ZNETShows Summer Challenge Blog Hop

Back in April I was notified that as part of the ZNETshows Design team I was part of a new challenge. This one was a Summer challenge.  The theme was 'Summer Days and Nights' and focused on their Cultured Sea Glass. We were to go to ZNETshows website and pick out the 2 colors we'd like to design with to design a daytime 'casual' set and a nightime 'dressy' set.  We were also sent a few other colors, beads, findings to go along with the sea glass we chose. I was interested in working with their red and black seaglass, so sent off my choices.  I thought I had a picture of the stash I received, but I can't seem to find it on my compurter. But what I received in the following pieces was the red sea glass, black sea glass and purple tube beads. The other beads I had received from previous ZNETshows challenge.  But these are the beads I used:

For the Dressy set these are the products I used :

Purple barrel nugget beads found here:

Jet Black Barrel beads here:

Glass pearls, Clear crystals and Oval Purple and Black beads (a type of dyed jasper).

For the Daytime set:

Anklet

Sand dollar beads in red, here:

Hourglass beads here

Earrings:

Small concave square here

Fish here:

These were all fun to play with. I hope you like what I made for my Dressy Nighttime set and my Casual Daytime set. 

Daytime (casual): This is 'Fun in the Sun at the Beach'

Nightime (dressy): This is Evening Mystique

Be sure to check out ZNETshows website for great sea glass and other beads, the ZNETshows blog for more about the design team and the other participants and the new ZNETshows magazine that has more about the design challenge and participants also.

Waxed Linen Blog Hop

(If you're looking for my BSBP Reveal post and design click HERE) Recently Diana of Suburban Girl studio issued a Waxed Irish Linen blog hop. The participants were to use waxed irish linen  and preferably art beads to create a piece of jewelry. I had been wanting to try a tutorial I'd been eyeing so I felt like this was the opportune time to sign up for this. As usual I forgot to take a before picture of the linen and the art beads I got to use to try this. But I think you'll be able to tell what all they are in the pictures. I chose 2 different colors of linen, a tan and teal combo linen and got these great art beads on Etsy (I think it was from Sherry Stokey). I love the little beach house and the conch shell beads.  This is a wrap bracelet, which I've been wanting to try for quite a while. I've had quite a few challenges since signing up for this blog hop. I had non-stop company for almost a month, have had to be out of town several times when I wasn't planning it and seem to be developing arthritis in one of my thumb joints. But I've been working on it and finally got it done. Also, the instructions weren't quite as clear as I felt they could have been. I used to do macramé back in the 70's and used all of these knots, but had forgotten the half-hitch and had a little bit of a problem understanding how it was being described. But I googled the know and finally got instructions that I could understand.  I enjoyed getting back to some macramé and will be doing this wrap bracelet again with changes to it to make it my own design. I love the colors in the waxed linen and the numerous opportunities with macramé to make unique jewelry and other items. (I've even used macramé with my Stained Glass, Mosaics and Fused Glass kreationz like this piece below)

So here is my reveal for the Waxed Linen blog hop. Hope you enjoy it. And be sure to check out all the other participants in the hop either below or at Diana's blog, Suburban Girl Studio. (Hopefully I got the links all right)

Diana Ptaszynski - Suburban Girl Studio

Kelsy Vincent - Jill of All TradesCraft

Susan Kennedy - Suebeads

Linda Landig - Linda Landig

Kashmira Patel - Sadafulee

Jenny Davies-Reazor - JDaviesReazor

Vanessa Gilkes - Culturezine

Sandy Huntress - KeepSakeCrafts

Kay Thomerson - KayzKreationz - (you are here)

