Pantone Spring 2012 Bead Swap

from Lakes Region Tent & Event

I have been so busy with my day job I haven't yet had time to visit the Challenge of Literature blogs or the Art Bead Earring Swap blogs to comment. I hope to rectify that later tonight and early tomorrow morning.

In between all of these events our basement flooded because we received about 9 inches of rain in a couple of days. This is the second time in 22 years that we've had water in our basement - both times after we had finished the basement, of course. I'm not talking inches or feet of water in the basement, but enough to come up through the cement (says my husband, I'm not entirely convinced). Our house was built in the early 1950's and it was a swampy area that had fill brought in. When we finished our basement 7 years ago, my husband broke up the floor where the bathroom would be. The dirt underneath was wet, not damp, but wet. We have pretty good drainage and it flows pretty well during wet weather. However, when we receive torrential rain for long periods of time, we apparently get a wet basement.

The last time this happened was 5 years ago in the Patriot's Day storm. Both of these storms were N'oreasters. We don't typically get this much rain. Anyhoo. I noticed last Sunday night when I went down to the laundry room that something was amiss, as I stepped in water. When I flipped on the light switch (I know, not terribly smart), I could see water had come up through the joints in the laminate flooring and was puddling (there was a barrier layer of plastic that had been laid over the concrete prior to installing the flooring). This then prompted 3 days of back-and-forth arguing between me and my husband because I was afraid of black mold. He finally pulled up about 1/3 of the laminate on Wednesday evening. The concrete is now dry, more flooring needs to come up and I think we've decided that we're going to stain and seal the concrete and put down scatter rugs (or scared rugs if you're my husband - they're scared because while he's a very good plumber and project manager, his home maintenance skills are sorely lacking). Oh well.

So, in the midst of this I received my lovely earrings from Shelby and Diane. I'm wearing a pair as I type and feel quite sassy! I had previously signed up to do a bead swap, sans blog hop, with Keri Lee Sereika of Pink Lemonade through a match-up by the Queen of Bead Soup, the lovely Lori Anderson. We both belong to a group Lori started on facebook called Bead Soup Cafe. It's a spot where folks who've participated in the swaps, and those who love beads (doesn't everybody?) can chat. Keri Lee and I decided we'd follow the same swap parameters as the regular Bead Soup swaps: focal, clasp and supporting beads, and we'd send them out around the end of May. This swap was based on the spring 2012 Pantone color forecast. Keri Lee and I decided to pick 2-3 colors from the forecast and go from there.

 Well, I wanted to wait 'til I returned from my trip to Washington, D.C. (that's for another post, love you Caiti!) in case I found a bead shop(s) there and could add some items from my travels. No. Such. Luck. Oh, I found a couple of stores, but nothing piqued my interest. I'm very spoiled here in Maine. We have several lovely bead stores, The Beadin' Path being my favorite. So, I waited until I returned home to pull my stash for Keri Lee together.

 

images from Invitations by Ajalon

I chose margarita, sodalite blue and cockatoo for Keri Lee's soup. I think I've said before that I love the ocean and the beach ;) and I these colors reminded me of a summer beach. I'm not a huge fan of the really bright colors or the pinks/purples. Here's the soup I sent to Keri Lee:

I selected porcelain rings and crackle finish MOP ovals in sodalite blue, Czech glass ovals and MOP squares in cockatoo, buri seed and pearls in margarita, as well as clear sea glass bits that I drilled, a sterling silver starfish clasp and a pottery shard from the ocean that I soldered (this one I purchased because I didn't have any in my collection that coordinated). These beads were purchased at another local bead store, Caravan Beads (the original), with the exception of the clasp which I had purchased at The Beadin' Path a number of years ago).

Keri Lee is one very talented lady. She made almost everything she sent to me! There's a textured copper clasp, another textured copper piece that's calling out to be a bracelet (to me anyway) along with beautiful torch fired enamel beads - in the same colors I sent to her!! as well as a crystal/bead mix in complimentary colors.

