Saturday, December 20, 2014

Holiday Ornament Swap/Hop - Hosted by Sally Russick



Hi Y'all,

It is time for Sally Russick's Holiday Ornament Swap and Blog Hop.  This is my third year participating in this event, and I am already looking forward to next year's swap/hop.

Wow this year is almost over I hope all is well with you and yours and you are ready for a festive Christmas, Hanuka, or Kwanzaa Season, spent with family and friends. This is the first year in 31 years that I will not be celebrating Christmas with my Son.  He has flown half way around the world to New Zealand to spend the holiday with his sweet girlfriend.

Okay that is enough about my woes you came to see what my partner Karen Williams and I swapped.
Well first of all I was excited and intimidated at the same time when I found out that Sally Russick paired me with, Karen Williams, Freeform bead weaver extraordinaire!  I have been a fan of Karen's for a few years now. So what do you do for an amazing seed beadiest.  Well being a bead weaver I did something with cylinder seed beads.  Here is what I made for Karen.


I found a tutorial for a 3D star on Etsy by JoyHarmonDesigns I have not done many 3D beading designs and this little star... well lets just say it almost wasn't, but I pushed myself to stick with it and I am very pleased with the end results.  The art bead is a snowflake clay charm is by Linda Landig. Linda just started working with clay earlier this year, but you would think that she has been doing it for years.  I love her clay charms and pendants.
I did the star in a dark red and accented it with bronze, because Karen said that she likes the jewel tones and has several ornaments and decorations in dark red. 

Do you want to see what Karen sent to me? Well let me show you.  I swear when I opened the box and saw what she sent to me, one could probably hear my squeal with delight for miles.  Karen sent me an ornament made with one of her freeform beaded beads it is absolutely beautiful. Oh yeah, I guess you want me to hush and show you the ornament, right?


See I told you it was beautiful in wintery whites and blues.  Here is a picture of it hanging on my tree.


Oh and not only did Karen send me this beautiful ornament she also included her new book Explorations in Freeform Peyote Beading.  It is a very informative book with lots of easy to follow instructions on the art of Freeform Peyote.  


If you do not already have a copy of this wonderful book you can get one on Amazon.com.   You will see some of our beady friends in this book as well.

I want to thank you Sally for doing this Holiday Ornament Swap/Hop again this year.  It is always fun to find out who one's partner is going to be, what you will create, and what you will receive.

Now please take the time to go visit my partner Karen and the other's in this swap/hop.


Thank you for stopping by and visiting Happy Holidays to you, please leave a comment, because I enjoy hearing from you.

Happy beading Y'all,
Therese 



Sunday, December 14, 2014

Whoops Blog Hop - Hosted by Cynthia of Antiquity Travelers Blog

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Hi Y'all,

I know that I have not posted much in the past few months and I admit it is becoming a pattern, that I only post when I have a Challenge reveal.  I am going to get better in 2015.  Anyway yes I am posting, because a wonderful beady blogging friend, Cynthia Machata asked me, and others, if I would like to play around with some really huge balls, and being the type of woman I am, I of course said hell yeah!

The big balls are actually 16 MM gray glass pearls from Znet Shows, that Cynthia had left over from a previous challenge for Znet Shows, hence the name of the blog hop "Whoops", because she ordered to many not realizing how big they were when she ordered them. I forgot to take a before picture, but here is a picture of what Cynthia did with her pearls from the Znet Shows Challenge.

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I love this necklace it is so pretty and will go with just about anything dressed up or down!

When I got my package with the large glass pearls I knew right away what I was going to do, so I went to my stash and pulled out all of my gray glass pearls.  I had gray glass pearls in 3 mm, 4 mm, 6 mm, 8 mm, 10 mm, 12 mm, and 14 mm in various shades of gray from very light to dark. Perfect I thought, but if y'all don't know me I am all about the Bling!, so I went to my crystal stash and pulled out as many of the same size Czech rounds in clear AB that I had to match the sizes of the pearls and what I did not have I purchased at my local bead store Enchanted Bead.  Now to decide on the color of the seed beads I wanted to use, so you guessed it, I went to my seed bead stash and pulled out my metallic colors of silver, hematite, bronze, and gold.  I laid each color beside the pearls and crystals and I chose the hematite seed beads in sizes 11 and 8.  The stitch I chose to create my piece with is the tubular net stitch.
Here is what I created...



