Znet Shows Creative Spark

I've been remiss in blogging. Life changed lanes a few months ago and I was blessed with a new opportunity, which I am loving. However, being part of this new thing meant letting go of others, and I am no longer teaching jewelry classes or doing as much jewelry making. I'm also working an extra day a week, again, a blessing, but life got really busy very quickly. So, I'm sorting through beads and commitments to figure out what exactly needs to stay and what can be let go of. I've also discovered bangles, which are ever so much fun. I grew up in India, and bangles were a staple from the time that I was little. I love making them, I love wearing them and I love sharing them!

Znet Shows  is a great company to be part of. Their products are beautiful and their prices are amazing. For the fall issue of Creative Spark,  they came up with something different for us designers. Some would make fall themed jewelry, some would write tutorials and some would play with found object jewelry. I was fortunate enough to be part of the fall themed jewelry group.  Look at the gorgeous beads that came my way!

I went looking for some inspiration and found it on Instagram with my friend @DenesiaChristine. You'll see one of her stunning pictures inside the magazine, but please take a peak at her other breathtaking pictures.  They're a treat for the eyes. (And while you're there, I'm @CharisDesigns.)

I mentioned earlier that bangles are my new plaything, and so I got to playing. These were the first things that got made? Don't they just embody all the colors of fall?

There's a lot more beautiful things waiting to be seen inside. I hope you'll click on the link and take a peek at all the jewelry my fellow design team members have created. And, oh look!, I'm on the cover!!! How's that for a splash and dash of grace and joy?

   

        

Grow Your Blog Party & Giveaway

Welcome to the Grow Your Blog Party! Someone had posted about this on a beading Facebook page, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Thank you to Vicki for being a wonderful hostess. If you look at the amazing list on her blog, you'll find it's grouped according to the number of followers so be sure to visit and follow the ones that pique your interest.

My name is Christie. I'm a wife of 26 years, a mom to three beautiful daughters and experiencing my first year as an empty nester. I'm finding it has its pros and cons for sure! I've always loved to do crafts and was into scrapbooking for awhile until I was introduced to beading through a friend of my sister. I was hooked! After making gifts for family and friends, this hobby segued into a small business and keeps on going. A couple of years ago I had the privilege of teaching jewelry lessons at a large craft store and that was a wonderful experience. Now I teach private lessons in the small town I live near, and my regulars have become family. They continue to want to learn new things and push me to keep expanding my repertoire- it's a win/win situation!

I'm an avid pinner and have lots of great boards- especially jewelry related things. You can check them out here on Pinterest. I'm also on Instagram where my user name is CharisDesigns. Twiiter is something I'm still trying to figure out but you can follow me as @CharisDJewelry.  I have a shop on Etsy as well as a Facebook business page, Charis Designs

Here's some pictures of  some favorite jewelry I've made:

Merry Mermain

Consider the Lilies

Autumn Splendor

Floral Fantasy

Smokey Mountains

and my absolute favorite....

Orchid Beauty

 Several of these were pieces that I made for blog hops, which I love participating in. Autumn Splendor and Orchid Beauty are still for sale- please contact me if you're interested.

With Valentines' Day around the corner, how about a giveaway of some Valentine earrings? Just leave a comment below ( with a valid email) and tell me something special you'll do for your valentine this year (family friendly please!).  Of course, I'm always looking for new followers too ;) I'll pick a random winner on February 1st.

Lots of other blogs to visit, so off I go- hoping your day is filled with splashes of grace and dashes of joy

Christie

Lampwork and Clay Blog Hop

Time for another blog hop. I love participating in these because a) it keeps me busy, b) it keeps me challenged and c) it's just plain fun! This one is hosted by Lisa Lodge of Pine Ridge Treasures. We signed up some time ago and had our choice of either lampwork or clay beads to play with. I chose lampwork and was sent beautiful little beads by Lisa Anderson, in purple no less, which is always a delight to play with. I've been so busy getting ready for craft shows and jewelry parties ( I'm in Texas with my sister right now for an annual one) that I forgot about this until last week and went into panic mode.

