Happy New Year!

I will take this moment to thank everyone for a fabulous year!

First and foremost - to Lori Anderson: her Bead Soup was my 'debutant ball' in the jewelry community... and what a wonderful community she introduced me too! It truly started this January, a bit less than a year ago... and it went higher, stronger, faster - just like the Olympics :)

To all my partners and hosts in the countless of challenges and blog hops I participated: thank you for your kindness and generosity, without all these fun happenings I would have withered away as I had before. Instead, I feel I bloomed and I have new energy every time!

To all my new friends (too many to name) - thank you for your support and continuous encouragements. The community is fabulous and I grew a lot with your help over these past 12 months.

To all customers and followers (on the blog or all other social media): thank you for your patronage. I love creating and making people happy one piece of beauty at a time :)

To my family and friends: thank you for putting up with my crazy hours and for all the help while I am trying to spread my new wings :)

To my two special men in my life (hubby and son): thank you for everything, even for lovingly nick-naming what I do (I can't find a proper translation, as both use a Romanian term that has nothing in common with jewelry :)).

To all: I wish you a New Year filled with joy and happiness, health and sparkle, dreams come true and opportunities. May your wishes come true and may God (or Nature or other Deities) keep you and your loved ones healthy and happy.

 

Happy 2013!

She made... she made... with a "twist" :)

Earlier this month Therese of Therese's Treasures published a post about an ongoing tradition she has with Christine of One Kiss Creations: they met last year in beautiful Pennsylvania and they exchanged beading gifts. Now they choose one each month and make something out of it.

Therese published a picture of their December beads - and I recognized the gorgeous teal Boro beads she gifted me with on our first Holiday Bling challenge. I truly love those beads, but I haven't figured out how to best use them yet... In commenting on Therese's post she kindly invited me to her an Christine's get-together this month... today. I accepted (I second-guessed myself a lot in the process) - because I love Therese's and Christine's work alike - and because this would be a push to do something with those beauties.

Christmas came and it hasn't really passed yet (we take the days between Christmas and Epiphany slowly, in terms of work, and crazy busy in terms of getting together with friends and family) - yesterday was the only day when we didn't have friends over so I decided that'll be the day to get into my attic studio and do some creative work. Hiatuses are apparently good for the brain: I went up, turned the light on (the skylight is covered in snow :)), turned the heat on, the radio... and this is what happened:

 

Yes, I finally tried my hands at - what do you call this technique?! I'll call it 'wire lace' for a lack of a better term :)

I was looking for a way to show off the bead(s) in a not very simple way, I wanted a bit of intricacy, of complexity... I hope I achieved it - in real life the pendant looks really neat. Suffice to say I am pleased with the result - and afraid to try it second time :) [I am of the tribe where things get perfect 1st time and then take a couple of extra tries to get it right again]

I will have to try it again, though - I have 4 more gorgeous beads!

I would like to thank Therese and Christine for allowing me to participate in their wonderful get-together - now please visit my two friends and check what they have created!

I can't believe we are at the end of another year...

Wising you all a wonderful and very Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas to all...

... who celebrate! And a wonderful Winter Holiday Season to everyone else :)

We do celebrate Christmas - in traditional style and cooking: everything is made from scratch - from sausages to cabbage rolls to cookies. William helps with everything (he absolutely loves 'playing' in the freshly ground meat and mixing the spices in for sausages, then for cabbage rolls), including the sweet bread (cozonaci) - which is the most 'prized' baking sweet at any special Holidays in our tradition. Not only that - but certainly impossible to make it perfectly. I am getting there, slowly, have been making them now for 15 years on my own... and every year they get a tad better :)

The house has been cleaned (I managed to clean the office quite well, very proud of myself on that one!) and decorated. The tree has been up and decorated for over a week. We started a new tradition a few years back and we now go to a farm in Hamilton and cut our own tree! This year it has been half-cut by William :)



All that was left was to play some carols - and that's what both William and I did on our last piano lesson of the year. What's most impressive in the video is that both the child and the teacher are sight-reading the songs (as in: it is the first time when they play them) - while I knew Lana (our teacher) can do it, I was totally taken aback by the child doing it so well :)

Enjoy!

Artisan Whimsy - blog post

Today was my turn to write the weekly post for the Metal team on artisan Whimsy.

