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

Creative Bead Chat 2000 ~ thank you blog hop!

 A while back the Facebook group ' Creative Bead Chat', or CBC, reached 2000 members. In celebration, they held a massive giveaway event that had about fifty prizes dished out.

The prizes ranged from magazines, to gift certificates, to jewelry, and of course, a wide assortment of beads and components. All of which were donated by members of CBC :)

I managed to gather some of the winners together for a little bloghop to share some of the experience with those who didn't get a chance to join in, or who haven't found CBC yet.

So a special thank you to Melinda Orr, Marla James, and all the wonderful ladies who keep CBC going and fairly drama free :) I'll see if I can't add in a list of the shops of all the prize donors in here, so when you're done blog hopping, you can go shop hopping instead... Ohh... that sounds both fun.. and dangerous... 0.o lol

So what did I win? I entered several of the little giveaways... one for chain... a few different bead ones, one of the gift certificate ones... or maybe I entered two of those...? Anyhow... as the winners were posted I'd look over and not see me name on each one I entered... and then poof... there it was... on THE most perfect prize for me...

Skull pendants from Marla's Mud

See? P E R F E C T  :D

I immediately had ideas for both and set to scribbling out pictures, and looking up various pictures or tutorials to check on other ideas, but things keep interfering when it came to actually getting them put together.

So... I do not have any finished jewelry to show you today :(  So how about a couple 'in progress' pics instead? I'll be showing both completely pieces on another bloghop closer to Halloween, so you can check back then ... I'm sure another month will have him finding enough time to finish.. plus I have some other pieces I'd like to get done for that, too.

For the half skull, I knew I was going to do some colour. I'm not a flowery-colourful kinda girl (usually) but this one kinda demanded it. I pulled out three lampwork beads from Gail of Handmade in Oregon , that just seemed to fit with this... then grabbed some matching crystal... then after some hemming and hawing, decided I needed to add 'some' dark in and went with the black wire.

This one I actually started first... I started off with some blue/green gemstone chips that looked like they'd be a perfect match for the pendant... but then ended up looking too dark and taking away from the pendant. so I grabbed a lighter chip stone, another bead by Gail, and a selection of Czech glass and MOP. I think I need some fiber added in, too, but I'd still debating on that... and, horror of horrors...I get no urge to add black to this one ... O.o

You'll have to check back next month to see how these all came together :)

So go hop through some blogs, then if that's not enough hopping for you, go hop through the shops ( and FB pages) I'm sure there are some shops not listed here...I collected links form the donation photos and some of them didn't chose to include them... and I'm not up to spelunking through posts or pages to find them ;)

Hop Participants

~

Sandra - http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com

Carolyn - http://artisanwhimsy.com/profiles/blog/list?user=07ase2t9q0suy

Kay      - http://kayzkreationz.blogspot.com

Jana     - http://lasjoyasdejana.blogspot.com

Alenka  - http://pepita-handmade.blogspot.com

Rose    - http://handcraftedjewelrybyrose.blogspot.com

Melissa - http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com

Malie   - http://kumifisher.blogspot.com

Kashmira - http://sadafulee.blogspot.com

Connie - http://artisanwhimsy.com/profiles/blogs/creative-bead-chat-2000-thank-you-blog-hop

