Monday Muse: Tropical Beads

 

As you are reading this I'm floating blissfully to a tropical island while hanging out with 65 creative, beady friends. It's Bead Cruise time!

I've been super inspired by the ocean and our Mexican destinations. Above you can see my latest birds with starfish, shells and coral designs. 

 

These earring charms look like treasures swept along a seaweed current. 

 

 

I'm teaching how to make these sea inspired headpins in one of my classes. Those are Nunn Design copper charms. 

 

Along with all those soft beachy hues, I was inspired by Mexican embroidery. I know I'll be shopping for some fun examples on the islands and taking lots of photos! 

 

I made these pendants inspired by Mexican ceramic tiles. These were my gift to our Bead Cruisers in our gift swag bags. 

Take a mental vacation on Pinterest this week and create jewelry inspired by your dream vacation. 

Monday Muse and Beady Link Party

Hello! Daylight is getting shorter, temperatures colder and all things fall have captured my attention this week. I'm loving owls right now and have round up some of my current favorites. 

First up is this sweet little owl from Andrew Thornton with an intriguing painterly treatment found in the Allegory Gallery Etsy shop.

A minimal ceramic pendant in a perfectly rustic glaze from Cherryhill Studio.

My bead crush of the week are these adorable owl lampwork beads from Glass Afternoon.

The flowers on the belly of this owl just makes the whole design for me, what a stand out from Havana Beads.

Tiny owl charms from me over at Humblebeads - so cute as earrings or as tiny charms.

I love everything about this ceramic owl from Jenny Davies-Reazor. The color is so perfect for fall and the two holes opens up so many design options for this piece.

Beady Link Party

We invite our readers to share their blog post links with us each week. As long as they feature jewelry or beads, share your favorite post from last week with us. We hope this will inspire you to blog a little more often and bring our community closer together.

1. Please only post blog new links each week. *

2. Visit at least two other blog links and leave a comment. We want to grow our blogging community and encourage you connect with each other.

3. You have until Wednesday each week to share your blog post.

We want to connect more with our readers! Join the party and share you latest beady blog link.

Haven't blogged in a while? It's the perfect time to share what you have been up to, what you find inspiring, your creative process, interview a favorite beadmaker, review a beady book - get creative and get blogging!

The beady link party is open to jewelry designers, beadmakers and group bead blogs.

Share you link using the "Add a Link" Inlinkz button below.

*We ask for fresh links, if you have a post that you haven't shared with us yet but it's a few weeks old, that's cool.    

An InLinkz Link-up

Monday Muse and Beady Link Party

Hello! Today my muse is ready to take flight, she's not quiet ready to face the week and is definitely ready to spread her wings and leave Monday in the dust!

Let's start out with this dreamy feather from Firefly Design Studio. I love the mottled blue, brown and cream colors.

This porcelain bohemian inspired feather is from Majoyoal from Spain. I think this might be my favorite pick from today.

Then is there is a perfect feather, it would be from Heather Wynn of SwoonDimples. From the color blend to the texture to the tiny bird stamp to the silver bail detail, it's amazing! 

I'm a big fan of these leather creations from TreeWingStudio that are textures and hand-painted in these fun geometric patterns. The trick to using a leather pendant like this is to pair it up with chain and stones or ceramic for a contrast of textures. 

 Ah yeah, these please! Copper electroplated feathers from Fottiniya - boy are the singing my song!

And finally, my latest feathered friends - birds, nest and feather totems. You can find them in my Humblebeads Etsy shop. 

Beady Link Party

We invite our readers to share their blog post links with us each week. As long as they feature jewelry or beads, share your favorite post from last week with us. We hope this will inspire you to blog a little more often and bring our community closer together.

1. Please only post blog new links each week. *

2. Visit at least two other blog links and leave a comment. We want to grow our blogging community and encourage you connect with each other.

3. You have until Wednesday each week to share your blog post.

We want to connect more with our readers! Join the party and share you latest beady blog link.

Haven't blogged in a while? It's the perfect time to share what you have been up to, what you find inspiring, your creative process, interview a favorite beadmaker, review a beady book - get creative and get blogging!

The beady link party is open to jewelry designers, beadmakers and group bead blogs.

Share you link using the "Add a Link" Inlinkz button below.

*We ask for fresh links, if you have a post that you haven't shared with us yet but it's a few weeks old, that's cool.    

