Challenge Check In

Damn... that week went by fast!

Yes I accomplished my challenge this week. As a matter of fact, I'm writing this post early Saturday morning and scheduling it.

As many of you may know..I am a procrastinating SLOB. I despite housework...it gets done in fits and spurts, a little here, a little there. I host entire colonies of dust bunnies beneath my furniture.  My dishes are my worst enemy...I live alone so I truly have NO idea how that sink gets so full >.<  Usually I'll buckle down and get things done... to a point.  When it becomes obvious I'm slacking off in even that much and the place NEEDS a good cleaning..I go to a trusty failsafe...

I call my mom.

No, I do not call her to come clean.  Never. I tend to tell her off if she does clean anything while she's here ( much as she does to her own mother) and tell her, it's my mess, let it be'.

No, I call my mother and invite her to come stay for a weekend.  This is motivation at it's purest.  

So last week end I invited my mom up for this weekend.... then ended up not getting a damned thing done until cleaning wise until Thursday night ( she was due Friday afternoon ;) ).

Friday I got home from work and exploded into action. Within a couple hours I had things looking pretty good. My kitchen is almost unrecognizable ..I keep doing double takes when I walk in the room...I can see my table... it's looks strange sitting there so.... bare... lol

All that was left to do was vacuum all the carpets, remake the bed & couch, and clean the bathroom .. and possibly consider scrubbing the kitchen floor, but I wasn't sure I'd be THAT energetic.

I even had my chicken on boiling away all the grease and fat. ( Once it's cooked, I toss it in the fridge to cool it down, then when I'm ready to actually have supper, I do my coating and tossing it in the fryer to crisp up the batter and heat the chicken through ...tada! yummy and quick since all the actual cooking was done earlier. ;) )

Anyways.... that's when the phone rings. The weather is crap out her way, so mom's not coming up until the morning.

Tons of time to finish  the bit of cleaning I have to do :)   

Do I?

Not really...I got the bed made, the covers and pillows on the couch, then put the laundry away... well.. start to.

That's when I get distracted by another long overdue chore... tackling my closet.  So, as I'm putting my clothes away, I'm sorting through my mess and acknowledging the jeans and things I know my butt won't be squeezing into any time soon, and filling a bag for the thrift store.

So... got tons done yesterday :)

Still gotta vacuum the floors and clean my bathroom... but this morning I decided to whip up a couple pairs of St. Pat's inspired earrings over coffee, then post this.

So here we go... due to heavy housework and spring-cleaning-fever, just the earrings this round... BUT, two of them I made my own wires for :) ( and *sigh*  I had to rotate my photos having taking them, so of course, blogger refuses to believe they're not still sideways.. sorry if they're posting thew wrong way..I swear they ones they're linked to ARE the right side up )

These are one of the ones I made my wires for this morning :)  Just simple little glass heart dangles :)

And the second pair I made the wires for this morning. I miscalculated my wire length so the little 'supposed to be four leaf clovers' beneath the sparkly green babbles are three swirled... accents lol

And lastly, these I made earlier in the week. I decided to play with some little lampwork beads I've add for ages. Out of several different ones I started to play with, these are the only ones I actually finished into actual earrings lol  I have one pretty black one done... then realized the one beads cap was a different size... and I don't have another one of the right size >.<

So... there you go! Another week down :) So fancy jewelry set this time around, but I think I'm still doing alright. I have a bracelet three quarters done beside me, but I stopped when I realized I wasn't sure if I liked the combination of the wood beads in with the porcelain and glass... I'll ask mom when she gets here...I like the darker brown... but ... eh... Maybe I'll finished it to show you next week ;)

Hope everyone has a great weekend :)

Oh... and before I forget, I ordered some new beads that should be arriving any day now.. and among them are some multicolored butterfly crystals :)  So if another... say.... three people sign up for the giveaway, I'll add in some more butterflies :)

And I noticed we don;t have a single entry for the referral part of the giveaway yet! Bug your friends, ladies! Tell them to comment and mention you sent them so you're entered to win!

AND..I removed the captcha crap... sorry! I swear I didn't know it was running... stupid blogger reset >.<  I HATE captcha... so if you ever see anything like that on my blog, TELL ME! 

Okay... back to finishing my coffee and deciding whether to vacuum... or scrub >.<

~Skye

Challenge Check In

Sorry >.< 

I meant to blog earlier this evening ( despite what blogger claims, it's just shy of 8pm ).

