Challenge of Music Blog Hop

Chopsticks!!

What do you think of when you hear that word?

Chinese food? Probably.

But in relation to music, certainly you hear the childhood piano favorite, "chopsticks", playing in your head.

As a child, I wanted to learn to play piano. I took lessons, but could never get my left hand to do something different than my right hand (am I alone with this one?) But I could play Chopsticks. Because both hands are doing the same thing, but in the opposite direction. Then mid-way through the song, they do the same thing, but a couple keys apart. This was easy for my child hands (and brain) to "master". We played chopsticks until we were told to "knock it off!!" by the adults in the room (then we switched to "Heart and Soul" - another easy song for the piano). As an adult now, I can see where more than a couple minutes of chopsticks would make you yell "knock it off!!".

Liberace plays it in this youtube video, like I have never heard it before: (wow!)


And here is what I discovered on Wikipedia about Chopsticks (it's a waltz - who knew?!):

"Chopsticks" (original name "The Celebrated Chop Waltz") is a simple, extremely well known waltz for the piano. It was written in 1877 by the British composer Euphemia Allen under the pseudonym Arthur de Lulli.^[1] Allen, who was the sister of a music publisher, was supposedly only sixteen when she composed the piece, with arrangements for solo and duet. The title Chop Waltz comes from Allen's specification that the melody be played in two-part harmony with both hands held sideways, little fingers down, striking the keys with a chopping motion. This name suggests the piece should be played in 3/4 (waltz) metre, although it is also commonly heard with the stresses as in 6/8 time.

On to my creations!!
***Obligatory apology for the photo quality. I was forced to use an indoor light box, which is no substitute for natural sunlight***

I knew when I decided to use this song I would need to make some decisions. Should I go with an Asian theme? Or a childhood theme? Or make some thing that represents the two halves of the song?
Rather than make a decision, I went in all directions.

My first photo is the childhood theme. When I think of "chopsticks" I think about being that kid at the piano! I'm not a bracelet fan, so this can be worn either as a bracelet or a necklace. Simply remove the length of chain and wrap the charm bracelet around your wrist! Lots of plastic kid charms and pixies, a bottle cap bead, a vintage red celluloid heart and wooden mini yo-yo.



Above the dog it says "I'm in the doghouse"

Next, I got to thinking about the Asian influence this song had on my thoughts. On a recent visit to Erin's etsy store, I saw her Asian inspired simple truths, to compliment the monthly painting at Art Bead Scene Blog. Serendipity! - It was perfect for what I had in mind. And the colors would be perfect too! In the meantime, I've had an Arizona iced tea can on my workbench, waiting to test my disc cutter. The can is fairly thin gauge, and it cut like buttah! My "plan" was to dap my discs into bead caps, but I now realize (after mutilating unsuccessfully dapping a couple discs) I do not have the right kind of dapping block for that - something to shop for, like I need a reason to shop ;-)
OK, plan "B"!
It took me a while to figure out how to fold them, but I made mini fortune cookies out of my discs! I absolutely love them! But then, my pendant arrived, and, while I love it, the colors were more subdued than I imagined they'd be. My fortune cookies are too bright and don't look good with it.
OK, plan "C"!
I happened to have an Asian brass fan sitting out on my bead desk (from Trinity Brass, I think), so I designed my fortune cookie necklace around that. I am actually quite happy with it. I have enough fortune cookies left over to make a bracelet too! (someday)


Faceted fuscia Jasper, Brass Fan, and my little fortune cookies!

 

 Of course, I made earrings to match!

I case you're wondering, I did not slide tiny little fortunes inside the cookies - but I could!

But what about Erin's beautiful pendant? Not to worry. I had strawberry quartz beads that matched wonderfully.
Now, this was another one of my ideas for Chopsticks...if you count the number of chain links on this necklace, it's the same number of notes in Chopsticks:
123456.123456.123456 (clasp) 12.12.12345.12345.12.12.

(plus, you might have noticed that I chose the stick version of Erin's pendants, rather than a round one or some other shape - get it? chop STICK)

18 links per side, represent the two "halves" of the song

Strawberry Quartz and sea glass, adventurine, Lucite leaves, and the lovely Simple Truths pendant

Lastly and also serendipitously, last weekend I stumbled across a bunch of chopstick I had bought, back during my auction-going days. They are petite (about 6" long) and beautiful, with mother of pearl inlay. So, at the last minute, I wanted to try to make something with two of them. This is more of a experimental necklace, and not really meant to be worn. I may add to it, but this all I had time to do. I think it has potential. The chopsticks alone would be beautiful stuck into a hair bun.
 