Sarajo Wentling - SJDesignsJewelry

Kari Asbury - HippieChickDesign

Rebecca Anderson - SongBeads

Melissa Trudinger - BeadRecipes

Ann Schroeder - BeadLove

Shai Williams - ShaihasRamblings

Blanca Medina - Peru-MeDesigns

Cheryl Brown - DragonFlyBeads

Johana Nunez Rivera - Artincendi

Lori Bowring Michaud - ArtfullyOrnamental

Kelly Morgan - SilverParrotDesigns

Barbara Bechtel - SecondSurf

Kristen Stevens - Kristen-BeadJourney

Heather Boardman - HeatherBoardman

Janet Bocciardi - HoneyfromtheBee

Kathy Lindemer - Bay-Moon-Design

Lesley Watt -TheGossipingGoddess 

Susan Kolovson - BeadInspired

Jayne Capps - MamasGottoDoodle

Michelle McCarthy - FireFlyDesignStudio

Cynthia Deis - ShinyLittleThings

Karla Morgan - TexasPepperJams

Erin Siegel - ErinSiegelJewelry

Becky Pancake - BeckyPancakeBeadDesigns

Kelly Hosford Patterson - TravelingSideshow

Sharyl McMillian-Nelson - SharylsJewelry

Inge von Roos - IngeTraud

Carolyn Lawson - CarolynsCreationswa

Linda Younkman - LindysDesigns

Sandi Volpe - SandiVolpe

Toltec Jewels - JewelSchoolFriends

Michelle Mach - MichelleMach

Jen Cameron - GlassAddictions

Dorothy Winchell - Winchell-Clayworks

Darlene Mansue - D7StudioBlog
Cory Tompkins - TealWaterDesigns

And if you're interested in any of my Stained Glass, Mosaics or Fused Glass kreationz for your Home or Garden, check out my shop, KayzKreationz. Thanks. Happy hopping.

Havana Beads: BEACH TIME GIVEAWAY

Havana Beads: BEACH TIME GIVEAWAY: "Thought you guys might enjoy a Florida conch shell of your own. I love making these shells and I'm sure you guys will think of something wo..." Check this one out. I love her beads.
And for some great Fused Glass, Mosaics or Stained Glass Kreationz for your home or garden, check out KayzKreationz on Etsy.

Saturday Blog Shoppers Deals-Ocean Meets the Sky Fused Glass suncatcher

It's that time again. Time for the Saturday Blog Shoppers Deals. These are so fun. I haven't had a sale from them yet, but it's great checking out what all the different blogs/shops have featured each week. This week, going along with my Beach Getaway theme from last week (and since I got to spend an hour or two at the beach yesterday, I'm featuring my Ocean Meets the Sky Fused Glass and Macrame Seashell Suncatcher. I love my glass, but I also love walking along the beach looking for seashells. However, sooner or later you end up with too many seashells. What to do with all of them? Put them in a macrame hanger for a cute little fused glass pot melt suncatcher you just made. I love the different looks/swirls you get when you do a pot melt. When this one came out it reminded me of clouds in the sky. Then when trying to figure out whether to cut it up or not a friend says why don't you make a suncatcher out of it. But then I needed to try to figure out how to hand it. So why not incorporate macrame, which I used to do all the time when I was a teenager and my extensive little seashell collection to make a hanger. VIOLA! "Ocean Meets the Sky" suncatcher. I hope you like it as well as I do. It makes a nice little hanger for your window or could even be hung from your car/truck rearview mirror. See how many other uses you could think of for it in your home. It's at KayzKreationz. Hurry, it's the only one.

Spring Fever Getaway-Your Trip to the Beach and Saturday Blog Shoppers

Tired of the winter?  Wanting to get away from all the snow, cold and ice?  But can't afford a trip to the beach?  Or can't get a flight out of your city to the warmer climates? (Although we haven't been that warm this year either)  Then this is just the thing for you.  This Beach Baby Mini Pyramid Sandscape will take you to the beach every time you look at it.  It can even remind you of your last beach getaway.   Stained glass bevels encase real beach treasures that will remind you of long walks on the beach, looking for that special shell or piece of sea glass. It's a 4x4 pyramid full of sand and treasures.  Turn it over and it's a different scene.  So check it out at KayzKreationz.  These don't last long at my craft shows, and this is the last one available in my shop at the moment. Due to increases in materials, the next ones will likely go up in price.  So if you've had your eye on this or just want a nice reminder of warmer days and beach getaway, this is it.  You'll love it.  This is a great little gift for those Saturday Blog Shoppers.  And for some other great shops for Saturday Blog Shoppers, click on the button to the right.