**Deep breath** Then I came across a tutorial that I'd purchased off the Bead Style site some time ago that used coiling, and since I like to tackle new things with a blog hop, decided to give it a whirl ( pardon the pun). The tutorial, Razzle-dazzle Bracelet, is by Carolyn Conley, and while she used her own large lampwork beads in hers, I just decided to scale it down some and see how it worked.  I've done a little bit of coiling before but hers called for long pieces and while I love my Coiling Gizmo, it really only works well for coils up to about 7 inches. So, grabbing a thin knitting needle, I transferred the coil onto it and completed it there. It's not nearly as tight and looks slightly wonky, but at least it worked! I then fed it onto 18 gauge copper wire and recoiled it before adding a wrapped loop on each end and adding Swarovski lovelies for sparkle and shine.
Here's a look at the final product:

I need to oxidize it so the copper isn't so shiny but since my plane leaves in a couple of hours that will have to wait. Isn't it pretty? Love how the copper makes the purple lampwork the star of the show. I have two more beads left and am figuring out how to use the left over coils for earrings. If you're an Instagram person, I'd love for you to follow me on there. My user name is CharisDesigns. I've also joined the interesting world of Twitter, and am trying to figure out the ins and outs of that. I don't tweet very often, but enjoy following people and seeing things they're posting. Over there you can find me @CharisDJewelry.

Here's the list for the other blog hop peeps. Thanks again, Lisa, for hosting another hop. I'm off to play with my sister- that will fill my day with dashes, splashes and buckets of grace and joy!

Your hostess:  Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs

Melissa Trudinger, Bead Recipes

Kathy Zeigler Lindemer, Bay Moon Design

Laurie Vyselaar, Lefthand Jewelry

Annette Rivers, MamaOwl's Mess

Karin King, The Sparkle Things Blog

Shaiha Williams,   Shaiha's Ramblings

Mimi Gardner, Baubles, Beads and Other Curiosities

Dee Alcalde, Agape Creations Jewelry

Kay Thomerson, Kayz Kreationz

Karla Morgan, Texas Pepper Jams

Lori Jean Poppe, Lorillijean Creative Corner

Eleanor Burian Moore, The Charmed Life

Leah Mifflin Tees, My Beady Little Eyes

Terri Wlaschin, Dances in Fog

Sharyl McMillian-Nelson, Sharyl's Jewelry

Jo-Ann Woolverton, It's a Beadiful Creation

Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera

Linda Aspenson Bergstrom, TBD

Toltec  Jewels, Jewel School Friends

Judy Turner, Silver Rains

Gloria Allen, Gloria Allen Designs

Kathleen Douglas, Washoe Kat's

Connie Tipton, TBD

Christie Searle Murrow, Charis Designs Jewelry   (you are here)

Andrea Glick-Zenith, ZenithJade Creations

Michele Dotson, Star Jewels

Chris Eisenberg, Wanderware

Jennifer Clifford, TBD

Kathleen Breeding, 99 Bottles of Beads on the Wall

Molly Alexander, Beautifully Broken Me

Loretta, Loretta's Boutique

Carolyn Lawson, Carolyns Creations

Shirley Moore, Beads and Bread

Bonnie Coursolle, Jasper's Gems

Alice Craddick, Alice's Beads and Baubles (reveal will be delayed a few days)

A Labor of Love...

I blogged earlier that I was one of the lucky winners of beads from Znet Shows. These were the beauties I was given to work with:

And boy! did I have fun. Here are some of the things I made:

Crystal Blue Persuasion

 I love, love, love the pairing of the Watercolors sea glass beads and pendants with the Tiaria Chinese crystals. The colors are beautiful and this set got the creative juices flowing.

Autumn Seashells

Aren't those spacers amazing? I used them in a couple of different things, and hoarded  saved some for another project.

