Sue Beads

Today is the day for another reveal for the AJE Component of the Month!  This month, Francesca Watson provided us with her wonderful dichroic glass cabochons.  She gave us the choice of having them in cabochon form, or drilled.  Here are the very tempting choices she gave us!


I chose the blue cabochon on to top second to the right.  I decided to keep mine a cabochon. 

 It is really hard to photogragh all the gorgeous dichroic colors that are in this cabochon.  My first idea was for me to do a beaded bezel with it.  Between visiting my 92 year old grandfather in Florida for a week, and a quick little getaway to Baltimore with my boyfriend, and Bead Fest prep, it just did not happen.
My second idea, then, was put a bail on this cab, and do a beaded necklace.  Not too fancy, just a wire wrapped one with my own lampwork beads as accents.  That did not happen either.  I wasn't at all happy with that idea, and just about gave up.  It just wasn't going to do the cab justice.

 Finall…

I just listed some of what I think are very pretty glass headpins in my SueBeads etsy store! Take a look!

Another month has passed (my popular refrain) and it's time for another Art Jewelry Elements Design Challenge Reveal!  This month, Linda Landig provided us with brand spankin' new ceramics that she just started making!  How exciting - she's really doing great things!  I chose this leaf pendant, and as usual, didn't take a photo before I started working with it!

 I consider what I made as a work in progress because, in theory, I like my idea, but in practice, it didn't turn out the way I wanted.  My idea was to use the waxed linen and wrap pearls in drops from knots as you can see. It's much harder, at least for me, than I thought.  It's very hard to get the drops to be the same on both sides of the pendant.  It was hard for me to work with the jump ring on the pendant as well.  I think the key is to do the pendant first, and work out.  I was working from the loop down, for the clasp.
 Here's a photo of what I made, I'm not happy with it at all.  If …

Over at Art Jewelry Elements, we have a monthly challenge called Component of the Month.  This month it was my turn to provide the component!  You had your choice of either a trio of chicklet beads, or a pressed cabochon.  Most took chicklets, but some picked cabs.



Here's what I made with a trio I made for myself!  I had to hold back showing it for Diana's waxed linen cord blog hop!


I used a trio of pressed flower beads I made for myself, and indonesian glass seed beads in matching colors!  I used a really pretty butterscotch waxed linen cord, thai silver bead caps and a pretty flower shank button as the closure!  I love using waxed linen and will be making more designs, hopefully for sale at Bead Fest!

Please join in the hop to see what everyone else made with my beads!



Guests Shai Williams Erin Prais-Hintz Kari Asbury Carolyn Lawson Merja Sundstrom AJE Members Susan Kennedy Diana Ptaszynski Linda Landig Lesley Watt Melissa Meman Caroline Dewison Francesca Watson Jenny Davies-Reazor Rebekah…

My friend and fellow Art Jewelry Elements member, Diana Ptaszynski, is hosting today's Waxed Linen Cord Blog Hop!  A big thank you to Diana, as this is a really big job!  I was excited to join in, I have been making some new chicklet beads recently and wanted to show off some ways you can use them!

 I used a pretty spicy orange color of waxed linen cord, and a great button I got from someone on etsy who I will have to find again because I love his buttons!  I used indonesian glass in between my flower chicklet beads.  And finally, some silver accent beads I picked up at a bead show here last year! 
To finish the bracelet off, I used two indonesian glass triangle beads!

And then, to be annoying and over-achieverish, I made these earrings.  I used salmon cord, copper accent beads, my chicklet beads in a different orientation, and mustard colored seed beads!  I also used the new shape feature on Picmonkey!

Please check out what everyone else made in the blog hop by visiting the link…

It's time again for the Bead Soup Blog Party, hosted by Lori Anderson.  I don't really know how she does it, she has health issues but keeps plugging away.  Thanks to Lori and to her husband and her helpers who made this work yet again this year!

My partner was Rochelle Brisson from Sea Chelles Design on etsy, and her blog is A Creative Chelle.  I posted earlier about what she sent me for my soup:

Usually I stress about what beads or components I'm going to add to the soup to make bunches of things, and I decided I don't really like that stress.  I wanted to stress a different way - use only what she sent me, other than whatever I was going to use to string.  I did a pretty good job, I think. I was inspired by a necklace I saw in a magazine some time ago, an assymetrical necklace that used the toggle clasp in the front for the focal.

 The pretty ceramic focal hangs off the round part of the toggle clasp, in the front of the necklace.
 I used a lot of the beads to make …