June 2017 Component Challenge

Today is the reveal for the June 2017 Component Challenge, hosted by Janice Everett in her Facebook group Artisan Create Together.  Mari Carmen of Majoyoal  donated 12 pairs of her beautiful ceramic components for this Challenge. I received one of the violet pairs from the picture below.

I  really admire Mari Carmen’s way with glazes.  Her color combinations and the way she swirls the glaze colors together, without them ever looking muddy, just fills me with awe. 

For some reason the larger Czech glass flowers in my photos look like they are blue.  In reality they are lavender and purple with hints of gold. The Swarovski crystals are a pale, translucent green which echos the green at the top of Mari Carmen’s ceramic components.

Mari Carmen lives in Spain and I speak a little very basic Spanish. Whenever she comments on my Facebook page in Spanish, I try to read it without hitting the translate button, although she frequently comments in English too.  If I am able, I like to comment on her posts in Spanish.  You may remember that we lived in Oaxaca, MX for 3 months, two or three years ago. So I like to use my tiny bit of Spanish when I can.

I just want to thank Janice for all the work she puts into Artisan Create Together and I’d like to thank Mari Carmen for generously sharing her beautiful ceramic components with us.

Linda Landig Jewelry

Component Of The Month Reveal – Doubled

Caroline Dewison, of Blueberri Beads, was our component hostess this month. Everyone received one of these unique and awesome lichen components.

I love how Caroline’s lichen have little cup shapes. This photo shows some similarly shaped lichen, that I saw during a walk, with my husband on the beach.

And here’s the lichen necklace, that I designed with Caroline’s pendant.

The green is quite intense, so I wanted a neutral background color, where the eyes could rest.  So I picked up the gray background in the pendant and added gray wooden cubes, 3 gray polymer rounds and some gray titanium hematite tubes that I picked up at Bead Fest last August. A rounded triangular polymer clay bead by Staci Louise Originals in black and straw-brown furthers the muted tones.

I highlighted the green, with a great, textured ceramic tube bead by White Clover Kiln.  I also used some green pearls, 2 green rubber rings and fun, green pellet beads.

I had some glass druk beads from Bead Fest that are the exact teal-turquoise color as the center of the lichen “cups”.  So I added 3 of those to accent the lichen centers.

To find out more about this necklace or to make a purchase, go to Linda Landig Jewelry

And here’s why the title of this post says that the Reveal is doubled.  When we had the August COM Reveal, I could only show a work-in-progress photo of the necklace I was making with Diana’s pendant.  Well, it’s finally done,  so I’m sharing the finished necklace now!

In addition to the pendant, the turquoise, ceramic round bead was also made by Diana.  Artisan ceramic beads by Karen Totten of Starry Road and Gaea are also included in this necklace.  The beads are strung on Irish waxed linen and the chain is upcycled from an old purse of mine.   This necklace is now available in my shop.

I want to thank Caroline for sharing her lichen pendants with us.  It was a delight to work with.

This is a blog hop and I encourage you to visit the blogs listed below to see what the other participants have made with Caroline’s stunning pendants.

Guest Artists

Nicole Prince

Kathy Lindemer

AJE Team

Diana Ptaszynski

Lesley Watt

Niky Sayers

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Susan Kennedy

Lindsay Starr

Jennifer Stout Cameron

Kristen Stevens

Linda Landig

Caroline Dewison

I am always delighted to read your comments!   Hope to hear from you.

Linda Landig Jewelry

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Snowflake Necklace

AJE Component of the Month Reveal

Once a month Art Jewelry Elements (AJE) hosts a component giveaway and jewelry reveal.  December’s component was made by Diana Ptaszynski of Suburban Girl Studio.  Members of the Art Jewelry Elements team, plus a few  lucky guest artists were given one of these awesome ceramic snowflake pendants to design with.  Today we get to see what everyone created!

Ceramic Snowflake Pendants by Suburban Girl Studio

I received one of the turquoise snowflakes to work with.  I decided to highlight the triangular shaped points of the snowflakes, by using some bicone shaped beads and by creating a triangular shaped clasp.