Of course I chose my love: wire. Here is what I had to say :)

http://artisanwhimsy.ning.com/profiles/blogs/why-i-love-working-with-wire

Holiday Bling Blog Hop #2 - the reveal

Welcome to the 2nd Holiday Bling edition - the 'baby' of Marlene of Amazing Designs and Shelley of Tori Sophia Designs. Everybody had so much fan back in October with their first edition, they decided to repeat it this year :)

I had the amazing pleasure to be partnered with Rita from Jewel School Friends - over the past few months I became e-friends with Rita, an amazing soul and a great supporter of rookies like me :) After the initial exchange of information I started agonizing on what to do. Rita is an amazing chain maille designer and she proposed chainmaille. Uh-oh... It was a bit like sending bead weaving to Therese :) I decided to approach this like everything else in my life: make it fun or make it go!

I love Rita's Christmas tree chainmaille piece

and it's Christmas, after all - I really wanted a Christmas tree. But... how?

In playing on the wig jig one evening I suddenly knew - it's not completely chainmaille, but it looks smartly enough like one, I hoped Rita will love it. Since I was completely out of silver and recently just bought tons of copper (that's how Rio Grande sells copper, in pounds :)) - I thought copper would work, trees have brown bark, don't they?

It was now time to agonize over what to use on tree itself - but luckily I went to 2 Rock and Gem shows this year, and I came across these lovely dyed jade, in a minuscule size (3mm I believe). Don't ask me why I bought them - most likely because they looked like miniature candy, they reminded me of a candy of my youth :)

When I was done - I was in love! The tree looks just like the one in the living room: bright, cheerful and very colourful!

All I had to do was pack it and send it to Rita - and that's exactly what I did. We sent each other's package around the same time.... right around the same time Sandy hit... more reason to agonize over whether the package(s) will reach each other! They did - and just a few days ago I was able to pick mine up. I opened right there, in the post office... and I almost fainted! I had to pull off the necklace I was wearing and put Rita's instead. I haven't took it off yet - I decorated the tree last night with it... I cleaned the living room (as in: windows cleaning, sheers washing, sparkling the wood of the room) 2 nights ago with it around my neck.

Did I make you curious? Good :)

I'll show you pictures next. First - this is what came out of the USPS envelope:

Bling in the box and on it too!

Merry Christmas to you too, Rita!

Aaah - do you see it? If you're a member of the MarShel group on facebook you should recognize that beauty! It's the one Rita entered in the FB challenge we have going on... the one that's tied for 1st place (with an equally awesome piece from Sandra of Skye Creative Chaos)

A gorgeous Persian chain with a capture of crystals. Seriously - have you seen something more beautiful than this?

With a very glitzy bling-full magnetic clasp!

Add to that 2 more packages - I had to wait to get home to see what's inside; I wanted to take pictures of the beautiful wrap too!

Surprise #1

A oceany-windy bead. Lovely colours, beautiful swirls: it's waiting for me to finish the Christmas preparations and focus on it properly!

Surprise #2

A beautiful enameled cross - look how intricate the design is! I haven't had a chance to ask Rita more details about my surprise items, but I will. I am quite curious where the cross is coming from. William looked at it and commented 'Wow, mommy! You've been spoiled!' - yes, smart child, that's exactly how I feel: rotten spoiled!

A 'family' picture :)

Thank **YOU**, my friend! Your gifts are beautiful and I will cherish them forever. I am glad I met you and got to know you a little bit. God willing maybe we will meet one day soon :)

And thank you, my visitor - for staying for the story :) Please make sure you visit everyone on the list below - you're in for a treat, these ladies are amazing!

