3rd Do-Over Challenge-- REVEAL/PARTY!

... Okay, so I feel like a complete moron. I totally thought the hop/reveal was today-- so I'm a day late to the party!

(Next time I should probably write the deadline on my calendar, instead of in my head...)

It's all for the best, really. I wasn't feeling that great yesterday, health-wise, so I spent the whole day recuperating and resting. I'm feeling much better today-- albeit a little sheepish about the mix-up.

So I have been RIDICULOUSLY excited about this reveal. A while back, I received a package in the mail~ a necklace from Jeannie, as a participant in her third do-over challenge. All of us who participated, received one of her older pieces, one that she made when she first started doing jewelry-- in her words, an "old, tired piece" that she "won't" sell-- and our challenge was to transform it into something different and new.

Here is the piece I received:

The glass colors are VERY subtle-- I had to put the piece against my watercolor paper, to show the color of the piece! In reality, it's much less bright. It's more like a watered-down shade, more like a white glass with a slight tint of color.

I loved the construction of her necklace, but the beads themselves were very pale-- and those who know me, know that I don't "do" pale pieces. I love color, and love bright things. It was definitely a challenge for me! But here is the piece that it became:

I figured, since I photographed the original on plain paper, it's only fair to do the same to mine~

I absolutely LOVE this necklace, and I'm so proud of myself! I had never done the wrapping technique used in both her necklace and mine, so it was quite the learning experience for me. I used brass wire and brass links-- and in addition to the faceted glass from Jeannie's piece, I threw in some crystal beads (faceted, slightly smaller-- you can see them flanking the off-white and blue beads) that I got from Suma and some beads that were VERY special to me!

I was so proud of this piece that as soon as I finished it, I woke Hubby up to show him!

The small square beads (between the green, purple, pink and blue ones) were absolutely perfect for this, since they only came in those four colors! I got them *years* ago, when I was only twelve-- my grandmother gave me a gift card to a bead shop near her house, but the items I sold back then weren't "right" for the beads. I've held onto them for years, waiting to find the right project to use them. And I am SO GLAD for that... because they were beyond perfect for this necklace!!!

You can see the square beads and the small faceted crystals much better in these next couple of photos~

I wish I remembered what the squares were made out of!

Oh, and I almost forgot-- in addition to doing over Jeannie's jewelry, I also took apart one that my mom gave me-- the large amber-colored glass beads, between the blues towards the bottom, were taken from a bracelet that was past its prime:

It's got three sections to it, design-wise~ this is one side, the one I took the beads from! See what I mean?

The center cabochon and brass focal bead is another "special" item for me. A local handmade jeweler used to sell her items once a year out of her house, and my mom and I always went. She was so impressed with my interest in the jewelry that she gave me (and I bought) BAGS full of metal pieces that were fixed up by her. This center piece was one of them-- like the square beads, it was one of those things that I'd held on to, waiting for the perfect piece of jewelry to come along. And here it was, and here it is!

Close-up of the focal "bead"-- it's more like a component, but details-shmetails...

I absolutely love this piece-- I am so proud of myself and of the work! I was originally planning on selling the finished piece, but now that I've seen it I think I'm going to keep it for my own collection. I have a few outfits that will be completely completed by this-- and I put aside a few purple beads to put together some earrings, to match! I just have to wait for some brass ear wires to arrive...

Looks like it's time for me to do some hopping, and catch up on the A to Z when I'm done with that~ see you later!

Day Thirty, Time to Party!

Cheers from both myself and Hubby~!

  ...Okay, so it's not a perfect rhyme, but it's more fitting than anything else I could think of.

Today we celebrate the (almost) end of my month of earrings. I have one day left, but I couldn't think of a more fitting time to throw a mini-party with my readers. See, I have reached over 1,000 page views to this blog. I am almost up to 50 posts. And I'm starting up a new post-a-day challenge as of Sunday!

Today's post kills two birds with one stone, metaphorically speaking. My earring-of-the-day is part of the special giveaway that I've been hinting about for a while now. SURPRISE!

 

First, the materials. The black beads are glass (the smaller ones) and ceramic (the REALLY small ones on the earrings, and the larger round ones), and the colorful beads are made by myself, out of comic book paper. Archie, to be specific-- I wanted that "retro" feel. Coated in Mod Podge, of course, to make them a bit more water resistant. The ear wires are made from Sterling Silver, so you can wear them without fear of the dreaded "green skin" syndrome!

One lucky winner will get both the earrings and the bracelet. Leave a comment on this post for your chance to win-- I'll be choosing the name at random on Sunday, April 8th, around 12 PM (aka "Noon") Eastern Standard Time, so be sure to put your name in before then!

I'll be announcing the winner on the blog, so I STRONGLY recommend that you follow the blog in some way (either Google Friend Connect or Linky Followers or RSS or whatever you choose). If the prize remains unclaimed after a reasonable amount of time (I'm not talking one day late, guys!), I'll draw a different name.

