Last of the Catch Up

After lagging on posting again, I decided/realized that just blogging for the sake of getting back in to it, wasn't working. I need that drive to get it done right now, and with so many things on the go, it's just not there. SO, with that in mind, I'm going to try diving back into things and see about a schedule of some sort in the next week or so. What sort of schedule will depend on how much writing I can get done amid everything else, but right now it looks like it'll stick with weekly.

That said, I'm now at least one post behind, so I'll see about getting that second post out over the weekend ;)

As for the catching up, well, with so many things on the go, and the majority of it being 'in progress', I'll save some of those to share with the finished products.

Last post ( or so) I showed you a pic of my peacock necklace that my muse shoved in front of the owl stuff I was supposed to be making. I DID finally finish an owl piece. Just one, mind you, but it's a start.

not the best picture, sorry. It was taken with my iPad, which I have mentioned previously, IS possessed, so...*shrugs* sometimes I get great pictures, sometimes I don't.

And an autumn themed bracelet I was doing at the same time as the owl...

I was going to add an owl charm or two in, but decided I like the maple leaf charms instead. Like the orange and dark purple, but I'm not sure about the light purple flowers... they may end up removed...and those 'brown' beads are actually all different shades of purple. The only other colours in here are those orange leaves and the  copper chain, toggle, and charms... everything else is purple.

And that's it for the new jewelry. sorry, but I'm STILL getting back into the swing of it. I have a wire wrapping project ( several actually) that I'll be starting just as soon as I clean up a work space, and that, while   NOT jewelry, will be taking its place for at least a month... maybe two.

Another project (s) I mentioned were some Halloween themed items. Only one is actually completely finished... sorry, two... kinda...  but I don't seem to have a picture on here of the other one....the ipad must have eaten it...

Anyway...

The finished -  The 3D Skull Mirror ala  Epbot.com 

It was surprisingly easy to make  AND.. despite playing with knives and hot glue, I neither cut myself nor burnt myself :D All is well!  I think I want to play with it a bit to ditch the shine on the frame, but otherwise, it came out awesome and I love it :)  Go check out the site for the tutorial to make your own, although now that the Halloween stuff has been cleared out of the stores, you made need to improvise or change it up a bit... or wait for next year.

The not finished... the Goblet... as I said, this was just a cheapo white cartoony plastic cup that I decided to play with while painting other stuff at the same time. And forgot to take a before picture of, of course...

He looks better black, but aside from that, I still don't know what all I'll do to him. Maybe wrap the stem in some twine? Maybe just add some detailing? Haven't decided.

The last one that's still in progress are my bottles. I have more of these glass bottles, mostly maple syrup jugs because they're great shapes. I'd considered doing the faux coloured glass treatment to some, but haven't gotten around to that yet. So instead... I did this - first I glued on some stuff, here I did a front half skull slightly tipping downward with some centipede halves, a half skull cut level, and a giant spider *shudder* don't ask... I really don't know why I did a spider.

Then I got messy. The black one is done with strips of newspaper soaked in glue, and the bronzey one is done with stripes of paper towel. The spider one is missing because he crapped out before the paint stage... he was a newspaper one, but it didn't let enough detail through, so it'll get cleared off and redone with tissue paper ( now that I've bought more)

As you can see,  the paper towel one has a lot more texture to it. I think it'll be either paper towel or tissue paper for the rest when I get to them.  The black one needs a few fixes with it's paper before I move on with it, but they'll both get a bit more done to them to bring out the texturing and such, and then I'll wrap the necks in twine... maybe the bottom too. I have a cork for the one, and the topper that's attached to the other one will get some attention too :)

And yes whenever I finish them I will share a pic.

So that's it I guess. While I've been doing plenty of stuff, most of it is just bits and pieces that have yet to be fit into a whole ( the name 'chaos' is there for a reason, people ;) ), plus there's my writing which... probably wouldn't fit in here without some tweaking... and warnings lol. I did try doing a newsletter years ago to go with my website the writing was housed on, where each newsletter had a chapter of a story done just for it. Maybe I'll figure out a piece to do here like that? Have a set day just for that so those who aren't into it can safely ignore that day's post without worry. Something to consider I guess.


