Dreamtime Creations and the Grand Swarovski Competition

I cannot wait any longer!  LOL 

I have been holding off posting my competition piece until the finalist or winners had been selected, but I am so excited for you to see this piece, I cannot wait any longer.  If any of you have not been to the Dreamtime Creations website, you must go.  Their selection of Swarovski crystals is amazing.  They also have settings that have long prongs on the backs of them so they can easily be attached to a leather bracelet, or a purse, etc.; I have not found them anyplace else but there.

In June 2014 they were hosting a Swarovski Crystal competition where you simply took a picture of your design and submit it to their Facebook page for a chance to win an awesome life-changing prize - and you could bring a friend!

I designed a vintage inspired bracelet for the competition - but now I am waiting on pins and needles to see if I won.  There were over 500 entries!  Can you imaging that?  You can go to their Facebook page to see all the entries - and if you happen to see mine, be sure to like it.... 

I designed the bracelet in the spirit of vintage Swarovski, inspired by a time of glitz and glamour, of elegance and sophistication.  I wanted my piece to have the look of "old-time" Swarovski.  Looking back on my piece, I think I would have changed the clasp on it - but it is too late now - and perhaps I will change it out at a later date.  I used vintage Swarovski cabs 2190/4 in Bermuda Blue, set in vintage brass ovals that I riveted to vintage brass filigree.  I then surrounded the cab in Swarovski crystal cup chain and wrapped the focal in a leaf spray and added a bee.  In between I used large vintage Swarovski crystals wrapped in filigree bead caps.  The chain is made by linking jump rings together, and I finished it off by adding a smaller version vintage Swarovski crystal. 

"Two Bees are Better Than One"

The pair of earrings below was my backup plan.  They are designed with Swarovski checkerboard cabs in vintage Swarovski settings which I then riveted to vintage filigree drops. 

AND now the anxious waiting.  I have nearly gone crazy checking my e-mail and Facebook to see if I have been notified of winning!  I hope I do not have a nervous breakdown before then...LOL....

......... I cannot imagine reviewing over 500 submissions; the judges have quite the task at hand. 

Be sure to stop by their Facebook page at

https://www.facebook.com/DreamtimeCreationsrhinestonebeadandtrimsupplies.

I hope you are inspired to create something beautiful!

Talk to you soon.

Jen

Designing with the new 2014 Spring Collection from Nunn Designs

Earlier in July I was fortunate enough to win the Nunn Design 2014 Spring Collection from Beadaholique's blog "Strung Out".  The collection is awesome and full of beautiful pieces.  Since that time, I have been busy putting together a few designs. 
  

In these designs I used mixed metals, as well as, vintage and contemporary elements, with the exception of the earrings.

The bracelet is designed with the owl and feather focals.  I added vintage West Germany Ruby and Gray glass pieces, vintage Swarovski crystals, along with contemporary rosary bead strands.  I then made the hook and clasp by hammering and painting recycled aluminum wire.

The necklace clasp is designed using the twig ring and shaping the oak leaf to make the hook.  I really like the look of the pieces together and the use of the mixed metals.  I added a mix of vintage glass beads and vintage Swarovski crystals to draw your eye to the focal.  I riveted the butterfly to the feather and added a Swarovski flatback to the top of the rivet, which complimented the beads and added just the right amount of sparkle.

I hope you are inspired to create something beautiful!

Talk to you soon.

Jen

What's New at Purple Fish Studio

I cannot believe how fast this summer has gone.  Here it is August tomorrow, the local county fairs have come and gone, my garden is producing vegetables, and I do not feel like I have gotten anything accomplished - perhaps because I have had my head buried in my studio.....

I have been designing a lot more with mixed media lately; using leather, mixed metals and vintage and contemporary.   I have quite a few new pieces to show off with this posting, I hope you are inspired.  Looking through my design books and paging through the months on my Swarovski calender I have come across some really great inspirational pieces which motivated me to look back at some of my older work.  I decided I would incorporate some of those ideas, with a few changes, into my new pieces.  It's funny how easily I forget about my older work - always pushing forward.....

I have also been working on what I call catalog pages for my designs.  I think I am going to make them into postcards to hand out or, I might also design another online catalog like the ones to the right of my home page......or, maybe I will just do both....  :-)

Of Note:  In the pictures below, the bracelet to the right, with the upcycled vintage brooch, shows two colors of purple.   The true color of the purple glass is in the top picture.  I think a shadow makes the elongated bracelet look much darker than it is.    

I hope you are inspired to create something beautiful.