Oh, I haven't showed you pictures of my tree, you say? Well - if you check Rita's blog you'll see it for sure =)

Marlene Cupo	http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com
Shelley Graham Turner	www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com
Shirley Moore	http://www.beadsandbread.blogspot.com
Lori Bowring Michaud	http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com
Catherine King	http://catherines-musings.blogspot.com
Dyanne Cantrell	http://deelitefuljewelrycreations.blogspot.com
Sonya Stille	http://dreaminofbeads.blogspot.com
Elaine Ray	http://elaineray.blogspot.com
Gina Hockett	http://freestyleelements.blogspot.com
Jo-Ann Woolverton	http://itsabeadifulcreation.blogspot.ca
Debbie Rasmussen	http://kepirasmussen.blogspot.com
Renetha Stanziano	http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com
Ginger Bishop	http://lilmummylikes.blogspot.com
Miranda Ackerley	http://mirandack.com/category/thoughts
Sandra McGriff	http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.ca
Tammie Everly	http://ttedesigns.blogspot.com
Alicia Marinache	http://www.allprettythings.ca <= you're here
Melinda Abrahamson	http://www.firstreetcrafts.com
Rita/ Toltec Jewels	http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com <= my partner!
Chandra Merod	http://www.junipergoods.blogspot.com
Mary Govaars	http://www.mlhjewelrydesigns.com
Kelley Fogel	http://www.mylifeonebeadatatime.blogspot.com
Tiffany Goff Smith	http://www.southerngalsdesign.blogspot.com
Heather Rats Otto	http://www.thecrafthopper.com
Anitra Gordy Boyers	www.leelucreations.blogspot.com

The 12 colours of Christmas: Green and Orange

For today I was unable to settle on one colour so I captured both Green (which is a true Christmas colour) and Orange (which... maybe it's not... but I love it :))

Bright and Bold: wire wrapped necklace by alicia-allprettythings

P.S. For once I don't need the shoes - I have a few pairs this style (not orange, though) :) But that silk skirt... hmm... :)

The Gossiping Godess Giveaway and Challenge

Remember about a month ago I won a spot in the Gossiping Godess (aka Leslie aka Thea's) challenge? Not only that - I got myself some gorgeous lampwork by Leslie's friend Kaz.

How gorgeous, you ask? Ooh - very!  I managed to not take pictures of the beads when they came (yes, I know... mind is away on vacation) - but they are splendid clear encased beads I adore.

My challenge? What to do with them. Why? They are large (maybe 3/4" in diameter) with big holes... and I didn't want to string them together. I wanted them to pop-up, to yell "Look at me, ain't I a beauty?!"

I spent weeks thinking what to do... I sketched (badly) many pictures... and in the end I coupled my love for wire with these beauties and this is what I came up with:

Not one, but three pendants; in three different styles :)

First it was the heart pendant:

I made the frame 3 times in copper - until I decided it's decent enough to try it in silver. I liked the idea of adding some copper, though - the red in the glass is going very well with the copper (or so I think). The heart is not perfect - but what heart is it, after all? Next time I will remember to 'coil' the wire *before* wrapping it together :)

The second pendant was this nice 'wisdom eye' - aren't those flowers on the bead lovely?

I needed a third different idea and it became a flower:

All they need now is their respective chains - I am thinking 3 different lengths so they can be worn together - what do you think? Yay or Nay?

Overall - I am quite pleased with the result :) of course there is room for improvement (the rawhide mallet scared the wire on the flower... not sure why) but I can't wait to wear them!

Many thanks to Lesley - for her generosity in sharing these beauties with us and the opportunity to play along in a wonderful challenge!

And many thanks to you, my visitor :)

Please make sure you visit all the other participants:

Lesley Watts (our hostess) &nbspwww.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com

Cory Tompkins: http://tealwaterdesigns.blogspot.co.uk/

Rebecca Anderson: http://songbeads.blogspot.co.uk/

Marie Cramp : http://skyejewels.blogspot.co.uk/

Claire Braunbarth: http://smittenbeads.blogspot.co.uk/

Heidi Post: http://expostfactojewelry.blogspot.co.uk/

Tiffany Smith: http://southerngalsdesign.blogspot.co.uk/

Sharyl Macmillan-Nelson: http://sharylsjewelry.blogspot.co.uk/

Ailsa Cordner: http://www.bramalfiebeadsetc.co.uk/

Linda Landig: http://lindalandig.wordpress.com/

Caroline Dewison: http://blueberribeads.co.uk/

Renetha : http://www.lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com

Kari Asbury: http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.co.uk/

Niky Sayers: - http://silverniknats.blogspot.com

Purple Cobwebs: http://www.purplecobwebs.blogspot.co.uk/

Cilla Watkins: http://www.tellyourgirlfriends.com/

Therese Frank: www.theresestreasures59.blogspot.com 

Claire Ennis : http://clairescrystalclassics.blogspot.co.uk/

Emma: http://apolymerpenchant.blogspot.co.uk/

Kathy Lindemer: http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.co.uk/

Alicia Marinache: http://www.allprettythings.ca/ <== you are here

Sandy Huntress: http://keepsakecrafts.net/blog/

The 12 colours of Christmas: Purple

Are there 12 colours of Christmas? I honestly don't know - but I will invent a series right now... we will start with a very unlikely Christmas colour: purple! (and the high-heels, of course :))