The triangular link is based on a link from Cindy Wimmer‘s book The Missing Link.  I used a bit lighter gauge wire and made it a bit smaller, so it wouldn’t overwhelm Diana’s pendant.  Then I used the same basic idea, but created a hook on one end, so I could use it as a clasp.

The beads are strung on walnut colored Irish waxed linen.  The beautiful batiked ribbon wrapped a bead order I got from Karen Totten of Starry Road Studio.  It has some turquoise in it, along with shades of blue, black and green.  So pretty and it was a perfect finishing touch for my necklace.

Thank you Diana for sharing your pendants with us! Visit Suburban Girl Studio to see more of Diana’s work!

Want to see more gorgeous  jewelry with Diana’s snowflake pendants?  Click on the links below to see what the other participants created.   Have fun!

Guest Artists

Dana Hickey

 

AJE Blog Team

Lindsay M Starr

Linda Landig

Lesley Watt

Caroline Dewison

Susan Kennedy

Jen Cameron

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Melissa Meman

Kristen Stevens

I am always delighted to read your comments!   Hope to hear from you.

-Linda

Linda Landig Jewelry

We’re All Ears July Reveal

Here is this month’s inspiration picture:

This was an easy inspiration for me.  We live minutes away from the very end of Puget Sound.  Its common to see the sail boats go gliding by.  And I had the perfect pair of ceramic charms from Diana P. of Suburban Girl Studio.

All I had to do was add a few dangles above the sailboats.  The blue beads are sodalite and the red beads are glass.  I attached them all to Vintaj brass ear wires and now I’m ready to go sailing!  Its perfect weather for that today.  All I lack is, um, a boat….  Oh well, the earrings are perfect for summer wear, even without a boat!

Sail Away Earrings

I am always delighted to read your comments!   Hope to hear from you.

-Linda

Linda Landig Jewelry

Happy Day Bracelet

AJE Component of the Month Reveal

April’s Art Jewelry Elements (AJE) giveaway was hosted by the multi-talented Lesley Watt of  Thea Elements.   Members of the AJE team, plus a few lucky guest artists, were given one of these delightful, ceramic button clasps that Lesley made for us.

Button Clasps from THEA Elements

Here’s the bracelet I made with the clasp that I received.

Happy Day Bracelet

I combined Lesley’s clasp with an enameled bead in a matching color,  a yellow-peach colored ceramic cube from Suburban Girl and a faceted polymer clay bead from Second Surf.  The back of the bracelet has 3 strands of glass cube beads, interspersed with purple Czech glass seed beads.  I strung them all on denim blue Irish waxed linen and added a Czech glass flower dangle near the clasp.

Happy Day Bracelet

I called this the “Happy Day Bracelet” because I had the most delightful day when I made this bracelet.  I began the day with my first session of a volunteer job tutoring a young man in basic reading skills.  Our first session went much better than expected.  I felt that old thrill that I always experienced as a teacher, when I could see that real learning was taking place.  There’s nothing like it!  After the tutoring session, I came home and made this bracelet.  Then after dinner, I went to Marion Pollman’s studio for a ceramics lesson. We glazed my first batch of ceramic pendants and charms.  I can’t even begin to express how happy I am that Marion is helping me to make my ceramic dreams come true!  After all that goodness in one day, I was just certain that this had to be called the “Happy Day Bracelet“!

Happy Day Bracelet

Want to see more gorgeous  jewelry with Lesley’s awesome button clasps?  Here are all the links.  Have fun!

Guest Designers:

Johana Nunez

Leah Curtis
Perri Jackson

AJE Team
Lesley Watt
Keirsten Giles
Caroline Dewison
Rebekah Payne
Jjenny Davies-Reazor
Jen Cameron
Diana Ptaszynski
Kristen Stevens
Francesca Watson
Melissa Meman
Linda Landig
Sue Kennedy

I am always delighted to read your comments!   Hope to hear from you.

