January 2024 Honey Do List

2024 marks the ninth 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... The Honey Do List!  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!  Thanks to all of you who have participated over the years... it means a lot to both of us!

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

This month I wanted to continue doing pictures from our amazing bead trip to the Czech Republic this Fall.  Here is the outrageous astronomical clock from Prague, which was under construction last time we visited.  So cool to see it in person and get to take pictures of this wonder of human technology and art.  There should be plenty of inspiration here: from clocks to astrological signs.  Good luck!

My creative efforts this month were heavily focused on one art bead maker... my friend Jenny Davies-Reazor!  What can I say... I had two pendants that really fit into the idea of the moon and other heavenly bodies and then some earring charms that worked well color wise!  

I've had this fun crescent shaped polymer clay pendant from Jenny in my stash for quite a while... it's nice to finally get it out into the world to be enjoyed!  The crescent moon and stars on the focal just felt right here.  I made bead links and a little dangle for the pendant with some fun shaped new beads that I got while visiting the Czech Republic last year.  Actually all the beads except the green little "o" or spacer beads were purchased at Rutkovsky during that trip.  

This second necklace is also strung entirely with beads from our trip!  Fun to get to put those to use for this particular challenge for sure.  This pendant is also by Jenny... a lovely gemstone cabochon encased in polymer clay and featuring the phases of the moon.  The blue wash on the pendant is also a nice nod to all the blues in the Astronomical Clock too.  

These first earrings also feature some fun polymer clay charms from Jenny.  Sensing a trend yet??  I felt like both the color and the patterns of the charms work well for this challenge.  I paired them with some fun shaped moon glow lucite, some dyed agate, and copper plated findings.  Ear wires here are niobium.

My second pair of earrings are all about the stars!  Stars on the adorable beaded links by my friend Anna Pierson of Saga Hus Components and Greek bronze star charms.  These were simple to pull together but a lot of fun.  

Well, there you have it!  Considering I was in the throes of Valentine's Day gift creating, I'm pretty happy that I was able to make four things this month.  Now it's your turn!  Please add links to/photos of your own creations below.  I love seeing what everyone else is making too.  Not ready yet?  No problem, I'll leave the link up open until late next month.  Check back on February 1st to see what Eric has in store for us next!  I know he's got tons of new photos he's been going through.  

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Muffin Tin Design Inspiration: Holiday 2021 Edition

 

From time to time I've participated in a muffin tin challenge or, in this case, a create along.  The idea is basically to get those creative juices going by taking a muffin tin or other container, and putting the elements for a jewelry piece in each cup so that you can easily grab and create!  Above you'll find my muffin tin the way it looked when I started.  I have to admit that in several cases working on one of my legitimate muffin tin projects took me off on tangential projects, but I'm going to keep this post to just what came out of my muffin cups!

As the timing for this was perfect for a holiday gift show that I'm about to do this coming weekend at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, a lot of what I put in my tin have a Christmas-y feel to them... or at least a festive winter theme.  (You can find out more about this December Gift Market HERE.)  This was great to get a nice chunk of new designs ready to go!  If these designs don't find new owners next weekend I'll add them to either Unearthed Arts or the Carver County Arts Consortium gift shop the following week.

This first chunk of designs is clearly all about the upcoming Christmas holiday!  The top three pairs all feature upcycled tin discs from my friend Anna Pierson of SagaHus.  The red and white striped acrylic beads in several of the designs are so much fun and make me think of peppermint candies... and now I want a candy cane!  On the bottom I have some fun holly leaves from Gardanne Beads that I paired with Czech glass "berries."  And then there are some holly leaf and berry ceramic charms from Golem Design Studio with red Italian glitter resin and Czech glass.  I hope that these help make a holly jolly Christmas for someone!

Next up a fun little pin with a gingerbread man charm by Blue Hare with acrylic and Czech glass dangles.  I had two of these little guys so when this first one sold I made a second that I haven't taken a picture of yet... he'll go with me this weekend.  The earrings are made with links from a broken bracelet a friend gave me a while back.  A fun way to repurpose!

