Holiday Bling 2 Blog Hop

 Good day to you! Welcome to the Holiday Bling 2 Blog Hop hosted by the lovely Shelley Graham Turner and Marlene Cupo. Thanks, ladies, for hosting such a fun event so very close to my heart! This go-round I was paired with Chandra Merod of Juniper Goods from sunny California. It's finally decided to be winter, temperature wise, here in Maine. I think I'd prefer the temps in California better (at least after Christmas - we may have a white one this year!)!

Chandra is both an artist and shop owner - how wonderful is that! I'd love to be able to create all day! She sent me two beautiful felt ornaments - love them! I just love adding new handcrafted ornaments to my tree each year. So much more special when someone makes them just for you! She sent me a sweet little gingerbread house. So special! My girls decorate a gingerbread house together every year and my youngest daughter had, what I refer to, gingerbread palooza at our house when she was a sophomore in high school - 20 girls decorating their hearts out! It was bedlam, yet a wonderful memory!

As the person who makes the special ornaments for my family every year, it's nice to be the recipient of lovely, handcrafted ornaments! The second ornament she sent to me was a beautiful little tree. Again, so special because I just love my tree each and every year. I love to get up early in the morning and sit and enjoy the tree lights while drinking my coffee. Such a wonderful way to start the day ('course it makes it hard to leave for work too!)!

This year's tree. Sorry for the bright flash, but it wasn't showing up any other way. Presents are not wrapped and under the tree yet.

Last year we had a family craft evening and made ornaments for my daughter Caitlin's first tree away from home. It was fun (well, hilarious actually). We did it again this year for my son's first tree away from home with his fiance in the home they've just purchased (tree's going up this weekend!). I think I'd actually like to make it an annual date with my family. 

Sneak Peek of the ornament I made for Chandra! Hop on over to see it!

Now, go hop along and see what these other lovely ladies have sent and received! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all!

Shirley Moore http://www.beadsandbread.blogspot.com
Lori Bowring Michaud http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com - You are here!
Catherine King http://catherines-musings.blogspot.com
Dyanne Cantrell http://deelitefuljewelrycreations.blogspot.com
Sonya Stille http://dreaminofbeads.blogspot.com
Elaine Ray http://elaineray.blogspot.com
Gina Hockett http://freestyleelements.blogspot.com
Jo-Ann Woolverton http://itsabeadifulcreation.blogspot.ca
Debbie Rasmussen http://kepirasmussen.blogspot.com
Renetha Stanziano http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com
Ginger Bishop http://lilmummylikes.blogspot.com
Miranda Ackerley http://mirandack.com/category/thoughts
Sandra McGriff http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.ca
Tammie Everly http://ttedesigns.blogspot.com
Alicia Marinache http://www.allprettythings.ca
Melinda Abrahamson http://www.firstreetcrafts.com
Rita/ Toltec Jewels http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com
Chandra Merod http://www.junipergoods.blogspot.com
Mary Govaars http://www.mlhjewelrydesigns.com
Kelley Fogel http://www.mylifeonebeadatatime.blogspot.com
Tiffany Goff Smith http://www.southerngalsdesign.blogspot.com
Heather Rats Otto http://www.thecrafthopper.com
Anitra Gordy Boyers www.leelucreations.blogspot.com
Marlene Cupo http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com
Shelley Graham Turner http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com

Art Bead Love Tour is on the move again!

 

Hop on over to visit Mimi Gardner at baubles, beads & other curiosities to see what she claimed from that gorgeous chain and the lovelies that she added to it! Drawing is Sunday, December 16 at noon!

This amazing chain was started by the folks at Love My Art Jewelry . It is one and a half feet of incredible art bead/component goodness! Check out their site, they have wonderful tips and tricks for folks who love to create art jewelry.

Gossiping Goddess / Kaz Baildon Bead Giveaway Blog Hop

Good day to you! Welcome to the reveal of the Kaz Baildon Bead Giveaway Blog Hop hosted by the lovely Lesley Watt of The Gossiping Goddess blog, THEAtoo and THEAjewellery. Lesley is a multi-talented jewelry and component designer. I was delighted to be paired with her a few months ago in Diana Ptaszynski's Mismatched Art Bead Earring Swap, and received a beautiful pair of earrings that go with so many things in my wardrobe!

