Halloween/Day of the Dead Blog Hop

 I think you all know that autumn is my favourite season, and that my all time favourite holiday is Halloween. This year I haven't really been in the blogging or blog hop mood... I've done a couple challenges, but nothing compared to my usual, and this has carried straight through into my favourite season and holiday. Because I haven't been able to enjoy this time of year much so far, I decided to bite the bullet and sign up for Diana's Halloween blog hop. Joining this hop accomplished three goals for me.

#1 - Get the creative juices flowing and participate.

#2 - Celebrate my favourite holiday.

#3 - Use some of my art beads!!

Yes, that's right.. one of the rules for this hop was that our pieces had to contain an art bead :) This meant I had to break open my hoard and actually *gasp* use some!

 

I had two pieces designed and started ages ago... but got stalled on the energy and will power to finish them. This turned out, despite my pre-planning, to be another last minute muse-fest :) Saturday night I finally set aside the pieces I'd been stuck on and pulled out a different art bead to feature.. and wham... my muse and I connected and we were off :) Since then I have managed to finish four pieces... including the two I'd stalled on :)

 

First up we have a fun piece made with a purple coated wire recycled from a pair of earphones ( yes, the kind you listen to music with ;) ). I knotted in some green catseye beads, and finished it with a piece of recycled silk. The focal is a fun polymer clay tentacle pendant made by Marlene Cupo of 'Amazing Designs'

 Next I grabbed a different box, and pulled out anther artbead from a different artist. This one became a simple necklace of 8mm black agate & dalmation jasper rounds, combined with some antiqued copper spacers and bead caps. the smaller rounds towards the back are glass. The focal is a fabulous bat from Marsha Neal Studios

Once I had these two done, I went back to the two original pieces I'd been struggling to finish. I ended up changing the designs on both in order to convince my muse to lend a hand and get them finished.

Both designs changed a fair bit. What was originally going to be several strands twisted with the focal hanging beneath, and the silk around the neck... became this. Shell chips & czech glass, recycled silk, chain & of course, a skull key pendant from MarlasMud.

 

And lastly, a three tier, off center, hand-made beaded chain design  shifted to a centered two tier design. This is a mix of handmade beaded chain with both blacked steel & raw copper, featuring czech glass in peach & aqua, with some magnesite spacers. The lampwork beads are from Gail of Oregon Handmade, and the skull focal of from MarlasMud :)

 

Sorry for the bad lighting ... last minute muses sessions result in poor lighting... It's a fact of life for those of us with a light tent.

I have a few other Halloween pieces on my table that don't contain artbeads that I might show you yet this week, along with another artbead featured piece or two. In the mean time, check out some of the other halloween  creations from my fellow hoppers :)

Thank you  for hosting a great hop, Diana :)

 

Hop List

~  ~  ~

 

Diana Ptaszynski  http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com

Staci Smith  http://www.stacilouiseoriginals.com/

Kathleen Breeding  http://99bobotw.blogspot.com

Sue Kennedy  http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com

Dianne Miller  http://www.artbydianne.blogspot.com

Lisa Liddy  http://www.lisaliddy.wordpress.com

Toltec Jewels  http://www.JewelSchoolFriends.com

Linda Landig  http://www.LindasBeadBlog.com

Laura Medeiros  http://Www.zoeowyn.blogspot.com

Veralynne Malone  http://www.veradesigns.blogspot.com

Lynn Jobber  http://thecreativeklutz.blogspot.co.uk

Michelle McCarthy  http://www.fireflydesignstudio.blogspot.com

Karen Totten  http://www.starryroadstudio.blogspot.com

Jayne Capps  https://mamasgottodoodle.blogspot.com

Jenny Davies-Reazor  http://jdaviesreazor.com/blog

Joan Miller  http://metalmudandsand.blogspot.com/

Melissa Meman  http://melissameman.blogspot.com

Melissa Trudinger  http://www.beadrecipes.wordpress.com

Kari Asbury  http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com

Inge von Roos  http://www.ingetraud.wordpress.com

Andrea Glick  http://zenithjade.blogspot.com 

Stephanie LaRosa  http://Www.stringaholic.blogspot.com

Lola Surwillo  http://www.beadlolabead.com

Jennifer Cameron  http://glassaddictions.com/blog

Diane Hawkey  http://dianehawkey.blogspot.com

Kristi Harrison  http://kristibasket-itsanewday.blogspot.com

Nicole Valentine Rimmer  http://www.nvalentine.blogspot.com

Tanya Goodwin  http://www.Pixiloo.blogspot.com

Shai Williams  http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com/

Sandra McGriff  http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com

Sarajo Wentling  http://www.sjdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com

