Last Friday in April

Happy Last Friday in April!

Today is the first reveal day for the Artisan Clay Design Team. The team will be revealing what they made on the last Friday of the month.

Each of the members of the design team were given a handmade bead from Kristie Roeder, the extremely talented artist behind Artisan Clay. I first met Kristie during the Beads of Clay event last year and was paired up with her this year for the Button Blog Hop. Kristie is so sweet and has daughters so we connected right away.

I am sure you want me to get on with the reveal so here goes:

I turned this awesome link into a bracelet connector added matte fire agate, aquamarine, green adventurine, glass flowers, a swarovski crystal and a handmade clasp.

I went through many, many head pins trying to get the flowers in the front to look just right. I added and took away several flowers and crystals to come to the conclusion that just 2 on each side were perfect. I made my own head pins with fine silver wire and the clasp is from 16 gauge Vintage Bronze wire.

Remember these earrings? They are the ones I revealed on Monday. I made them to go with this bracelet.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you will visit the other members blogs to see what they have made with their pieces.

~Shannon

Earring Blog Hop

This is my first Earring Blog Hop.

The theme for this blog hop is Spring. Which is exactly why I wanted to participate because I have spring fever. Every bead I buy right now is blue, green or has a bird somewhere on it.
This blog hop was started by The Musings of Mystic Pesto and the rest of the participants are:
Now there aren't too many so I hope you will take the time and visit everyone's blog.
Here are my spring earrings:

They match/go with my Artisan Clay Design partner piece which will be revealed on Friday. They are very simple but that's what I like about them. I like the mix of the Vintage Bronze and fine silver. I handmade the ball head pins that hold the glass flowers and I also made the ear wires. The Swarovski Crystals are the new Crystal Bronze shade and are so cool in person.

BooBeads

Handcrafted Baubles

My Life Under the Bus

For My Sweet Daughter

Silver Rose Designs

Lois Moon

Create with Moxie

Sue Beads

Alankarshilpa

Nutkitten

Thanks for stopping by and please pop over to the other participants and back here on Friday to see what I made with the component I was sent by Kristie from Artisan Clay.
~Shannon
 

Great Idea, why didn't I think of it?

I was looking around online a few weeks ago and came across the neatest little gadget.
It's a stamp for artists who use polymer clay or metal clay to stamp their work.
I love the idea because I had a metal stamp with my logo made a while ago and although it is nice it isn't fool proof.

Hmmm, I think I just called myself a fool.

Anyway, I found this stamp from Charm Factory called a Signature Stamp that you can use to make an impression of your logo anywhere on your metal clay or polymer clay piece. You can even make them up as hang tags, like I did, for your jewelry pieces. The best part is that because I work with precious metal clay I know right away if my logo impression is not great and I can crumple it up and start over. I could not do this with my metal stamp. With the metal stamp I would sometimes not get a good impression and the tag would be ruined.

I really liked the idea of marking your pieces. So I decided to try the stamp out.

This is my logo:



Cute? I had a graphic designer make it for me, it is my daughter and I. She has the bow :-)




 Here is my logo as a stamp:

What a great job they did making my logo into a tiny little stamp.

I love the key ring so you can find it on your bead table!

Here is what I made with my stamp and some precious metal clay last Sunday while my husband took my daughter out to play on the swing set.

Four Flower charms, earrings perhaps?

The back, with my stamp on them!

Jewelry Tags

They were only gone for about 30-45 minutes and I was able to make all these cute little charms!

I am thinking a fun charm bracelet

Flower Charm

I made 2 of these they are so cute!

I am still getting used to the depth of the stamp and how hard you need to push down. I have noticed you do not need a very deep impression when working with metal clay because the impression seems to get deeper as you heat it. I have a kiln but for these pieces I used my torch.

Visit Charm Factory and order your stamp, tell 'em you saw it on my blog. I am so happy I got mine!

~Shannon



Disclosure: I received a custom-made signature stamp from Charm Factory at no charge in exchange for a review of my opinion. The opinions expressed are my own. No other compensation was given.

Button Swap

Welcome to Button Swap. I found out about button swap wile visiting Michelle Mach's blog and couldn't wait to find out who I was paired up with. I knew just the right buttons from my stash to send.


















