I almost forgot The Bead Hoarders Blog Hop!!

Thank you  Lori Anderson, for sending that reminder on Facebook about the hop. I had planned earlier in the week what I was going to do but then the week got away from me and here it is Friday night and I'm just getting to it now. I had great intentions of making a new piece but had to use past creations instead.
About the hoarding thing........we all do it. There are sooo many beautiful beads and components that it is next to impossible to resist buying at least one of everything we love! However even if I worked 12 hours a day for 6 days a week I would have a hard time using up all my supplies in a year! And then I discovered art beads and just have to support my fellow artists in the jewelry world! Those incredible lamp work , ceramic, polymer clay and metal works of art are utterly irresistible! Since I've been making jewelry for 3 years or so you can probably imagine how much I have hoarded. and now it's really getting out of hand because I've started to make my own beads and components recently out of polymer clay!

I've decided to feature jewelry that I made this past summer when I was in my purple phase and experimenting with Irish waxed linen thread (something else to hoard..... so many gorgeous colours). Of course since this jewelry includes some of my favorite beads I have to keep it for myself rather than sell them. More hoarding!!!

I love the Unicorne lamp work beads from Stinky Dog Beads and had been saving these fab purple teardrop ones for just the right project. I added some purply-pink cracked agate beads, a chunky purple resin bead, some Czech pony beads and a beautiful frosted floral lamp work bead from Glitteringprize Glass.
I finished it off with a silver plated spiral embossed bead, chain and lobster claw. I'm not thrilled with the proportions since I think the large bead is too big so this may change before I'm fully satisfied with it.

I'm much happier with the second bracelet and have worn it many times. The knotted linen makes  bracelets so comfortable and easy to wear. The focal is one of Heather's of Humblebeads fame. Her art appears so simple but is far from that and her use of colour and texture is phenomenal! I had no inkling of her talent until I started working with polymer clay!

I pulled the colours from her bird house and added several of my bead hoard to make this bracelet. There's a little bit of everything here. Starting from the bottom of the house I used amethyst coloured plastic beads, creamy white howlite bead, matte finish dyed  green jade bead, plum Czech glass flower bead,  green painted wood beads for the loop and a painted bone button for closure. From the top of the focal is a green Czech disc bead left over from my Bead Soup Mix that  my partner Michi sent me, two of my precious Judith Billig lamp work matte finish beads and a purple dyed lava bead that's been in my bead collection for many years.

Last but not least are these pretty purple earrings made using lampwork beads from Pinocean. I had heard that her beads are hard to come by so as soon as I saw some on Etsy I ordered them. I can see why her work is in such demand. The artistry, details and colours are perfection . See if you agree.

These sterling earrings feature the flame work of Mika of Pinocean and Val Lewis on Facebook. The multicoloured ones are Pinocean's while the beautiful pink/purple boro glass is from Val. They are both very talented artists and I can't help myself from supporting them!!!! The bows are pieces of sari silk ribbon and are the perfect finishing touch, I think.

That's all I'm willing to confess to at the moment. If you want to see the secret hoards of over 100 other jewelry artists check out all the blogs listed below. Thank you Lori for hosting this hop. It's been a lot of fun and has inspired me to start using more of my precious beads!

