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. :)

Octoberfest / Day of the Dead by Jewel School Friends & Toltec Jewels (A Blog Hop!)

I made some items for a swap on BeadSwap USA. :) I thought posting about them on here would be horribly and spookily appropriate since it was for a Halloween/Day of the Dead Swap.

Here's a pair of earrings I made for my swap partner, M.:

The bats and skulls are from The Beehive on facebook... they sell lots of cool beads! :) The earhooks are sterling silver!

And M's bracelet:

The two lampwork beads are made by Marcia of Shazazz Glass. :) The skull bead and the purple rounds are also from The Beehive. The Swarovski are just beads I had "laying around."

Here's the list of participating artists in the Blog Hops: 

Octoberfest Artists

Caroline                                       http:// Carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com

Andrea Glick-Zenith                     http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/

Dolores Raml                               http://craftydscreations.wordpress.com/

Karla Morgan                               http://TexasPepperJams.blogspot.com

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

Susan                                          http://libellulajewelry.com

Mischelle                                      http://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com/

Billi                                               http://billi-rs-rothove.blogspot.com/

Kay Thomerson                           http://kayzkreationz.blogspot.com/

Jean Yates                                  http://prettykittydogmoonjewelry.blogspot.com/

Kelly Hosford Patterson               http://travelingsideshow.blogspot.com

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

Liz E                                            http://beadcontagion.blogspot.com

Jasvanti Patel                              http://jewelrybyjasvanti.blogspot.com

Christie Murrow                           www.charisdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com

Jodie Marshall                             http://marshalljodie.blogspot.com/

Andrea Trank                              http://heavenlanecreations.com/

Dini Bruinsma                              http://angazabychanges.blogspot.nl

Elsie Deliz Fonseca                     http://ladelizchica.blogspot.com/

Pepita                                         www.pepita-handmade.blogspot.com

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

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

Vera Lynn                                   http://veradesigns.blogspot.com/

Rana Wilson                               http://ranaleadesigns.blogspot.com/

Catherine King                           http://catherines-musings.blogspot.com/

Lily Vincent                                 http://thecreativeklutz.blogspot.co.uk/

Janice Hidey (Janimar)               http://drawingthelinesomewhere.com/

Cory Tompkins                           http://TealwaterDesigns.blogspot.com

Candida Castleberry                  www.spunsugarbeadworks.blogspot.com

Cynthia Kent Machata                http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com/

Alicia Marinache                         http://www.allprettythings.ca

Linda Anderson                          http://fromTheBeadBoard.blogspot.com

Leah Curtis                                 http://beadyeyedbunny.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Reno (JenRen)              http://jenrenjewelry.blogspot.com/

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

Tanty Sri Hartanti                        www.tjewellicious.blogspot.com

Lisa Lodge                                  http://gratefulartist.blogspot.com/

Ingrid A.                                      http://lilisgems.wordpress.com/

Judy Turner                                www.silver-rains.blogspot.com

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

Nelly May                                    www.smellynelly.blogspot.com

Tanya McGuire                           http://tanyamcguire.blogspot.com/

Ahowin                                        http://www.blog.ahowinjewelry.com

Sonya Stille                                 http://dreaminofbeads.blogspot.com

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

Carol D.                                      http://dillmansdallies.blogspot.com/

Asri Wahyuningsih                      http://asribeadwork.blogspot.com/

Ginger Bishop                             http://lilmummylikes.blogspot.com

Janine                                         http://www.esfera.me/travel/blog/travel-stories

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

Toltec Jewels (Rita, your hostess)  www.JewelSchoolFriends.com

Day of the Dead Artists

Diana Ptaszynski  http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com

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 

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

Christine Damm   http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com

MicroMacrame Tutorial Giveaway!!!

So my friend, Sherri, is having an AMAZING and AWESOME and ADVENTUROUS (triple A!) contest... she's offering up a tutorial on how to do MicroMacrame... it's macrame, jewelry style. (Oh, the puns!).

Here's the prize she's giving away:

She's using a RaffleCopter Widget for entries, and entering is incredibly easy. :)

Here's the link to her blog and the RaffleCopter widget: http://www.knotjustmacrame.com/2013/07/micro-macrame-wrap-bracelet-class-and.html

I am officially drooling. Learning MicroMacrame has been on my "to-do" list... and this would be a great reason to officially start! :)

Bead Hoarder's Blog Hop- Beginnings!

So, I just signed up for another one of Lori's most excellent blog hops- this time the Bead Hoarder's Blog Hop! Since starting out in BeadSwap-USA, I've now accumulated some FANTASTIC beads, and I don't know what to do with them all! (And catching you up with BeadSwap-USA is going to be another post!).

Thanks to some swaps and destashing and Candy (my to-be mother-in-law), I've got some great beads! I've always, ALWAYS lusted after art beads, but could never really afford them... Boo-hiss on that!

Some of my swap partners in swaps, like Tiffany Smith, made me a BUNCH of AMAZING components to play with... here's a picture of some of her work:

 Tiffany MADE that cute little owl. I mean, jeez, isn't it just precious!? She also made the beads around the little owl. Can't ignore those, either! :)

I am absolutely determined to put these beads to good use!

Here's what I pulled out to play with:

By Marcia Seever... pulled from the Destash Group...

By Kelli Nelson... from the polymer clay traveling box...

 By Michelle Mahre... from a components/bead swap...

 By Valerie O'Neal... also pulled off of the Destash Group...

 By Robert Wyatt Davis... from Candy...

By Diana Fait... handmade artist component/bead swap...

Something from these is DEFINITELY going to be made. I'm just not quite sure how I'm going to put it all together! I think that's half the fun!

PS- Lori is still accepting members for the Bead Hoarder's Blog Hop! Here's the link:

http://www.prettythingsblog.com/2013/06/bead-hoarders-blog-hop-sign-ups-are-open.html