Showing posts with label Round Rabbit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Round Rabbit. Show all posts

Monday, June 1, 2020

Art Elements Theme of the Month May 2020 :: Butterflies

I love me some butterflies and moths so I was a happy girl when I saw the Art Elements Theme of the Month challenge was all about butterflies!  I may have an embarrassing amount of butterfly art beads... so the biggest problem for this challenge was deciding what to use.

I had to start with some beautiful faux tin butterfly charms from Humblebeads that came with cute decorative copper charms attached.  The just seemed perfect for Springtime!  Of course I had to dig around for the perfect Humblebeads discs to coordinate with the charms.  Instead of going with a super matchy bead on the top, I picked a Czech glass flower in a bolder coral color to make it pop.


I had also just snagged a few pairs of enameled butterfly and moth charms from Blue Hare Art Wear in a recent show so of course I had to whip up a sweet little pair of earrings with some of those!


Next up, I made a long necklace with a gorgeous butterfly wing pendant by Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati.  This was a special edition piece that she made only for her Simple Truths Sampler Club.  Pictures really don't do this little treasure justice (especially mine since lighting was iffy when I took them.)  There is a lovely iridescence to it that I wish you could see.  I strung the pendant with tons of yummy Czech glass and Swarovski Pearls with gold plated chain at the back.




Even though I had tons of other butterfly charms and pendants, I turned my focus toward my newest obsession, bead embroidery!!  Even though I took some classes on the Bead Cruise a few years ago, for some reason this year really got me excited about doing more with it.  (I'm hoping to share a little post soon sharing a bit of my bead embroidery journey.)  Anyway, the rest of my designs took a little more time as I learn and play with this new medium.

First up is my very first totally original design... this is the piece I'm most proud of this month.  The idea started with a butterfly shaped porcelain button from Round Rabbit that I've had lingering for years.  When I started plotting it out I thought I could keep it to a nice rounded square shape.  As I worked on it though it continued to grow and morph into a more organic shape.  Here's a little peak at the progression this pendant took in its shape and orientation. 


And drumroll please.... here's the finished pendant!  I'm so happy with the texture and movement I managed to get in the background.  I think it feels really rich.  I'm currently wearing this one on some simple brass chain.  The pendant makes enough of a statement all on its own!


I wanted to let you see the back of this one too.  I used some cork for the backing instead of the more traditional ultra suede. 


My last completed piece is a pendant with a gorgeous ceramic cab by Lisa Peters Russ that I got in another recent Facebook sale.  I'm still pretty new to doing peyote bezels, so every time I successfully bezel something I'm over the moon!  I had fun picking out different bead colors and textures for this one trying to echo the colors in the cab.  I used a navy blue ultra suede for the back of this pendant and plan to just hang it from chain.  I can assure you it was unintentional, but I like the way the top loop echoes the shape of the flower detail at the bottom.  Happy accident!


I didn't quite get my last piece done, but it's ready to trim and get it's backing now.  This is another fabulous cab by Lisa Peters Russ.  This one has a nice matte finish.  Wanting to add a pop of the red and corals from the cab's flower, I gave this one a little crown of flowers to match.  I feel like being a seed bead hoarder is finally paying off since I have tons to choose from for bead embroidery projects!  I need to decide if I'll do a simple brick stitch edge or go for a pretty picot.  If you have opinions on that, I'd love to hear them!


Thanks so much for stopping by to see my little collection of butterfly designs!

Monday, April 20, 2020

Honey Do List April 2020

2020 marks the fifth year that my husband Eric has been giving me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... it's the Honey Do List 2020!  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm hoping folks will continue to play along with us!

Here's this month's inspiration and what Eric had to say about it:




Since I haven't been out taking pictures this season yet, I went back in time to my pictures from last summer's trip to the UK.  This was an amazing metalwork gate we discovered in the gardens outside Alnwick Castle and I think gives lots of options for jewelry inspiration!

As soon as I saw Eric's inspiration photo this month, my mind started going a million miles a minute with tons of ideas burbling around in there!  The vines, the leaves, the keyhole, the color and sheen of the iron work, the vibrant greens in the background.

