Colour of Dreams Blog Hop

I'm very happy to participate in this blog hop hosted by Toltec Jewels of Jewel School Friends. All participants were sent a unique handmade bead and were to design around the bead using  our dreams as inspiration !
 A wonderful concept and I'm not at all surprised at where it came from. I met TJ last year when she was my partner in the 7th BSBP and have come to know her as a warm, caring, contemplative person who beautifully expresses her intelligence, compassion and spirituality in her writing. I am blessed to call her my friend. So of course I jumped at the chance to enter her blog hop and the reveal is today!

The beautiful and colorful art beads that were given to each participant (50 of us!) were made by polymer clay artist, Patricia Handschuh of Color of Dreams and posted at quite a personal expense by TJ. Thank you both so much for your generosity.

Now about my dreams...... I feel like I'm living my dream right now. I have retired from a enriching and satisfying career as a nurse which was everything and more than I ever dreamed possible when I was a young girl fresh out of college. I've met so many wonderful people, patients and co-workers, and had amazing opportunities to learn and grow as a nurse throughout my career. Now that I've retired I'm doing what I've been dreaming of for years.....designing and making jewelry! I'm also spending much more time with friends and family and enjoying every moment of my dream life!

I'm generally an optimistic person and when I make jewelry I try to reflect this attitude  with positive colours and themes. Initially I was stumped with what to do with my art bead but eventually an idea developed. I ended up making 2 different versions of the bracelet  and can't really decide which one will be my forever one. I've been using a lot of Mykonos beads lately and love the earthy, aged look of the patina on the copper. The first bracelet features a fish clasp and dangle bead from the Mykonos collection at Stinky Dog Beads.

I included the spiral beads because spirals have consistently appeared in many of my jewelry designs and I have adopted the spiral in my logo so it seemed appropriate to use it in my "dream" bracelet and earrings. The colored jade beads pick up the lovely blue-green shade in the Color of Dreams bead and the lampwork beads from Unicorne Beads add a touch of sparkle.
The starfish below represents the one part of my dream that I'm not living now......beach life.....but who knows what the future holds!

Of course once I had finished and photographed my jewelry I had second thoughts (nothing new for me) when I came across this magical disc that was gifted to me from one of my suppliers. (Sorry to say I can't remember who.) It seemed as if was telling me to use it. I played around and tried to age it with a bit of black shoe polish which also made the engraved letters stand out. I added an antique brass clasp and chain extension to make it adjustable . Here is my second version.

I think I prefer the first one but the dream disc does work as well. What do you think?
Again I want to thank Patricia and Rita for this great blog hop. Please visit the blogs of the other participants and see what their dreams are!

Here's the list:

Honorary Artist: Patricia Handschuh
Patricia's blog:            The Color of Dreams        
Patricias Etsy:             The Color of Dreams
Hostess: TJ                Jewel School Friends
Kay Thomerson           KayzKreationz
Audrey Belanger          Toki No Hourousha

Alicia Marinache          All the Pretty Things
Terry Carter                TappingFlamingo
Lori Schneider             Bead Addict
Jenny Kyrlach             Wonder and Whimsy
Asri Wahyuingsih         Asri's Beadwork
Dini Bruinsma              Angaza by Changes
Karla Morgan              Texas Pepper Jams
Debbie Rasmussen        A Little of This, A Little of That
Veralynne Malone          Designed by Vera
Kathy Stemke               Vintage Memories Jewelry Design
Mowse Doyle               Mowse Made This
Heather Richter             Desert Jewelry Designs
Lori Poppe                   Adventures in Creativity with LorilliJean
Jayne Capps                Mama's Got To Doodle
Andrea Glick                Zenith Jade Creations
Kathleen Breeding         99 Bottles of Beads on the Wall
Becky Pancake             Becky Pancake Bead Designs
Karin Martinez              Fairies Market
Miranda Ackerley          Mirandack
Penny Houghton           Smelly Nelly
Carolyn Lawson           Carolyn's Creations
Chris Eisenberg            Wanderware
Christie Murrow          Charis Designs Jewelry
Monique Urquhart        A Half-Baked Notion
Eve Shelby                  Raindrop Creations Jewelry by Evelyn
Cryss Thain                 Here Bead Dragons
Jasvanti Patel               Jewelry By Jasvanti
Nan Smith                   NanMade Handmade Jewelry
Sue Kennedy               SueBeads
Jean Yates                   Snap Out of It, Jean! There's Beading to be Done!
Debbie Rogers             Debbies Treasures
Marybeth Rich             A Few Words From Within the Pines
Shirley Moore              Beads and Bread
Shaia Williams             Shaiha's Ramblings
Kathy Lindemer           Bay Moon Design
Linda Anderson           From the Bead Board
Judy Turner               Silver Rains
Gloria Allen                Gloria Allen Designs
Regina Wood              Ginas-Design
Robin Reed                Artistry HCBD
Mary Goovars            MLH Jewelry Designs
Marlene Cupo             Amazing Designs
CJ Bauschka              4 His Glory Creations
Robin Showstack        The Crazy Bead Hoarder
Cynthia O'Toole          Sparkles and Sweets
Jael Thorp                 Jael's Art Jewels
Renetha Stanziano      Lamplight Crafts