I finally broke a creative block I'd been suffering over on some jewelry for my cousin. I've been poking at this since last summer >.< 

I love black... she loves black. 

Check.. that's easy.... got lots of black to work with :)

 She likes my Gothic designs best, but wouldn't actually come out and say she'd like a more goth style piece... No worries... after one slight failure, I clued in ( she liked it, but I could tell it wasn't quite what she was hoping for ). Again, no worries since I like Goth too and had a good variety of things... and keep adding more when I find them. 

The problem seemed to be the orange... she asked for black and orange... Harley Davidson colors ;) Now...I found some gorgeous orange shades of crystals... but every time I got ideas, they'd vanish as soon as I pulled out the beads. I was starting to get irritating as hell...>.< Every time I decided on a design, it would either vanish once the beads were out... or fail to work the way I wanted. I did get a couple pairs of earrings made, one of which I really liked the look of... unfortunately , I'd messed up on the one and so the 'pair' didn't work >.< That was back around Halloween.

 *sigh* So here I am... deciding on making some earrings and a little gift box to go with the ocean bracelet... when suddenly I reached for the orange and black beads rather than the blue and green beads. Again, three failed attempts at earring designs and I shoved them aside. 

Yesterday I poked at them again, then tore the one apart and tried it a bit differently... nope.

 Then this afternoon I decided to forget about them and do the ocean earrings... and once again went for the orange and blacks instead. 

This time things flowed together, and before I knew it, I had two pairs of earrings and a necklace that they both go with :) 

Pretty sure I nailed it on the head this time. I know *I* love it :) 

The necklace has two chains that form the back - one silver and one gunmetal.

The toggle clasp is on the side - a lock and key set that I saw and HAD to buy several of :D

The front part I did in black and orange (siam I think ) crystal rondelles set into rosary links. The focal is a wing charm, a black glass heart, and two orange crystal dangles, all hung form an etched silver oval connector.

For the earrings, I did one with tiny little wing charms, and one with the black hearts. I added the crosses to that one for no other reason than that I had two left, and my cousin had liked another piece I did that I used them in.

I'm thinking of making one little change to the one pair... I'm thinking of adding tiny little black and ornage crystal dangles to the wings to mimic the necklace...

....I never did get the ocean earrings done >.< *L*

Anyhow, there's my three pieces for the week :D

~ Skye

Freebie Friday #3

Here we are again... the first Friday of the month... that means.. new goodies to try to win :)


I was a tad stuck on what to offer up this round...I had two ideas .. and piles... but couldn't decide. I posted a note on my fb page, as well as at the Bead Soup Cafe, and asked for opinions.  No worries though... the second pile will be offered up for April's giveaway :D 

No.. not yet.


Wait for it :p


First I need to bug you a bit :D Them's the rules! first you deal with my rambling and photos .. THEN you see the goodies... then you do your entry thing :)


Don't worry, I won't be long ;) I've got some blog hopping to do, plus I've got a couple of bracelet and earring ideas bubbling in my head that are not quite ready to pop out...so I'll give them a couple hours then start doodling or playing with beads and see if I can't encourage them :)

You should be warned though... this is a photo-heavy post today!


So yesterday I was working on my ocean/sealife themed charm bracelet :) Ran into a couple little growl-inducing moments involving jump rings that kept jumping away... and itty bitty seashells that refused to be strung on wire easily.  I, however, won. Both battles :)


So.. wanna see?

So here's the full bracelet. I went with a plain lobster clasp so it would be adjustable.


The crackled, faceted agate beads make me think of sea turtles... and the blue and green freckled lampwork beads make me think of being underwater.  In addition to those, there are four different type of shell beads- the shell slices there, the itty bitty conch looking shells, the slices-of-shiny- iridescent-shell-whose-name-has-fled-my-mind, and those two dangles made of turquoise colored shell chips.

Here's a close up. I added three charms; a sea horse, a shell, and a starfish. the rest of the beads are mostly from the pre-soup bead exchange I did with Lori Anderson. I'll be mailing it off come Monday so I'll try to take some nicer photos before then.








Have I bugged you enough yet?




Hmm....


Maybe just a little bit more ;)


Wanna see what I just won? 

 This is from Havana Beads. Isn't he flippin' ADORABLE?! I have no clue what to make with him... he's the very first shaped lampwork I've had the chance to play with... I may just hang him up and look at him for a while until inspiration hits...