Pagoda Wave Pendant

 This curved sea glass bead threw me for a loop but I decided to go out of my comfort zone, and I'm rather pleased with the result.

Peridot Crystal Dangles

I've had these hoops from Hobby Lobby for awhile and they paired up nicely with some of these beautiful green crystals.

Fish in the Sea

Kept looking at these great fish beads and the round spacers, and again, a chance to use more of those lovely crystals. I had some matching bicones for little dangles.

And then it was time for more earrings :)

Golden Dangles

Cobalt Blue Shells

Here are more of those dark blue crystals paired with chain and dark blue sea glass seashells.

Green Goodness

 Went to go post a picture on Instagram ( come follow me : Charisdesigns) and realized I hadn't included these sweet little green earrings. What's not to love about sea glass and crystal? The color combos are endless.

Crystal Hoopla

It took a little bit of finagling, but I was delighted when I was able to stack the crystals inside the hoops that I bought from my local bead store. As you can tell from the pictures, I'm still loving my Rhonna Designs app.

There's another set in progress but it's being a tad persnickety, so it'll wait for another day. I still have lots of beads left, which is very exciting.  Thank you again, Hope and Znet Shows for letting me play with all the lovelies!

Happy Labor Day! Hope it's filled with splashes and dashes of joy and grace-

Christie

Bead Hoarders Blog Hop

A couple of months ago, Lori Anderson introduced a new blog idea: The Bead Hoarders Blog Hop.  The idea was to take beads we had stashed for a variety of reasons ( too special, too expensive, too sentimental) and make them into jewelry. As soon as she posted on the Bead Soup Cafe page on Facebook, I knew exactly what beads of mine fit that specification! Quite some time ago I splurged on some Brilynn Beads by Lynn Bauder. Her beads are gorgeous floral creations that I'd been oohing and aahing over for some time. When they arrived, they were even prettier in person. Wanting to do them justice, I put them in a safe place and would occasionally pull them out to gaze at them and then stash them away again. Well, this was now the time to use them.  After several different arrangements, here is the final result:

Floral Fantasy

Floral Fantasy

I photographed these on a teacup I inherited from my grandmother, Hazel. My grandpa was a pastor and they didn't have a lot of earthly possessions, so these teacups are a special treasure. I only managed to get one pair of earrings done, and much to my chagrin, realized that after the pictures were taken that there is a sterling spacer missing. Sigh. I see a redo in my very near future.

I'm having a ball using a new photo app that I downloaded recently. It's from Rhonna Designs, and I'm loving it.  It's super easy to play with and makes labelling pictures a snap. It's my new favorite app to use for posting on Instagram. My user name there is Charisdesigns and I'd love for you to follow me.

Here's the rest of the Stash bloggers.  Thanks again, Lori, for another fun idea. Can't wait to see all the wonderful goodies that have been de-stashed just for this occasion.
1.  Lori Anderson, Pretty Things
2. Nancy Dale, NEDBeads
3. Roxanne Mendoza, Roxi Designs
4.  Melissa Trudinger, beadrecipes
5.  Rana Lea, Rana Lea Designs
6.  Perri Jackson, Shaktipaj Designs
7.  Rita Avila, Jewel School Friends
8.  Linda Anderson, From the Bead Board
  10.  Erin Guest, Renlish


11.  Joan Williams, lilruby jewelry
12. Diane Hawkey, Diane Hawkey
13.  Jo-Ann Woolverton, It's a Beadiful Creation
14.  Sue Kennedy, SueBeads
15.  Lisa Cone, Inspired Adornments
16.  Kari Asbury, Hippie Chick Design
17.  Nichole Byers, Nichole Byers
18.  Lori Jean Poppe, Adventures in Creativity
19.  Linda Landig, Linda's Bead Blog and Meanderings
20.  Lori Schneider, Bead Addict