This last set is more of a random assortment of earrings.  Half of them had been sitting in my muffin tin since the last time I attempted a muffin tin challenge.  Yay for finally getting something made with languishing components!  The top left pair are more charms from Blue Hare with luscious Czech glass and moon glow lucite.  On the right I've got some lovely moon and star charms from Soul Relica that I paired with faceted labradorite and crystal.  On the bottom I've got some ceramic peacock charms with polymer clay discs from Humblebeads, painted brass bead caps, and Czech glass.  And last but not least my very favorite pair from the whole inspiration challenge.... fabulous enameled charms from Gardanne paired with some amazing corrugated vintage brass beads.

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to the last few weeks!  If you're local, maybe I'll see you Friday or Saturday at the Arboretuem!

Art Elements Theme of the Month :: Spring

Each month the crew over at the Art Elements Blog take turns and offer up a general theme to get folks' creative juices going.  For March Niky Sayers chose the theme of "Spring."  Perfect timing as so many of us are officially over winter.  So I'm going to start out this post by apologizing for it's length.  What can I say... the thought of the coming Spring was very inspiring!

The very first thing I made, on the very first day of the month were these sweet rabbit earrings.  I drew on the idea of the good luck superstition where you say "rabbit, rabbit" upon waking on the first day of the new month.  I may not have said the words, but I made the rabbit rabbit earrings right away!  I paired the adorable enameled charms by Lindy's Designs with some resin opaline rounds and blackened findings.

Apparently, not only was this month about Spring, but on my bead table it was also about enameled elements!  I recently picked up some great bird and blooms charms/pendants from Blue Hare Art Wear that felt just perfect for some early Spring designs.  These necklaces are both all about the subtle first blush of the season...  more subtle colors instead of the bright riot of color to come.  

For this first necklace I cut the sweetness of the pale pinks and blues with black Czech glass beads that play off the black in the pendant design.  Vintage resin beads were the starting point of the design with glass and rose quartz added in to round things out.

The enameled pendant in this second necklace is a bit smaller than the first but I gave it some additional heft with a fun leafy link connector.  I played off the pinks and pale yellows in the pendant for the beaded links that are a combination of Czech glass and resin.  I can't say that I'm known for working with these sweet pastels, but I do love how these two designs turned out!

Per my usual chaotic designing style, after I finished this first batch of jewelry I grabbed a bunch of other art bead goodies to hang out on my bead table.  Spring had definitely sprung on my bead mat!  While several ideas were marinating at the back of my brain, I whipped up another pair of bunny earrings.  This time I used some little pale blue ceramic bunny charms from Michelle McCarthy of Firefly Design Studio.  I paired them with some coordinating Czech glass flowers and rondelles.  I also made a quick pair earrings with some cute floral charms from Golem Design Studio and coordinating silk cocoons by my friend Anna Pierson of SagaHus Components.

Keeping with the muted pastels I whipped up a sweet little bracelet with a Humblebeads house bead (as well as one of Heather's discs) and a mix of cultured & Czech glass, lucite, and brass findings.  Bracelets aren't always my thing, but I really am smitten with how this one turned out.  It was also the perfect use for some Czech glass melons I've had in my stash forever.  Score!

Next up, a necklace that I still haven't decided if I can part with yet as I switched my designing into shades of green.  I just love the wood pendant that was a collaboration between siblings Cynthia Thornton of Green Girl Studios and Andrew Thornton of Allegory Gallery.  (I'm sad I didn't grab more than one when they were offering these.)  There are so many sweet details in the design... my favorite being the tiny little snail on the right side.  This piece spoke to me of the first emerging leaves and sprouts and leaves of the season and I chose beads accordingly.  There's quite a bit of Czech glass along with freshwater and cultured pearls and a few moon glow lucite beads.

Continuing with shades of green, I finally made something with some little polymer clay leaves that I made in a workshop with Heather Powers a while back.  I had already made little wire bails for them but for some reason never finished whatever design that I had envisioned.  I decided that it was past time to get them completed.  I ended up pairing them with some rustic lampwork glass (maker unknown) along with Czech glass.  

Next up I went for a bit of a brighter green.  Spring makes me think birds and thus feathers.  I picked up this fun little set of ceramic beads from Michelle McCarthy of Firefly Design Studio at Bead & Button and fished them out for this prompt.  I made beaded links with the ceramic accent beads, some chunky Czech glass beads, as well as some filigree rounds.  

