ZNETSHOW “Summer Days & Nights”..Magazine reveral

Another bundle of pure beachy joy by Znetshows was sent to me along with many other designers to see what we could come up with for the "Summer Days & Night" challenge.  I will tell you this, you will be quite excited to see all the creations in this magazine. We were also asked what our "PERFECT SUMMER" would be like...  Well, you see how I write sometimes...like a NOVEL sized blurp.    So believe me when I say...mine was a bit wordy and really there was no room for it in the magazine..so I am going to tell you what my perfect summer is to me here on my blog.....lots more room to write and probably bore you to death!!LOL

"My idea of a perfect summer would be sitting on the beach with my toes in the sand and enjoying the cool breeze on a hot day. Of course I would have a hat on and some sunscreen slathered all over my body and a huge pair of sunglasses on.  I would be sitting next to my hubby while he reads. Then also, I would have to have my handy dandy camera with me so I can take millions of pictures only to pick out 10 of my favorite ones later. As for night time, sitting at an outside restaurant eating my favorite fish and chips and having a nice glass of wine or ice cold beer with my hubby...yea, he has to tag along just about everywhere I go, he can be fun!"

Now for the more exciting part of this post...the Magazine.. 
 You can find me on page 74-76.

Summer Days and Nights Magazine by ZnetShows

 To see all the participants visit Znetshows Blog

So, with all the yummy beads, here are some pictures which are not posted in the magazine.. Remember this picture below, this is what I started out with.

This is what I made for my evening wear...its beautiful.  I am quite happy with the finished piece

 See the yummy Swarovski ravolis?

 I bought these great pewter beads at Beads On Main when they had their big sale, its so pretty and is double sided

 And the fun beaded rope..  I watched a quick video on You Tube and got to work..once I got started it was pretty easy to make...but is a very loose stitch so I put the sari silk in the middle for added strength and stability of the beads.

I added a metal filigree backing to the Swarovski rivoli which gave the beads better support and it made it so much prettier I think.

This red design was just an added piece I had to do.  I made the polymer beads, was lots of fun to see this piece fall into place.  I had no idea what I was going to do with all the red hour glass sea glass beads other than the dangle part.  

 I made the dangle part first and beaded a loop on the top not really knowing what I was going to attach it to.

 I made the large beads first...which I think turned out really well..Then I had all this scrap clay I didnt want to waste, so I ended up making the ring you see here.  Little by little this piece came together and I am in love with it!

 I had this clasp for another creation I was going to make, but then decided it looked really good on this necklace...

 Here are the beads, they are quite big for me, but I am getting used to the larger beads.

This is my day time piece.  Now this one, I am going to keep.  It is amazing and very summery and beachy.  I had these beads sitting on my table for some time...not knowing what I was going to do and the deadline was getting closer and closer.....and closer.

It fits me perfectly..LOL

Here is a close up of the starfish pendent I made with polymer clay

 I actually made the bracelet first.  I love this bracelet too...all the dangly beads...

I kept the cording ends long so I could keep them as part of the design element...

Love this clasp...its rather large, but look how fun it is...and its easy to handle for those with larger fingers

I just love this color combination. Sunny, beachy and bold...

I thought the earrings would look best with the same dangling strands of cord with all the same beads tied on.  

And for a fun pair of earrings for my almost final piece.

I have a perfect top that will go well with these earrings..

This is my final piece.  I made these last but did not put them in the challenge.  I had run out of time.  

Now for the real fun part!  Yup, I am going to do a "GIVE AWAY" with this pair of earrings. I have never done one before and have seen lots of other designers do this and I have actually participated in a few.  If you are interested in my GIVE AWAY, please make sure you leave a comment.  Once I get my rules squared away, I will send you a little message and post it on my blog.

Thanks sooooo much for stopping by and checking out the new magazine!

Chris

Blog Hop Participants:

Amy Severino

Andrea Trank

BeckyPancake

BobbieRafferty

BR Kuhlman

CharlieJacka

ChristieMurrow

ChristinaMiles <-----me----->

ChristineStonefield

CynthiaMachata

CynthiaRiggs

DonettaFarrington

HopeSmitherman

KashmiraPatel

KathyLindemer

Kay Thomerson

KellyPatterson

KlaudeteKoon

Lee Koopman

Lisa Lodge

RenethaStanziano

SandraWashington

Shaiha Williams

SherylStephens

StephanieHaussler

TammieEverly

My Painted Pendents...

