Blu Mudd Contest/Challenge! TIME TO VOTE!

Bead Soup Blog Party #8

Ocean Blog Hop - Hosted by A Grateful Artist

My contest piece for the Blu Mudd challenge! Moriah Betterly makes these lovely ceramic components and hosts contests and challenges for jewelry designers. This time she provided us with a lovely kit containing the clasp, the amazing bird pendant and the teal ceramic beads...

I crocheted a five strand necklace using 24 gauge copper wire and used the following beads:

labradorite, amazonite, vintage ivory glass pearls, Czech Preciosa crystal in copper, and green ceramic beads-->

all of which I had in my stash and matched perfectly with the beads that Moriah sent! I was a VERY happy camper!

VOTING IS EASY!!!

All you have to do is "LIKE" the photo for which you're voting for, and you can "LIKE" as many entries as you want to. :) (Easy peasy, huh?)

Here's the direct link to MY entry... CLICK.

To view all the entries in one album, click here.

Here is the link to the Blu Mudd facebook page! :)

Art Charm Exchange for the Auction Benefit for Beads of Courage... "LOVE"

So here is my official post for the Art Charm Exchange (hosted by Glass Addictions) & the Auction Benefit for Beads of Courage (BoC)... the (our!) theme this year is "LOVE".

I suffered pretty bad "performance anxiety" during the making & reveal of our charms. I just wasn't sure if my charms would be "good enough"... after receiving my charms, I realized that it wasn't necessarily how "good" they were, but how much LOVE and SOUL went into each piece... now that is something I have in SPADES. :) I am so honored to be a part of the Art Charm Exchange and the Auction Benefit for Beads of Courage. Let me share the creations I made & received with you...

A BUNCH OF LITTLE CHARMS made by ME!

 Beautiful light blue pearl polymer clay, with a dark blue pearl heart coated in Pearl-x powder and sealed; it also has a lovely *vintage* light blue marquise stone that I acquired from a friend and embedded in the clay... and the heart has little rays coming from it, like a comet! Universal love, or love from above. The findings are silver-plated.

See the little rays? :) It's a LOVE COMET!

 It actually has a silver-plated screw eye, so the charm stays on the post! :) I bought mine in bulk at the BeeHive on facebook. Andi & Dee (the owners) have them in a variety of finishes, including gold.

 The hearts are formed by hand, using my fingers and some mad skillz. *winks* The little bases for the charms are formed the same way- entirely by hand. :)

YOU CAN BUY YOUR OWN CHARMS BY GOING HERE. (CLICK!) There are a TON to choose from!!!

Here are the charms I received, in alphabetical order by first names:

By Alicia Marinache of All the Pretty Things @

http://allprettythings.ca/

By Julie Bowen of Autochthonous Evolved @

http://AutEvDesigns.com/

By Kristi Bowman of Kristi Bowman Design @

http://KristiBowmanDesign.etsy.com/

By Lennis Carrier of WindBent @

http://windbent.etsy.com/

By Linda Haskell of Lilys of the Valley Jewelry @

http://lilysofthevalleyjewelry.blogspot.com/

By Lori Bowring Michaud of Artfully Ornamental @

http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com/

By Michelle McCarthy of Firefly Design Studio @

http://fireflydesignstudio.etsy.com/

By Toltec Jewels (Rita) of Toltec Jewels @

http://toltecjewels.etsy.com/

By Terri DelSignore of artistcaos @

http://artistcaos.blogspot.com/

Here is the complete list of all participants, (there are a LOT of us- please visit us each when you can!):

Jen Cameron: http://glassaddictions.com/blog/

Toltec Jewels: http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com

Vanessa Gilkes: http://culturezine.com/blog/

Caroline Dewison: http://blueberribeads.co.uk

Lesley Watt: http://www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com

Susan Kennedy: http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com

Nancy Dale : http://www.nedbeads.blogspot.com

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

Cassi Paslick: http://cassisbeads.blogspot.com

Alenka Obid: http://www.pepita-handmade.blogspot.com

Renetha Stanziano: http://www.lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com

Shelley Graham Turner: http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com

Monique Urquhart: http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com

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

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

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

Moriah Betterly: http://mlbetterly.blogspot.com

Perri Jackson: http://shaktipajdesigns.com/blog/

Mallory Hoffman: http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com

Ginger Bishop: http://lilmummylikes.blogspot.com

Jean Peter: http://jeanpdesigns.blogspot.com

Linda Florian: http://lilysofthevalleyjewelry.blogspot.com

Patricia Pulliam: http://rusticstudio.blogspot.com

Karin Grosset Grange: http://ginkgoetcoquelicot.blogspot.fr

Julie Bowen: http://blog.autochthonous-evolved.com

Susan Delaney: http://ladyflowersbysusan.wordpress.com

Emma Todd: http://www.apolymerpenchant.blogspot.com

Carolyn Chenault : http://carolynchenault.wordpress.com

Terri Del Signore: http://artisticaos.blogspot.com

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

Cheryl (Lee) Koopman: http://stregajewellry.wordpress.com

Lori Bowring Michaud: http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com

YOU ARE HERE- Andrea Glick: http://zenithjade.blogspot.com

Jacqueline Carlson: http://www.beadgypsy.blogspot.com

Michelle McCarthy: http://www.fireflydesignstudio.blogspot.com

Charlene Bausinger Jacka: http://clay-space.com/blog/

Kristi Bowman: http://dreamsomedesigns.blogspot.com

YOU CAN BUY YOUR OWN CHARMS BY GOING HERE. (CLICK!) There are a TON to choose from!!! 

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!!!

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. :)