I just kept trucking through the pile of goodies I had pulled out to celebrate Spring (and, let's not pretend... I kept adding to the mess with more and more options too!)  I whipped up a couple more pairs of earrings to with some sweet spring charms I've been holding onto for way too long.   I paired some sweet daisy charms in polymer clay from Humblebeads with tiny lampwork beads, Czech glass, and brass (similar to the ones I used in this month's Honey Do List challenge.)  Next I used some faux tin charms by my friend Anna Pierson of SagaHus Components for a pair of earrings with purple moon glow lucite and copper accents.

 

With this next necklace I may finally be done with officially making for the Spring prompt.  We shall see.  At least I'll be done as far as my blog post goes!  Photos aren't doing it justice but I had to finally play with this luminous pendant from Humblebeads.  I picked beads that had a similar glow to them including a LOT of Czech glass with Mercury finish and some pale green resin rounds.  To go with the gold accents on the pendant I went with some gold filled and gold plated spacer beads and findings.

Phew!  That's a lot of new jewelry!  I hope you enjoyed these new Spring designs.  Here's to warmer (and longer!) days, blooming flowers, nesting birdies, and all the other special things that the new season will bring.

Art Elements Theme of the Month :: Mandalas

 

I'm a bit late getting my blog post together, but I still wanted to share what I've been making.  The August Theme of the Month for Art Elements blog and Facebook group was mandalas.  I knew that I had some fun and colorful options in my stash.  I barely scratched the surface, but it just felt good to be creating.

First up, a couple of pairs of earrings featuring fabulous enameled components by Cathleen Zaring of Blue Hare Art Wear.  She calls this style "star flower" but they seemed very mandala like to me!  This first pair may have opened me up to splurging on a bunch of lucite beads.  The beauty of lucite is that you can go chunky without adding much weight.  The enameled charms have some heft to them, so large gemstones or glass would just get too heavy.  But I digress.  This pair has some fun lucite rounds and Czech glass in colors to complement the charms.  

The second pair I made has similar colors but in vastly different proportions.  A much brighter pair for sure!   These have some vintage plastic squared barrels (for lack of a better descriptor) topped with Czech glass.  Turquoise and orange is one of my favorite color combos... so yummy!

I managed to complete a necklace this month too!  Yay!  I love this amazing double sided polymer clay focal by Staci Louise Smith.  I've been holding onto this baby since 2014 when I went to Bead Fest.  I knew I had to design something with this for the mandala theme... spotting the perfect cocoon beads by my friend Anna Pierson of Sagahus Components sealed the deal.  I added in some Dzi agate rounds in a great green and rusty orange-brown as well as Czech glass in a few different shapes and finishes.  I'm especially smitten with the crusty texture on the green rounds.  It's tough to see in the pictures but, trust me, it's awesome!

Seriously, you have to love a reversible pendant!  Both sides are super cool.  Staci gets a real depth to her colors with her polymer creations.

Last, but not least, a work in progress for you.  I needed some calming zen action, so I pulled out my drawer of cabachons and found this lovely cobalt blue butterfly cab by Jenny Davies-Reazor.  The repeating butterfly motif gave it a mandala feeling that I continued on with the surrounding rows of beads.  I'm going to need a quick trip to the bead store for some seed beads to complete my design, but I'm well on the way to a completed project.  I'm thinking this one is going to grow up to be a brooch just because of the size... but we shall see.

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to!  Have a wonderful long weekend my friends!

Art Bead Scene: May 2017

This month's Art Bead Scene inspiration is Bowl of Fruit, Violin and Bottle by Pablo Picasso.  You can read more about the artwork and the artist over on the ABS blog HERE.  Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of this particular artwork or, really, anything in the Cubist style.  Moreover, I really don't get it...  I see the violin and (I think) the bottle but the bowl of fruit escapes me.  I'm guessing that it's the blob at the top of the artwork, but who knows!?!

Bowl of Fruit, Violin and Bottle

Pablo Picasso

1914

Oil On Canvas

Since the artwork doesn't really speak to me, I decided that focusing on the colors was the way to go this time.  I chose to work more with the pinks, tans, and creams in the painting, but as you'll see below, I did add some speckled blue ceramic beads into both designs to try and pull it all together... and to echo the speckled and textured parts of the artwork.  But I'm getting ahead of myself!

