Month: November 2011

Today is the day of Erin Prais-Hintz‘ Color Challenge Reveal! Erin, of Tesori Trovati, assigned each participant a color palette from Design Seeds and we were to make a piece of jewelry incorporating some or all of the colors.I received the color palette Zinnia Tones. I chose pink because I had this unfinished piece for my mom, and knew this would force me to finish it for her!
It started with a gorgeous pink chain I custom ordered from Miss Fickle Media (Shannon does awesome work!) to match the heart pendant I made from washi paper and amazing glaze. My mom had requested a pink piece of jewelry.
I had fun making all my bronze balled-end head-pins – I got to use my Lenk torch again, and tumbled them all shiny! I used my own lampwork beads in coordinating colors – the ones that look somewhat blue (at least on my monitor) are actually made from evil purple and are actually purple! I made the wraps somewhat informal on purpose, to kind of offset the formality of the whole necklace. I want it to be wearable with many different things!
I used coordinating swarovski crystal colors in bicones and rounds. They were pink, purple and very light topaz. It is so hard to see the correct colors because I am taking the photos at night here in Pittsburgh where we get less sunny days than Seattle.

I hope you enjoyed looking at the piece I made and I hope you check out what these other fabulous designers made with their color palettes!

Today’s the day! I issued a challenge for blog readers to see what you would make with a pair of my glass headpins. 5 were chosen for the challenge and you can find their links below. Here is what I made from my pair!I used my snowflower headpins to make a cute wintry pair of earrings. The beads are my ice sparkle lampwork beads, set off by two filigree bead caps.
I used opal blue swarovski crystals to complete the earring dangles, wrapped up the steel wire, and made sterling ear wires to finish them off! All in all, I really really like them! To see what everyone else made, follow their links below:

Thanks for playing, ladies!

Remember to use the coupon code craftshow15 in my SueBeads etsy store for 15% off your order plus free ear wires with the purchase of earring pairs until the end of the Virtual Craft Show!

The Virtual Craft Show continues on Lori Anderson’s blog! Today you can see me and what I have contributed to the giveaway!

7 Days, 70 Artists, GIVING AWAY 70 things.

Here’s how you win:

During the craft show, starting tomorrow, you can use coupon code CRAFTSHOW15 in my etsy store to take 15% off your order, PLUS a free pair of copper or brass ear wires will be included with ALL earring pairs beads purchased!

Lori Anderson is at it again! She is hosting her first “Virtual Craft Show” on her blog! And I’m a part of it!
7 Days, 70 Artists, GIVING AWAY 70 things.

Here’s how you win:

See her blog for details starting tomorrow (November 26th).

During the craft show, starting tomorrow, you can use coupon code CRAFTSHOW15 in my etsy store to take 15% off your order, PLUS a free pair of copper or brass ear wires will be included with ALL earring pairs beads purchased!

Some of you may have seen ornament hangers and said, I can do that! Some of you may have seen them and said, How do I do that? This tutorial is for you. This is for a simple ornament hanger you can make all by yourself with a few tools and wire!

1. Start by flush cutting a 3″ piece of wire with your wire cutters. Notice I used the ever-popular dinosaur ruler we got in a shoe-store many moons ago!

2. Using the round nose pliers, place your wire 1/3 of the way down the plier and make a loop. If you are making lots of hangers, you may want to use a sharpie to mark the place where you want to wrap the wire if you want them all uniform in size.

3. Finish the loop all the way.

4. Place the loop in the Wrap-N-Tap plier on the first round. If you want larger loops for your hanger, you should cut a larger piece of wire. Make sure the loop is secure in the plier and in the direction you want it to go!

5. Using your thumb, wrap the wire around the loop of the Wrap-N-Tap plier all the way. Remove it from the plier, and you will have a hook with a loop on one end at this point.

6. Using the bottom 1/3 of your round-nose pliers, make another loop, which will be bigger than the first loop.

7. Finish shaping if you need to. At this point, you can work harden with a mallet and bench block if you like. I prefer to tumble mine because in addition to hardening the silver, it makes it all nice and shiny!!!!

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial!

And now for a surprise! Use coupon code Turkey in my SueBeads etsy store today (Thanksgiving Day) and Black Friday all day for free shipping! And watch for a great happening with Lori Anderson’s blog on Saturday!!! Shopping and winning excitement for all!

I have some new beads in my etsy store, and will have more listed later as well! I will also be directing you later to the really cool event Lori Anderson is holding on her blog over the weekend.

Just listed some coral type beads in my etsy store, made from coral glass and baking soda – they really look like coral! You can find them here!

I am listing some cool beads in my etsy store tonight! The pixies are made from pixie dust and are much prettier in person! The rocks are actually glass and dipped in baking soda for a cool effect! Hope you like them – you can find them here!

I made some new headpins the other day, I had a great time making them! You can find them in the SueBeads etsy store!

Dream Struck Designs

Adlinah, from Singapore, had purchased some of my enameled leaves and made these pretty earrings from them! I am jealous of her because she can travel to Tokyo and buy amazing Japanese beads! When I was there, I didn’t have time, nor did I know where to find them, to buy beads – now I’m kicking myself because I’ll probably never get there again! That’s a little lesson – live life to the fullest every day! Do what you want! Take detours! Have fun!