First, a reminder, I received this wonderful assortment of goodies from Maria Rose Sharrow of Willow Street Shops.
The requirements of the swap are that you send at least one focal and at least one clasp which are to be used in the final designs. As you can see, Rosa was very generous, providing me with lovely soldered and bezeled focals (which she makes herself!!), two clasps, and a great variety of "supportive players" (game talk for lots of fun beads!).
My first designs came together out of the "necessity" to have some new jewelry for the Easter holiday, and I knew that Rosa's yellow flower pendant would be perfect. I used some of the yellow and blue vintage beads as part of the necklace chain and added my own blue chrysocolla rounds and amazonite nuggets along with the sterling silver toggle clasp from the swap.
The matching earrings with more chrysocolla beads and amazonite use the textured silver links from the swap.
After thinking that I had an early start in preparing for today's reveal, I, naturally, procrastinated on any more work...until, yes, just a few days ago (some things never change). But once I settled on using another one of Rosa's unique focals - this time the soldered pendant with a butterfly wing - things quickly fell into place. The swap included brilliant teal glass rounds which highlighted the wing's color along with added chrysocolla rounds, turquoise rounds and accents of freshwater pearls in coral and white.
My muse decided that the lovely darker pieces of the swap will need to wait for cooler weather, I think! I just could not get focused with those pretties, but I know I will love working with them this fall! Thanks, Rosa - I had a great time!
Here is the swap that I mailed to Rosa.
I'm excited to see what she has created. You can join me by heading to Rosa's blog here Willow Street Shops. And of course, please enjoy browsing all of the participating blogs and see what I know will be incredible, beautiful jewelry! Happy Hopping!
Linda Anderson (our hostess) http://fromTheBeadBoard.blogspot.com
Natalie Davidson http://www.northshoredays.com/
Marcy Lamberson http://www.studiomarcy.blogspot.com
Kathy Lindemer http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com/
Dita Basu Http://www.alankarshilpa.blogspot.com
Andrea Glick http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/
Kristina Peck http://tealeavesandtinyhats.blogspot.com/
Shai Williams http://www.shaihasramblings.com/
Catherine La Vite http://www.drygulchbeadsandjewelry.blogspot.com/
Christina Hickman http://vintagetreasuresjewelry.blogspot.com/
Gloria Allen http://wingsandbeads.blogspot.com
Teresa Schurter http://treezstreazurs.com/
Maria Rosa Sharrow http://willowstreetshops.blogspot.com
Susan Kelly http://mimismilesdesigns.blogspot.com
Jenny Kyrlach http://anafiassa.blogspot.com/
Michelle McCarthy http://www.fireflydesignstudio.blogspot.com
Terry Jeanette Carter http://tappingflamingo.blogspot.com
Lee Koopman http://stregajewellry.wordpress.com
Laurie Vyselaar https://lefthandjewelry.wordpress.com
Marianne Baxter http://simplyseablimejewelry.blogspot.com
Divya N http://www.jewelsofsayuri.com
Kelly Hosford Patterson http://travelingsideshow.blogspot.com/
Johana Nunez http://www.artincendi.com
Kari Asbury http://hippiechickjewelrydesign.com/blog
Robin Reed http://www.willowdragon.blogspot.com
Kristina Hahn Eleniak http://www.peacockandlime.wordpress.com
Robin Lynne Showstack http://heartsdesiresjewelryforyou.blogspot.com/
Rosantia Petkova http://bairozan.blogspot.com/
Claire Fabian http://saraccino.blogspot.de/
Inge von Roos https://ingetraud.wordpress.com
Rachel Mallis http://mintmonarch.com
Sam Waghron http://palemooncreation.blogspot.co.uk
Lori Schneider http://beadaddicted.blogspot.com
Fay Wolfenden http://torchfairy.blogspot.com
SEEDERS
Suse Stelljes http://pearlify.blogspot.de
Ginger Bishop http://www.lilmummylikes.blogspot.com
Nelly May http://www.smellynelly.blogspot.com
Rebecca White http://morganafeycreations.121hub.com/
Sheila Prosterman http://catswithbeads.blogspot.com
Catherine King http://catherines-musings.blogspot.com
Palak (aka Pallavi Asher)http://kalaabhushan.blogspot.in/
Krafty Max http://kraftymax.net
Renetha Stanziano http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com/
Becky Pancake http://beckypancakebeaddesigns.blogspot.com
Katy Heider http://onthepondcreations.blogspot.com/
Deborah Apodaca http://deborahapodacadesigns.blogspot.com/
Heather Richter http://desertjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/
Tami Norris https://tamisdesigns.wordpress.com
Brandy Scozzari http://bhjewelry.wordpress.com
Catherine King http://catherines-musings.blogspot.com
Kathleen Breeding https://www.facebook.com/99BOBOTW/
Veralynne Malone http://veradesigns.blogspot.com
Bobbie Rafferty http://beadsong.blogspot.com
Lori Blanchard http://alainnjewelry.wordpress.com