nanmade: June 2014

Sunday, 29 June 2014

Pearl Challenge!

Welcome to my blog featuring the jewelry I made for Shel's Pearls, Pearls, Pearls blog hop. Michelle is a pearl fanatic and makes absolutely stunning pieces with pearls of all sorts. She created this blog hop to challenge us to do the same. This was a very difficult challenge for me since I have always had a major creative block when it comes to designing with pearls. I buy pearls with great intentions but can never seem to get past the starting point. To me pearls are all about frilly, lacy and girly designs none of which are words I would use to describe my style. I love what other people do with pearls to cross over style lines but I haven't been able to do this to my satisfaction. However I managed to make 2 pieces for this challenge and I am happy with the results. Thanks Michelle for hosting this hop and pushing me out of my comfort zone. I will continue to experiment with pearls for now on.
The first thing I successfully completed after several failed projects was this pair of earrings.

I love these tiny fresh water seed pearls and wanted to use many since they look great in bunches. I wire wrapped them on rosy colored torched copper ball headpins and hung them like a curtain of pearls from an antique copper ring. They were too plain like this so I hunted through my stash and came up with these cranberry fresh water pearls that match the ball headpins perfectly. They are dangling from my own handmade earwires and I'm happy with how they turned out.

The second piece is experimental in two ways. After seeing all the creative ways used with waxed Irish linen thread in Diane's recent blog hop I have been playing around a lot with it and wanted to use it for this challenge with the pearls. Unfortunately my knotting skills need a lot more practice to perfect. I strung these beautiful peach toned Swarovski pearls on dark brown linen and added tiny reddish-brown agate beads to frame the pearls in an illusion style necklace. It's a casual way to wear pearls and suits my style well.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing what I came up with for this challenge. Please hop over to Mishel's blog or click on the InLinx Linkup here to see everyone else's creations. Have a lovely Sunday!
Please check back here on Tuesday, July 1st to see the reveal for my own blog hop:
My Country Blog Hop

An InLinkz Link-up

Monday, 23 June 2014

Coming up next week!

Hi there! Next Tuesday, July 1 is the second annual My Country Blog Hop where participants will highlight their country by creating handmade art and telling the story behind it's creation. I thought of this idea while participating in Lori Anderson's 7th Bead Soup Blog Party last year. I love that our community of designers and makers is international and that we share our passions across all borders. It is a thrill to meet other bloggers from all across the world and share our many experiences, both about jewelry and life in general.

I have always been a proud Canadian but this patriotism grew when I lived in the UK for four years (1997-2001). I found myself having to explain what being a Canadian meant to me and sharing all that I love about living here. These feelings of pride and patriotism have stayed with me since I returned here and I have become a big booster of everything Canadian. Most Canadians already know many of the wonderful aspects about our country but over the years I have realized that the world in general needs more Canada! So this is my mission....to share what I love about this wonderful country and what it means to be Canadian.

Of course, being Canadian, I don't like to brag!!!! ( we are known as polite and self-effacing people).Therefore I invited other bloggers to join in to share what they love or have learned about their country and then to stretch their creativity to create a work of art that reflects their country. It's a great opportunity to see your home from the point of view of others and to learn what there is to love in living elsewhere. Please follow along and check out the other participants art and stories.

The event takes place on July 1, 2014 which is our big national birthday celebration, Canada Day. On that day you can hop to the blogs of the following participants and enjoy their contribution.

My Country Blog Hop Participants

Nan Smith (hostess|) nanmade.blogspot.ca

1. Ana (Portugal) acbeads.blogspot.ca

2.Rita (Orlando) JewelSchoolFriends.com

3. Dini (The Netherlands) angazabychanges.blogspot.nl

4. Robin Reed (Indiana) willowdragon.blogspot.com

5. Lilik Kristiana (Indonesia ) pcbylik.blogspot.com

6. Karla Morgan (Texas) texaspepperjams.blogspot.com

7. Karen Mitchell (South Australia) www.overthemoon-design.com

8. Jayne Capps (Oklahoma) mamasgottodoodle.blogspot.com

9. Melissa Trudinger (Australia)      beadrecipes.wordpress.com

10. Johana Nunez (Puerto Rico)     http:artincendi.com

11. Kepi (Alberta) kepirasmussen.blogspot.ca
12. Deb Fortin (Ontario) studiok24.blogspot.ca

13. Divya (India)              jewelsofsayuri.com

14. Tammy Adams (Arizona) paisleylizard.com/blog.html

15. Kay Thomerson (Texas)    kayzkreationz.blogspot.com
16. Bairozan (Bulgaria)         bairozan.blogspot.ca

17. Carolyn's Creations ( )        carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com

18. Lecia Woessner (New Orleans) copperroses.blogspot.com

19. Linda A. (Wash. D.C. FromTheBeadBoard.blogspot.com

20.Inge Van Roos (California) ingetraud.wordpress.com

21. Natalie (New Zealand) http://www.northshoredays.com

22. Lori Schneider ( ) beadaddicted.blogspot.com

23.Mary Harding (New York)maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com

24. Bouchra Rebai (Algeria) bouchrarebai.wordpress.com
25.Michelle McCarthy (Florida ) Fireflydesignstudio.blogspot.com

Friday, 13 June 2014

Announcing the Participants in My Country Blog Hop

A few weeks ago I posted about the upcoming blog hop I am hosting for July 1 called My Country Blog Hop. I am very pleased with the response and can't wait to see what everybody creates for the reveal.
The concept is for each participant to choose a locale they are familiar with and create a work of art inspired by that place. This is the second year for this hop and it is lots of fun to see what everyone comes up with.
Each blog will feature a description of the inspiration behind the creation and we will all learn something new and interesting about different parts of the world while sharing about our own homes.

This lovely Trillium, official provincial flower of Ontario where I live, was the inspiration behind my first attempt at a polymer clay cane

This was my final result which I was not too happy with. However it was my first attempt and quite a new challenge for me.

Last year it was all about jewelry but I've expended the field this year and any handmade work is acceptable. You can make jewelry, drawings, paintings, paper art, textile art, sculpture, etc.whatever helps you to tell a story. We will all post photos of our creations and share the inspiration that led to the results.

You could make polymer clay replicas of these Pennsylvania landmarks!

Or Union Jack earrings to show your British roots.

Japanese kimono fabric can turn up in many art forms.

It is truly an international blog event with participants from the Far East, The Antipodes, the Middle East, Europe, USA, the Caribbean and Canada. Thanks to all for joining in. Here are the lovely folks who signed up. Please check back on July 1 for the reveal.

Hostess: Nan Smith (Canada) wirednan.blogspot.ca

1. Ana (Portugal) acbeads.blogspot.ca

2.Rita (Orlando) JewelSchoolFriends.com