, so to win such a bracelet would be awesome.

Picture courtesy of Carol Bradley

Third stop, say Hi to Julie, who is eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring and giving away this unique and charming bracelet, made using the flattened bowl of a vintage silver spoon.

Happy weekend everyone, I get three days off! Bankers, what can I say! But I got to get working on my taxes, so it will not be much of a holiday.

Gifts from Andrew!

This week Andrew Thorton, known for his great Thursday Giveaways is giving away six, yes, I said six colorful spools of Soft Flex Craft Wire from the generous folks at the Soft Flex Company.

Hurry on over to his blog and read all about it and enter to win by leaving a comment. The deadline for this great giveaway is Tuesday, December 7th.

Talking about Andrew, in his shop he carries some of my favorite heart charms from Candice Wakumoto. Some months ago, I purchased some bronze heart charms made by Candice and made this cute pair of earrings with them, do you like it?

After I sold this pair I wanted get more of these charms and, he was all sold out!! I searched the www and found out that Andrew's shop is one of the few places, maybe the only place that you can buy her beads.

Then around Thanksgiving I found out that Andrew had got them back in stock and I got more... and as I write I am playing with these charms and planning more earrings. Thank you Andrew, and thank you for the wonderful little Green Girl Studio clasp that you sent along, just love it. You know I will be back for more.

Shibuichi Rose Flower Clasp! So beautiful!

Now, it is my turn!

What a great weekend it has been. 

Lori Anderson of Pretty Things and event coordinator, had this great idea to extend the Bead Soup Party over an 8 day period allowing us to visit with all of the 97 bloggers who took part in the second bead swap party. I have been blog hopping since Saturday, and then again on Sunday having a wonderful time. On weekdays, my day time job gets in the way, but I get back to blog hopping in the evenings!

It has been great to be able to stop and savor the unique soups of all my fellow cooks, and now it is my turn.....

As you already know, Missficklemedia, Shannon is my bead soup swap partner, and here is what she sent me...

Please check my previous posting for the delightful details of the goodies I received from her.

After I recovered from my swoon, I could not take my eyes off the glorious Shibuichi clasp from Green Girl Studios and the stunning Artistic Jasper focal.  I saw it in my dreams. I wanted to capture the warmth and grandeur of the clasp and the beauty and richness of the jasper in my necklace. So I searched my stash of beads and found wine red burgundy freshwater pearls, both round and horizontal stick shaped, then some dark bronzy green round freshwater pearls. I decided to use these darker jewel-tones in my necklace, and here it is....

I also threw in some hand-cut faceted Garnets for an additional sparkle.

And some bronze chain to one side.

The clasp had to come out front, I was not hiding it in the back.

I hope you like it! I am very pleased, no, I am thrilled with it.

Thank you Shannon.

Shannon reveals her creations, yes she made four of them on the 24th, can't wait to see them!

I am saving the other beads I received from Shannon for another time as I did not have the time to make any more pieces for this round of blogging.

But I did make a pair of earrings from some of the beads I received and I am going to give them away to one lucky blogger.

Please leave a comment on this posting and you will be entered in the drawing to win this pair of earrings to commemorate this wonderful 2nd Bead Soup Party.

The earrings are made of pink Rhodonite teardrops and rondelles, brown Chalcedony faceted rondelles and champagne colored round freshwater pearls, all dangling from gold-filled ear wires.

Good Luck and thank you for visiting.

Thank you, Lori for putting together this wonderful event.

Great Giveaway Goodies from Green Girl Studios

Make sure you visit Andrew Thornton's blog and get your name in for this great giveaway before the deadline on Monday June 7. He is generously giving way these five gorgeous beads from his family's famous Green Girl Studios. The beads are part of their new line of pewter beads and they will be at the Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee from June 10 to 13. If you are in the neighborhood, make sure you stop by and say hi and get yourself some of these great beads. My favorite ( if I had to pick just one) would be the baby-faced owl charm. 

I love using these Green Girl Studios charms in my jewelry designs, check out some of the ways that I used the little bird charm in a necklace and in a bracelet; and also their unique Flower Fairy pendant. I am now working with one of their Shibuichi clasps which I received from my bead swap partner Shannon and you can stop by to see this on June 18th when we have the big Bead Soup reveal. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Soup, Shannon and Shibuichi

As some of you already know, my Bead Soup Swap Partner is Shannon LeVart aka missficklemedia. Shannon is a multi-talented lady, a wife and mom, who hosts three online shops for her wonderful creations. Her innovative and colorful jewelry components can be seen for sale at missficklemedia.com. Her unique jewelry findings are of hand forged metal and display colorful patinas, her speciality! Her finished jewelry can be found at her shops Slevart and themoonlitforest. Get to know Shannon (like I did) and her creative thoughts better by reading her blog and the interview with her at Beads of Clay. She also is one of the finalists in the Bead Star 2010 contest, check out her entries, and if you have not already voted, now is your chance.