Valerie - http://artisanwhimsy.com/profiles/blogs/cbc-2000-giveaway-blog-hop-1

Donor Shops

~

https://www.etsy.com/shop/marlasmud
http://www.jkdjewelry.com/
https://www.facebook.com/WiredHammeredNWorn
https://www.facebook.com/AnniaMAeComplementosYBisuteria?directed_target_id=388176311287254
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LorillijeansDesign
http://www.fireflydesignstudio.etsy.com/
https://www.facebook.com/keithraku?directed_target_id=388176311287254
http://etsy.com/shop/downtownglam
https://www.facebook.com/lasjoyasdejana?directed_target_id=388176311287254
http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/SharylsJewelry
http://www.etsy/shop/irescuejewlerydesign
http://blumudd.etsy.com/
http://www.sparklingwaterstudio.etsy.com/
http://www.numinositybeads.etsy.com/
http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/allprettythings
https://www.facebook.com/Crows.Creations
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LAJewelryDesigns
http://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/MetalMeThis
http://www.torisophia.etsy.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SkylineBeads
https://www.facebook.com/HeidiKingmanJewelry?directed_target_id=388176311287254
https://www.etsy.com/shop/FallenAngelBrass
http://www.etsy.com/shop/cemaries.com
http://www.hehebeads.etsy.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TwoTreesStudio
http://www.bobhoffmeyer.com/
https://jodie-mcdougall-4mwe.squarespace.com/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ClayDesignsbyglee
https://www.facebook.com/JLynnJewelsFANpage?directed_target_id=388176311287254
https://www.etsy.com/shop/lastsummertreasures
https://www.etsy.com/shop/apolymerpenchant
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TesoriTrovati

Hello again & news about a new hop

Well crap >.< That was a hell of a blogging break, wasn't it? Sorry about that. Just haven't felt like blog writing in a while, and since I didn't have a shop lined up to feature last month ( or this month, actually) I didn't have that excuse to 'make' myself blog. Anyone out there with an online shop who'd like to be featured here, give me a shout via email  skyescreativechaos AT  gmail.com.

Now onto the reason for my finally breaking my blogging dry spell.

For those who are on FB and part of the group CBC ( Creative Bead Chat), you might have noticed the big giveaway they had to celebrate hitting 2000 members. They had to create a second group in which to hold the giveaway, it was that big ;) My mind in blanking on the actual number, but I know there was over fifty prizes given away! Everything from finished jewelry, to beads and components, to magazines, gift cards and even a display stand!

Yes I was one of the lucky winners :) And the one I won just proves that it was meant to be ;)

by MarlasMud

See what I mean? Perfect for me :)

Anyhow, it seems like I ended up sort of being volunteered/volunteering to host a bloghop or two to feature all of the winners with their goodies :)

I'm thinking we'll do two hops, to take place the last two Saturdays in September. 

Depending on how many of the winners decide to take part... if the list isn't that big, then we'll do one hop the last Saturday in September.

This kinda sucks as an intro post to a new blog hop, I know... but I've erased and retyped this so many times, I think this is as good as my brain will do today >.< I'll be posting a blog about this with the sign up info over at Artisan Whimsey... as soon as I give Melinda a shout.

Wow... blog writing has never taken this much effort before >.< I must be more burnt on this than I thought!

Amazing Designs winners :)

yeah yeah.. so it's TUESDAY and not Monday... Monday my 'friend' decided to pummel me a couple days early, and that always leaves me curled up with a hot water bottle, feeling blah >.< lol

And this round, I know there'll be no need to remind the winners of how long they have to claim their prizes... both are very familiar names, even to my other readers... although one of them may get dirty looks for rafflecopter tossing out her name again ;) lol

Mischelle F. & Shaiha W.

Both of you  need to give me a shout, and tell me the email addie you want your prize to go to.

:)

Alrighty... short post. Think I'll go ditch the jammies and head out to get some stuff done... and maybe go check out Michaels ;) Still haven't been in yet!

Friday Feature : Amazing Designs + re-redo winner ;)

This week I'm finally featuring a shop that I've had on my list since this idea first popped into my head. She was actually slated for last month but got it pushed back a bit for so we could have even more fun here :)




Marlene Cupo, as some of you know, is very active in several fb groups, including being one of the top people in my Project Bead .. or should I say, one of the top faeries ;). She's also one of the commitee members and contributors for 'Jilly's Bead Posse'. and those two are just the tip of the iceberg :)  she's a beautiful lady with a big heart that I doubt many of you have NOT heard of around the beading communitee :)



Facebook Page - Amazing Designs

Artfire shop - Amazing Designs

Want to know why her feature is a bit late?

Because she decided to have a major sale in time for this feature, and let you all get first crack at the goodies :)

AmazingDesigns is having a SALE! 40% off all items in the shop!

