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. :)

Halloween/Day of the Dead Jewelry Blog Hop by Suburban Girl Studio (A dedication to Crab Apple)

Here's a link to Toltec Jewel's Halloweeny Blog Hop: http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/2013/10/octoberfest-day-of-dead-by-jewel-school.html

So for this Halloween/Day of the Dead Blog Hop, we were supposed to make something using artist beads- for the uninformed, they are beads that are handmade, not mass-produced. :) They can include polymer clay, (my medium of choice), lampwork, clay, porcelain, wood, etc etc etc. I actually made a pair of polymer clay kitty cat earrings in honor of my cat, but didn't manage to get a snapshot of them on Sunday. I will add to this post later today, so keep your eyes peeled! They are awfully cute. *love* In the meantime, however, I have made some other beautiful stuff using artist beads... and here they are:

Pumpkin Earrings (the pumpkins were made by me using polymer clay!) on Sterling Silver Earring Hooks:

And a real pumpkin, carved by my finace, Eric:

And a cool bracelet in Halloween colors with a SKULL accent from The Beehive and a lampworked bead by Marica of Shazazz Glass:

Used in this bracelet are faux black matte sea glass beads bought from Bedazzled (our local bead store), purple glass from The Beehive (a bead shop/group on facebook), black faceted crystals, and lampwork glass by Shazazz glass. The little skulls are also from The Beehive. :)

This post brought to you by my Halloweeny Cat, Crab Apple, who died on Friday, October 18th, 2013...

 This is Crabbi... isn't she beautiful? I thought she'd make a great Halloween mascot for this post.

Remember, I'm going to show off a pair of lovely kitty cat earrings a little later today, (when the sun pops out so I can get a good photo!), so keep your eyes peeled!

Without further ado, here are the pictures of the black kitty cat Halloweeny earrings:

Black polymer clay, a little pink nose, Swarovski crystals for the eyes in Topaz I think, and yellow fluorite- all on silver plate. :)

Here's another photo:

Here's Suburban Girl Studio's call for artists. (CLICK!)

And without further ado, here's the participant list:

Christine Damm   http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com

Diana Ptaszynski  http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com (The host!)

Staci Smith  http://www.stacilouiseoriginals.com/

Kathleen Breeding  http://99bobotw.blogspot.com

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

Dianne Miller  http://www.artbydianne.blogspot.com

Lisa Liddy  http://www.lisaliddy.wordpress.com

Toltec Jewels  http://www.JewelSchoolFriends.com

Linda Landig  http://www.LindasBeadBlog.com

Laura Medeiros  http://Www.zoeowyn.blogspot.com

Veralynne Malone  http://www.veradesigns.blogspot.com

Lynn Jobber  http://thecreativeklutz.blogspot.co.uk

Michelle McCarthy  http://www.fireflydesignstudio.blogspot.com

Karen Totten  http://www.starryroadstudio.blogspot.com

Jayne Capps  https://mamasgottodoodle.blogspot.com

Jenny Davies-Reazor  http://jdaviesreazor.com/blog

Joan Miller  http://metalmudandsand.blogspot.com/

Melissa Meman  http://melissameman.blogspot.com

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

Kari Asbury  http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com

Inge von Roos  http://www.ingetraud.wordpress.com

Andrea Glick  http://zenithjade.blogspot.com  (You are here!)

Stephanie LaRosa  http://Www.stringaholic.blogspot.com

Lola Surwillo  http://www.beadlolabead.com

Jennifer Cameron  http://glassaddictions.com/blog

Diane Hawkey  http://dianehawkey.blogspot.com

Kristi Harrison  http://kristibasket-itsanewday.blogspot.com

Nicole Valentine Rimmer  http://www.nvalentine.blogspot.com

Tanya Goodwin  http://www.Pixiloo.blogspot.com

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

Sandra McGriff  http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com

Sarajo Wentling  http://www.sjdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com

Marie Covert  http://thistledown-and-swaddlings.blogspot.com

Lisa Stukel  http://www.carefreejewelrybylisa.blogspot.com

Laurie Vyselaar  http://www.Lefthandjewelry.wordpress.com

Sherri Stokey  http://www.knotjustmacrame.com

Pam Traub  http://www.klassyjoolz.blogspot.com

Lori Dorrington  http://lorisglassworks.blogspot.com

Kristen Stevens  http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com

Eleanor Burian-Mohr  http://cornerstoregoddessjewelry.blogspot.com

Sally Russick  http://thestudiosublime.com

Dawn M. Gallop  http://www.flipflopsandpoptarts.com

 

Southern Gals Design - A Giveaway!

Southern Gals Designs on Facebook (click here)

From Tiffany's facebook page: "Ok guys in order to help boost likes on my page. I am having a give away. All you have to do is share this with your friends and you get 1 entry. If you blog about this give away you get a second entry. Post on this message individually how you shared. I will draw one name out next Sunday 7/21. You will win one of my handmade lampwork sets. Easy Peasy" (permalink to post, click here)... (and BOLD my emphasis).

Of course, now I have to tease you with pictures of Tiffany's AWESOME beads!

I have no idea which bead set Tiffany is choosing to give away either... I love surprises! :)

PS, each of these bead sets & beads are available on Tiffany's facebook page... some of them might already be sold, I just picked out my favorite pictures to share! Aren't they COOL?! :)