I love buttons! I beg friends, family and clients to bring me buttons. I have jars of buttons and I have bought clothes from thrift stores just to cut the buttons off of them.

The task was to send your partner a minimum of 3 bottons.
The goal was to create at least one thing jewelry or not using at least 1 of the buttons.

I know exactly what this one will become

I have no idea what I want to do with these

I was paired up with Kristie of Artisan Clay to swap buttons with.
Kristie sent me 4 beautiful buttons.
I had an idea for one of the buttons almost immediately but I must admit I ran out of supplies and never made anything with that button. The other two buttons have sat on my table forever and I still don't know what I want to do with them. At first I said earrings but then I thought if I broke them up I could use them in 2 different projects.

Here is what I made with the shank button Kristie sent me.

The funny part of the whole thing is that when I first opened the box I thought to myself what the heck am I going to make with a shank button. I have never used a shank button in my jewelry before.

So I turned said button into a clasp for a monochromatic bracelet in the most beautiful blue color.
I wore this beauty to church a couple of weeks ago (yes I was finished early) and I am in love.
It is comfortable but has some weight behind it.
You know the kind of bracelet you know is still on your wrist.

Thank you for stopping by I hope you like what I made with my button.
~Shannon
Now please visit the other button swappers:

1. Cat - Boo Beads

2. Cindy - Sweet Bead Studio

3. Cory - Art with Moxie

4. Cyndi - Beading Arts

5. Dita - Alankarshilpa

6. Donna, Marti, and Michelle - Beads & Books

7. Erin - Treasures Found

8. Hope - Crafty Hope

9. Inca - Zerenity Design

10. Katrine - Army of Sock Monsters

11. Krista - French Elegant Jewelry

12. Kristie - Artisan Clay <---My partner

13. Linda D. - Lutka and Co.

14. Linda L. - Linda's Bead Blog

15. Lody - Lody's Beadworks

16. Lori - Pretty Things

17. Loretta - Loretta's Boutique

18. Malin - Beading by Malin de Koning

19. Mary - MK's Creative Musings

20. Maryanne - Zingala's Workshop

21. Melinda - Melinda Orr Metal & Clay Jewelry Designs

22. Saskia - Perlendistel

23. Shannon - For My Sweet Daughter <---you are here

24. Shirley - Beads and Bread

25. Stephanie - Confessions of a Bead Hoader

Bead Table Wednesday 4/20/2011

Hello and welcome to another installment of Bead Table Wednesday. I finally figured out that it would not be as hectic if I wrote my BTW post on Tuesday night. Duh, right. Well I have thought to do it before Wed but never actually have.
I wanted to show off the super cool thing my crafty hubby made me the other day.

They are interlocking bead trays. I bought the felt bead mats at Michaels and wanted trays to put them in the keep track of projects/inspiration while I am waiting on orders/supplies to come in. I have been known to clean up a project while waiting on beads only to forget what the heck I bought the beads for in the first place. So here is my simple solution. I even have room on the sides to put a tag or label. I was thinking of getting those things they put on the photo boxes (I cannot think what they are called).
Okay so now what is in my boxes?
Box 1 has some precious metal clay charms I made the other day.

Box 2 has 2 pair of earrings (I blurred them out so you can't see) I am waiting on materials for (I ran out of all my Vintaj supplies!) and the rest of the boxes are hidden because they have my button swap piece in 1 and a magazine submission in the other.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my table, what's on your bead table?
Share it here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1601463@N21/
~Shannon
PS stop back Thurs to see what I made with the buttons Kristie (Artisan Clay) sent me.

-did you spot my friend in the background? My daughter gave her to me to put in her high chair. "To help you mama." So cute :-)

Last Day

Today is the last day to vote in the Vintaj Woodland Blush challenge.
I hope that everyone reading this will take a second and vote for my piece, it is #17.

If I win this it would be a wonderful opportunity to be featured on the Vintaj blog! Which if you design jewelry is something money cannot buy. I might even get my necklace in their permanent gallery!

I have never won this challenge or this type of contest before and #15 is my friend Marie from Canada and she won 2 times last year.