We both found it quite funny that we had the same color scheme in mind! I've had my torch fired enamel supplies for a year and a half and haven't tried them yet, I'm a little intimidated. I think it's time to take Barbara Lewis' e-course!

Anyway, it was a lovely swap and I've enjoyed getting to know Keri Lee a little bit (and hope to get to know her even better)! Thanks for stopping by!

Art Bead Earring Swap - June 2012 Edition

Hi folks! Quick post - a lot on the burner at the moment (flooded basement and 16 ornaments for my daughter's lacrosse team for tomorrow)! Many thanks to Diana Ptaszynski of Suburban Girl Studio for again hosting this lovely swap! My partners for this swap are two VERY talented ladies; ceramic artist Diane Hawkey and jewelry artist Shelby Foxwell.

Shelby sent me a beautiful pair of earrings that are going to go with a LOT! They're sterling silver with lampworked beads by Atlantis Glass & Bead. They're just gorgeous! Thank you so much Shelby!

Diane was again very generous (we were paired for the last swap too!) and sent 2 pairs, both are beautiful! Sterling silver with pearls and stones or glass and her own ceramic charms - love them! Thanks so much Diane!

I am a lucky girl! All 3 pairs will go with so many things. Thank you both so much!

The earrings I made for Diane and Shelby are both made with sterling silver wire and ear wires, ceramic rounds by Keith O'Connor (that I purchased at The Beadin' Path) and decoupaged beads (sealed with ICE Resin) by me.

The pair on the left for Diane has the image decoupaged to blue Chinese "sea glass" beads. Shelby's on the right are decoupaged on red Czech (I think) glass briolette pendants. The floral image that I decoupaged and sealed came from a back issue of Jo Packham's Where Women Create (Jo is also responsible for Where Women Cook, The Creative Connection and a number of books - she's an artist, author and entrepreneur) - spring 2010 issue I think. There was an article about Luana Rubin of www.equilter.com. In the article there was a picture of Luana holding up a beautiful quilt and I thought it would make a wonderful decoupage sheet for some future project.

So, it's time to kick back and take a tour of the other blogs to see what beautiful earrings the other other participants created. Thanks for stopping by and thanks again Diana!

Diana Ptaszynski     http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com

Jan Onipenco    http://moltenmayhem.typepad.com/

Patti Vanderbloemen        http://myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com/

Mary Harding   http://www.maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com

Diane Hawkey    http://dianehawkey.blogspot.com/

Lesley Watt        http://www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com

Jenny Davies Reazor      http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog

Melinda Orr      http://www.orrtec.blogspot.com

Cilla Watkins      http://www.tellyourgirlfriends.com

Stephanie Haussler       http://www.pixybugdesigns.blogspot.com

Sally Russick     http://www.thestudiosublime.com

Susan Kennedy       http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com

Amy Freeland  http://www.copperdiem.blogspot.com/

Marla James     http://marlasmudmoments.blogspot.com/

Pam Sears http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Tania Spivey http://www.moobiegracedesigns.blogspot.com/

Kathleen Lange Klick http://www.modernnaturestudio.blogspot.com/

Lori Bowring Michaud  http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com/

Erin Prais-Hintz  http://www.treasures-found.blogspot.com/

Gail Barnett http://www.atlastanewyearsresolution.blogspot.com/

Linda Landig  http://www.lindasbeadblog.com/

Sharleen Newland http://www.shaterraclaystudio.blogspot.com/

Dee Elgie  http://cherryobsidia.blogspot.co.uk/

Mary Shannon Hicks  http://uptwnsh-fallingintothesky.blogspot.com/

Lisa Johnson  http://whimsyswonders.blogspot.com/

Shelby Foxwell  http://sundownbeaddesigns.blogspot.com/

Keri Lee Sereika  http://www.pinklemonade.typepad.com/

Cheryl Brown    www.dragonflybeads.ca

Linda Younkman http://www.lindysdesigns.blogspot.com/

Kari Asbury http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com/

Fay Wolfenden http://www.torchfairy.blogspot.com/

Art Bead Earring Swap Reveal!

