My Bead Soup Partner has a Giveaway!!

Patricia Wood of VerreDesign is doing a giveaway!! She made these earrings with some of the Bead Soup I sent her and she is going to give them to one lucky winner! Go to her BLOG and you can enter up to three times! She used copper wire, her own fabulous lampwork beads and my handmade charm tiles. What a fantastic combo! These are truly one of a kind :)

Thanks to everyone who visited during the Bead Soup Blog Hop, please keep coming back for lots more fabulous jewelry and bead posts!!

Marie

EYE CANDY!!!

So I found out earlier this year that in Calgary we now have the Canadian Bead Oasis Show! Well, I am sure you understand how I felt!! {Big grin, cartwheels, jumping up and down...} So I planed most of the beginning of the year around the impending bead show. I had a list of things I wanted. Candy Jade, pearls and Labradorite.  Anything else was fair game!

So here you  can see I found some really pretty pink and orange Candy Jade and the yellow is just jade.

I also found these great pearls! I wanted colourful pearls in a few different shades. 20 strands in all!  I can't wait to use some! I already have quite a few ideas as to what I want to do with them.

 

 These are Polymer clay as some of you can plainly see. I just really likes the little flowers and I got a few accent beads and a focal too. We will see where my imagination takes me with these.

 And here is my stash of Labradorite! There is some dyed quartz and garnet there as well, but mostly LOST of Labradorite!! I have not been able to find any locally so I stocked up! Lots of fun shapes, my two faves are the tear drops and the nuggets! I could have gotten a lot more! There was so much selection there, even with only about 40 vendors.

  Here is some amethyst, some of those will be going into my Mother's wedding necklace with some yellow pearls. There is also Chalcedony in three fabulous colours! I really wanted the lavender chalcedony, but I needed to keep a little money for something else!

These are a mix of Amethyst, Citrine, Calcite, Quartz and Amber. The chips are the only Amber I could afford! That stuff is seriously pricey!! I think it will still make something fun!

 I did fall in love with these Silver dipped Sea Shells! The price was irresistible!! So I hope you will keep your eyes open for creations made with these very soon!

 The bright red is Coral. Great price, but I still only got one. By now I was pretty low on funds! lol but I had one more important stop to make...

 Unicorn Beads!! YUMMMMMMMY! I saw them when AI first came in and decided that I had to walk away and save them for last or I would never buy anything else! I absolutely adore these beads!! I had heard the name before in passing, but never seen the beads. I was in awe!! I got a few strands to try out and a few pendants!! I think that I have a bit of an ocean theme on the brain lately!! Sea Shells, pearls...
 I just can't get enough!! I love everything I chose and could have spent a lot more money than I had, I KNOW you can relate because most of you have done the very same thing!! Boy did I have a big grin and a very heavy bag when I left.

The best part... a couple of people recognized me!! NO WAY!! That was way too cool!! I never thought that would happen. What an Ego boost!!


Thanks for stopping by!

Marie

Bead Soup Blog Hop!! Day 2

So here we are, finally the time has come and the suspense is at an end. Day two of the blog hop! I was lucky enough to be paired up with Patricia Wood of VerreDesign and she sent me a wonderful selection of things and I had a hard time choosing what to use first!! You can check to see what all I got on the "Bead Soup Sneak Peak" post.


This is my daughter "Evie" modeling the head band!





So to start, Using the very unexpected gift of Burgundy feathers! I was kind of lost on this one, I had never used a single feather in scrapbooking or jewelry design! However, I LOVE a good challenge!! So I just let them inspire me and it just hit me! A head band! Ok, so it's not exactly jewelry, but it is an adornment so I figure it counts! I used The feathers, I added some paper flowers from my massive scrapbooking stash, added a jeweled brad through one of the disc beads and wired on some of the glass lampwork leaves that Patricia added to the collection! Voila!!

This was actually the last thing I made, but I wanted to start with this and then move on to the jewelry.