The first thing that I made was all about the iron frame and the swirling leaves and vines.  At last fall's Inspired by Nature Retreat I scored some cool Vintaj Arte Metal deco rivets that I wanted to finally play around with.  If you aren't familiar with deco rivets, they are decorative pieces with sharp prongs on the back that can be punched through paper or material and folded down.  In this case, I used my round nose pliers to roll those prongs into loops.  I thought the shape and pattern of the deco rivets was perfect to represent the functional part of the gate.  I also had some sweet little Arte Metal leaves that were a similar shape to the leaves around the lock.  To add some color to the design, I incorporated some little Czech glass leaves into the mix!


My next design focuses on the keyhole in the gate.  I had several cool escutcheon focals in my stash, but one by Nancy Adams of Round Rabbit (who sadly, no longer makes jewelry components) caught my attention.  With Minnesota being under a Safe at Home order (and having been super cautious about going out even before that order) I've been trying to spend at least some of my time organizing and putting away my ridiculous bead stash that's been all over the basement.  I had just put away some really cool matte finish melon beads that I got last summer and in looking at the pendant knew immediately that they were a great match.  Apparently I've been in a stringing mood lately (also a symmetrical one) so I started playing around with different combinations including some metal "pringle" beads.  



I really wanted to play with some Vintaj metal blanks and riveting and layering for this challenge.  I knew I had a lot of great leaves and vines in my stash so it was really more an issue of trying to narrow it down.  

For this next piece I went for one of my larger brass blanks in a shape that somewhat mimics the leaves on the gate.  I had a copper ivy vine that I thought looked nice draped across the piece.  (It's connected with a jump ring but I did use a bit of super glue underneath to keep it one place.) I embossed the blank and then painted it with a mix of green patinas for a nice contrast.  I kept the color focus on the greens from the photo's background... adding a lampwork bead by Tanya McGuire and some glass links.  This one is long and can be slipped right over your head.



I got a little fancier with this last pendant design.  I went for an Arte Metal circle blank this time that I embossed and highlighted with sandpaper.  (I'm glad that I hoarded a bunch of Arte Metal pieces since they don't make them any more!  Although you can get some of it at the Vintaj Salvage Esty shop.) The black background was to represent the iron work.  I had a fun brass piece perfect for layering and riveting that I'd gotten as a prize or in a goody bag years ago that I wanted to put over that background.  The holes in the brass decoration were a little big for just the rivets, and that would have been boring anyway, so I picked out some little flower spacers to further embellish.  I painted the flowers blue for the sky and the leaves and vines green for the greenery in the background of the photo.  I'm pretty pleased with the end effect.  It's a tiny bit off center, but considering that there were three rivet points, I think I did ok.  The body of the necklace is strung with a ton of Czech glass in shades of blue and green for a bright, happy look.


And, look, my good friend Monica Peña of Mariposa Originals Jewelry played along with an amazing necklace!  I'm smitten with how she used her vintage key and some fun Vintaj components!  Here's what Monica had to say bout her creation:

Great inspiration photo!  I took the opportunity to dip into my stash of vintage keys for this project, combining it with Vintaj medallion and ivy components for the focal, reminiscent of the gate's metalwork.  I softened the overall look with the addition of green Czech glass leaves and Sari silk for a comfortable, lightweight necklace.



Now it's your turn!  Please add links to/photos of your own creations below.  I love seeing what everyone else is making too!  Check back on May 1st to see what Eric has in store for us next month! 
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Saturday, December 28, 2019

Art Elements Theme of the Month December 2019: Handmade Christmas


First off, let me just say that I hope that each and every one of you has had a delightful holiday season... whatever holidays you choose to celebrate.  Our Christmas holiday was spent making and eating tons of yummy food including my very first (and thankfully, quite successful) attempt at making gougeres (also known by me as cheesy poufs!), spending some quality time with good friends that we don't see nearly enough, and finally getting to the new Star Wars movie!

I love the idea of sharing all the handmade goodies that we create this time of the year.  Seeing what other creatives have been up to and how they respond to each theme of the month is always fun, but I especially love seeing the special holiday treats that everyone dreams up.