An InLinkz Link-up

Monday Muse and Beady Link Party

Hmm, last Monday of August. I'm gonna call it. Summer is breathing it's last humid breath and soon those crimp autumn days will be here and I will relishing in all the colors and sights of the season. If you aren't ready to let go of summer, you may want to look away. Autumn inspirations ahead! 

I'll ease you into the season with a few late summer garden finds like this sweet little lampwork butterfly bead by JewelryBeadsbyKate. 

Love this set from Russian lampwork artist Maria Kirillova from GlassMagic. Yeah, let's file these under completely amazing!

These remind me of autumn mums. They are already popping at the farmer's markets in our town. That's my first hint that fall is a pumpkin's throw away! Lampwork flowers from KatrinaTreasures.

Lisa Peters and Mother Nature must have sat down for tea one afternoon because she is channelling the best of autumn in these rustic floral raku pieces. I have a nice collection of leaves in this style. I must go pull them out today! Stop by LisaPetersArt to find them.

A metallic raku finish on mini acorn charms? Yes, please! These lovelies are from Valerie over at ClayForACure. A portion of the sales are donated to finding a cure for cancer. I had to stop writing this post to purchase a pair for myself!

My bead table is filled with autumn beads. These little birch branch beads are one of my latest creations. Find them in my Humblebeads Etsy shop. 

You can find all sorts of autumn goodness created in lampwork glass over at MasqueBeads. Just take a few minutes to visit this shop, I want so many!!! 

I had to sneak in a pumpkin, what's autumn with out a little pumpkin spice! These goregous raku ones are from KiyoiDesgin.

I'm loving this golden mustard color for fall, it's been popping up in my own beads and Carol from TerraRustica has perfectly captured the color with a lacy floral design. Hmm, I may need these too.

Beady Link Party

We invite our readers to share their blog post links with us each week. As long as they feature jewelry or beads, share your favorite post from last week with us. We hope this will inspire you to blog a little more often and bring our community closer together.

1. Please only post blog new links each week. *

2. Visit at least two other blog links and leave a comment. We want to grow our blogging community and encourage you connect with each other.

3. You have until Wednesday each week to share your blog post.

We want to connect more with our readers! Join the party and share you latest beady blog link.

Haven't blogged in a while? It's the perfect time to share what you have been up to, what you find inspiring, your creative process, interview a favorite beadmaker, review a beady book - get creative and get blogging!

The beady link party is open to jewelry designers, beadmakers and group bead blogs.

Share you link using the "Add a Link" Inlinkz button below.

*We ask for fresh links, if you have a post that you haven't shared with us yet but it's a few weeks old, that's cool.   

An InLinkz Link-up

Monday Muse and Beady Link Party

My muse is torn between wanting to hold one to those last few weeks of summer and looking ahead to the fall season.

So somewhere in those long, hot days of August I'm reminded of teenage summers at the local pond watching dragonflies skim across the surface of the water and those murky blues, purples, woodland greens and browns rushing together. Here are some dragonfly picks to inspire you too.

First up is the silver dragonfly cuff by Cathy Dailey, pictured above.

Perfect dragonfly pairs in ceramic by Scorched Earth.

A ceramic dragonfly bead by Cynthia Cranes Pottery

Love seeing Earthenwood Studio's shop filled with work like her classic Dragonfly Pendant.

 Polymer clay charms that would make perfect earrings from Ornamental Objects.

 I love these organic silver dragonfly charms from Pam Springall via VDIJewelryFindings. 

And from me, over at my Humblebeads Etsy shop is this fun and colorful set of coin beads featuring a dragonfly focal.

I'm always asked at shows when I'm selling jewelry if I have dragonfly items, so they seem to inspire many others too! Dragonflies symbolize wisdom, transformation, change and adaptability in life - so no wonder they appeal to so many. 

Beady Link Party

We invite our readers to share their blog post links with us each week. As long as they feature jewelry or beads, share your favorite post from last week with us. We hope this will inspire you to blog a little more often and bring our community closer together.

1. Please only post blog new links each week. *

2. Visit at least two other blog links and leave a comment. We want to grow our blogging community and encourage you connect with each other.

3. You have until Wednesday each week to share your blog post.

We want to connect more with our readers! Join the party and share you latest beady blog link.

Haven't blogged in a while? It's the perfect time to share what you have been up to, what you find inspiring, your creative process, interview a favorite beadmaker, review a beady book - get creative and get blogging!

The beady link party is open to jewelry designers, beadmakers and group bead blogs.

