August Design Challenge Reveal- Preview Edition

Here is a peak at the design's for my August Design Challenge.  Once again, you all sent in some amazing pieces, I am blown away.  This is the preview, I am putting this together on the go (at a soccer tournament with an airshow flying overhead) so if I forget anyone or mispell names, email me and I will get it fixed this evening.  Voting polls will open tomorrow.

Some of the designer's created multiple pieces so there is a lot to the reveal this time.  Thank you to everyone who also created something for the charity auction.  More info on the auction a bit later.

By Jude's Jujus

http://www.facebook.com/#!/judesjujus
www.judesjujus.com www.judesjujus.etsy.com www.judesjujus.artfire.com

By Kathryn Bolen

Kat’s Custom Kreations Website: http://katscustomkreations.com
Blog: http://katscustomkreations.blogspot.com
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/KatsCustomKreations
Tweet me!  kats_kreations

Join our Mailing List: http://subscribe.ratepoint.com/subscribe/49765

By Gwen Akers

By Catherine Temalaru

http://www.facebook.com/ienmaginations

By Antiquarian Boutique

 my sister made the ring, my mom the bracelet, and i made the twisty earrings. So family cooperation here :)

http://www.facebook.com/AntiquarianBoutique

By Christy Gatti

http://www.facebook.com/crowningjewelcreations?sk=wall#!/crowningjewelcreations

By Valorie Clifton

http://www.facebook.com/artisan.originals

By Boon Kuan Lim

 

By Peg Fisher

http://www.facebook.com/QuartzsKinJewelry

By Ellie Bunyard
ebunyard@comcast.net

By Russ and Dhea
Our Lampwork beads & jewelry on Etsy:
http://javabead.etsy.com/

By Misty Darrington

http://GemmaBeads.etsy.com

http://gemmabeads.blogspot.com

By Rana L. Wilson

http://about.me/rana.wilson

http://definitivedesignsbyrwilson.blogspot.com/
http://www.artfire.com/users/rlwshkspr
http://www.etsy.com/shop/definitivedesignsrlw

I hope you have enjoyed this preview, once again, if I forgot to include your design or made a mistake please let me know and I will fix it this evening.  Off to go see more soccer and airplanes.

            

Visit blissfulgardenbeads's ArtFire Shop

New Bead Challenge Reveal Coming Friday

Hi Everyone! 

Where has the summer gone. I am writing this in the parking lot of the farmers market where the boys are happily selling blackberries.

I haven't kept up on updating my blog like I had planned, I don't know where time goes.  Hopefully once the kids go back to school I will have more of a chance to work on it.  I still have a bunch of bracelets to feature from the last challenge. 

Tomorrow is the reveal for my next challenge.  If you haven't signed up and haven't sent in you entry yet, please email me at heather@blissfulgardenbeads.com .  Please include your name and any links you'd like included.  You can also email me your charity auction pictures and I will send them to Valarie.   

The reveal will be a bit later in the day than normal, Derek is playing in another soccer tournament so I will be putting it together between games.  Hopefully I will be able to get it partway organized tonight, I have quite a few pictures already.  Voting will start on Saturday morning,

See you all sometime tomorrow!
Heather

Showcasing Catherine (Ien) Temaluru

Hi Everyone!  Sorry I haven't been around much and on top of the update, I had planned to do a showcase a day but my regular life has just been crazy.  We had a long weekend away and have had family visiting.  It seems like I have just been running in circles.  I have a big project that will be complete this weekend and then I think things will be back to a more normal pace (crossing fingers)

Tonight I wanted to show you the bracelet that Catherine (Ien) Temaluru made for my bracelet challenge.  She actually made two bracelets with her three beads.  I love them both but I have to tell you when I clicked on the first one and that butterfly loaded I was so amazed.  I still am, every time I look at it I am just in awe of her designs, they are so intricate and beautiful.  Below is the description Ien sent me pf her pieces. 

For the butterfly bracelet (i name it Sommerfugl):

"I was so thrilled to make something out of your beads. I want something unique, something that could make your beautiful beads as the center of my jewelry.
Meanwhile, I was working on chitrapataNgah Series, and were in love with the way I made every butterfly component of the series.
An idea (well, some ideas) ran through my mind and I was challenged to make a bigger version of the butterfly component as a focal part of my bracelet.
I choose soft and similar color to the beads so it looks sweet (It is, right? lol)
And I'm so happy with the result..