Amarylis: ooak necklace, sterling silver, Swarovski, pearls by alicia-allprettythings

Memories

When William was born I had this idyllic image of me capturing each memory in a safe way (writing everything down, taking videos and pictures of every important moment) - then life slowly taught me that every moment is important and it'll be impossible to record everything.

So I lost many of the memories - because not recording them then and there... they are forgotten.

Some I captured, though - I'll share with you some questions / conversations we had when William was about 5 years old. I hope you'll enjoy this moments in time with a young boy (wiser than his age)

* How do the reindeer fly?

* How does Santa Claus gets to all the kids in the world? Where does he get their addresses from?

* Why does the song say 'and we can live for ever more'?

* Can I go out and shovel the snow with daddy?

* Why Jesus had no clothes when he was born? Why all the pictures show him with clothes? Why would the animals blow warm air on him, was it cold there? If it was cold in Bethlehem, why people didn't have winter clothes?

* Mommy, the Santa at the mall - he's not the real Santa, is he?
* Why do you ask?
* Well, I saw one on level 1, and another on level 2, and there are some more through the stores too!
* Mommy, Santa came to the skating lesson!
* Did you tell him what you want to bring you? [see below for an explanation **]
* No, he wasn't the real Santa
* How do you know?!
* It was one of the coaches, dressed like Santa, I recognized his voice! But, shhh, do not let the younger kids know! [this from a 5 yo]
* Why do we give toys for other kids? Why doesn't Santa bring all of them toys?

* Can we make more decorations?

* Why can't we start the snow as we wish? There should be a Start button for it!

* Why did God made us cry? [as in: give us the ability to cry... if he loves us and wants us to be happy... why make us be unhappy?]

* Why did God made the weeds if they aren't useful?
* When I play you must look at the heart and my song is a key that opens the heart and fills us all with love for Christ, his Mommy, and God! [*** see below too]

* Why can't we see the reindeers (at the mall!). When Santa goes to feed them, can we go and help him too?

* Why...?
** That specific year (2008) I couldn't convince him to write a letter to Santa, or tell anybody what he wants for Christmas. Why? The year before he wrote the letter, Santa fulfilled it - and the week before Christmas he changed his mind 100%... thus he was deeply disappointed in Santa not bringing him what he really wanted, and not what he wrote! No matter what I tried to explain - it didn't work.

So next year he was adamant he won't write a letter to Santa: 'I want it to be a surprise! Whatever he will choose to bring me I will be happy!' He found his own way to deal with disappointments!

*** At school he painted a glass ornament (in the shape of a heart) as his special gift for parents. When he put the heart on the Christmas Tree - that was his explanation on how the heart 'works': it opens when he plays piano or sings a carol.

Christmas traditions: carols

The brain has an uncanny way of forgetting the bad and recalling the good - although my brain is probably not 100% normal, since I rarely forget things :) The good part is that I am able to focus on good.

Growing up in my small town has its advantages and disadvantages. As a teenager and young adult I failed to see the advantages. Looking back it's a pleasure to remember that community feeling and the fact that like in an Irish legend the trees will get the news to the other corner of the town before I got home :)

There are many traditions related to Christmas - and not all of them we observed (for various reasons). One of the best, though, was listening to carols - there were a few singers (country and folk) who would get around the 'Christ' in Christmas and manage to sing some special carols. There was also the Madrigal Chamber Choir (one of the best there ever was) with their fantastic voices! And - the most magical of all - there was the caroling done on Christmas Eve. Group of young people will gather and start caroling (most like the trick-or-treating here): knock on doors, and when the door opened (most of the time) they'll start singing at the top of their lungs. In return they would receive apples, nuts, or 'pretzels'. If the host would know them (and most of the time they did) - the group will also be invited in the house and offered an aperitif, cookies, and sometimes wine or palinca (a spirit that's 90% alcohol!) or its cousin, tzuica (a mere 65-70% alcohol).

