Humblebeads Blog: Big Huge Giveaway - that's the BHG!

Humblebeads Blog: Big Huge Giveaway - that's the BHG!

Mother Nature's Honey Bee

Bay Moon Design's Bee

Last week I mentioned that I am participating in Heather Power's Inspired by Nature contest.  This weeks contest is centers on bees.  My backyard was abuzz with inspiration this week.  I observed some bees out there and decided that color and shape make a bee body.  I knew I didn't have any bee beads.  I decided to build my own bee from my bead stash using those key ingredients of color and shape.  I found this picture on the Internet and used it to help me build my beads for earrings. What do you think?
Power's is giving away some of her amazing, art beads this week. Wait until you see what I create for next week's contest. It will be a personal challenge for me.

Inspired by Trees

I found a contest sponsored by one of my favorite artisans Heather Powers (Humblebeads).  You will find a number of her beads used as focals in my necklaces.  The pink sea urchin on the right side of this blog is one of her beads.  She has a beading book coming out on September 13th.  This book is all about inspiration from nature.   So from now until the book release she is having a weekly challenge. 
She gives one week to complete a piece of jewelry inspired by the weekly theme.  Anything goes, it can include Humblebeads or not, art beads or whatever you have in your stash.  It's up to you and however the inspiration strikes you for that week.  To enter add your photo to the Inspired By Nature Jewelry Challenge Flickr group.  Every Monday she draws one random winner from the week's entries and features them here on her blog.

Inspired by Trees in the Forest

Since my work is inspired my nature I decided this would be a perfect fit for me.  Plus, I have the chance to win some of Heather's beads and win I did!   I won with this necklace with earthy tree-inspired tones using stones, pearls, crystals and brass spacers.  I won Branch Lentil Beads in copper and a few matching disk beads!  I am so excited.  I am looking forward to entering all of her contests.  I have been learning a lot from them.  It is really interesting to see how others interpret the themes.  I can't wait to find out what this weeks will be.

I saw lots of trees on Saturday.  My husband and I took a trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.  It was 100+degrees here on the East Coast.  I was amazed by the drop in temperature as we climbed the mountains.  There was a good 20 degree difference.  While we were there I took a number of photos to use for inspiration.   Since we don't have hills in Sussex County it was really exciting just seeing these mountains.  Besides the temperature difference it was amazing that these mountains and wilderness are just over an hour outside the Washington metropolitan area.  I am thankful that this wilderness is a protected national park.  My tax dollars are well spent for this.

Blue Ridge Mountains

Vintage Wedding

Lilly's Pearl Earrings with a Hint of Pink

 I love coin pearls.  I think they are among nature's prettiest of pearls.  Whenever I find some coin pearls that are a beautiful color, I add them to my bead collection.  I also collect any other gorgeous pearls that I find.  Lately, I have been cruising the Internet looking for great beads and I have found a couple of giveaways.  My latest giveaway that I entered is inspired by a vintage wedding and sponsored by Lilly's Lace.  The website itself is visually gorgeous.  
This giveaway has some really interesting vintage items.  Two lucky people will get part of Lilly's stash which is made up of at least 2 yards of a wedding dress skirt, sleeves and pieces of a bodice all tea stained. There are several pieces of lace, vintage jewelry, bride and groom cupcake toppers A bridal bingo card, mother of pearl buttons of all sizes and a gumball machine bible. I would love to see that bingo card. I am wondering the categories are.  I have a cousin Sandy who is a mixed media artist and between her and me, we would put  these goodies to good use.


With that giveaway in mind, I remembered these gorgeous pale pink coin earrings that I squirreled away.  I located some tiny teardrop shaped pearls that are the same color and decided to launch a custom wedding collection in my etsy shop.  These earrings took sometime to create but I am happy with them.  I am naming this earring after my inspiration.

4th of July Beetles

The Lady bug from my Childrens' Line of Jewelry

I don't like bugs.  Have you noticed the amount of flies that are around this summer.  You would think that with 5 cats in my house over the 4th of July weekend that I wouldn't have flies in my house.  Wrong!  

There are a couple of bugs that I do like.  One is the lady bug.  The lady bug was adopted as the official state bug of Delaware in 1974.  Do you know that the lady bug is also called lady beetle, ladybird, or ladyfly.  The lady bugs help gardeners and farmers by eating tiny insect pests that damage plants. A ladybug can consume up to 60 aphids per day, but will also eat a variety of other insects and larvae and also pollen and nectar.  The lady bug is included in my children's line of jewelry.  It is a popular necklace because the bug is so cute and popular with kids.

Firefly

Do you remember how much fun collecting Fireflies was in the summertime when you were a kid? There was always something magical about the way they lit up.  The 4th of July usually marks the middle of their season.  I remember I would collect them in a peanut butter jar with a lid of punched out holes for air, trying to catch as many as I could for a more spectacular light show. After a few hours of gazing through the lit jar, I would set them free.  I thought everyone might enjoy a trip down memory lane and perhaps learn a little about Fireflies—and guess what? They’re not flies at all—they’re beetles!