In Danish, Sommerfugl means butterfly, and also "summer bird". Guess it's a perfect name for this piece when I see the colors :)


ChitrapataNgah links: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150213346252928.315771.330860577927

For the Summer Solstice Bracelet :

"I want something different from my previous jewelries. Something look classic yet elegant, so I decided to use bronze color wire instead of silver.
This bracelet was made in a day. And I love the outcome :)

 I name this bracelet SUMMER SOLSTICE.
The pinkish stone represent color of the sky at dawn. The bronze wire represent the shadow it brings: mysterious moment before dawn, and the anticipation for everything will come on the next day.
The beautiful beads represent summer's spirits. Every joy, beauties and every good things come with it.

And as for me,
I made One Of A Kind jewelries, which not only One Of A Kind, but also really means something for the person who wear it, really personalized one. That's why I put "personalized handcrafted" statement with my brand.
 I used to made my jewelries based on order. I rarely have ready stock item in my shelf.
my FB fan page:
http://facebook.com/ienmaginations

I also want to congratulate Ien on her new daughter, she is a beautiful baby.  I hope you will stop by Ien's page and see more of her work,http://facebook.com/ienmaginations . 

I will have more info on the next challenge tomorrow, I planned to post the info tonight but I am just too tired to think.  This month will be a little different than the previous month's sign ups, I will explain more tomorrow.

Visit blissfulgardenbeads's ArtFire Shop

              

Showcasing Shannon of For My Sweet Daughter

Here is another of the bracelets that was made for my Bracelet Challenge, http://www.blissfulgardenbeads.com/2011/06/bracelet-challengeand-winners-are.html .

This one was made by Shannon of For My Sweet Daugher, http://www.facebook.com/formysweetdaughter.  I love how simple and beautiful her design is.  I have a tendancy to be drawn toward small things so I woud have never thought to put my little flowers beads with big chunky beads, but it is stunning and I am so glad Shannon did.  I actually looked at big beads at the bead store yesterday because of this design.

" I wanted to show that they could be used with big chunky beads and still stand out. I like everyday wearable jewelry and I am loving this simple
rose quartz, TierraCast and Swarovski pearl bracelet. I hope you like it too :-)"
~Shannon
Be sure to visit Shannon, here are her links:
Shop my online store: http://www.formysweetdaughter.etsy.com
Visit my blog: http://www.formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com
Find me on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/formysweetdaughter

New beads now available on ArtFire, http://www.artfire.com/users/blissfulgardenbeads

Showcasing Vanessa Floyd, PaintinByFaith

Good Morning~

I hope you enjoyed seeing Jan's design for the Bracelet Challenge http://www.blissfulgardenbeads.com/2011/06/bracelet-challengeand-winners-are.html yesterday.  Today I am featuring the bracelet made by Vanessa Floyd of PaintinbyFaith.

I met Vanessa through another jewelry designer, Anna Grace Designs http://www.facebook.com/AnnaGraceDesigns .  She sent me a pendant that she had made in a class with Vanessa.  I love the pendant and while we were chatting about how she made it, she sent me links to Vanessa's work.  I was so intrigued and still am.  I love the metal work she does and was very excited to see how she would incorporate my beads.  It is funny because I had an idea in my head of what she would do and she did something completely wonderfully different than what I expected. 

Here is a little info about Vanessa, I grabbed this from her facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/paintinbyfaith .

"I have always had this huge passion for creating things with my hands. I discovered metal & fire about a year ago & I haven't been able to stop playing since. I absolutely adore the way sterling silver & copper look together.

I have a tendency to push limits - so I am always reaching outside of the box to create unique & original piece of handmade jewelry.

My favorite metals are sterling silver & copper but I do occasionally throw in other things to finish off a piece if it isn't just right.

As mentioned I am a mixed metal jewelry among other things - mother of 5, full time employee, I teach jewelry making classes & I have a passion for the outdoors. So I keep my plate fairly full. But it keeps my imagination on the run as well."

Vanessa said this piece was a true challenge for her, she rarely uses beads or color in her pieces and that addition was a true challenge. I am glad she took part in the challenge and love what she created.

She has also recently started adding metal etching to her pieces and says it is becoming a new obsession.  I can see why, I am very intrigued by it from looking at her work. 

Vanessa also offers a tutorial if you are interested in learning about the processes she uses, http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=2986211

To see more of Vanessa's work, please visit,
http://twitter.com/PaintinByFaith
www.facebook.com/paintinbyfaithhttp://www.paintinbyfaith.com/
http://paintinbyfaith.blogspot.com/

New beads now available on http://www.artfire.com/users/blissfulgardenbeads

Sign ups for my next challenge will be after July 5th, more details to follow.