Shall we jump right to the eye candy?

Shop Link

 Faux Wood & Carved Bone necklace & bracelet set.

Shop Link

Fun & Funky Black & White, Gunmetal Necklace, Bracelet and Earring Set

Shop Link

Ruby, Garnet and Lucite Red Leaf Necklace

Those are just a few of my favorite jewelry pieces of hers... and I didn't share any of her earrings because this post would've become ay too long >.< lol

But Marlene doesn't just make beautiful jewelry... no... she also makes magnets, and book thongs, and eyeglass holders......

 ...and beads and pendants :D

shop link

10mm Panatone Color Poppy Red Beads - Set of 10

Shop Link

Large Lentil Pendant Bead in Peacock Colors with Antq Gold Spiral Wire

shop link

Frog Lovers! 5mm Frog Beads for Necklace or Bracelet - Set of 6

shop link

Large Flower Covered Leaf Shape Pendant with Silver Bail

And SOOOO many more ! This is an artfire shop, so the menu is on the right hand side of the screen instead of the left ;) Just so you know ;) lol Guess who scrolled through EVERYTHING  looking for the beads before she noticed that menu ?  Yup >.< lol

 Up for grabs this month  are TWO $10 gift certificates to Amazing Designs :) Yup, two winners :)

You know the drill :) Use the Rafflecopter widget to enter! ( you can enter all the parts, not just choose one ;) )

 If you can't see the rafflecopter widget, it's because you're not on the actual blog post... click on the post title and you should be able to see it :)

This giveaway will run until midnight, June 16th,  and the winners will be announced Monday the 17th. They will have until June 23rd to contact me to claim their prizes!




Facebook Page - Amazing Designs

Artfire shop - Amazing Designs


a Rafflecopter giveaway


 ~ ~        ~ ~          ~ ~


Okay... AND...

 ONE LAST TIME...

 I have had rafflecopter chose a winner for the PineRidge Treasure's  gift certificate. If it's not claimed within four days...( by Tuesday night), Wednesday I'm returning the gift certificate to the shop for her to do with as she pleases >.< lol

Although, that said, I doubt it'll be a problem this time. While this winner doesn't comment as much as some others do, I KNOW she's a follower and will no doubt see this before the deadline.
















.... can you hear Jeopardy music playing right now..? lol ;)

Alright alright... and this winner is




 Mischelle Fanucchi


:)

Gimme a shout, Mischelle :)


Please.


Don't leave me hangin' again ;) lol


** EDIT :  Mischele left me hanging an entire FIFTEEN MINUTES  lol 
PRIZE HAS BEEN CLAIMED!!

finally... ;)

Double Redo !

Well, it seems that Rafflecopter kept picking people who were just passing through when they entered the last contest... that's two now that I haven't heard from.

Third times the charm, right?

Well, my Follower list has decided to vanish again, so I'm not sure if she IS a follower or not, but this time, the name is familiar so she just might be ;)

Norma Turvey , you have until Thursday, June 6th at Midnight EST to contact me. Leave a comment, send me an email,  message me on facebook, whatever and however you want :) Just let me know you saw this and want your gift certificate to buy goodies at Lisa's shop by Thursday night.

If by chance I don't hear from Norma either, I'll be posting a fourth and FINAL winner Friday. I may have to dig out my printed copy of my members list and ditch all entries from people that are not on it and narrow it to Followers only... better chance of it being claimed ;) lol

But like I said, that's IF Norma doesn't claim it... and while I can't be sure if she IS a follower, I do recognize the name and have a vague recollection of seeing comments around here form her... not many, but some.. so...I think she just might be ;)

So come on, Norma... poor Lisa's getting a complex about no one wanting to claim her prize... and this gift certificate is getting mighty tempting to my shopping bug ;) lol

Oh, for those who follow me on facebook, I still feel might crappy, but loads better than I did. I think I'm approaching human again.. although human with a nasty, chest cough and a runny nose... I'll let you know if I get any closer after I have my coffee ;)

Anklet Blog Hop

So ... another blog hop that I decided to break my 'no more blog hops' rule to join up with ;) lol  This one I HAD to join for two different reasons...