Good day to you! Today is reveal day for the Art Bead Earring Swap hosted by the lovely and talented Diana Ptaszynski of Suburban Girl Studio! Diana paired me with the very talented ceramic bead artist, Diane Hawkey. Diane was extremely generous and gifted me with two pairs of earrings, thank you so much Diane!

First up is a pair of LOVE hearts with sterling silver earwires. Adorable, and I can't wait to wear them! Diane is very well known in the beading world for her word beads. These beads have a shiny red glaze and the white banner and black words have a matte finish.

Next up is a pair of amber, crackle finish heart beads on brass earwires from Vintaj.

I wore these earrings to work the other day. They coordinate nicely with a necklace I finished over the weekend for Andrew Thornton's September Readers Challenge, which I'll be revealing on Wednesday, October 12 (check back!). This pair has a shiny amber glaze with a slight crackle finish on the beads and I think you can make out a floral and leaf embossing on the beads. Lovely!

Again, I am a very lucky girl! Thank you Diane!

Below is a picture Diane took of the earrings I sent to her (the peril of a daughter taking a photography class this semester is that I don't have my camera available whenever I want it!).

 

For these earrings, I used sterling silver bezel connectors from Rio Grande. I placed sealed scrapbook paper that looks like sand in the back, then teeny tiny pieces of sea glass in shades of brown, green and cobalt and filled them with ICE Resin. I then wired brown seaglass chips, cobalt dyed MOP chips, apatite, peridot and a stone I'm not sure about chips to the bottom connector with sterling ball end headpins and finished them with sterling earwires. I had intended to have all of the dangles be seaglass, however, my Dremel decided to give me fits and only the brown got drilled. This was my first time using resin and I was a wreck (I also made a few other pieces I'll show another day). The ICE Resin is worth every penny, it's FABULOUS! I had NO air bubbles. I can't wait to use it again.

I collected the seaglass at my favorite little hometown beach, Willard Beach. My Uncle Chick (his nickname) was the lifeguard there for 38 years. It's the beach my parents met at and they fell in love there (my dad worked summers for my uncle). I spent many a summer afternoon there with my children when they were growing up. It's a little gem of a beach. Most of the glass I collect there is smallish and usually brown, green or clear, but I love it!

Thanks again Diana for hosting this swap, and thanks for partnering me with Diane! Below are links to the rest of the participants:

Diana Ptaszynski   http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com/ Jenny Davies-Reazor  http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp  http://www.skyejewels.blogspot.com/ Lisa Petrillo  http://www.lucidmoonstudio.com/ Patty Chaban Gasparino  http://www.mylifeunderthebus.typepad.com/ Susan Kennedy  http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com/ Shannon Iko Chomanczuk  http://www.formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com/ Cilla Watkins  http://www.tellyourgirlfriends.com/ Diane Hawkey  http://www.dianehawkey.blogspot.com/ Pam Ferrari http://www.ferrarioriginalsyahoocom.blogspot.com/ Lori Bowring Michaud  http://www.artfullyornamental.blogspot.com/ (you are here) Stacey M. Curry  http://www.starhitchedwagon.blogspot.com/ Linda Landig  http://www.lindasbeadblog.com/ Norma Turvey  http://www.moonlitfantaseas.blogspot.com/ Melinda Orr  http://www.orrtec.blogspot.com/ Holly Westfall  http://www.silverrosedesigns.blogspot.com/ Rosemarie Cowit  http://www.gemrosedesigns.blogspot.com/ Staci L. Smith  http://www.stacilouise.blogspot.com/ Sarah Elder  http://www.mysocalledjunkylife.blogspot.com/