Lesley put out a call several months ago for folks to put their names into the proverbial hat to receive beads that had been generously given to her by Kaz Baildon of Cheeky Cherub Designs. We would not know which beads we would receive and were charged with creating jewelry, accessories, ornaments - whatever we could dream up. I was very excited to be selected!

I promptly received my beads from Lesley and immediately thought I'd made a pair of earrings and a pendant for a necklace. Aren't they gorgeous! They have quite a bit of heft to them - one is just a tiny bit larger than the other two. I made the earrings first, however, they were a bit too heavy for my earlobes. I'm not sure if a smaller pair of ear wires would have made a difference or not; the antiqued brass kidney wires I had were definitely too long to support the weight of the earrings. I used vintage brass bells, Swarovski crystals, vintage lucite, dyed banded agate and pearls with brass headpins, bead caps and wire to make the dangles. I was bummed and slept on it.

Ultimately, I thought about working them into a necklace but wasn't sure how. I finally decided on a lariat so I could use both pieces. I've never made one before - certainly not because they're difficult to make! I like it! I used vintage copper chain from my favorite bead store The Beadin' Path (it's where the bulk of the other parts are from as well). It's a bit longer than in the picture above, the excess in hanging in the back so it would fit properly on the bust.

I'm not sure yet what I'll create with the third bead, but I may possibly work it into a Christmas ornament - I'm in that mode at the moment. Thank you very much Lesley for hosting such a lovely hop! Now, grab a cuppa' and see what these other designers have dreamed up (I know I will be when I return from work this evening!)!

Lesley Watt - www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com
Cory Tompkins - http://tealwaterdesigns.blogspot.com
Rebecca Anderson - http://songbeads.blogspot.com
Marie Cramp -  http://skyejewels.blogspot.com
Claire Braunbarth - http://smittenbeads.blogspot.com
Heidi Post - http://http://expostfactojewelry.blogspot.com
Tiffany Smith - http://southerngalsdesign.blogspot.com
Sharyl Macmillan-Nelson - http://sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com
Ailsa Cordner - http://www.bramalfiebeadsetc.co.uk/
Linda Landig -  http://lindalandig.wordpress.com
Caroline Dewison - http://blueberribeads.com
Renetha - http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com
Kari Asbury - http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com
Niky Sayers - http://silverniknats.blogspot.com
Purple Cobwebs - http://www.purplecobwebs.blogspot.com
Cilla Watkins - http://www.tellyourgirlfriends.com/
Therese Frank - www.theresestreasures59.blogspot.com
 Claire Ennis - http://clairescrystalclassics.blogspot.com
 Emma - http://apolymerpenchant.blogspot.com
Kathy Lindemer - http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com 
Alicia - http://www.allprettythings.ca
Sandy Huntress - http://keepsakecrafts.net/blog/
Lori Bowring Michaud - http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com - you are here!
Amy - http://copperdiem.blogspot.com
Katherine Gale - http://terrabeadworks.blogspot.com

2012 Art Bead Scene Ornament Hop

Good day to you! Is it though, I'm not sure - think I should have stayed in bed this morning. I had a lovely update written to replace my ABS Ornament Blog Hop sneak peek with my reveal at 7:00 this morning. Just as I was uploading my last picture so I could click "Update" my internet went down. I franticly tried to copy and paste into Word so I could repost, but that was to no avail. Thank you Road Runner.....Anyhoo, I'll try it again.....

Thanks for stopping by to see the ornaments I created for this wonderful hop hosted by the lovely Heather Powers of Humblebeads, Art Bead Scene and Earrings Everyday. Handcrafted Christmas ornaments are near and dear to my heart. Our tree is covered with them each year. I love looking at our tree and remembering either where and the artisan I purchased an ornament from, creating them myself, or with the kids. We have some lovely ornaments our beautiful TJ's Godmother created for him when he was a little boy.