Czech Dragonfly bead from Maya Honey

Rather than copy the list here, please go to Erin's blog post here to see the other participants!

Thank you, Erin, for hosting once again. This challenge proved to be a bit more difficult than I thought it would be, but I'm happy to have been a part of it. I'm anxious to see what everyone else has done!

3rd annual Challenge of Color

Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati hosts challenges throughout the year. November is traditionally the challenge of color. I always love this challenge, because it forces me to create out of my comfort zone, and I usually like what I've created for this challenge. I tend to design monochromatic jewelry, maybe because I feel it's more wearable, but also because I'm not good at pairing colors together. This challenge leaves me no choice.
The palettes are very special. Please see Erin's blog for a full explanation, so it's not repeated here.

My palettes this year (she gave each us two to choose from) were opposite each other. One is yellows and deep reds and browns, the other icy blues and greys. Erin asked us to pick one of the palettes, so she knew how to list us for the blog hop. I had told Erin I chose "Greenland Coast" for my palette, but when I sat down to make jewelry, "Erongo Massif" came out first. So, I have pieces for both palettes.

 

 

 

Erongo Massif:

It just so happened that I made this enameled focal and matching enameled beads BEFORE I got my palettes! The red beads are much darker in real life. They are those "Red Velvet" crystal beads that were all the rage a while back. (I have tried to retouch them, to simulate the deep rich red color)

 I created the focal using a vintage copper art deco stamping. It's quite heavy (gilding weight) and has little indentations to glue chatons in. I made a hole in the center indentation, and wired my "flower" to it. The larger red crystal was just barely bigger than the opening in the center of the flower, so I used 2 smaller crystals under it, for support (I don't want it to go inside the flower). The focal is heavier than it looks, but it lays ok when worn. Maybe I should glue some red chatons in all those little indentations.


This is a good look at the art deco base.

 I am in love with this enameled piece! Yummy!!

 

 

Greenland Coast:

This one took a bit longer, just because I had to make all the wire wrapped dangles. This is loosely  inspired by Barbara Lewis' Floral Cascade necklace. In fact, many of the enameled beads were made for my own floral cascade necklace, but did not get used. It just so happens, they matched my palette. I made all the dangles, and had them laid out to go onto a chain, but going around the neck (like a charm bracelet). Then I thought "What if I made it into a lariat type necklace?"

So, that's what I did.

Materials include my enameled beads, Vintaj chain, hematite crystal rounds, silvered crystal rounds,  crystals rondelles and smaller AB crystal rondelles.

 The necklace does not have a clasp and is one long length (maybe 28"?). One end is brought over the other in whatever position you want. This allows the wearer to "tie" it as long or short as they like. It can be "tied" in the center, or to one side. It's a lot of necklace, and is not for everyone, but I really like it.

 Once tied, it's a luxurious amount of beads in the middle - I love it!

 

Earrings to match. My enameled beads and the same silvered and AB crystals that were used in the necklace.

And another pair. They look like Art Deco hot air balloons to me. Up, up, and away!

A big thank you to Erin for organizing this challenge again, and Brandi for the fabulous color palettes. They both put a lot in to it, and we all get a lot out of it!

Thank you Miss Erin and Miss Brandi!

 

Please visit the other blogs (it is a blog hop, after all!)

Rather than copy and paste the long list of blog hop participants here (there are 80 of us!!), click here, to go to Erin's blog post.

 

Secret Snowflake Challenge

Michelle Mach is hosting the Secret Snowflake challenge. She secretly commissioned the ceramic focal and links from Mellisa at Chinook Jewelry. As soon as I saw the Chinook focal, I knew I wanted in. There were other beads in the kit, but the kits ran out, so I bought the focal and links directly from Chinook. (today's lesson: The early bird gets the........kit!)
So, with just the ceramic parts in hand, I dove into my stash. I found some lovely blue Czech crystal rondelles that matched beautifully. I made my earrings first. If you look closely, you will see, as with many handmade things, one of the holes in the one focal was a little farther away from the edge. (this is truly the beauty of handmade!) My small jumprings did not fit and I did not want to use large jumprings, so I wire wrapped the crystal rondelles, sort of like a briolette drop.

