Earrings and ArtBeads

I am part of the Beaders that Blog program at Art Beads and for December I got to pick these lovely Cubic Zirconias. I know I am a little late, but better late than never?? I saw earrings as soon as I saw the CZ. I knew exactly what I was going to do with them.

I have to say I really like the way they look. They sparkle and catch the light and send a shower of stars accross the room!! So pretty.

Purple and green are one of my favorite combos and green all by itself... need we say more? There are so many different shapes, I tried a few. I really liked the bezel drops. They just seemed to finish the earrings perfectly. The other shapes are numerous and give a different look to each set. The rectangular ones are fun! My favorites have to be the multifaceted round CZ. They really sparkle!!

I had to try a couple of other colours! So I combined these clear Oval CZ with Aqua Bezel drops.

And last but not least the black square cushion CZ with the Topaz Bezel drops.

I can see myself getting more of these. They are lovely pieces and I love the sparkle!!

Come back soon for the Valentine's Product post!!

 And please look for these in my Etsy shop soon!!

Marie

I received the products free of charge from Artbeads and I am honestly reviewing the products and have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received.

Silver and Glass

I have a true passion for lampwork glass beads. Knowing first hand the amount of work that goes into one bead to make it just right, brings so much value to each piece. I love looking at all the colours, techniques and fun ideas incorporated into these small works of art. Alone however they are missing something. They are waiting to be added to other things to become whole, complete.

Another passion I have recently developed is wire work! I truly love the way pieces hang when they are wire wrapped. I love how the individual beads stand out so much more when they are framed by the wire and bead caps. I love how you can really see the detail of each bead as small individual pieces of art.

I love the wonderful little things you can add to these beads to make the finished pieces so much more unique and special. I love how depending on what accents you use it can change the whole piece. I love how something changes completely when you use a different size or colour of wire.

I love the feeling I have when I complete a piece that I have put a little more time and effort into. I love the sense of accomplishment when a piece comes out just right!

Look for this piece in my Etsy shop today :)

Marie

A Fun Night!! Can you guess what I did?

I am sure you can't tell what I got to do last night. Those of you who follow my blog know I don't have my own studio, and that I am just learning how to do this. I spent 3 hours at "Tiffany Glass House" here in Calgary, and got to relax, with no kids and the hum of a fan. Almost nothing could be better :)

So I am experimenting. Not much more I can do, since I have only taken one class. lol. I have to say my favorite results come from swirling and encasing the beads. Fritt is my best friend too, much easier to add than dots or stripes.

I love dark ivory for the centre of the beads. It reacts well with the colours and gives it a old feel, which I love.  Adding the turquoise gives the best reaction of all. It naturally gets a dark edge around it. I tried dots, bubbles, swirling, frit, and encasing. I even tried making nugget like beads with the sides patted down. That was great for the beads that were not turning out quite right. I also tried it on a couple of clear beads which turned out looking a little like ice cubes!!

I tried different colour combos; Ivory with light blue and lime green fritt!! White with light blue and black fritt!! I tried a couple that did not turn out. I had a cosmic something-or-rather which has a redish brown tint and I added turquoise frit. It turned this strange beige-ish colour. There are three of them at the bottom left hand corner of the photo. I need to practice my propane to oxygen ratio to fix that.

All in all, it was a great night!! {and much needed)

Marie

A little bit of Sunshine

Presenting... "Sunrise" 

I don't normally buy orange. I have some, but not a lot. I could not resist these however, Sue has a way with "sunshine". I made these earrings with all sterling silver and I love the way they sparkle and stand out because of their bright soft colouring.

The bead caps I chose to adorne these beauties look like the sun to me. They look a little like flames to me. I am really happy with the waythese turned out. Thanks Sue for sharing your talent with us.

Please visit her shop on Etsy... SueBeads

You won't be dissapointed!

Using the same orange beads and adding on some red ones I made these fun dangles. Using all Sterling again and adding the silver beads at the bottom for extra motion.

These bead caps are a little more floral and reminded me of fruit. So they were dubbed "Fruit Salsa".

They were in my Etsy shop, and for once sold right away!! It seems to be a slow process but eventually I hope to have a regular following on Etsy.

Hope you have a great day!!

Marie

One Amazing Year!!! {and a cool bracelet}

What a week!! I am getting ready for my big Open House this weekend. I keep cleaning up the space I want to use and have it just perfect and somehow, everytime I go back into the space, it seems worse than before I cleaned it!!  Those of you who are fans of my facebook page already know that mysteriously {nudge nudge} my brand new Canon Powershot, just all of a sudden {wink wink} stopped working!! I am at a loss as to what could have happened to it. Perhaps a certain "crafty" 2 year old, who has somehow figured out how to climb into my gated office space, had something to do with it. I am sure it was not the same "person"/ghost who took a bunch of crummy markers and made a mural of my white sofa, the boys bedroom walls, or the little Ikea chairs.

Lord Help me!!!

As you read the horror story that is my life, you have had the pleasure of viewing a new piece I created just the other day. I have been experimenting with a lot of different things that I don't normally do. I am trying to see what exactly I am capable of. I feel strongly that though I have been given heavy trials with my children, I have been given this amazing gift of creation. I thank my heavenly father every day for this gift, I am not sure how the things I create come to life, they just do, so to me, there is only one place that all this could have come from.

I have been heavily influenced by amazing artists. Erin Praiz-Hints was the first Designer Highlight I ever saw, it was one of the biggest reasons I felt so strongly to just go for it! Kelly Morgan's "Silver Parrot" blog was the first one I found and the first one that I started to follow. I started recognizing her name in Bead Trends and that is what pushed me to try sending something in. I found Etsy through the blogging world, which brought me to find Susan Kennedy and her wonderful beads!! I entered a draw she was having and won a set of her most gorgeous beads {which I am still hoarding, aren't you proud Kelly?}. I then became a "good" customer to my now dear friend Sue. I also found other amazing artists, like Lorelei Eurto a lovely and talented woman, LeAnn from Summer Studio, Erin from Every Heart Crafts, Heather Powers, and so many others...I love you all!

