July Art Elements Challenge--Seed Pods

Photo by Sebastian Seck on Unsplash

The theme for the July Art Elements monthly challenge is "seed pods".   Seed pods are pouch-like forms on a plant which encloses the seeds.  I found a wonderful collection of photos of seed pods on Pinterest and a tutorial on making seed pods from polymer clay by Claire Fabian of Art Elements.

seed pod by Sue-Lin Tarnowski of Tsin Design

I was tempted to make some seed pods and I hope to do so soon.  In the meantime I won a seed pod in a design challenge sponsored by Brooke Bock.   The lovely creation was made by Sue-Lin Tarnowski of Tsin Design.  Prior to the win, I had admired her beads in other designers' jewelry.  I discovered her in Facebook Land where she sells her creations. This challenge provided me the urgency to design with her seed pod.

Seed Pod Necklace by BayMoonDesign

With this beautiful bead I made this handmade polymer clay blue and brown seed pod necklace on a long chunky chain.  I added a few vintage beads that I repurposed along with a polymer clay bead in very close to color of blue that the pod is.   I picked this bead up on my trip to Grand Marais, Minnesota.   The natural brass chain is 24 inches around with the pendant hanging below.  If you love art jewelry that is inspired by nature, this is a necklace for you.

By Mitzi.humphrey [CC BY-SA 4.0  (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

There are lots of participants in this challenge for everyone to visit.  Comments are welcome!  A special thanks to Jennifer Cameron of Art Elements for creating this challenge.  

Guest Artists:

Tammy 

Raven 

Alysen

Anita

Cat 

Kimberly 

Rozantia 

Sarajo 

Divya

Caroline

Catherine

Kathy

Jill
Norma

Art Elements Team: 

Claire

Caroline

Lesley

Niky

Laney

Susan

Marsha

Jenny

Cathy

Jen

Thanks for visiting my blog.  I would love 

We're All Ears Cheers to July!

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

July's We're All Ears challenge is to find a picture of a favorite summer drink and build some earrings around it! The colors, the flavors, the shape of the glass, the way the ice melts, even the sweat stain on the coaster....your choice! 

Photo by Stephanie McCabe on Unsplash

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. This year's celebration was very special because I had both of my adult children at home so I wanted to find a festive red, white, and blue drink.

Patriotic Vodka Slushie

We celebrated with a refreshing and colorful slushie made with grenadine, blue curacao, and spiked lemonade.  I need to point out that the way you layer this drink isn’t a choice. To effectively create layers, you need to consider the thickness of each liquid. In this case, grenadine is thicker than Blue Curacao, and lemonade is thinner than both grenadine and Blue Curacao. This is why the drink is layered red, blue, and white, because it goes from thickest consistency to thinnest. If you layered it any other way then the layers might not hold and the different colors would be more likely to bleed through.

Step 1 – In a food processor, blend grenadine and ice until slushy, then pour a layer (about 1/3 the size of the glass) into the bottom of your glasses.

Step 2 – Blend blue curacao and ice until slushy, then gently add another 1/3 layer on top of the grenadine.

Step 3 – To finish off, blend the lemonade, vodka, and ice, then top off your drinks with a final layer.

Step 4 – Serve and enjoy!

Red Rose Earrings by BayMoonDesign

 The patriotic color scheme of red, white, and blue inspired these earrings.  I used red polymer clay roses by Brooke Bock and the royal blue lampwork by Sue Kennedy.  I added some recycled, vintage white glass beads. The earrings are finished with Vintaj brass earwires.  These earrings are available for purchase HERE.  They would make a great July birthday gift.  You may also want to snag them for yourself.  They are perfect for the summer holidays.

I can't wait to see what other drinks inspired some earrings.  What a fun challenge!