Aqua Ice

Please enjoy our Guest Blogger Nathalie Lesage!

Hello! I'm Nathalie Lesage, and this is my first submission for this fabulous blog. I'm a fan, and very happy to be here!

Spring!! Where is Spring?

Between the icy cool mornings and the promising blue skies, the month of March always keeps us guessing.
But I love March, as just like nature starts to wake up in anticipation of Summer, my imagination does the same :)

My inspiration for my design today is two-fold - I was participating in a challenge with my SRAJD group  and our challenge for the week was "Circles".
I wanted to incorporate Circles and March together - and thus, my choice of gemstone was a no-brainer: The birthstone for March... Aquamarine!

I mixed the two inspirations and ended up with these earrings :)

I soldered and textured the two sizes of hoops, and 'patiently' (very patiently!) wire wrapped 38 luscious top quality Aquamarine gemstones, including a pair of fancy "ring cut" (pointy back) pear shaped drops. I finished the look with a pair of my handcrafted circular shaped ear wires.

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day!

Nathalie Lesage
Metalsmith Jewelry Artist
http://www.NathalieLesageJewelry.com

We're All Ears :: March Reveal

I was so excited to find this artwork for our inspiration this month. I love the little mice, the embroidered tapestry colors, the dainty little flowers and vines, the wood, the rope, the needle. The colors seem to be the palette of my childhood memories. I hope that this image inspired you!

What inspired you?

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Into the Sun

You know sometimes you see beads that you just can't be without?  You may recognise the painted driftwood barrels that I've used here, especially if you admire the work of Lorelei Eurto (I think that's going to be most of you!).  As soon as I saw her designs with these Nature Scavenger beads, I knew I had to get some.  They're so cheering and just the thing to be using as winter slowly creeps away and makes way for Spring.  As you can see, we've had sun here today, in my corner of the UK.

That's what's to blame for this blue-ish picture!  Still, I reckon I'll forgive it - I just hope it hangs around!

These earrings are available here, in my Etsy shop

Bye for now, Claire

(www.somethingtodowithyourhands.com)

She's a Beautiful Beast

Seems like quite a few of us have been dreaming of lounging in the sunny summer heat and dipping our toes into a deep blue pool of water. Well, can you blame us? After a couple of tame years, this winter has been a brutal one. Mother Nature, we get it, you're a beautiful beast. 




For those of you lucky enough to live near a body of water and for those of us who are stuck just dreaming about it, here's some cool blue aqua watery eye candy for you - cascading tiers of ancient crusty Roman glass shards plus a kiss of lampwork glass at the bottom courtesy of NuminosityBeads.
 



I've been playing around with this new design and like the fluidity of it. Each linked glass disc is free to move and sway independent of the stack. Very serpentine, very eyecatching. Plus, those of you who know me are familiar with my love affair with Roman glass. These babies have it all. 









Wishing everyone some sunshine, some warmer weather, and pretty ears (natch!) <3

Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

Echos of Nefertiti

Lapis Luzuli Earrings on Etsy

Lapis lazuli always makes me think of Egypt, even if it came from somewhere else. The regal color was probably worn by Egyptian queens.

I have lots of plans for these lapis triangles, but the first thing I had to try was a pair of earrings. I combine them with African turquoise stick beads and copper in a stacked and wrapped arrangement. Both the lapis lazuli and the African turquoise are recent acquisitions from Dakota Stones, always amazing quality stones if you haven't tried them.

All Mixed Up

Some of you may know I like to mix metals, I primarily work with Copper but with this new White Copper that's recently appeared on the scene I thought it was a perfect and inexpensive way to mix metals. Technically they are both copper but it's the look of mixed metals I'm going for and

 I also mixed the textures.

I love White Copper, I only found out about it a week or so ago and I snatched up a couple packages right away and created with it as soon as I received it.

If you want to see more White Copper go HERE!
I will be listing more later today and the Earrings are available for sale
HERE!

Thanks for stopping by, I'd love to know what you think!

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

KristiBowmanDesign on Artfire

Ocean Water

I know it's only March 14th but I could definitely use some beach time after this long cold winter, how about you? I actually made these for myself. I wear a ton of blues and greens in the summer so these will be perfect. I wire wrapped some Chalcedony gemstones onto these gorgeous sterling filigree teardrops. Just looking at them reminds me of the ocean, especially the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico.

I took this pic on one of our trips to Florida. This is taken on Captiva Island, FL.  A gorgeous place to stay! And an awesome bead store is only about an hour north of here. Google Andersons Bead Room  and just look at the pics! Love that place. 

Thanks for looking and have a fabulous weekend!

Kristy Abner

Kristy's Kreations