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. :)

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. :)

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