Down by the River in Sedona, Arizona

Face Necklace by Bay Moon Design

Red Rocks and Turquoise Blue Sky of Sedona

While on my recent trip to the southwest, I stopped by Sedona, Arizona, and fell in love with the stunning red sandstone rock formations, green trees and turquoise blue sky.  I also visited a number of shops there.  One of the shops, Native Hands of Sedona , had some ceramic pins created and signed by artist Miro FitzGerald.   There is a wonderful interview with her that I found on YouTube.  She shares how she finds inspiration for her paintings.

Interview with artist Miro FitzGerald

 I bought several ceramic pins of hers while there with the intention of using them in my jewelry.  One of her creations I call  " Face".   I paired the ceramic piece with two of Marsha Neal Studio silks to create a one of a kind necklace.  One of the silks is a fairy ribbon that compliments the turquoise blue in Miro Fitzgerald's ceramic piece.  The other is a 2mm silk ribbon in ivory from what I love to call "my"  "Down by the River" palette of silks.  I entered Marsha Neal's Silk Color challenge a few weeks ago and as a result Marsha sells a color palette that I was inspired to create based on my recent trip to the southwest. She sells "my" palette and other gorgeous silks in her studio's online store as well as her etsy shop.  

I love the combination of the fairy ribbon and the 2mm silk ribbon with this piece.  The ceramic has enough weight to it that the two ribbons work together well to support it.

Who doesn't love to win things? I ordered two palettes of "Down by the River" silks--one for me and one as a giveaway.  Anyone who comments on my blogs can earn 1 entry to a drawing.  Following my blog earns another entry. A third entry can be made by posting a comment with a link to a social media sight like twitter, facebook etc. in a comment on my blog.

A winner will be announced September 30. I am keeping the contest open until then to give all the blogger who are in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party a chance to enter when they read my blog about my beads and design.  I will be blogging on August 25 about what I created with beads that are sent to me from the UK by my partner Hannah Annear.  Hannah will be blogging about what I sent to her in Cornwall. 

 I discovered that Lori Anderson of Bead Soup Blog Party Fame is hosting a giveaway. It is a five-part giveaway--which means there are five chances to win something.  I am hoping to win what she calls bits and bobs that she brought back from the Bead and Buttons Show in Milwaukee.  Some are goodies that she bought and brought back and some are cool items that were donated for giveaways.  She is also giving away her Bead Soup Book.

Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Book

All of the details are on Lori's blog which I recommend as a must follow blog.