For me, this handmade holiday challenge reveal isn't too very different from what I did last year, but I thought I'd share what I've been up to anyway since I do have some new designs!  Once again, I went a little bit overboard with the saltwater etching.  I had a friend who has a guillotine cut down a bunch of copper sheet for me into manageable rectangles.  I stamp my images on the copper pieces using rubber stamps and StazOn ink and then etch them using batteries and a hyper-saturated kosher salt solution.  Fun mad science times!!

After the pieces are done etching, I antique them with liver of sulphur, cut my desired shape out, sand and file the edges.  When that's all done, I punch any holes I want and add beads and/or charms and a ribbon to hang them.

Some of the ones I made this year are designs that I used last year and some are totally new for 2019.  Here's what I've managed to make:

Three brand new designs!  

Happy Christmas was new this year... I love the leaf charm and red "berry" beads on this one!

The middle one was new this year and the first one I sold.



I added all of the ornaments that didn't sell in my holiday shows into my Etsy Shop (you can see what I still have for sale HERE).  From that I ended up with a special order for a very specific saying... "Deck Them Halls Y'all!)  Since I didn't have a rubber stamp for that, I had to get creative!  Luckily, Heather Powers had shown us an image transfer technique at her Inspired by Nature Retreat in 2018 so I went to work trying to figure out how to use that for the desired results.  I played around with the words and some holiday graphics in PicMonkey and then got them printed onto transparency film.  From there I was able to transfer the image onto my prepared copper and proceed with the etching and ornament making process.

Special order ornaments.  I'll be making more of this design for next year!
Last but not least I'll share an ornament that's doing double duty for this reveal as well at the last Art Bead Scene Art Journey challenge of the year.  I had pulled a large porcelain snowflake pendant by Nancy Adams of Round Rabbit thinking that I might make a necklace with it for the ABS challenge.  The more I looked at it, the more I thought that it was just too big for me for a necklace.  I switched gears and whipped up a little Christmas ornament that currently is gracing our tree.


That's all that I have for this month, but this is a blog hop.  I hope you'll check out what everyone else created for a Handmade Christmas!

AE team: 

Guests: 

Monday, October 22, 2018

The Honey Do List October 2018

This marks the third year that my husband Eric has been giving me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... it's the Honey Do List 2018!  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm hoping folks will continue to play along with us!  

Here's this month's inspiration and what Eric had to say about it:


With it being Halloween month I figured I'd go with something a little creepy!  This was from the Hops Astronomical Clock in the hop growing town of Zatec in the Czech republic.  This one is rife with symbolism for you to take inspiration from!

There is certainly no lack of inspiration this month!  What Eric didn't tell you was that this clock actually moves and does different things at each hour.  I so want to know what the skeleton does when it's his turn but I couldn't find video to show it!

For my first design, I focused on the clock aspect of the photo.  I snagged a large scale porcelain clock pendant from Round Rabbit in a de-stash a while back and, despite the completely different color scheme, this seemed like the perfect time to pull it out!  It's tough to tell in this photo, but the front side of the pendant does have a shine to the glaze... the back side is the same colors but matte.


The orange in the pendant was a tough color to work with... everything was either too orange or too yellow.  I ended up choosing some Czech glass in a darker, pumkin-y orange as well as some cream colored melon beads with a Mercury glass finish that read as a very pale yellow for the bulk of the necklace.  I added in some yellow jade coins and a teardrop to round things out.  I used a nice gold color leather cord that I just bought (along with a ton of other colors and sizes!) for the back of the necklace design.  It's a long necklace with no clasp... I made a lark's head knot on one side and wire wrapped the ends of the leather on the other side.


Next up, I continued the clock theme to some extent, but focused a bit more on the coloring of the hops clock.  I started with a brass circle blank and embossed it with some gear motifs that I then painted in shades of blue to echo the clock face in the photo.  I honestly don't remember why I originally bought some brass clock hand blanks, but they finally came in handy this month (now what to do with the others in the package, but I digress.)  I textured the clock hands with my ball been hammer and added some gold metallic paint before riveting the pieces together.  I wrapped a filigree piece around the pendant to give it some weight and then turned to the rest of the necklace.


