zondag 7 september 2014


Strong Women Wear Anchors!  

A link to the past first…
During World War I, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps allowed women to enlist.
More than 12,000 enlisted and about 400 died during the war. In World War II,
a total of 350,000 women served in the U.S. military. More than 60,000 women
served as Army nurses and over 14,000 served as Navy Nurses.
And so it is nowadays, there are still a lot of women serving, worldwide.
Strong women!!!

In war times this song was sung very often in the Royal Navy and US States Navy;
 Eternal_Father,_Strong_to_Save "
Originally a
poem, written in 1860 by William Whiting of Winchester.
 
 
 
 

There is a modern version, with a verse for Women too!

Female Sailors

 O God, protect the women who,
in service, faith in Thee renew;
O guide devoted hands of skill
And bless their work within Thy will;
Inspire their lives that they may be
Examples fair on land and sea.

Lines 1-4, Merle E. Strickland, 1972, and adapted by James D. Shannon, 1973.
Lines 5-6, Beatrice M. Truitt, 1948

And last but not least, 'we’ Dutchies, also have a female sailor!
A very young and strong woman, her name is Laura Dekker here's the link to her story

Rita, thank you for inspiring us Bloggers almost from month to month, you colour our lives!
 
Strong women wear Anchors, and tattoos…
Source; Tattoosnet

and
Source; Anchor tattoos

Do they like jewellery too?  Yes, I think so…  (-:
I made a bracelet (-:  and earrings. 

Based on  the theme for this blog & the tattoos.

With Diana's beautiful Anchor Charms! 2 Glass hearts made by me,
lovely Naos beads, Aquamarine,
Blue Agate, Sodalite  & Freshwater Pearls.

 
 
 
Naos - Wavey Fish Beads - Freshwater Pearls from Anne Betenson - JewelleryQuarter on Etsy

 

 




Participating Artists

 Featured & Honored Artist:        Diana Ptaszynski

Diana's Shop:                           Suburban Girl Beads

Diana's Blogs:                          Suburban Girl Studio
                                                 Art Jewelry Elements

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 ** You are here **

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

woensdag 3 september 2014

Let's talk about ♥FRIT baby, let's talk about ♥that and me...

 
Since I bought my first little bag filled with those tiny little chips of glass,
I fell in love with frit! It colours my beads and my days!
 
 
Imagine, you can design with whatever colour of glass you want,
with whatever colour or kind of  frit you like.
The outcome is always a surprise!

 


You can 'draw' with it, dip in it with a glass blob,
or roll a glass bead in it. Mixing & matching glass and frit!
The possibilities are endless...
 
 
 
That Frit Girl  -Here is her shop - was looking for
volunteers to test some new frits, a while ago. I responded and
the testing began last week...  It was so nice, playing!
 
 
The beads with the frit I have been testing so far, can be found
on her website.  Together with lots of other beautiful examples made
by different fellow bead makers!
 
That Frit Girl, Leslie, wrote about her 'new tester' me :-)
on her blog, and she's also on Facebook showing her blends etc.

Have fun admiring the beautiful frit and all the beads showcased
when visiting her site and blog!


 

zondag 24 augustus 2014


Twice as nice, Holiday / Christmas in July…
14th Non Blogger -Blogger Design Challenge

 
 l Iearned a lot during these last 2 Challenges, organized by Rita / Toltec School of Jewelry. 
And
I have seen ( a for me) totally new kind of Chicklet. And now I’m  celebrating
 
Holiday I
n July  
in The Netherlands,  for the very first time J
  After searching on Google what
it means, it’s clear to me!
It was fun designing and creating my ‘X-mas’ pieces, at 20 something degrees Celsius! 
So
I choose the ‘Sparkling Holiday’ Theme, I love crystals  silver and
freshwater pearls
☼. And teal -ish and blue-ish colors too.

My first piece is a pair of earrings,
made with facetted rock crystal and a few Jade hand cut leaves.
The ear hook is made of Sterling Silver. Very wearable, the whole year round
J!
 
The second piece is a bracelet – yes, there is almost always a bracelet present in
my challenges!!! – I used Shell pearls, freshwater pearls, facetted Aquamarine,
Angel Stone, Moon Stone & Opalite ……
The center piece is a ceramic button, made by Birgitta Lejonklou. She became
a very good FB Friend since the 7th Bead Soup Café Party last year,
and let me tell you, we chat a lot!
 
 
Last but not least, my third piece, it’s a ring topper on a sterling Silver ring.
The ring has a screw on it, inside the topper is a bold.  I made  it with Moretti soft glass,
some silver glass and decorated the topper with murini and a big swirl!  I’m having my X-mas party on the beach!
 
Three!!! pieces this time, made in 1 theme. A great Challenge!
Thanx for hosting this one Rita, and see you on FB and...
in the upcoming Challenges next month.

 
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Wow, and I won2 prizes!!! Lucky me!
Here's the link  if you like to read about it

and see the beautiful pieces of the other participants!



Here is the list with the names of all participants on FB or on the www.
 