      For the clasp I peyoted a loop using the size ll seed beads and I had some 2 mm clear AB Czech crystals that I went around the outside of the loop with and I used one of the 14 MM gray glass pearls as the other side of the clasp.

Here is a close up of the center of my necklace...


The first weekend in December was my Gem and Mineral Society's Gem and Mineral Show and I was working at the welcome desk.  Well to keep busy between greeting people to the show I was working on this necklace.  I had a lot of people, as well as club members, comment on the necklace and ask a lot of question about the stitch I was using and if I taught classes and so on.  I told them that I do teach  classes at the Enchanted Bead and I told them where the store was, so hopefully one or two will show up for a class or two.

Thank you Cynthia for asking me to play with these huge ball, Um I mean big glass pearls, I had a great time creating with them.
Thank you to Y'all for stopping by and visiting my blog, please leave a comment I love hearing what y'all have to say.
Now please stop by and show my fellow beady buddies a little love too.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

A Time To Stitch 6 Two Days Left to Sign Up


Hi Y'all,

If you have not signed up or just did not see the original post on the 10th click here or go to Christine's blog here and sign up.  We would love to have you play along with us.

Happy beading Y'all
Therese 

Friday, October 10, 2014

A Time To Stitch Six Sign Up


Hi Y'all,

Wow it is hard to believe that it is mine and Christine's sixth time presenting A Time To Stitch Challenge.  It seems like just a few months ago we did our first one on peyote and herringbone stitches, but that was way back in May and June of 2012.  

Since this is our sixth time Christine and I thought we would make it just a bit more challenging.  The objective for ATTS 6 is to use a graphed chart, word chart, or picture chart using peyote, square, RAW, or brick stitches.

Here are some examples:


graphed chart


Word chart


Picture graph chart

Your items can be one dimensional or three dimensional



Little Bead Boxes written by Julia S. Pretl (you can get this book from Amazon .com in paper back or Kindle form)



This tutorial can be purchased on Etsy

Livvy's Lamb

Amy Severino of Amy Beads blog  has also gave permission to use the patterns from the Bead It Forward web site. If you do use the Bead It Forward patterns please send in what you created to the Bead It Forward project, it is for a good cause.

Also there are programs you can use to make your own patterns to use.  The program I use is Bead Tool 4 it is a free site or you can pay a small yearly charge and be able to save your patterns. 

Sign ups for ATTS 6 are from today through the 17th of October, and the reveal will be the 10th of January 2015, so come and sign up and join in on the fun here or over on Christine's blog.

Happy beading Y'all,

Therese

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

A Wheely Fun Jewelry Challenge - Hosted by Janet Bocciardi

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Hi Y'all,

Today is the reveal for the Wheely Fun Jewelry Challenge hosted by Janet Bocciardi.  Back a few months ago Janet asked myself and a few other very talented ladies if we would like to play around with a little wooden wheel that she found at her local Ben Franklin store, that was going out of business.   Well of course we all said yes.

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This is the wheel that Janet sent (I am using a photo that Hope Smitherman took because I forgot to take my own)
Janet also sent a few other items with the wheel one of the items was a clay bumble bee.  As soon as I saw the bee I knew what I wanted to do.   But then I thought how am I going to make it into a piece of jewelry that me or someone else would want to wear, the wheel is a little on the large side.  I thought I could make a pin, but they where and how to attach the pin back.  So I thought I could decorate a box and that is what I did.