I decided to write a blurp about my newest creations.  I started painting these fun little pendents about a month ago.  I keep getting more and more ideas from people I talk to.  I have also stopped by our local bead stores and shared some of the finished pieces.  Last week, I walked into the bead store to bring a pendent to one of the ladies that works there...she loves my stuff.  It was almost time for her to get off work so I hung out for a few while she was finishing up with a couple of customers and she told me to spread out the pendents on the counter.  There was probably 5 or 6 ladies there and they were all checking out the pendents...it was quite fun to hear all of the positive feedback.

This little fairy is a special order which I will be taking to her new owner next week...photos are better when they are taken before I coat them with resin

I want to share how I actually come up with the pendents...and how much work goes into them. I purchased a class online about creating zentangles on pendents.  After watching the videos, I started to play around a bit with the clay.  I have been wanting to paint up some of my photos I have taken over the years and thought...hmm...why dont I just paint on the clay pendents instead of doing the Zentangles...  So I painted up a couple of them...liked how they turned out...asked one of my FB groups what they thought...  One idea was to make them thicker..  the first batch was a bit thin I will admit.  Then another opinion was to seal them with resin...WOW..now that changed the whole way they looked.  The first batch I ruined...yea, sad..all that painting and poof...broken nasty pieces of clay.  The second batch I did was far better.  Then, I decided to make the circles into domes...  and that is where I am today...

I was asked to make a hammer head shark...what do you think on this one..very cool?  I had a fun time making this one...it has glitter one its belly..

So, the very first thing I do, is pick a photo I have either taken myself, of found on google..or better yet..Pinterest...  I basically will change up the image to what I like..  I dont have any examples of my drawn pendents... only the finished pieces... Let me start again.  I first sand them after baking.  I tried 3 different brands of clay and have found only one that doesn not resist the watercolors.  Trial an error is the only way to perfect things..and really my pieces are far from perfect..but its going good so far.  So...after they are sanded, I draw on them.  I do some shading with pencil to get a good idea of how they are going to look once I start adding the watercolors.  Next, I decide what I want to paint first.  Sometimes the background gets painted first and then the main object, or visa versa.  Either way, its a bit of a process.  Most of my pendents take me less than an hour.  But if you look at the mermaids..those take me more time.

These are also a special request, they are sisters to the first pendent I made like this..  You see how they are not exactly the same, but they look similar enough...so cute!

I usually paint one pendent at a time.  Recently though, I needed to paint 2 mermaid pendents the same design.  I prefer not do duplicate my creations but I will if requested.  I think mainly because I forget what I did with the first painting...LOL  I have posted a couple of pendents on Etsy, but have not had one purchased yet.  I have recieved an order though which is just as good.  I have since made about 10 special orders with the pendents which I truely appreciate.

This one is a rectangular pendent I made of a horse...I am not 100% sure I like the wire dangles with the beads on the ends...I like the idea of them, but I still am not quite sure.  I think there needs to be something to wrap around the pendent or infront like this...hmm...any suggestions?

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog.  Perhaps in the near future I will do a give away...Hmmm...what do you think?

New Listings...

Happy Hearts...

Yes, time is running out for Valentines day...I think I am going to go to Rocky Mountain Chocolate and find something a little fun for hubby.  He is a chocolate-aholic.  Hehehe..

I recently posted a few of my heart designs in my Hand Made Artist shop if you want to take a peek!  They are sooo pretty.  I really think the bracelet is fun. It makes a little music when you wear it...the beads have a tune of their own!

https://handmadeartists.com/shop/

Reveal Day of 11th Non-Blogger & Blogger Challenge

Actually the reveal date for the WINTER FOREST challenge was yesterday, but you know me...always a day behind.  I decided to join this challenge because I fell in love with the painting which we had to get our inspiration from.

I thought it would be great to sort of recreate the painting and turn it into my own.  I have been interested in learning more about working with polymer clay and making pendents and when I saw Dini's painting I just had to do this.

So I made a simple drawing, then got to work.  I made the cab from polymer clay.  I then drew on the cab and added some soft pencil blending to help deepen the colors once I started painting them on.  I first sprayed the pencil with Flexatif spray so the pencil wouldn't rub off.

