Kay Mallery - Reflections: 2012

Friday, May 25, 2012

Cocktail Hour Blog Hop Reveal!

Back in April, Amy Freeland had a refreshing idea for a blog hop. The rules were simple:

Google the cocktail, and use the ingredients, image, color, season it's usually enjoyed, era it became famous, or whatever else to inspire any piece of jewelry.

The cocktail assigned to me was "Captain & Coke." For those of you who aren't familiar with that particular beverage, Captain Morgan is a darker rum with the addition of spices and we all know what Coke is. Here's what it usually looks like:

My inspiration was the photo above and the pirate theme labels on Captain Morgan products. I used quartz with brownish streaks (ice cubes), crackled quartz in shades of brown (Captain and Coke), and Swarovski crystal bicones in Lime. The anchor and ship's wheel charms complete the theme. I actually like this necklace better than I expected. I apologize if the photos aren't great but it is almost midnite and I'm too tired to find better light!

Thanks to Amy for putting this blog hop together; can't wait for your next idea!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Suddenly Spring Challenge - The Big Reveal!

In January I entered this challenge posted by Michelle Mach.

I loved the rhinestone spacers and the color of the crystals in the kit. My kit arrived beautifully packaged by Michelle.

A recent issue of "Stringing" magazine featured a necklace incorporating lucite flowers as a sort of connector. When I first saw it I knew I'd find a use for Denise Yezbak Moore's technique and here was my opportunity. I brought out my stash of lucite flowers and pulled peach, daffodil, white and pink from the bag. Instantly, the daffodil popped with the aqua crystals. I added a few Swarovski crystals from my collection along with some Bali bead caps I'd been hoarding. Then, thinking about what else I could add in addition to the flowers that would be "springy", I added a tiny bird and nest from Earthenwood (Melanie Brooks). Here's the resulting necklace:

To see more detail you can click on any of the photos.

With a few crystals and spacers leftover, I chose to make a bracelet. I added more Swarovski crystals, antique silver flower beads and a lucite flower dangle. And a sweet little butterfly clasp.

I think I've done a reasonable job of portraying "Spring" in these two pieces. What do you think?

Please take a few minutes to check out what the other participants have created:

Michelle - Beads & Books [Hostess]

Andrew - The Writing & Art of Andrew Thornton

Christa - Adventures of One Beady Woman

Dita - Alankarshilpa

Donetta - Simply Gorgeous

Erin - Erin Siegel Jewelry

Heather - As I Bead It

Jean - Snap Out of It Jean - There's Beading to Be Done!

Karen - Over the Moon Design

Kate - We Can Make That At Home

Kim - CianciBlue

Kristina - Wild Roses and Blackberries

Linda - Lindy's Designs

Lisa - Pine Ridge Treasures

Marlene - Amazing Designs by Marlene

Michelle - Reverie & Revival

Pam - The Crazy Creative Corner

Pamela - Someday Beads

Renetha - Lamplight Crafts

Sharyl - Catchenthesun

Terry - Pink Chapeau Vintage Jewelry

Therese - Therese's Treasures

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Palatka Azalea Festival

The Azalea Festival in Palatka, Florida, opened this morning. The scheduled festivities include an Arts & Crafts show in which we have a booth. It was a busy day and I only found time enough to make one bracelet:

The ceramic centerpiece is from Captured Moments. Very springlike, don't you think?

I found some time to wander down to the homemade ice cream stand and passed a bike store with some extremely cool bikes parked outside. I couldn't resist snapping a few photos. I've left them at their original resolution in case you'd like to zoom in for more detail. Zoom in on this first one and you'll see that it is RATTAN!

Bead Soup Blog Party Reveal !!!

Woot! It's finally here! Lori Anderson's 5th Annual Bead Soup Blog Party Blog Hop! Here's a photo of the very generous bead soup I received from my partner, Amy Freeland. Look at all that treasure!

Here's my first piece. The concept came from my husband, an engineer and former builder.

My soup contained several clasps, among them a cute little teapot toggle. I just happened to have three more sterling teapot toggles in my stash! I bought them off a clearance rack several years ago when we were living in Tampa. Here's a bracelet I made.

Here's another bracelet.

And another! If you've followed my blogs, the focal in this bracelet is the pink MOP ring that was lost (for days!) and finally found at the bottom of my tool box by my husband.

And here's the pendant piece:

Any of the bracelets can be attached to the piece with the pretty ceramic pendant. Even the pendant piece could be used as a bracelet if desired. Three bracelets + the pendant component = an approximately 32-inch necklace.

Add two bracelets to the pendant section for a 24-inch necklace.

One bracelet + pendant piece = choker. Or any two bracelets make a choker. You could really glam it up with two chokers!

My second piece used the other pendant included in my package from Amy. I just happened to have some cherry quartz beads in my stash that matched it perfectly! I wired my beads along with some from Amy with antiqued brass rolo chain sections. I added the Vintaj dragonfly over the pendant and a sweet little dragonfly dangle at the back of the necklace.

This exchange was an exercise in stretching my "green" envelope -- I rarely use pink in my jewelry. Now that I've tried it, I still have lots of "soup" left that I will use for other creations. This was my first time in the Bead Soup Blog Party and I know I will want to try it again!

Thanks to Jim for the cool idea and for finding the lost MOP ring! Thanks to the Universe for the teapot clasps and cherry quartz beads sitting in my stash until the time was right! Thanks to my "Bead Soup" partner, Amy Freeland, for the great bead soup! Above all, thanks to Lori Anderson for all her work in putting this event together!

Be sure to visit all the participants of this Blog Hop!

1. Adlinah Kamsir (Singapore) and Hajer Waheed (Kingdom of Bahrain)

2. Adrienn Lukacs (Hungary) and Agata Grygiel (Poland)

3. Agi Kiss (Hungary) and Carolien Muller-Genger (the Netherlands)

4. Agnes Asztalos (Hungary) and B.R. Kuhlman

5. Alesha Conklin and Becki Mendivil

6. Alice Peterson and Carol Dillman

7. Alicia Marinache (Canada) and Dita Basu

8. Amanda Dittloff and Brandy Thomason McNair

9. Amanda Tibbetts and Andrea Trank

10. My partner, Amy Freeland