Thanks to all of you for your inspiration, your friendship, your laughter, your tears but most of all your support!! I am officially celebrating the first year of Jewelry Design and Skye Jewels!!!

I can't believe it has been a whole year already. On another note, I can't believe it has only been a year!! I feel like I have been doing this for much longer :)

This bracelet is dedicated to all you strong, talented women. Know that you have made a difference in Someone's Life, MINE!!

"A Little Bit of Everything"

for sale in my Etsy shop

To another great year, for ALL of us!!

Marie

Earrings with Summers Studio and my Lampwork beads.

I bought these little floral components from LeAnn at Summers Studio awhile ago. I seem to have to put things away for a little while before I use them. I find it sometimes helps me to boost the mojo a little. Whatever that means, right?

I neede just the right kind of dark blue beads to go with these, I think these glass pearls and crystal beads work quite well. Really brings out the deep blue glaze that LeAnn used. Please visit her Etsy shop here!!

I knew what I wanted to do with these ones. I knew I wanted to add small lampwork beads to them. I did not really know what kind I wanted for them, but I figured I would find them at some point. Well, in November I went to our local glass shop to make beads. I am still learning, but either way it is relaxing and peaceful. I found these glass rods that were clear with pale blue stripes. I thought these would make nice beads to I used it and made these sweet simple little beads. It turns out they were perfect to go with LeAnn's pretty Hydrangea links.

It is really hard to get a closeup photo on these , but you get the idea.

Have a great week!! And please become a fan of my Skye Jewels facebook page, when I reach 100 I will draw a name for a prize!!

Marie

Valentine's Day Cometh... in shades of pink and red

To start off, I will start by saying that for those of us who design jewelry, it is a passion, an art and a way for us to make a living through a creative outlet. We love it, we work hard at it and most of us DO NOT appreciate having someone copy our work!! Would you copy a book work for word?? No! Would you copy a Picasso or a Monet? Of course not!! Then why would you copy any other artist's work???

Now that I have gotten that off my chest, or at least a little bit of what I was thinking, I move on top the whole reason why I blog!! JEWELRY :)

I have been working hard to get my Valentine's day items ready to post and I think I am finally ready. I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day personally, but many people do and I do love hearts and pink :)

Hearts keys and locks, does anything really spell out Vanlentine more than that??

Large pink pearls!! I was hard pressed not to keep this one for myself! I tried to make fun and bright pieces for this time of year. I am more of a neutral and green kind of person, so this was a really fun challenge!

I had to have some green in the mix, right? I think these green heart glass beads were perfect for this piece. Add a few leaves and some small hints of pink...

This was a special order for a friend, he got this for his wife. Since it is pink I thought I would add it to this post. I love the bright silver in this piece, mixed with the soft pink.

A small pendant watch, lots of hearts on this one ;)

Soft and Subtle

I think this is my personal favorite out of the watches. I love the mix of heart charms with a rectangular face.

A little bit of spring whimsy!! I love making these elegant pearl bracelets, they are feminine and dressy but I can totally picture someone wearing one with a nice white dress shirt and a comfy pair of jeans.

Passion Red!! The deepest rishest red there is. Full of life and love. Perfect for the romantic at heart.

And last but not least... Roses! Roses and red and hearts.

As I post all this I realize, there are a lot of watches. Perhaps I need to make a few more things afterall. I did make a couple of thngs that I can't post, and they are themed to Valentine's day, but I have other plans for these for now.

So this may not be bead porn ;) But with the amount of pictures...lol

Have an Amazing Day!!!

Marie

Goals for the New Year!! {and my favorite part of Christmas}

We were pretty busy this Christmas but we made some nice memories. My favorite of all those was the day that my husband James made sugar cookies and that the six of us decorated them together. I felt the most joy out of all the days we did anything. It was one of those perfect moments. The icing, the sprinkles, the sampling...

I loved it all. Most of all it was the smiles and the laughter and no fighting!! That is a rare thing at our house. lol. I guess that goes with having 4 very strong minded children.

These were the best cookies we ever had :)

On to the Goals for the New Year!!

My first major life goal, ever since I was young, was to be published. I thought back then that I would write a book. I was big into romance novels when I was a teenager and I won a few writting awards back then, so naturally that is what I wanted to do. As I got older my dreams of being an author did not leave completely but altered and slowly became the simple goal to be published. As most of you know I realized that dream in 2009. I had to start thinking of what the next goal would be and knowing that Jewelry Design is my destiny, what I was meant to do, I thought it would be good to make my goals for this year jive with my carreer.

Goal #1   To get Designer Highlight in Bead Trends Magazine

Goal #2   To have a Front Cover with Bead Trends Magazine

Goal #3   To be published in any other publication

Goal #4   To reach 100 sales in my Etsy shop

Goal #5 To pay off my debt

Goal #6   To have a local article written about my business to help promote it.

Goal #7   To spend less money and think through my purchases more carefully

Goal #8   To have at least one retail store carry my merchandise

Of course I can always adjust or change these as the Year goes on, I feel that these goals are all possible to achieve, and that through hard work and dedication I can achieve many more. I am working especially hard on three of those right now and as time passes the others will hopefully fall into place.

So thanks to Erin Prais-Hintz for the idea...my word for the year

ACHIEVE

 Thanks to all my blogging friends for their support, I would be {almost} nothing without you!!

Marie