Echo Creative Club - June

Happy Monday!
Today is the reveal day for the Echo Creative Club.



I received 5 - 16mm Fractured Art Beads with white inlay from Jeannie Dukic of Jewelry by Jeannie
These beads are a great large size which might be intimidating to some (I know I used to be afraid of big beads) but these are super lightweight so they are not scary at all.

I knew I wanted to use them separately so I made a pair of earrings and a necklace.

I started with the earrings first. I cut 2 pieces of heavy gauge copper wire, hammered the heck out of it and made the sticks. Then I wire wrapped the beads onto the sticks I just made. I added ear wires and now I have the perfect pair of earrings for pairing with anything and everything in my closet. I love yellow and love to pair it with everything so these are the perfect pair of earrings to throw on with shorts, dresses, jeans, whatever.

Then I tackled the necklace. I found this cool chain at Michael's on clearance so I bought 2 strands. Each strand has 4 links and I wanted a beefier necklace so using big 'ole jump rings I used both chains right in the front.

Then I added 2 of the art beads and a vintage lucite bead to one side and the remaining art bead to the other. Up the back of the necklace I wire wrapped white vintage lucite oval beads.
I wanted to keep the look mono-chromatic so I used white and red in the beads and gray wire which goes perfectly with the red and gray meshy chain I found.

Hope you like what I made, stop by the rest of the group to see what beads they received and what they made.

Shannon Chomanczuk  http://www.formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com <--That's me :-)

Jeannie K Dukic  http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog  

Cindy Cima Edwards  http://www.cindycima.com

Beth Emery  http://storiesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com

Keri Lee Sereika http://www.pinklemonade.typepad.com

Kristen Stevens  http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com

Lola Surwillo  http://www.beadlolabead.blogspot.com

Sonya Ingersoll-Stille  http://dreaminofbeads.blogspot.com/

Hope you are having a great Monday!

~Shannon

My Cutie

My 3 year old loves to sing.

She makes up her own songs like "Pj don't be scared, don't be scared, I am on the swing" when her cousin was scared to go on the swings and the ever popular "wash, wash, wash" song when she was washing the bathtub.
I had to laugh this evening though because we still use a baby monitor and from her room you could hear
"I'm chillin' on a dirt road, laid back like I'm George Jones"
"ice cold beer in console"
She is so funny sometimes.

Like last night when she was asking about babies
Emily: "Mama, how did I get in your tummy before I been borned?" (Yup, borned)
Me: "How do you think Emily?"
Emily: "Maybe you thought I was chicken"
I tried not to laugh because she's little sensitive but that was too cute.

This afternoon I took her with me to Marshall's and I was trying on shoes. She started yelling "they don't match, you have 2 different ones on." It was so funny. Oh and at the bank she had on her Minnie Mouse sunglasses and the tellers were saying how cute she looked.
She looks up at me and says "why are they talking to me"
Me: "because they like your glasses"
Emily: "well they can't have 'em."
:-)

Here is the start to a necklace I am working on. I have been drawn to eggs and birds lately. I am not sure if it because it feels like spring here, because we had a little baby Cardinal born in the bush outside our door or if it just because I love birds. I have been working with a graphic designer to revamp my logo, which is 2 birds. When my daughter was a baby she had the tiniest mouth which she would open like a little bird when she was hungry. So my little birds began. My business has grown and so has my vision for my business so I wanted a more upscale logo. I will unveil the new logo soon.

 Here are the beads I was sent for the Echo Creative Club. They are stunning! I am not sure if I will make 2 thing, 1 with the yellow beads -earrings perhaps and another with the red or if I will make 1 piece combining them both.

Stop back the 25th and find out :-)

~Shannon

To My New Home

Remember this necklace?

It's all packed up 

and on the way to its new home :-)

It always makes me so happy when a piece of jewelry gets its forever home.

I know that sounds funny, sort of like someone adopting a pet but I look at all my jewelry like a part of the family.

Let me take a second to explain why.

First, I spend countless hours sourcing my supplies. I search etsy for new artists almost daily because I love to support other women business owners with my work.

I search many online retailers for the best prices on findings, wire, clasps and other items like seed beads, gemstones and copper sheet.

I can spend 1-3 days etching copper which includes cleaning (it's really gross when it arrives), cutting, applying the design (which can take a few times to get it right), etching the piece, cleaning it, applying patina, sealing with lacquer, applying wax, and finally adding holes.

Once I have chosen which etched copper elements I wish to use I gather up my other materials and sit down at my beading table to create. 

This can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 4 hours depending on how complex the piece is.

So you see this is how my pieces become like family. I remember where I purchased each item from, I remember what I was thinking or feeling when I decided to etch that particular pattern, I know what each color palette was inspired by whether it was a Finally Friday post, a blog hop or an emotion I felt while playing tag with my daughter.

Each piece is then wrapped up tightly, placed in a muslin bag, then into a hand embellished box and sent on its way- to its forever home. 

Where I can only hope to touch someone else's life with this special treasure. 

I hope the wearer enjoys the piece and feels confident, happy and beautiful while wearing it for years to come. -and maybe, just maybe pass the item on to her daughter :-)

~Shannon

Echo Creative Club and Finally Friday

Hello :-)
I have a 2 part post for you today.
Today is the reveal for the Echo Creative Club and it's Finally Friday time!

I am going to start with the Echo Creative Club reveal.


I made a simple pair of earrings with the 6 beads I was sent. I am loving the style of earring I made during the button blog hop so I decided to make a similar pair for this post too. They are a great little pair of swingy earrings and would be perfect with jeans.

Here are the other participants:

Keri Lee Sereika  http://www.pinklemonade.typepad.com

Cindy Cima Edwards http://www.cindycima.com

Courtney Breul http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com

Dagi http://kokopellidesign.blogspot.com

Our fearless leader--> Jeannie K Dukic http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog 

Kristen Stevens http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com

Malin de Koning http://beadingbymalindekoning.blogspot.com

Molly Alexander http://www.beautifullybrokenme.blogspot.com

Shannon Chomanczuk http://www.formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com   --Me :-)

Today is also Finally Friday. Here is the palette from last week:

Design-Seeds

 I created this necklace from one of my etched copper pendant and beads from Humblebeads.

Here is the palette for next week:

  

The rules:

Look at color palette.

Be inspired.

Gather supplies inspired by that color palette.

Create something wonderful.

Anything, jewelry, clothes, a painting, even a big 'ole mess.

Take a picture.

Post on your blog.

Link palette to Design Seeds.

Add link here.

Play again the following week!

So did you make anything inspired by this weeks palette? Be sure to add your link below.

Thank you for stopping by, I really do appreciate you reading my blog and I hope you will join in next week.

If you liked today's post please share it with your friends,  pin any of the pictures on pinterest, tweet or share on facebook and google+, but most importantly leave me a comment below.

~Shannon