I love making earrings, almost more than anything else! They always turn out so different than the last pair! I used some of the disc beads that Patricia made. For those of you who don't know, Patricia is a lampwork artist. You can find her Fun and Gorgeous beads {jewelry too} in her Etsy shop VerreDesign. I used some of my Argentium wire and made ear wires, I also used a little for the wire wrapped loops.

You can really see the lovely detail in the clear glass encasing. Stripes of Orange and white are truly fun.
The Silver beads are also from Patricia, she said they were fine silver! I fell spoiled :)

 Now these were the first thing I made! These Boro beads were the first to speak to me and I just had to make them into earrings! When I see a pair of beads that stand out from the rest, they tend to tell me to create earrings. I need things in uneven numbers to make them into anything else! lol












I have not decided yet, but I may have to keep these for myself! They really feel special! Everything is either fine silver or Argentium silver and all but the wire came from Patricia.
Last but not least...

I have been wanting to add hollow beads to my collection for a long time! These are terrific! I loved the mix of these Large single beads and I knew they needed to become a bracelet! I also wanted to add the sweet little flowers that she sent me with them. They turned into the perfect bracelet! Big, Bold and fun! Green is my favorite colour after all so I simply could not resist putting them together!

I imagine Patricia made these little flowers, but either way I love them! They could not have gone more perfectly well with these beads! She made so many different kinds of beads! Simple ones, fancy ones, big ones, small ones single colours and bright colourful ones! Fun selection!!

I wire wrapped the beads with some sterling silver wire and added the fine silver toggle included in my bead soup. I LOVE this one! I took it to my show last Sunday and a couple of people were interested, but I could not sell it yet, simply because you never know what will happen and if all my photos had been wiped, then what would I have done! So for now I still get to wear it!

I still have many, many more beads that I have not used yet. I will use them soon, but I never have enough time to do all the things I want to do, so for now, they wait...

Come again soon for more fantastic projects!!

You can find all the links for the Bead Soup Party on our wonderful and amazing Lori Anderson's blog, Pretty Things! For those of you who missed the beginning, here are the links for yesterday! See what everyone has created!

1. Lori, Pretty Things

2. Lorelei, Lorelei1141

3. Norma, Moonlit Fantaseas

4. Beth, EB Bead and Metalworks

5. Katie, KatieBead

6. Kimberly, Bahama Dawn

7. Debbie, Prairie Emporium

8. Lisa, Joolz by Lisa

9. Kate, Tropical Blonde

10. Janet, Singing Woods

11. Julianna, Juls Beads

                        12. Erin, Treasures Found

These are the links for todays!!

14. Jen, Jen Judd Rocks
15. Kella, Me But a Little More In Depth
16. Emanda, Artemisia Studio
17. Marie, Skye Jewels
18. Loretta, Designs By Loretta
19. Stacy, Sissy and Jack's
20. Joanna, Filcowe
21. Diane, Diane Hawkey
22. Marianna, Pretty Shiny Things
23. Anna, The Laughing Raven
24. Marcie, La Bella Joya
25. Lois, Que Onda Q'town?
26. Jayne, Mama's Got To Doodle

You won't be able to see my Bead Soup Partner for a couple of days, but please visit her blog anyways! You can find her at Verre Design, and tell her I said Hi!! 

Enjoy the bead Soup!! 

Thanks so much Lori for bringing us all together and for all your hard work!

Marie

VINTAJ CHALLENGE!!

Right now is the Vintaj challenge for "Vintage Wedding" please go on the Vintaj Blog and vote for #5!! That would be my necklace and I would really love to win :)

I really could picture a bride from ages ago wearing this with her pale cream lace dress. VOTE FOR ME!!! #5 and help me win the Vintaj challenge!! Vintaj Blog...

Thanks :)

Marie

June Bead Trends!!

This month I have a great show in Bead Trends. Two bracelets and a necklace earring set. I am really pleased with the results of the photos. I hope you will check them out too!

This is a fun wire wrapped piece I did as an experiment. I love it! I would wear it all the time :) I think that once it starts to get some natural patina, it will look even better! I used Czech glass and wire and just had fun!!

 A closeup for you. I thought the colours were a nice mix with the copper.

