Mt. Rainier and Lenticular Clouds - Dec. 2008 copyright: JMM

March 28, 2015

Blue Goldstone Blog Hop!

Back in January, my buddy Liz over the Bead Contagion offered up some free blue goldstone round and donut beads to beat the winter blues, if she could get some crafters to create something with them for the big reveal today.  Blue goldstone is a synthetic glass stone and sooooo gorgeous.  Dark blue with pretty sparklies, how could I turn down the opportunity to participate??  I received my package of beads and then started to wonder how best to use them.  I've never worked with donut beads because usually people do wire wrapping or create a beautiful hanger from peyote stitched seed beads.

My first thought was maybe I could create some kind of hanging thing for a window or porch or something.  I started out one afternoon at the beginning of February and I wasn't 100% crazy about the way it was coming out.  I got frustrated and started to mutter, 'what have I gotten myself into?'  It was at that point that I noticed the smallest donuts were drilled through the top and bottom.  The large one wasn't but the small ones were.  I abandoned my hanging thing idea, and ended up reorganizing my glitter and watching the Superbowl while I obsessed mulled over what I should do about this project.  I decided that I'd go the jewelry route.


The following day, we'd had some awful weather and that was the day I fell on the ice.  Decided to go ahead and work on the project because I was unable to stop thinking about it (this is what happens to me when I have an idea....I wake up all night thinking about it too), despite the fact that my back was killing and hunching over the table wasn't the world's smartest plan.

Since the goldstone beads were such a dark blue, I had a hard time matching any other shades of blues with it. Clear, silver and white pearl go with everything so I knew those would be the additional elements.  But I really needed something to punch it up a little bit, so I opted for dark red Swarovski crystals.  I had enough donuts to do a matching pair of earrings.

I was able to fit some small crystals in the center of the little donuts. 

The donut center beads alternate clear and red.  Aren't the goldstone beads pretty?  

I'm not a wire wrapper, and I'm not so good at peyote so I just ended up doing a real basic wrap and loop for the larger pendant.

I wish my pics had come out better.  I had hoped to shoot photos of this set outside, but the snow took forever to melt and my friend Clair wanted to purchase this from me so I didn't want to make her wait until the weather got good enough for me to finally take pictures outside.

Thank you, Liz, for hosting the hop.  It was an honour to participate!!!

34 comments:

  1. JoJo!! I love your use of the red crystal!! Were you inspired by the Patriots' colors!!! :) Really - this came out fantastic. You should do more beaded jewelry!

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    1. Funny you mention that because I made this the day after the Superbowl. As you know I am a Seahawks fan. One of my friends asked me if I made this in Pats colours on purpose. Must've been subconscious. lol Thank you!

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  2. Hi JoJo,
    Your necklace and earring set came out beautifully I love the pops of red. It really is a stunning set.
    Therese

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  3. Oh, wow! Those are gorgeous! You make me want to pull out my (mountains of) beads!!

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    1. DO IT DAWN!!!!!!!!! DO EET NAO!!!!! lol Thank you!

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  4. Hi JoJo,
    I couldn't imagine a better journey, and outcome. You went from stumped to creating a gorgeous necklace that someone just had to have. The fact it literally flew off the shelf and was sold in seconds speaks for itself. Those dark red swarovskies really added that special touch that makes it zing! You have an obvious knack for sparkle. Thank you for participating. I hope you find yourself drawn back to more bead creating. I enjoy all of your posts, but the ones that have beads in them are extra special :D
    -Liz

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    1. Thank you so much Liz. I did spend a bunch of time reorganizing my beads earlier this year....maybe I will start making more stuff. Thanks for hosting this bead hop. I really enjoyed it. I was pretty surprised that Clair wanted and needed it so bad....I guess it really spoke to her.

