BSBP & Other Updates

Yay!! I got my BSBP match up yesterday - the very talented Lana Kinney at somethinguniquebylana... so be sure to stop by and check out her blog  =)

This is my first ever Bead Soup Blog Party ... hope I get all the technical stuff right lol  ;)


In other news, I hope to have my etsy shop up and running by the end of next week ... if I can figure out all the technical side of that ... better go see if amazon has an "etsy for idiots" guide book!

Also check out one of my fave jewellery artisans - she's having a great giveaway over at Crystal Art on fb.

... And now I'm off to make jewellery for a while  ;)

Lo  =)

Updates

Hi everyone, sorry I've been AWOL - the holidays were nuts and I didn't have a chance to really do anything jewellery making wise ... well I did finish two necklaces I was comissioned to make for christmas pressies but everything else went out the window lol.

I'm also through to the finals of the Fire Mountain Gems Swarovski design contest again with both of my pieces so that was a really nice surprise.
They also sent me a preview pic of my last competition piece as it will appear in any adverts ... my mother wants to frame it lol.

And the big news: I'm in the Bead Soup Blog Party this year!! I've already started trawling the bead shops and websites for my ingredients  ;)

The not-so-revealing Octoberfest and Solar Flare Blog hops

A big HI to everyone hopping through my little blog from the Octoberfest and Solar Flare Blog Hops ... I'm so sorry I haven't posted my reveals yet - I seem to be having one of those weeks. I've been working on both pieces - I went polymer clay for both and just had to bake the pieces to finish - then suddenly one of my dogs fell ill and I had an unexpected visit to the vets at the beginning of the week (she's fine - it turned out to be the lesser of the two things that could have been wrong ... phew on that front) and I thought 'no worries, I can get the pieces baked up the next day' ... yup fat chance on that one! My poor old mother's been hugging the bog and I've had to play nurse and run errands (just don't tell her I said 'old' lol) but I still foolishly thought I could get them baked up today and only be a day late to the party .... well the oven that's been trying to kill me consistently for the past couple of years has finally decided to give up the ghost this morning, so I am now sans oven until the end of this week. On the upside I get a new oven that doesn't nearly blow up half the block every time I try to light it - still won't improve my cooking but at least I get to keep my eyebrows intact  ;)

So please be sure to stop by again on Sunday when I'll have both reveals posted up ... once again I'm so sorry for being late.

But here's the hop participant list for the Octoberfest Blog Hop:
Our lovely host:  Toltec Jewels            http://www.JewelSchoolFriends.com
Heather Otto                     http://www.thecrafthopper.com
Mischelle Fanucchi               http://www.micheladasmusings.blogspot.com
Marlene Cupo                   http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com
Shaiha Williams                http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com
Shelly Graham Turner          http://shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com/
Shelly Joyce                         http://www.aujourlejour-shelly.blogspot.com/
Charlie Jacka                    http://clay-space.com/blog/
Pam Sears                        http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/
Margareta Saari                  http://magsinhelmet.blogspot.com/
Marita Suominen                 http://momentofjewelry.blogspot.fi/
Lisa Posthumus                   https://www.facebook.com/lisa.posthumusharper
Jeannie Dukic                      http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog
Cheri Reed                          http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/
Arlene Dean                        http://aglassbash.blogspot.com/
Duffy Blevins                       http://bubbasjewels1.blogspot.com/
Susan Kennedy                   http://suebeads.blogspot.com/
Dita Basu                           http://www.alankarshilpa.blogspot.com/
Sonya Ann Stille                 http://dreaminofbeads.blogspot.com/
Audrey Allen                      https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wrapped-Up-In-Magic/145456948869148
Kashmira Patel                   http://sadafulee.blogspot.com/
Kathy Lindemer                 http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com/
Kris Mattingly                    https://www.facebook.com/kris.h.mattingly
Lennis Carrier                    http://www.windbent.net/
Shannon Hicks                   http://uptwnsh-fallingintothesky.blogspot.com/
Paula Hisel                         http://simplybeadiful.weebly.com/simply-stated.html
Karin Slaton                       http://backstorybeads.blogspot.com/
Shirley Moore                    http://www.beadsandbread.blogspot.com/
Alicia Marinache                http://www.allprettythings.ca/
Valeria G. Rome                http://fancysphynxdesigns.blogspot.com/
Lo                                     http://thecreativeklutz.blogspot.com/
Zoe Marcin                       http://beadsteaandsweets.blogspot.com/
Carolyn Lawson                http://carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com
Kimberly Booth                 http://thepinkmartiniboutique.blogspot.com/
Sherri Stokey                    http://www.knotjustmacrame.com
Tanya McGuire                  http://www.tanyamcguire.blogspot.com/ 
Debbie Rasmussen             http://kepirasmussen.blogspot.com/
Christine Stonefield             http://sweetgirldesign.blogspot.com/
Tanty Sri Hartani                http://tjewellicious.blogspot.com/
Sandra McGriff                  http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com/
Renetha Stanziano              http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com/
Evelyn Shelby                     http://raindropcreationsbyevelyn.blogspot.com/
Colene Waltermire              https://www.facebook.com/groups/426147797447039/?fref=ts
Lee Nova                           https://www.facebook.com/groups/426147797447039/?fref=ts

