Andrew Thornton's October Bead Challenge

I must apologize to everyone who is stopping by to see my creations for Andrew's challenge.  I just received the beads in the post Wednesday.  That being said I don't have my challenge piece created yet. I hope that you will stop back by on Monday to see my creation(s).

Much Love
Shell

Thankful

Each day this month I am going to post about something or someone that I am thankful for to celebrate the month of Thanksgiving.  Some days it may be a story, some days just a photo.  I hope that you enjoy the peak into my world.

Today I am thankful for the most fantastic 14 years with my husband.  I know that it is cliche to say "He completes me", but he really does.  He balances me with his fun personality, kind heart, and light-hearted spirit.  

Much Love

Shell

Do Over Challenge - Blog Hop

Yay!! The reveal date is finally here... of course, I didn't start actually assembling my pieces until last night.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the challenge - Jeannie is hosting her second Do Over Challenge.  She sends you a piece of jewelry that she feels is tired and boring; and your challenge is to create a brand new piece using at least 50% of the original piece.

So without further ado - Here is what she sent me:

And here is what I created:

First a memory wire bracelet.  I added different shades of red Czech glass and Swarovski crystal beads and some brass bead caps.  I used the large pieces from the necklace as well as some of the smaller Czech pieces.  I am still working out a dangle for this.

The second is a retro-glam style bracelet.  I used the small black Czech glass from the necklace; added some Czech glass pearls and some Swarovski spacers.

Here are the links to all the other participants.. I cannot wait to go through and see what everyone created!

Jeannie & Donna

http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog

Natasha

http://nswhims.blogspot.com

Michelle (you are here)

http://fireflyvisions.blogspot.com

Sandra

http://ladychaos.blog.com/

Andrea

http://heavenlanecreations.wordpress.com/

Cathie

http://www.cathiecarroll.blogspot.com/

Norma

http://moonlitfantaseas.blogspot.com/

Dagi

http://kokopellidesign.blogspot.com/

Marcy

http://www.studiomarcy.blogspot.com/

Camille
http://craft-a-mamie.blogspot.com/

Have fun hopping!  Much love,

Shell

New Adventures

After some prodding by Brenda Sue I have taken on the task of playing around with polymer clay in order to familiarize myself with it and the different things that can be done with it.  

So I thought that I would share with you some of the beads that I have created over the past week with this new medium (at least for me).

To start out, I thought that I would playing with marbling and here is what I created:

I marbled together some white and red Sculpey III.  I really love the different shades that these beads have. I tried two different shapes for these beads - round and oval. I had a little difficulty piercing the holes in some - at least when speaking of middle of the bead hole. 

Then I decided to try some of the texture stamps that I purchased.  For these, I used Sculpey III in beige (I wanted to be able to see the designs clearly so I thought that this color would be best.) 

For the left piece, I added color by the way of Guilder's Paste to this with a fingertip after baking.  The color didn't come out as I had hoped, but I think that with a little more practice I can get a better effect.  

The middle piece was baked and colored with Guilder's Paste after baking.  The effect is much better with this one.  

The third is an example of what happens when I don't apply even pressure to the roller when adding a texture stamp.  The left-hand side has only a faint impression.

Then I tried my hand at a cane.  Unfortunately, the clay was soft and ended up melding together.  So rather than waste the clay, I decided to use it as a marble effect. Below are the results.

I created a few flat circular pieces and added texture to these.  The larger circles have a hole in the top, while the smaller circles have a whole in the center.

I also created a round bead and had better luck with a straighter hole this time. 

The final piece was a larger round bead that I decided to make into a teardrop.

Not bad for my first attempt although creating the hole through the bead misshaped the smaller end.

Using the same clay as above, I thought I would attempt a crude toggle clasp. 

I have baked this and thought that it would be nice to add the wire after baking this first time.  I think that next time I will try to bake it with the wire in place.  The round part of the toggle has some texture added with the piercing tool.  The hole (which isn't pictured is in one side.  The toggle part has a whole pierced through the center.  

And here they are all together.

All in all, I must say that I am a little bit proud of my creations.  

And most of all I am proud of this piece that Aidan (my 8 yr old created). 

I am not sure how many of you can guess what it is .. I will will just tell you. It is a turtle with a rainbow in its back.  He not only created this, using Pluffy Clay, but he also narrated the entire time as if he was making an instructional video.  I will have to pull out the video camera next time to capture his hidden talent. 

Thanks for stopping by to see what my son and I created.  Hope to see you again really soon.

Much Love,

Shell