I had some acrylic flowers, the rose is made up of four pieces stacked together.  I put the bee on a wire and ran the wire through the rose petal stacks and the leaves and tied them to the wheel.  Then I took some topaz Rizo strung them onto wire and they took three bell flowers and stacked them together with a green seed bead as a spacer.  I made three of each of the colors pink, purple, and orange.  I put two of each color in the front of the rose and the remaining in the back of the rose. Then I glued a 12 mm rovolli over the hole in the center of the wheel.  I they took some Peridot chips and made a vine and wrapped it around the wheel. 



 I went to Hobby Lobby and got a cardboard box and I found some paper with an old paint peeling wood wall print. I got my paints out and found a green grass color.  I glued the paper to the lid of the box and painted the bottom of the box.  I was not pleased with how the wheel looked on the lid.  It just did not pop.  I like the way the wheel looked on the bottom of the box, so I watered down the paint and painted the lid.  The print of the paper still shows through and the wheel pops.

I am pleased with how my box turned out.  I may keep it as a trinket box, or put a gift in it and give it away, but for now it will sit on my desk.

Thank you Janet for including me in this challenge it was fun playing and creating with the wooden wheel.

Now please go by and visit the others and see what they have created with their wheel.

Beadsong Jewelry:  http://www.beadsong.blogspot.com/
Crafty Hope:  http://www.craftyhope.com/
Honey from the Bee: http://www.honeyfromthebee.com
Therese's Treasures:  http://theresestreasures59.blogspot.com/   (you are here)

Happy beading Y'all
Therese

Sunday, August 31, 2014

August She Made/She Made

Hi Y'all,

OMG! I had to go back and check to see when was the last time Christine and I did a She Made/She Made blog post.  Are you ready?  It was six months ago on March 31st.  I knew it had been a while, but I did not realize until today how long it had been.   What was the reason you may be asking? Well we were both busy with other obligations and decided to leave our one on one challenge for later.  Here is what I chose for us to play with this go around.



We are getting down to just a few things left from the loot we exchanged back when we met in July 2012.

Here is what I made with the pick.

First a necklace made with a tubular netting using Twin beads.


I named it Rockin the Ball, because the rich colors of the tubular netting rock the Agate rounds.

The tubular netting using the Twins or Super Duos is very simple.  If anyone wants to know how I did the stitch, just ask in your comment and I will give you the instructions.

Here is what I did with the Lake stone.


On the Lake stone I make a wire bezel using four lengths of 22 gauge copper wire.  I strung the Twin beads on to the wire alternating between the matte black and the copper Twins.  I crossed two of the wires in the front and in the back just to secure the stone and the last four wires I used to make the bail. The neck strap is a design that I borrowed from Tanya of a Work in Progress blog.  Tanya is an amazing bead wearer.  If you are not familiar with her blog click on her name and check it out.

I am a member of my local Gem and Mineral Association and in our last meeting I was asked if I would like to teach some seed beading classes.  I said that I would if there were people interested in learning to seed bead.  Well of course someone had to ask what seed beading had to do with Gems and Minerals.  I told the Gentleman, that I use Gems and Minerals all the time in my seed beading.  I will be bringing these two necklaces to the next meeting to show how Gems can be used with seed bead.  

I hope that you liked what I did with the August pick and please go by and check out Christine's blog to see what she did with the pick.

Thank you for stopping by and please leave a comment, I love hearing from y'all.

Happy beading Y'all,
Therese





 

Saturday, July 26, 2014

CC7A July Reveal - hosted by Emma

Introducing: The Creative Continuum of Seven Artists ~ an adventure in art creating with friends :: All Pretty Things

Hi Y'all,

This month is the last installment of The Creative Continuum of Seven Artists.  It has been fun playing along with Monique, Christine, Sally, Cynthia, Emma, and the master mind of the CC7A Alicia.  Thank you Alicia for bring us all together and having us think out side of the box for the past 10 months.

The month of July was Emma's month and I do not believe she ever came up with a theme, but what she sent was challenging to create with, at least for me it was.  Here is what Emma sent out to us...


I was glad that Emma was the last month, because when I saw what she sent I had no idea at all what I would create with these items.  I love the pretty little polymer clay pendant and all the other fun items, I was just dumbfounded on what to do with them.  So one day in June I sat down and played with the components and the following pictures are what I created.