My next post will a return to my artist/shop feature posts :) I know so many talented and wonderful people and it's past time to get back into showcasing them!  And Sarah, of Pookledo, who I believe I have featured here before ;), has made that leap that many of us would like to ( in theory anyhow, while in reality we're just terrified of doing ;) ) of getting her own brick & mortar shop !

Not sure if there will be a return of the giveaways and such, since current shipping costs are rather daunting, and my funds are bit lower than I'd prefer this time of year ( I have a set amount I like to keep my savings at, and while it's still healthy, I did dip a bit deeper into it than I meant to over a few splurges ) but I think I will at least do one for the Christmas season. whether it'll be something to ship out to the winner, or just a gift certificate, I haven't decided yet. And who knows? I might end up doing more than the one... I do enjoy them :)

So keep your fingers crossed for me to keep this ball rolling forward! And feel free to leave a comment or drop me an email with any suggestions of things you'd like to see me tackle, post or schedule wise, concerning a feature, contest/giveaway, or about my 'ongoing story' idea. I mostly write a blend of paranormal/drama with a bit of action and romance tossed in, and my current work is more that but in a  fantasy setting. I've done some sci-fi in past as well, but while bits of it might crop up in my work, it's not a genre I work in much now.

 Just put 'blog' or 'chaosblog'  in the  subject line so I'll know it's not spam ;) And don't worry, I always check my spam bin... whenever I remember to check my email, anyhow :) lol

  (skyescreativechaosATgmail.com ... I'm sure you all know to substitute the @ for the AT ;) )

Catching up Part 2

Yes, after SIX ATTEMPTS... my emails to myself finally made it through. Well, just the one email... several copies of it are still in limbo.

At any rate, I now have photos to share! lol

So, as I mentioned, I've had mentions of interest in owl themed jewelry lately... so I printed out some Michael's coupons ( a miracle in itself since my printer was possessed LONG before the ipad was and rarely cooperates), and headed up in search of some owls.

I already had a few, but I was out of my itty bitty silver ones... Michaels has two different styles of itty bitty silver owls... one was gorgeous but expensive... and I decided my coupons were better used on others, so I got the cheaper, not so awesome ones. I'm keeping an eye on the sales though.. just in case.

So, now that I'm armed with owls, ready to see all of the owl jewelry I've made?

Well tough toodles, because I haven't actually made ANY owl stuff yet >.< LOL  I have the beads, and the designs, and all the bits all ready to put together... but I was distracted... first by SKULLS...

 

two pairs of skull earrings for ME :D I've had the skulls for ages now.. the top pair is green sea glass skulls that I got from Znet. 

The little gold skulls were part of a gift from a friend a while ago, and have just been waiting for the right beads to go with them.

For the record, I have an entire bag of skull beads, clasps, and charms, of all different styles and materials... at least a third of which were gifts. They're all just waiting for inspiration to strike for me to create with them... although I've been debating on making a display case to show them off until I do lol

 Here's a picture of the green glass skulls where you can sort of actually SEE the skull's features.


And then, once I'd satisfied the need to be distracted by Skulls....

................ I was distracted by these gorgeous peacock beads I bought, and the need to make this...

I went with a brass chain, and used up a bunch of little swarovski crystals to make several little chain dangles. It hangs high, just shy of being a choker, and a very simple design, but I love the way it turned out.

So maybe I'll be able to make some of those owl pieces now :)

In non jewelry creating, I've been doing some painting lately, and while I've started plenty, I've only finished one...