Once I reached high school I would go with our class caroling. We met early afternoon and started visiting all our teachers first (and some colleagues that were close to the teachers) - one of teachers lived in a suburb, about 5km one way from the centre of the town, we will travel by foot, through the snow all the way there and we were the happiest kids you've ever met! I remember a very snowy winter, the snow was about 4 feet high (and back then and there - not many snow plowers would clean the roads :)) and nothing would have stopped us!

We never practiced the carols - everybody knew them by heart and somehow we managed to keep it in key and not be a disaster. But we got together a few times under the pretense we are practicing - just to play guitar and sing campfire songs :) And eat cookies, of course! What's caroling (even pretense) without cookies?

I will let you listen to 2 of the best: The Madrigal Choir with a short and beautiful carol:

Madrigal Chamber Choir - Today Christ was born

And the best folk singer of my generation (a bit older than me): for years he went through parts of the country, in old villages and recorded the traditional carols, then brought them back to life and presented them to generations of people. His work is truly amazing: he took oral history and made it immortal, now even kids like mine are able to identify themselves with these traditional songs!

Stefan Hrusca - Wake up, hostess

This last song is about a hostess who's still asleep when the carolers come - and the carolers are hungry, because their mom got into tons of issues while baking the traditional food.

The Artisans, the Gold and the Transylvanians

"Now she's completely gone!" I can hear you whispering and averting your eyes from my blog title :)

No, I am not gone - or not completely at least, crazy I've been all my life at various levels :)

So what's with that title? It is the title of a well-known movie The Prophet, the Gold, and the Transylvanians and in Romanian my blog article title is translated into words that all start with 'A' (so it's a nice word-play on the original title). That still doesn't explain the title, does it?

A few years back I visited the One of a Kind Show in Toronto for the first time. When I entered the Exhibition Place (a 1 million sq ft place!) I felt like the 2 peasants from the movie: small and in awe. The place is a huge gathering of over 800 artisans in the winter (over 450 in the spring) and the Winter show is the brightest and bling-est I ever seen.

I came back from the show that year without knowing very well what universe I am in - and that was the year when I started considering my art side seriously. Partly because of the 'I can do that too!', partly because of the 'I want to get there one day too!' :)

I didn't go back until this spring - mostly because I have tried to go with someone and the timing has never been good. This year I decided to go no matter what and I even managed to get a friend to go with me :)

So last Friday we met in the Go train and we traveled to Toronto to enjoy a day of pure beauty.

The huge Direct Energy Centre is separated into 25 aisles (A to Y) and each aisle is home to a number of artists: from fashion to gourmet to jewelry to making cards and what not. You start browsing and you pay attention for the first 2, maybe 3 aisles... then you realize it will take you a week to finish and decide to not even stop at booths that hold no interest to you. But which are those?! I must admit - not too many for me :) I love everything beautiful, so I kept going and admiring almost everything (some things are beyond my level of understanding :) I am not one for modern cubist art for sure!).

Interestingly enough I stopped at pretty much the same booths as before (sometimes buying what I have missed for years now) - and still the ones that bring me the most happiness are the toy booths! There is one where they make 2- or 3-layers puzzles! The beauty of those 'toys' is beyond imagination and plays right into my deep love for carved wood.

All in all - I loved the adventure. What's next? I dream of the day when I can visit one of the huge Bead Shows... 2013 is probably not the year - maybe 2014? Tucson or Texas?

Now... back to cleaning and maybe start baking - do you realize there are 17 days left until Christmas?

May your Holidays be filled with joy and peace!



This is *the* Christmas tree @ the show!

Happy St. Nicholas day!

In our tradition St. Nick comes the night of December 6th and leaves something for the good kids, in their polished shoes prepared by the door... hmm... sounds familiar?

That's because Santa Claus is really St. Nicholas! Somewhat in the Western civilizations St. Nick was 'pushed' to Christmas and thus stockings are hanged on Christmas Eve. Kids have been polishing their shoes and leaving them by the door so the Saint will drop something for them. If they've been nice - a small gift (usually fruits and chocolates) will wait for them in the morning. If they've been naughty - a silver stick will be there instead.

