ZnetShows Blog: Diamonds in the Rough Winners

YUP, WE DID IT!  WHOOOHOO.... THANKS to EVERYBODY who voted for my pieces...  I won first and second place.  I knew I was in the lead with one of my designs but was not sure of the Banana Split earrings.  There were so many beautiful pieces there to chose from.

It was a fun challenge to do.

A Special THANKS to ZnetShows for putting this challenge together... and to Abby for keeping us entertained...LOL she is just the cutest little girl..

ZnetShows Blog: Diamonds in the Rough Winners: The results are in for the top winners in the "Diamonds in the Rough" Challenge . As you may remember, we narrowed down the entrie...

My little cuties!

I belong to a doll group called DOLL STREET DREAMERS where we like to chat and learn from each other.  We also do doll swaps.  Our newest swap is Mermaid Pins.  They can not be any longer than 5-6 inches.  I decided I was going to make small ones, Doris and Sabrina.

Both dolls are made the same way, they just look different.  I made my own little pattern which is barely 3 1/2 inches long and 1 3/4 inches wide.  They both have a belly button and a little butt!  Since I am now doing more enameling with a torch, I decided to enamel these little starfish charms I have had for a very long time.  I think they turned out rather fun!  I like the texture and color variation.  I also used a face mold which I purchased some years ago from Michaels.  I added cute little ears and kind of did a little reshaping of the faces.  I used hand charms for their flippers and did a little bead work around their heads and on their bodies.  Their hair is natural Cotswold Sheep Locks from La Tea Da Designs on Etsy.  I have purchased natural wools from her several times and love her fibers.  For the flippers, I used Cultured Sea Glass from ZnetShows.  I really think the flippers are so cute.  I have seen glittered finger nail polish put on other matte type beads, I might add a little on my next dolls or maybe even on these.

I hope you like my little cuties and please feel free to leave a comment...

THANKS...

Chris

ZnetShows

Doll Street Dreamers

Tangie Baxer

Diamonds in the Rough - Top 20 VOTE!

Diamonds in the Rough - Top 20 VOTE!  Today is the last day!  Please take a peek at all of the beautiful pieces and LIKE your favorite one!

THANKS..

"Diamonds in the Rough" ZnetShows Challenge

This is going to sound like an advertisement but, I am addicted to ZnetShows "wholesale beads". I really am. Not only am I a designer for them now, but I almost feel like part of the family!  LOL...well, maybe cousins.  Bill and his crew are so nice there and I love getting all of the great beads to work with from them. Last month, Bill proposed a new challenge, Diamonds in the Rough.  We had a huge list to pick from and sent in our request for the beads we liked.  I have to admit that I did not use all of the beads for this challenge, but what I did use, I had lots of fun playing. And what I didnt use is only because I ran out of time. I still have some beautiful beads to work with and I will over the summer put some awesome designs together. So, below is the long list of the designs I created.  Each piece has a list of beads where you can find the beads to take a better look and perhaps if you like them enough, you may want to pick up a few.

Enjoy...and dont forget to share my blog with your friends :-)

First, you need to see the mix of beads I picked out.  Arent they beautiful?  There are so many different designs I can make with all of these.  Time is something I just didnt have this time around but hey, its all good.  Below are all the one's I did get to make.  I hope you like what you see.

BANANA SPLIT 

I honestly am not sure why I call these “Banana Split”, but I feel like that is the right name for them.  When I saw the beads on Bills website, I just knew I had to have them.  I don’t wear a lot of yellow but I do love the color.  The shape also caught my attention.  I really do like oval beads, there is just something about them that are catchy to the eye!  These are wrapped with tiny #3 round beads with a mixture of white, yellows and a hint of brown.  The ear wires are twisted and hammered which I just love the texture.

  

•Copper wire

•BDS384-08 - medium yellow jasper marquise spindle Beads faceted top side drilled 20x10mm 0 

 Orange Smoothie

OMGosh, if you have never held the Carnelian gemstones in your hands, it’s a must!  They are sooo smooth and …  just smooooooth…  I just love touching them, its so weird.  I guess I am a very tactile person and these beads are fun to put in your hands.  I decided to make these beauties dangle freely with lots of copper wire wrapped around them.  I really like to see a mixture of shapes in jewelry, it adds so much more interest and a little chaos.  My kind of mix…

•BDS367-26 - silver leaf rondelle Beads faceted 8x5mm 0   

•SCBDG142-22Cube Beads ..Carnelian Gemstone Cube

•BDS1669-06 - heat-treated carnelian tusk Beads about 24x6-12x4mm 0

•BDS1845-09 aquamarine rondelle Beads about 7x5mm 0 multicolor more greenish

For some reason, I could not come up with a name for this pair.  I dont always have names, but they tend to make the jewelry piece have a purpose.  These are very pretty in person.  The Aquamarine stone is actually a tad darker than what you see here.  They are a little difficult to photograph being that they allow light to show through, you can even see the wire through the beads.  I love this look.  I love goldstone gems too, they are so sparkly  and add that hint of elegance to the earring.  Again, these are really beautiful in person.

