Ornament Blog Hop - Let It Snow!

Let It Snow Ornament/Pendant

This is a necklace that can hang on the tree with a gift tag for the big day.  These would be such fun gifts for guests visiting during the holidays. 

Supplies

32mm brass blank

2 pewter bead caps

1 blue lace agate bead

1 polymer clay disk bead

1 2" gunmetal eyepin

1 7mm gunmetal brass jump ring

1 13mm gunmetal brass jump ring

1 18" gunmetal chain

Paint dabbers in teal and white

Renaissance wax

Gift tag with large hole

Steel wool

You'll also need letter stamps, a ball peen hammer, a small Phillips head screwdriver and a bench block.

Disk bead: Humblebeads. Brass & Gunmetal findings: Rings & Things.  Wax and paint: Bello Modo.

Directions

Step 1. Flatten one of the bead caps with a hammer - instant snowflake.

Step 2: Stamp your message on the blank.  Turn the blank over, position the point of the screwdriver into the metal and tap the end of the screwdriver with the hammer to create a dot pattern. Rub a small bit of steel wool on the front of the blank to highlight the dots and letters.

Step 3: Use the paint dabbers to dab on the teal paint, wipe off the excess with a paper towel.  Repeat with the white paint.  After the paint is dry apply a thin coat of Renaissance wax.

Step 4: On the eyepin string the disk bead, spacer and stone bead, create a loop on the other end.  Attach the snowflake bead cap, metal blank and dangle together with a 7mm jump ring.  Attach the 13mm jump ring to the top of the dangle.

Step 5: String the chain through the large jump ring twice.  Attach the gift tag and close the chain.

Alternative: Use a larger blank and a ribbon instead of a chain for an ornament option only.

Please visit the rest of the bloggers participating in today's hop. Pass the marshmallows, my cocoa needs some fluff! 

The blog hop participants:

Art Bead Scene 

Creative Impressions in Clay

Diva Designs

Elysian Studios

Fab Fibers

For the Love of Beads

Humblebeads

Island Girl's Insights

Jangles 

Jeannie's Blog

Lampwork Diva/Cindy Gimbrone

Mary Harding

Michelle Mach

Spirit Rattles

Wondrous Strange Designs

Humblebeads Spring Collection

I put together these two photo sets for a client and thought I'd share them here too.  It's Humblebeads for Spring.  Ah, so sweet.  You can find all of these in my Etsy shop.  I've brought back my Purple Martin bird, there in the corner and a new color of branch beads in periwinkle blue. Tomorrow I will add the new tiny eggs to my shop.

Tonight was the first night of Hecho a Mano.  The crowd was steady and busy shopping, two good traits for a holiday market.  I will try again tomorrow to take photos of my area.  It's not a booth, but a shelf.  A really, really long shelf at eye level.  Pretty cool and something different.  They try to use pedestals and walls as much as possible to make the show look more 'arty'.  I would prefer a booth and a table, but I'm trying to roll with it.  Sometimes when things don't work out like you want them too, you just have to smile and pretend it's awesome.  I enjoyed talking to folks who were excited about my jewelry and even sold a few favorites tonight. And visiting with the artists is always fun.  Tomorrow will be a long day of selling, but I'm ready!

Woodland Bracelets

This bracelet design was featured in Stringing earlier this year, I thought I'd whip up a bunch of them for the show.  I love working with the eggs lately, they are just so cute and whimsical.  They remind me of Cabinets of Curiosities, little scientific specimens plucked from nature.  I loved this story from NPR about a man and his helpers who collected 8000 bird eggs and categorized them in cabinets.  They were tucked away in a library cabinet for over 80 years before being donated to a university.

Revisiting another woodland design with Squirrels and Hedgies.  This squirrel is paired up with a ceramic bead from Earthenwood studios, a few stones and wood.   I used links of chain to end this bracelet so that it could be given as a gift.  I have to admit, it never occurred to me to do that until this year.  So it's true, old dogs can learn new beady tricks.

And here is the same design with a Hedgie and a disk bead from me.  I met someone at Bead & Button last year who had a hedgehog named Fern - seems like the perfect name for a cute little hedgie.

LOVING these big chunky brass leaves from Ornamentea.  They come all bright and shiny, but just a quick dip in liver of sulphur and they take on this wonderful earthy, organic quality.  I added in one of my branch lentils and disks along with a few glass beads.

Woodland Beads

Branch Beads

Giveaway Winner:

Shannon C. from For My Sweet Daughter is the winner of the Modern Forest Toggle!  Thanks for playing along everyone.

Nests & Twigs

I want a twig ring for Christmas, which had me looking around on Etsy and sparked the idea for nest rings created from wire.  Here I created them in copper and antiqued them.  It took a few attempts before I came up with a design that I liked.  My girls were smitten and that's always a good sign.  This was my first attempt at rings, I finally had a chance to use my ring mandrel!

I love them too and will have to make one for myself after the show.  I'm also thinking of some folks on my gift list who would like these.  I'm so glad I have more girls in my family than guys!

A few in sterling silver.

Yep, my booth is going to be full of nests this weekend.

My twiggy wish list:

1. Spring Twig Ring  2. Tiny Twig Hairpins  3. It All Stacks Up (Yes, I'm dreaming!) 

4. Tree Bark Wedding Bands  5. Twig and Leaf Band  6. Birch Bark Ring 

7. The Cord  8. Branch Ring

9. Woodgrain Ring  10. Rustic Tree Bark Ring

Earring Invasion

I have been like a little Christmas elf over here burning the midnight oil.  I'm doing a show this weekend - Hecho a Mano here in San Antonio.  I think this is my 5th year.  A portion of the sales benefit the Guadalupe Cultural Center.  I've made 85 pairs of earrings over the last week.  As you can see, I take one design and do it up in 3-6 different colors.  I work in assembly line fashion to get them done quickly.

Here are 3 new styles for this year using 20 gauge sterling silver wire, I used the entire spool that I snagged from Rings & Things!

Spirals - these are my favorites, they look like little pieces of candy.

For these ones I made a ball at the end of the wires and hammered them.

And ones that have hammered paddles on the bottom.

Tagged and bagged.  (Okay did I mention Jess watched a 1/2 a season of Warehouse 13 while I worked on these.  What a goofy show, it's like X-files meets Eureka.)

Hecho a Mano (means 'made by hand' in Spanish) is Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I will list the earrings left over in my Etsy shop next week.  I'm looking forward to meeting people, seeing the art work and doing a little Christmas shopping myself!

Today is the last day to shop for jewelry in my shop, everything will be taken down until next Monday.