Back at the beginning of October I attended Art is You...Stamford and took a mini-class with Laurie Mika. It was wonderful and introduced me to a new obsession - polymer clay. The class was wonderful, Laurie is a fabulous teacher, and the techniques were stunning yet quite simple. These ornaments, though nothing like those from the class, are very simple yet oh, so sweet!

I created these gingerbread folk using a special ingredient. My girlfriend Roxanne's grandfather, Wilfred, died a number of years ago. Wilfred and Arlene, her grandmother, raised her. They were l ovely people. We watched South Portland's annual Memorial Day parade every year from their front lawn. Some of my favorite memories from childhood right through to this past Memorial Day - we still watch from there even though Walter and Arlene have passed. Roxanne moved far away years ago as well. When Wilfred was at the end of a battle with cancer, Roxanne came and stayed with my family in order to spend time with him, and then make his funeral arrangements and everything associated with the home she grew up in. It was a whirlwind of activity and a bit overwhelming. We helped her some, my husband and boys moving the things she wanted to keep, but she handled the bulk of the Herculean effort. I say Herculean because Wilfred had owned a vacuum cleaner repair business since leaving the miliatry. Man, was there stuff!

Rox sorted through the things she watned to keep, sell and trash. There were a few things she didn't want but the hoarder collector in me, couldn't let them go - so I saved them waiting for the right time to make something with them. These ornaments are the first. The "icing" on my gingerbread folk are freshwater pearls from a multi-strand necklace Arlene wore. The pearls still smell of her perfume. Other ingredients I used are Swarovski flat-back crystal pearls and crystals (in Light Siam for the Mr. and Indian Pink for the Mrs.) as additional decoration. Believe it or not, the hangers took longer and were more difficult to make. I used pearlized lampwork beads by Adriana Sauceda of San Antonio, Texas to decorate the hangers. I truly hope that was German silver wire I was using instead of my sterling - there was a lot of scrap!

These, along with a few other things, will be winging their way down to Roxanne in South Caronlina shortly. Thanks so much for stopping by, and a HUGE thank you to Heather for hosting such a sweet hop! Now, go visit these other lovely artisans to see what they created!
Art Bead Scene
Humblebeads
Treasures Found
Song Beads
Viki O'Dell
Sue Beads
Modern Nature Studio
Diane Hawkey
Suburban Girl Studio
Jen Judd Rocks
Ellie's Bijoux
Island Girl's Insights
Life By The Seat Of My Pants
Too Aquarius
Shelley Graham Turner
Artfully Ornamental
Charis Designs Jewelry
Harrison Hollow Designs
Silver Nik Nats
Bead Soup Mix
Toodles and Binks
Bead Recipes
Play Sculpt Live
BeeTree by M.E.
Billi RS Rothe
A Half-Baked Notion
Kimis Jewelry and Gifts

3rd Annual Challenge of Color - Reveal

Annnnndddd, that scheduled blog post didn't work. Some day I'll figure this out. Sorry my post for the Challenge of Color is a day late and a dollar short!

Good day to you! Today 80 creative souls are revealing their creations for the 3rd annual Challenge of Color blog hop hosted by the very lovely Miss Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati the and Treasures Found blog. Erin and her friend Brandi Hussey of Brandi Girl Blog teamed up for this go-round. Brandi created wonderful palettes based on the Earth As Art satellite images from the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA. Fabulous!! I had the greatest of intentions to make two pieces for this hop, one for each of the two palettes Miss Erin sent to me. However, life, as usual, got in the way and I only finished one in time for the hop because:

My new studio looks like this:

bad phone camera photo

My kitchen/dining room/former studio look like this:

There is dust and dirt everywhere and Christmas Eve is in 23 days!! Will this all be done before the holidays? NO, but I still need to have it clean and decorated. I'll be scrubbing, moving and organizing all weekend. The wonderful thing is that my family will now be able to sit at and move around the dining room table comfortably. It will be heaven when it's finished. Many thanks to my husband, our son Matt, our daughter's boyfriend Josh, and our very talented, very good friend Mark. It wouldn't have happened without him.