 On to the necklace.... When I received my package from Chinook, and I saw the focal, I thought, "where's the challenge?". With a focal so pretty, it was hardly a "challenge".
Looking further in my hoard of beads, I found some AB Crystal faceted rounds, and the Vintaj "sunflower" charm. I thought the sunflower charm rather looked like a snowflake, so I decided to use it. For the link along the necklace, I snipped off the little hole off the charm (and filed it smooth). I used another charm on the pendant, and added some crystals to the bottom of it.

 Seriously, look at the glaze on the focal!!!

 Up close and personal...

Please visit all the participants, and be sure to leave a comment!!
(the names without links can be found at Michelle Mach's blog)

• Alice (Alice Dreaming)
• Chris (beadjewelry.net)
• Christa (Adventures of One Beady Woman)
• Crystal (Here Bead Dragons)
• Cynthia (Cynth's Blog)**You are here**
• Dawn (Morning Glory Beading)
• Donetta (Simply Gorgeous)
• Erin A.
• Jennifer (JenniferJW)
• Jennifer (Jewelry, Art and Life)
  
• Kari W.
• Kate (We Can Make That at Home)
• Kay (Palm Coast Art)
• Linda (Lindy's Designs)
• Lisa C. (A Bead a Day)
  
• Lisa (Inspired Adornments)
• Mary (MLH Designs)
• Michelle (Beads & Books) 
• Michelle B.
• Millie (AMM Jewelry)
  
• Norma (Moonlit Fantasies)
• Pam (The Crazier Sister)
• Rebecca J.
• Renetha (Lamplight Crafts)
• Rosemarie (Gem Rose Designs)
  
• Shannon (Falling into the Sky)
• Susan (Bead Inspired)
• Therese (Therese's Treasures)
• Therese (DG Enterprises)

Many Thanks to Michelle for dreaming this up, and Mellisa for creating the beautiful components. I enjoyed this "challenge"!! Enjoy the hop!

Challenge of Color Blog Hop - reveal day!!

Well, the big day is here! It's the Challenge of Color Blog Hop reveal day. Erin Prais-Hintz at Tesori Trovati Jewelry is the hostess (with the mostest - check out ALL she made!!!) We (the participants) picked a color. The color could be your favorite, or most challenging, or whatever - up to you. Then Erin selected a palette for each participant from Design Seeds (check out the site - some really beautiful color palettes there!).

So, I chose "red", because I do not seem to use red in my designs very often, so I thought it would be a good stretch for me.

Erin chose "Autumn Comfort" for me. As you can see, the red in this palette is on the orange side, which I was happy about. I really didn't know what I was gonna do if I got candy apple red!

So, first, I looked through all my red beads. I sort my beads by color, for the most part. I keep my art beads separate, so I looked through the art beads next. I found lots of rusty reds in there. The first thing I made were these earrings. I was just trying to warm up a little, like with exercise - you don't want to over do it!  The beads and the rings are lampwork from Outwest.  They have the red and darker grey color from the palette. I love matte lampwork!

Next, I made this necklace. It's made of beige cane glass I've had forever, don't remember where I got it (maybe Fire Mountain?). And red ceramic rounds, I think from Fire Mountain. And matte grey pony beads, that are from Fire Mountain. And, Vintaj bead caps.

Much to my surprise, I found the yellow color the hardest to work into my designs. But then I found a string of very large stone nuggets in my "yellow beads". I swear I don't even remember buying them. I don't know what "stone" they are. But, I picked out the best one on the strand. I liked this one because it has a darker spot on it. Along with that, I used some red coral little donuts, some white-grey marble rounds, some faceted Czech beads (that match the mystery stone perfectly), and the same grey pony beads as in the first necklace. And, of course, Vintaj bead caps.
I have not done it very often, so I'm still never sure how it will turn out, but I wire wrapped some gold sari silk in three places. I actually like it. It adds just a bit more golden yellow to the necklace.

Thanks to Erin for creating this fun challenge!!
Here's the list of all the other participants. Enjoy all the colors!!!

