Day of the Dead Blog Hop

Love my Art Jewelry is having a Dia de los Muertos blog hop!  Sugar Skulls everywhere!!!!!

Now, if you follow me at all, you know I love the beauty of a sugar skull.  

Recently I have been doing some lino-cut prints, and even had to do a sugar skull for that!

Anyhow, I had also made sugar skull beads in polymer and in bronze clay.  So I wasn't sure which I wanted to do for this blog hop.  I had originally thought about taking my bronze one and setting it into silver with silver work, maybe even some gemstones bezeled around it.....................but it had a mind of it's own, and I have really been into wire chokers with charms lately, so that is what was born.

Once I decided to use one of my bronze sugar skulls, and do a charm style necklace I got to work

I created the base for the necklace first.

Then I started to pick out my beads

Ginger of the Blue Bottle Tree had sent me some of her beads to design with awhile back.  She used her Rustic Beads Tutorial to create these flowery fun beads.  They turned out to be the perfect accent for this piece!  After all, a sugar skull needs some flowers near it or on it! I LOVE the old paint look, and they are so well made (of course!). The only problem was that I could not fit as many as I wanted to use in my piece.  So I think I will have to visit them again soon.

Anyhow, just as things always go, I had to change out some of my original components due to how the piece lays while worn, and for compositional issues.  

I am very happy with how it turned out.

I even made matching earrings!!!!

If you want to see what everyone else made, hop over to Love my Art Jewelry and check out the links posted.  I am sure there will be lots of great creative eye candy and inspiration this morning!

http://lovemyartjewelry.blogspot.com/2016/10/dia-de-los-muertos-reveal-by-karen.html

BTW ~ Inspiration and Dimension

Remember these cool shells and things?????

Well, they inspired these.

And that's whats on my beads table!  (check out the flickr group Bead Table Wednesday to see what other artists have on their table)  These are still in the patination process right now.  I cannot even wait to play with these in some jewelry designs!!!!
If you want to see how these flat copper discs.......................

Become these cool 3-D little charms.................................

.................then hop on over to Love my Art Jewelry for my tutorial of how to make them.

BTW and A Giveaway or TWO!!!!!!

Well, Bead Table Wednesday is here again...and its about time I did another giveaway.  First of all, here is what is on my bead table...........

(left)This photo here is a close up of some idea's I have rolling around for Lorelei's C-Koop Enameled Shadowbox Challenge.  I think I love these little boxes.

These (below) are just some wings and such, and a bezel with a Lisa Peters Art Bead that needs to happen.  That wing focal on the bottom broke into all those pieces in the kiln.  I am still not sure why.   Maybe it wasn't fully dried.  Anyway- I was determined to save it....so I riveted it to a copper backing, and its now called, "Broken Dreams".

Ok- and now for the giveaway..................or TWO!

First I have this lovely pendant.  I made it for my sea glass and shell drilling demonstration last Saturday. 

It's a sterling silver bail and swirl, with genuine aquamarine and pink seaglass dangling from it, all adorning a large mother of pearl donut. Its bold and perfect for summer.  It will fit on most chains, it comes with an 18" silver plated snake chain.

The second giveaway is for you jewelry designers. 

This one is for two pieces of genuine sea glass, top drilled, two shells top drilled and one bronze ammonite charm, also top drilled, from my Artisan Accents store.

To enter, leave a comment, and I will pick two winner randomly next wednesday, August 3rd.  You get additional entries for facebooking or blogging or both, but PLEASE leave an additional comment for each way you shared.  Also- make sure I have a way to get ahold of you.  If you do not have a blog or your email linked to your blog, please leave your email in the comment.  If you win, and I cannot get ahold of you, a new winner will be picked.

So good luck, and thanks for checking out my bead table this wednesday!