Art Elements Use Your Stash 2018

January is a great time to get a fresh start... to get organized... to refocus your energy and direction for a new year.  To help get us all off on the right foot this year, the editors over at the Art Elements blog have brought back their Use Your Stash challenge after taking a year off.  The idea is to dig into your art bead stash and create some new designs.  Well, I certainly have a big ol' stash to rummage through, and plenty of things that have been languishing for way too long.  Challenge accepted!  Here's a picture of some of the goodies that I gathered:

I was one of the lucky recipients of a prize beads from the Art Elements editors, Laney Mead of Izzybeads!  Laney sent me one of her cute little lampwork critters and a pair of carrot beads from her stash with coordinating spacers.  I'll start by sharing what I made with my prize stash.  :)

I initially thought about stringing the critter on leather with some coordinating beads, but I just didn't have the right leather in my stash.  (Memo to self:  get on that leather cord order ASAP!)  I ended up making beaded links instead.  I had some stripy glass beads in my stash that coordinated with the focal and the spacer beads from the carrots that I used here.  Pretty simple design, but I wanted Laney's whimsical critter to be the focus.

For some crazy reason, when I saw that the carrot beads had holes that went top to bottom, the idea of knotting them onto brown waxed linen popped into my head and wouldn't leave me alone!  My thought was that this technique would mimic roots at the bottom... like the carrots were pulled right from the garden!  Too weird?  I don't care... I think they are super cute!

I really have been trying to make a dent in my art bead horde... not so much because I think I have too many, but more to make room so I can justify new purchases.  Hey, at least I'm honest!!  As I was digging around for other challenges this month, I had the Use Your Stash idea in the back of my mind and kept pulling things out for possible beady play.  Several oversized beads ended up in that little collection so that's where I started playing with my personal stash!  Why have so many large baubles been languishing in my stash?  My design aesthetic just tends to veer away from big, chunky designs.  How about you... is bigger better?  or just bigger?

First up, a set of big ol' polymer clay beads made by Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati for her Simple Truths Sampler Club.  They were inspired by a Picasso painting that was for the May 2017 Art Bead Scene challenge so they haven't been hanging around all that long in the grand scheme of things.  Something just clicked in my little brain and I went digging for some crazy oversize wooden beads that I've had forever.  (Seriously, I bought them in my first ever online bead order back in February 2008!)  I don't know what I was thinking... except that I wasn't and I had no clue about bead sizes at that point.  These wood beads are GIANT at 31 x 21 mm.  After almost 10 years, I've finally found a design to use them in!  I strung all of these big beads together on blue waxed Irish linen along with some brass spacers to anchor the large holes in the wooden beads.  Brass chain finishes out this chunky design that would feel right at home around the neck of Wilma Flintstone or Betty Rubble!

Next up, a variation on a theme... this time using a set of polymer clay beads from Artybecca that I won as a door prize on the 2014 Bead Cruise.  These guys, and their wooden counterparts, are a MUCH smaller size than the last neckclace!  Once again, I just knotted them on waxed Irish linen with brass chain at the back.

As always seems to be the case with me, I didn't make nearly as much as I'd hoped to for this challenge (if only I'd had one more day!!!), but I am proud that I dug deep and tackled some things that have been gathering dust for too long.  Hopefully I'll keep the momentum going and finish up some more designs that I had envisioned.

This is a blog hop!  Stop by and see what everyone else has been up to this month.  I can't wait to see what goodies everyone found in their personal stashes!

Guests:

Kelly Rodgers

Sarajo Wentling  - You Are Here!  

Samantha Wescott

Kathy Lindemer

Patty Miller

Linda Landig

Renetha Stanziano

Art Elements:

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Jen Cameron

Claire Fabian

Sue Kennedy

Niky Sayers

Lindsay Starr

Art Elements May 2017 Component of the Month

Each month over on the Art Elements blog they host a Component of the Month giveaway and challenge.  This time I wasn't one of the lucky ones who was chosen to receive one of Lesley Watt's amazing shell cross section pedants.  Luckily, she had a few extra for sale and I managed to snag one... as well as some of her bronze charms!  If you love this as much as I do, she still has some for sale in her shop HERE.

As luck would have it, the same day I got my package from Lesley, I also received my latest destash goodies from Allegory Gallery that included some ceramic rounds by Keith O'Connor that were a perfect match for my pendant.

I love it when a design just comes right together, and I feel like that's what happened this time.  I started by pulling together some Czech glass beads in blues and greens to match the pendant along with some patinated brass beads with a design that reminds me of sea urchins for some reason.  To add some contrast in both color and texture, I also grabbed some Bronzite rounds, Tibetan agate, and faceted Green Aventurine.

Each of Lesley's pieces is unique and lovely... I hope you'll check out what the other participants made too!