That's a 16 x 20.. something or other.. canvas... and it's all done in splatter paint... with a toothbrush and a nail brush. The black was super quick and easy... the green  took forever and my thumb hated me for it. I'd envisioned bigger splats, but ended up with a fine mist that could be mistaken for an airbrush... so I'm nabbing my brother's old airbrush for any future designs like this lol I have the small compressor and the adapter for it should be arriving monday or so... I'll try not to let the new toy distract me fomr the owls for too long... unless it's to paint them... Ooo... owl painting.....


damn it >.< lol  first the muses won;t speak up, and then they won;t shut up... lol


I'll share some more jewelry pics in my next post, but for now I'll end this with a wee video clip showing you all... my new phone. this was taken at my mom's house where we tried it out lol... I still have to clear off my cabinet to make room for it.

Artisan Showcase :)

Marla  of Artisan Component Marketplace  is hosting a little design contest, to showcase items made using components from their various vendors. In an effort to continue blogging more often than once every few months, I decided to share all of these in a blog post, rather than simply toss them into an album and share through there :) Most of these I've shared in previous posts, but I've redone the photos and collected them all in one post.. and there IS one new piece ;)

First up we have some equestrian themed components from Marti's Buttons n' Beads

 I paired her horseshoe charms ( that she began making at my request ;) you're welcome :D hehe), with some pearls that almost perfectly matched the bluish colour of the shoes :) Done with Antique Bronze Artistic wire, they hang approx, 2"

Another pair of horseshoe charms, this time in a link with the shoe in a darker blue. I'd originally intended to have these sewn onto denim, but... my sewing skills leave much to be desired >.< lol
Instead, I have them with assorted blue glass beads and raw copper.
These hang a little over 2".

The bracelet bar was also originally supposed to be on denim, but again... I keep forgetting I can't sew >.< More assorted blue glass beads and bright copper to the rescue :)





















Below is a peacock pendant that she made as a special request. It was available in her shop as a button, but I pouted and flashed her puppy dog eyes, and tada... :) I tossed about every bluey/green  bead I had into a dish and mixed them up, then strung a bunch onto this triple strand necklace. There's a bit of everything in here, from Czech glass, to various gemstones, to shell chips, to pearls.

Next up, we have some components from MarlasMud

I was fortunate enough to win both of these beautiful skull pendants from her shop last year. I do love how both designs came out, but I'm getting the urge to take them apart and try something different with them instead.
Above, I paired her pendant with a couple lampwork beads by Gail of Oregon Handmade , then made a beaded chain in colours to match.
Below I went a different route, and added some recycled silk, and a strand of MOP chips, and Czech glass.

Happy Halloween :)

As promised... another post by Halloween.. or.. ON Halloween since.. this is it ;)

So here's the update on the autumn painting from my last post.  Just a few touches added with bare branches through the bushes that you can't see very well here, and the ground.

 

Halloween costumes ... originally planned on doing a dryad/ forest spirit... then I found the little clip on horns... so I painted them up, added some furry little leg warmers and went with a faun lol My hood fell back from the wind, and you can't see the makeup very well... photos were a fail this year along with everything else >.<

 

My mom came up straight from work... where she was dressed as a clown. She was the only one who wore a costume, and she scared the crap out of her dogs this morning before she left... but she, like me, is never too old to enjoy dressing up for Halloween :) She has a costume on, but it was COLD outside, so she's bundled up in my Jedi robe lol

 This years jack o'lantern.... not as fabluous as last years, but the landlady grabbed the wrong pumpkin last night; I left mine by my door and hers were by the steps. I guess one of the kids had moved them around, and this morning when I went down to get mine, there was a bigger one in it's place... and it had a big flat spot that was just begging to be made into a face lol Despite that, the nose still ended up crooked, but oh well :) We brought him up stairs with us when we abandoned our trick-treater posts, and he's sitting in front of the tv where we can enjoy him.

And here's what the place looked like earlier. I had nothing to do with the decorating. Usually I add stuff to it, but this year I just didn't the time, or the will to stay out in the cold wet long enough .

 There ya go... a second post within a WEEK. Of course, the only reason I did one this soon, was because people were asking for another recipe... so here it is.

