Bead Widowers photo contest at Znetshows blog

Znetshows blog is running a photo contest - for Bead Widowers. You submit a funny photo of your guy "shopping" for beads with you!! There will be 3 winners, and the prize is nothing to sneeze at - $100, $75 or $50 gift certificates from Znetshows.

Sadly, I can not enter....My husband would rather die than go to a bead shop or show (and I'd probably die too, or we'd kill each other!). Hopefully, others are able to drag their men to bead/ jewelry shops to snap a photo.
This is a true story....

Once I was at a bead show, looking at a table full of beads. The woman standing next to me was there with her husband. She picked up a bead to look at it and he said (accusingly), "What do you need that for?". So I leaned over and whispered "You never bring the husband".

 

And I never will, it's just too painful.

Hey, make me!

I've been making lots of jewelry these days. Nothing like some free beads and a deadline to motivate a girl! I am design team member for Znetshows! I received a nice package of pearls and crystals, with the challenge to create designs inspired by "winter". I'll reveal some of my designs soon! But in the meantime, while I've been busy designing with pearls and crystals, a couple things on my bead desk caught my eye, and yelled - "Hey, make me!!". These do not contain any pearls or crystals from Znetshows. I simply allowed myself to become distracted long enough to make them.

 OK, actually, this yellow Tree of Life was made with Znetshows crystals and sea glass, but these beads are not part of the Winter Design challenge. They were left over from last Jan, when we were challenged to make designs using Sea Glass beads. I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out. I've only made 3 or 4 Trees of Life prior to this one, so, I'm liking it. It came right back to me, and even seemed easier than I remembered. Of course, my fingers were a little sore after wrapping all the fine gauge wire. Totally worth it.

 

This big cool button was an auction score! It's big (about 2 inches in diameter) and is made out of an unknown material. If I had to guess, I'd say Gutta Percha, but I'm really not sure. The little screw heads don't hold anything together, they are just decoration! The 3 corrugated beads going up the chain are vintage too, from Earthly Adornments. Chain is from Vintaj.

 I wrapped wire around the tops of the Fleur-de-lis, just below the top row of ribbed lines, to hide it in plain site. Then, wire wrapped a bail to hang it from. On the back (sorry I didn't take a picture of it), I wired a piece of Vintaj filigree, so it looks good from either side.

A couple years ago, I was on a buckle binge! I made up about 20 pendants using vintage buckles, with butterflies and dragonflies. While I was rooting around for red beads to use for my Znetshows winter challenge, this buckle caught my eye, and I just had to follow through.

Czech glass flowers, Swarovski bicones, and flower chain. Not wintry at all!

 

That's it for now. In my next post, I will begin to reveal my designs for the Znetshows Winter  Design Challenge. Please stop back.