And the hop participant list for the Solar Flare Blog Hop:
Our lovely host on this one:  http://usupplies.blogspot.co.uk/
Gloria Allen:http://innovativedreamsjewelry.blogspot.com
Shawn Marie Mills: http://shawnmariedesignsatbentwire.blogspot.com/
Karin King: http://maverickbeads.blogspot.com/
Alicia Marinache: http://www.allprettythings.ca
Pam "The Crazier Sister Blog: http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/?m=1 
Kelly Hosford Patterson: http://travelingsideshow.blogspot.com/
Delia Marsellos-Traister: www.phoenixmagyk.com
Dana Lang: http://tumblestonehandmakery.blogspot.ca
Mischelle Fanucchi: http://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com
Jessica Murray: http://whimsicalweavings.blogspot.com/
Cynthia Abner: http://createdtreasures.blogspot.com/
Charlie Jacka: http://clay-space.com/blog
Shannon Hicks: http://uptwnsh-fallingintothesky.blogspot.com/
Zoe Marcin: http://beadsteaandsweets.blogspot.com/
Rebecca Sirevaag: http://godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com/ 
Miranda C. Ackerley: http://mirandack.com
Paula Winchester Hisel: http://simplybeadiful.weebly.com/simply-stated.html
Alenka Obid: http://pepita-handmade.blogspot.com/   

Holiday Bling Blog Hop Swap Reveal

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A Little Random Update

Hi, I haven't blogged much lately as I haven't had much to blog about ... just finishing up my FMG Swarovski entries (I like to skim the deadlines lol) - promise sneak peeks here in a few days  ;)

I'm also jumping in on the Jewel School Friends October Fest blog hop since I love Halloween  =)

(sorry I don't know how to make these things link *blushes*)

Looking forward to the Holiday Bling Blog Hop Swap reveal in about a week - my partner is the very talented Dee Elgie at Cherry Obsidia - be sure to check out her blog  =)

And don't forget I'm doing the Pay It Forward Handmade as well  

Lo  xx

Pay It Forward Handmade

Hi everyone, sorry I've been AWOL - medical crap decided it would be fun to hit me all at once and my computer ate half my file for work one week before my deadline lol. But I managed to get it all redone just in time so no harm done, and now I get to spend a couple of months having fun with beads  ;)

I found this really nice idea on Micheladas Musings blog and decided to play along.

Here are the rules:

I will send a surprise gift to the first three people to comment on this post. The gift will be a handmade surprise by me and I will send it to you sometime in the next 365 days. All you need to do is the following: 

Leave me a comment and include your email address (if your profile doesn’t link back) so I can get in touch with you about your mailing address and some other information about yourself. 

To complete signing up, you MUST play along too by blogging a similar post and pledging to make a surprise for the first 3 people who comment on it. 

So, do you want to play along? Comment below, and I’ll send a thoughtful gift to the first three people who do.  

Thrift Shop Blog Hop Reveal

Well I just did my first ever blog hop ... so be kind lol.

It's Pookledo's thrift shop blog hop - the idea was to go to a thrift/charity store and buy something for £1 (or $1.50 for the US participants), then make something/s.

I actually found this challenge harder than I anticipated - turns out even charity shops are expensive in London ... I went to one and they wanted at least £2.99 for a piece of jewellery, and up to £9.99!! I have to say I was shocked as it wasn't sterling silver, gold or anything precious - just costume/fashion jewellery. After a few more trips I managed to find something more in the budget:

A pair of brand new large hoop earrings and a cute enamelled bird necklace - the bird was named Tweet.

I didn't get a great in-progress picture as I did a bunch of wirework and wire wrapping which I got carried away with and forgot to photograph until I'd finished lol.
But here's a pic of the wirework leaves as I was working on them  =)

(Please excuse the bad picture - it was the early hours lol)






Unfortunately when I was finished with the leaves and put it all together I realised the metals mismatched and with all my monthly jewellery making budget spent (well actually I went over as I wanted in on a magazine competition) - the hoops were more of a bronze/antique gold mix while the bird details and chain were bright gold. So I decided to wrap the hoop in some gold wire to bring the colours closer. 

So anyway, here's what I wound up with after stabbing myself frequently with the wire ... those little loops on the bottom of the hoops were a nightmare to wrap around, and I left the teal coloured drop beads on the hoop as they reminded me of leaves and I thought the colour went nicely with the pink of Tweet:

Oh dear, the pictures didn't turn out very good (it was raining outside so I had to take them indoors), but there you have Tweet's New Perch ... I hope I did okay in my first ever blog hop - I learnt that working on a £1 budget is very hard lol  =)



And here's all the other folks in the hop so check out what they made too:

Sarah - www.pookledo.blogspot.co.uk
Deb - http://greenshoot.blogspot.co.uk/
Kimberley - http://goddessesandbeads.blogspot.co.uk/
Skye - http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.co.uk/
Ambra - http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com/
Beti - http://stringingfool.blogspot.com/
Emma - www.apolymerpenchant.com
Shelley - www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com
Tammie -  http://ttedesigns.blogspot.co.uk/
Leah - http://beadyeyedbunny.blogspot.co.uk/
Denielle - www.somebeadsandotherthings.com
Keri Lee - http://www.pinklemonade.typepad.com 
Rochelle - acreativechelle.blogspot.com
Pam - http://pamelas-studio.blogspot.com/
Ingetraud - http://ingetraud.wordpress.com/
Audrey - http://esperianterra.blogspot.com/
Julie Anne - www.thepeacefulbead.com
Sharyl - http://www.sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com
Micheladas - http://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com 
Lo (Me)  -   http://thecreativeklutz.blogspot.co.uk/
Kala - http://maybejustperhaps.blogspot.co.uk/