Marie Covert  http://thistledown-and-swaddlings.blogspot.com

Lisa Stukel  http://www.carefreejewelrybylisa.blogspot.com

Laurie Vyselaar  http://www.Lefthandjewelry.wordpress.com

Sherri Stokey  http://www.knotjustmacrame.com

Pam Traub  http://www.klassyjoolz.blogspot.com

Lori Dorrington  http://lorisglassworks.blogspot.com

Kristen Stevens  http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com

Eleanor Burian-Mohr  http://cornerstoregoddessjewelry.blogspot.com

Sally Russick  http://thestudiosublime.com

Dawn M. Gallop  http://www.flipflopsandpoptarts.com

 Christine Damm   http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com

Newest winners!

Alrighty...  busy procrastinating today, so a quick update to call out the winners, then back to it ;)

Remember this ?

This will be making its appearance in  Tiffany Smith's mailbox... as soon as she emails me her address ;)

And the bracelet?

 That will be soon be seen on Jen Ren's wrist ... as soon as she sends me her address...

And the surprise prize?   Kristen will be watching out for THAT particular butterfly-bedecked envelope... as soon as she sends me her address.

So hurry up and email me your addresses, ladies!

The rest of you have one more week to get your entries in for the big October giveaway!

Want another chance to win one of those 'fiber' bundles that Tiffany won?

Share a link to a picture of your favorite Halloween project - must be something YOU made, whether it be jewelry, clothing, costumes, or even a Halloween decoration! I'll pick a winner on Friday and have it posted by Saturday ;)

Okay ... now I'm going back to procrastinating. Catch ya'll later :D

'sockapalooza' Results & F.F. #9!

Okay so...I'm gonna have to redo this a few times to nab all the spelling crap... my arms feel like rubber and my brain is mush ... and my title just contained the word 'resluts' until I noticed and fixed it >.<

Plus the sockapalooze results were supposed to be up last night but because of the way I felt, I crashed majorly early. and gee.. guess what? tomorrow's the reveal for the 2nd C.C.D.C. ... which means everything has to be finished, photographed and blogged about tonight... >.< Yup... gotta find the energy somewhere to do scramble-design...I have two pieces partially done and that's it... and I'm not sure you can even really call the one 'partially' yet... *sigh*

So here are all the socks that were entered :)  I took them out of order and slapped numbers on them at random.

Anyhow, for those who entered, the winner of the sockapalooza beads

  is feet #2 ; Beti Horvath :) .

And the winner of the socks ....

 is #6 ; Renetha :)

It was a toughy... I was going to choose Beti's 'sox' as my faves, but since she won the beads, I was then torn between the peace feet and the odds .. and well.. odds won ;).

So Beti & Renetha, send me your snail mail addies  please :)

Oh.. and if you're wondering how the winner of the beads was chosen... I cut up slips of paper, wrote the numbers on them, folded them in half... gave them a shake then threw them into the air... the paper that landed closest to the pair of socks laying on my floor, won ;) lol

And all of you who don't have any socks... SOOO tempting to buy you all a pair, just because I find that sad.. lol >.<

So... off to the object of September's Freebie Friday drooling ...

I WAS going to do progressive, but decided since I'll most likely be doing a big bundle next month too, not to bother.

September Soup

So, on the top we have 3 packets of chipstone - aquamarine, rose quartz, and I believe some dyed howlite. Beneath that we have 3 packets of some of my custom seedbead mixes, then we have two sea glass pendants, a couple shell slices ( whose name I can't remember), some Sesame Jasper, some turquoise nuggets in green, orange, red, yellow and brown, some bead caps, and a foil-lined glass bead.

So, yummy enough? Remember to enter for each of the spots you're eligible for in Rafflecopter, and PLEASE make sure you're blogger account ( or whatever account you post comments under ) has an email or a blog attached to it. I do occasionally break my own rules about contacting winners, or just like to follow links and visit the pages & blogs of people who visit me :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Check back tomorrow for my reveal of the 2nd Creative Chaos Design Challenge ( the one I never did get around to posting a 'see what I have to work with' blog post about >.< lol )  Plus I'll be sticking up another little giveaway any time I feel like it... just gotta think of what to make you guys do this time ;)

~ Skye

September already...