A few years back my mom, exasperated with a class of elementary school, brought each of them a gift on St. Nicholas: a silver stick, wrapped nicely in cellophane with a tag. Apparently they were completely taken aback: nobody before had ever brought them the stick!

And what happens in our culture at Christmas? Father Christmas arrives with toys - no reindeers, though, and I simply cannot recall if 'our' Father Christmas lives at the North Pole or not (I recall rather a Nordic country - Finland or so).

The funniest part? Because the communists declared Christmas kind of illegal (any religious celebration was viewed as retrograde and 'bad for the new society'...) people invented instead a Father Frost - which we were to celebrate on New Year's Eve. The result? Kids will receive gifts (nothing fancy, but gifts nonetheless) 3 times: on St. Nicholas, on Christmas, and on New Year's Eve!

And with no link to St. Nick whatsoever - today I am 'gifting' you the casual version of 'Briana'; or as casual as I can go (apparently no matter how casual I get the high heels are a must!)

Briana: jade, sterling, earrings (casual set) by alicia-allprettythings

Lost in space

If it seems I am lost - that's because this is the busiest part of the year. Not only with Christmas preparations (making cards, baking cookies, making gifts, getting the tree, decorating the house and slowing down to enjoy all this madness!) but with the school auction.

The amount of work involved in that Auction is unbelievable - however, without work nothing will happen.

I couldn't leave you without some beauty, though - so I'll share a new collage (I need some blue beauty!)

Briana: jade, sterling silver earrings by alicia-allprettythings

I found the matching shoes quite easily - in looking for a bag I re-affirmed something I knew about myself: I have a good eye for matching items. I didn't like any purse for the shoes - and I almost gave up. Until this black clutch caught my eye.

The funny part?  Both the shoes and the clutch are by the same designer (and insanely expensive!) 

Ooh, I think I am in love! I have the earrings - maybe Santa will bring me that cute dress? I know for sure the shoes are way out of his budget :)

Winner of the Artisan Whimsy giveaway!

And our winner is....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Tammy E.!!

 

Congratulations, Tammy :)

Holiday Floral Blog Hop - the reveal

If you're here in search for the wonderful Erin's Color Challenge - please check it here! And then come back and have some flowers too :)

Many, many moons ago Lisa of Pine Ridge Treasures organized a blog hop with the date of December 1st. I believe it was back in September... you know what happens with things when you say 'oh, I have time!'... yes, you left them for the last minute.

Which is not perfectly true - because I really finished the piece for the Floral Holiday before the ones for Erin's Color Challenge :)

So here I was, at the beginning of the week, with the knowledge that I must finish at least 2 pieces until the end of week. Pressure works well with me (positive pressure).

You'll forgive me - I will show you the piece first... I have been dying for 3 days to show someone this picture!

 

There is nothing, absolutely NOTHING better for pictures than natural light! The picture above is taken up in the studio, under that gorgeous skylight a few mornings ago, when we had an unusually sunny and bright day (not direct light). I am proud of the piece - but I think I am prouder of the picture!

Anyhow... let's start from the beginning. Back in September / October I received the package from Lisa. I must admit I was anxious to find my colours (I knew they couldn't be black :)) and when I opened the box out came this mix in purples and light pinks and a nice yellow-orange flowers or petals and even some leaves. I was ecstatic! I love pastels and the combination was wonderful.

I wasn't sure how to string them so they'll show (I have seen designs with Lucite flowers and most of them were 'drooping' and I didn't want that). When I open the package again to work with it, I played with the flowers a little bit and this is what was born on my table:

Oh, I love this! How can I put them together exactly like that?!?! The answer presented to itself immediately: wire them together!

That I can do - and so I did :)

After wiring the flowers together, I wrapped them on a stronger base, attached the chain, the handmade clasp and I was done! I used all the flowers in the pack, almost all petals and 2 of the leaves :)

Right now I am glad the holiday season has started: I will have all the excuses in the world to wear this beauty!

Thank you, Lisa, for the opportunity! This was such a fun challenge - first time ever working with Lucite :) I will try them again - for sure, since I won a blue pack from her too!