Guests
Linda Newnham

Sarajo Wentling - You Are Here

Jess Green

Art Elements team
Laney Mead

Diana Ptaszynski

Susan Kennedy

Cathy Mendola

Jen Cameron

Caroline Dewison

Claire Fabian

Karen Totten

NIky Sayers

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Lindsay Starr

Lesley Watt

Art Elements April 2017 Component of the Month

Each month over on the Art Elements blog they host a Component of the Month giveaway and challenge.  I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the guest participants to receive one of Jennifer Cameron's lovely lampwork glass beads!  It always feels like Christmas when new beads come in the mail and I was thrilled to find the bead on the bottom right in my little package from Jen.  (At least I think that one is mine... if not they are super similar color wise!)  There is so much rich color inside of swirls of clear glass!

There are some bronze-y and sand colors in my bead along side the various blues and the tiniest bit of teal.  I wanted to do something with all of that color action!  I was originally thinking that I would string the front part of the necklace, but nothing I did looked quite right to me.  I changed tactics and wire wrapped links using faceted bronzite rondelles, smooth blue aventurine rounds, and some English cut Czech glass beads in an amazing mix of colors that Lima Beads calls "Earth."

I wanted the back of the necklace to be soft... and to bring in more color.  Plus it's been a while since I used any ribbon in one of my designs and I like to mix things up.  I thought that I had some finished ribbon in the right blues but I only found sari silk and that just wasn't hitting the right chord for me.  Instead I opted for some hand dyed silk ribbon in a sea green color.  It's not what I originally had in mind but I do think it pulls out the teal in the focal bead and plays off some of the color in the Czech glass.  The focal bead makes me think "ocean" with it's colors and swirls, so the ribbon color just plays into completing the sea inspired color palette.

Stop by the other participants' blogs to see what everyone else created!

Guest Designers:

Sarajo Wentling - You Are Here!

Deb Stewart

Art Elements Team:

Sue Kennedy

Laney Mead

Lesley Watt

Claire Fabian

Karen Totten

Cooky Schock

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Caroline Dewison

Cathy Spivey Mendola

Niky Sayers

Lindsay Starr

Jen Cameron

Art Elements November Component of the Month

It's been a little while since I've been chosen to receive the Component of the Month from the Art Elements (formerly the Art Jewelry Elements) Blog.  I was excited to learn that I would be one of the lucky ones to get to play with one of these amazing ceramic donuts from Kristie Roeder of Artisan Clay!  Kristie uses recycled glass that gets fused to her pieces during kiln firing and the results are amazing!  I didn't have a clear idea of what I might want to make when I entered, but I knew that I would figure it out once I had mine in my hot little hands.    

I got the one on the bottom left!

Now, I cannot tell a lie... the piece that I received was a bit outside my color comfort zone.  If you've followed my jewelry journey, you probably already know that pinks and purples don't show up super often in my designs.  But getting outside our normal ruts is part of what makes it a challenge!  I was excited to get one with two loops instead of just one... that helped my ideas gel a bit.  Per my usual creating style, I began pulling out all manner of pink and purple beads that might play nice with the focal.  Slowly I narrowed things down and started to formulate a plan.

Possible beads for a couple of projects.

Before we get on to my finished piece, I have to apologize for the quality of my photos.  It's been grey and foggy here since I completed my necklace making good photos a big challenge!  I promise that it looks much better in person!  I started by wire-wrapping the wire loops on either end of my donut with small gauge pewter colored craft wire to visually bulk them up and add some texture.  (It's hard to see in my photos, but I like the effect it gives in person.)

I was torn between stringing and wire wrapped links, but went with stringing in the end.  I used a mix of vintage and modern glass beads, pewter, and lavender and cape amethyst beads for this long necklace.  I'm really happy with how the beaded dangles turned out too!  So much so that I think I'll whip up a pair of earrings to echo the flower bead unit in the middle.    

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to.  Hop on over to the Art Elements blog to see what everyone else made this month with Kristie's other pieces HERE or use the links below!


Guest Designers:
Sarajo Wentling  (You are here)
Lola Surwillo
Beti Horvath
Kate Kemp
ArtE Team
Susan Kennedy
Lesley Watt
Claire Fabian
Jenny Davies-Reazor
Jen Cameron

Art Jewelry Elements Component of the Month: Ravens!

Usually, the Art Jewelry Elements blog offers up a specific Component of the Month for their editors and a few lucky guests to design with for their monthly challenge.  For October they shook things up a bit and are allowing anyone to participate... and it wasn't even limited to jewelry this time!  The theme for the month is the raven.  Karen Totten wrote a great introductory post about the facts and myths surrounding ravens (and how they differ from crows) that you can read HERE.  To keep the raven love going and further inspire us, Jenny Davies-Reazor just shared a post about the ravens of Celtic myth that you can check out HERE.

Common Raven, from "Into the Woods".

