JillyBeads: 2014

Jewel School Friends - Anchors Aweigh!! Blog Hop Featuring Suburban Girl Studio

The beautiful blue anchor pieces by Suburban Girl Studio arrived and inspired me to design a set of jewelry in honor of our men & women at sea.

It was my hope to create a look that represented a badge of honor and to do so I needed to add a bit more weight to the anchor piece. Finding the perfect sized silver circle to frame the anchor brought the piece to life, added depth, and shine. Topping the anchor with the square stone proved to reflect the color and motion from waves of the sea.

I knew I wanted to work with "rope" so the piece was more theme oriented and finding creamy white silk cording fit perfectly once it was knotted using macramé.

It became clear to me that the second Suburban Girl Studio anchor would be useful as a button to fasten a matching bracelet. Finally the whimsical steering wheel earrings pulled it all together to be sea worthy indeed.

Featured & Honored Artist: Diana Ptaszynski

Diana's Shop Suburban Girl Beads

Diana's Blog: Suburban Girl Studio

Hostess: TJ Jewel School Friends

Bobbie Rafferty Beadsong Jewelry

Chris Eisenberg Wanderware

Heather Richter Desert Jewelry Designs

Michelle McCarthy Firefly Design Studio

Kathy Lindemer Bay Moon Design

Dini Bruinsma Angaza by Changes

Cynthia Machata Antiquity Travelers

Kathleen Breeding 99 Bottles of Beads on the Wall

Linda Younkman Lindy's Designs

Robin Reed Artistry HCBD

Marla Gibson Spice Box Designs

Gina Hockett Freestyle Elements

Renetha Stanziano Lamplight Crafts

Marianne Baxter Simply Seablime Jewelry

Christina Miles Wings N Scales

Marybeth Rich A Few Words from Within the Pines

Shai Williams Shaiha's Ramblings

Cheri Reed Creative Designs by Cheri

Monique Urquhart A Half-Baked Notion

Jennifer Reno Musings of a Crafty Jenny

Shirley Moore Beads and Bread

Tammy Adams Paisley Lizard

Melissa Trudinger Bead Recipes
Jill Bradley JillyBeads

Pine Ridge Treasures - Blue Fantasy Blog Hop

Between keeping up the house, having summer guests, preparing for one craft sale after another and working full time at the university, I have had the worst time getting back to my beading. When I finally caught the fever…beading fever…the beautiful blue of the beads that Lisa Lodge provided in the Blue Fantasy kit made it easy to design one item after another!

Soon I had three pieces done, but, inspired by each of their individual styles I added a pair of earrings to polish off the threesome. I started to put the remaining beads away but that revealed enough components and crystals for a bracelet which was the Pièce de résistance to add to the set.

The inspiration, excitement, and fun of the design process was over and I had much to admire. For a week these pieces lay limp within the beading tray where they were born. I’d get home from work and after dinner sit at my bead table and look at these very wearable pieces and start wondering how I could best photograph them.

I will admit, photography is not something I like doing or know what I’m doing and the challenge to get the job done was looming over me. I have a simple “point and shoot” camera of which I would simple click away and hope for the best and mostly I was disappointed with the results.

So it was with intimidation that I stepped through the process of photographing, downloading, cropping and framing the first round of pictures. I dubbed the results ugly, uglier and ugliest and swiftly deleted each one!

Having a bad picture of something so beautiful is not only disappointing but it ruins the entire experience. After my first photos were such a flop I felt that I wasted the day, hated photography and certainly didn't want to do the whole process over again!

But, I did do it again…a week later…armed with a bit more knowledge after doing some research online. Do I use plain backgrounds, colors or white, designs or textures? Do I stage the pieces with a bust, old wood, antiques, or lace? I “listened” to some of the tips I read on Facebook such as only taking pictures on a sunny day and using filtered light. This time I approached my task as an experiment to see what works and what doesn't in the world of photography.

I took pictures in shade and sun, indoors by a window, outdoors under a tree, draped on a flower or branch. The images revealed lessons about light, shadow, texture, and color. This Blog Hop ended up teaching me more about taking useful pictures rather than an outlet to show off the creation of the jewelry.

I’m satisfied that my determination seemed to pay off with photos that provide color and shine and show off each piece in a fun, outdoorsy way. They also add a bit of the beauty of nature into your lives which is what inspires me to create the jewelry!

Thanks to Lisa Lodge for the wonderful components and the opportunity to take a break from my typical routine to explore, create and discuss my newest passion of jewelry making! To see what the other designers created with their Blue Fantasy kit, check out the links below:

Our hostess: Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Kim Dworak, Cianci Blue

Karen Grosset Grange, Ginkgo et Coquelicot

Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera

Jo-Ann Woolverton, It's a Beadiful Creation

Heather Richter, Desert Jewelry Designs

Carolyn Lawson, Carolyn's Creations

Candida Elkins Castleberry, Spun Sugar Beadworks

Shaiha Williams, Shaiha's Ramblings

Eleanor Burian-Mohr, The Charmed Life

Gloria Allen, Wings and Beads

Laurie Vyselaar, Lefthand Jewelry