On to the hop! The first palette Miss Erin sent to me is:
Coahuila, Mexico:

Love it! I also see a dusky plum in the photo so I pulled that into my necklace as well. I opted for simple for this necklace and I really like it:

I challenged myself to use only items I already owned. The lampworked cone is an art bead that I've hoarded for a very long time; it's by Jennifer Scott Geldard. I haven't purchased many art beads over the last few years because I have so many that I've had for a long time. Why I haven't used them I don't know, it's time. Anyhoo, I added some gunmetalish, textured oval chain, a few pierced metal beads, MOP beads and to decorate the tassel, Swarovski crystals and some stone beads. I want to fill out the tassel a bit more by adding a few more strands of chain and some more crystals and stones in the aqua, plum and green colors. The clasp is a sterling silver clasp set with a pearl that I've had forever as well. It's just a bit tarnished to it works well with the chain.

My second palette is:

The Bogda Mountains of China

Aren't the colors in the palette gorgeous?! While I wasn't able to complete my piece in time for the hop, it's in the pipeline. I, again, have an art bead by Sandy Seaman that I've been hoarding that will be the focal. It goes with this color palette like it was made for it. I'll post a pic when it's finished, probably after Christmas, but you never know - I may finish it before. This is the state of the necklace at the moment. It'll look a whole lot different by the time it's finished, I'm sure.:

                                                         

Thank you for hosting such a fun challenge Miss Erin; Brandi, thanks for such beautiful palettes! Now, go hop along and see what everyone else has created!

