Week 1 - AJE Earrings Challenge

This is week one of the AJE Earrings Challenge and here are my contributions...

Natural Turquoise Coins and Copper charms by Melinda Orr of Orrtec

Turquoise and Lampwork beads by Jennifer Jennings of Blue Seraphim

Venetian Glass beads with bronze hammered hearts by Candice Wakumoto

Red Coral beads with Keith O'Conner Ceramic Beads and earwires made by yours truly!

Be sure to check out all the creative and beautiful earrings submitted by some very talented artisans. This is such a wonderful way to showcase some gorgeous beads hand made by fellow artisans. 

Stay tuned for week 2 and have a great week!

Summer Earrings

It's more butterflies and blue sky!

Celebrating the season with earrings.

This one has Venetian glass beads and Niobium earwires from Artbeads.com.

Bright orange enamelled butterflies from Gardannebeads.

Have a great weekend!

Have a Great Weekend!

Last weekend was a rain event here in the Tampa Bay area, this weekend promises to be sunny, and even cooler than many parts of the Northeast USA!

No matter where or what your plans....

at the beach....

or in your backyard....

Or if you plan to do some beading, check out the discount coupon to Artbeads.com that is valid though the end of July.

Enjoy the weekend!

Celebrating The Beauty of Spring!

Today, March 20, 2010 we celebrate the arrival of spring. We Floridians are all breathing a collective sigh of relief, no more cold fronts, no more freeze warnings, no more warm jackets, .. it's Spring! but wait, there is a cold front headed our way, and we are in for some rain and cooler temperatures. But that is tomorrow, today was a gorgeous day, a chamber of commerce kind of day, the kind of day that makes me glad I live in Florida!

Being an Artbeads.com design partner, I received some beads of my choice from Artbeads.com as part of their 'The Beauty of Spring' design campaign. So what better to celebrate the end of the coldest winter in 100 years in Florida, than to unveil my spring design collection. One look at these lime green handmade Venetian Glass beads and Spring comes to mind...

I love these Peridot colored glass beads with a center of gold foil and I have used them in many of my designs. I then added a large Cloisonné disc with an eye-catching pink flower on a blue background. The center of the pink flower is the same lime green as the glass bead, just perfect!  


Enameled Cloisonné beads are handcrafted in China, where artisans begin with a copper base, create patterns by soldering brass wire in cells. Enamel paint is filled in the patterns and fired to permanently fix the colors. The painting and firing process can be repeated as many as four times. The bead is then smoothed and polished, and the exposed brass wire edges are gold or silver plated. Since it is hand made, each bead is slightly different, not always uniform, but this just adds to their beauty. Unfortunately, Artbeads.com has sold out their stock of Cloisonné beads, but promise that more are expected soon, so check in often so you will not miss them when they arrive. 


The two beads have between them a tiny Swarovski crystal. Of course, this pretty flower would attract a butterfly! The design is meant to put a spring in one's steps! 

To celebrate the arrival of spring in your very own style, hurry to Artbeads.com, they have a store-wide Spring Fever Sale on right now, but only for a limited time, the sale ends at 9.00am (PT) March 23, 2010.
Artbeads.com carries an extensive collection of colorful Venetian glass beads. Make sure you watch the Handy Tip Video that explains how to smooth out the rough edges on the handmade Venetian beauties. Also check out my 'Under the Sea Earrings' made with Aquamarine Venetian glass bead.


Disclosure: I received the beads described above above free of charge from Artbeads.com. I have been asked to review these beads/supplies and give my honest opinion of them.  I am not being paid by Artbeads.com for my endorsement of any of the products received and reviewed in my blog postings.

Under the Sea Earrings

Today I want to tell you about a pair of Venetian glass beads and sterling silver links that I chose from Artbeads.com's extensive glass and silver beads collection.

The Venetian glass beads were  Gold Foil Round - Aquamarine and the sterling silver beads were the Hammered Diamond Link . I obtained these beads from Artbeads.com with the idea of making a pair of earrings from them.

Ahh! Venice, the city of canals and gondolas! Venice is the earliest and most renowned glass bead making center in Europe. Venice dominated the world market of glass beads in quantity and quality until the 20th century (The History of Beads by Dubin).

Back in the 1990s I had the opportunity to visit Venice with my husband and what a wonderful trip it was! We spent five days there, taking in the sights, walking the narrow streets, in and out of churches and art galleries,   among people and pigeons, and also touring a Murano glass bead factory/workshop and I even got myself a pair of Murano glass earrings. Have you ever seen the Remax commercial where a guy and a gal kick themselves in the behind for not buying the wonderful home that was for sale? Well, sometimes I find myself doing just that and let me tell you why. When I was in Venice I had no interest in beads whatsoever. Yes, I know! I saw the city just like any other tourist and totally oblivious to the wonderful and addictive world of beads! Hence the kicking in the behind! Here are some of the pictures from our visit to Venice. But enough of that... back to the task at hand.

Here are the pair of earrings I made. I have used the hammered diamond link to connect the vibrant Aquamarine Venetian glass bead to a Swarovski Aquamarine Starfish. I think the trio of beads go very well together. I have used sterling silver wire and sterling silver jump ring to connect the three. To bring out the gold foil in the glass bead, I used the Sterling Silver Ear Wires with Gold-Filled Ball. These ear wires are a favorite of mine, they were great with many of the holiday earrings that I made. The combination of the gold and silver metals always make the jewelry special.

I received the Venetian glass bead and the hammered diamond link free of charge from Artbeads.com, while the rest of the beads and findings in this pair of earrings were previously purchased by me from them and were part of my inventory. I would certainly recommend these versatile beads to all. Make sure you watch the Handy Tip Video that explains how to smooth out the rough edges on the handmade Venetian beauties. Artbeads.com carries an extensive collection of colorful Venetian glass beads, check them out!

Disclosure: I received the beads described above above free of charge from Artbeads.com. I have been asked to review these beads/supplies and give my honest opinion of them.  I am not being paid by Artbeads.com for my endorsement of any of the products received and reviewed in my blog postings.