1 Norma Turvey ~ Teal ~ Color Crave

2 Jeannie Dukic ~ Green ~ Mineral Tones

3 Mary McGraw ~ Teal ~ Embellished Hues

4 Jo Tinley ~ Red ~ Decadent Tones

5 Rebecca Anderson ~ Pink ~ Tulip Tones

6 Kristi Jaro ~ Red ~ Temple Entrance

7 Stephani Gorman ~ Green ~ Dew Tones

8 Melissa Meman ~ Green ~ Fruit Star

9 Kathleen Lange Klik ~ Teal ~ Silk Hues

10 Cynthia Riggs (you are here) ~ Red ~ Autumn Comfort

11 Heidi Post ~ Teal ~ Flora Bright

12 Cece Cormier ~ Teal ~ Merino Teal

13 Amy Freeland ~ Gray ~ Cultured Tones

14 Alice Peterson ~ Blue ~ Island Play

15 Rose Noble ~ Gray ~ Autumn Stacked

16 Kristina Johansson ~ Yellow ~ Sunny Flower

17 Kirsi Luostarinen ~ Teal ~ Dragon Hues

18 Tari Kahrs ~ Orange ~ Citrus Tones

19 Mallory Hoffman ~ Purple ~ Petaled Dark

20 Molly Alexander ~ Brown ~ Peppered Tones

21 Regina Santerre ~ Red ~ Frosted Berry

22 Emanda Johnson ~ Teal ~ Color Purl

23 Amy Severino ~ Orange ~ Winged Tones

24 Bobbie Rafferty ~ Teal ~ Lime Hues

25 Tanya Goodwin ~ Gray ~ Pecked Tones

26 Lisa Lodge ~ Blue ~ Nocturnal Tones

27 Hope Smitherman ~ Blue ~ Bloom Tones

28 Linda Landig ~ Green ~ Cacti Dark

29 Ambra Gostoli ~ Teal ~ Perched Autumn

30 Lori Bowring-Michaud ~ Blue ~ Sharpened Blue

31 Pippa Chandler ~ Teal ~ Hungarian Hues

32 Keirsten Giles ~ Purple ~ Mineral Brights

33 Jennifer Justman ~ Blue ~ Autumn Rays

34 Sandy Richardson ~ Purple ~ Moroccan Brights

35 CJ Bauschka ~ Teal ~ Teal Air

36 Shaiha Williams ~ Teal ~ Sushi Hues

37 Kay Thomerson ~ Purple ~ Autumn Spectrum

38 Sally Russick ~ Purple ~ Golden Gate Tones

39 Cilla Watkins ~ Purple ~ Autumn Infused

40 Shirley Moore ~ Purple ~ Frozen Heather

41 Jenni Connolly ~ Gray ~ Paw Tones

42 Tamara Soper ~ Green ~ Field Tones

43 Sharyl McMillian-Nelson ~ Blue ~ Nested Blues

44 Jen Velasquez ~ Pink ~ Sweetened Tints

45 Maria Grimes ~ Red ~ Bright Bloom

46 Elisabeth Auld ~ Gray ~ Petaled Tints

47 Susan Kennedy ~ Pink ~ Zinnia Tones

48 Shannon Chomanczuk ~ Gray ~ Autumn Leaf

49 Holly Westfall ~ Yellow ~ Sprinkled Tones

50 Patty Gasparino ~ Red ~ Color Carton

51 Angela Little ~ Pink ~ Singapore Brights

52 Lizzie Zawinski ~ Green ~ Budding Hues

53 Kristen Stevens ~ Pink ~ Scooped Tones

54 Dawn Doucette ~ Brown ~ Jarred Tones

Challenge of Color - getting started

I signed up for For Erin Prais-Hintz's Challenge of Color blog hop. Erin always thinks up the funnest things! She asked participants to pick a color. Once you pick a color, Erin picked a color palette from Design Seeds for each participant. The color I chose was "red", because I do not usually design with it. I like red, but I have way more green and brown beads in my stash. The palette Erin gave me is "autumn comfort". It's so yummy! Who doesn't love grilled cheese and tomato soup?

So, I've gone through my stash of red, yellow, gray, tan beads. I am excited to say that I was able to find beads to match the palette, without buying any more beads (always a plus). I've gotten started making some things. You'll have to come back on Nov 30th for the big reveal. See you then!

Let me take time here to say that if you have ever thought of participating in the many challenges like these - just do it. I get such a kick out of challenging myself to make something that otherwise would have never been made. I would have never gone through my bins of beads, looking for these very specific colors. And it builds a feeling of community. You get to interact with other, like-minded artists out there. And everyone brings their own unique style to the party. It is rewarding, challenging and above all else, just plain fun.

Vintaj June challenge

I have submitted my design for the Vintaj June Challenge Vintage Wedding.

Inspiration: The vintage Czechoslovakian pin stars as the focal, and was my inspiration. The scene looks like an offering of a bouquet - perhaps a proposal? The Howlite beads, along with the Vintaj brass, gives the necklace an ancient feel. "My heart is ever at your service." - William Shakespeare

The challenge is open from June12-18, so head over to vintaj.com/wpblog after June 12th and check it out. Look for my necklace and vote!!