Summer Color Surprise Blog Hop

                                                     

Several weeks ago I signed up for Lisa's Summer Color Surprise hop in the attempt to get more motivated to blog more frequently and spread my little wings.  One of the things I like about these is that you have to work with what you're given and that takes me out of the box.  This is a picture of the gorgeous beads I was sent:
                                           
Out of my comfort zone? Definitely! Orange is something that I don't gravitate to at all!! But it got the creative juices going and those crystals are sparkling inspiration in themselves. So, without further ado,
here is what I came up with.

Tribal Elegance

I decided to use bronze Artistic wire in all the pieces I made to kind of tie it together. Several years ago, my DH made a trip to visit some of our staff who were serving in South Africa at the time and he brought me back these colorful little plates- the colors seemed like the perfect backdrop for the next few pictures.

Bronze Beauties

Not much to say about these- the beads caps remind me of the African women with a slightly organic feel.

Flames of Sunset

When I first saw these leaf shaped beads, wasn't sure what direction to go. But after wirewrapping the orange flowers into the antique brass earrings frames, the rest just fell into place!

Not the greatest picture, I know, but I've been in the midst of getting ready for a big baby shower for a dear friend and went to bed last night after getting last minute details done and MUCH to my horror remembered I had forgotten to take pictures, so...   These were a trial run for the final set of pictures and the one type of bead in the assortment that hadn't been used yet. 'Nuff said.

Sunrise Delight

These are, by far and away, my favorites from the whole thing.  The coppery crystals just begged for some wire wrapping and while I was looking for inspiration on my favorite time killer source of inspiration, Pinterest, I came across this pin that gave me my aha! moment.

Thanks so much for stopping by to see all my goodies. If you were one of the five that commented on my Christmas in August post, send me an email with your address so I can get your earrings out to you. Stop on by the rest of the participants for some splashes and dashes of color, creativity and joy!


Chris Eisenberg, Wander Ware
Audrey Belanger, Dreams of an Absolution

Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs (Posting on Sunday the 25th)

Melissa Trudinger, Bead Recipes

Monique Urquhart, A Half-Baked Notion

Beti Horvath, Stringing Fool

Charlene Bausinger Jacka, Clay Space

Tara Plote, The Newbie Beader's Blog

Renetha Williams Stanziano, Lamplight Crafts

Leah Mifflin Tees, My Beady Little Eyes

Kathy Zeigler Lindemer, Bay Moon Design

Toltec Jewels, Toltec Jewels for Jewel School Friends

Molly Alexander, Beautifully Broken Me

Alicia Marinache, All the Pretty Things

Laurie Vyselaar, Lefthand Jewelry

Eleanor Burian-Mohr, The Charmed Life

Julie Lockhart, Copar Aingeal

Dolores Rami, CraftyD's Creations

Elizabeth Bunn, Elizabeth Beads

Mowse Doyle, Mowse Made This

Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera

Candida Elkins Castleberry, Spun Sugar Beadworks

Shaiha Williams, Shaiha's Ramblings

Christie Searle Murrow, Charis Designs Jewelry   <--------You Are Here!!
Andrea Glick-Zenith, ZenithJade Creations

Everyone's A Winner

Last week I said I would pick a winner from the comments section for two pairs of Christmas earrings. However, since there were only a few comments, and it's never fun at Christmas to have to watch other people open gifts when you don't have one,  I'm going to mail a pair of Christmas earrings to everyone who took the time to say something. 

So if Monique, Vera , Louise, Andra, and Gloria would email their full name and address to charisdesigns@hotmail.com, I'll get them in the mail. Obviously, the other three pairs will be different from those pictured, but I hope you'll like them.  Merry Christmas a little early- hope this adds a splash of joy to your day!  

Christmas in August

I received a wonderful package of beads in the mail the other day. I'd left a comment on the Znet Shows blog when they posted about a giveaway and I won!! If you haven't had a chance to see the wonderful beads they carry, hop on over and see all their wonderful bead goodness.  Using my new favorite photo app from Rhonna Designs, here's a picture of what I received ( I'm Charisdesigns on Instagram).

Isn't that amazing? I can't wait to play with all of those lovelies.  Since I missed doing something for

Christmas in July, I decided to pay it forward. Leave a comment below and two different people will receive a pair of Christmas earrings that I made for the Seasons Blog Hop.

 

Since there's only 135 days until Christmas, we might as well start getting ready :)  I'll pick a winner next Saturday. Please make sure I have a way to contact you by email.

Here's to splashes and dashes of Christmas joy in August...