Preview of Coming Attractions

Feb. 2 is the Big Reveal of the Lucite and Bead Blog Hop

Stop by Lisa Lodges blog next Saturday Feb. 2 for the Lucite and Bead Blog Hop.  The participants got an art bead, lucite beads, and other beads to use.  The photo above shows what I was sent.  You see there is a gorgeous floral art bead and some lucite flowers and leaves in the mix.  I won't tell you what I made, but I will say that it isn't earrings.  I planned on working my design around the art bead and since I only had 1 and I am not a fan of asymetrical designs I ruled out earrings.  

Beads and photo by Suburban Girl Studio

Next Saturday is also the 2nd reveal of the Earring Challenge sponsored by the The Art Jewelry Elements team. is bringing a new creative opportunity for 2013. AJE is sponsoring a year-long Earring Challenge in 2013.  The challenge will be broken up into quarterly sections, so interested folks can try it out for 13 weeks at a time.  They are challenging artisans to create one pair of earrings a week.  All earring designs have to feature at least one artisan component, such as a handmade charm or bead.  The artisan components may be made by the artisan or by another artist.  Next week I will reveal a pair of earrings using a component from D7 Studio and a pair from Suburban Girl Studio.

Today is the last day to sign up for Lori Anderson's 7th Bead Soup Blog Hop, picture by L. Anderson

                                      Today is the last day to sign up for the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party sponsored by Lori Anderson.  All of the details are on her website.  Hundreds of U.S. and international beaders have signed up already!

Fireworks  January 27 in Key Largo

You have heard of the sunsets in the Keys?!

Green Heron at our Marina

These are a few of my distractions from this week.  It is amazing I get any beading done isn't it?

My First Earrings for the AJE Earrings Challenge

Green Ceramic Earrings with Brass Gears Available in  BayMoonDesign Etsy Store

The Art Jewelry Elements team is bringing a new creative opportunity for 2013. AJE is sponsoring a year-long Earring Challenge in 2013.  The challenge will be broken up into quarterly sections, so interested folks can try it out for 13 weeks at a time.  They are challenging artisans to create one pair of earrings a week.  All earring designs have to feature at least one artisan component, such as a handmade charm or bead.  The artisan components may be made by the artisan or by another artist. 

Since I had success selling lots of my earrings at my Christmas craft fairs, I need to restock and saw this challenge as a perfect motivator. I selected to feature Marsha Neal Studio in my first earrings. Marsha and I both live in Delaware and are members of the Delaware Etsy Team. This team is made up of artists, crafters, vintage sellers, craft suppliers, and much more located in the State of Delaware and close by areas.

The first pair that I made are green ceramic earrings with brass gears and brass earwires.  I think that they have are an industrial and rustic look. They dangle 1 inches below the earwires and are light and comfortable to wear.

I paired the light green ceramics made by Marsha Neal Studio with  dark forest green colored Irish waxed linen when I created them. I love the combination of the ceramics and thread together. They give a casual appearance. These are earrings that you won't find in a department store!

Orange Textured Ceramics with Copper Earrings Available in  BayMoonDesign Etsy Store

My second pair of earrings are copper  with  orange ceramics.  They are earthy looking. They dangle 1 inches below the copper earwires and are also light and comfortable to wear. I think that they have a rustic appearance to them. I think that the copper earwires go great with the burnt orange color of the ceramics.

Once again I used ceramics from the Marsha Neal Studio.  Marsha creates the texture by carving an original design into clay. Once that clay is fired, it becomes her texture plate. She rolls porcelain clay into that texture plate and gets a sheet of the reverse image. She then cuts out the squares and a bunch of steps later... wha-la... the ceramics are created.  I then meticulously wire wrap them onto copper earwires.

Lots of Distractions in Key Largo, Florida

 At first I thought that I would knock off these earrings in a flash, but I was very surprised to find the copper orange ones a bit of a challenge.  I had never made a pair like those before.  I won't even go into details about another pair that I didn't complete to my satisfaction.  I put that pair aside for another time and made the green ceramic earrings using a technique that is familiar to me.  I guess this is why this is called a challenge!

Also, I left the clouds, rain, and cool temperatures for sunny Florida.  There are lots of distractions here and I will be here for all 13 weeks of this challenge.  Surely, I can fit in a pair of earrings a week?!

January Art Bead Scene Challenge

Black Peacocks with Japanese Persimmons by Jessie Arms Botke, and beads by Emma Todd

 

                         (Please note the art is copyrighted and is to be used only as inspiration.)

 This month's Art Bead Scene challenge is inspired by Black Peacocks with Japanese Persimmons by Jessie Arms Botke.  It has with many different elements that can be used for inspiration: trees, persimmons, peacocks, teal green, golds, eyes and foliage

I decided to use some swirl barrel art beads made by Emma Todd in my design.  Emma lives in Canada and creates beautiful polymer clay beads.  I selected her beads because of the their green and gold color and Emma says that the peacock was her inspiration for the beads.  These art beads are a perfect fit for this months challenge. I wanted to combine some other elements from nature so I selected some mint green sea glass from my collection and wrapped each piece in gold colored bronze wire  to bring in some more gold.  I used a leaf toggle to tie in the folliage in the art.

Sea Glass and Art Bead Necklace Inspired by Nature can be found in Bay Moon Design Etsy Store

This is the unique necklace that combines mint green sea glass that has been wire wrapped and green gold art beads made from polymer clay. The necklace has 5 pieces of mint colored sea glass 4 polymer clay beads that have swirls of green and gold. These polymer clay beads have yellow crystals combined with them.   The necklace is held together with a bronze clasp that looks like a leaf.

There are some great prized being given by the 2 sponsors Erin Siegel and Sarah Hornik of Glass by Sarah.

Erin Siegel designs jewelry, is an instructor and book author. She creates bohemian style jewelry using different types of beads and jewelry finding. Erin incorporates art beads into many of her designs. 

Macrame Flower Bracelet by Erin Siegel

Erin is donating $50 gift certificate to her Etsy Shop.

Visit Erin on her website, blog, Etsy,  and Facebook.

Glass by Sarah Hornik

Sarah Hornik of Glass by Sarah is a lampwork bead artist living in Tel Aviv, Israel. My favorite beads of Sarah are the multi-color, non traditional shapes with lots of bumps. She also is an instructor teaching her craft locally and in other countries. 

Sarah is $50 gift certificate to her Etsy Shop.

Visit Sarah on their website, blog, Etsy (beads and eBooks), Etsy (jewelry), eBay and Facebook.

 Winners will be randomly chosen from all the qualifying entries on February 1st.  Complete instructions on how to enter can be found on the Art Bead Scene Blog.