First I made a pair of earrings out of the pretty shades of pink and purple twirly thing-a-ma-bobs  two of the purple roundels and two of the purple round beads.  I think they are fun and cute.


Next I made a netted bracelet ,that was originally going to be a necklace, but it was too fat around for the small pendant.  On the ends I used the last two purple round beads.  In the netting I used size 3 mm glass pearls in purple, silver, and a pale pink.  The netting is size 11/0 white seed beads and size 8/0 pink seed beads.


I made this necklace around the time I was doing the Pearls, Pearls, Pearls challenge, so I was in the tying mood.  I have some pink cord that went perfect with the pendant.  I had purchased a long time ago these beautiful pink lamp worked beads from EB Bead and Metal Works Etsy shop and just never made anything with them, so I used two in this necklace.  I had some larger purple crystal roundels, some silver base metal spacers, and bead caps, I also used two of the purple tubes.


I made a pair of earrings with two of the pink lamp work beads that I used in the necklace along with 3mm crystal bicones and silver base metal spacers.


I made another pair of earrings using the speckled pink clear round beads and the purple tubes.

Now from April's theme Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.  A few of us had the conversation on how would we have made a piece to represent the line "Rocking horse people eating marshmallow pies."  Well this is what I came up with...


I used Czech lime green two hole rollos with size 11/0 and size 15/0 seed beads and the Opalite 10 mm beads that were in April's package.

In the words of Carol Burnett.  "I'm so glad for the time together,
                                                Just to have a laugh, or sing a song.
                                                It seems we just get started and before you know it.
                                                It's the time to say good bye."

I truly enjoyed being in this group of very talented Ladies it has been a lot of fun these past seven months.

Please go by and visit each of them and see what they created with Emma's wonderful components.


1. Monique
3. Sally
4. Therese (you are here)
5. Alicia
6. Cynthia
7. Emma


Happy beading Y'all,
Therese


Monday, June 30, 2014

Art Jewelry Element June Component of the Month Challenge


AJE Blog Button Image 150x150


Hi Y'all,

I was one of the lucky winners to participate with the lovely ladies of Art Jewelry Elements blog.  This month it was Linda Landig's turn to supply the components to be used in the challenge.  Here are Linda's beautiful clay components for this challenge.


Here is the one I received...


I forgot to take a picture of mine before I started creating my piece.

Those that create with clay, whether it is natural or polymer clay, always amaze me with the designs they can create.  Linda uses natural clay for her designs.

Here is what I created to hang my pendant from...


I enjoy stitching Cellini spiral and I knew it would be a good stitch to show case the beautiful colors in the clay pendant Linda sent to me.  So I went to my stash of seed beads and pulled out the colors that I felt best matched the colors in the pendant and got busy.  As I was stitching the spiral I was thinking of what I would use to finish the necklace.  As I was looking for glass pearls for Pearls, Pearls, Pearls, another blog hop I did this month, I came across these 10 mm teal and 3 mm purplish rose colored glass pearls, Bingo! they were a great match.  I also through in some 4 mm light gold glass pearls and some Topaz crystals. Bodda Boom Bodda Bing! "Summer Daisies" was born. 

Thank you to Linda and all the ladies associated with Art Jewelry Elements, I had a wonderful time playing and creating for this month's challenge.  

Thank you to you for stopping by and visiting my blog post.  Please leave a comment I like hearing from you.

Now go by Art Jewelry Element blog and click on the links to the others participating in this hop.  

Happy beading Y'all,
Therese





Sunday, June 29, 2014

Pearls, Pearls, Pearls - hosted by MiShel Designs


Hi Y'all,

Welcome to Pearls, Pearls, Pearls! blog hop hosted by Shel of MiShel Designs blog.  Shel has a true love for pearls whether they are natural or glass.  So she thought she would have a blog hop showcasing, you got it, Pearls! If you would like to find out some great tips on the care of pearls go here.

I too love pearls natural and glass.  I wish my stash had more natural pearls, but I also love the look of glass pearls, which I have tons.