So please vote and share on your fb page or tweet or whatever you can do to help me out. Your support is much appreciated, I really don't know how I can thank you all enough for your votes and shares and hugs and support. It means so much to me!

~Shannon
http://vintaj.com/wpblog/?p=11263 VOTE HERE for #17!!!

Woodland Blush

I am so excited to be a part of the Vintaj Woodland Blush challenge.
I entered a necklace which I named Forest Friends.

I started designing this necklace with the memory of the first walk my husband and I took our newborn daughter on swirling around in my head. She is almost 2 now, proof that time does move way too fast.
That was the most perfect day.

Anyway, I hope you will go to the Vintaj Blog and vote for my necklace, it's #17.  http://vintaj.com/wpblog/?p=11263 I would really love to win this challenge. I have never won this challenge or anything like this before and I would be over the moon excited to win this one. I love Vintaj products and the prize is 2 sampler sets that I would love to get my hands on.  Thanks for voting, tell your friends, share on facebook.

~Shannon

Week 10- 52 Weeks of Blogging

Hello welcome to week 10 of my 52 weeks of blogging. If you are just tuning in I began this journey in January so yes I am behind in my weeks. I am trying to catch up but with so many things going on right now I am lagging a bit behind. Hopefully in the coming weeks I can catch up.

Anyway, how are you doing? Finish your taxes yet? I did but my accountant had a stroke and I haven't gotten any paperwork back from him yet so we'll see. Hopefully we find out soon what we owe because I only have a few days to get the check in the mail.

Week 10 is all about favorite tools. I thought about it and my favorite tools really are my pliers, all of them. I couldn't live without my pliers, make rings, loops, hooks or ear wires. So I thought I would talk a minute about my pliers where they are from and why I like them.

My "babies"

So let's started - on the far left, that pair is from AC Moore. They were $7.00 on clearance. They are magnetized so they grab the jump rings and hold on, something I hated at first but now I love it. They are from Blue Moon Beads and I use them everyday, love these.

To the right with the black handles are my 2 sets of round nose pliers. 1 is a tapered pair that I use for making loops for links and dangles and the other pair are great for making ear wires, hook clasps and for using with filigree because the jaws are the same size from tip to end and there are 2 different sizes small and medium. They bailing pliers I got at a show and are from BeadSmith and the other pair I bought at Michael's (with my 40% off) they are from UltraErgo.

Next we have my crimping pliers, they have the dark blue handles, I don't use these too often but they are handy to have around and are also from Michael's (did I mention 40% off?)

My lindstrom pliers, the light blue handles, were bought on a whim I have these which have a large flat head and another pair which are curved needlenose that I never use. I hold the pair shown in my left hand for closing jump rings and that's about all I use them for, they are not a favorite pair but for what I paid for them I want to use them.

Finally, the 2 orange pairs are from Home Depot made by Crescent. They come in a pack of 2 for about $15.00. They are for electricians I believe and these are great little cutters. I like that they are cheap enough to throw away if they become dull (like when hubby cuts something he shouldn't be cutting with pliers that aren't his) In the pack you get the cutters and this nifty little needlenose pair of pliers that are great (read - perfect for, priceless) for tucking in your little tail ends after you cut your wire when you are making dangles or wrapped loops. I hate when those tails are sticking out in jewelry so make sure you are tucking in your ends! Or I'll sick the dog on you!

Thanks for stopping by!!
~Shannon
Why don't you join me and get your copy of 52 weeks of blogging your passion:
Click here to visit Tara Gentile - Scoutie Girl.

Bead Table Wednesday 4/6/2011

Hello and happy Wednesday.
I am happy to bring you today's issue of BTW.
Be afraid, be very afraid of the photo you are about to see.
My table is a mess! A big, huge mess. Now remember this area doubles as my kitchen island! My poor understanding husband always has to move things to eat dinner.
I have a good excuse though, I have been super busy and super motivated. Somehow deadlines do that to me. They make me shake my keister, big time.
So here is a quick pic of my bead table, what's on yours?

Visit us at http://www.flickr.com/groups/1601463@N21/ and share what your bead table looks like today.
Thanks for stopping by!
~Shannon