Talk to you soon!

Jen

I Won A Great Stash from Beadaholique's "Strung Out"!

Last week Beadaholique had another one of their great giveaways on their blog Strungout at beadersblog.com.  There they were offering a chance to win a stash of Nunn Design's new 2014 Spring Collection.  Who wouldn't jump at a chance to win that?

After I commented, I immediately went into daydream mode sketching out designs using all the beautiful pieces in the collection.  I really had my fingers crossed........

Needless to say crossing my fingers worked...lol - okay, so that really had nothing to do with winning, but at the time it made me feel like it would.

The Collection arrived in the mail today.  Wow! The pieces are absolutely beautiful!

When I commented for the giveaway, I thought perhaps the round rustic charms would be my favorite, and yes I would still choose them; however, seeing the collection and having the pieces to look at causes me to say I may have to reconcider!  Even as I look at them now, while writing this, I think it is difficult to pick a favorite.

Along with the beauty of the designs, in any of the Nunn Design Collections, the quality is top of the line and some of the best I have worked with.  The pieces can stand alone as a focal, you can mix and match them in a collage piece, or add them to one of your own designs.  Any way you decide to use them they add a bit of elegance.

I would also like to state that Beadaholique.com is one of my favorite places to buy supplies, their prices are great and they have a nice variety of quality brands to choose from.  Plus, their blog beadersblog.com always has fresh new ideas and is a great resource.

Thank you Beadaholique Design Team!

I hope you are inspired to create something beautiful!

Talk to you soon,

Jen

Design Reveal for "Pearls, Pearls, Pearls Blog Hop"

Pearls, the tiny treasures from the sea.  I love pearls, no one is exactly alike and there is something nostalgic about them - delicately strung on a silk strand, elegantly draped around your neck.   It is hard to believe that something so beautiful is made up of a crystalline form of calcium carbonate.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to participate in the "Pearls, Pearls, Pearls Blog Hop" hosted by the gracious and divinely talented Shel of misheldesigns.blogspot.com.  Our task for the event was to design something/anything using pearls.  You could use any kind of pearl, including but not limited to natural pearls.  The big reveal for those participating is June 29th (Sunday).

I find inspiration in vintage jewelry from the era of my grandmother.  The designs are elegant and sophisticated, possessing a sparkle that captivates even the least of admirers.

My design has a vintage look to it.  I incorporated both new and vintage materials, as well as, mixed metals of antiqued brass and silver.  I then added just a pop of color with a bright vintage Swarovski rhinestone.

The glass pearl cabochons have a baroque texture to the top.  They are set in a crown edge setting that has been riveted to a filigree panel.  I then riveted a leaf spray to the panel and added the rhinestone.  Each panel is linked together with a messy wrapped Swarovski crystal pearl.
 

I am excited to see what everyone else has designed.........Be sure to check out the other pearl designs at misheldesigns.blogspot.com and there you will find the links to the other blogs/designers participating in this great event
.
I hope you are inspired to make something beautiful!

Talk to you soon,

Jen    

Bead Soup Blog Party May 10, 2014 Reveal! - Hurray It's Finally Here!

 The Bead Soup Blog Party is hosted by Lori Anderson of prettythingsblog.com.  It's an event where people from all over the world gather on her blog site, exchange beads with someone they have never met, and then create something beautiful with them.  This is my first year being a part of such an exciting event.  Being new, I was a little apprehensive and uncertain of what to expect.  I had waited a whole year to join, having discovered The Bead Soup Blog Party just a few days after it had begun last year.


Soon after joining, I realized that it was all about community, challenges, growth, and meeting new friends.  It was also about the experience of taking the unfamiliar beads you are sent, embracing the challenges that are ahead, and then designing something beautiful.   I also discovered that it was not so much about the bead soup mix that was sent to me, but about facing my own insecurities.   Do I have the talent to design something beautiful with unfamiliar beads and beads chosen for me by a complete stranger, blogging about it, and then letting the whole world see what I have designed? 

My journey through this event has been very rewarding.  The bead soup mix Jean sent to me was a beautiful blend of warm and cool colors in rich blues, purples, pinks, and greens - a mix that was full of artisan beads, beads that I would not normally buy for myself.  Each bead had been beautifully crafted and I felt the pressure of designing something worthy of the beads, which at times was a little overwhelming.  I sat and looked at the beads for a few days before the designs started coming.  Once I decided on something I was able to finish within a few weeks.  Thank you Jean for all of your support and for sending me a beautiful Bead Soup Mix!      

