Inspiration ...

I have been searching for inspiration lately.  Not necessarily beading inspiration but inspiration to help pull me through some tough stuff going on with my family.  Although not looking for jewelry inspiration, I headed to Etsy to search for some beads that would help me get through these rough times.  Thanks to my friends at Creative Bead Chat group on Facebook, I have endless amounts of inspiration.

Look at these lovelies from Melinda Orr 

And how about these lovely lampwork glass beads by Art by Lisi

Let's not forget about these beautiful ceramic bead sets by Yolanda's Clay

What about these beauties from J-Lynn Jewels

Head on over to these shops... take a look around.. add some items to your favorites, better yet to your cart... add these artists to your circle...

Thanks for staying with me... I had so much fun going through shops, finding new sellers and interesting items.  I think that I may have this be a regular post for Fridays.  What do you think? Who are some of your favorite sellers?

Much Love
Shell

Where did the time go? and Catching Up

Wow!  Time really got away from me, I had no idea that it had been so long since I had been able to sit down and make a post.  With all these boys, I am surprised that I remember to brush my teeth.

Let's see ...

First  - I created 3 bracelets for the 7000 Bracelets for Hope blog hop, but I was so excited to get them in the mail that I didn't take any pictures.  Seriously - my mind decided to take a break for a couple of weeks.  My youngest, however, was sweet and made sure that he created a special picture to be included with each of the bracelets in addition to my notes.

Second - My creative mojo has been missing. Literally gone bye bye.  I don't know the cause, but I am glad that it is over!  I have been able to sit down and make a couple of new bracelets.  I hope to get a couple more completed before Sunday and will post pics of all of them then.

Hmmm Let's see what else is going on .. Oh yeah!  I have been enjoying making my way through the Bead Soup Blog Hop.  Sadly I wasn't able to participate this time, but I have been so inspired with the beautiful designs that I have seen so far.

Little League Baseball has begun here in Georgia and the youngest is excited to play again this year.  So far he's already missed 2 out of 6 practices due to his breathing issues, but he's a trooper.  Rescue inhaler is definitely at the ready all season.  Spring mixed with running around outside in temps that range from 70s to 30s here wreak all kinds of havoc on him.   Be prepared for a multitude of pictures as the season continues.

Oh! Oh! I went shopping and found me some wonderful chain and beads.  Wanna see??? I so can't wait for everything to arrive ...

First the chain - I purchase my chain from a variety of vendors, but this time I went to one of my favs which is Antiqued on Etsy.  Here is what I picked up from her .. and aren't they all just gorgeous!

Then I went looking for beady goodness .. Let's face it we all know that there is no such thing as too many beads ... For the beads I went to Beads by C (Beads and Botanicals).  She has some amazing sample mixes so I grabbed up 5 of her mixes.. and let me tell you .. when she adds them to the shop they sell fast!  Just beautiful!  

And I have asked Melinda Orr of Orrtec to create some S-clasps for me that I can incorporate into my designs.  I am excited to see what she comes up with.. and by the way have you seen her new patina pieces??!!  They are fantastic.  I will be ordering some soon. 

I guess that just about catches me up for now... How are you all doing? What are you creating? What components have you been grabbing up?  If you've blogged about it put the link to your blog in the comments :) 

Much love

Shell 

Some Easy Peasy Earrings

Brenda Sue Landsdowne of B'Sue Boutiques is hosting an Easy Peasy Earring Design Challenge on her B'Sue Boutique Creative Group on Flickr.  I was finally able to sit down with some components and create today.

The first pair includes raw brass eyepins that I bent into earwires (*see B'sue Youtube video to see how its done) , 2 different size brass ox jump rings, and some brass ox dove charms (all from B'sue Boutiques). I believe that the connector is also from B'sue but I didn't write it down :( Then I added some lovely blue ceramic beads from Seven Seas Beads.  

 This second pair also uses the raw brass eyepins, 10mm brass ox jumps and Tim Holtz Philosophy tags: the left one says Breathe and the right says Simplify from B'Sue Boutiques. The beads on the earwire are 8mm baroque cut Czech glass beads from Gypsy Spirit Studio, and the focal bead is a blue ceramic from Seven Seas Beads.

This third pair includes another set of 8mm baroque cut Czech glass from Gypsy Spirit Studio. Then brass ox connectors, brass ox jumps, and raw brass earwires (from B'sue Boutiques). Finally, the focal beads are another set purchased from Seven Seas Beads.

I have been hoarding the adorable diamond shaped owl charms from Menagerie Studio and decided that this is the perfect project.  In addition to the cute charms, I have used raw brass eyepins, and 9mm rose ox filagree balls from B'sue Boutiques. The chain is a copper chain that I received in my Lima Beads challenge set, but I cannot remember what it is called. :(

 This last pair is my favorite overall. Again, I used the raw brass eyepins to create the earwires, added 10mm brass ox jump rings, double posie heart charms, and kissing doves on a perch charms both from B'sue Boutiques.  I added rectangular etched copper charms from Orrtec and the chain in the back is rustic antiqued copper flat oval link chain from Antiqued

I hope that you enjoy my spurt of creativity.  I know that I had fun creating these sets.

Much Love, 

Shell