21.  Molly Alexander, Beautifully Broken Me
22. Cece Cormier, The Beading Yogini
23.  Niki Sayers, Silver Nik Nats
24.  Elsie Deliz-Fonseca, Eliz-Eliz and All That Craft
25.  Amber Dawn, Inventive Soul
26.  Heather Powers, Humblebeads
27.  Sarah Goode, Pookledo
28.  Monique Urquhart, A Half-Baked Notion
29.  JJ Jacobs, Coming Abstractions
30.  Cheri Reed, Creative Designs by Cheri


31.  Robyn, Museiddity
32.  Catherine King, Catherine's Musings
33.  Jacquie, Bead Gypsy
34.  Janet McDonald, Singing Woods
35. Kay Thomerson, Kayz Kreations
36.  Tanty Sri Hartanti, TJewellicious by Tanti
37.  Hannah Rosner, Good River Valley
38.  Rochelle Brisson, A Creative Chelle
39.  Nelly May, Smelly Nelly
40.  Skylar Bre'z, Brising Beads


41.  Beti Horvath, Stringing Fool
42.  Christie Murrow, Charis Designs   <----  (you're here)
43.  Leanne Loftus, First Impression Design
44.  Valerie Norton, Hot Art
45.  Judy Riggs, Rigglettes
46.  Crystal Thain, Here Bead Dragons
47.  Terry Carter,  Tapping Flamingo
48.  Sue, Mid-Life Great Expectations
49.  Nan Smith, Wired Nan
50.  Miranda Ackerley, MirandAck Arts


51.  Marie Covert, Creating Interest
52.  D'Arsie Manzella, This Here Now, Mamacita
53.  Stephanie Haussler, Pixybug Designs
54.  Lori Bergmann, Lori Bergmann Design
55.  Johanna Nunez, The Lovely One Design
56.  Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs
57.  Becky Pancake, Becky Pancake Bead Designs
58.  Alicia Marinache, All the Pretty Things
59.  Debbie Rasmussen, A Little of This, A Little of That
60.  Nat, Grubbi Ceramics


61.  Marjorie Savill Linthwaite, Bennu Bird Rising
62.  Cheryl McCloud, One Thing Leads to Another
63.  Heather Otto, The Crafthopper
64.  Candida Castleberry, Spun Sugar Beadworks
65.  Tracie Dean, Dean Designs
66.  JuLee Wolfe, The Polymer Penguin
67.  Ginger Bishop, Lil Mummy Likes
68.  Karen Mitchell, Over the Moon Design
69.  Jeannie Dukic, Jeannie's Blog
70.  Dini Bruinsma, Angaza by Changes


71.  Birgitta Lejonklou, Create With Spirit
72.  Shalini Austin, Jewellery by Shalini
73.  Jayne Capps, Mama's Got to Doodle
74.  Ile Ruzza, Ilenia's Unique Beaded Jewelry
76.  Annita Wilson, AW Jewelry 
77.  Sherri Stokey, Knot Just Macrame
78.  Hannah Trost, PZ Designs
79.  Linda Inhelder, Must Haves Jewelry
80.  Miri Agassi, Beadwork


81.  Hope Smitherman, Crafty Hope
82.  Dyanne Cantrell, Dee-Liteful Jewelry Creations
83.  Susan Bowie, Susan Nelson Bowie
84.  Megan Milliken, MaeMaeMills
85.  Menka Gupta, Menka's Jewelry
86.  Ambra Gostoli, Chic and Frog
87.  Lori Lochner, Bloghner
88.  Gerda Jurimae, Gerda's Crafts Blog
89.  Susan, Mistheword
90.  MaryLou Holvenstot, MaryLou's time2cre8


91.  Mary Shannon Hicks, falling into the sky
92.  Karin King, The Sparklie Things Blog
93.  Christa Murphy, Adventures of One Beady Woman
94.  Jenny Davie-Reazor, Jenny Davies-Reazor
95.  Donetta Farrington, Simply Gorgeous
96.  Mallory Hoffman, Rosebud 101 - For the Love of Beads
97.  Danielle Kelley, Imbue the Muse
98.  Kym Hunter, Kym Hunter Designs
99.  Dolores Rami, CraftyD's Creations
100.  Marcia Dunne, 13 Alternatives


