Get To Know Me! A Primer. ;)

When or how did you get started making jewelry?
My story is actually pretty cool, (and I never tire of telling it, LOL!) I saw the MOST amazing jewelry in Brazil when I was an exchange student there back in 1998/1999. I wanted to be able to make that, too! :) I still haven't come anywhere close to replicating the gorgeous jewelry I saw in Brazil, but I am working on it!

What styles of jewelry do you like to make?
All sorts, but I make mostly beaded jewelry now. I do some wirework, loom work, peyote stitch, other bead stitchery... but still, mostly beaded. :)

What materials do you prefer to use, and which ones do you avoid?
I'm trying to not rule materials out. I think they ALL have their place in the jewelry world. Woo, beads! I consider myself a true bead lover!

What techniques do you prefer, and which ones do you avoid?
Simple wirework is cool, some simple metal stamping is also cool, (I'm not very good at that yet), beading for the win. Not really horribly fond of stitching, although I do it pretty well.

What colors do you use the most, and which ones do you run screaming from?
I can't really wear orange or yellow, so I tend to not work with those colors much as a result. I did just buy some pearls in those colors to break me out of my comfort zone. Really though- my favorite colors are purple and green, and RAINBOWS! ^_^ Yes, I consider RAINBOW a color. Hehehe.

My beads are even organized in a rainbow pattern. It's hard to tell here, though. :) These are some of them!

Long time, no see! New blog post!

So! Bead Peeps Swap 'n Hop is now up and running. My partner is Dita Basu. She is fabulous! :)

Here is the loot she sent me:

 At the top is a polymer clay pendant made by Dita herself! Clockwise from the PC pendant:

silver & gold tone bits and pieces (clasps, beads, pendant), handmade beads from Ghana, West Africa, bought from Soul of Somanya to help the peoples there, a handmade Kokopelli pendant with matching beads, (Dita couldn't remember the name of the artist- so if that's YOU, *please* send me a message for credit!), "turquoise" magnesite, *real* turquoise, some lovely purple briolettes and cubes, a geode slice with an amethyst point electroformed in, and a silver pewter clasp. Oh! And I can't forget the amazing freshwater pearl diamonds that Dita sent me. (They are in the middle-ish).

I LOVE IT ALL.

Thank you so much, Dita!!!

Watch this space (May 15th, 2016) to see what I create with the beads! ^_^ Next up is my little bio, (which was supposed to be done BEFORE we sent beads, but I am pokey!)

Pine Ridge Treasures: Favorite Things, A Blog Hop!

Pine Ridge Treasure: Favorite Things, A Blog Hop!!!

Here's a link to the other participants (CLICK) and the group (CLICK). :)

This is a bracelet I made for my brother using some of the blue crystals in my kit.

 I used the matte clear sea glass, the blue crystals and a glass sand dollar from my kit!

The only thing here I used from my kit were the mother of pearl beads. The lampwork glass focal is by Valerie O'Neal, (she makes some really stellar beads!) I accented the lampwork focal with a coated quartz crystal point in a matching shade of blue. I also used light yellow popcorn pearls with some lovely faceted cubes. I don't know if you can tell, but all these colors are in the lampwork focal I used.

 This uses the blue crystals again! (I received a whole stand of those!) I blended them with some light blue seaglass (from the kit), light blue freshwater pearls and some crystal-encrusted rondelles. Very pretty!!!

 This one uses elements from my kit again- I used the orange sea glass and the yellow-orange mother of pearl beads, blended with chain and I made a simple pair of matching earrings to go with the necklace.

 These are probably my favorite! :) Acrylic rainbow beads are blended with light blue seaglass (from the kit) and those silly light blue faceted rondelles again. LOL! I adore how they turned out!

Art of Awareness Blog Hop 2015 hosted by Lori Anderson

A blog hop presented by:

Lori Anderson

of 

Pretty Things

and

Heather Millican

of

Swoondimples

^_^

So! The purpose of this blog hop is to raise awareness for your favorite CAUSE. Since I believe so strongly in so many, I couldn't choose just one. The bead I chose for the hop says simply, "Love Bravely..." I think this falls true for those people attached to a cause and those who love said persons. It can be a hard journey!

I would like to dedicate this blog entry of mine to my friends and family who are fighting and perhaps struggling. I'm here for you! *mad love*

So, on to my design...