Lori Anderson	www.PrettyThingsBlog.com  (Hostess)
Audrey Belanger	esperianterra.blogspot.com
Jenny Kyrlach	http://anafiassa.blogspot.com/
Kathy Lindemer	http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com/
Lori Schneider	http://beadaddicted.blogspot.com/
Dee Elgie	http://cherryobsidia.blogspot.co.uk
Dolores Raml	http://craftydscreations.wordpress.com
Rebecca Ednie	Http://eclecticendeavours.blogspot.com
Lili Krist	http://emjestudio.blogspot.com/
Marybeth Rich	http://forestofjewels.blogspot.com/
Hannah Rosner	http://goodrivergallery.wordpress.com/blog/
Nicole Prince	http://healingbeading.blogspot.com/
Deana Hager	http://justdeesarts.blogspot.com/
Jackie Ryan	http://kydojewellery.blogspot.co.uk/
Elsie Deliz-Fonseca	http://ladelizchica.blogspot.com/
Mowse Doyle	http://mowsemadethis.blogspot.com/
Evelyn Shelby	http://raindropcreationsbyevelyn.blogspot.com
Lisa Johnson	http://spudandmrsbutters.blogspot.com/
Terri Gauthier	http://terrisbloomingideas.blogspot.com/
Patti Pruhs	http://threebeadsandastring.blogspot.com
Shai Williams	http://www.shaihasramblings.com/
Andrea Glick	http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/
K Hutchinson	https://jumbledhutch.wordpress.com
Marci Brooks	https://thatnothingbewasted.wordpress.com/
Jo-Ann Woolverton	itsabeadifulcreation.blogspot.ca
Jasvanti Patel	Jewelrybyjasvanti.blogspot.com
Laurie Vyselaar	Lefthandjewelry.wordpress.com
Lisa Knappenberger	LIRaysaDesigns.blogspot.com
Mary Lindell	marylindell.com
Niky Sayers	silverniknats.blogspot.co.uk
Sandra McGriff	skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com
Patricia Handschuh	thecolorofdreams.blogspot.com
Erin Prais-Hintz	treasures-found.blogspot.com
Maria Rosa Sharrow	willowstreetshops.blogspot.com
Kathleen Breeding	www.99bobotw.blogspot.com
Monique Urquhart	www.ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com
Jackie Locantore	www.artfire.com/ext/shop/blog/MorningStar
Sheryl Stephens	www.babblebead.blogspot.com
Becky Pancake	www.beckypancakebeaddesigns.blogspot.com
Mona Arnott	www.bijouxgemsjoy.blogspot.ca
Michelle Escano	www.cabbycraft.com
Denise McCabe	www.cabewoman.blogspot.com
Carolyn Lawson	www.carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com
Sheila Prose	www.catswithbeads.blogspot.com
Kim Dworak	www.cianciblue.blogspot.com
Iveth Caruso	www.CreativeAtelier.net/blog
Deborah Apodaca	www.deborahapodacadesigns.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth Bunn	www.elizabethbeads.blogspot.com
Janine Lucas	www.esfera.me/travel/blog/travel-stories
Kari Asbury	www.hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com
Inge von Roos	www.ingetraud.wordpress.com
Divya N	www.jewelsofsayuri.com
Debbie Rasmussen	www.kepirasmussen.blogspot.com
KJ	www.kjsbeadaciousbeads.blogspot.com/
Klaudete Koon	www.klaudetekoon.blogspot.com
Ghislaine Kruse-van Erp	www.kruseartllc.com
Ginger Bishop	www.lilmummylikes.blogspot.com
Kelly Schermerhorn	www.meanderingwithkelly.blogspot.com
Mischelle Andrade	www.micheladasmusings.blogspot.com
Sue Kelly	www.midlifegreaterexpectations.blogspot.com
Rachel Mallis	www.mintmonarch.com/#!Blog/c1jlz
Susan McClelland	www.mistheword12.com
Mary K McGraw	www.mkaymac.blogspot.com
Tania Spivey	www.moobiegracedesigns.blogspot.com
Stephanie Perry	www.mustardbeadbystephanieperry.blogspot.com
Mitzie Crider	www.NeedfulLuxuries.Blogspot.com
Nicole Rennell	Www.nicolerennell.com/blog
Nicole Valentine	www.nvalentine.blogspot.com
Karen Mitchell	www.overthemoon-design.com
Tammy Adams	www.paisleylizard.com/blog/
Patty Miller	www.pattymillerbeads.blogspot.com
Blanca Medina	www.peru-medesigns.com
Stephanie Haussler	www.pixybugdesigns.blogspot.com
Roxanne Mendoza	www.roxidesigns.blogspot.com
Claire Fabian	www.saraccino.blogspot.com
Bridget Torres	www.shears58.net
Donetta Farrington	www.simplygorgeous-donetta.blogspot.com
Lee Koopman	www.stregajewellry.wordpress.com
Deb Fortin	www.studiok24.blogspot.ca
Susan Walls	Www.susansartcircus.com/blog
Cece Cormier	www.thebeadingyogini.com
Heather Otto	www.thecrafthopper.com
Lizzie Clarke	www.theneedtobead.blogspot.co.uk
Elizabeth Hodges	www.thewhisperingseas.blogspot.com
Fay Wolfenden	www.torchfairy.blogspot.com
Kelly Hosford Patterson	www.TravelingSideShow.blogspot.com
Nan Smith	www.wirednan.blogspot.ca
Jayne Capps	wwwww.mamasgototdoodle.blogspot.com

Robin Kae Reed                                       http://www.willowdragon.blogspot.com/
Melissa Trudinger                                   https://beadrecipes.wordpress.com/

Welcome to the 2014 Art Charm Exchange Blog Hop!