Damn the time went fast... 

Anyhow, we're now into the start of my favorite time of the year. While autumn won't start 'officially' for a couple weeks yet,  I know now that the 5:30 am walks to work will be done in shorts and flip flops, less and less. Pretty soon I'll be forced to wear shoes outside again...*sigh*

But with that little inconvenience comes the milder temperatures, the beautiful colors, the wonderful scents ... damn... starting to crave a cup of pumpkin tea already... Is it just my talking about it? Or the fact that my toes are chilly making me think of fuzzy socks... and fuzzy socks just go perfectly with pumpkin tea and autumn leaves.... ? lol

Crap... and I just realized, I've been home from work three hours now.. and still haven't put on any coffee!! *gasp* Horrors!! I need to go make a pot... I can NOT have an apartment that is not filled with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee... well... unless the scent of some Autumn-inspired tea...

I'm rambling, sorry >.< Back to the point.

Yes... I had a point. Honest.

Of course now I've been distracted by thoughts of coffee and fuzzy socks, so it make take me a minute to remember it... >.<

Ah HA!!

Autumn :) 

Well, September and October, anyhow :)

Those of you who were reading my blog last year at this time, may remember that this is MY time. Which means of course I like to celebrate.

I posted a little question on BSC asking what everyone thought was a better idea; one big giveaway, or a bunch of little ones scattered through out the month.

There are aspects of both that I like. I really enjoy doing the month long progressive bundles, but then I like the quick little ones too. They didn't work well the last time I did the little weekly ones, but my readership was significantly smaller then. Back then, a week long giveaway would get maybe four or five entries... if that. I'm hoping that the bigger 'following' means more entries for the little ones.

Yes, that means I'm doing the little ones :)

Of course, I'm also going to do a big one, too :D

So here's how it'll work.

The first Friday in September  .. that would be this coming Friday ;), I'll post the big guy. Then during random blog posts through out the month I'll re-post a photo and link to the big guy ... with some new additions added in ;)

In the mean time... every now and then, I'll also be tossing up some random little giveaways.You'll have to pay attention to each one, because they'll all be different. Some will have specific tasks for you to do to enter... some will have different lengths of time to enter. If you don't follow the rules, your entry won't count ;)

I got tired of regular old boring giveaways... what's fun about clicking a button? No... the little giveaways are going to be 'special' :D

And since everyone who reads this blog knows I've been on a bead buying binge this past month... you all know I've got tons of goodies that might just find there way into bundles ;)

And we'll start things off right now.

Who would like a chance to win these?

16  8mm Dream Agate Rounds, 2 double holed carved horn beads( they could be bone. They're a little over an inch long and slightly curved ). Plus a bundle of faux suede cording in a nice chocolate brown :)

All you have to do to enter... is show me your socks.

Yes. That's what I said.

Show me your socks.

Grab your camera and take a photo of your socks... like this. 

Yes, I went and pulled on some socks. Those are some Muppet socks my brother gave me a couple Christmases ago. I have a whole set ( except for Kermit..I gave those to my mom so she'd have an extra pair of her faves...I prefer Animal ;) )

And for the record, all my skull socks either have grown holes and been tossed, are missing mates.. or are in the laundry ..>.< That's why I'm wearing the Muppets.

Anyhow... back to business.

Post a link to your photo in the comments here. Remember, if your picture is on Facebook, you have to make sure the folder it is in, is set for 'public' or we can't see it... and it won't count ;)

Oh... and the socks have to be on FEET... not just laying the bed or the top of the hamper ;)

And don't just show me boring old socks... pull out your faves... and your fun ones :)

I decided to do a second little prize for my favorite photo...

A pair of lavender and white fuzzy socks :) these are ladies size 9-11, but really... they're soft and fuzzy and warm... and its not like you'll care if they're a bit big on you ;) Plus, if I'm REALLY impressed ( or jealous)  of your socks... I may just slip some beady goodness into the package with those socks ;)

So, quick! Grab your camera and go dig out some socks to pull on!

I'll give everyone until Thursday, September 7th... hmm... we'll say 7pm EST. 

~Skye