Would you like to see what I created for this blog hop?  Of course you do, so lets get with it, shall we.


I have never knotted a necklace before and I like the look of knots between pearls.  I had bought these white freshwater pearls at a Gem and Mineral show here in Montgomery, AL back in November 2013.  I thought the color was gorgeous and the price was with in my budget.  The only thing I did not realize until I got home is that they were large hole pearls.  Oh well not a problem I could always string them on cord or leather.  So that is what I did.  I had some black 2 mm cord in my stash and some lampwork glass beads made by Sabine Detrich, she was my second Bead Soup partner in 2012.  As you can see there is a little bit of space between the knots, pearls, and the glass beads, but I think I did well for the first time tying knots.


I had enough to make a bracelet.  I did better at the knot tying in the bracelet.


Earrings. One day I will get the lengths the same in a pair of earrings.



I made a trip to Hunstville, AL back in April of 2013 and while I was there I visited a unique bead store called  Mary Bead Store.  I bought a lot of different gem stones and these peacock freshwater pearls.  At the Gem and Mineral show I bought these Blue Lace Agate spears.  When I was looking through my stash for something to pair with the pearls the agate spears seemed to be the best match. What do you think?  I separated the pearls and agate spears with 3 mm jet bicones. The jet bicones look like knots between the pearls and agate.  They are all strung on flex wire, with a lobster claw clasp.


I had enough pearls and bicones to make a matching bracelet.  I tried the agate spears, but they did not look right in the bracelet.  I really love the color of these pearls.

Last but not least an necklace out of glass pearls.


Scrumptious Scallops designed by Carolyn Cave, the tutorial for this necklace was published in the June 2014 Bead and Button magazine.  When I saw this one I thought I had to make it for the Pearls challenge.  It looks difficult, but it is really rather simple and had it done in a matter of hours.  The hardest part was deciding on what colors I wanted to use.

Well that is it for me on this blog hop.  If you would like to see more go on over to Shel's blog and after reading and viewing what Shel has created, click on the links to the other blogs participating in this hop.

Thank you so much Shel for coming up with this wonderful idea to create with and show off Pearl, Pearl. Pearls!!!!!!! I had a lot of fun creating. 


Happy beading Y'all,
Therese






Thursday, June 26, 2014

CC7A June Challenge hosted by Cynthia Machata

Introducing: The Creative Continuum of Seven Artists ~ an adventure in art creating with friends :: All Pretty Things

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue



Hi Y'all,

Welcome to the June CC7A challenge. If you would like to learn more about this group you can visit here.
This month is Cynthia Machata's month and here is what she sent out to us...



The old is the white silk, the new and blue are the stone beads, and the borrowed is the leaf toggle clasp.

When we found out the different themes of each of the CC7A participates, we all had comments about each theme.  When it came to Cynthia's we all told stories of our weddings.  Everyone was a little amazed with the story of my wedding, so I thought I would share it with y'all.

My Wedding Story

I have been married one time in my life, so far, to a rough and gruff biker guy way back on April 16, 1983.
Our wedding took place in the yard of our friends Alice and Mac Stone in Dickinson, TX.  There was about 80 to 100 people there most I did not know.  It was a beautiful day temperature in the 70's and blue skies.


My M.O.H. was Alice Stone, her daughter Rachel was my flower girl.  My Dad John Prosser gave me away, he escorted me down an isle of motorcycles, all Harley Davidsons (not seen in pictures).  We were married by J.O.P. of Harrison Co., TX.  Russell Frank, the cousin of my hubby, Randy Frank, was his Best Man. My Sister Charlotte, and my friend Carolyn, were my Bride Maids.   


