Tangerine Tango ~ 52 Earrings: week 17

I'm not sure how I keep cranking out the earrings... and right at the deadline! Anke sure is keeping me on my toes with this challenge! And I'm enjoying it!

This week the theme (themes are every other week) is Tangerine Tango and as much as I like orange, this one had me stumped. Mixing the color was easy enough (although it was hard to photograph, which explains the not-so-vibrant look), but then I went through so many different ideas for the beads. I knew right away I wanted to do roses. I went from one idea that involved sculpting roses, to another that used lace, and another that required mold making... I'm all out of mold making compound so that wouldn't work... And then I remembered some knives with fancy handles I'd found at Goodwill recently—one had the perfect rose for my design! I smushed the knife handle into the clay, cut out my beads, popped them into the oven... and ta-da! beads for my earrings! I gave them both a white and copper patina and did some "messy" wirewrapping with a few orange czech glass beads—and there you have it—my Tangerine Tango earrings!

Check out the Flickr pool here to see what everyone else mixed up for week seventeen.

See you next week with another pair!

Rainbows in the shop

I finished the painting on my new rainbow connectors and here's how they look...



I'm feeling ready for some Summer-y weather! See them in my shop here.

Flying bluebirds are next! :-)

The Winners!

And the three winners are...

Cilla! She won "Little Fawn in the Meadow"!

Monique U! She won "Bright and Sunny"!

And Lesley! She won "Deep in the Forest"!

Woohoo! Congratulations to you three!! I'll be emailing you all for your mailing addresses shortly.

Thank you all for entering!! :-)

 

Buttons From Sue

Cindy Wimmer of Sweet Bead Studio is hosting a Button Swap and Blog Hop. Button lovers from all over were paired up to swap 4 buttons, create something, and then on May 13th share their creations in a blog hop. I was paired up with Sue Kennedy of Sue Beads.

And here's what she sent me...


This little Scottie button belonged to Sue's Grandmother, who was Scottish and loved Scotties. I just love it! My little girl, Pepper is a terrier—a rat terrier and not a scottie, but they all have the same loving heart and that fearless/protector attitude—terriers stole my heart a long time ago.

This next button is one Sue made herself. Sue makes some fabulous glass and enamel beads and when I found out she was my swap partner, I was secretly hoping I'd get a button made by her... and I did! How super is that?!! And it's just gorgeous! She just started making buttons and I hope she keeps at it. Check out her shop here to see more of what she makes.

I want these...

And these! They're orange!! :-)


Okay, back to the buttons...
A very neat fish button... I think something nautical will come of this one...

And finally, a pretty ceramic flower button made by Lisa Peters. Don't you think that crackle finish is to-die-for? I love it! I have ideas for this one too.

Thanks so much Sue! I love all my buttons!!


So, what did Sue get from me?
This.
And that's all you get to see! I'll show you what's inside after Sue sees it first!


Time to get creating! Come back on May 13th for the reveal!


And Summer Turned to Autumn ~ 52 Earrings: week 16

I know, I know! You're going to tell me I've got the seasons all mixed up—it's still only Spring! And it is. But I've been thinking of Autumn, which is, after all, my very favorite season. Every Spring when the oak leaves start to open I'm reminded of Autumn—each little leaf is so tiny and velvety and tipped in red... each a perfect replica of what they grow into later in the year. And so, today I couldn't help but make earrings inspired by my favorite time of year—even if it is still months away.

I used two of my polymer leaf charms and combined them with light tortoiseshell czech glass, caramel czech saucers, green seed beads, brass bead caps and wrapped them all together with antique brass wire.


A few photos of the miniature Autumn leaves for you to enjoy...
They are each only about 1/2 an inch long!



Check out the Flickr pool here to see what everyone else mixed up for week sixteen.

See you next week with another pair!

Giveaway!!

It's giveaway time again! Here's what's up for grabs this time...

Little Fawn in the Meadow

Bright and Sunny

Deep in the Forest

* This giveaway is now closed. Thanks so much for entering! *

The rules: 
To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment. And you get extra points by leaving additional comments for doing one or all of these:

 becoming a follower of Tree Wings Studio, posting about the giveaway on your blog, sharing it on facebook, and tweeting it on twitter.
(Feel free to use any of the photos posted here when sharing.)

 Be sure to leave ONE comment for EACH thing you do.

And don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you if you win.

