National Craft (and Bead) Month

To celebrate National Craft Month the folks over at Fusion Beads are hosting a 30 Day Bead Challenge, and to get things started the first challenge is to make a pair of earrings. 

I was feeling a bit ambitious so I made two pairs using my new favorite Swarovski crystal color, Astral Pink.  Sorry the photos don't do this rich, exotic color the justice is deserves.  Trust me;  these earrings are amazing.

This pair is based on Fusion Beads "Maple Sugar Earrings:"

And this second pair is accented with Fuchsia crystals:

Tomorrow's challenge is to string up something simple, and for that I made a bracelet to match, as well as a quick and easy necklace to complete the set:

It's going to be an exciting month!

Ugly Beadwork Is No Fun

Although there is a certain amount of grim satisfaction in it, deliberately creating ugly bead work, even if it is for a book, is just not much in the way of fun.

Anyway...I took a break from the latest bit of hideousness that I've been working on for Margie's book to make something quick, easy, and lovely for Week 5 of Fusion Beads Weekly Challenge.  I made these "Mere Mandalas" earrings a few weeks ago, before I was hit by a series of back to back migraines that had me completely drained of energy for a while.  Stupid migraines.

Hopefully I'll finish the necklace using a HomeStudio pendant, that I started for Week 6 over the weekend and will have pictures of it sometime next week.

In the meantime, happy beading and happy weekend!

30 Day Bead Challenge

To kick off National Craft Month in their own way Fusion Beads decided to have a 30 Day Bead Challenge and I decided to take part in it.  I'm right in the middle of 3 different projects for publication so my participation will be limited, but here's what I've done so far.

Day 1.  Make earrings.  And I did...two quick and easy pairs.  The triangle tops are made with Miyuki Delica blend #986, which is one of my all time favorites because it's made of varying shades of purples, greens, and golds.  I see a matching bracelet and necklace in the kind of near future for these.  I made my version of Fusion Beads "Poseidon" earrings, which calls for 8 mm Swarovski crystal bicones, in fuchsia and gold because that's pretty much all I had on hand at the time. 

Day 2.  Use Up Some Bead Leftovers:  This was a toughie.  I don't actually have bead leftovers.  Now, don't hate me because I'm organized, but I do really and truly but everything away after I'm finished with a project.  No leftover bead soup for me.  So I cheated and dived into my drawer of cane class beads and made myself this lovely bracelet.  

 

Day 3.  Learn a New Beading Technique:  Like I said, I do have some due dates to consider so this is going to have to wait until next month when I have more time.  I'd love to play with that new crystal clay I've been hearing so much about.

Day 4.  Organize Your Bead Area:  So I did.  And here are the before and after pictures to prove it.  Of course there's no guarantee that it will stay cleaned up for more than a day or two.

Day 5.  Incorporate Chain Into a Jewelry Design:  Maybe next month.