CHARITY AUCTION being organized, please consider donating a piece of jewelry.
I also wanted to tell you about an auction that is being put together featuring designs made with my beads. Valerie http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=670025135#!/pages/Antiquarian-Boutique/222499227769498 and Karen http://www.facebook.com/karensnydersO.Sebastian are putting it together. They are in the process of organizing it now. It will be hosted on Karen's site sometime toward the end of August to early September. They are currently looking for designers who have made a design with my beads that would like to donate a piece of jewelry.

When they asked me to choose a charity, it came at the perfect time. I had just talked to a friend who had just returned from a mission trip with her son to Ethiopia. She told me the most heart breaking story about an orphanage they had visited and babies that were dying because there just wasn't formula to feed them. Luckily they were delivering formula in the supplies they had brought over as part of the trip. I knew as soon as Valerie asked me to choose a charity that I would like the money raised to go to this orphanage. You can read more about it at http://www.ordinaryhero.org/Ordinary_Hero/Home/Home.html and the orphanage at http://ordinaryheroblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/immediate-need-in-ethiopia.htm

Bracelet Challenge, Voting now open.

Voting Poll is in column to the right of this post.  If you don't see it and want to vote, please refresh your page and wait for it to load.  It was loading slowly earlier today, but is loading if you wait for it.
I want so say thank you to all the participants in my Bracelet Challenge. I was once again completely blown away by the creativity and beauty of your designs. You all out did yourselves. Thank you so much for participating.

For those of you who don't know what this is about, I had sign ups about a month and a half ago and sent each participant three floral lampwork beads with the challenge to make a bracelet. Design and materials used were completely up to the designers. Here are their completed designs, I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I have.Vote for your favorite in the column to the right.

Be sure to click on th pictures for a larger more detailed view. I plan to showcase the individual designs and designers starting next Tuesday.

1.Vanessa Floyd http://twitter.com/PaintinByFaith
www.facebook.com/paintinbyfaith http://www.paintinbyfaith.com/
http://paintinbyfaith.blogspot.com/

2. Jan Tanis Designs http://www.artfire.com/users/JanTanisDesigns
Jan Tanis Designs Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jan-Tanis-Designs/145943532108039

3. Catharine Temaluru http://facebook.com/ienmaginations

4. Valerie Hampton (Antiquarian Boutique) http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=670025135#!/pages/Antiquarian-Boutique/222499227769498 http://www.etsy.com/shop/penguinfamily

5. Julie Harris

6. Doreen Williams http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Classy-Beading-Creations/115335808534650

7. Sherry Eacrett http://www.facebook.com/GeminiCreations

8. Tracey http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beadywitch-Dezigns/126705214053800 http://beadywitch.wordpress.com/

9. Janice Everett https://www.facebook.com/pages/J-Lynn-Jewels/135485981953 http://jlynnjewels.blogspot.com/ http://www.jlynnjewels.com/

10. Beverly Robillard http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beyond-Bliss-Beads/171527942871263 http://www.artfire.com/users/beyondblissbeads

11. Shannon http://www.formysweetdaughter.etsy.com/ http://www.formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com/ http://www.facebook.com/formysweetdaughter

12. Peg Fisher http://www.facebook.com/QuartzsKinJewelry

13. Kat http://www.facebook.com/KatsCustomKreations

14. Karen Snyder http://www.facebook.com/karensnydersO.Sebastian

I also wanted to tell you about an auction that is being put together featuring designs made with my beads. Valerie http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=670025135#!/pages/Antiquarian-Boutique/222499227769498 and Karen http://www.facebook.com/karensnydersO.Sebastian are putting it together. They are in the process of organizing it now. It will be hosted on Karen's site soetime toward the end of August to early September. They are currently looking for designers who have made a design with my beads that would like to donate a peice of jewelry.

When they ased me to choose a charity, it came at the perfect time. I had just talked to a friend who had just returned from a mission trip with her son to Ethiopia. She told me the most heart breaking story about an orphanage they had visited and babies that were dying because there just wasn't formula to feed them. Lukily they were delivering formula in the supplies they had brough over as part of the trip. I knew as soon as Valerie asked me to choose a charity that I would like the money raised to go to this orphanage. You can read more about it at http://www.ordinaryhero.org/Ordinary_Hero/Home/Home.html and the orphanage at http://ordinaryheroblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/immediate-need-in-ethiopia.html.

http://www.artfire.com/users/blissfulgardenbeads