International bead lovers are welcome to enter too. :-)


And here's one other thing you can do for extra points: my Judy Glende tribute bracelet, Bluebirds Fly is still looking for a loving home. See it in my shop here. Share it on your blog, facebook, or twitter, and you'll get another point! Just be sure to come back here and leave a comment letting me know how you shared it.

* This giveaway is now closed. Thanks so much for entering! *
Winners will be announced on the 26th.

Bead Table Wednesday ~ 4/18/12

What's on my table today? Blandness. Yep, that's right...

I'm painting a new batch of beads and this is how they look after the first coat of paint. Very boring! Yes, those are new flying bluebirds and rainbow focals... they'll be in my shop as soon as they have some color. :-)

Okay, I'll give you a little color to look at now. I just added these to my shop...
Bright Candy Pink wild roses

Candy Mix wild roses

Country Blue wild roses

Cloud Blue wild roses

 Lemon Yellow wild roses

Feel better now? Me too! Color always makes things better!
You can see all my roses in my shop here.


And now I'm back to painting...

Bead Table Wednesday
Happy Bead Table Wednesday!!

(click the BTW button to see what everyone else has on their table)
 
 

New Owls

The other day I dug my favorite owl pendant out of my jewelry box... made a mold...
and made these...







Teal blue owls are fun! Hmmm.... what other colors do you think I should try?

They're in my shop here.

Happy Tuesday everyone!!

Bright New Day ~ 52 Earrings: week 15

*** Go here to see my Flap Your Wings reveal post. ***

The theme for week 15 is Easter. For my earrings, my inspiration was the beauty of the early morning light—promise of a new day, new beginnings, and hope. I chose two of my new yellow rose beads (some roses are in my shop now... with more to come!) and combined them with soft pinks and golden yellows and wrapped it all together with bronze wire... and then I had to wait for some sunshine to snap a photo to show you all... I hope you like them!

Check out the Flickr pool here to see what everyone else mixed up for week fifteen.

See you next week with another pair!

Bluebirds Fly ~ Flap Your Wings Challenge Reveal

Today I'm joining 30 artists in celebrating the life of Judy Glende—a very talented jewelry artist, and a kind and giving woman... she will be missed by all.

The challenge was to create something using the theme "Flap Your Wings" as inspiration—Flap Your Wings was the name of Judy's shop.

Tania Spivey put it so beautifully when she said "I'd like to think of Judy's passing not as LOSING a battle, but GAINING her wings!"

Here's my creation...
Bluebirds Fly



I made the rainbow focal, yellow rose, and the bluebird in polymer clay and combined them with two pretty handmade ceramic beads from Gaea, and some czech glass.


You can find it listed in my shop here. I'm offering free shipping and the proceeds I'll split and donate to the Melanoma Research Fund and the Mustang Alley Horse Rescue in Judy's memory.

Thank you Tania, for hosting this very special challenge!

Flap your wings Judy, and may your memory live on in all our hearts forever!!


Go see what everyone else made:





6. Rebekah Payne (you are here!)






12. Kym Hunter 























Bead Table Wednesday ~ 4/11/12

Bead making is keeping me super busy, but I managed to squeeze in some time for photos so you all can have a little peek at what's happening in my studio these days...

First up on my table today are these lovelies from Birgitta Lejonklou. In case you haven't guessed already, I totally love Birgitta's work. And I can never resist a bead swap! You'll notice among the pretty browns and greens, that two of the focals are BLUE... yes, I'm actually getting braver when it comes to blue! There's a face too—I haven't used a face focal before. And Birgitta was so sweet to include a surprise—the two smallest brown focals and some gorgeous silk ribbon. Thanks so much Birgitta, I love everything! :-)


So, what else is going on? Well, I've got a whole bunch of new things waiting to be added to my shop. Here's some of what made it there recently:
Apple blossoms, wrapped hearts and winged hearts, some sculpted poppy focals, and some painted wild roses.

The wild roses are the same ones I used in my January ABS entry. Check them out in my shop here.

And rainbow hearts! Yes, they FINALLY made it to my shop late last week after sitting on my table for days while I was absorbed in other projects. This time I made brightly colored hearts in addition to the original pastel ones. You can check them out here and here.

And something new...
Wild roses in pretty spring colors... and just in time for your Mother's Day creations... or anything else that needs a bit of Spring-y color.

I finished them today, so they aren't in my shop just yet... hopefully I'll have them listed by early next week...

They almost look good enough to eat!!  :-)

Bead Table Wednesday
Happy Bead Table Wednesday!!

(click the BTW button to see what everyone else has on their table)