  1. Toltec Jewels - http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com/   Our hostess...
  2. Renetha Stanziano - www.lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com
  3. Dini Bruinsma -  http://angazabychanges.blogspot.nl ♥ you are here...
  4. Tammy Adamshttp://www.paisleylizard.com/blog.html
  5. Blanca Medina - http://www.peru-medesigns.com
  6. Chris Eisenberg - www.wanderware.blogspot.com
  7. Krafty Max - http://kraftymax.blogspot.com
  8. Robin Kae Reed www.willowdragon.blogspot.com
  9. Kathy Lindemer  - http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.nl/
  10. Marde Lowe - www.fancimardesigns.blogspot.com
  11. Andrea Glick - http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/
  12. Lee Koopman  http://stregajewellry.wordpress.com/
  13. Natalie Davidsonhttp://www.northshoredays.com/
  14. Lili Kristhttp://pcbylik.blogspot.com/
  15. Lori Anderson -   http://www.prettythingsblog.com/
  16. Tami Norris
  17. Klaudete Koon
  18. Ginger Hammond www.facebook.com/lynnleighdesigns
  19. Kathleen A Breeding http://99bobotw.blogspot.com/
  20. Veralynne Malone www.veradesigns.blogspot.com
  21. Shalini Austinhttp://jewellerybyshalini.co.uk
  22. Gloria Allen Designs - http://wingsandbeads.blogspot.nl/
  23. Sheila Prose - http://catswithbeads.blogspot.com
  24. Cheri Reed

zondag 3 augustus 2014


Choosy Chicks Choose Chicklets Design Challenge!


 Another great blog hop hosted by our sweet hostess Rita – Toltec Jewels. She
always surprises us with what she’s  coming up with… 
This time she sends us, as a gift, a tiny little bead, made by Sue Beads.
A chicklet. That’s what we are going to create with J

 When I read the title of the hop, I have no clue what a chicklet exactly is…
I remember some  kind of chewing gum when I was a child, and that's it.
 My dictionary
says:  
 
?????
 
 
 Yess, that helps a bit! At least nr. 1.

‘We’ are free to buy some additional chicklet beads, and that’s what I did!
They are so sweet!  I did that before seeing ‘my’ chicklet.
When it arrived I found  a chocolate brown beauty.  
 
Luckily I choose light blue, banana and a gun metal coloured beady… 
That made it easy for me, brown and blue, a classy combination. I love that.
Fond of making bracelets as I am, yes... that’s what I designed.
 
I added some agate beads, montana rock crystal, some pewter rings and
aquamarine facetted beads.  And… I made 2 glass beads, the roses.
With the same glass as the 1 black /greyish bead I bought.
Some jasper butterflies are added because it’s...
Summertime!
 
 

There were 2 chicklets left, the banana coloured sweeties.
A nice colour for some earrings. There’s a touch of grey  in them.
So I added some hematite cubes and jet black crystal beads and gilded bead
caps for the sparkly part. The earrings are made of sterling silver.
 
 
 
Rita, I hope I did give your chicklet a good home!
It has found some chicklet brothers and sisters in that far away new adopted country!
Thank you so much for organizing the hop.
 
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Have fun hopping and admiring the creations and stories of the other participants:

Guest of Honor & Featured Artist:  Susan Kennedy
 
Sue Kennedy's blogs:                              SueBeads...A Beady Girl's
                                                               Art Jewelry Elements
Sue Kennedy's website                            SueBeads
SueBeads Art Beads                                SueBeads
 
Hostess:
 Toltec Jewels                                           http://www.JewelSchoolFriends.com

Artists:
Linda Anderson                                       http://fromthebeadboard.blogspot.com/
Jennifer Reno                                           http://jenrenjewelry.blogspot.com/
Shirley Moore                                          http://beadsandbread.blogspot.com/
Kristen Stevens                                        http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com
Marybeth Rich                                         http://forestofjewels.blogspot.com
Jael Thorp                                                http://jaelsjewels.blogspot.com/
Melissa Trudinger                                     http://Beadrecipes.wordpress.com
Andrea Glick                                            http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/
Nan Smith                                                http://wirednan.blogspot.com
Blanca Medina                                         www.peru-medesigns.com
Shai Williams                                            http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com
Carolyn Lawson                                       http://Carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com
Rana Wilson                                             http://Ranaleadesigns.blogspot.com
Robin Reed                                              http://willowdragon.blogspot.com
Robin Showstack                                     http://heartsdesiresjewelryforyou.blogspot.com/
Sheila Prosterman                                     http://catswithbeads.blogspot.com
Karla Morgan                                          http://Texaspepperjams.blogspot.com
Kari Asbury                                             http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com
Kelly Rodgers                                          https://www.facebook.com/BeadinBlackBlue
Jayne Capps                                            https://mamasgottodoodle.blogspot.com/
Mischelle Andrade Fanucchi                    https://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com/
Heather Richter                                       http://desertjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com
Chris Eisenberg                                       www.wanderware.blogspot.com
Kathleen Breeding                               http://www.zibbet.com/99BottlesofBeadsontheWall
Linda Landig                                           http://lindalandig.wordpress.com
Crystal Thain                                           http://beaddragons.blogspot.com/
Cheri Reed                                              http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com
Heather d-Entremont                               http://frugalmadougall.wordpress.com/
Dini Bruinsma                                          ** http://angazabychanges.blogspot.com **
Lori Schneider                                         http://www.beadaddicted.blogspot.com/
Tammy Adams                                        http://www.paisleylizard.com/blog.html
Melinda Orr                                            http://bandanagirl.indiemade.com/blog
Lennis Carrier                                         http://windbent.wordpress.com/
Cynthia Machata                                     http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com
Elizabeth Hodges                                    http://thewhisperingseas.blogspot.com
Debbie Rasmussen                                  http://kepirasmussen.blogspot.com/
Tanya McGuire                                       http://tanyamcguire.blogspot.com/
Charlie Jacka                                          http://clay-space.com/blog/
Ev Shelby                                               http://raindropcreationsbyevelyn.blogspot.com/
Sharyl McMillian-Nelson                        http://sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com/
Jasvanti Patel                                        http://jewelrybyjasvanti.blogspot.com

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