Holiday Bling Blog Hop #2 - Reveal Day

Wow it is all ready the middle of December and time for the big reveal of my second round of the Holiday Bling Blog Hop. 

For this round I was match with a fellow Ontarian, Sandra McGriff.  Sandra and I decided to surprise each other. 

In preparation for a craft sale I had been making my little netted snowflakes, so I decided that I would send a small flurry of snowflakes to Sandra. 

 I sent her a dozen of these sparkly flakes. The challenge was securing them to a piece of cardboard to keep them flat during shipping. 

Here is what I received from Sandra.

Festive mailing envelope

Penquin card and shiny gift box

Necklace and earrings

Detail of Owl focal accented with pearls, quartz chips and small gold beads

Tree ornament made with buttons accented with gold

Tree ornament made with buttons accented with red

Here is a list of the amazing creative people who are part of the blog hop. Hop over to each to see the creativity that was shared.

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
Melinda Abrahamson	http://www.firstreetcrafts.com
Rita/ Toltec Jewels	http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com
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
Marlene Cupo	http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com
Shelley Graham Turner	www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com

Flashback Friday - Netted Crystal Ornament

At only 2cm this week's ornament is much smaller that last week's ornament. From December 2003's Bead and Button magazine this ornament is encased in a netted cover and then embellished with coral fringe. 

Delicas were the beads listed in the materials list, so that is what I used for my first version of the ornament.

All though it looks great I was not happy with the way the netting looked. I have always found that netting looks better if done with seed beads. Here is my second ornament done with size 10 seed beads.

Flashback Friday - Victorian Ornaments

Ornament covers are always popular. Back in December 2004 this design appeared in Bead and Button magazine. I loved the swags and the crystals. I changed the larger bi-cones with cubes.

There were a few challenges with these ornaments. The first was understanding the instructions and correcting the number of crystals listed in the supply list. With this cover completely encasing the ornament I needed to figure out a way to hold it for the finishing. I rigged a way to hang in from my desk light.

Here are two that I have in my collection.

 

Here is the one I gave Maria, as hanging on her tree.

Flashback Fridays

Earlier in the week I was looking it the drawer that I keep most of my finished pieces in. I was looking for one of my recent freeform rings. It had gotten buried under the many other pieces. I came across many great pieces that I made before I started blogging about my beadwork in July 2008. So I am going to start posting some of these pieces on Fridays.

This netted ornament is from the 2007 Toronto Bead Society Bag of Bead Challenge. We were given a selection of red, white and black beads along with the red and white cording and a stumper. I used the stumper to hang the ornament.

This year's challenge piece had many hanging things as well. Here are the components and the finished display piece. I look forward to see what beads we get this year and what we all make.

Watch for another Flashback piece next Friday.

Happy Thanksgiving!!