I used a selection of Czech glass beads in shades of blue and gold as well as some plated druzy rondelles in a gold color to make the necklace links.  I picked a clasped that mirrored the gear shape on the pendant to finish things off.  I'm pretty happy with how my idea came together for this one!


I thought that I might be done after the two necklaces, but I surprised myself and whipped up a pair of earrings too!  I was digging through one of my messy storage cupboards (hopefully soon to be wrangled into my new, antique dental cabinet) and re-discovered the little set of Bob Burkett skull beads that I got from one of Andrew Thornton's destash events.  I paired them with some gold and blue fancy cocoons from Anna Pierson of Saga Hus.  This is a pair I'm planning to keep for myself!  I'll be wearing them later this week to the Twin Cities Horror Festival.






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Monday, January 8, 2018

Art Bead Scene: January 2018

A new year and it's time for new challenges!  The Art Bead Scene is ringing in the new year with a little dose of Pantone's color of the year: Ultra Violet!  The artwork is Spring by Scottish painter Frances MacDonald. You can read more about the artwork and the artist on the ABS blog HERE.


Probably the most perfect art bead in my collection for this challenge was a pendant by Nancy Adams that I picked up in the days of frenzied buying every time there was a Round Rabbit shop update.  The purple, cream, and grey plus the lovely detailed floral center were all a natural fit.  The shiny purple glaze has some blue undertones to it so I chose some Czech glass with similar coloring.  To get the darker Ultra Violet in there I chose some faceted amethyst rounds and popped some cream Czech glass flowers and melon shaped rounds to pull in the lighter tones of the pendant's center and the artwork as well.  Green just didn't seem to fit with my design for this one... I don't feel bad taking some liberties with choosing what part of the color palette on which to focus.


I also made a set that is definitely a bit brighter than the inspiration artwork, but I'm sharing it anyway.  I got these fun charms and pendant by Joan Miller from a destash event with Andrew Thornton of Allegory Gallery.  I started by making the earrings... in truth I've had the charms and the silk cocoons from Anna Pierson of Saga Hus sitting together for a while since I almost made something for a different challenge with them.  (Fun fact, these earrings were my first piece of jewelry made in 2018 and the first thing I made with the new kittens rampaging around!)  I pulled more pastel colored beads for this necklace to match the pendant's tones.  Green Aventurine and frosty looking blue recycled glass rounds contrast with the star cut amethysts.  I'm pretty happy with how this one came together. 


As is often the case, I'd initially pulled more beads than this to play with.  If time allows, I'll circle back for at least one more design before the end of the month.  And who knows... if I get around to it, maybe I'll even do something other than stringing!! 


Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Art Bead Scene: December 2017

I can't believe how fast this year has flown by me.  Indeed, the month of December in particular seems to kind of escaped my grasp.  With an open house, my first show in St. Paul, and all the usual holiday shenanigans, it's somehow the day after Christmas!  Yikes!

This last Art Bead Scene challenge of the year is Still Life with Tulips and Fruit Bowl by Susan Valadon.  You can read more about the artist and the artwork over on the ABS blog HERE.  I love the rich colors in the painting... especially the textile draped beside the table.  Lots to be inspired by in this one!

                           Title: Still Life with Tulips and Fruit Bowl
                                              By: Susan Valadon
                                                     Date: 1924
                                           Medium: Oil on Canvas

I've been in a bit of a creative lull the last couple of weeks, but I managed to sneak in some beady play time over the Christmas holiday.  I actually whipped up two necklaces Christmas day!! 

The first thing I made this month was a pair of earrings with some of Heather Powers' amazing polymer clay charms.  Humblebeads are often a go to for me on these challenges!  I loved the green and gold in the charms and the leafy pattern seemed to fit the painting too.  I added some Czech glass beads in a complementary metallic as well as tiny metallic orange flowers with brass findings.  I almost went with a green and gold Swarovski pear for the top of the bead stack, but I liked the pop of metallic orange and how it pulled from the warmer colors of the artwork.


I have long loved the poppy flower designs from Golem Design Studio (and own them in several shapes and colors, beads and pendants) and this seemed like a good time to break out a green and red pendant from them.  I chose a fun mix of red and green Czech glass beads and mixed in some pops of silver with pewter and silver plated pewter beads along the strand.