 

Today is the official reveal of the Beads of Courage Art Charm Exchange and the beginning of the charity auction on eBay with all proceeds going to Beads of Courage. This post will chronicle the creation of my charms and show you all the beautiful works of art I have received in this exchange. However the main purpose is to increase awareness of this wonderful charity and encourage you to participate in the auction.

I signed up for this challenge and proceeded to puzzle over what to create.I'm amazed at all the different interpretations of my fellow artists.

The theme is "soar" which made me think of birds.

Future birds in the nests,

Feathers to help them soar!

Mama birds and their babies ready to "soar"off to Jennifer and the other artists!

I took poetic license with the "Soar" theme and decided to "soar" into the unknown by revealing my polymer clay creations to the world for the first time since I've been spending so much time with it these days and I love these little birdies!

Just a few of the

thoughts that went through my head while waiting!

Worry, worry, worry!

Are my charms good enough?

This is my first time revealing my polymer clay skills to the jewelry world.

Will they survive being mailed all over the place or crumble into a million pieces?

There are some amazing jewelry and component artists participating in this challenge.

Why did I ever think I could compare?

Will I be embarrassed forever and afraid to show my face on my blog?

Will anybody bid on my charm in the auction?

2-3 weeks passed and the wait was over and I received the most amazing collection of charms I could have imagined.

I initially took individual pictures of each charm and cards of each artist but this blog post would go on much too long so I took some group shots to show you who sent me such fabulous charms.

I was quite humbled by the quality and artistry in the charms. I have been admiring the work of most of these artists online for a couple of years and am thrilled to finally own some of their work.I received a nice mix of charms from the USA and other international locations. There is a enameled copper kite from Leslie of Thea Elements in the UK, a polymer clay leaf from Alenka of Pepita of Slovenia , a beautifully hand painted pink glass bead from Caroline of blueberribeads in the UK., a ceramic feather charm from Terri of artisticaos, a fellow Canadian from Saskatchewan and my own polymer clay bird on a nest from Ontario

And from South of the border in the great USA.....

.Perri Jackson of Shaktipaj Designs made a wire wrapped glass hot air balloon which was a great interpretation of our "soar" theme, Jenny Davies-Reazor also came up with an original idea with her ceramic butterfly charm, and Kristi Bowman pulled her inspiration from the clouds soaring above and made a copper clay cloud charm imprinted with the letters soar. Birds were the most common element in my charms this year with two more besides the one I made. Michelle of Firefly Design Studio made a fabulous ceramic bluebird with a blue crystal and cloud dangle and Sue of SueBeads made the great handmade red glass bird charm.....so cute! (the pictures don't do it justice)

The Beads of Courage art charm auction is running now!You can easily own one or more of these fabulous charms too! Head over to the Art Charms for Beads of Courage eBay site and put in a bid on whichever charm strikes your fancy. You can own an artisan made charm and donate to a wonderful charity at the same time.

2014 Art Charm Exchange Participants

Jennifer Cameron: http://www.glassaddictions.com/blog

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

Alicia Marinache: http://www.allprettythings.ca

Andrea Glick: http://zenithjade.blogspot.com

Caroline Dewison: http://blueberribeads.blogspot.co.uk

Cassi Paslick: http://badatbeingmom.blogspot.com/

Cate van Alphen: http://fulgorine.wordpress.com

Cheri Reed: http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com

Chris Eisenberg: http://www.wanderware.blogspot.com

Cory Tompkins: http://www.tealwaterdesigns.blogspot.com

Genevieve Gabbert: http://www.glassaddictions.com/blog

Jami Shipp: http://celebratinglifewithdamamashipp.blogspot.com

Jenny Davies-Reazor: http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog

Jill Bradley: http://www.jillybeads.blogspot.com

Kim Dworak: http://www.cianciblue.blogspot.com

Lee Koopman: http://stregajewellry.wordpress.com

Lennis Carrier: http://www.windbent.net

Lesley Watt: http://www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com

Mallory Hoffman: http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com

Melissa Trudinger: http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com

Michelle McCarthy: http://www.fireflydesignstudio.blogspot.com

Monique Urquhart: http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com/

Moriah Betterly: http://mlbetterly.blogspot.com

Nancy Dale: http://nedbeads.blogspot.com

Nancy Smith: http://wirednan.blogspot.ca

Niky Sayers: http://silverniknats.blogspot.co.uk

Perri Jackson: http://ShaktipajDesigns.com/blog/

Renetha Stanziano: http://www.lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com

Shai Williams: http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com

Sheila Prosterman: http://catswithbeads.blogspot.com

Susan Delaney: http://susandolphindelaney.wordpress.com

Susan Kennedy: http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com

Terri DelSignore: http://artisticaos.blogspot.com

Toltec Jewels: http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com

Vanessa Gilkes: http://culturezine.com/blog/

Beads of Courage

"Beads of Courage" is a charitable organization that provides support to children with serious illnesses. They provide beads to the children to mark accomplishments and milestones on the treatment journey they are on. It is a non-profit organization that is currently supporting over 30,000 children around the world in USA, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and United Kingdom. The beads are "earned" by the children as they make their way through their treatment plans. The beads give the children a tool to help them understand and tell the story of their illness. You can read more about it here.

