Into the Forest Blog Hop

A while back, Lisa Lodge of A Grateful Artist sent out a challenge. She was providing beads for a blog hop with the theme, "Into the Forest".  The challenge was to see how we would interpret that theme with these beads. I signed up and love the beads I received. They look to me to be a jasper of some kind with the dark green donut that reminds me of deep into the forest.  I immediately thought of my red jasper beads that would help bring out the greens of the forest along with the changing colors of the forest as it moves into the fall months.  I love fall and the colors it brings, although we don't really get much color here in Texas.  But I grew up in the Ozarks of Missouri and miss those colors every fall.   I also had this great copper leaf chain that I thought would be wonderful with all that fall color and remind us of all the leaves, falling or not, in the forest. Here's the beads I received and my beads I added.

However, in the last 3 months, I've been gone on trips 3 times, had company for a week or more twice and ended up cutting fingers on both hands.  So my creating has been a little challenged.  But I finally got to start yesterday, so hoping I get both the pieces I envisioned finished in time.  The first thing I wanted to make was either an anklet or some more boot jewelry.  I'm not sure this is long enough to wrap around your boot, although I could add more jump ring links and make it long enough. I need to measure it.  But as an anklet it turned out great. I cut off a small piece of the leaf chain, wire-wrapped three of the stoned I received and six of the medium size jasper beads and interspersed them with the leaves. I wire-wrapped the small jasper with brass headpins so it would look like small shafts of light shining through the forest. I'm not real pleased with the closure yet, but I can always change that later.

My next piece is this necklace. I wire-wrapped some of the green jasper beads with the small glass seed beads. Then I wire-wrapped 2 small jasper beads with one of the green crystals. And finally I wire-wrapped a medium jasper bead. I joined all these links with copper jump rings to the green wire-wrapped donut bead. On the opposite side I added some more of the copper leaf chain with medium jasper beads wire-wrapped and interspersed in between the leaves. I really like the way this necklace turned out, although for the life of me I can't find my copper leaf toggle bar clasp I had for it. So I'll be switching that out when I can find it. LOL

And finally, here's a pair of earrings I made with some of the larger green jasper beads, the green crystals and the small and large size red jasper beads I had.  I wanted the large red jasper beads to dangle. I tried them on these gold toned ear wires.  But I'm not sure I like them, so I may be changing out the ear wires for copper ones as soon as I get a chance to make some.  And another pair of earrings with 2 more of the larger nuggets and the crystals and my medium jasper beads. I love wire-wrapping the nuggets and the jasper beads.  I have plans for a bracelet, but ran out of time.  Hope you like all my designs. Let me know what you think.

Here's the rest of the participants.  Be sure to check them all out and see how everyone developed the theme, Into the Forest with the beads they received. If the links don't work, go to Lisa's blog for the full list with links.



Your hostess:  Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Melissa Trudinger, Bead Recipes

Kathy Zeigler Lindemer, Bay Moon Design

Eleanor Burian Moore, The Charmed Life

Jo-Ann Woolverton, It's a Beadiful Creation

Chris Eisenberg, Wanderware

Christine Stonefield, Sweet Girl Design

Carolyn Lawson, Carolyn's Creations

Janine Lucas, Esfera Travel Blog

Jasvanti Patel, Jewelry by Jasvanti

Shaiha Williams,   Shaiha's Ramblings

Kay Thomerson, Kayz Kreationz

Karla Morgan, Texas Pepper Jams

Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera

Toltec  Jewels, Jewel School Friends

Christie Searle Murrow, Charis Designs Jewelry

Molly Alexander, Beautifully Broken Me

Monique Urquhart, A Half-Baked Notion

Janet Bocciardi, Honey from the Bee

Dini Bruinsma, Angaza by Changes

Heather Richter, Desert Jewelry Designs

Christina Miles, Wings n Scales

Elizabeth Engriser, Bead Contagion

Alice Peterson, Alice Dreaming

Alicia Marinache, All the Pretty Things

Kay Mallery,TBD

Catherine Yvonne King, Catherine's Musings

Alice Craddick, Alice's Beads and Baubles

Ema Kilroy, Ema K Designs

Looking for these designs to buy and wear?  Check them out soon in my shop, KayzKreationz.  Or looking for some great Stained Glass, Mosaics or Fused Glass kreationz for your Home or Garden? They're in my shop, too.  Enjoy.