Reason #1 - It's something I keep meaning to make, but never seem to get around to doing...

 and  Reason #2 - my friend Kashmira is the hostess :D

At the first mention of this I had 'ideas'.... then I signed up... but failed to jot these 'ideas' down, or pull out my stuff and get busy right then... and so promptly got busy with other stuff and the ideas slipped :/

When I finally sat down, some of the ideas returned so I got busy.  I had one a third of the way done when I was hit by the blahs over it... so I set it aside and started a new one. A third of the way in and wham.... eh.. not feeling this one either now *sigh*

Design three didn't even make it to the 1/3 mark.. think I managed three links and that was the end of that one lol

Yesterday hit and I knew it was down to the wire; I HAD  to pick one and finish it!  So I went with my first design and tada!! Done :)

I would like to point out however, that these were not the beads the original design called me to use at first... these were actually intended for a necklace.. however, as soon as I had my chain ready to go, my fingers ignored my 'instructions' and grabbed these instead lol

 There...a whole bunch of glass beads in varying shades of blue, a few very light weight marbled orange beads that I have no clue what they're made of, and some clear iridescent type beads, all attached to a copper chain & clasp with two copper charms - a seashell and a starfish. The clear beads and the orange ones are yard sale salvage :) Actually, come to think of it, they fit the beach/sea theme too... because both of those were in the batch of goodies I bought a couple years ago during my stay at the beach :D

And I'm truly sorry for the next two photos. I'd spare you, however Kashmira insisted we show our pieces on a model... and there is only me here lol Please ignore the cracked heels and any stubble you might be able to see ;)

 

Hmm.... totally should've painted my toenails for this lol

And a close up :) I have a dress this would go perfect with... I love the colours and the flow of it, but I hate the way it sits on top... the dress, not the anklet ;) The anklet I love how it turned out :)

I think I need to make a couple more now. Skull appreciation day in coming up in a few days, so maybe I'll just have to make one for it ;)

Thank you, Kashmira for a great hop & challenge :) I look forward to doing this again with you!


Please check out the rest of the participants to see all the foot-bling they made :)

HOSTESS -> Kashmira Patel	http://sadafulee.blogspot.com
Kaushambi Shah	Will post on Kashmira's blog
Jean Wells	http://jeanawells.blogspot.com/
Mischelle Fanucchi	http://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com/
Shellie Grindie	http://www.creativeeclectica.com/
Ginger Bishop	http://lilmummylikes.blogspot.com/
Monique U	http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com
Cynthia Machata	http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com
Susan	http://libellulajewelry.blogspot.com/
Kay Thomerson	http://www.kayzkreationz.blogspot.com/
Mimi Gardner	http://othercuriosities.blogspot.com/
Anindita Basu	http://alankarshilpa.blogspot.com/
Rita (Toltec Jewels)	http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com/
Gina Hockett	http://freestyleelements.blogspot.com/
Tammie Everly	http://ttedesigns.blogspot.com
Dyanne Cantrell	http://deelitefuljewelrycreations.blogspot.com/
Ema Kilroy	http://www.emakdesigns.com/blog
Emma Todd	http://www.apolymerpenchant.blogspot.com/
K Morgan	www.TexasPepperJams.blogspot.com
Sharyl McMillian-Nelson	http://sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com/
Cheri Reed	http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/
Rochelle Brisson	http://acreativechelle.blogspot.com/
Michelle Buettner	http://www.misheldesigns.blogspot.com/
You Are Here ->Sandra McGriff	http://www.skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com/
Stephanie Weiss	http://uniquelymebwd.blogspot.com/
Shelley Graham Turner	http://shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com/
Lynda Carson Roxanne Mendoza Dagi	http://freshbakeddesigns.wordpress.com/ http://roxidesigns.blogspot.com/ http://kokopellidesign.blogspot.com/