Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Guest spot in the Echo Creative Club

So Jeannie Dukic of http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog/ has what she calls the Echo Creative Club. What is an Echo Creative Club you may ask. In Jeannie's own words "What does the name, Echo Creative mean? Echo is something you put out there and it comes back. I put my beads out there and they come back in a creative design from you." Jeannie has several jewelry designers that use her art beads and pendants and make a piece. She sends you the piece at no cost and you must design and show you piece by the 25th of the month. Recently on the Polymer Clay Collective group page on FB https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/361965820521794/ Jeannie asked if anyone was interested in having a guest spot in the Echo Creative Club and I responded with a "yes." She made the decision to allow all who responded have a guest spot. My month is June. Jeannie said she mailed my piece yesterday. She gave me the option of picking what I would like and I went to her shop and found several things I felt would be fun to work with, however I narrowed it down to about 3 items and told her to just pick and send me something.....I love surprises! I can't wait to see what I get....I will be sure to show you when it arrives. Until then, have a wonderful day!

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Cocktail Hour Blog Hop

Amy from http://copperdiem.blogspot.com/ invited us to join her in a fun cocktail hour blog hop. So pull up a chair and have a cocktail with me. I am serving Bellini's

I went to the Internet, "the source for all knowledge" and found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellini_(cocktail) and got the following information:

"A Bellini is a long drink cocktail that originated in Venice. It is a mixture of sparkling wine (traditionally Prosecco) and peach purée often served at celebrations. It is one of Italy's most popular cocktails.^[1]

The Bellini was invented sometime between 1934 and 1948^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] by Giuseppe Cipriani, founder of Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy. Because of its unique pink color, which reminded Cipriani of the color of the toga of a saint in a painting by 15th-century Venetian artist Giovanni Bellini, he named the drink the Bellini.^[1]^[5]"

I searched and searched for a picture of the Saint, but could not find one.

"The drink started as a seasonal specialty at Harry's Bar, a favorite haunt of Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis and Orson Welles.^[1]^[5] Later, it also became popular at the bar's New York counterpart. After an entrepreneurial Frenchman set up a business to ship fresh white peach pureé to both locations, it was a year-round favorite.^[2]

The Bellini is an IBA Official Cocktail, thus indicating its popularity and making it a well-known cocktail to many professional bartenders. In relation to the United States: "I think that the Bellini growth is tied to the very strong Italian chain restaurant growth, especially Olive Garden, since Italian restaurants are where Bellinis and drinks like them are featured and promoted," says Jack Robertiello, editor of Cheers magazine.^[1]

A frozen Bellini was the signature drink of Romano's Macaroni Grill, a chain restaurant in the U.S.A.

Bellinis are consumed throughout the first half of Geoff Dyer's Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi.

The maitre d' at the Manhattan restaurant Pastel in Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho brings 3 rounds of complimentary Bellinis, none of which the men drink.

In the 2011 American comedy film Jumping the Broom, Bellinis were served when the families of the bride and groom met for the first time.

I went all out in doing research and preparation for my Bellini inspired creation! My sweet husband went out and brought home all the ingredients to make a Bellini. I made a batch, did not wait and let it get frozen, so we had them right after I finished blending. They were very tasty, a little sweet, but very good.

I also went to both Olive Garden and Macaroni Grill and had a Bellini. At Olive Garden I had a strawberry Bellini, it was frozen and very good. While at Macaroni Grill I had their signature Bellini, which is no longer frozen and it was not good.

This is the Bellini that was not tasty!

Although I much prefer pink colors to peach, I decided to make my design with peach colors. I did use just a hint of pink. I thought the Cellini spiral would be the perfect thing to go with my Bellini. I stitched the center of the necklace using the Cellini stitch and the sides of the necklace were done using a regular spiral stitch with the same beads. I joined the two spirals using orange flowers. I finished the necklace with a stitched toggle clasp. Over all I am pleased with how this piece turned out.

I used light pink delicas in the center and pale orange on the sides of the spiral portion of the "Bellini Cellini".

I will be making some Bellini's to enjoy while I visit all the other cocktail blog parties. If you would like to make your own Bellini, here is the recipe I used.

Please take the time and visit all the other blogs and enjoy their cocktail inspired creations.

Hostess: Copper Diem

Stefanies Sammelsurium
My Bead Journey
Adventures with Kelly
Mama's Got To Doodle
Sadafulee
Wait Just One More Bead
Cynth's Blog
Palm Coast Art
Green Shoot Jewellery Designs
Cianci Blue
Dreamin Of Beads / SAS Jewelry Designs **you are here**
Beads for Busy Gals
Oregon Made Jewelry
My Addictions...Handcrafted Jewelry by Patti
Moods by Mari
Soul of Mine Embodiment
Uniquely Yunikua
Fabric of My Life
Firefly Visions
Indigo Heart
The Peaceful Bead
Casa de Everly
Heaven Lane Creations
Sue Beads
Durga Jewelry
Honey Bijou
A Bird in the Hand Art
SilverNikNats
Rainy Day Designs
Tell Your Girlfriends

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Mother's Day!

I know it is past Mother's Day, but I just had to share the wonderful video my DH made for me of our amazing two boys. All three of them truly are the love and light of my life. I feel so blessed. I hope that all of you had a wonderful day too!

Video link - Jacob and Noah, my amazing sweet boys!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

One Color Crayon Challenge

One Crayon Color Blog Hop: Monochromatic Designs

Sally Russick at http://thestudiosublime.com is hosting this challenging and fun blog hop. The directions were for us to create using hues of just one color from the original crayon box. We were not limited to just jewelry. We could create jewelry, a painting, and a set of beads, fiber art, or any other sort of creative project. I chose the color blue thinking I would challenge me but not be overly difficult. Well let me tell you it was harder than I thought it was going to be. I love color and really thought blue would be fun. It was fun but still a challenge. I wanted to bead weave my design. I pulled all the blue from my stash and made a trip to my local bead store. www.yayabeads.com

I apologize for my horrible pictures…I am asking for a photo tent for Mother’s day…let’s hope!

I picked several colors and settled on creating a spiral necklace. I unfortunately was not able to finish due to having to go out of town (to the beach….I know poor me!) I brought the stuff with me, but you know how that goes!

I also made some torch fired enamel beads. I just recently learned this technique and love it, I am still not very good and my supply of enamels is not built up yet so my blue is cobalt blue. The two lighter of the beads are a blue I did from when we had a studio day.

I also did some beaded beads.

I used one of the enameled beads and some fresh water pearls and some Swarovski crystals to make a bracelet. I unfortunately did not bring any finishing items with me so it is waiting. We are in Myrtle Beach, SC and I will be making a trip to the local bead store so I may get it done in time.

I am really enjoying these challenges and love visiting all the other blogs to see all the wonderful creations. I am sure that I will be inspired to create a few other pieces in other colors! Please take the time to visit the other 65 participants.