OctoberFest or What do you do for Fall?

A while back, Rita/JewelSchoolFriends challenged us all to do something for Fall.  It could be pictures, jewelry, bead-making, recipes, whatever.  Then we were to post it on our blog.  I love fall, so I signed up to participate.  Growing up in the Ozarks of Missouri, I love fall.  I love the colors of fall, the changing of the leaves, the cool, crisp weather (although I'm always cold) because it gives me a chance to wear my sweaters.  However, living here in Texas for the last 37 years, there's not a lot of color change here.  I really miss all the reds, oranges and yellows of the leaves when they change colors.  However, we recently spent a week in New York and guess what?  The trees/leaves were changing.  I loved it.  I thought, what a great addition to my Octoberfest post.  So here's a few of my Fall/Octoberfest photos to delight with. 

I also love to bake cookies, muffins and such in the fall.  Here's a recipe I found that looks delicious. I'm getting ready to try these. They're called Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. They sound wonderful and look wonderful, too.  I love the smell of baking in the fall/winter and especially pumpkin.  So here's the recipe for anyone that wants to try them with me. (These may turn out a little dark, so try lowering the temp to 375)

Ingredients

• • 4 Eggland's Best Eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
  • 1 to 1/2 cups canola oil
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

• 1. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil until smooth. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; gradually add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full.
  2. Bake at 400° for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Yield: about 2 dozen muffins.

---

 

Plus, I was able to take a class on fold-forming and enameling recently and love the way these turned out. I call them my Fall Leaves.  I really like the orange/red color from heating with the torch to anneal and then enamel.  I've got a couple of ideas for them and just need to find the right beads and the time to try it.

Plus one last picture.  I love Fall/October for the Mums, too.  I recently saw this great pot of Mums and had to have them for my porch.  They'll go in the ground later, but for now, I'll keep them on my porch.

Hope you enjoy my Fall/Octoberfest post.  Here's a list of all the participants.  Hop by to see what they like about Fall/Octoberfest.
Caroline                                       http:// Carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com

Andrea Glick-Zenith                     http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/

Dolores Raml                               http://craftydscreations.wordpress.com/

Karla Morgan                               http://TexasPepperJams.blogspot.com

Susie Harris                                 http://jewelleryjunkie.blogspot.com/

Susan                                          http://libellulajewelry.com

Mischelle                                      http://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com/

Billi                                               http://billi-rs-rothove.blogspot.com/

Kay Thomerson                           http://kayzkreationz.blogspot.com/

Jean Yates                                  http://prettykittydogmoonjewelry.blogspot.com/

Kelly Hosford Patterson               http://travelingsideshow.blogspot.com

Kathy Lindemer                           http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com

Liz E                                            http://beadcontagion.blogspot.com

Jasvanti Patel                              http://jewelrybyjasvanti.blogspot.com

Christie Murrow                           www.charisdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com

Jodie Marshall                             http://marshalljodie.blogspot.com/

Andrea Trank                              http://heavenlanecreations.com/

Dini Bruinsma                              http://angazabychanges.blogspot.nl

Elsie Deliz Fonseca                     http://ladelizchica.blogspot.com/

Pepita                                         www.pepita-handmade.blogspot.com

Karla Morgan                              http://texaspepperjams.blogspot.com/

Kathleen                                     http://99bobotw.blogspot.com/

Vera Lynn                                   http://veradesigns.blogspot.com/

Rana Wilson                               http://ranaleadesigns.blogspot.com/

Catherine King                           http://catherines-musings.blogspot.com/

Lily Vincent                                 http://thecreativeklutz.blogspot.co.uk/

Janice Hidey (Janimar)               http://drawingthelinesomewhere.com/

Cory Tompkins                           http://TealwaterDesigns.blogspot.com

Candida Castleberry                  www.spunsugarbeadworks.blogspot.com

Cynthia Kent Machata                http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com/

Alicia Marinache                         http://www.allprettythings.ca

Linda Anderson                          http://fromTheBeadBoard.blogspot.com

Leah Curtis                                 http://beadyeyedbunny.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Reno (JenRen)              http://jenrenjewelry.blogspot.com/