I'm super excited to be offering these items to all of you. Please don't hesitate to ask if there are any questions about this. Good luck, godspeed, and thank you for helping to make this blog as amazing as it is! I "luff" you all, as one of my friends often says <3

Day Twenty, Earrings A-Plenty

So today's earrings are VERY simple designs-- nothing fancy, and not my most intricate work!-- but that was not their primary purpose. Rather, they were created to coordinate with a necklace and bracelet that I made late last night. My first full set!

Giving a big "shout-out" to my friend Megan, who let me borrow this book. Not only is the book itself interesting, it is absolutely PERFECT for jewelry photos! Love ya' Meggie <3

For the set itself, I used small seed beads in three colors-- a green-ish teal, a  faded yellow, and a bright electric yellow-- all three of them translucent, like beach glass. I used bigger seed beads, in a shade of bright green, to vary the texture of the pieces. I used black ceramic beads, smooth and round, to help accent the bright yellow glass beads used as focal beads for the set.

These earrings are ready for their close-up!

I chose not to use the large glass beads for these earrings for a few reasons. I was going to elaborate, but my list got eaten by an angry Blogging Monster who had a bone to pick with me. He's a big bully... he should pick on someone his own size ~!

Although that begs the question of what a Blogging Monster *looks* like, and causes me to wonder just how big they are. Can anyone verify their existence as a species? Or are they in the same category as "Big Foot" and "Sasquatch" and "Nessie"?

... When bloggers start creating their own nemeses, you know that it's way too late to be putting together a post. Looks like it's my bedtime, guys... see you tomorrow!

Day Eleven, Earring Heaven~

So, I'm up to day eleven. UNBELIEVABLE! AMAZING! OUTSTANDING!

... every so often, we all need to be our own cheerleader. That's just the truth~!

Anyway, here's my latest pair, made today. Was not feeling great, so I didn't have time for my fancy or pretty pictures yet. I'll add a few more tomorrow, if time/energy allows. All glass beads, with some kind of metal for "joy"~

These are the "sister" earrings to the ones I made that said "hope." I keep making these because I got a lot of these charms a while back... and while these aren't my favorite earrings ever, the message is important today. I did way too much yesterday, and as a result spent most of the day curled up in bed. It's days like this that it's important to have a little slice of joy and whimsy.

Hope you all had a great day, at least, and I look forward to a better tomorrow!

Day Three of My Challenges-- And Market Day!

Day Three of my challenges and I'm going strong! Today was market day, so I got up early to make a pair of earrings-- I wanted to put as many items on the table as possible.

Wouldn't you know it? They went the minute they hit the table! I barely had time to snap a quick photo-- not even time for an artistic "set up" shot!-- before they slipped through my fingers, and onto the earlobes of a very happy client. This market day was a resounding success... but more on that later.

Sometimes people need to hold onto something special. Without hope, we don't have any dreams or any chance of success. Hope is one of those emotions that holds the world together~ my hope is that these little earrings bring hope to their wearer, just as this jewelry brings *me* hope of a bright future.

Day Two of My Challenges~ COMPLETE!

I'm so proud of myself for this pair! I made a completely different pair using those same swirling glass bead "focals". Why don't you take a look for yourself~

Inspired by the swirls in the beads used in yesterday's post, I created curly-q swirls of my own in these earrings! Brass wire was used to create the ear hooks and the mini-rings, and used the glass beads previously mentioned.

Those beads are nothing unique or overly special~ I've had them for years, most likely purchased at some craft store-- probably owned by millions of people-- but I always loved the look of them, and have just been waiting for the right project to come along. Seems as though they were waiting for these earrings!









Oh, and just for good measure? A photograph of the earrings, put together with the necklace that they "belong" to~

This necklace is actually much longer, as seen in yesterday's photo, but I wanted to capture the details on the earrings and in the glass.

Day Two of my challenges? COMPLETE!

Day One of "March Madness" Earring Challenge, and NaBloPoMo~ COMPLETE!

So not only am I doing the whole "earring a day" personal challenge, I've decided to take part in March's NaBloPoMo, also known as National Blog Posting Month. I remember taking part in the original incarnation of this, which only happens only once a year-- "NaNoWriMo" (National Novel Writing Month). I kind of miss the "specialness" that this event used to have as a yearly event, but on the other hand I'm glad that there are opportunities to do this EVERY month now, since this means I can combine both my own personal challenge and the NaBloPoMo challenge. Hooray for me~!

My first pair of the month are simple, but classy, and the first pair made from my new ear wires. Take a look!

I'm also trying out some new photo techniques~

I made them to match a necklace that I made earlier in the week. Here, you can see the combined set:

As an added bonus, you can also see my knitting needles and my stash of leftover bits of yarn!

Not my best photo, but you get the idea. Day One of my personal challenge, as well as Day One of NaBloPoMo complete~ only 30 more to go!