Okay okay.. enough. Here's what you've been waiting for :)


I tried a group shot but none of them turned out .. so... lots of smaller pics ;)  The penny is not part of the package ;) It's just for size comparison lol

A set of three wooden filigree butterflies - one large and two small :)

A set of metal butterflies ; One large filigree, two small butterflies and two medium butterflies. the four beads have holes that run up and down through the body.

Two Chinese Crystal butterflies, and one pink turquoise butterfly. Again, all holes run through the body.

Two acrylic butterflies , one red and one blue.

ANNNND ... four feet of this butterfly-bedecked wired ribbon :)


















So, what do you think? Ideas starting to bubble around in your heads? Or just thoughts of spring time ? lol






Alrighty... so all of that is what one lucky winner will get at the end of March.


Now how about an extra giveaway? For the person who sends the most visitors my way this month...

A pink turquoise butterfly ,  two Chinese Crystal butterflies, two medium sized metal butterflies... AND ... I have another two feet of that ribbon :)














So all you have to do is submit your entries into rafflecopter and you'll be entered to win the swarm of butterflies.  To be entered to win the second little batch as well, make sure to tell your friends to leave a comment and say you sent them! Every mention of your name left by a new person, on ANY POST on my blog from now until the giveaway closes, counts as one entry!  ANY NEW FOLLOWER who says they were sent here by you is worth THREE entries into the second giveaway PLUS an extra entry into the main giveaway :)


How does that sound?


BRING ON SPRING!!


                                                       ~ Skye

Check in and FF Winner

Yes, I know I missed my last 'Challenge Check in' .. considering I'd just posted eight pieces of jewelry for the global genes hop, I decided it wasn't needed ... plus I was busy working on a new set :)

Remember those chip stone bracelets that I loved making for the hop? From the first one I had the urge to try out a similar design on a necklace... and Sunday I did.

Alligator Tears

A short while ago I came across this tube of shell beads called 'Gator Teeth'. they were such a beautiful creamy color I had to get them. Turns out it was a good thing I did since they were perfect for this set :)

I made every twist and wrap of that chain too... even the clasp :) My first handmade clasp... so proud :)

My ABS February challenge piece never got made...My little vintage peacock broach is still sitting here staring at me, surrounded by a few beads. The gorgeous lamp work I had set aside to go with him have been used in another project already :)

I mentioned on fb that I have a gift to make for someone. I'm part of a group called 'Artcrossing', where we submit a 'profile', (basically it's more of a wish list of stuff we like), then that's assigned to someone and they make a gift for us. You don't know who the person is, since you get their real name with their address, and you know them by a nickname in the group, so you can't contact them at all. At any rate, the necklace above was for one.. and it went so well, I finished it in just one night! Since I'd figured on a week for it, I was done reaaaly early.. so I asked for another one.  

This one I knew I wanted to do a charm bracelet... I just didn't know what OF... so I picked two themes and color schemes, then went through my entire stash, for both beads and charms, and tossed in some of everything that fit either theme... then looked at the two piles. I went with a sea life theme and currently have it about three quarters done. I have all the large beads wrapped in and the charms added... now I just have some smaller beads to work in, and the clasp to attach :)

I blame Lori Anderson and her Bead Soup. Ever since taking part in her last bsbp, when I'm truly stuck I do a test 'soup'... tossing things into a dish and seeing what sticks.It's also a lot of fun :) ... not so fun to clean up afterwards, but... oh well! If you get stuck for an idea one day, try it :)

So that's where I am jewelry wise this week.  Now, my monthly art challenge...

I'd decided to do a painting this time around. I'm done... but I don't know if I'm 'finished'... I've reached a point where it's got the look.. 'mostly'.. the way I want, but I feel the need to do 'more'... however... anything more I do... just messes it up. So for now, it's done and I shall put it away. Perhaps at some later date I'll give it another try.

Fiery Gaze

 I've redone her right eye about four times now... plus I'm not happy with the shading.. but it's really hard to figure out the shading for FIRE .. >.<  I need to choose easier subject matter  >.< lol

So my art challenge this week was a really crappy painting. Maybe I'll try a better one for March...I keep getting this image of a comic strip type project popping into my head though... not sure what I'll be doing with that >.<

Alrighty, so on to the big news. If you've popped back to the original FF #2 post, you've seen the winner posted on the rafflecopter widget.  For those who haven't, this month's winner is Shaiha :)  Shay, remember you have your choice of either the geode, or the two pairs of earrings :) 

Sarah S. - I figured out how to fix your entry, so you did have the full amount of entries you were supposed to.

