Tag: Blog Hop

I pulled out some beads I’ve been meaning to use and made a necklace and a bracelet.

I have to admit, these pieces don’t use special, hoarded beads. But I haven’t been amassing a stash for very long and the only beads I’ve had for a while are super boring and on their way to donation. There’s a difference between old and hoarded. The former is kept though their usefulness is pretty much over because we hope they might come back in style or we might need them again and the latter are saved for a really special project. Lots of oldish, not so much hoarded.

This one is made from Swarovski pearls and crystals. I bought them to go with a strand of tourmaline chips. I should have known better than to buy chips. I love when other people use them but I never seem to get them right. I tried to make the necklace I saw in my head but it just didn’t look right. The chips were too big and the Swarovskis too small. They were too close to the same size. As I unstrung the necklace, I ‘saw’ this! Yeah! So lovely. I know it’s pretty simple but I’m happy.

I saw a book or video ad for jewelry made from copper tubing and I was so inspired! This is made from about 6” of copper tubing formed into a bangle shape. I rounded the raw ends, filed them and punched a hole. I wrapped some awesome fabric around the bangle and held it in place initially with a clothespin and then permanently with 20g copper wire. While wrapping, I added some Swarovski crystals; they look clear but are actually silver shade. Lastly, I hung some Czech crystal dangles on jump rings which I attached to the ends.

I hope you enjoy my creations. I’d love to hear what you think so if you’d take time to leave a comment, I’d be thrilled. Thanks

Enjoy, Rebecca

Robin Kae Reed http://www.willowdragon.blogspot.com/
Melissa Trudinger https://beadrecipes.wordpress.com/

Welcome to anyone new to my blog! I’ve joined a blog hop today and the theme is a do over challenge. Jeannie, a jewelry designer, has offered some of her old pieces for us to redesign. All we had to do was pay shipping, promise to use at least 50% of the beads in the piece and blog about it today! I was provided with this necklace and earrings.

For my first piece, Heathered Elegance below, I used the large amethyst nuggets and the tiny green nugget beads, maybe peridot? but it is much darker than any peridot I’ve seen and also includes some dark flecks. I added the filigree with wire guardians so the wire wouldn’t lose it’s coating or even fray. I gently shaped it with bracelet bending pliers to give it a nice curve.

I used the original clasp though I reshaped it to make it shorter (my bracelet was getting too long), the original beading wire and some gold Czech druk beads along with Znetshows Chinese crystals, rondelles in two sizes and colours, Champagne and a lovely deep purple.

I also made earrings to match. You can see the gorgeous purple rondelles better here. I love the sparkle!

Next I made a necklace using the coral coloured nuggets from the necklace. They may be real (dyed) coral, I’m not sure. I added some stick pearls and tiny teal beads (some gemstone but I forget what they are). The pendant is a Cultured sea glass piece also from Znetshows. I love this pale Coke bottle colour. It goes with so many things. I made the bail with 20 gauge silver wire.

Last but not least, I made a bracelet with the bronze pearls, antique bronze charm and grey/green gemstones. I call it Bronze Age. The gemstones are pretty interesting, at first they seem quite ordinary but in the light, they have lovely iridescent flecks like tiny opal chips deep inside. I only added the smoky quartz flat briolettes and clasp. It’s way too big for me but I thought shortening it would mess up the rhythm of the piece so I guess I’ll give it to or sell it to someone else.

I hope you enjoyed my pieces! Here’s the list of the other designers in the hop in case you’d like to see more.

Jeannie K Dukic

Penny Houghton

Donetta Farrington

Louise Glazier

Molly Alexander

Veralynne Malone

Becky Pancake

Shai Williams

Renetha Stanziano

Rebecca Ednie

Beti Horvath

Enjoy, Rebecca

So since this is mainly a paper crafting blog, I’d better explain that right? The Blog Soup Party blog hop shows off the work of over 400 jewelry designers. We’ve all been brave enough to take up the challenge of sending our partner a mixture of beads and findings, known as a bead soup, and once received, we promised to make something using that soup and post it today! We had to send a focal piece and a clasp along with some supporting beads that are in a different style than our partner normally uses. At a minimum we need to use the focal and clasp in one or more pieces. They can be jewelry or something else like a key chain, zipper pull or mixed media piece.

I was partnered with Michelle Wigginton of Adorned on Adelaide. I sent her quite a few black and white items several of which could be used as a focal and lots of beads in black, white or both! I am looking forward to seeing what she’s made. I’m sure she will have a photo of what I sent her on her blog.

Michelle sent me almost all earth tone items which are way out of my comfort zone. In the necklace above, I used the lovely flower pendant she made (awesome), the jasper beads, purplish brown Czech beads and a snippet of the silk ribbon. I added some tiny copper beads and copper spacers. One side is wire work and the other side is stringing. The pattern on the right side repeats towards the back and I used a purchased toggle clasp.

The clasp Michelle sent was quite daunting for me. It was an inch wide which is way larger than the clasps I usually use. I thought it might tangle in my long hair if I used it on a necklace, it was too big for a bracelet I’d be comfortable wearing and I don’t have any beads that would coordinate with a clasp that large. It is quite antiqued too and I don’t usually work with metal that dark. But I was determined to  use it somehow. So I wire wrapped a rustic smoky quartz briolette bead into the center using 28 g silver wire, antiqued it with liver of sulphur, polished the highlights and now I can use it as a pendant!

So, what’s left? I am going to use the recycled glass beads on an ocean necklace I’ve recently started. I think so anyway. The funky scarab, which I love (I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was a kid) will probably be worked into a mixed media canvas of some sort. The piacasso beads are headed into a necklace for my 13 yo son. Honestly, I have no idea where the rest of the ribbon is headed but it will go to good use.

Thanks for joining me. To see more of the blog hop, visit Lori Anderson’s blog Pretty Things. She is the brilliant and tireless organizer of the entire thing and has done so while being quite sick and even hospitalized so I’d like to thank her for all her work. You rock girlfriend!

Enjoy, Rebecca