Everyone had a blast at the reception afterward that lasted the whole weekend.  All of the liquor brought to the event went into the trash can punch, with the exception of the beer and the Champagne used to toast the wedding. I have no idea who the shirtless guy is in the picture with my Dad.  Not in these picture, but in the crowd of people at the wedding, there was a woman sun bathing during the ceremony, which I thought was pretty wild!  I heard stories and saw pictures of somethings that happened at the party after me and Randy left for the night, that are common for a biker party, but not appropriate to mention here.  I made all of the tops, head dresses, and decorations.  I also made the cake.  I had a very tight budget and in all I spent around 150.00.
I am no longer married to Randy, our marriage ended politely on April 18, 2000, but we remained good friends until he died on December 5, 2008.  We had one child, a son, Ryan, born August 13, 1983.

Now back to the challenge.  Here is what I made with the components that Cynthia sent to me...


I wanted to use the beautiful blue oval stone drops in my piece, but I just did not know how I wanted to display them in a necklace, so I went to my favorite place to get inspiration, which is Pinterest.  I found this bead tutorial available on Bead Magic.  The pattern used roundells, but I substituted 10 mm glass pearls in the necklace.  I braided the white silk to go around the back of the necklace and off set the leaf toggle, so it could be seen in the front, I did not want to hide the pretty clasp in the back. 


I had the greenish blue stones left so I made a pair of earrings using 4 mm milky white AB glass cubes and blue seed beads brick stitched around the stones.  To tie in the color of the stones I used some greenish blue 4 mm glass cubes at the top where the ear hook were attached.

Well I hope that y'all enjoyed your visit to my blog post today and that I did not bore you with my story of my wedding.  Thank you for stopping by and please leave a comment I love to hear what y'all have to say.

Thank you again to Alicia, our founder and to Cynthia, for sending these great components to work with, along with a great theme for the month of June.

Now please go by and visit the other six participants in this month's challenge.

1. Monique
3. Sally
4. Therese (you are here)
5. Alicia
6. Cynthia
7. Emma

Happy beading Y'all,
Therese

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Break From Tradition Challenge

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Hi Y'all,

Way back on December 15, 2013 Cynthia Machata asked a few of us beady people if we would like to participate in a little challenge with some large Howlite spikes some are black and some are white. Of course we all said yes and told her what colors we would prefer.  I chose a combination of both black and white.

Well, I received my spikes way back on Dec. 21, 2013 and my mind went blank.  I set them aside and pretty much forgot about them, until I was looking for something and came across them, so I put them out on my bead table and would look at them, and yes you got it, I still did not know what to do with them.

On May 17, 2014 Cynthia asked how we were doing with the spikes and wanted to know if we would prefer a rolling hop or a set date for a hop.  We all pretty much decided a set date, so the date was set to June 22, 2014.  Now I am a person that when is given a deadline I get things done, because I suffer from that syndrome of I do not want to let anyone down.  So I got a few different types of beads out in various colors and shapes and stated playing around.  

This is what I created with the black spikes...



The spikes are large and have two holes drilled through the base.  I chose some two hole Rula's in teal variegated with bronze and size 8 bronze seed beads.  I sewed all the spikes together with the Rula's and seed beads as spacers between the spikes.  Then I had the problem of what kind of clasp did I want to use. I remembered I had some bronze colored silk material, so I ripped off a piece and tied it on to both ends of the bracelet.  My friend Crystie came over one day to bead and I showed her this piece. She tied it around her neck and said "Oh what a cool choker this makes."  I told her it was meant to be a bracelet, but I see now, it can be both.

This is what I created with the white spikes...




I used Cubic Right Angle Weave (CRAW) for the white spikes.  I used size 9 purple seed beads and 3 mm Jonquil bicones and made a rectangle and then I spaced the spikes in the middle.  On the ends I used 4 mm purple cubes and made brick stitched pyramids and added a toggle clasp.  Take my word for it this bracelet looks better worn then it does in these pictures.

Both of these bracelets make quite a statement when worn.  Someone will think twice before grabbing your wrist if you are wearing one of these bracelets.

Thank you Cynthia for inviting me to play with these huge spikes, I had fun creating with them once the inspiration hit.

Thank you to y'all for stopping by, please leave a comment, cause I love hearing what you have to say.

Now go by and visit the other lucky participants and see what they created with their spikes.


Happy beading Y'all,
Therese