My great grandmother's recipe ->   Stuffed Bologna 

Instructions first, followed by photos of the process ;) BTW, Little Gram was what we called my great grandmother... because she was about 5' tall, compared to my gram, who was about 6' ;)

Octoberfest Bloghop

*shushes the crickets as she clears away the cobwebs*

Yes, I AM still here. I'm sorry for the long silences between posts, but I just haven't felt the blogging bug biting me >.<  But here I am, as promised, to celebrate my favorite time of year :)

 Due to far too much rain and cold these past few weeks, I was unable to get out and take photos of all the beautiful golds and reds, and sore feet have put a damper on my long walks in search of the colours that still remain... as of today, the golds and reds are already mostly browns and blahs :(  That said, I do have photos to share that I took earlier in the month!

Below are a few shots taken at the biggest fall festival in my area 'PumpkinFest'. These was taken inside one of the big tents, where they were weighing all the giant giant pumpkins and other veggies in hopes of finding a new world record.

 The pumpkins were all so large that they had to be move via slings and forklifts!  The one in this photo weighed well over a thousand pounds :)

I was bitten by the painting bug a few times this month, and an autumn themed painting was always on the list, but until yesterday, it didn't happen. Even now, it's still not finished but I took some pics to share anyhow :)

 To start with, I took red, burnt orange, and antique golden yellow, and just drizzled it in zigzagging lines across the canvas, then took a sponge and dabbed them all together.

 Then once it all dried, I took a skinny sponge brush, and added in brown and a soft powdery blue. This about three quarters done now, and completely sponged at this point. Next I'll take the paint brush in and do some detail work, so whenever I get that done, I'll share it again :)


I had several necklaces and bracelets planned and in the works, all with an autumn theme to share with you, however none of them managed to get completed. They're all laid out on bead boards, or still in sketches :(  I do however have some earrings to show you :)

 Some leaf headpins made by Shelley of Tori Sophia, paired with antique copper wire, and black and bronze tone Swarovski crystals.

 Another set of headpins from Tori Sophia , this time layered over some light jade leaves, with antique copper and green swarovski.

 A pair of charms that the photo really doesn't do justice too. Also from Tori Sophia, and with antique copper, I added some sari silk bits to the back of them. I did have some golds and browns with them, but the bluey green just popped better.

 And of course, what is October without skull jewelry? I made four pairs of skull earrings, but I seemed to have misplaced both the earrings and the photos of them, so here are two of them lol
Above are red swarovski crystals with red skulls - the bigger ones are magnesite, but the smaller ones are from Michaels and the label says reconstituted turquoise...O.o look the same to me, but then they could be... I never bothered to look them up ;)
Below are more of the tiny Michaels skulls, paired with some silver skull charms and links.

And to finish this off, I'll share with you my own, much altered recipe, for pumpkin raisin muffins. I use rice flour in place of regular flour, but changed it back to 'normal' for this post. If you want to use the rice flour as well, just add a quarter cup cornstarch as well.

1/3 cup veggie oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup brown sugar ( not packed)
1 1/2 cup canned pumpkin ( NOT pie filling! I use E.D. Smith's Pure Pumpkin, or when they're in season, I get a couple small pie pumpkins and make my own puree)
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice ( you can make your own by using equal parts ginger, cinnamon, & nutmeg)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Combine all these into a bowl and mix until smooth. Then mix in 1 cup flour, and 3/4 cup oat bran . Once the flour and bran are all mixed in, add 1 cup raisins that have been soaked to plumpness :)

Fill lightly greased muffin pans until 3/4 full, then bake at 350'F for 23-25 minutes.
I use the extra large muffin pans ( texas size, apparently) so they take longer.


There you go :) Some giant veggies, some leaf and skull earrings, and some yummy muffins, which I should warn you, are rather addicting.

Carry on throughout the hop and enjoy what everyone else has to share :) I'll see if I can't have another post up in time for Halloween :D

 Click here for the OctoberFest Blog Hop Participants List

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