Carolyn - you were minus one entry since you clicked an entry for adding a blog comment.. but didn't add the comment tsk tsk tsk lol

Check in on Friday to find out what's up for grabs for March :) I've redone the Rafflecopter options and removed a couple.. and trying to figure out how to word a new one... lol  I think I'll also be doing a second prize for most referrals again - I figured out how to have Rafflecopter select multiple winners :D hehehe

~ for those wondering why I only replied to some of the comments left on my last post, I did reply to ALL of them... I just answered the first batch through email, then hit some that didn't allow me that option, so I came to the blog... then just replied to the rest of them here lol

I've decided to leave you with some words of wisdom...

7000 Bracelets for Hope

 Welcome to hop day :)


When I saw this challenge posted about in another blog I knew I had to do it.  Originally, I'd decided to do two bracelets. I decided on the designs, picked out the beads and then set it aside to work on another day when I had more time.  When the day came to start work, I couldn't find the one design I'd decided on >.< After going through every file on my computer where I stick pictures for inspiration, every folder where I stick links to tutorials, and every note pad and pile of paper I had any where NEAR my desk, I gave up and moved on... by then I had a couple more designs in mind anyhow.


For the record, I STILL haven't found that design...I have no doubt as soon as I mail of my package I'll turn around and find it without even having to look.


I'd like to point out that I did three bracelets that first time... and had all three fail in the last stage for various reasons. I was not having a good week.


I took a break from them and moved on to other things... getting hit by more designs ideas.


Out of those three original bracelets, none are featured here. I didn't even try another in the same designs despite deciding too.


Instead, we have these... by the way..I was on a roll and got a wee bit carried away ;) Oh and you'll notice that all of these have a blue glass heart dangle on the end :) 

First up we have some bracelets all on the same design, based on a tutorial ( which I didn't actually follow.. just looked at the picture and went by that)


I enjoyed making these for a number of reasons. One being that I got to pull out my wire and use it to make all the bits and pieces, and another because I got to use up a bunch of my chip stone :)

This one is howlite chips on copper wire with a variety of Czech glass and Swarovski crystal dangles.

This one is also howlite chips one copper, but with black crystal rondelles ( I believe they're Chinese Crystal )

This one is turquoise chip on silver with glass pearls for dangles. 

And the last of the chips, is Sodalite on silver with Glass pearl dangles.

Next up I decided to play with some chain. Here we have gunmetal chain, beside a silver chain threaded through with denim blue suede.

And here we have a silver chain beside a beaded chain of two shade of blue seed beads. Again, I got to play with wire and practice my loops :)

And then, since I was on a wire-loop-making run, I, pulled out some blue glass beads that I had set aside for one of the first failed bracelets, and made some rosary links, along with a few silver beads of the same size. This, while being the simplest of designs, is my favorite. I love those beads... and of course, they were a gift to me and I have no clue what they're called, so ordering more will be a case of trial and error >.<








So that's seven bracelets that will be getting mailed off Monday. I had planned on sending them today, but I'm waiting on word from a poet I contacted about permission to print out one of his poems and include it with the bracelets.


I do have one more bracelet, but I'm not sure about it. I'm not as happy with the design. I may play with it and see if I can't getting it to my liking in time to include it in the shipment.

See? Not sure if I'm fully happy with it...I may or may not send it, but since I'm already sending seven...lol I think it's alright if I don't get this one in the box too ;)












I hope you enjoyed looking at my little donation creations :)  The list of the rest of the participants in this blog hop are listed below, so I hope you'll visit some of them, too!


                                                            ~ Skye

Elysian Studios and One Kiss Creations

The Studio Sublime

Crafty Hope

The Gossiping Goddess

SilverRose Designs

Firefly Visions

Pink Chapeau Vintage Jewelry

Michelle Mach

Pine Ridge Treasures

Backstory Beads

Adventures in Creativity with Lorillijean

Carefree Jewelry by Lisa

Sue Beads

MiShel Designs

Created Treasures

Taralinda Muses

My Life Under The Bus

Elizabeth Creates

SilverNikNats

Erin Siegel Jewelry

Carolyn’s Creations

My Life…one bead at a time

Fresh Baked Designs

Songbeads

Sunshine Bliss

Lori Anderson

Rainy Days Designs

Pat Barden Jewelry

Tell Your Girlfriends

Therese's Treasures

Windrock Studio

Bead Lola Bead

Spice Box Designs

Antiquity Travelers

Vitamin C...A Daily Dose of Creativity

Beads and Bread

Sharyl's Jewelry and Reflections

Ahtee's Blog

Thoughtful-Notions

Beads for Brains:365

Wild Sally Road

All The Pretty Things

My Addictions...Handcrafted Jewelry by Patti

Lindy's Designs

Falling Into The Sky

Star Hitched Wagon

Mama's Got to Doodle

10KDgroup

F.F 2 -update

Alrighty... February's F.F. giveaway is almost over!