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  5. I am really intrigued by where you were going with that first photo. But the end result is Beautiful ~ Lovely flow and the addition of another color gave it a great pop! And that your friend wanted it speaks volumes for its beauty :-)

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    1. Thank you so much Christine. Yeah that first picture....I started off gangbusters with the project but then I totally petered out and didn't like how it was going. I'm glad I switched gears.

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    2. You came into my in-box as a no-reply so I wanted to stop in again and thank you for your comment on my Blue Goldstone piece :-) It was a fun Hop!

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    3. It WAS A fun hop! I'll have to do more of them.

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  6. I'm definitely sending you my broken Honu bracelet for an emergency operation. HeHe. Let me know how much I'd owe you for labor and materials.

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    1. I'd be happy to fix it for you! PM me on Facebook. :D

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  7. Wonderful to hear about your creative journey! it took some twists and turns, but the best ones always do! you came out the other side with a beautiful set and the red is such a nice addition to these stones! You have so much beauty in the stringing and wrapping that beading would overwhelm it - so great choice to keep it more simple for the bail!!

    So fun to hear that we've had similar paths ... I grew up in the PNW, moved to NYC, then back to the West Coast to SF, now back East to CT. Absolutely LOVE that picture at the top of your blog of Mt. Rainier .... that is just simply stunning

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    1. Thank you so much! I do miss the PNW sooooo much. I think that pic of Mt Rainier is probably the best photo I've ever taken...it's done well in a couple of Facebook photo contests. Really it was all Ma Nature that day.

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  8. I think your photos are just fine as they show off the classic beauty in your set. Love the addition of red you made. btw, another kindred spirit - born in NY, grew up in VA, moved to CA, then to WA, now back to CA and splitting time in Idaho. :-)

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    1. Thank you so much Janet! Wow another East Coast/West Coast person! Where in WA did you live? I was in Pierce County, between Tacoma and Mt. Rainier.

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  9. Thanks for sharing your creative process with us - it was nice to learn how you progressed down the path from inspiration to realization, especially since there were a couple of twists and turns along the way. The final pieces are so lovely, and the pop of dark ruby red lifts them from pretty to "wow"!

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    1. Thank you very much Bobbie! I should do more beadwork...I let it go for awhile because I have so many necklaces, earrings and bracelets that have yet to sell and I got tired of it.

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  10. These beads are sparkly and I love the red with this-very unique and so pretty

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  11. Very cool JoJo! Lovely works you've created - adore the little crystals inside the donuts!

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    1. Thank you Maureen. Now that I've done one of these bead hops, I might have to participate in more of them.

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  12. Hope this means that your computer is back up and running. You were so happy with the new one, it's a shame these things let us down.

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    1. My computer guru friend managed to get it back up and running but I literally have zero confidence in it at all. In fact, I was waiting for it to crap out so when it wouldn't come up the other day, I just kind of sighed. I should just have Glenn order me an Acer.

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  13. Lovely work as always. I'd never heard of donut beads--pretty cool.

    Glad to see your computer back running. So frustrating--I've been there.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Tossing It Out

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    1. Thank you! I've seen lots of donut beads but I've never worked with them before. This was a good challenge for me to finally try it out. Now I might get some more.

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  14. JoJo,
    Your set is beautiful!!
    I like that you added the red beads, it made your pieces really pop-up.

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    1. Thank you so much Jasvanti! :D

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  15. JoJo, you've got a great eye for jewelry design and color. That touch of red really adds the perfect touch that makes the pieces pop.
    Taking photos of jewelry is challenging. I recall a professional photographer once admitting that she found photographing jewelry one of the most difficult things she's had to do. It's hard to capture the depth of glass and crystal beads or the sparkle of Aurora Borealis and especially stones such as goldstone, or tiger eye. Believe me, I've taken what seems like a billion pictures trying to get good shots of my jewelry and ended up deleting most of them .

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    1. Thank you very much!!! Jewelry is very hard to shoot for sure. I have a tutorial for creating a lightbox for jewelry pictures but I haven't done it yet. I keep hoping I can get better shots outside in the spring!

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