Please make sure you visit the other participants and check their beauties too :)

Your Host: Lisa Lodge, Grateful Artist (Pine Ridge Treasures)

Courtney Breul, Beads by Breul
Jeannie Dukic, Jeannie's Blog
Kimberly Flood, Goddesses and Beads
Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs
Tanya Goodwin, A Work in Progress
Kathy Lindemer, Bay Moon Design
Alicia Marinache, All the Pretty Things
Cheri Reed, Creative Designs by Cheri
Toltec Jewels, Jewel School Friends
Rana Wilson, Definitive Designs by R. Wilson

Thank you for stopping by!

Miss Erin's Colour Challenge & blog hop

Last month I really wanted to participate into Erin's challenge on her Michael's necklace tutorial... but life has its way(s) of interfering and I had to send her a note excusing myself. She mentioned her upcoming challenge: the 2012 Colour Challenge. I registered for it immediately!

I love colour, but I tend to be quite mono-chromatic in my designs (comfort in the known, probably :)) So when I received my 2 choices I had a moment of 'now what?' Not one to quit easily - and definitely not because something is hard - I kept looking at my 2 pictures.

Wondering what they are?

Chilean Volcanoes

and

Okavango Delta

These are *not* colours I would choose to design something with - but something I needed to design, so I quit whining and I started searching through my boxes. Days passed... then weeks... nothing! I was laughing at Erin's note on Facebook tonight, she mentioned her muse being MIA. I know what happened! both our muses went on a cruise or something!

Like Erin, I decided to take the whole matter in my hands - delegating to the muse was definitely not working. In fairness, I have tried something with copper, only to figure out copper will not work well into any of the above pallets! Back to the drawing board: in a desperate moment I simply upside-downed a box and... I found it! From that moment everything went in a jiffy, I made a piece for each palette - in almost no time at all!

What I found? A shell... not any shell, of course, but a Paua Abalone in the exact same colours as the Okavango Delta! Once I had the focal I was able to pair it with some neat freshwater pearls in off-white, aqua, and a deep pink-brownish (not sure how to qualify that colour).

This is my take on the Okavango Delta:



Okavango Delta: Abaolne, freshwater pearls, sterling silver, OOAK necklace

I love the feel of it - it wears beautifully too (I wore it yesterday and I had people telling me how beautiful it is :)) I was thinking maybe to make a 'beaded' necklace for it, from the freshwater pearls, as I am not sure I like the cluster that much (I like it, just not on top of my Abalone :))

Once I had the Okavango Delta being taken care of - I was on a roll and kept going through the same box... until I came up with a pack of mixed ceramic beads. I received them in a box from my sister in law, all sorts of little mix and un-matched beads. Back then - I just sort everything in containers... it was such a container I picked up now - and I used all of them, except for 3 very green beads that would not match the Chilean Volcanoes palette.

This is my take on the Chilean Volcanoes:



Chilean Volcanoes: ceramic beads, sterling silver, wire wrapped necklace

I don't know about you - but I just love this one! The colours are simply perfectly matching the image: with the off-white and grey and earth-brown, and just a splash of blue here and there!

What did I learn from this challenge? Two things:

1. If your muse took vacation - get to work, you'll figure it out eventually
2. Do not be afraid of colour - embrace it!

And one more, in fact (I knew it, but it's worth to mention it): use nature as your palette, the designs will have a... well... more natural look to them!

Now I would like to thank Erin for including me in her wonderful challenge: it was an eye opening for me (in a very good sense) and I enjoyed it very, very much! Oh, and I made sure to follow Miss Erin's rule #1: I truly had fun!

Please make sure you visit the participants:

Our beautiful host: Erin Prais-Hintz    http://treasures-found.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color-reveal.html