Jennifer Cameron of Glass Addictions has organized a Blog Hop, Charm Swap and Charity Auction to provide awareness and donations to this great charity. It is taking place this weekend with over 60 jewelry artists participating. Jen co-ordinated the charms made by everyone and sent a package of 10 charms off to each of us after receiving 11 charms from each of us. Quite a mammoth undertaking on her part. We each received 10 different charms and will be showing them on our blogs Tuesday November 25th .
November 25th is the date of the eBay auction which features one of each of these charms. You can easily own one or more of these fabulous charms too! Head over to The Beads of Courage eBay site and put in a bid on whichever charm strikes your fancy. You can own an artisan made charm and donate to a wonderful charity at the same time. The auction will be here

As a teaser here's a picture of my charms ready to send off.

Please check back here on Tuesday to see the real charms and check out the auction.

Playing with Clay!

It's official.....I'm seriously addicted to polymer clay! My jewelry table has been taking over by all my polymer clay tools, work surfaces, texture sheets, rubbing alcohol, bag full of multiple shaping tools, paint, sandpaper, etc, etc, etc. I've been having so much fun as I search for my style and learn new techniques to create what I imagine I can do with this amazing media.
Last week after making a whole bunch of pc headpins and painting them fun colours I created this Garden of Strange which resembles a garden from another planet....or so I imagine. Lots of fun but I'm not sure where I'm going with this.

I've listed some pairs of headpins in my Etsy and Indiemade shop but no nibbles yet. I guess they are only appealing to a particular, quirky kind of jewelry maker. What do you think about them?

Octoberfest Blog Hop

Thank you Rita from Toltec Jewels for hostessing this wonderful blog hop. Autumn is my favorite time of year as well. I've become less of a fan of hot, humid weather as I have grown older ( and wiser!). I no longer sun bath due to an episode of skin cancer several years ago and I find the heat and humidity of a normal summer's day in Southern Ontario too uncomfortable to enjoy.
Ah, but with the autumn comes cool, refreshing breezes and sunny, clear days to bundle up and walk forever in. I love putting on a sweater, jeans and  a jacket and head out to explore the world.The changing colours of the leaves is the most stunning display that nature shows us. It's like the final blaze before the fire dies down and sleeps for the winter. Maybe it's knowing what is to come that makes me appreciate it so much.

I have been playing with clay for  several weeks and had planned to make some jewelry with my clay creations . However the amount of work and finishing that goes into polymer clay has used up all my time so I'll just have to show you some of my polymer clay creations made in honour of the Autumn.
These beads were made from some orange and black clay using the Mokune Gane technique that didn't quite work out as planned. I'm discovering that that is the rule rather than the exception with polymer clay!

These feathers were made using a feather/ leaf tutorial I found online but I can't remember who by!

I love using Gilder's Paste but have discovered that it doesn't take well to either Renaissance Wax ( removes the paste completely) or acrylic varnish ( makes it permanently sticky!). Needless to say I've had many trials and errors in my discovery journey with polymer clay!
The next set of pictures show some of my more successful attempts using Gilders Paste as a finishing touch for polymer clay.

Beads and Pendant

Pendant

My first headpins! ( I have since cleaned the wires)

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my latest attempts at creating with polymer clay. I am having a lot of fun and love most of what I've made but am not sure if it appeals to others. What do you think? Would you buy any of my components?

Have fun browsing through the rest of the blogs featured in this 3rd Annual Octoberfest Blog Hop. Check out Toltec Jewels post and see the list of all the participants you can hop to and enjoy their creations.

Thanks for looking!

Nan of nanMade Jewelry

Good Luck, Bad Luck!!