•BDS367-26 - silver leaf rondelle Beads faceted 8x5mm 0  

•BDS367-08Faceted Gemstone Rondelle Goldstone

•aquamarine oval puffed Beads about 18x13mm 0 BDS1705-205

•SCBDG142-24 - green aventurine cube Beads 4mm 0

My Diamonds

Diamonds in the Rough really fits this pair of earrings well.  The Aventurine  stones are amazing don’t you think?  And to add some glam, I used beautiful Asian crystal rondelle beads to add that sparkle.  This pair really was fun to create.  You will see that most of my designs are made with copper.  It is my favorite metal to work with.  Besides being inexpensive, its very easy to find and buy.  I don’t have to order any of the wire.  In fact, if you go to a hardware store, you can get the wire in just about any size you want, and its sooooo pretty.  

•BDS381-03Faceted Diamond Shape Beads red aventurine

•BDS381-02 - green aventurine diamond Beads faceted diagonal drilled 10x10mm 

MACHA

Ok, I will admit, these are the best of all!  I absolutely love this pair of earrings. I just love the shape of  the Aventurine teardrop bead.  Its faceted, shiny, has lots of speckles in the bead itself and is just so pretty.  I didn’t go with copper on this set.  I think the silver is a perfect fit in this case.  Although I think I would like to  make a pair with copper to see how different it will look.  I really like the cascading beads going from small beads to the larger ones. I can say the only downside, if there is one, is they are slightly heavy.  I can wear them rather comfortably, but some of my customers have commented that they can not wear heavy earrings.  So, just be aware that this pair could possibly be a little heavy.

•SCBDG142-22Cube Beads .. Gemstone Cube Beads natural carnelian

•SCBDG142-24Cube Beads .. Gemstone Cube Beads green aventurine

•BDG166-02 - green aventurine fancy teardrop Beads faceted tip-drilled 25x15mm 0

Goldstone Speckles

Yup, these beads sparkle.  I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to create with these. Then I suddenly realized I didn’t have any kind of hooped earrings in the mix.  I had some other ideas but this one stuck in my head the most.  I know they would make a great bracelet if I just had a little more time before this challenge was over I could have put something together.  I still might try .  I can see these beads with some beautiful Asian crystals in between…hmmm

•BDS367-08Faceted Gemstone Rondelle Goldstone

•BDS1757-05 - goldstone coin puffed Beads 14mm 0 

 Bits of Earth

See those huge amazing beads?  Brown, black, white and clear. Oh me oh my, I just absolutely think they are amazing.  I love rocks, stones, shells and all those fun pieces that are made from our own Mother Earth.  It just amazes me how she can create such beautiful pieces which we recreate into something we can cherish for many years.  This necklace is quite long, but is very lovely.  I used black annealed steal wire to put the pieces together.  Steel wire is a different look and feel than copper.  It can be a little messy but looks so nice once its all pieced together. There is a mix of chips, cubes, carnelian tusks , twisted onyx, and kyanite, it doesn’t get better than that!

•S3-06Gemstone Chips Group A multicolor rutilated quartz

•BDS1787-01 - kyanite rectangle Beads 16x12mm Grade A 0 

•BDS1201-08 - black onyx trapezoid Beads twisted 40x20mm

•BDS1669-06 - heat-treated carnelian tusk Beads about 24x6-12x4mm 0

•SCBDG142-24A - green aventurine cube Beads 6mm 0 

 Crackled

Ok, silly name, but perfectly appropriate for these fun fire agate beads don’t you think?  When I chose these beads, the definitely did NOT remind me of diamonds, but in the rough..oh yea!  Agate is such an interesting  gemstone. These are actually dyed to make them look so cool.  These beads have large holes so I wanted to do some kind of macrame.  Then I found an interesting tutorial online, maybe even on Pinterest, about these Shamballa bracelets.  Very simple to make.  I think the next one I make will be with just the smaller beads.  I had lots of compliments on the  bracelet when I wore it at a local event.

•BDS1593-09 - Fire agate rondelle Beads about 17x12mm 0 -dyed yellow with green color 

•BDS1593-10 Fire agate rondelle Beads about 10x8mm 0 -dyed yellow and green color 

OH, and dont forget to check out all of the other Designers for the challenge, you will love every piece of jewelry Im sure!  THANKS FOR STOPPING BY...  For more pictures of these designs, please visit my FLICKR site

Becky Pancake

Bobbie Rafferty

Charlie Jacka

Christina Miles

Christine Stonefield

Cindy Cima Edwards

Hope Smitherman

Karla Morgan

Kay Thomerson

Lisa Lodge

Mimi Gardner

Pam Sears (The crazy sister)

Rachel Baron

Suzette Bentley

Barbara Lewis Video

I am so glad that I purchased Barbara Lewis's book "Painting With Fire"  I have learned so much from her.  I thought I would also share her video.  Its a really great video on working with creating enameled compound shapes.  I am still lacking a few tools to make these but not for long.  I am going to be ordering my goodies...

