Art of Awareness Blog Hop 2015 hosted by Lori Anderson

A blog hop presented by:

Lori Anderson

of 

Pretty Things

and

Heather Millican

of

Swoondimples

^_^

So! The purpose of this blog hop is to raise awareness for your favorite CAUSE. Since I believe so strongly in so many, I couldn't choose just one. The bead I chose for the hop says simply, "Love Bravely..." I think this falls true for those people attached to a cause and those who love said persons. It can be a hard journey!

I would like to dedicate this blog entry of mine to my friends and family who are fighting and perhaps struggling. I'm here for you! *mad love*

So, on to my design...

Here's an up-close view of the pendant/charm made by Heather Millican of Swoondimples! Isn't it lovely? A lot of the beads that Heather made by hand (!!!) have a saying on the front and an awareness ribbon on the back, with the color of the bead representing the color of a cause. You can see some of those lovely awareness-specific beads by visiting other blogs in the hop! For me, it was very important not to be limited to one specific cause. It's very hard for me to just pick one, because everyone and their battles are IMPORTANT.

Here are the matching earrings! The earwires were hand-crafted by Shelley Grahm Turner of Tori Sophia Designs. She galaxy wrapped the amazonite cubes! :) The other beads are faceted AB crystal and enameled headpins (store bought) in dark teal blue.

 The necklace is made from lovely white AB ribbon (which didn't photograph well); the ribbon ends were bought from The Beehive group on facebook- as were the little bars- the beads are lovely light teal glass pearl and more of that faceted AB crystal. ^_^ The clasp is brass with inlaid Swarovski crystals. Mostly copper findings!

Pretty and delicate!

You can view the participant list by CLICKING HERE. :)

Thank you for stopping by!

~Andrea of ZenithJade Creations

Summer Elements Blog Hop Hosted by Toltec Jewels!

Better late than never, here is my Summer Elements Blog Hop post hosted by Rita of Toltec Jewels! Sorry that I'm a day late! Boo!

We are supposed to post about our favorite thing(s) from summer! I did not have time to make anything, (because that's what I truly love to do year-round)... however, I love FLOWERS. And there are TONS of flowers in the summertime! Without further ado, here are some of my most recent flower pictures:

You can find a wide variety of flower PRINTS in my Artfire store here: http://zenithjade.artfire.com/. :)

And here is the participant list:

Toltec Jewels (Hostess)     http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com/

Marlene Cupo                   http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com/

Cheri Reed                        http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/

Ailsa Cordner                    http://www.bramalfiebeadsetc.co.uk/

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

Nan Smith                         http://www.wirednan.blogspot.com/

Sherri Stokey                     http://www.knotjustmacrame.com/

Christie (Charis Designs)    http://charisdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com/

Carolyn Lawson                 http://carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com/

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

Andrea Glick-Zenith           http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/ (YOU ARE HERE!)

Nelly May                          http://smellynelly.blogspot.com/

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

Dini Bruinsma                     http://angazabychanges.blogspot.com/

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

Cory Tompkins                  http://tealwaterdesigns.blogspot.com/

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

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

Karen Martinez                 http://www.fairiesmarket.blogspot.com/

Liz                                    http://beadcontagion.blogspot.com/

Jasvanti Patel                     http://jewelrybyjasvanti.blogspot.com/

Solange Collin                    http://www.blog.ahowinjewelry.com/

Gerda                                http://gerdascraftsblog.blogspot.com/

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

Anindita Basu                     http://alankarshilpa.blogspot.com/

Alicia Marinache                http://www.allprettythings.ca/

Andrea Trank                    http://heavenlanecreations.com/

Dyanne Everett-Cantrell     http://deelitefuljewelrycreations.blogspot.com/

Mischelle Fanucchi             http://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com/

Tanty Sri Hartanti               http://tjewellicious.blogspot.com/

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

Mary Govaars                    http://mlhjewelrydesigns.com/

Becca Sirevaag                  http://godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com/

Lennis Carrier                    http://windbent.wordpress.com/

Regina Wood                     http://www.gina-design.blogspot.com/

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

Kathleen Breeding             https://www.facebook.com/99BOBOTW

A New Newsletter from ZenithJade Creations

New news! There's several NEW blog posts up in my blog- most of them are about taking stellar photography! Here's the link: http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/ .

You probably don't know that I participated in several cool contests and blog hops. Their content is on my blog as well! My favorite, so far, is the Bead Soup Blog Hop run by Lori Anderson. It is wicked fun! In a nutshell, I was assigned a partner to send beads to, and my partner did the same for me. The next step was to design piece(s) from those beads! It is a HUGE bead and jewelry blog hop/party! I had so much fun designing for this one, that I'm going to do my level best to participate next year, as well. (The Bead Soup Blog Party post is currently the third post down, but in case you don't want to scroll for it, here's the link: http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/2013/04/bead-soup-blog-party-7-reveal.html .