I then misted the piece with water and added the paints little at a time and heat set in between the layers....

Next, I drew darkened the shading with pencil again, and wrote Winter Forest on the bottom with permanent ink, then heat set that.

I then painted white acrylic paint blops to create the snow and drew more lines for texture.  I sealed the pendent with 3 coats of high gloss spray.

See the snow...and the fun heart on the trunk? 

Then it took me a day or two to decide on how I was going to finish on the pendent.  I have done beaded pendents before, but not using the embroidery beading technique.  So I challenged myself a bit when I decided to learn to do embroidery beading.  I made a quick pit-stop after work on one of my crazy days...lol...and picked up some leather scraps at Joann fabrics...ran the rest of my errands and when I got home, I got to work.  I had all the beads on hand so that was the easy part.  It took me, well, lets see, maybe 3 or 4 attempts before I finally got it working smoothly.  Im still not 100 percent happy with the results of the bead work, but I think it turned out ok.

Then, today, when I got home and logged onto facebook...there it was!  The reveal post...and my mind was a tad on overload!  I was not finished yet with the piece.  I didnt have the bail beaded, I didnt even have the chain or rope or what ever I was going to use to hang it onto!  Then, suddenly, the light bulb came on...I had made a rope with denim one day for fun, before Christmas, and it was sitting in my kumihimo box.  That is what I needed..that is why I made that rope!  So, once I got that all figured out and put together... it was time for the photo shoot.  Thank goodness that was a quick ordeal.  I loaded up photoshop and did my quick crop and sharpen and any other little fixes and posted the final picture on the challenge page.

But before I posted the picture, my mind started playing games on me.  I was thinking...OMG, maybe Dini will think I was copying her painting...maybe I was in the wrong for making this.. So I asked for some advise from an awesome beading artist and she was kind enough to tell me that she felt the pendent was beautiful and if it was her painting, she would have been happy with what I have created from the painting.  I hope Dini feels the same...

Thank you for reading all of this...and I hope you go to the hop and vote for my piece... XO

My Tree of Life challenge to myself

Today, I decided to make my drawing come to life.  I drew this picture earlier this week.  It took me a few times of going back to the drawing to finalize the way I wanted to put this together.  I actually took a bazillion pictures of each step, perhaps making a tutorial in the future.  I still need to figure out what I am going to make to use as the bail.  I do think it turned out really close to my drawing and what I actually had in my head...

Please feel free to leave a comment on this piece, I would love to get some feedback.

Creative Spark Winter 2013 is here!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this issue. Hope did an amazing job putting all the pieces together.  You MUST check this out!  There is so much information in this issue, lots of tutorials, lots of amazing jewelry designers and many beautiful pictures and inspiration!
I have a tutorial in this issue you will not want to miss...its fun and simple to add more spice to your sea glass beads...  I also have my pearl necklaces, a bracelet and a couple pairs of earrings..

THANKS again for the wonderful ZNETSHOWS for putting my designs in this digital magazine!  And a SPECIAL THANKS to HOPE for all her hard work!

ENJOY!!!

Click to view Creative Spark Winter 13-14 on GLOSSI.COM

New project/challenge on Face Book

Well about a 2 months ago, I joined in on a challenge from from JewelryLessons.com by Eni.  I belong to her group on FB.  Eni created this awesome website where you can purchase jewelry making tutorials from many different artists.  She also created her own Design tutorials where you can learn from her lessons.

Anyway, our first lesson was to make a drawing of a shape and create different ideas as to how you would make a piece of jewelry from it.  Then the next month was to pick a flower and draw it in several ways in which you can create a piece of jewelry.  We focused on shape first, then reshape it, then put it together in a drawing and then make it into a finished piece of jewelry.  We could choose any medium we wanted to, there are no limits as to how you want to make it.  So, with trial and error I put together this fun pendent.  I am going to make it into a necklace eventually.  I love how Humblebeads makes her designs and beads from different types of clay.  She has shared how she creates her designs through Art Bead Scene, she is my inspiration in this design.

first creation, not that pretty... YUK..

second creation, getting there, but needed more work. OK

third attempt, MUCH BETTER, is putting a smile on my face now!  I feel this is the final creation for this design.  I like it a lot.  It was faster and easier to make this time around.  And a bit messier since I used alcohol inks instead of acrylic paints...and I made the press mold much better so it didnt leave a ridge like it did on the first creation..