Linda

Linda Landig Jewelry – ArtFire 

Linda Landig Jewelry – Etsy

Earrings Everyday April Challenge

Take Flight 

Welcome to the We’re All Ears blog hop!  Once a month, Erin Prais-Hintz posts a picture on the Earrings Everyday blog to inspire our earring designs and then on the third Friday of the month everyone shares what they have created.

This month’s inspiration is a beautifully staged photo from the Pottery Barn.

Skylark table setting from the Pottery Barn

As usual, the first thing that I loved about this photo was the rich colors:  olive-green, brown, and yellow.  Swoon!  After I recovered from my color swoon, I noticed the bird on the plate and how that shape is echoed in the bowl that holds the olive oil.

So here’s what I came up with:

Take Flight earrings

The ceramic connectors are the creation of Marti Conrad of Marti’s Buttons-n-Beads. I love glaze on Marti’s connectors.  It’s not just a solid green, there are flecks of blue and brown too.  It makes them much more interesting  than just a flat green color.

Take Flight earrings

The birds used to have 2 loops each, but my wire cutters and a file solved that problem!  The flowers pick up the silver tones of the silverware in the Pottery Barn picture.  I’ve never seen a silvery coating on beads quite like what these flowers have and I always gravitate toward unique finds! The slightly whimsical striped yellow beads bring in the yellow tones on the bird and in the base of the drinks.

The Take Flight earrings are available in my Etsy shop now.

Take Flight earrings

Now comes the fun part.  Click on the little frog picture at the end of this post to get links to all the challenge participants or simply go to Earrings Everyday for all the links.  Then visit everyone’s blogs to see the wonderful earrings they have created!

I am always delighted to read your comments!   Hope to hear from you.

Linda

Linda Landig Jewelry – ArtFire 

Linda Landig Jewelry – Etsy

Luna Moth Necklace

AJE Component of the Month Reveal

Once a month Art Jewelry Elements (AJE) hosts a component giveaway and jewelry reveal.  March’s component was made by the talented Caroline Dewison of Blueberribeads.  Members of the Art Jewelry Elements team, plus a lucky guest artist were given one of these beautiful  luna moth pendants that Caroline made for us.

Ceramic Luna Moth Pendants

I chose the lilac moth in the top row.  I had recently ordered several colors of matte “peanut” beads, (aka farfalle beads) and I was anxious to put them to use.  I made a mix of lilac, dark purple and cream-colored peanut beads.  Then I tossed in some metallic purple, lilac and sage green seed beads.  I created 3 strands on each side using this mix of beads and I wove them in and out of larger beads.

Luna Moth Necklace

I dangled flowers at the points where the beaded cords attached to the chain.  Two flowers dangle on one side and one flower dangles on the other.  The Luna Moth Necklace is now available in my Etsy shop.

Luna Moth Necklace

I thought you might also enjoy seeing what an actual Luna Moth looks like.

Luna Moth

Want to see more gorgeous  jewelry with Caroline’s Luna Moth pendants?  Here are all the links.  Have fun!

Guest Designer:
Niky Sayers – http://silverniknats.blogspot.co.uk

The AJE Team
Caroline Dewison – http://www.blueberribeads.co.uk
Diana Ptaszynski – http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com
Susan Kennedy – http://suebeads.blogspot.co.uk
Kristen Stevens – http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com/
Keirsten Giles – http://cerebraldilettante.blogspot.com
Jenny Davies-Reazor – http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog
Melissa Meman – http://melissameman.blogspot.co.uk
Rebekah Payne – http://www.treewingsstudio.com
Lesley Watt – http://thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.co.uk
Linda Landig – http://www.LindasBeadBlog.com

I am always delighted to read your comments!   Hope to hear from you.