Here's an up-close view of the pendant/charm made by Heather Millican of Swoondimples! Isn't it lovely? A lot of the beads that Heather made by hand (!!!) have a saying on the front and an awareness ribbon on the back, with the color of the bead representing the color of a cause. You can see some of those lovely awareness-specific beads by visiting other blogs in the hop! For me, it was very important not to be limited to one specific cause. It's very hard for me to just pick one, because everyone and their battles are IMPORTANT.

Here are the matching earrings! The earwires were hand-crafted by Shelley Grahm Turner of Tori Sophia Designs. She galaxy wrapped the amazonite cubes! :) The other beads are faceted AB crystal and enameled headpins (store bought) in dark teal blue.

 The necklace is made from lovely white AB ribbon (which didn't photograph well); the ribbon ends were bought from The Beehive group on facebook- as were the little bars- the beads are lovely light teal glass pearl and more of that faceted AB crystal. ^_^ The clasp is brass with inlaid Swarovski crystals. Mostly copper findings!

Pretty and delicate!

You can view the participant list by CLICKING HERE. :)

Thank you for stopping by!

~Andrea of ZenithJade Creations

2nd Annual Bead Hoarder's Blog Hop!

This blog hop is hosted by Lori McDaniel Anderson of the Pretty Things Blog. :) You can view the participant list by clicking HERE. (Almost 100 people signed up for the hop!)

I've been having a pretty rough last couple of days. The stress of the holidays is really hard on me, as it is a LOT of other people. I feel fortunate though because I am just about DONE with my Christmas shopping- most of it was done online so I didn't have to jostle with a lot of other people, (which is great because my immune system can't handle "teh sick" again) and I don't very much like crowds...

So! Making something Friday night and yesterday was ROUGH.

Regardless, I did make a couple of things that are worth sharing. :) Go me for managing to pull through the mental ick!

The first thing I made was Thursday, and it's one of my signature Waterfall Necklaces (with a matching pair of earrings, woo!)...

 You can see one of my new hoarded beads, (it came in a set of 10!), front and center. It has the swirly on it and is a lovely blue/purple color. I got it from one of Lori's destashes, and is made by, *drumroll please*, Maryse Fritzsch-Thillens of Glass Bead Art!

 You can see lots of Swarovski, glass pearls, a leather bead, some high quality China crystal, a blue chalcedony briolette, and some glass beads. Next to no stones, which is VERY unusual for me... and only glass pearls, no real ones, which is also very rare.

 Here's another view... It sure turned out well! :) I'm very pleased!

On to Friday night's project, (just before the deadline!)-

 The hoarded goods used in this necklace are Michelle McCarthy's/Firefly Design Studio Owl Pendant (with included dangles), and some lovely Czech glass beads in silver & clear...

 I made matching earrings for this set too...

 Here is the whole necklace + earrings! I used more faceted China glass in two shapes of teal, some sea sediment turquoise type of stuff in ovals near the owl, silver seed beads, teal triangle seed beads, Michelle's lovely owl, and the Czech glass silver/clear beads. It's another blue necklace and earring set! LOL!

Thanks for reading and hopping! I hope you enjoy looking at what I made for the blog hop. :)

8th Bead Soup Blog Party Infomation

8th Annual Bead Soup Blog Party SIGN UP DATES Revealed!

Lampwork and Clay Blog Hop, Hosted by A Grateful Artist

For the participant list, please go to A Grateful Artist's blog by clicking here. :)

I got lampwork beads by Marcia Seever of Shazazz Glass to play with! And let me tell you, they are LOVELY. I had to choose between clay beads and lampwork. Oi! Sooooo not fair. ;)

Here's a photo of the beads:

I reaaaaaaally love the one with the polka dots on it. It just captured my fancy, and I wanted to showcase it. :) Here's what I did with it:

I used purple jade (???), white freshwater button pearls, and faceted amethysts with the lampwork focal to round out this beaded necklace. It has copper findings. I think it's just the bee's knees, which is just another way to say it's cool! :)

But that's not all...

I had some more beads left to use!!! Lucky me, there were two pairs of lampwork spacers left. They are really pretty! So I decided to make some simple earrings:

I blended the spacers with more purple jade (???). I thought those gemstones matched the lampwork just perfectly!

I have a couple of beads left! :) I don't know what I'm going to *do* with them yet, but I'm sure I'll figure it out!

Thanks for visiting! Don't forget to check out everyone else's blogs by visiting the link up top!

You can view more of my creations in my Etsy Shop or my ArtFire Studio. Thanks!

I figured what else to do with the extra beads! I made a bracelet!:

 An up-close view of the focal bead I used...

And here's an up-close view of the tiny bead I used as an accent...

