Swap 'n Hop Reveal!!! ^_^
(WARNING: PHOTO HEAVY!)
But first, a raffle! A winner will be chosen RANDOMLY using rafflecopter. Winner will be contacted via email. If you are an international participant you'll be responsible for the shipping costs. Please be aware of that before entering! If I don't hear back from the winner within a week of the raffle end date, a NEW winner will be chosen. Awesome prize: Choose Your Color(s) Waterfall Pendant.
Raffle runs from May 2nd, 2015 midnight to May 16th, 2015 midnight.
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a Rafflecopter giveaway
But first, a raffle! A winner will be chosen RANDOMLY using rafflecopter. Winner will be contacted via email. If you are an international participant you'll be responsible for the shipping costs. Please be aware of that before entering! If I don't hear back from the winner within a week of the raffle end date, a NEW winner will be chosen. Awesome prize: Choose Your Color(s) Waterfall Pendant.
Raffle runs from May 2nd, 2015 midnight to May 16th, 2015 midnight.
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a Rafflecopter giveaway
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My lovely, talented partner- Rachel Mallis- sent me some AWESOME beads to play with... these are the sum of my labors...
Now I think I mentioned in my blog post that the pendant was on the small side for me??? IT IS PERFECT on this three strand necklace!!! It has just the right amount of "oomph" without being overpowering. ^_^ Thank you for the challenge Rachel!!! It was a lot of fun to work outside of my comfort zone.
So, this necklace uses quite a few of the beads that Rachel sent me- most of them are on the green strand of the necklace. I used some Czech crystal in two shades of green and green aventurine from the horde of beads that Rachel sent. I also used green kyanite on the purple strand of the necklace.
Green strand (shortest): Czech glass, green aventurine in two shapes, green freshwater pearls, copper rondelles.
White Strand (medium length): White freshwater rice pearls and copper rondelles.
Purple and Green Strand (longest): Purple AB (aurora borealis) Swarovski crystal bicones, purple AB Swarovski cubes, faceted amethyst rondelles, purple freshwater rice pearls, green kyanite, and the awesome pendant that Rachel made.
^^^ for the curious as to what went into the necklace
See how lovely and dainty it is? ^_^ Rachel wrapped it in copper, which is one of her new favorite metals to work with now. It's also one of my favorites, too!
Unfortunately for me, I didn't have any of those cool freshwater pearl discs/heishe... so I made do with some other styles of freshwater pearls. Rachel sent me lovely purple focals and green beads! So this three strand necklace is a combination of those colors.
I really love these earrings! They bring out the best elements of the necklace, I think.
I also managed to use the awesome copper clasp that Rachel sent me. It has a wonderful "moon and stars" motif.
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I couldn't leave that rockin' focal by kumceramics by the wayside!
Matching that precise shade of purple proved to be tricky, but I think I did OK! I used some vintage faceted Japanese crystal I got from a friend's destash, MORE freshwater pearls, this time in a button shape, AND some gorgeous purple-y leaves/hearts which I got from The Beehive.
Here are the earrings... they used some more of those vintage Japanese crystals, some tiny little crystals I had about, and more of those hearts/leaves.
Just for a change of pace, I used silver tone, nickle-free findings. ^_^
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Here are those incredible enameled sticks from Numinosity Beads... I used them in earrings! With three shades of complimentary rainbow fluorite, (which was picked up in a different friend's destash!)
Those little copper dangles were also picked up from The Beehive group on facebook.
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This one is one of my favorites that I've made so far! It's very unique!!! Rachel sent me some leathers- so I used both kinds in making of the big star and the little stars (which are adhered to the big one).
Here's an up-close view of the star... as you can see, I even punched out little holes for rivets! I also added a swanky dragon.
Here's a view of "the beast!" ;)
Here's the complete view of the set. I used a TON of the beads Rachel sent me for this one, plus some of the leather. I was torn about adding some of the silk ribbon to this one. We'll see what I ultimately decide.
Rachel sent the antiqued silver links, the kyanite, the Czech crystals, the leathers, the ceramic beads, and the mosaic turquoise. I provided findings, rivets, the dragon, and the glue. ^_^
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Another fun pair of earrings:
These use green aventurine drops wrapped in gold wire plus green and white faceted jade beads. The antiqued chandelier findings were given to me by my Swap 'n Hop partner, Rachel, as were the jade beads. (These won't be going up for sale, they went to a friend as a present!)
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This bracelet uses some of the Sari silk Rachel gave me, as well as the HUGE brass butterfly. :) The lampwork glass is by Valerie O'Neal, the little copper butterflies are from Bead Box Bargains, and the silver tone chain is something I had in my stash!
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This piece uses the wonderful Trade Beads that Rachel sent me, plus red faux coral, freshwater pearls and red faceted crystals. I matched to the red in the Trade Beads. I thought it turned out OK- not my favorite out of the bunch- but neat, nonetheless. The wonderful tassel was a gift from a friend of mine. :)
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Here is the chronicle of events:
1) Infomercial
2) Get and Give
4) The Reveal!
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All of these cool pieces will be in my Etsy shop for sale when this post goes live, (at least, that's the plan!). If you want something specifically, please shoot me an email at zenithjade@yahoo.com . ^_^
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