Also recent news for all you beady types- I joined a wonderful site called Bead Swap USA. It is AMAZING. There are boxes full of beads to swap, as well as finished item swaps and person to person swaps, plus SO MUCH MORE. http://beadswap-usa.com/ . It's set up in a forum type format, with each section run by moderators. It is really nifty!

Have you noticed I've been trying to blog more? :) I'm doing my level best! My good friend Kerri says that I have interesting stories to tell, and I sure hope that's the case! I surely don't want to bore anyone! *winks* Maybe each time I write a blog post, I'll email it out. I'd love some feedback on that! I don't want to spam your inboxes. Opinions on the matter can be emailed to me at zenithjade@yahoo.com.

I also chat passionately about charitable causes I'm involved in. Here's an update from my ZJC Facebook page I posted fairly recently:

"You can join Jilly's Bead Posse, (it's a crazy group of crazy artists and jewelry designers who believe in fighting for the cause of Alzheimer's) by going here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/JillysBeadPosse or here: http://www.jillysbeadposse.com/ . I made and donated 36 pairs of earrings to the cause. Others are making (even more) earrings, bracelets, keyrings/chains, necklaces and what-have-you. :) Another thing I'm doing is taking over 150 pictures of earrings & editing them for my friend Kerri, who is donating 163 pairs of earrings!!! (And I thought 36 pairs was a lot! LOL!). ANYONE IS WELCOME TO JOIN. There are at least TWO fundraisers going on RIGHT NOW. Please check out the website for details. (It's under Fundraisers!).

I have several new blog posts up, two of which detail photography tips & tricks + editing. Mostly, I'm just linking to others blogs, eventually I'll write my own tutorial on how to get good pictures... but until I do, there are a couple of great ones that link from my blog! Here's the link to my blog: http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/ .

Tonight I made five new polymer clay hearts! Yes, the pretty rustic ones. I recently bought some LOVELY vintage cabochons from Lindsay, (a Bead Swap USA member: http://beadswap-usa.com/ ), and had so much fun incorporating them into my heart designs. I hope you'll like them! I promise to show some pictures tomorrow. And I don't think I'm done playing with polymer clay yet tonight! :) I am having WAY too much fun. You can view a rustic polymer clay heart component here, to see what I'm talking about: https://www.etsy.com/listing/123593014/rustic-polymer-clay-heart-set-with . Woot woot! Lots of new news!
PS- if you've read this far, I'm having another GIVEAWAY when I reach 400 fans! I only have 31 more peeps to "like" my page and we're good to go! If you'd like to help, please do so by "sharing" this page with your friends. I'm very rarely boring, I promise!"

So that's what I've been up to! :) Have a wonderful, fantastic day, and don't forget to give me feedback on whether or not I should email about blog posts! zenithjade@yahoo.com!

Love,
Andrea

Original Email:  http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=2e39a3b8ab9b48f3cf3a22c14&id=1901fb711f

Featured on a Website! (Artfire Artisan News)

WOW! Also featured on a website for a tweet of mine- here's the link:
http://paper.li/ArtBySunfire/1355073175

You can see me, (Andrea), in the grey box to the left. I tweeted about an ArtFire Collection I was in! :)

YAY!

Here's a screenshot:

Art Bead Love Chain!

To participate in SWAPPING beads out and then passing this beauty on, please visit this blog:

http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/2013/02/art-bead-love-chain.html

Isn't it COOL?! I would dearly LOVE to participate, but who knows if I'll win?! I can only try! :)

Please check the blog for the rules and fine print before committing to join! Thanks! *love*

BSBP #7 - What I GOT from Andrea T!

Here's all the awesomeness that I got from Andrea T:

Those are some COOL BEADS BATPEEPS! (And yes, CAPS was needed! LOL!)

The toggle is to die for, it's very unique, and the focal. OMG. Very cool. It's from Antelope Beads.

And those gold beads in the middle? VINTAGE!

Yes, I lucked out BIG TIME. :)

Here's a pretty mix! Andrea T also sent me sea glass! Do you guys have any idea how much I LOVE sea glass?! I've never gotten to play with it before....... .. .... .

There's also some stunning big amethyst chip beads, some crystals & Czech glass, chain, "FUN STUFF" (*giggle*), and a bag of mixed gemstones. *drools*

And here's a close-up of the focal. :) Pretty rad, right? The sea glass is right behind it. Yes, I'm going to do my level best to include the sea glass! Hehehehehehe!

Here's a link to Andrea's blog so you can check out her progress with the goodies I sent her. :)

Thanks, Andrea!