This one a wore before submitting it. I think I may even keep it. I love the mix of copper and lampwork. I love the way this one feels and moves. I love the colour combo and I love the lampwork beads that I used from BlueSeraphim and ArtbyLisi.  If you want to see good pictures of this one, look in the magazine, these were taken before I got my new camera...

I hope you will get a copy of Bead Trends this month, it is a spectacular issue!! I think the next one will be even better!! I know I won't miss July's issue!!

Have a great weekend!!

Marie

Bead Soup sneak Peak!!

So I was lucky enough to get paired up with Patricia Wood of VerreDesign and got this great stash of beads! I love lampwork beads, which is most likely why I started making them myself, but that will never stop me from buying what I can not make!! For example, in the next picture, there are hollow beads!! LOVE them!! Already made something using them!! ;)

Aren't they fabulous!! I love green and I am getting more and more into fabulous colour!! So these suit my taste just fine :)

More fun fantastic lampwork beads!! I have yet to finish using them all, but I did make something with the Boro glass! Yum!!

More fabulous beads! These leaves are something I have never seen, but I am wondering if I might be able to make some myself!! Love them! Love the little flowers too :)

Of course now that I have your mouth watering with this great soup, I guess you will have to come back on June 19th for the big blog hop!! Where the bead soup will be revealed!!

See you then!
Marie

The Stone of Skye!!

Experiments and Photography!! What fun! I found myself at Home Depot in the Garden Center looking for the perfect stone!! I needed something that would make my photos stand out more!! Well I think I found it!! It is even worth the extreme weight of it!! lol! It has to weigh at least 10lbs!! but I am thinking closer to 20 ;) I might just have to give it a permanent spot so I don't have to move it around!! I have now nicknamed it "The Stone of Skye"
what do you think??


Other than finding the famous stone, I have been making jewelry!! I know it's shocking!! A jewelry designer, making jewelry!! Who would have thought!

I have been trying to showcase my tiles more to entice you to buy your own! I am happy to say I have a few regulars that now frequent my shop so it's a start :) I just hope more of you will try to experiment with my fun charms and pendants!! Next week, I am going to do a post on a couple of artists that have been using my tiles in their designs and I will post photos for you to enjoy :)

Here is my newest bracelet "Summer Sun". I have been wanting to use some of this large sunny Magnesite I found at my local bead shop, and what better place to start than with a fun vintage style charm with  a bright yellow flower! Nothing sunny is complete without one of Sue Beads lovely lampwork!! I also used some of ArtbyLisi's lampwork and some fun Czech glass. I am really pleased with this one, it just radiates summer!!

I thought I would continue on the summer theme and make these fun bird earrings! These will be listed this morning in my Etsy shop. As with most of my pieces these days I used Vintaj brass. I just love the old world feel of the aged brass. I added Czech glass rosettes and two matching wood tiles. These are fun and very lightweight!

I also made this bracelet with a fun dandelion tile and some of my organic shaped lampwork discs! I wore this one yesterday and loved how it felt on my wrist. I also got a lot of compliments!! All Vintaj brass again and the rest is handmade :)

I was playing around with my wire making a clasp and thought, "why not add a little something!" It turned out to be beads and some funky wire wrapping. There was no plan, just "experimentation!!"
I am thinking of turning the clasp around and attaching it to the other side, I think now that I look closely at it, it makes more sense! Then it would be adjustable!! I might just have to get back to work... After that I will re-photograph and list it in my Etsy shop :)

I think overall, the photography turned out well. Between the "Stone of Skye" and my little bird bath prop, I am getting better! I made a couple of necklaces last night, I hope to have enough natural light to take photos today and I should be posting those in the next couple of days.

Please take advantage of my big sale!! Both SkyeJewels and MoreSkyeJewels are having a sale. So if you make your own jewelry, go to MoreSkyeJewels and if you just want jewelry pick up some earrings at SkyeJewels!!

Please visit my Facebook Fan Page and "like" my page for a chance to win a prize from either one of my shops! Once I reach 500 fans I will do a draw!!



Thanks so much everyone!!

Marie