Even before I had made anything for last month's ABS challenge, I had picked out the main components for this first design.  (Have I mentioned how much I adore having the booklet with the whole year's artwork to peruse??)  I was digging through my beads looking for options for April and a set of silk wrapped cocoons from SagaHus Components caught my eye.  I fell in love with the rich mix of peachy-pink and cream when Anna Pierson listed them in her Facebook group and had to have them.  Sitting just one compartment over in my art bead drawer were some fun ceramic flowers that I picked up from my friend Tracee Dock of The Classic Bead a while back.  It was serendipity!  The only other thing I added to those original components were the speckled blue beads.  These are pretty big earrings (bigger than I would probably wear myself) but I know they'll find the right person!

I thought that this would be it for me, but then another light bulb went off and I grabbed another pair of components from SagaHus... this time a pair of Czech glass teardrops embellished with scarlet silk and seed beads.  Once again, I added in some blue speckled ceramic beads (in a slightly larger size than those in my first pair.)

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to lately.  If you want to see what other folks have been inspired to make in response to this Picasso, check out the Art Bead Scene's Pinterest board HERE.  

Art Bead Scene: March 2017

The inspiration for this month's Art Bead Scene challenge is Armed Birds Nest in Acacia Bush, Chile by Marianne North.  Marianne North was a remarkable Victorian artist who travelled the globe in order to satisfy her passion for recording the world's flora with her paintbrush. The scientific accuracy with which she documented plant life in all parts of the world, before photography became a practical option, gives her work a permanent value.  You can read more about the artwork and the artist on the ABS blog HERE.

Armed Bird's Nest in Acacia Bush, Chile

Marianne North

1870

Oil On Paper

Even though yellow really isn't one of my favorite colors to design with, this is actually one of my favorite pieces for the 2017 challenges.  Moreover, I wouldn't have really thought about combining the goldenrod yellow with the purple blue tones... but somehow it works!

The first things that caught my eye when I was looking through my art beads were a pair of mustard yellow silk wrapped links from SagaHus Components.  I made dangles with some purple Humblebeads discs and topaz colored Czech glass flowers.  I'm really loving how these turned out!

Next up, I strung a necklace with a lovely pendant from Humblebeads.  The flowering tree on the pendant could surely be the same as the one from the painting!  The background of the pendant is more blue than purple so I chose some faceted chalcedony and blue vintage German glass to pull out those tones.  The oblong gold colored glass is also vintage German with some small Czech glass rondelles and pretty Picasso finished seed beads.

Last but not least, I made another pair of earrings with some components from The Classic Bead that I've had forever.  I finally got brave enough to play with the wire wrapping to make these work.  I had a couple of larger sized pale purple Czech glass flowers left over from a long-ago project that I paired with some smaller tan and rose toned flowers dangling from chain.

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to!  Enjoy your week!

Honey Do List: December 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's this month's inspiration and what Eric had to say about it:

This month's challenge shot comes from a really cool special light exhibit by Bruce Munro at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.  I happily toted my tripod around and took hundreds of pictures while poor Sj tried to stay warm.  This particular photo was a long exposure where I slowly moved the camera to give the impression of motion.  I think the colors and sparkle in this shot will lead to some cool jewelry inspiration!

As much as I love this picture and was truly captivated by the light exhibit (especially this particular installation), I wasn't sure at first where I might go with this challenge.  Lucky for me, some fun components made by Anna Pierson of Saga Hus caught my eye while I was scrolling through my Facebook feed.  Anna has been selling her fun components over on her SagaHus Components Facebook group and does a lot of interesting things with fibers, wire, and beads.  I grabbed a few sets that caught my eye and eagerly awaited my package.

As predicted, some of the goodies that I bought from Anna truly were just the thing I needed for this month!  (And yes, I know some folks will think I cheated by buying something just for it...)  I had hoped to get two pairs done, but settled for one since I was in a time crunch.  I loved the way she added the beads along the wire wrapped silk "cocoons" and thought they captured the magic and movement of the light installation (if not the color).  I messily wire wrapped some little faceted black briolettes to hang from the bottom.  I'm a little bit in love with these!

Next up, a shoulder dusting pair!  I bought these fun links ages ago and thought they would be perfect to reflect the long "stalks" of the lights in the photo.  I added some fun ruby red Czech glass dangles to represent the bulb part of the installation.  They are sort of an upside down rendition of the photo.

My third pair was a complete last minute addition to this little collection.  I was digging for the beads in the last pair and found some fun shaped beads that reminded me of the shape of the bulb part of the lights and was certainly the right color.  So I whipped up one last pair for your enjoyment!

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