There are only 3 people who've entered so far so you still stand a good chance if you get your entries in!

Remember, you have a choice this month as to whether you want the geode or some earrings :)

I'm done with my '7000 bracelets of hope' bracelets.. having redone one of the ones I'd said I'd changed my mind on last post ... lol. I  will write up my hop blog tonight so it'll be ready to go tomorrow :)

I've started to take my photos at my window and putting the natural light to use. You'll have to let me know if you notice a difference in the quality.

 Unfortunately with the weather, taking photos outside isn't really an option. Wednesday the snow was blowing and visibility sucked for drivers.. and for us pedestrians it wasn't very pleasant either >.< Thursday it was gorgeous outside and half the snow melted away while I left my winter gear behind and wore my spring jacket outside... today...it's been snowing and blowing all day and all the snow that melted away yesterday has returned .. and brought friends >.<  Perhaps I'll venture outside with my jewelry and camera once Mother Nature calms down and decides on a season ;)

I work tomorrow so who knows what the weather will be like...I'll most likely either have to bundle up for the walk in then sweat to death on the walk home once the weather shifts... or enjoy a nice walk in and freeze the girls off during the walk home >.< I can totally understand why people around here head south during February... and I would too if I could afford the trip.. and thought I stood a chance of having weather that would let me actually reach the airport... with my luck you just KNOW a blizzard would hit and either stop me from reaching my plane.. or ground the plane ..>.< lol  Oh well...I'm afraid of heights anyhow ;)

Okay... rambling done...I have a second blog post to write tonight in prep for tomorrow so I'll run away and grant you all some peace for now ;)

Don't forget to pop back to the original FF#2 post and leave your entries with Rafflecopter. Everyone is welcome and I will ship it to you no matter where you are :) ( except maybe sending the geode to Australia... you'll have to check with your customs authority about the geode if you live overseas..I know Australia, at least, is picky about that kind of stuff >.< )

 So -> FF#2 Giveaway

later all! ~ Skye

Challenge Check In

A day late .. sorry >.< 

Sunday got away from me and by the time I realized that it WAS Sunday and I needed to put up my post, I had run into a computer issue that needed to be fixed first... by the time I got that done ( I thought), It was late so I figured I'd just post in the morning...

... then this morning I discovered I hadn't fixed the problem at all and needed to do a massive scan and repair that took a few hours.. but DID fix the problem :) 

... and then I ran away to my parents place for the day instead.

So... despite it being Monday, here is my challenge check in :)

As you recall, last week was a total bust with me failing to meet any of my challenges. I said that I would double my challenge this week to six pieces, rather then the usual three.

So here you go :

This was going to be one of my '7000' bracelets, but I think I changed my mind. I haven't decided fully...I made several different styles, but one style caught my attention and I made a few different ones in it and I think I might just go with them.... therefore..I can show you the ones I changed my mind about :)

I went with a little blue glass heart dangle for my bracelets for the '7000' challenge.  This one is a triple strand ; chain woven with dark blue suede, a beaded chain, and gunmetal chain.

This was another originally meant for the '7000' challenge ( as you can tell by the little blue glass heart dangle ) The center is a little silver heart connector. 

And after making those two, plus four others, all in various shades of blue ( I got hooked and couldn't stop >.< lol ) I finally broke free and did some earrings in red and copper... a needed break from bracelets ;)

No you can't see my other finished bracelets because I need to save them for the '7000' blog hop reveal :p .

I was going to share a pic of two of my three 'need to redo' bracelets, but...it's all blurry >.< 

So... the month is fast drawing to a close, and while I will be making my '7000' bracelet challenge without a problem, and seem to be doing not too badly on my weekly jewelry challenges, It doesn't look good for the ABS challenge or the art challenge >.< *sigh* 

I hope you lot are having better luck with your challenges to yourselves :)

~ Skye