Earring Swap Blog Hop Reveal!

About a month ago, I signed up for a different blog hop. Jessica of Whimsical Monkey was wanting to know who would be interested in an earring blog hop.  You would sign up, get a partner and then find out what they liked/disliked, what their favorite colors were, if they liked short, long, dangly earrings, etc.  It sounded like fun, so I threw my name in the hat.  I got paired with Jessica McMullen of Pheonix Gate Arts.  She does leather work and is working on some armor for her hubby.   When I contacted her, she said her favorite colors were blue, black and silver, and that she wore mainly lightweight earrings.  Now, I don't do blue, so I don't usually have much blue in my stash.  But I had just won a stash of beads and wouldn't you know it, there was some great blue beads and coordinating beads in the stash. There was some porcelain/ceramic, some onyx, some glass and Czech glass and more.  There was also the great pewter (in black and silver) earring findings to hold five different dangles.  So I got to work picking out all the beads I wanted to use and then laying them out in different patterns.  I wanted to make sure they weren't too heavy for Jessica, though.  I also don't have much silver in my stash, but I had this great Non-Tarnish Silver wire from Artistic Wire and made my own 'Tumbleweed' ear wires to match. I hope she likes them.  But then, I wanted to do something fun for her, too. I had these cute bottle caps from Guiness Black Lager beer that my son likes. So after cleaning them real well, I folded the grooved edge of the caps up all the way around to look like a ruffle.  Then I punched 3 holes in the bottom of the ruffle and one hole in the top and went back to my stash. As it happens these bottle caps are BLUE with their gold logo, which to me looks like a harp.  (The only problem with bottle caps is getting them off the bottle without bending them all up.  But that makes them unique.)  So this time I used more gold toned beads with the blue and then had some dark brass/bronze ear wires I attached to the top hole to make some fun earrings.  These are light weight also.  Hopefully she'll like both pairs of earrings.  If you'd like your own pair of beer cap/drink cap earrings feel free to contact me here on my blog or in my Etsy shop, KayzKreationz.  I've got several pair I'm going to be listing soon. 

Now, here's what Jessica decided to make for me. I told her I love metal, mixed media, wire, leather, stones, etc.  And then I told her pretty much, just surprise me.  I also told her I usually wear long dangly, chunky earrings.  Aren't these great? (Well, due to postal problems, I haven't received my earrings from Jessica. They were supposed to be here Saturday, but I was out of town for a wedding Saturday and Sunday.  As soon as I get home, hopefully they'll be here and I can be surprised and get pictures.  So stay tuned/come back later Monday or Tuesday and you'll be able to see what Jessica sent me. I know they're going to be fantastic.)
Here's the rest of the participants. I know some hadn't gotten their earrigs yet an were waiting on them to post, so be sure to check back and forth for the next day or two. Hopefully everyone will have their reveal and posts up then. If the links aren't clickable, check Jessica's blog, Whimsical Monkey. Thanks.

Blog:

Inge von Roos: ingetraud.wordpress.com

Nancy Smith: wirednan.blogspot.ca

Marianne Baxter: http://www.simplyseablimejewelry.blogspot.com/

Leah Tees:  mybeadylittleeyes.blogspot.ca

Andrea Trank:  www.heavenlanecreations.com

Miranda Ackerley: http://blog.mirandack.com/

Cheri Mitchell-Reed: http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/

Susan Kennedy: http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/

Michele Dotson: http://star-jewels.blogspot.com/

Deanna Cox: www.deannaaki.WordPress.com

Shelley Graham Turner: www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com