Share you link using the "Add a Link" Inlinkz button below.

*We ask for fresh links, if you have a post that you haven't shared with us yet but it's a few weeks old, that's cool.   

An InLinkz Link-up

Monday Muse and Beady Link Party

Hello! Well July is just zooming by, isn't it? And speaking of things zooming by, today's very late Monday Muse is focused on bees. There seems to a bee for every type of bonnet and I found quite a lovely sampling on Etsy from artists all over the world. Let's take a peek:

This bee pendant from the Classic Beads reminds me of something you'd find in a Victorian garden. I love the earthy feel.

I have been so happy to see Melanie of Earthenwood Studio making new pieces. She has these awesome new vintage inspired illustrative pendants. Stop by her shop to see all her new work!

White Swan Studio has these beautiful bees in her shop, I love the shabby chic look of them. I really need one of these!

Here is one from my shop, Humblebeads. Match up your bee pendants with flower beads for a instant garden.

I love the playful quality of this set of honeybees and a skep from JunqueJules.  

Andrew Thornton has recently launched a new Etsy shop for his bead store, Allegory Gallery. The Etsy shop is filled with Andrew's polymer clay pendants and lots of goodies to go with them. 

Rowan Song Crafts created this pendant that just makes me smile! Such a happy little bee!

Beady Link Party
We invite our readers to share their blog post links with us each week. As long as they feature jewelry or beads, share your favorite post from last week with us. We hope this will inspire you to blog a little more often and bring our community closer together.

1. Please only post blog new links each week. *

2. Visit at least two other blog links and leave a comment. We want to grow our blogging community and encourage you connect with each other.

3. You have until Wednesday each week to share your blog post.

We want to connect more with our readers! Join the party and share you latest beady blog link.

Haven't blogged in a while? It's the perfect time to share what you have been up to, what you find inspiring, your creative process, interview a favorite beadmaker, review a beady book - get creative and get blogging!

The beady link party is open to jewelry designers, beadmakers and group bead blogs.

Share you link using the "Add a Link" Inlinkz button below.

*We ask for fresh links, if you have a post that you haven't shared with us yet but it's a few weeks old, that's cool.  

An InLinkz Link-up

Monday Muse & Beady Link Party

Happy Monday Everybody! So I have a color crush and it's been bad lately. Inspired by the desert blooms of cactus and succulents all I want to dusty sage greens, faded turquoise, peach, melon and dull shades of pink. Yep, that's my muses' current happy place.

Inspiration palette from Design Seeds - Cacti Color 9

First up, i'll share my take on the color inpsiration with this new Oblong Cactus Pendant that I created this weekend. You can see more on this theme in my Etsy shop.

Outwest captured all those dreamy desert hues in this mixed set of spacer and disk beads. What a fun collection of beads for earrings!

I love the rustic quality of these polymer clay beads by BeatnHeart, aptly named Sedona.

Enamel headpins by Shimmer Beads Design capture the shades of succulent plants. 

Can't have a Southwest theme without a feather, can we? I like this earthy one from SuzieQBeads.

I just discovered Wildlands Artisty and you really need to stop over and see the ceramic pendants and tiny animals. They are all sold as finished jewelry with chains or cords, but you could easily add them to a jewelry design of your own. I'm smitten with this Indian Paintbrush Pendant. 

These, just these. Let's file these amazing charms under NEEDZ from the amazing Scorched Earth.

NaOsGlass created these lampwork beads that fit my theme perfectly, the colors look like there were taken right from the inspiration piece. And silvered lampwork glass, always a fav of mine!

Beady Link Party
New for Mondays! We invite our readers to share their blog post links with us each week. As long as they feature jewelry or beads, share your favorite post from last week with us. We hope this will inspire you to blog a little more often and bring our community closer together.

1. Please only post blog new links each week. *

2. Visit at least two other blog links and leave a comment. We want to grow our blogging community and encourage you connect with each other.

3. You have until Wednesday each week to share your blog post.

We want to connect more with our readers! Join the party and share you latest beady blog link.

Haven't blogged in a while? It's the perfect time to share what you have been up to, what you find inspiring, your creative process, interview a favorite beadmaker, review a beady book - get creative and get blogging!

The beady link party is open to jewelry designers, beadmakers and group bead blogs.

Share you link using the "Add a Link" Inlinkz button below.

*We ask for fresh links, if you have a post that you haven't shared with us yet but it's a few weeks old, that's cool.  

An InLinkz Link-up