What My Swap N Hop Partner Sent...

If any of you have been keeping track of me lately, you will notice I have been doing a lot of challenges when it comes to my jewelry making skills. My latest...well, The 2016 Swap N Hop hosted my Linda Anderson. 

The details are that you will be paired up with someone else who loves to make jewelry and swap stuff with them. The only requirements are to send them stuff you would want to receive (in other words no junk), and send at least one handmade item. I'll blog another time on what I sent, but this blog is all about what my partner Lee Koopman sent me.

So, over a week ago, I sent out my package, and the same day, Lee sent mine. The only issue "I" had was that I was out of town, and had to wait a whole week to see what she sent me. Last night we got home from our surprise visit to Florida to see our daughter and her family, pretty late. That did not keep me from heading right to the table where the mail was to open that package right up.

So, here is what I got....

A pretty good stash of various things...

The first thing I noticed was this pretty stash of Sari Ribbon. I don't use it a whole lot, but I love it! And the colors are gorgeous.

With Spring time right around the corner, this collection of Spring charms is perfect. 

I love this clasp. It will NOT be going in the back though. I will definitely be using it as a focal, and I do believe Lee might have made this from a button. I LOVE it!

This is a hand stamped focal, which would be great on either a bracelet or necklace.

What about this!!!!?!?!?! I LOVE this! All kinds of stuff in this mix of PURPLE. I especially love the crystals hearts, oh and the sea glass beads, oh and the little lavender flower spacer beads, and well, all of it!

Then there are these gorgeous babies. 

Last, but not lease, are these fun things that Lee made...out of left over wire she had from other projects. Funny thing is, I sent her some wire stuff too, lol. These can be used as earrings, or clasps, or whatever.

Well, there you have it...my new stash to make some fun stuff. I love everything that Lee sent. I will be challenged a little, which is good. I was hoping for a little challenge. My main challenge is that I want to use all the stuff she sent, so we will see what I come up with...

Stay tuned!!!!

What Did I Make From the Bead Box Bargain February 2016?

Remember the Bead Box Bargain stash of jewelry making stuff I got for the month of February? Well, I did an unboxing about it on youtube a few days ago. 

Anyway, I finally was able to make a few pieces with all the pretty stuff I was sent.

The first thing I made was this bookmark. I knew what I wanted to do with these pieces the second I pulled them out of the bag. I used the Lapis crystal and one of the red frosted glass beads to hang on the bookmark finding. This is going to my grand daughter, Crystal Jewel when she is older. 

This next piece uses the Eye of Horus, 10mm lapis beads and 10mm carnelian beads. I used some of the gold colored spacer beads and other beads and then added some small silver tone beads. I  don't wear a lot of gold, so that is why I added the silver. 

The Carnelian stone (rusty orange) is a stone of creativity, courage and individuality, and has protection energies. Lapis also offers protection. In the ancient Egyptian cultures lapis was buried with some of their dead. It was believed to offer protection, and...in some cultures was valued more highly than gold!

The Eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol. It also offers protection in addition to royal power and good health. I loved putting these three things together; carnelian, lapis and The Eye of Horus, because all offer protection. This is something all of us need as we go about our daily activities and travels.

I then had to make some earrings to match....

This last piece I was able to make are made of the frosted red glass beads, turquoise glass beads, and sapphire color glass beads. I also added the big gold rectangular gold beads and added some silver glittery beads I had in my personal stash. 

This month went by so quickly, and with a surprise visit to Florida to see my grand daughter (and her mom and dad), I really didn't have time to do many more pieces. I do have one started and on the drawing board, and some ideas for another pair of earrings. Maybe I'll get those done sometime next week...

February 2016 Honey Do List Challenge

A few weeks ago I came across this from SJ Designs Jewelry:





"My husband has issued his February "Honey Do List" challenge and it's one that anyone could play along with! He's taken one of his photos and pulled a color palette from it.

