Oktoberfest 2014 : A Blog Hop

Without further ado... *drum roll* :

my Autumn Splendor in PHOTOS

(I'm a photographer, too- you can see my photography for sale in my ArtFire shop by clicking here).

Here is a full moon photo taken in September...

 

 A crescent moon & sunset!

Some Mums (Chrysanthemums)

More Mums.

The newest addition to the flower "family". (Yes, more Mums!)

I don't know what this flower is called, but it sure is pretty and was still blooming mid-September.

The tree to the right was getting just a touch of yellow.

 A hibiscus that was really happy in the garden this year. Also was blooming like mad in September!

Plume grass.

Hollyhock.

Another flower I don't know the name of...

This was the MOST GORGEOUS and INTENSE sunset EVER.

The leaves on the burning bush were just starting to change.

Fiery sunlight/sunset!

October Full Moon.

At last, something I actually made! (Though the photo is cool too). These are jack'o'lanterns I made from polymer clay. You can get them in my shop on Etsy.

A walk I took mid-October with my Mom and her doggie, Odie.

From that same walk. This is the La Crosse River at Veteran's Memorial Park in West Salem, WI.

No leaves!

Left: a skele-cat I picked up at Michaels Arts & Crafts (SCORE!) and a Hello Kitty Halloween card sent to me by a good friend. In case you *didn't* know, I ADORE Hello Kitty. =^.^=

The tree in front of the house. Yellow, Red and Orange leaves in a riot of color!

Late October pumpkin carving.

Gorgeous!

Look at all of those leaves! Gotta rake those up! O.O

All of this is what October means to me. It's also, *gasp*, my BIRTH MONTH. :) I just celebrated my birthday on the 21st! Fun times, batpeeps.

I hope you've enjoyed looking at all the photos of my Oktoberfest Goodness.

Here's a link to the PARTICIPANT LIST.

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

 

What I've Been Working On Lately...

This is (SOME) of what has been keeping me busy! :) Some things must remain a secret until their respective reveal times. But until then, enjoy looking at these goodies:

Little pumpkins for Toltec Jewels! :)

I made Jack 'o Lanterns just to see if I could... ;)

Here's some matchy matchy skulls for Toltec Jewels... they all have bows and jewels in their eyes...

Some "plain" skulls... for Toltec Jewels....

Some more "plain" skulls for Toltec Jewels...

And some KITTIES!!! OMG!

And some non-matchy matchy skulls with FLOWERS. :)

And a BUNCH of skulls with bows, flowers and *gasp* wormies. Eeeeeeew, yuck! (These are cabochons- flat backed, no hole or loop for stringing). Made for La Fleur Designs...

Also: a BUNCH of small hearts with Swarks (Swarovskis)... each one is different... these are cabochons too. :) Also made for La Fleur Designs...
These filled different orders, and some I made just for fun. I hope you like them!!!