Ingrid McCue: www.wrappedinsilver.com

Lennis Carrier:  http://windbent.wordpress.com

Ginger Davis Allman: http://thebluebottletree.com/

Mary Anne Flesch: www.handcraftedserenity.blogspot.com

Nicole Valentine Rimmer: www.nvalentine.blogspot.com

Stephanie Weiss:  uniquelymebwd.blogspot.com/

Silvia Sernicola: http://pipa-the-latest.blogspot.it/

Karla Morgan: www.TexasPepperJams.blogspot.com

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

Paula Hisel: http://simplybeadiful.weebly.com/simply-stated.html

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

Spun Sugar Beadworks: Spunsugarbeadworks.blogspot.com

Tara Plote:  http://newbiebeader.blogspot.com/

Rachel Baron: http://rbarondesigns.blogspot.com/

Laurie Keefe:  http://treeofliferootedinmysoul.blogspot.com/

Kashmira Patel: http://sadafulee.blogspot.com

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

Shellie Grindy: http://www.creativeeclectica.com/

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

Dyanne Cantrell: http://deelitefuljewelrycreations.blogspot.com

Mimi Gardner: www.OtherCuriosities.blogspot.com

Jessica McMullen: http://pheonixgatedesigns.blogspot.com/

Jennifer LaVite: www.drygulchbeadsandjewelry.blogspot.com

Laura Medeiros: http://zoeowyn.blogspot.com/

Alenka Obid: www.pepita-handmade.blogspot.com

Elsie Fonseca: http://www.ladelizchica.blogspot.com/
Cheryl Dunham: www.renaissance-jewelry.blogspot.com

Sandra McGriff: http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.ca
Tania Spivey: http://moobiegrace.blogspot.com/

Facebook:

Beccy Peterson: Beccy's Baubles

Ani Forsyth: Veil Dancer

Mowse Doyle: https://www.facebook.com/MowseMadeThis

Mischelle Fanucchi: www.facebook.com/micheladasmusings

Marde Lowe: FanciMar Designs

And if you're looking for more of my Jewelry or Stained Glass, Mosaics and Fused Glass Kreationz for your Home or Garden, check out my shop, KayzKreationz.  Be sure to come back to see my earrings.

Family Color Challenge

My daughter-in-law and her mother were here (along with my son and my DIL's father, too) over Thanksgiving.  Karla (the mother) and I were involved in Erin Prais-Hintz' Color Challenge using color palette's made from pictures of various parts of the earth. It was great. For that reveal, click here.  We all got to bead together and have fun. Chelsea, (my DIL) was making a necklace and earrings for  Erin's Toast of the Town challenge that Karla and I had done about a month ago.For that reveal, click here.  Anyway, a couple of weeks later, Karla and I were at a Bead show and decided we'd like to try another color challenge.  So I got on Design-Seeds and found a wonderful palette.  She has the most amazing color palette's.  I'm trying to save my money and buy at least one of her color palette books.  This is the color palette I found.  So, Karla, Chelsea and I are all challenging ourselves to make something with this color palette.  Our goal is to have it done by the 31st of January and then post on my blog and Karla's blog, Texas Pepper Jams what we've created.  Chelsea doesn't have a blog, so I'll post her creation here.  However, we're all supposed to get together the 26th of January in Louisiana for a Grand Funk concert.  So we've decided to try to get our pieces done by then and then all wear them to the concert and see how 3 people interpret the same color palette differently.  It should be a blast.  If you'd like to play along, here's the Color Palette: 

If you do play along, be sure to give credit to Design Seeds for the palette when you post it on your blog.  Our post date is the 31st of January for the challenge.  So keep tuned.
And, if you're looking for some Stained Glass, Mosaics or Fused Glass Kreationz for your Home or Garden, or other Wire-wrapped, Beaded Jewelry for yourself or as a gift, check out my shop, KayzKreationz.

Texas Pepper Jams: !Crazy Hot Nuts!

This is a great article about Nuts and their health benefits.  Plus they're adding Spicy Hot nuts to their shop. Be sure to check it out and get in on the fun.

Texas Pepper Jams: !Crazy Hot Nuts!: A nut isn't just a nut anymore! There are 53 varieties of nuts. Can you name them all? Some nuts we love to eat are: almonds, pecans, walnut...

And if you're looking for some great Stained Glass, Mosaics or Fused Glass Kreationz for your home or garden, or Wire-wrapped, Beaded jewelry for yourself or as a gift, check out my shop, KayzKreationz.