Eric and I both love ravens and have a few different art pieces in our house, so I had to play along... but first I had to find the perfect art bead to feature.  In digging through my mess of beads and supplies (good gravy but I need to block out some serious time to get my studio under control!!) I found a pendant that I had totally forgotten about from Kylie Parry.  I bought it in a destash bundle quite a while back and (hangs head in shame) it was still in the box she shipped to me.

As usual, I forgot to snap a picture before I began my design.  Sigh.

Technically, it's supposed to be a crow (at least as far as her listing goes) but I think he looks raven-y enough.  He's got the ruff of feathers around his neck anyway!

I used mostly gemstones (jasper and carved agate) as well as some Czech glass.  I also added a cool metal bead that I bought in Santa Fe a few years back that's a mix of copper and silver.  For now, the back is copper plated chain to match the other copper findings but I'm tempted to replace that with some black deerskin leather lace.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.

This is a blog hop.  Check out today's post on the Art Jewelry Elements blog to see what everyone else was inspired to make HERE.  Thanks for stopping by!

AJE September Component of the Month Reveal

Every month the one of the contributors over on the Art Jewelry Elements blog gives away some sort of art bead or component for their fellows and a couple of lucky winners to design with.  I was lucky enough to be one of three guest chosen to receive one of Kristi Bowman's amazing Goddess Vessel pendants and I was over the moon when I found out the news.

These gorgeous pieces are made from copper and white copper.  I got the copper one in the middle and I love it!  And of course I forgot to take a picture of it before I started working on my project.

The first thing I thought of to pair with my vessel was a strand of cool triangular Petrified Green Opal (or possibly copper green opal) that I've been hoarding forever.  The pendant was hefty enough to stand up to the over sized stone (I knew I wanted to add just one.  Originally I thought I'd do an asymmetrical design with the large stone off to one side and balance with some other gemstones, but eventually scrapped that idea.  At my husbands suggestion, I decided to wire wrap the stone to the pendant for an even bigger focal!  Go big or go home, right?

I then wire wrapped a bunch of faceted petrified green opal stones along with a couple of copper pineapple beads to make the body of the necklace.  I'm still debating if I should have kept going and done another few sets of bead units, but I'm in a time crunch so the design will have to stand for now.  I love the colors in the stones and the rustic, earthy feel of the finished design.

This is a blog hop.  Check out what everyone else made this month!

Monthly Winners

SJ Designs Jewelry

Kari Asbury

Shirley Moore

AJE Team Members

Caroline Dewison

Diana Ptaszynski

Lesley Watt

Melissa Meman

Linda Landig

Kristen Stevens

Jenny Davies-Reazor
Sue Kennedy

AJE January Component of the Month Reveal

I was just tickled pink to find out on January 1st that I was one of the lucky winners of the January Component of the Month over on the Art Jewelry Elements blog.  What a great way to start the new year!

I was super excited to see what Jenny Davies-Reazor would be sending me.  Here's a picture she posted of her focals in process.  You can see all of her blog post over on the AJE blog HERE.

Here's the one I got.  I love the dark, denim blue with the lighter shades mixed in.  Believe it or not, this isn't a color I find myself using all that often so this was a good stretch for me.  The dictionary paper has a lovely aged look to it... I don't know if that's natural aging of the paper or something with the resin process Jenny used.  Either way, it gives it a nice antiqued effect that works perfectly with the frame design.

The word on my pendant is "vision."  Here's how the Oxford online dictionary defines it:

• The faculty or state of being able to see; the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom; a mental image of what the future will or could be like; an experience of seeing someone or something in a dream or trance; a person or sight of unusual beauty.

While the word "vision" may not have actually inspired the design I came up with, it was on my mind while I was playing and creating.  I'm certainly grateful for the gift of being able to see... and when my eyes start to cross from too much "up close" work I worry about the day when clear sight is more elusive.  I have come to have a pretty clear vision for the future with regards to some aspects of my life... less so for others, but that's likely how it goes!  I'm hoping that my finished creation will be a sight of beauty to some people!  Ok, not exactly deep thoughts, but that's what I've got!  

I really wanted to keep the focus squarely on Jenny's gorgeous pendant but I didn't want my necklace to be too monochromatic.  (Those of you who follow me regularly, know that this is something that I often struggle with.)  I looked through my Pinterest board "Pretty Palettes" to get some ideas for mixing it up a bit.  What I found was that in the palettes I've collected, darker blues were often mixed in with oranges, yellows, or tans.  

After pulling some bead possibilities together I got started by making wire-wrapped connectors with some Lapis rounds that I've had forever on each side of the pendant.  I used Vintaj brass wire, chain, and other findings since I think that's such a perfect look for the vintage feel of the pendant.  I used a couple of blue beads (one ceramic, one lucite) from a destash grab bag that I bought from Andrew Thornton, and added in some Czech glass, a Vintaj filigree bead, and a nice little Red Creek Jasper rondelle.

This is a blog hop.  To head on over to Art Jewelry Elements blog and check out what everyone else created please click HERE.