Enjoy the video and take a peek at her website when you get a chance.


 

Bullet Beauties 2013

WingsNScales' photostream on Flickr.

My newest Bullet Beauties. You can find these for sale at https://handmadeartists.com/shop/wingsnscales

Bead Soup Mix Reveal...

Oh my gosh, I nearly forgot about this day! So, here it is!  My soup mix.  I am really hoping that I gave my jewelry the tropical feeling that Kelly was looking for when she sent me this mix.  Kelly has great taste in beads. It did take me some time to figure out what I was going to do.  I made a sketch and had it all ready to go.  I put my book down and about 2 weeks later I couldnt find it..go figure!  So, I tried to remember what the sketch looked like and got to work.

First I made the necklace.  I had this vintage necklace with white glass beads that I thought would look nice.  I took apart the necklace, it had blue and orange tiny plastic beads along with tiny metal beads.  I thought I would reuse those, but the colors really didnt go quite that well together.  So I headed for the bead store and found the ones I wanted.  I put the necklace together and thought it turned out really nice.  Later I made a pair of earrings to match.  When I wear both pieces the earrings barely touch my necklace and they make this really soothing sound when I walk around..LOL

Oh, I did find my sketch, and it was slightly different than what I actually made...but I like it either way.

THANK YOU KELLY for the great mix of beads..  I hope you like what I created with them...

Kelly's Blog

I used every bead I was given for this mix, you see how beautiful the colors blend.  

I think this mix definitely says...TROPICAL PARADISE 

For the complete list of other BSBP 7 participants  HERE

OMG... Ok, so life is full of surprises!

Ok, so you know how it works...  After getting the rejection notices from my submissions, I was not feeling too bad.  My BF from NY called me and we were chatting away...maybe for an hour or so...  I checked my email...and guess what?  You guessed it!  I did get one piece accepted...I am very excited...I even did the happy dance!  What a surprise!!!  I thought all my pieces were rejected because of the way I received my emails...  But I was wrong..and I am soooo jazzed.  I submitted 4 pairs of earrings...and the one I really liked is the one that made it...  Its will be later this year when the magazine comes out.  I will have to let you know when that time comes.

Happy me!

The joys of rejection!

Well, you know how it goes...you found this article in a bead magazine...they say they are looking for a specific type of designs to be submitted into the magazine for a special type magazine.  So your brain starts kicking in and you start drawing up all these designs...and you start chugging away, making this and making that... Your mojo is on full speed! You take tons of pictures trying to find the perfect one for the submission...hr after hr of working and fixing and making sure it is all perfect for your expectations ..and really they are perfect.  The day to submit is getting close... you work even harder to make all your jewelry look great!  You are set to go.  You submit your designs one by one...slowly making sure you do everything exact as the instructions from the magazine tells you to do.  You proof read your submission...then you take a deep breath...and click on the SEND button...  Phew..that was easy.  So you continue with your remaining submissions    All is well, you can breath now.  They tell you it will take up to a week for them to respond.  So you move on with your daily stuff.  Minutes go, hours go, and even a couple of days.

 You are sitting in your work room playing around with a few more ideas...then suddenly you decide to check your email... VIOLA... you got messages from the magazine...YAY..  Ok,  hold on...take a deep breath...after all this is your very first submission to a magazine...  You carefully open the first message...BAM!!  REJECTION...awww..ok, so lets try the second one..BAM, again...wow..what did I do wrong!  Next one...BAM..that makes 3..finally the last one, you are holding your breath...crossing your fingers...BAM..not again!  AAAAwww...  I thought I did everything they wanted...right?

 Well..you bet you I did.  But it wasn't what they are looking for...so...I move on..try again.  Perhaps my jewelry will go better in a different magazine.  After all, I am still a baby when it comes to doing bead work and jewelry making.  Many designers who get chosen have tons of years and training behind them...not me.  But I do know my jewelry is unique and just as good as many of the well seasoned jewelry makers.  Just mine is my way.  So, am I angry, NO, am I disappointed, MAYBE, will I try again, OH HECK YA!  If there is anything I learned in life, is that there are 2 sides to everything, and its either GOOD or BAD, WHITE OR BLACK, LIGHT OR DARK, you get the picture.  I am glad that I even tried.  So, I need to keep chuggin away...and enjoy making my jewelry my way...FUN!

Ok, now that I got that all off loaded, I feel better now...THANKS for listening...

I will put the pictures up soon since I can now display them online..

Chris

Hand Made Artist - this weeks Artist

This week, its all about Pam. You really need to take a look at her jewelry. You can tell the love and care she puts into each of her pieces. Her creativity and imagination is amazing, I love her style.

 Here is an example of her jewelry..

Take a few extra minutes and check out her shop, you will be happy you did!

http://handmadeartists.com/shop/beadthing

http://www.abeadthing.com/

http://www.abeadthing-pam.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ABeadThing

http://www.twitter.com/abeadthing

https://plus.google.com/u/0/110317413792216731338/posts