Let me now show you what the mail man brought me from Shannon. The packaging says it all! She is comfortable creating with any medium, hence the name missficklemedia. I felt honored, and a twinge of guilt for my run of the mill packing - sending my goodies in little polythene bags. But the package was well received and she liked my selection and that is all that matters.

And inside was......
a strand of cream freshwater pearls,
some Rhodonite teardrops,
some brown Chalcedony faceted rondelles,
a grand oval focal bead of Artistic Jasper,
and the crown jewel..
a beautiful Shibuichi Sunflower and Leaf clasp from Green Girl Studios. I just about swooned...

I have shopped at Green Girl Studios for their Pewter focal beads and clasps and wondered what Shibuichi was all about. I had never heard that word before I visited GGSs. Having received this clasp, I figured now was the time to find out. Shi-bu-ichi, means one fourth (or quarter) in Japanese. Traditionally this alloy contained one fourth silver (and three fourths copper), hence the name. The Copper oxidizes and creates the beautiful patina, the silver, I understand stays pretty much unchanged. Just magnificent!

Now got to sit down to create...

Thank you, Shannon, I love my stash. Check out what she thinks of my jewelry styling (kind words, indeed) and see what I sent her at her blog. Can't wait to see what she creates! 

January Art Beads Challenge

Today I completed my entry to the January Art Bead Scene challenge. The challenge was based on interpreting Claude Monet's painting ' The Magpie' or ' La Pie'.

For my necklace I used white cultured freshwater pearls, along with faceted nuggets of Rock Crystal Quartz and grey agate with its patterns of waves and swirls. The necklace closes with a sterling silver toggle at the front from which hangs by little snowbird, a Pewter charms from Green Girl Studios and a grey lampwork bead made by Rosemarie Hanus of Spawnofflame.

The Color of 2010 - TURQUOISE

This posting is being written with family and friends in mind, including clients of Sundancegems and fellow bloggers, who live between W. Virginia and Maine, and are dealing with what the weathermen (and women) are referring to as the 'Blizzard of 2009'. As you look out the window let your mind wander to tropical shores, sultry breezes and swaying palms to warm your heart and body.

I was first introduced to Margie Deeb's work by Pearl in her posting about the Fall/Winter 2009 Color Report. ( www.beadinggem.com/2009/10/review-2009-fallwinter-color-report-for.html ). Margie Deeb specializes in color for bead artists. Her book The Beader's Color Palette has received many rave reviews and was voted the Best How-to Craft Book of 2009 ( http://colorforbeadartists.com ). I must confess I have not read the book, but I have just added it to my wish list. Visiting Margie's website this morning, I learnt the the 2010 Color of the Year is Turquoise. This color was chosen by Pantone  ( http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/index.aspx ) a world-renowned authority on color. According to their website they inspire design professionals with products, services and the latest in technology for the colorful exploration and expression of creativity. The Turquoise color they have chosen is not the familiar blue, but the blue-green.  They tell us that the color was chosen, because it invokes "inspiring thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and comforting escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of well-being".

Turquoise is one of my favorite gemstones, and nothing compares with natural genuine Turquoise. The key to purchasing genuine Turquoise is to deal with venders that you know and trust. I always sacrifice a bead from a strand of Turquoise I have purchased to break/cut in it to determine if it is really the real thing and not dyed. So many gemstones, such as Howlite and Magnesite are colored to resemble and even sell as Turquoise, and it is not easy to visually tell them apart. Currently I have three items displayed for sale in my shop that feature beautiful tropical Turquoise. You can learn more about these pieces by visiting Sundancegems at Ruby Lane www.sundancegems.rubylane.com .

Turquoise with Bird and Nest Bracelet

 (http://www.rubylane.com/shops/sundancegems/item/RMS4611 )

American Turquoise Nuggets Necklace and Earrings Set in Sterling Silver

( http://www.rubylane.com/shops/sundancegems/item/RMS4498 )

Turquoise and Sterling Silver Hammered oval chain Necklace with Bird Charm and Earrings

( http://www.rubylane.com/shops/sundancegems/item/RMS4606 )

Art Bead Scene November Challenge

Today I completed my entry to the Art Bead Scene November challenge. I have been a long time unofficial follower of the ABS blog by Cindy Gimbrone http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/. (Today I became official) They are an important part of my weekend with the Saturday Giveaway and the Sunday Blog Roundup. Not only have come to appreciate art beads and art beaders, but I have developed an appreciation for art, a subject that I have no formal education in! I hope my entry will be accepted. The necklace and earrings are based on the painting 'The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke by Richard Dadd. You can read all about this artist and his painting by clicking on the title to this post.

For my Art Bead I have chosen a Flower Fairy bead from Green Girl Studios http://www.greengirlstudios.com/index.html and added Pietersite, Red Tiger Eye, Lemon Quartz, Garnet, Freshwater Keishi Pearls and Blue Corundum to complete the necklace. Take a look at the painting and I would love to hear your comments.