Erin Prais-Hintz    http://treasures-found.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color-reveal.html
Rebecca Anderson    http://songbeads.blogspot.com
Kris Auderer    http://strandedinthecity.wordpress.com
Chrizette Bayman    http://beadsoupmix.blogspot.com
Lori Bowring Michaud    http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com
Courtney Breul    http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com/
Lynsey Brooks    http://yellowunicorncreations.blogspot.co.uk
Stephanie Buss    http://maxandlucie.blogspot.com
Iveth Caruso    http://www.creativeatelier.net/
Shannon Chomanczuk    http://www.formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com
Lisa Cone    http://inspiredadornments.blogspot.com/
Cece Cormier    http://thebeadingyogini.com
Lori Dorrington    http://lorisglassworks.blogspot.com
Dawn Doucette    http://designsbydawnmarie.blogspot.com
Jeannie Dukic    http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog/
Kim Dworak    http://cianciblue.blogspot.com/
Beth Emery    http://storiesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com
Janice Everett    http://JLynnJewels.blogspot.com
Pam Farren    http://www.re-maker.blogspot.com
Donetta Farrington    http://simplygorgeous-donetta.blogspot.com
Gloria Ferrer    http://judetaama.blogspot.com.es/
Cherrie Fick    http://designsinthelight.co
Therese Frank    http://www.theresestreasures59.blogspot.com
Patty Gasparino    http://www.mylifeunderthebus.typepad.com
Tanya Goodwin    http://pixiloo.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color.html
Ambra Gostoli    http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/3rd-challenge-of-color
Jess Green    http://tabbiekoshka.blogspot.co.uk/
Denielle Hagerman    http://somebeadsandotherthings.com
Mary Harding    www.maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com
Karla Hartzog    http://www.karlakrafts.com
Kim Hora    http://www.kimmykats.com
Brandi Hussey    http://brandigirlblog.com
Emanda Johnson    http://ArtemisiaStudio.blogspot.com
Jennifer Justman    http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/
Sue Kennedy    http://suebeads.blogspot.com
Ema Kilroy    http://emakaye.blogspot.com
Lee Koopman    http://Stregajewellry.wordpress.com
Linda Landig    http://www.LindasBeadBlog.com
Kirsi Luostarinen    http://kirsiluokorut.blogspot.com
Cynthia Machata    http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com/
Alicia Marinache    http://www.allprettythings.ca
Beth McCord    http://www.ebbeadandmetalworks.blogspot.com
Mary K McGraw    http://mkaymac.blogspot.com/
Karen Mitchell    http://www.overthemoon-design.com
Cheri Mitchell-Reed    http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/
Aimee Moisa    http://threecatsdancing.blogspot.com
Karla Morgan    http://www.texaspepperjams.blogspot.com
Penny Neville    http://copperpennydesigns.blogspot.com
Becky Pancake    http://beckypancakebeaddesigns.blogspot.com
Kashmira Patel    http://sadafulee.blogspot.com
Alice Peterson    http://alice-dreaming.blogspot.com
Kayla Potega    http://www.teejewelry.blogspot.com
Debbie Price    http://greenshoot.blogspot.co.uk
Bobbie Rafferty    http://beadsong.blogspot.com
Caron Reid    http://caronmichelle.blogspot.com.au/
Nicole Rennell    http://nicolerennell.com/blog
Cynthia Riggs    http://cynthsblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color.html
Andrea Ross    http://silvermapledesigns.blogspot.com/
Sally Russick    http://thestudiosublime.com
Annie Scherz    http://www.studioluma.ca
Pam Sears    http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/
Renetha Stanziano    http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com
Sandra Stein    http://sannipanni.wordpress.com
Kristen Stevens    http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com
Tracy Stillman    http://www.tracystillmandesigns.com
Sherri Stokey    http://www.knotjustmacrame.com/2012/11/challenge-of-color-reveal.html
Lola Survillo    http://www.beadlolabead.blogspot.com
Kay Thomerson    http://KayzKreationz.blogspot.com
Jo Tinley    http://daisychaindesignsjewellery.blogspot.com
Emma Todd    http://www.apolymerpenchant.com
Cory Tompkins    http://www.tealwaterdesigns.blogspot.com
Pam Traub    http://www.klassyjoolz.blogspot.com
Melissa Trudinger    http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com
Michelle Tucker    http://michellescreativemusings.blogspot.com/
Shelley Graham Turner    http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com
Monique Urquhart    http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com/
Rachel Van-Walsk    http://balancedcrafts.com/blog
Patti Vanderbloemen    http://www.myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com
Lesley Watt    http://thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com
Lynn White    http://lynnwhitejewelry.com/Lynn_White_Jewelry/Lynns_Jewelry_Blog/Lynns_Jewelry_Blog.html
Joan Williams    http://www.lilrubyjewelry.com

And the winner is.......

Were you expecting to find out who the winner of the Mrs. Snow ornament was yesterday? Me too! I, however, have been sick as a dog for the last several days and have spent what energy I've had laying in bed or on the couch watching the History Channel, BRAVO (Lord help me), HGTV and the Food Network. I finally have enough energy to sit up for a while. Sorry for the delay!

I had indicated in my previous blog post that I'd accept comments 'til 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday (10/30) and announce the winner of the Mrs. Snow ornament on the 31st (again, I'm a day late and a dollar short.....), the same day Jennifer announced who won Mr. Snow on her blog. However, Jennifer had a glitch on her blog last week and the giveaway post was down for a number of days. She's extending the giveaway date for Mr. Snow 'til November 7. Because of her re-post I received a number of comments after Tuesday evening. So, this is what I'm going to do - Today I've drawn a name from the 8 comments I received by 10/30 at 9 p.m., AND I'll draw a second winner from ALL comments received ON THIS POST (go the original post to comment) including the 8 today on Tuesday, November 6. Your comment MUST be date/time stamped by 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 6. I'll post the winner's name on Wednesday, November 7. I don't know what that ornament will be yet, but I'm thinking it will be a snow person of some sort to keep with the theme. I have a couple of ideas running around in my head - we'll see how they turn out this weekend when I have some time in the studio. Sound good? Make sure you either leave your email address in your comment, or have the ability for me to contact you through your blog!

Now, drum roll please..... the winner of the Mrs. Snow ornament is - Jodi-usairdoll (Jeanne Gwin)! Congratulations Jeanne!! I've sent you an email!