Meet my Bead Soup Blog Party Partner:

I was teamed up with Jean Baldridge-Yates.  She is the author of  - Links: Inspired Bead & Wire Jewelry Creations (which can be purchased on Amazon!) and she is also the designer and creator of the blog prettykittydogmoonjewelry.blogspot.com which is a wonderful array of heartfelt writings and an eclectic mix of photos and blended social interaction. Needless to say, her work and designs are beautiful!  She has been a wonderful friend and has helped me with the ins and outs of the Bead Soup Blog Party.  Over the last few months Jean and I have talked every week and I have discovered what a wonderful and courageous woman she is and I am glad to call her my friend. 

Jean sent me a beautiful soup mix of artisan beads, glass, semi-precious gemstones, crystals, and findings.  With these pieces, I added a few of my own and designed a bracelet, a necklace, and matching earrings.  I decided to split the focal and the clasp.  The blue glass and silver clasp went to the bracelet and the lampwork focal bead went to the necklace, and then I used a mix of the other beads and findings in both pieces. 

One of the things I enjoyed most was the anticipation and arrival of the Bead Soup mix.  I had no idea what to expect and was very excited when I opened the box.  Each package of beads were beautifully wrapped - it was like Christmas!  Some of the beads she sent I had worked with before, however, I was a little out of my comfort zone in knowing how to design something from a selection someone else had chosen for me; I felt my biggest challenge was going to be the beautiful floral lampwork bead focal by Kim Miles.  (As you can see, I have not added ear wires to the earrings yet, I hope you will forgive me :-)  I am not certain what style I want to use and I am undecided between a lever-back or a simple fish hook style - but then again, maybe a post??)

Both pieces remind me of a bright summer day in the garden with the rich mauve, purple, lapis, and green colors.  The oval/leaf connector on the bracelet reads “Love Life” and it could not be more fitting. 

The bracelet has been designed with beautifully crafted designer beads by the following artists:  The large silver ceramic leaf is from my own Purple Fish Studio; the three little pewter flowers and the tiny pewter bird is by D’Arsie Manzella of Mamacita Beadworks; the tiny silver leaf is by Nina Designs, the blue glass and silver clasp is by Emma Ralph; and the “Love Life” connector is by Green Girl Studio.  I used the simple classic bracelet design.  Your eye is drawn to the brilliant Sapphire blue of the claps, to the words on the leaf "Love Life", following down through the charms, picking up the Lapis blue towards the center and then up to the single leaf. 

The necklace is "opera length" and is designed with two different kinds/styles of leather, Lapis and Amethyst beads, a floral/dragonfly pewter ring & toggle clasp by Mamacita Beadworks, and the glass donut/disks and the beautiful floral plunged lampwork focal bead, both designed by Kim Miles.  I also went with a simple design for the necklace, using an opera length of about 36".  I then created a scalloped edge by wire wrapping leather cord down through the focal area of the necklace.  I also wire wrapped little crystal pearls to the leather cord giving it a bit of texture.  I strung the glass donut/disks loosely onto the leather cord and created a drop with the Lapis and Amethyst beads.  The colors leading up to the focal really enhance the beautiful floral detail of the focal.    

Please be sure to visit prettykittydogmoonjewelry.blogspot.com.  You can also read more blogs and follow this event by clicking on the link below.  I hope you are inspired by the great works and interesting Bead Soup Mixes.

8th Annual Bead Soup Blog Party

http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.com//2014/04/welcome-to-8th-bead-soup-blog-party.html

If you are interested in more of my work, I have it listed at ursyllabs.etsy.com.  

I hope you are inspired to create something beautiful!

Sincerely,

Jen

 

Art Bead Scene April Challenge - Swaying Dancer by Edgar Degas

Swaying Dancers (Dancer in Green) 1877-79, by Edward Degas.  The colors in this painting have such a serious tone to them and the dancers are airy and graceful.  The Tulle of the skirting in the lower corner comes off the page, inviting you in as though you are one of the dancers.   

When I first saw this painting posted as the April Challenge on Art Bead Scene I thought of Tanya McGuire's Lampwork Poppies.  Both have elegant graceful movement to them.   I thought the skirts looked so much like her Poppies. 

I chose the Lampwork beads with amber color and the mint green spots, added silver swirls which added another layer of movement, as do the deep gray vintage drop pearls.  

Below is a picture of the beautiful Lampwork by Tanya McGuire and what they looked like before I designed the earrings.  (The picture will link you to her Etsy page.) 

  
I hope you are inspired to create something beautiful.

Talk to you soon ~  Jen