"Beach Baby, Beach Baby, Give me your Hand"--Beach Treasures, a new Sandscape and a Treasury

When we go to the beach, I can't resist strolling along looking for whatever treasures I can find. I always find something It may be just more shells, some beach glass or something to bring home and use, either in the garden or in my work. In fact, my "Ocean Meets the Sky" fused glass suncatcher has some of these treasures strung from it and worked into the macrame hanger. My new Sandscape "Beach Baby" also has some of these treasures in it. So in honor of my sale of the previous sandscape and relisting "Beach Baby" I decided to stroll through Etsy shops and see what kind of beach treasures I could find for a treasury. And right after finding my "treasures" I snagged a treasury to showcase them. Take a peek and see what treasures you can find in this treasury.

Mini Pyramid Stained Glass Sandscape and a Sale!

Yay! My Mini Pyramid Glass Beach Sandscape sold tonight. There's been threads on the forums several times that it seems like when you quit watching your shop, you get sales. And today that seemed to be the case. I had paperwork, taxes and a ton of other things I needed to get done or get started on today and didn't have time to check my shop. Finally after I started my homemade pizza cooking for dinner I sat down and decided to check my e-mail and my hearts. I checked into Craftcult and couldn't believe it when it said I had one less item for sale than I knew I had. Excitedly I started reading my e-mails, and sure enough my Beach Sandscape had sold from my shop. I was doing the happy dance then. :) So I've contacted the buyer, am getting it ready to ship and then will check to see if I have another one to list and get pictures done. I love doing these, because I can't resist picking up shells and pieces of glass whenever we go to the beach and these make such a unique way to keep them as a keepsake. I've even personalized one as a graduation gift for a young girl who loves the beach, with her name and grad date. This was a good day. Hope everyone else is having a good evening. Thanks all.

And if you're in the mood for some fantastic Sterling Silver jewelry, check out this shop. She has some great items.

Threadkillers, Treasury and Mini Pyramid Beach Sandscape

Woohoo! My mini pyramid Beach Sandscape made a treasury last night. It is made up of shops from threadkillers. If you don't know what a threadkiller is it's someone who posts in a thread on a forum and no-one posts after them so the thread dies. Thus "threadkiller". However, there's a twist. In some posts someone will offer a prize to the one who kills the thread for 24 hours. Guess what? That thread NEVER dies. LOL Now I've been participating in several threadkiller threads and while I seem to be able to kill about 1/2 the threads I post in, so far I've only killed one of these. I think everyone forgot about it. Anyway, Clayitagain, one of the participants in these threads, snagged a Treasury and featured items from 12 of the "killers" that post in these threads. So check out the treasury, click on the items, leave a comment, perhaps buy something that captures your fancy and just enjoy. Here's the Treasury.
For great jewelry for yourself or as gifts for your loved one, check out STRINGandSTONES. She does beautiful necklaces and earrings out of sterling silver and gemstones.

Brrr! It's cold outside.

Ok, I know for most of you it's really cold. But here in Texas we're just not used to 30's at night and 40-50's during the day with the wind blowing about 25-30 miles an hour. I could take the cooler weather, if the wind just wouldn't blow.
Anyway, with the cold, comes the wildlife out. We had a nice big 8 point buck out back at the water trough this a.m. And some turkey tracks in the rain puddles in the road. They don't like their picture taken, however.

And since it's cold now most places (or getting colder) you may want to remember that nice sunny day at the beach. Why not try this to help you remember? http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16092270