Robin Reed                                 http://willowdragon.blogspot.com/

Tanty Sri Hartanti                        www.tjewellicious.blogspot.com

Lisa Lodge                                  http://gratefulartist.blogspot.com/

Ingrid A.                                      http://lilisgems.wordpress.com/

Judy Turner                                www.silver-rains.blogspot.com

Gina Hockett                               http://freestyleelements.blogspot.com/

Nelly May                                    www.smellynelly.blogspot.com

Tanya McGuire                           http://tanyamcguire.blogspot.com/

Ahowin                                        http://www.blog.ahowinjewelry.com

Sonya Stille                                 http://dreaminofbeads.blogspot.com

Pam                                            http://www.klassyjoolz.blogspot.com

Carol D.                                      http://dillmansdallies.blogspot.com/

Asri Wahyuningsih                      http://asribeadwork.blogspot.com/

Ginger Bishop                             http://lilmummylikes.blogspot.com

Janine                                         http://www.esfera.me/travel/blog/travel-stories

Shaiha Williams                          http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com/

Toltec Jewels (Rita, your hostess)  www.JewelSchoolFriends.com

And if you're looking for Stained Glass, Mosaics or Fused Glass Kreationz for your Home and Garden or some of my Wire-wrapped, Beaded Jewelry, check out my shop, KayzKreationz.

Nina Designs blog partner

A couple of months ago I contacted DeAnna at Nina Designs about being a blog partner of theirs. I had seen another blog I follow mention this and it sounded exciting. They told me they were't accepting partners at that time, but they would keep me in mind. At about the end of December they contacted me about being their blog partner for January. I was so excited. They would send me some of their wonderful products and I was to do a blog post about them. I could make things with them, do a giveaway, whatever I wanted. I just needed to write about it, show pictures and what I would do with their wonderful products. This is what I received. Isn't it great? Doesn't it just get your creative juices flowing?

 

Unfortunately, about the time I received their product, my neighbor decided to shoot and kill my sweet dog, Cheyenne. We don't know why as he has denied doing it. But it left me in a bit of a funk and I just couldn't seem to get anything created or accomplished.

But I've gotten past it a little and have been having all kinds of ideas for their products they sent me. For instance, with the adorable little branch beads, I can totally see a little owl bead/charm peeking out from some acrylic/glass leaf beads.  Now I just have to find some little owls or birds to go with them.  
With these brass leaves I decided they should be a pair of earrings with some little berry beads and glass leaves accentuating them.  And these little teardrop pieces were just calling to me to put a pearl inside each of the three teardrops.  So here's Berries and Leaves Earrings and Teardrops of Pearls Earrings.  What do you think of them?

I can't wait to get started on the rest of my ideas for their components.  Nina Designs has so many other great components and pieces. Plus there's this great purple silk and green leather, that I haven't decided how I want to use it yet.  The leaves can be found here, the branches are found here, the teardrops are here. You really need to check out their site to see what you can't live without. LOL
Stay tuned. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll have the rest of my ideas/pieces finished for you to check out. The 2 pair of earrings will be listed in my Etsy shop, KayzKreationz shortly.  To close out, here's my sweet Cheyenne.

(The materials above were provided as part of the Nina Designs blogging program. The author of this blog has not received any payment from above-mentioned company. The post above represents only personal opinion of the blog author.) 

Fall Colors, Leaves, Trees and the Shop of the Day

I love Fall. Don't you? All the different colors in the leaves and trees are beautiful. Today's shop has some of that in her items. A great picture of a tree in full fall color. Plus the fall tree pendant to the right. That way you can keep fall with you all year long. Check out http://whimsicalstar.etsy.com/ for these items and more.

And I posted some pictures of fall trees from here in Texas at http://flickr.com/photos/KayzKreationz But don't forget, during the fall and winter months our feathered friends need help, too. So you might want to check out this mosaic birdfeeder at http://kayzkreationz.etsy.com/ http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16120524

And for a little bling in your life check out this newbie http://stringandstones.etsy.com/ This necklace and earring set is gorgeous and has some fall colors http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16230225 Maybe make her day and get this or something else in her shop as a gift for yourself or your loved one.