This is a very delayed blog post because I've had trouble getting myself organized. Any of you who have read my blog over the last year will know that I've had quite a lot of bad luck with my health since November 2013. To recap briefly...I retired after 38 years of nursing and moved to a new town . Soon after moving in I had an accident by tripping in my back yard which resulted in my breaking my neck! That's the bad luck but the good luck is I had no serious long term affects. I wore a neck brace for 4 months and took it easy for the winter.
Soon after the neck brace was removed, I ended up back in the hospital in heart failure for 1 week. Again, bad luck  but I survived which is more good luck! It's been another restful time period this summer as I adjusted to my new normal and all the new medications I now have to take. It has slowed me down but I now have all the time in the world to spend on polymer clay and jewelry making!!!!
Pretty good luck, I guess!
Running simultaneously with this run of bad luck has been an incredible string of wins on the internet. I've been hesitant to talk about this in my blog because I didn't want people to think I was bragging ( and I didn't want to jinx myself!). Once the holiday rush ended last year I started spending a lot of time online, reading blogs and facebook regularly. As you know there are many contests and giveaways so I got in the habit of entering everyone I came across. Starting in January and continuing until last week I kept winning. Now that I've revealed this I'm sure my luck will change but that's only fair since I've won more than my share...7 or 8 in all! I really wanted to share what I won from some incredibly talented artists and thank them publically for their giveaways. I hope I haven't neglected anyone but it's been a complicated year.
I haven't taken pictures of everything but will try to credit everyone who contributed to my winnings. I will start with pictures since there is way too much text here.
March saw me winning the Art Bead Scene monthly challenge and getting a gift certificate from Mary Harding. She asked me to choose anything I wanted and custom made the following goodies for me. Check out her blog and Etsy shop to see more of her work.

Beautiful Copper Clay bracelet bars....I haven't created the right pieces for them yet.

Beautiful ceramic maple leaves .....they became a giveaway for my blog hop July 1st.

My next big win was from  Esfera Jewellery who had featured an artist  interview, Jetta Sellers, on her blog and had a giveaway of jewelry she made with beads from Jetta Bug. Janine has a great blog and has interviews with jewlery artists and giveaways every month. You have to follow her blog....you never know! I was given a choice of 2 bracelets of Janine's and chose this one.

If you notice it's broken it's because I wore it all summer and had a habit of playing with it until the twine holding the blue beads broke. I will repair it soon. I literally wore it everyday.
 It is the cutest bracelet ever!

Another contest I entered on Facebook was given by Niky of Silver Nik Nats, a jewelry artist in England who does incredible silver and jewelry work. I love her style and follow her blog and Etsy shop all the time! The earrings she gave away are stunning, just my style and made with my favorite gemstone ever, Labradorite! I couldn't believe my luck when I saw that I had won! I really wanted those earrings and here they are! ( they go very well with my bunny bracelet!)

Thank you, Niky, I love them!

Please check out Niky's blog and Etsy shop. You'll love them and her creations!

My most recent win was another one from Art Bead Scene blog which is a fabulous blog to follow if you have any interest in art beads, handmade components or jewelry made using art beads! That's pretty much every jeweler I know! Every week this blog features a post by one of their many talented contributors called Inside the Studio. Whichever artist it is writes a post about their studio or something they create inside their own studios. It's great to read and see and hear about their artistic vision and process. As well as this fabulous post they also have a giveaway hosted by the artist who is featured that week.

September 19th featured Ema Kilroy who is another artist who's work I greatly admire. In fact her lamp work beads were the first ones I ever bought during an online auction on Facebook! I received these fabulous lamp work beads yesterday and was going to make some earrings before posting but decided not to delay this post any longer. Here they are.....

Aren't they the most beautiful colours?


OMG this is a VERY LONG blog post but I can't neglect all the other wonderful folks that I've won from. 
The year started out with Ann Schroder's giveaway on her blog, Bead Love, which  was the first one I won. Beautiful art beads from Jenny Blasen, Humblebeads, Round Rabbit and Scorched Earth. How's that for a score?

Next blog Hop I entered was the Grow Your Blog party which was created to encourage traffic to everybody's blog. Since I was pretty new to the blogosphere then I eagerly joined in. Well almost everybody else who joined in hosted a give away on their blogs and I won one of them! 
I received fabulous dark chocolate and some very good health conscious magazines which given the issues I've had this year were very apropos!

I also won a wonderful colour filled painting from a blog I started following as a result of the Grow Your Blog Hop but I'm so disorganized that I can't find the name of the artist or the blog. as soon as I do I will come back to this and add it.

I won a fabulous macrame bracelet this summer from another jewelry artist on Facebook. It was also on my wrist all summer until it got stretched out of shape.  I think I'm a little rough on bracelets!!!!
The bracelet is in great shades of blue and green and I love it! It was made by Medina of Medina Medibeads on Facebook.


That's all folks! Thanks for reading if you made it this far!