I was in a stringing mood today apparently, and also whipped up another necklace using a long-hoarded porcelain pendant from Round Rabbit.  (I'm slowly working through my collection of her pieces... sad that I may never have another chance to buy more.)  This time I went asymmetrical but more subdued in color with my design that uses a mix of jade rounds and rondelles, Czech glass, and brass.


Thanks for stopping by to check out this final ABS challenge of the year!  I hope you all had the happiest of holidays and are getting to enjoy some family time as the year comes to a close.  

As a P.S. to the ABS editors and contributors... I really enjoyed having the booklet with the entire year's artwork for 2017.  I hope you'll do that again for 2018.  It was great to be able to start thinking about things a little early and to have future challenges in mind when doing my bead shopping at shows and such.  

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Art Bead Scene: October 2017

Seriously, how is it already October?!?  We've been on the run (and now I'm heading out to a jewelry making retreat in Michigan) but somehow I managed to get something made for the Art Bead Scene monthly challenge.  You can read all about the art and the artist over on the ABS blog HERE.

Title: Madame De Pompadour
By: Francois Boucher
Date: 1756
Medium: Oil on Canvas

I love the colors in this painting are so luscious!  The composition isn't totally up my alley, but I can roll with it.  As I was looking through my art beads, I gravitated toward a fancy flower pendant by Nancy Adams of Round Rabbit (boy I miss her beads now that she's not selling ceramics anymore!) that I've been holding onto for a long time.  I added some fancy dangles made from Czech glass flowers and lots of brass bead caps to the pendant.  For the body of the necklace I used more Czech glass in shades of teal/turquoise and pink as well as some vintage lucite.



If Madame De Pompadour wasn't wearing that pink ribbon around her neck, I think this necklace would be a fine replacement!

Monday, June 27, 2016

The Honey Do List: June 2016

This year, my husband Eric has decided to issue me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... we're calling it the Honey Do List.  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm inviting folks to play along!  

Here is this month's inspiration and what Eric had to say about it:  


I wanted to use a shot from our recent trip to Oregon for this month's challenge.  I took this picture at the Japanese Gardens in Portland, where I noticed the reflection of the ferns on the top of the rippling reflecting pool.  I waited several minutes, dodging small children, until a koi happened by--making the shot even more interesting.  Take inspiration from the color palette, the fish, the ferns, the water, the clouds--whatever strikes your fancy!  

First off, I have to say again how impressed I am with this photo that Eric took... and really, his growing photography skills in general.  I know he may not always pick one of his pictures to inspire us, but it sure is fun when he does!  I sometimes wonder if has an idea of what he thinks I might pick to work with for a given challenge... or what he hopes I will choose.  I think that may have happened a tiny bit this time with this first design.

The starting point for this necklace was a lampwork bead that I got at a local bead show a while back.  (Sadly, I'm not sure of the artist's name... I think it is from Potekglass but I'm not 100% sure.)  I remember at the time that we were both enamored with it because it reminded us of a koi pond!  Fast forward a few years and I'm finally using it paired with a ceramic bead from Golem Design Studio and some silver plated and pewter accents including a chain tassel to complete the pendant.  The turquoise is a little out there for the photo's color palette, but I do like how the orange and white are in there!  I added a couple of Czech glass beads along the chain to complete this long, summery look.



Next up, I moved my focus more to the idea of the fern reflection and WAY away from the color palette.  I used a fun fern focal from Round Rabbit that has a great combination of green and turquoise.  (I seriously love what she does with her glazes!).  I chose an assortment of green and turquoise blue Czech glass beads as well as a few prehinite rounds with brass findings.


I have a couple of koi themed pieces from Green Girl Studios in my hoard... one pendant I liked so much that I've bought it in both bronze and pewter!  I figured now was as good of time as any to use at least one of them.  I'm in love with the combination of turquoise or teal with orange and wanted to play with that a little more here.  I'm almost tempted to keep this one for myself, but knowing that I still have the (more expensive) bronze version, I may be able to hold off.  I think I'll end up making a variation on this theme for myself at a later date.








