I've been bad!

Almost a month ago, I took advantage of a one day "cyber sale" at Beads of Clay. All the members participated in the sale, some offering up to 25% off!! I love a sale! and I love to shop for beads, so, I spent my lunch break being very bad that day!! I bought so much, I had 4 envelopes in my mailbox on one day (*squee*). I am slowly allowing myself to make them into something (I am still hoarding many purchases that date back years).

This leaf pendant is from Shaterra. I was immediately drawn to the warm colors and the leaf design. I used a carved horn bead with an acorn bead cap, faceted smokey quartz, orange-red freshwater pearls and some Foliage bead caps from Vintaj.


This moth pendant is also from Shaterra. I love how it's kinda spooky, misty, dark. It forced me work with antique silver for a change. I'm more comfortable with brass, partly because I have way more brass in my stash. I also used some gray crackle glass, Lucite black flowers, silver-toned pony beads, faceted hematite and some flower bead caps.

Here's a close-up of Shaterra's fabulous Moth focal!

Unrelated to the above mentioned sale, I used another of my cute owls from beadfreaky. I used the same black Lucite flowers as in the moth necklace, and some turquoise Czech glass, along with bead caps. I can't remember where I got the gray beads. They came in a pack with some light blue beads, and they are speckled like robin's eggs.

Just look at that cute owl!!

This last necklace isn't clay at all. I just felt like throwing it in for fun. It was my first attempt at using sari silk. I recently purchased some at Beadfest Philly. I put 2 small squares sandwiched between an orange Lucite flower and a brass bead cap (from this angle, you can't see the flower). Then I wrapped a little piece of silk on the hook clasp with some wire.

Happy Fall!

15 Minutes of Fame!!

I am the featured "guest designer" on Jeannie's Blog today!

She asked a bunch of probing questions, which I tried to answer. And I sent her 8 photos, which she put in a slide show.

Thank you Jeannie, for my time in the white hot spot light!!

I'm going to go bask in it now....

A Challenge or Two...

I decided to join in on 2 design "challenges". I'm usually apprehensive about doing these challenges because I don't want to disappoint anyone. There has to be enough time to make everything AND photograph it. And I mostly can only do photos on the weekend, if it's not to overcast.

The first one is Michelle Mach's "Very Vintage" challenge. She had kits and mini kits available to purchase. The kits included vintage lucite leaves and bits, some glass beads and some Vintaj filigree, branch and leaf. I got the mini kit, because I already had the Vintaj pieces in the bigger kit. I, coincidentally, had an idea that morning about a fall themed necklace, and Michelle's kit components fit my idea very well. The kit arrived, and I made my necklace that very evening! The big reveal is Oct 4th, so please stop back.

The second challenge is Lorelei Eurto's & Shannon Chomanczuk's Lima Beads challenge. These kits were a bit more costly, but, man, there's a lot in there! There are some really pretty colors and textures! My kit arrived over the weekend, and I need to get busy with it. The reveal for this one is Oct 8th. I might have to post mine on Oct 7th, because I don't have Internet at home (no, I'm not Amish, as my co-workers kid!) Hopefully that will be ok!

More fall designs

I'm really in the mood for fall, although I wish the rain would stop. We've had too much of it lately.

This necklace is all Raku beads I picked up at Beadfest Philly. The artist is Amy @ Xaz beads. I used a Vintaj Acorn bead cap on top of the larger bead.

This necklace was made to enter in Vintaj's Honey Bee challenge, but I did not get a decent picture until after the deadline. There's no sense in entering with a bad picture!
I WON this focal from Erin Prais Hintz, during her birthday extravaganza week, lucky me! I used crackle glass in 2 shades of yellow, and more Vintaj.

This little cutie is from Beadfreaky. I posted the other beadfreaky owl yesterday. I just love these owls! I made an acorn out of a felt bead, and the little bead, which is dark looking in this picture is a really pretty raku lampwork bead from Kelleys beads.

This last necklace is one I'm on the fence about. I like using buttons, but I don't like the holes to show. So I had the idea to make a birds nest and attach it through the holes. And the lampwork egg (also by Kelleys beads) matched the button so well, I hung it below. But I'm not sure I like the red with the blue. I normally work in monochromatic themes, so maybe it's just me being shy about color. The little beads are tiny millefiori beads with a red "flower" in the center, so that was the "color combo inspiration". The red beads are those deep red velvet beads (from China, I think)
If anyone has opinion, feel free to comment.

Some Autumnal Ceramic Focals

A while ago, I bought a bunch of stuff from Gaea. Then recently, I bought more. (we all understand the spending habits of a bead hoarder, don't we?) I love all my new stuff so much that I thought I'd better use some of my older stuff! I guess I'm bitten with the autumn bug, like so many others. I used 3 leaf pendants, all in different colors. I am totally loving the acorn bead cap from Vintaj too. So leafs, and acorns, and owls, oh my!

This pendant is teal with the darker ceramic clay showing through. The round beads are also from Gaea - I made one into an acorn.

This leaf is a greyish brown glaze with darker clay showing through. It goes well with the Vintaj chain.

This leaf pendant has a matte finish. The bead that is the acorn is also from Gaea. The owl was a link I picked up at Michael's.


And while I'm on the fall subject, isn't this owl fantastic? This owl is from beadfreaky. I bought some other cute owls from them too. If you like owls, you should check out the shop.
I used some faceted fluorite barrel beads. They almost look like recycled glass, except for the occasional spot of purple.

A close up of the owl! So sweet!