Please feel free to leave me some feedback.  Thanks...  :-)

Love this Glossi Digital Magazine...

If you take a real close look, you will find my tutorial of how to make this super cute and easy fish pendent... There are so many fantastic designs by all the designers for ZnetShows... Enjoy!

Click to view Fall 2013 Creative Spark on GLOSSI.COM

Cabochon Blog Hop Reveal

I belong to this awesome group on Facebook and one of the members, Sally Russik, decided to put together a fun challenge making Cabochons. She put togethers these great tutorials on making cabochons if you needed a little extra help. I thought it would be great to go to the rock store which is where I found one of the cabs I made which you will see below. My other cab is this amazing hand made Tree of Life Lampwork Focal Bead made by Susan Lambert I had lots of fun putting both pieces together and I hope you like them too.

This cab I chose to do wire wrapping.  I felt is was best to have as much of the natural beauty show.  I am not all the experienced yet with the wire wrapping, but I think it turned out fairly nice.

I had the beautiful beads that I knew would match perfectly with this slice of agate.  The beads tend to change colors when under different lighting which makes adds even more interest to them.  I made a kumihimo rope for the back part of the necklace using sari silk.

To really see the agate, I took this picture holding it up to the sky.  See all the fun layers of color?

This is my second Cabochon...

Is this yummy or what?  I LOVE this.  It took me some time to make this one.  I wasnt sure at first what I wanted to do with this bead, I just knew I was going to do something fun.  It is still not complete, but I will get it done soon.  SO, the dangles at the bottom are supposed to be the roots.  I was thinking of using copper somehow and mix it in as the roots but that idea flew out of my head quickly once I found the right beads.  I love those tiny white beads, I think those are shells, but I am not 100% sure...but I had to have them.

After I finished the bead work on the cabochon, I wasnt sure what I was going to do for the necklace part.  So, I dug through some of the threads that I recently purchased and decided that the light pale sea foam green thread was going to do the job.  I didnt want the thread to be too dark.  I wan the tree to stand out the most from this necklace.  So I found the tutorial on the micro macrame and really liked this pattern.  I picked through my stash and found the beads I felt would really tie in together with the cab.  Its not totally what I imagined it would look like but I think it worked out just fine.  :-)

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my creations...please feel free to leave me a comment or two...and dont forget to check out ALL of the other designers creations.  I cant wait to see what everybody made.

THANKS SALLY!!!

visit her blog here

Your Host:  Sally Russick

D Lynne  Bowland

Alicia Marinache           

Lynn  Jobber           

Jenny Davies-Reazor           

Jo-Ann  Woolverton           

Marde Lowe           

Dawn Doucette           

Mary K McGraw           

Gloria Allen           

Cheri  Reed           

Sonya Stille           

Elizabeth Owens Dwy           

Veralynne   Malone           

Tania Hagen           

Lynsey  Brooks           

YOU ARE HERE -----> Christina Miles                                                

Holly  Westfall           

Kathy  Lindemer           

Patti Vanderbloemen           

Therese Frank           

Adrienne Berry           

Liz   E            

Tanty  Sri Hartanti           

Ginger Bishop

Renetha Stanziano           

Marlene  Cupo           

Sandi Volpe           

Sharyl McMillian-Nelson           

Niky  Sayers

Mischelle Fanucchi           

Tracy  Stillman           

Skylar Bre'z           

Ann Schroeder           

Paula Kramer

Jess Green           

Susan Kennedy           

Stacie  Florer           

Cathie  Carroll           

Susan F.       

Michelle Caballero       

Sabine Dittrich           

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Kimberly Sturrup-Roberts           

Melissa  Meman           

Cheryl McCloud         

Michelle  Timms           

Cindy  Pack                    

Lynda  Carson        

Cynthia  Machata           

Julia  Harris           

Karin  Slaton      

Ingrid  Anderson           

Karin Grosset Grange       

Jasvanti  Patel         

Inge  von Roos         

Molly Alexander          

Toltec Jewels           

Jasvanti Patel