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Monday, June 6, 2016

Art Bead Scene: June 2016

This month's Art Bead Scene inspiration is a lovely magazine cover from 1896.  You can read a bit more about the artwork and the artist on the ABS blog HERE.  I love the mix of colors at play here!
"Literary Poster for the Century Magazine", 1896
by John Louis Rhead
I have often complained about my lack of yellow in my art bead stash... so I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find anything suitable to join in this challenge.  (You may not know this, but it is a very rare thing for me to actually shop for this or other challenges... I'm pretty determined to make use of what I already own.)  Luckily, I came across these cute floral porcelain charms from Round Rabbit that were just the thing I needed!  They have a great mix of tangerine and teal that was perfect for the color palette.   


Not quite in the right color combo, I went ahead and whipped up a second, similar pair in teal and purple to clear out a section in my art bead storage cabinet.  I love the vintage feel of both pairs of charms... an effect heightened by the use of the brass components.


Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you all have a great week!  I'll be busy planning (and checking my bank balance!) for my first trip to Bead & Button this weekend.  I'm sure that I'll find plenty of new beads to fill the gaps in my art bead stash.  I'll keep you posted!  

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Buried Treasure! (Or Use Your Stash)

The editors over at the Art Jewelry Elements (AJE) blog have once again challenged their readers to dig into our stashes of art beads (buried treasure!!) and make something to start the year off right.  Needing to get back in the creative groove, I eagerly signed up to participate and went digging into my art beads!


I created some of the designs for Heather Powers' Muffin Tin Challenge (you can see my post on that HERE) and some in hopes of getting published.  No matter the push behind their creation, I've managed to make a tiny dent in my art bead stash this month and I'm excited to share my creations with you!  

First up, a necklace that I made for submission to the Summer issue of Jewelry Stringing magazine for their "Papaya" theme.  The pendant is one I bought from Round Rabbit back in January of 2013.  The "Flaming Tangerine" color called to me but then it arrived and was a little brighter than my normal comfort zone... and so it sat.  The color theme for the magazine inspired me to finally use this bright beauty and, as luck would have it, I had some great beads to pair with it... most of them left overs from other projects.  There's some glass from the Halcraft Pretty Palettes challenge I participated in, some tiny coral Swarovski pearls from a necklace re-do project for my friend Angie, plus some faceted carnelian and rose quartz beads that I had picked up on a whim, and some fun seed beads I bought during the Bead Cruise last year.  I finally got brave and used the 5mm deerskin leather lace I bought from Nunn Design a while back.  I used a technique from one of their tutorials to punch holes in the leather and then stitch the ends together with waxed Irish linen.  I'll definitely be trying that again!


Next up, two variations on a theme using the adorable starfish beads I got from Michelle McCarthy of Firefly Design Studio.  The one on the left was another magazine hopeful that didn't get picked.  It has both blue (coated) and yellow quartz as well as some natural sapphire faceted rounds.  The one on the right was made for Heather's muffin tin challenge and has a mix of wood, recycled glass, and impression jasper.  I love how these turned out and I wish I had snagged a few more of those starfish at Bead Fest!  I'm hoping she'll be at Bead & Button this year because I'm determined to at least get there for shopping this year. 


My last piece for today is a necklace featuring a ceramic key pendant from Jenny Davies-Reazor that was in my gift bag on the Bead Cruise.  This is another project that I had put in my muffin tin but didn't finish until today.  I mixed brass and blackened findings (although it's hard to tell from the picture) for my beaded links.  Most of the beads are Czech glass but there's also some prehnite mixed in on the right side.  I finished the back with some sari silk in just the right shade of greenish yellow.  This is one that I'm definitely going to have to wear test.  I need to make sure that the pendant stays balanced hanging from the brass key... I really hope so since I like the effect.


I've still got a few more muffin cups filled with art bead goodness that I hope to get to very soon.  I mean, I've already pulled together almost everything I need to finish those pieces so I should just do it and get them cleared out of my mental space.  

Be sure to stop by and check out what everyone else was inspired to unearth from their treasure chests!

Niky Sayers

Guests: 
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Mona - Bijoux Gem