Rebecca Anderson    http://songbeads.blogspot.com
Kris Auderer    http://strandedinthecity.wordpress.com
Chrizette Bayman    http://beadsoupmix.blogspot.com
Lori Bowring Michaud    http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com
Courtney Breul    http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com/
Lynsey Brooks    http://yellowunicorncreations.blogspot.co.uk
Stephanie Buss    http://maxandlucie.blogspot.com
Iveth Caruso    http://www.creativeatelier.net/
Shannon Chomanczuk    http://www.formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com
Lisa Cone    http://inspiredadornments.blogspot.com/
Cece Cormier    http://thebeadingyogini.com
Lori Dorrington    http://lorisglassworks.blogspot.com
Dawn Doucette    http://designsbydawnmarie.blogspot.com
Jeannie Dukic    http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog/
Kim Dworak    http://cianciblue.blogspot.com/
Beth Emery    http://storiesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com
Janice Everett    http://JLynnJewels.blogspot.com
Pam Farren    http://www.re-maker.blogspot.com
Donetta Farrington    http://simplygorgeous-donetta.blogspot.com
Gloria Ferrer    http://judetaama.blogspot.com.es/
Cherrie Fick    http://designsinthelight.co
Therese Frank    http://www.theresestreasures59.blogspot.com
Patty Gasparino    http://www.mylifeunderthebus.typepad.com
Tanya Goodwin    http://pixiloo.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color.html
Ambra Gostoli    http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/3rd-challenge-of-color
Jess Green    http://tabbiekoshka.blogspot.co.uk/
Denielle Hagerman    http://somebeadsandotherthings.com
Mary Harding    www.maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com
Karla Hartzog    http://www.karlakrafts.com
Kim Hora    http://www.kimmykats.com
Brandi Hussey    http://brandigirlblog.com
Emanda Johnson    http://ArtemisiaStudio.blogspot.com
Jennifer Justman    http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/
Sue Kennedy    http://suebeads.blogspot.com
Ema Kilroy    http://emakaye.blogspot.com
Lee Koopman    http://Stregajewellry.wordpress.com
Linda Landig    http://www.LindasBeadBlog.com
Kirsi Luostarinen    http://kirsiluokorut.blogspot.com
Cynthia Machata    http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com/
Alicia Marinache    http://www.allprettythings.ca <= You are here
Beth McCord    http://www.ebbeadandmetalworks.blogspot.com
Mary K McGraw    http://mkaymac.blogspot.com/
Karen Mitchell    http://www.overthemoon-design.com
Cheri Mitchell-Reed    http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/
Aimee Moisa    http://threecatsdancing.blogspot.com
Karla Morgan    http://www.texaspepperjams.blogspot.com
Penny Neville    http://copperpennydesigns.blogspot.com
Becky Pancake    http://beckypancakebeaddesigns.blogspot.com
Kashmira Patel    http://sadafulee.blogspot.com
Alice Peterson    http://alice-dreaming.blogspot.com
Kayla Potega    http://www.teejewelry.blogspot.com
Debbie Price    http://greenshoot.blogspot.co.uk
Bobbie Rafferty    http://beadsong.blogspot.com
Caron Reid    http://caronmichelle.blogspot.com.au/
Nicole Rennell    http://nicolerennell.com/blog
Cynthia Riggs    http://cynthsblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color.html
Andrea Ross    http://silvermapledesigns.blogspot.com/
Sally Russick    http://thestudiosublime.com
Annie Scherz    http://www.studioluma.ca
Pam Sears    http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/
Renetha Stanziano    http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com
Sandra Stein    http://sannipanni.wordpress.com
Kristen Stevens    http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com
Tracy Stillman    http://www.tracystillmandesigns.com
Sherri Stokey    http://www.knotjustmacrame.com/2012/11/challenge-of-color-reveal.html
Lola Survillo    http://www.beadlolabead.blogspot.com
Kay Thomerson    http://KayzKreationz.blogspot.com
Jo Tinley    http://daisychaindesignsjewellery.blogspot.com
Emma Todd    http://www.apolymerpenchant.com
Cory Tompkins    http://www.tealwaterdesigns.blogspot.com
Pam Traub    http://www.klassyjoolz.blogspot.com
Melissa Trudinger    http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com
Michelle Tucker    http://michellescreativemusings.blogspot.com/
Shelley Graham Turner    http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com
Monique Urquhart    http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com/
Rachel Van-Walsk    http://balancedcrafts.com/blog
Patti Vanderbloemen    http://www.myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com
Lesley Watt    http://thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com
Lynn White    http://lynnwhitejewelry.com/Lynn_White_Jewelry/Lynns_Jewelry_Blog/Lynns_Jewelry_Blog.html
Joan Williams    http://www.lilrubyjewelry.com