Linda

Linda Landig Jewelry – ArtFire 

Linda Landig Jewelry – Etsy

Day Of The Dead Necklace

Halloween – Day of the Dead Jewelry Blog Hop

Diana Ptaszynski, of Suburban Girl Studio, is hosting a Halloween – Day of the Dead blog hop! Since my husband and I were in Oaxaca, Mexico during the Day of the Dead last year, this jewelry challenge was right up my alley!  (I wrote about our experience with this amazing celebration, on the Art Jewelry Elements blog, if you would like to read more).

Dia de los Muertos was originally an Aztec celebration of the lives of those who had died. The Spanish conquerors tried to put an end to the holiday, without  success.  Over time el Dia de los Muertos merged with the Catholic All-Saints day and All-Souls day on November 1st and 2nd. The contemporary celebration melds aspects of Aztec ritual with Christian traditions and contemporary life.

Sugar Skulls and Marigolds

Sugar Skulls in Oaxaca

We started seeing sugar skulls in the markets about a week or 2 before the Day of the Dead celebration.  Apparently the Catholic friars taught the Mexicans how to make decorations from an ingredient that was abundant and affordable:  sugar.  Sugar Skulls and other items are often used to decorate the ofrendas on Dia de los Muertos.  As in the picture below, marigolds also decorate small home altars like this, as well as large public displays.  The bright orange marigolds are said to guide the spirits of the deceased, back to their earthly homes, as they visit their loved ones.

Oferendas with sugar skulls

Day of the Dead Necklace

I wanted my Day of the Dead necklace to reflect these traditions with respect and authenticity.  So I started with an awesome, bronze clay sugar skull that I got from Staci Smith at Bead Fest in August.

Then I needed some beads to represent the marigolds.  These were perfect!

Day Of the Dead Necklace with Marigold beads.

So I wired a “marigold” to the chin of the sugar skull and dangled 7 of them from a strand of black, gray and silver “peanut beads”.

Day of the Dead Necklace

I topped the sugar skull with a dark lilac handmade ceramic bead by Mary Hubbard, of White Clover Kiln and then added a strand of purple, recycled sari silk.

Day of the Dead Necklace

I had a lot of fun expressing my experiences in Mexico through the design of my Day of the Dead necklace.  Thank you Diana Ptaszynski, for hosting this blog hop!  Check out the links below to visit the other blogs participating in Diana’s blog hop!

Diana Ptaszynski  http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com

 

Staci Smith  http://www.stacilouiseoriginals.com/

 

Kathleen Breeding  http://99bobotw.blogspot.com

 

Sue Kennedy  http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com

 

Dianne Miller  http://www.artbydianne.blogspot.com

 

Lisa Liddy  http://www.lisaliddy.wordpress.com

Toltec Jewels  http://www.JewelSchoolFriends.com

Linda Landig  http://www.LindasBeadBlog.com  You are here.

Laura Medeiros  http://Www.zoeowyn.blogspot.com

Veralynne Malone  http://www.veradesigns.blogspot.com

Lynn Jobber  http://thecreativeklutz.blogspot.co.uk

Michelle McCarthy  http://www.fireflydesignstudio.blogspot.com

 

Karen Totten  http://www.starryroadstudio.blogspot.com

 

Jayne Capps  https://mamasgottodoodle.blogspot.com

Jenny Davies-Reazor  http://jdaviesreazor.com/blog

 

Joan Miller  http://metalmudandsand.blogspot.com/

Melissa Meman  http://melissameman.blogspot.com

Melissa Trudinger  http://www.beadrecipes.wordpress.com

 

Kari Asbury  http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com

Inge von Roos  http://www.ingetraud.wordpress.com

 

Andrea Glick  http://zenithjade.blogspot.com 

 

Stephanie LaRosa  http://Www.stringaholic.blogspot.com

Lola Surwillo  http://www.beadlolabead.com

Jennifer Cameron  http://glassaddictions.com/blog

Diane Hawkey  http://dianehawkey.blogspot.com

 

Kristi Harrison  http://kristibasket-itsanewday.blogspot.com

 

Nicole Valentine Rimmer  http://www.nvalentine.blogspot.com

Tanya Goodwin  http://www.Pixiloo.blogspot.com

 

