Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Halcraft Pretty Palattes: February Reveal

Thanks to Erin and Halcraft and Bead Gallery Beads for this awesome challenge! 
Here is the photo that Erin picked for this months challenge… Awesome fish-eye view picture of the milky way galaxy from New Zealand!...
A Sky Portal in New Zealand 
Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horálek
Explanation (from www.apod.com): 
To some, it may look like a portal into the distant universe. To others, it may appear as the eye of a giant. Given poetic license, both are correct. Pictured above is a standard fisheye view of the sky — but with an unusual projection. The view is from a perch in New Zealand called Te Mata Peak, a name that translates from the Maori language as “Sleeping Giant”. The wondrous panorama shows the band of our Milky Way Galaxy right down the center of the sky, with the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds visible to the right. The red hue is atmospheric airglow that surprised the photographer as it was better captured by the camera than the eye. The above image was taken two weeks ago as the photographer’s sister, on the left, and an acquaintance peered into the sky portal.

Here are the beads she picked out...

I was able to get the same ones at Michael's and split them with Laurel Ross...



I finished up my project on February 20th and was outside that evening and took this cell phone picture of the sliver moon and a VERY bright planet/star and a dimmer, but still visible to the naked eye planet/star… I googled and here's what I found out...
Friday, February 20
Venus, the thin crescent Moon, and little Mars form a tight bunch in the west-southwest during and after dusk. They fit in a circle just 2° across at the times of dusk for most of North America. Think photo opportunities! See our article, Venus and Mars Pair Tightly at Dusk.
- See more at: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/weeks-sky-glance-february-20-28/#sthash.ZvJFopek.dpuf
PRETTY NEAT, HUH!!! 
so without further ado, here's my creation...
I used all the Bead Gallery beads at least a few times. I knotted on silk and added some Mookaite Jasper whose colors REALLY made the yellow in the amethyst beads POP! I made my 'milky way' tassel with seed beads and the beads from the challenge and a copper bead cap from Allegory Gallery. 

Thanks for looking and check out what others did at http://www.halcraft.com/design/pretty-palettes-february-reveal-2/



Thursday, February 19, 2015

Andrew Thornton's Marsala Valentine Kit Challenge



For this challenge I made some earrings to sell and keep...

Can you guess which ones I HAD TO keep?

This is the sari silk from the kit...

The sari silk matched PERFECTLY this pendant from Tesori Trovati. I just love it! I've worn it more than 6 times already!

Check out Andrew's Bloghop for more!
 
On Andrew Thornton's Blog:

 






Friday, February 6, 2015

Pretty Palettes: Catch Up Reveal for Laurel!

For the Michaels Halcraft Pretty Palettes Challenge, Laurel and I buy one strand of each bead that Erin picks out. We then split the loot and use our half to create for the challenge. This post is devoted to Laurel's challenge pieces.

First up, this was the December Inspiration...



Now for Laurels first piece…

"I made this piece because when I think mixed metal, I think edgy. So I went a little punk. I tried to just whip up a simple pair of earrings, but no matter how I tried to string them together, they looked awful. I was also using some gemstone chain and it was giving me fits...
So, I used these hematite cubes paired with spikes from Pat Catans and Vintaj chain. I'm quite pleased with this piece and know I will wear it a lot!"


And she also made this…

"This is the 2nd piece I made for that challenge. Why not combine the Andrew Thornton challenge seed beads and make a tassel with the Halcraft components??? Lol
I think most of my stuff will be combos... 

Check out what others made for December:
http://www.halcraft.com/design/pretty-palettes-december-reveal-2/


Next, this was the January Inspiration…



Laurel made this piece…

"I used an assortment of seed beads from the Allegory Gallery Desert Sand kit, and added rose quartz cubes that were drilled horizontally to make them sit on the red beading wire like a diamond. I used a few silver spacers to highlight the faux druzy resin bead that sits in the center and to pull together the Valentine-y silver toggle clasp. That way, the copper spacers and the silver jive! I think it's a fun piece and I know that I will be sure to wear it this month."

Here is what others made for January:
http://www.halcraft.com/pretty-palettes/pretty-palettes-january-reveal-2/



Art Elements: September 2019 Challenge

September Art Elements Challenge Wow, it’s been a year since I last used the blog. I always liked using my blog instead of Facebook, I act...