101.  Marlene Cupo, Amazing Designs
102.  Emma Todd, A Polymer Penchant
103.  Wendy Holder, Jewelry by WendyLea
104.  Michelle Escano, The Cabby Crafter
105.  Louise Glazier, Lily and Jasmine Treasures
106.  Dana Hickey, Wind Dancer Studios
107.  Lennis Carter, windbent
108.  Anne Betenson, Crystal River Beads
109.  Audrey Belanger,  Dreams of an Absolution
110.  Lisa Stukel, Carefree Jewelry by Lisa


111.  Janine Lucas, Travel Stories
112.  Claire Lockwood, Something to Do With Your Hands
113.  Kathy Engstrom, Catherine's Dreams
114.  Paula Hisel, Simply Beadiful
115.  Karla Morgan, Texas Pepper Jams
116.  Mischelle Fanucchi, Micheladas Musings
117.  Kim, Cianci Blue
118.  Linda Sadler, Ida Louise Jewelry
119.  Karen, Spokalulu
120.  Jennifer LaVite, Dry Gulch Bead and Jewelry


121.  Andrea Glick-Zenith, ZenithJade Creations
122.  Karen Martinez, Fairies Market
123.  Robin Reed, Artistry HCBD
124.  Amy Bright, LABweorc
125.  Jasvanti Patel, Jewels by Jasvanti
126.  Tammie Everly, TTE Designs
127.  Karin Slaton, Backstory Beads
128.  Natalie Moten, Running Out of Thread
129.  Sharyl McMillian-Nelson, Sharyl's Jewelry & Reflections
130.  Jenny Kyrlach, Wonder and Whimsy


131.  LiliKrist, Handmade by LilK
132.  Jessica Klaaren, The Truth Space
133.  Cynthia Abner, Created Treasures
134.  Beth Emery, Stories by Indigo Heart
135.  Heather Davis, Blissful Garden Beads
136.  Jeanne, Gems by Jeanne Marie
137.  Sandi Volpe, Sandi Volpe
138.  Laren Dee Barton, Laren Dee Designs
139.  Steph, Confessions of a Bead Hoarder
140.  Carolyn Lawson, Carolyn's Creations


141.  B. R. Kuhlman, Mixed Mayhem
142.  Patty Miller, Cabari Beads
143.  Elizabeth Bunn, Elizabeth Beads
144.  Marianna Boylan, Pretty Shiny Things
145.  Lizzie Clarke, The Need to Bead
146.  Christina Miles, Wings 'n' Scales
147.  Patricia, The Color of Dreams
148.  Marde Lowe, Fancimar
149.  Ev Shelby, Raindrop Creations
150.  Sarah Small, By Salla


151.  Perri Jackson, Shaktipaj Designs
152.  Laurie Vyselaar, Lefthand Jewelry
153.  Pam Traub, Klassy Joolz
154.  Lisa Harrison, Daisy Meadow Studio
155.  Anzia Parks, Anzi-Panzi's Work Shoppe
156.  Ingrid, Lilisgems Handcrafted Jewelry Inspirations
157.  Andra Weber, Andra's Joyful Journey
158.  Kelly Hosford Patterson, The Traveling Side Show
159.  Adlinah Kamsir, Dreamstruck Designs
160.  Marci, That Nothing Be Wasted


161.  Kris Lanae Binsfield,  Cherish Designs
162.  Stephanie Perry, Mustard Bead
163.  Birgit Klughardt, Gites Beads
164.  Inge von Roos, Inge's Blog
165.  Rebecca Sirevaag, Becca's Place
166.  Sandy Markley, Gypsy Spirit Designs
167.  Elena Adams, Lena's Beady Blog


Enjoy!! Christie