August Moodboard - And the winner is...

Thanks to everyone who joined in with our moodboard this month, once again we had a tremendous response! Even though the we had three set colours it's great to see the variations on the shades used, from royal purple to lilac and lime to emerald, making everyone's pieces so different.

Before I show what everyone made, here's a recap of the mosaic I posted at the beginning of August...

Clockwise from top-left: Twinkling christmas lights, Eye of the Day, Noro Scarf, Flowers from the Purple Land.

And here are the beautiful submissions we receieved...

Anna


Catherine



Sarah



Liz



Sarah



Norma



Dorisanne



Shirley



Cathi



Tracy



Sarah



Jet







*Edited to add Gemma's late entry :)*

I'm using Random.org to randomly choose a name from the list and the beader who is in 1st position is...



Congratulations Dorisanne, you're the winner of my Mini beaded bead kit!

I hope you've all enjoyed this months challenge, I'll be back tomorrow with a brand new moodboard for September!

Now Closed - Facebook Celebration Giveaway!

Today we welcomed our 100 Facebook Group member, so I thought a giveaway was in order! I rummaged through my stash and came up with the items above, there are tiny cube beads, 11's, 15's, drop beads, a lampwork bead and a sterling silver frame.

All you need to do is comment on this post by Midnight Thursday 1st September, I will then use Random.org to choose 1 lucky winner. You don't need to be a member of the group, though we would love to have you with us! There is a link in the sidebar on the right.

ETA: Please comment only once on this post, to keep things easier when I am using the Random Generator, Thank you!

Good luck and happy beading!

Sarahx

Pattern Finds - Go Fish Earrings by The Peregrine Beader

You know how much I love projects that use up the little bits and pieces left over from other projects and I am always looking for fun patterns to make use of them. This earring pattern from Callie at The Peregrine Beader on Etsy is just perfect! I love the unique shape and they are the prettiest colourful fish that i have seen for a long time!

Click on the picture to go to the listing

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PeregrineBeader?ref=seller_info

Happy Beading!

Sarahx

August Moodboard Weekly Update 3

I can't believe we're on week three already, this month seems to be going by really quickly! Still there's plenty of time to join in with us if you haven't already. You can find the moodboard, prize details and submission guidelines here.

Now onto this week's gorgeous collection of submissions!

Sarah recycled an earring finding and turned it into a brooch, very cleverly adding seed beads using silver wire...



Norma made this beautiful necklace...



And another beautiful necklace, this time from Dorisanne...


Thanks for joining in ladies!

Bracelet Swap Reveal!

The wait is over! The bracelet swap reveal is finally here. Thank you to all the participants for making this swap so much fun! The bracelets are all beautiful and I know everyone is happy with their gifts. Don't worry if you missed out, we'll be doing another one in the Autumn.

Shirley to Norma

Mary to Tamara Tamara to Mary

Danielle to Erin Liz to Sarah Faye to Catherine Gemma to Donna Kit to Shirley

Carol to Vickie Vickie to Lesley Donna to Carol

Lesley to Liz Catherine to Gemma Sarah to Faye

Norma to Danielle Erin to Kit.

Happy Beading!

Sarahx

August Moodboard Weekly Update 2

Two submissions to share with you this week, both with a flower theme!

Sarah made this beautiful flower bracelet from Delicas using herringbone & brick stitch...



And I made a layered flower brooch using seed beads, a little bit of crocheting and bead embroidery on felt. There's a good amount of jade green in this but it hasn't shown up very well...



If you'd like to join in with us this month and be in with a chance to win a fabulous kit to make a set of beaded beads, please see the original post for details.

Shop Review - The Brass Charm Co.

I have a secret...I'm addicted to brass stampings! Now as secrets go, that's not a very big one, but you may have noticed that I haven't yet used them in my work. Not because I don't know what to do with them, I do, I have tons of ideas. But for some reason I like to keep them stashed away in a box taking them out from time to time to lovingly look at them, just like a lot of us do with lampwork beads (I'm secretly addicted to lampwork beads too but that's another story!). So I was thrilled to come across The Brass Charm Co. on Etsy!




The shop is run by Belinda, aka Miss Lindy, and is based in Staffordshire in the UK. What first drew me to her shop were the gorgeous Shabby Chic dragonfly charms and hearts which have been given a unique patina in different colours. And then I was thrilled to discover the wide variety of lovely stampings, some that I only usually see in US shops.




The shop is conveniently divided into sections so you can easily find what you want. First of all there's the raw brass - this is the kind I love to buy as eventually I'd like to learn how to add patinas to them (after I've stopped just stashing them that is!).




Then you'll find the stampings and charms that Belinda has hand aged/patinated herself...antique, vintage, silver, gold and of course the lovely coloured brass.




She also stocks these lovely brass tags which I think would be brilliant for metal stamping...




Postage is very reasonable too, starting from around £1.10 and £1.50 on the website. Speaking of which, if you're not an Etsy shopper you can also find the The Brass Charm Co. website here.

Well I hope you've enjoyed this review and have fun browsing around The Brass Charm Co.

August Moodboard Weekly Update 1

A couple of gorgeous submissions to show you today!

Anna made this wonderful pendant and earrings set...



And I'm also including this beautiful Peacock Pendant. Catherine made this some time ago but she promises to make something new for the challenge. We're looking forward to that Catherine!



If you'd like to join in with us this month and be in with a chance to win a fabulous kit to make a set of beaded beads, please see the original post for details.

Bracelet Swap - Postal Deadline Tomorrow!

Hi Swappers!

It's getting close to the big reveal! Over on the Facebook Group there is much anticipation and excitement!

Can I just ask that if you have posted your bracelet and not emailed me a photo, to please do so by Wednesday.

Also, I know most people have received their bracelets, just to confirm if you have please email me at librabeader at gmail dot com with your name and Swap Received in the message title.

This swap has been a lot of fun and I would like to thank everyone who has participated! Don't worry if you have missed it, we will have another one later in the Autumn.

Happy beading!

Sarahx

August Moodboard

Welcome to the August Moodboard! This month we're revisiting a colour scheme that we've had once before. Purple, green and turquoise blue is such a gorgeous combination that I think it deserves one more outing! As well as the peacock inspired colours, don't forget the textures which this time are soft, shimmering and sparkling with just a touch of fairy magic.

Clockwise from top-left: Twinkling christmas lights, Eye of the Day, Noro Scarf, Flowers from the Purple Land.

Submitting is easy! You can either email your photographs to me at thecrimsonmoon7@gmail.com or you can add them to our Flickr group pool. If you have a website, blog or an online shop that you'd like us to link to your name then please include it with your submission, either in your email or in the description of your Flickr photo.

What can you make? Anything as long as it involves beads! Any technique is accepted, from beadweaving and stringing to wire work and bead embroidery. Lampworkers and polymer clay artists are also welcome to submit pieces they've made.

We're happy for you to make something using a pattern from a book, magazine or tutorial but if you do please let us know the designer's name and where it was published, including a link if available, so that we can give full credit.

The deadline for entries is 6pm (GMT) on Wednesday August 31st and as usual a prize will be awarded at random to one of our lucky entrants.

The prize this month is a kit to make a set of six mini beaded beads in the winner's choice of colours. It includes all the seed beads you need plus the wooden beads and my Mini Bead tutorial. But non-beadweavers please don't be put off, I'd be happy to make up the beads for you instead!

We hope you enjoy this month's challenge and look forward to seeing your creations!