Shai Williams  http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com/

Sandra McGriff  http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com

Sarajo Wentling  http://www.sjdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com

Marie Covert  http://thistledown-and-swaddlings.blogspot.com

Lisa Stukel  http://www.carefreejewelrybylisa.blogspot.com

Laurie Vyselaar  http://www.Lefthandjewelry.wordpress.com

 

Sherri Stokey  http://www.knotjustmacrame.com

Pam Traub  http://www.klassyjoolz.blogspot.com

Lori Dorrington  http://lorisglassworks.blogspot.com

Kristen Stevens  http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com

Eleanor Burian-Mohr  http://cornerstoregoddessjewelry.blogspot.com

Sally Russick  http://thestudiosublime.com

Dawn M. Gallop  http://www.flipflopsandpoptarts.com

Christine Damm   http://storiestheytell.blogspot.com

I am always delighted to read your comments!   Hope to hear from you.

Linda

Linda Landig Jewelry – ArtFire 

Linda Landig Jewelry – Etsy

Wonky Bead Blog Hop

My apologizes for arriving late to the blog hop.  The cord that recharges the battery on my laptop is broken and so until the new one arrives, I had to find another computer to use for my blog post. Hence the fact that I’m a day late.

I had a lot of fun working with Kristi Bowman’s polymer clay “Wonky Beads”.  I loved both the colors and the fun textures.  Here are the beads that I bought for the blog hop.

I had some ideas in mind for what I wanted to do, but nevertheless, it took a couple of false starts.  This was my first layout.  I really liked it, but the pendant has a yellowish cast to it, that just didn’t work with Kristi’s beads.  Sadly, I had to set it aside.

Next off, I tried a ceramic butterfly that was a perfect color match.  I even knotted this onto the necklace and knotted some of the beads together, but I just wasn’t feeling it.

  I stared at it for awhile and finally cut the butterfly off.   I decided that the Wonky Beads spoke for themselves and that the necklace looked too cluttered with the pendant.  When I restrung it, without the pendant I had that “just right” feeling that tells me that I’ve arrived at my happy design place!

Wonky Bead Necklace

The necklace is strung on a doubled strand of brown cotton cording and the upper portion features 2 strands of dark teal “peanut” beads, with a button closure.  When I found that button in my stash, I was thrilled!  Look how well it accents the polymer clay tube bead, above the small red disk!  The “Wonky Bead Necklace” is available in my Etsy shop.

You can find links to all the other Wonky Bead creations of Kristi Bowman’s blog!  Check out her shop, as well!

Flash Sale

I am heading out to Bead Fest in Philadelphia on Wednesday.  Soooooo excited!  If you are going to be there, please stop by Jenny Davies-Reazor’s booth and say “Hi!”.  I will be assisting her there.

Blue Sky and Sunshine Necklace

In order to make room for all the new goodies I will be bringing home from Bead Fest, I am having a 2 day long flash sale in both of my online shops.  Simply enter the coupon code BEADFEST15 at checkout and receive 15% off your purchase, (discount does not apply to shipping).   Now is the time to stock up, because I don’t have sales very often.  So visit my ArtFire shop and/or my Etsy shop and save 15%.  Each shop has different items in it.

Linda Landig Jewelry on ArtFire       Linda Landig Jewelry on Etsy

Monet’s Garden Necklace

In addition to the sale in my shops, I am selling some items on my Facebook page, at 15% off.  These are items that have not yet been listed in my online jewelry shops.  So you have an opportunity to snatch them early at a nice 15% discount.  So hop over to my  Linda Landig Jewelry  Facebook page to check out the sales there.

Ladybug Earrings

I sincerely appreciate everyone’s support over the years.  And that is not just financial support, it includes the value you place on the work of an artisans hands and heart.  Thank you.

Cottage Garden Bracelet

Nested Bird Necklace

Online shops use coupon code BEADFEST15

Facebook page, no code needed

Linda

Linda Landig Jewelry – ArtFire 

Linda Landig Jewelry – Etsy