Bead Peeps 5th Annual Swap N Hop Goodies

Selection of Potential Focal Beads

I was so excited when the mail arrived with all of these goodies.  They were sent to me by Hope Smitherman as part of the Bead Peeps 5th Annual Swap N Hop.  I sorted the beads into two groups--possible focal beads and beads.  My choice of possible focal beads includes a pair of polymer clay beads by Tree Wing Studio.  I predict those are going to be earrings.  Other bead choices include a bead by large bright bead by Gaea.  Hope sent me a floral tin bead that she created from a vintage tin that she found on one of her adventures.  She also sent me a vintage key embellished by Hope with polymer clay flowers.  Hope also included a gorgeous round bead by Kim Rodgers of Numinosity.  I have narrowed down my choice of focal beads to two.  I am going to use the Gaea focal and Hope's floral focal.  I also received a lovely floral clasp and an antique brass leaf clasp which I adore.  On March 26, 2018, I will be revealing what I have created from these beads I have been gifted. 

Selection of Beads

I love all of the colors of beads that Hope sent me.  The colors all co-ordinate with the focal beads that she sent.  What a treat to not have to dig through all of my beads to find co-ordinating beads.  I am determine to use as many of the beads that Hope sent me as I can. She included some blue and ceramic rounds, amber colored shell beads, blue dyed jasper, green beads, white glass beads, yellow Chinese crystals and some pink salvaged beads.   Since I know I am going to be short on time prior to the reveal, I am trying to get some pieces made now and get them photographed when the sun is shinning bright.

Handmade tags 

I love a lot of the crafts that Hope dabbles in so I appreciate the time and  effort that goes into making them.  She attached her tags that were originally pages from a newspaper .  She punched the tags out and coated them with something like gesso.

Handmade card by Hope

I also make cards so I love seeing other handmade cards.  I am sure that Hope used a Gelli printing plate when she made the print on these cards.  I love the colors.  This card might just be a color palette that I use.

Stop my March 26 and she what everyone has done with their beads!  I am looking forward to seeing what Hope makes along with everyone else.  

February Monthly Challenge

Title: Star Lovers

By: Warwick Goble

Date: 1910

Medium: Watercolor

Color Palette for the challenge

I love the inspiration piece for the Art Bead Scene February Monthly Challenge. The title of the painting is Star Lovers which I think is perfect for the month of February. The title is perfect for this month.  This watercolor is by Warwick Goble.  It has a romantic look to it.

As soon as I saw the colors in this inspiration piece, I thought of a pair of hoops that I had by GardanneBeads. The color of the blue is pretty close to the blue in the painting and of course there is the gray on the hoops and in the painting.  All I needed to add to complete my color palette was some silver. This challenge is just what I needed-- a little nudge to turn them into great earrings. I wanted a pair of hoop earrings to wear with jeans and these earrings are what I designed. I wanted something simple, lightweight and not too long.

Hoop Earrings by BayMoonDesign

With enamel hoops like these, I would hate to add anything else except two sterling jump rings and a pair of sterling silver ear wires. 

That do you think about my take on this month's inspiration piece?

We're All Ears :: February Inspiration :: Chandeliers

Photo by Ivan Televny on Unsplash

This month's We're All Ears challenge is to use chandeliers as the inspiration for creating earrings. I never really thought about the connection between chandeliers and jewelry before but I see where there is room for a relationship.  Both are accessories.  Both can be made up of vintage, crystal, bling.  Both even have structures made of metal.  Often the metals are gold and silver. 

Photo by Annie Gray on Unsplash

I saw this as a chance to make something romantic and simple. My earrings would have a structure of metal. The metal that I decided to use would have to be silver or copper. When I began thinking about silver and chandeliers I thought about white and round.  My thoughts moved to round white pearls. 

Pearl earrings by BayMoonDesign

I have a love for white coin pearls.  They are just so simple and elegant like a chandelier can be.  I have been working with metal more lately and I wanted to make an earring that had a simple structure so that the coin pearls were showcased. I think I achieved that..  What do you think?

Photo of chandelier on Unsplash

I invite you to hop on over to We''re All Ears to see what all of the participants came up with.

Bead Peeps Swap N Hop 2018 Begins with the Reveal

Red Heart Earrings by Hope Smitherman

I am participating in Bead Peeps Swap'n Hop. Bead Peeps is a Facebook group made up of jewelry designers and it is administered by the very kind and talented Linda Anderson.  Linda does a wonderful job organizing this.  She set the  reveal date of  March 26, 2018.   I am thrilled to be paired with Hope Smitherman. I feel like I know Hope really well.  I read her blog Crafty Hope regularly  and we have cross paths on other blogs and Facebook. Hope has an Etsy shop and I do too. 

 Hope grew up in the south.  Presently she lives in Fairhope, Alabama in a lovely country home in the woods that she shares with her husband and their pets.  She has been making jewelry for over 15 years..  Hope dabbles in lots of  mediums. She also loves to go thrifting for items that she can use in her jewelry like buttons, ephemera, vintage beads, and all kinds of other quirky odds and ends.  Her creative range enables her to make really unique pieces of jewelry. These red heart earrings are a perfect example of her using those skills to create a unique pair of earrings. The hearts for these earrings were cut from a gingersnap cookie tin from World Market. Brilliant find! I also appreciate the time and skill it takes to cut these hearts out. Hope then distressed the hearts, filed them smooth, aged, and sealed.  That is a lot of work and requires lots of skills. 

Cherish Key Necklace by Crafty Hope

This Cherish Key Necklace by Crafty Hope is another example of her creative talents. The focal of this necklace is an old key that serves as a base for assembled elements. A strip of rhinestone chain, an old filigree earring part, and a scrapbook embellishment with the word "cherish" on it make up the assemblage key. The chain is made of antiqued copper beads on antiqued silver tone eye pins and closes with an antiqued copper lobster clasp. The back of the key says "Fits Ford Cars". This is a one of kind piece.

Pantone's Ultra Violet

I decided to give Hope a choice of color palettes, I picked Pantone's Color of the Year Ultra Violet as my first offering. I love using this color and buying this color.  The large round ceramic bead is from Marsha Neal Studio. I put in a little assortment of beads which included a purple Humblebeads and shell, some Wooly Wire.

Her second choice is made up of the earthy colors turquoise and browns. I centered my bead choices around the large ceramic focal by Firefly Studio.  I included some jasper beads, polymer clay beads, and wood beads.   I included the turquoise beads because I love the size and color.

I also included a copper clasp by BayMoonDesign.

Package from BayMoonDesign Headed to Crafty Hope

I packed everything into a box and sent it to Hope.

I suggest that you visit Hope's Etsy shop to look at more of her work. If you are in the southern Alabama area you can stop by her booth Southern Antiques and Accents in Fairhope (the one on Greeno Rd.) where she has a small boothtop.


Stop by my blog on March 26, 2018 to see what Hope creates with these beads. I know I can't wait to see what Hope comes up with!