If you're interested in playing along as part of a blog hop, shoot me a message and we can do a list of blog links... otherwise, feel free to share your creations in the comments of my reveal post. Reveal date will be Monday, February 22... I hope you'll join me!"


What a great idea! And I love the photo! I love to be challenged, and this challenged me quite a bit. Rarely do I use these colors in my designs, but as I started playing around with my stash of beads, I wonder why I haven't. They really go well together.

So, what did I come up with? Well, I knew I wanted something that was different, outside of the box. I decided to make a set of guitar string bracelets. As I studied the colors in the pallet, I saw a familiar color...

I had this guitar string bracelet already made. I had it in my "Maybe I'll put it in my Etsy shop stash." I made this by wrapping the guitar string with Sari ribbon and then wrapping old brown telephone wire around it. I then added a bit of lace for a feminine touch. I decided to use this as my base piece. I needed two more bracelets.

This next one, I used a bass string and then wrapped with copper wire. I wrapped green, brown and amber beads around the bracelet.

Now for my last bracelet. I used one guitar string, and decided to use some of my signature items on it...stuff from the sea! I wrapped some of the beads I used from the bass bracelet and added shells.

All was done, except for one color. The rusty orange. Now, at first I figured the copper wire could represent that, but it is really not that noticeable, so I needed something else. Then, I remembered I had some rusty orange starfish beads....perfect!

And there you have it. My rendition of this beautiful piece of photography....Set of Three Guitar String Bracelets February 2016 Honey Do List Challenge.

I had a lot of fun doing this, and hope she gives us another challenge....maybe next month?

Feb 2016 Bargain Bead Box Unboxing

Necklace Redo

Dry Gulch February 2016 Color Challenge

These last few months, I have gotten into being more challenged with my creativeness. One way I have been able to do this is through the Dry Gulch Color Challenges.

When I saw this month's colors, I got all giddy inside! I LOVE these colors! Soft Moss, Pale Butterscotch, Baby Pink, Faded Barn and Gray are the colors that we are challenged to use in a piece. It can be a jewelry piece, or some other item. I even saw someone make a coffee cup one time! How cool is that? So, pretty much anything goes.

I immediately started digging around my stash of beads. The first thing I thought of was some of my paper beads I recently made. These were made from a magazine, and then tripled dipped in a special glaze that makes them water resistant, and shiny.

These paper beads have most of the colors in the challenge...gray, pinks and moss.

Then I came across these pink wire beads. I have been saving them for something special. I think they represent the Faded Barn color perfectly.

When I first saw the challenge colors, I felt as if the piece needed pearls and crystals. I decided to use these glass butterscotch pearls. Then, I dug around in my crystals, and came across these babies. Never really have been able to pin point the color, as they are kinda gray, kinda mossy, kinda lavender, and definitely have an Aurora Borealis glow about them. These crystals were put in between each bead on this necklace.

I decided to use these sea turtles because I love all things pertaining to the beach and tropical. I also came across these gray glass pearls and thought they would be a great addition. Now, one more thing, my baby  pink....

These faceted baby pink crystal beads were perfect...and I love how the Aurora Borealis crystals look next to that soft pink, you can really see all the different colors in them. Click on the picture for an better look see...

So, after I got all my beads gathered, I just sat there and looked at them. Now what? Do I intersperse them throughout the piece? Or not?  Well, one thing I knew for sure, was that I was going to make a pair of earrings using some of those wire beads, Aurora Borealis crystals and sea turtles. So I went ahead and made those and set them aside. Aren't they fun?

Ok, now, I need to decided what I want to do with my beads.



This is what I decided...and I am very pleased! I wanted this necklace to be a bit longer, so I added a little bit of silver chain.

Well, there you have it. My February 2016 Dry Gulch Color Challenge.

I think I might wear this tomorrow to church. I need a pick me up with all this cold weather we have been having, and I think this is just the piece :)





Springtime Jewelry