The Creative Continuum of Seven Artists ~ June

Today is the Sixth of Seven dates from January through July we are posting work we made with goodie bags other Bloggers sent us.  Alicia had the idea that we each send out six packages with beads or focals and on the 26th of each month we reveal what we made with a certain participant's package.

I am honored to be in this group of Seven...these ladies are a creative bunch.  

Participating in this Event and their Package Month and theme are : 

Monique of A Half-Baked Notion  :  January ~ National Gallery of Canada

Moi  :  February ~ Round and Round 

Sally of The Studio Sublime  :  March ~ Contrasting Colors

Therese of Therese's Treasures  :  April ~ Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Alicia of All The Pretty Things (and the brains behind this lovely continuing hop :-D )  :  May ~ Seasons

Cynthia of Antiquity Travelers  :  June ~ SomethingOld/SomethingNew/SomethingBorrowed/SomethingBlue

Emma of A Polymer Penchant  :  July ~ not sure if Emma picked a theme but I would say, Beauty!




Something Old ~ Something New ~ Something Borrowed ~ Something Blue.
When I opened this package from Cynthia, all I thought of was Beach Wedding/Beach Boho/Beach Bum/Beach Beach Beach.  But the Sari kept tripping me up, especially since it is white.  Until I decided to go simple : choker with a little bit of sway.  I added some leftover flat rounds from Therese's Lucy in the Sky package.  This brought together a bit of wedding symbolism of you ~ me ~ us.

Here 'tis:

Thank you, Cynthia, for the awesome toggle, the push to use white, the blues.

And thank you Alicia, for putting this group together.

One more month, Ladies!  Hard to believe we are nearing the end.

Not good self portrait so you can see how it hangs ;-)







Happy Summer Everyone!


My reading, writing, and visiting blogs will be spotty over the summer.  I apologize for that and will miss the blogs I regularly follow.   But ~ it's Summer!!!  What can I do but swim/kayak/drive drive drive?! 

Break From Tradition 5 Woman Hop : Come see our Spikes

Here we are!  Just a handful of us lucky ladies who are working with mega spikes Cynthia generously sent us.  Please go see what Cynthia, Therese, Bobbie, and Janet made.  I am darting over to their pages myself right now!

Therese (Therese's Treasures) http://theresestreasures59.blogspot.com/

Bobbie (Beadsong Jewelry) http://beadsong.blogspot.com/

Janet (Honey from the Bee) http://www.honeyfromthebee.com/

Cynthia (Antiquity Travelers) http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com/

The little hop was just what I needed to get some finished pieces out of the spikes.  I started working with them back in the winter when we first received them, then let them sit, undecided and unfinished.  The day Cynthia announced a little hop, I went right to work!  I need that kick sometimes.  

First is Spike Choker, with ribbon, peacock pearls, seed beads, black ovals, spikes.  It looks great on Fleur!  

Next is a necklace made with seed beads, labradorite, and the spikes.  It bounces around between the boobs and sometimes sits with the spike looking up at me and sometimes with it looking out at the person I am across from.  It likes to bop around :-) 

This next one is rather stripped down.  Spikes, seeds, twins, silk thread.

The last one belongs on a WTFriday post...I am not sure it is quite there yet.  Maybe the proportions are wrong?  Comments?  I think maybe the hematite squares need to go. 

So there are my spikes!  Thank you Cynthia, for your never-ending generosity :-D  The spikes were so much more challenging then I thought they would be, but they were fun!  That first necklace was the last one made and not much time or thought was put into it.  I think it is my favorite out of the bunch.  As always, thanks for visiting!  

HAPPY SUMMER 

A Time To Stitch 5, with a Special Guest Hopper

Welcome to A Time To Stitch 5!  The assignment for this hop was to use the same stitch, same piece (all bracelets/earrings, etc) but different beads in each piece the weaver made.  This would show how size, shape, or color changes the piece.  Some changes might be subtle and some might give it a whole new look.  

Thank you, Therese!  You really did all the work on this one.  It was a tough time of year for me to help co-host.  One of the things I love about co-hosting with Therese...when one of us cannot do as much, the other fills right in.  She is a great partner! 

I had every intent on making bracelets for this hop, but then decided to take care of two commitments and do earrings to be sent on to Ears to You.  I have committed to making 60 pair in the 2014 calendar year.  At last count, I had 40something pair made.  

There is so much more to come for this post, so let me get right to the earrings.  I made these first three pair using Ladder Stitch and bugles.  From left to right, I used 3mm bugles, 6mm bugles, and 6mm twisted bugles.  I used 11mm seeds, teardrops, and bicone crystals on all of them. 

On the second set of three pair of earrings, I used peyote.  At least, I think it is peyote...is it peyote when you are only doing two rows?  I used size 11 delicas for the first pair, 1.5mm cubes for the second pair, 3mm bugles for the third pair.  I added size 11 seed beads and crystals to them.   

It was a fun experiment and in my mind, I thought I would like certain sizes or shapes more than others but when all was done, that wound up not to be the case.  Interesting.  

As the title promised, there is a Special Guest Hopper today...Take it away, Sunshine Girl!!!    

So it's official. 7th Grade zipped by, and Friday is the last day of school! I decided about 2 weeks ago, "Why not make some bracelets for my teachers?" After all, they're wonderful teachers who had to deal with some not-so-wonderful students. They deserve some kind of reward!

I told my mom about my idea. She said it was very kind and thoughtful of me. A few days later, when I was picking out the beads, she told me about this hop. She asked me, "Do you want to do it?" to which I replied, "Uh, YEAH!" And then I started jumping up and down giggling, "I'm gonna do a hop! I'm gonna do a HOP!" My mom always tells us about her blog hops, and we comment with a "cool, I like it," and a smile. (I mean, we mean it, we really love her jewelry.) But now that I'm doing a hop, everything is different.

These bracelets are for my diligent teachers in 7th Grade Math, Science, Reading, English, and, my favorite, American History. They are flat spiral stitch with cream colored seed beads on the sides. The differences:

1.) The beads going straight down the middle

2.) The clasps (but some are still the same)

These are the same bracelets, they're just "posing" differently.

I want to give some credit to my mom. She allowed me to use her materials and helped me whenever I needed it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this extra special hop! Maybe I'll be back.

Back to you, Mom, to finish it off!

I am so happy to have Sunshine Girl here in my blog space.  She loves the flat spiral and it shows ~ she does it so well! 

And now the list of all the participants...go see what they have made!  I am extra excited about this one, since we have no idea what stitches everyone used.  Thank you to Therese, once again.  Thank you to all you ladies who continually sign up for this hop...there is no hop without you!  And to Sunshine Girl for always having an open mind and an open heart.  

Therese

Christine

Kim

Maryanne

Lola

Dagi

Shirley

LiliKrist

Amy

Crystie

Sally

Cynthia

Bobbie

Karin

LizE

Becky Pancake

Karin G.

Ana

Wendy

Mary H.

Jasvanti