 And an overview of the entire bracelet. LOTS of amethyst and copper! :) I thought the bracelet turned out particularly well. :)

Summer Surprise Blog Hop - The Beginning! (Hosted by A Grateful Artist - Pine Ridge Treasures aka Lisa)

Here are some of the absolutely LOVELY beads I was sent for the Summer Surprise Blog Hop hosted by Lisa. The Hop is the 24th of August, and I will be posting a list of attendees to my blog closer to the hop. For more information on this hop, head on over to Lisa's blog, which is right HERE. :)

Without further ado, the BEADS! :::

One side of the bag...

The other side of the bag...

Czech? Pressed Glass Leaves?

An unsorted beady mix!

Crystal!

Czech Pressed Glass Flowers? (There was one more that I missed in the mix, so now I have ONE left!)

Glass, probably Czech...

More crystal...

Carnelian...

Czech Glass Drops, maybe?

Agate or Carnelian!

I made a BEAUTIFUL jewelry set today using these amazing beads... BUT I can't show you until the 24th of August! :) So please come back then! I might, maybe, possibly make something else using these beads!

Bead Hoarder's Blog Hop! (Hosted by Lori Anderson)

I had a very hard time coming up with a design I actually liked! I made one piece, (a choker!), and it was a disaster! There was just no saving it. *wry grins* So, I ended up with this design:

 Marcia Seever Bead!

 Valerie O'Neal swirly beads!

 Robert Wyatt Davis beads (only one is shown in this picture)

 Another picture of Valerie O'Neal's beads... 

 To see my post about my design options, click HERE. :)

For all of the designers in this blog hop, please click HERE. :)

Summer Elements Blog Hop Hosted by Toltec Jewels!

Better late than never, here is my Summer Elements Blog Hop post hosted by Rita of Toltec Jewels! Sorry that I'm a day late! Boo!

We are supposed to post about our favorite thing(s) from summer! I did not have time to make anything, (because that's what I truly love to do year-round)... however, I love FLOWERS. And there are TONS of flowers in the summertime! Without further ado, here are some of my most recent flower pictures:

You can find a wide variety of flower PRINTS in my Artfire store here: http://zenithjade.artfire.com/. :)

And here is the participant list:

Toltec Jewels (Hostess)     http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com/

Marlene Cupo                   http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com/

Cheri Reed                        http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/

Ailsa Cordner                    http://www.bramalfiebeadsetc.co.uk/

Robin Reed                       http://willowdragon.blogspot.com/

Nan Smith                         http://www.wirednan.blogspot.com/

Sherri Stokey                     http://www.knotjustmacrame.com/

Christie (Charis Designs)    http://charisdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com/

Carolyn Lawson                 http://carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com/

Susie Harris                        http://jewelleryjunkie.blogspot.com/

Andrea Glick-Zenith           http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/ (YOU ARE HERE!)

Nelly May                          http://smellynelly.blogspot.com/

Melissa Trudinger               http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com/

Dini Bruinsma                     http://angazabychanges.blogspot.com/

Kathy Lindemer                 http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com/

Cory Tompkins                  http://tealwaterdesigns.blogspot.com/

Robin Reed                       http://willowdragon.blogspot.com/

Gina Hockett                     http://freestyleelements.blogspot.com/

Karen Martinez                 http://www.fairiesmarket.blogspot.com/

Liz                                    http://beadcontagion.blogspot.com/

Jasvanti Patel                     http://jewelrybyjasvanti.blogspot.com/

Solange Collin                    http://www.blog.ahowinjewelry.com/

Gerda                                http://gerdascraftsblog.blogspot.com/

Karla Morgan                    http://texaspepperjams.blogspot.com/

Anindita Basu                     http://alankarshilpa.blogspot.com/

Alicia Marinache                http://www.allprettythings.ca/

Andrea Trank                    http://heavenlanecreations.com/

Dyanne Everett-Cantrell     http://deelitefuljewelrycreations.blogspot.com/

Mischelle Fanucchi             http://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com/

Tanty Sri Hartanti               http://tjewellicious.blogspot.com/

Shaiha Williams                  http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com/

Mary Govaars                    http://mlhjewelrydesigns.com/

Becca Sirevaag                  http://godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com/

Lennis Carrier                    http://windbent.wordpress.com/

Regina Wood                     http://www.gina-design.blogspot.com/

Sue Kennedy                     http://suebeads.blogspot.com/

Kathleen Breeding             https://www.facebook.com/99BOBOTW