Pantone Color of the Year

So I have been thinking alot about Marsala the Pantone color of the year 2015.  When I first saw the color I was kind of underwhelmed.  I looked up the color on the Pantone site and here is what I learned:


Much like the fortified wine that gives Marsala its name, this tasteful hue embodies the satisfying richness of a fulfilling meal while its grounding red-brown roots emanate a sophisticated, natural earthiness. This hearty, yet stylish tone is universally appealing and translates easily to fashion, beauty, industrial design, home furnishings and interiors.

 The Versatility of Marsala

• Equally appealing to men and women, Marsala is a stirring and flavorful shade for apparel and accessories, one that encourages color creativity and experimentation
• Flattering against many skin tones, sultry and subtle Marsala is a great go-to color for beauty, providing enormous highlight for the cheek, and a captivating pop of color for nails, shadows lips and hair.
• Dramatic and at the same time grounding, the rich and full-bodied red-brown Marsala brings color warmth into home interiors
• An earthy shade with a bit of sophistication, texture is the story in print and packaging. A matte finish highlights Marsala’s organic nature while adding a sheen conveys a completely different message of glamour and luxury. 

Makes the color sound pretty interesting for instance as a makeup color....Here is a swatch of the color

  Once I read the description I can see myself using this color in my designs.  Marsala pairs very well with many colors.

New Year New Beginnings

Well Last year is over for which I am thankful!  Many hospital visits later I am ready to move into a new year.  Our house is up for sale and I have been busy packing and sorting all my jewelry supplies.  What a job, I never realize how much I have until I either try to organize it or in this case pack it up.  I had several de-stash sales and made lots of other beaders' happy and put some money in my account to take some classes this year. I am rethinking and restarting my business in terms of goals and materials I will be working in.  I will still be working in glass but doing more with metals and Lampwork not just fused glass.  Stay tuned for some exciting news!

Drop on over to my website because I have all my jewelry on sale....All pendants are only $29 and all earrings are just $22.  All have sterling silver or gold filled findings.  Get yourself a wonderful Valentines day gift or treat a friend.

 

Marianne

Anchors Aweigh Blog Hop Reveal featuring Suburban Girl Studio

Wow have I been busy.  I have had art shows 4 weekends in a row.  Luckily I had already finished my entry for this blog hop.
I would like to thank Rita of  Toltec Jewels for sponsoring the Anchors Aweigh Blog Hop.  She has been very generous with all of the participants.  Please take a moment to go to her website by clicking on Toltec Jewels and see all of her beautiful creations
Remember we were supposed to have a blog hop with just 10 artists but Rita just can't help herself or actually I think she hates to say no to all of us because we all beg to get in to any of her blog hops, ha ha.  So now we have 25 artists participating and I will share the list so you can visit all the artists and see what we made with what we were so lucky to receive.  Please visit and leave comments if you can because we would all love to hear what you think of our designs.
Here is what we received compliments of Rita and artistically created by Diana from Suburban Girl Studio.  These little cute porcelain charms were either in green or blue.

I received green ones.  Aren't they adorable?  As soon as I looked at these they screamed earrings.  I wanted something to tie into the theme and I looked through all of the tons of bead stash I have and I found these copper birds and some connectors that looked kind of ropy and reminded me of life savers that they throw out to you when you go overboard on a boatI  I also had some wooly wire that I had never used and I wanted to add a little color to brighten up the design. Took me several weeks walking by all the different parts that I had laid out on my desk.  I just couldn't make up my mind because I had another set of connectors but they were just plain circles in brass and it just kinda looked a little boring. In the end I went with my first design and I hope you like them.

Without further adieu!

 I just love these and I hope you do too.  I had so much fun creating them!  Please visit all of the following blogs to see the other artists creations. Enjoy

Marianne

Featured & Honored Artist:        Diana Ptaszynski

Diana's Shop:                           Suburban Girl Beads

Diana's Blogs:                          Suburban Girl Studio

                                               Art Jewelry Elements

Hostess: TJ                              Jewel School Friends

Bobbie Rafferty                        Beadsong Jewelry

Chris Eisenberg                        Wanderware

Heather Richter                         Desert Jewelry Designs

Michelle McCarthy                    Firefly Design Studio

Kathy Lindemer                        Bay Moon Design

Dini Bruinsma                           Angaza by Changes

Cynthia Machata                       Antiquity Travelers

Kathleen Breeding                     99 Bottles of Beads on the Wall

Linda Younkman                       Lindy's Designs

Robin Reed                              Artistry HCBD

Marla Gibson                            Spice Box Designs

Gina Hockett                            Freestyle Elements

Renetha Stanziano                     Lamplight Crafts

Christina Miles                         Wings N Scales

Marybeth Rich                         A Few Words from Within the Pines

Shai Williams                           Shaiha's Ramblings

Cheri Reed                               Creative Designs by Cheri

Monique Urguhart                     A Half-Baked Notion

Jennifer Reno                           Musings of a Crafty Jenny

Shirley Moore                           Beads and Bread

Tammy Adams                         Paisley Lizard

Melissa Trudinger                     Bead Recipes

Jill Bradley                               JillyBeads

Summer Carnival 2014 Blog Hop Reveal

Wow this was really fun once I got started.  I had a hard time at first even though I loved the colors of all the beads.  I was just stuck for some reason.  Lisa Lodge of  Pine Ridge Treasures   sponsors this hop.  She likes us to use as many as the beads in the kit as we can as well as beads from our stash but not purchase any.  Of course all beader's have more beads than they know what to do with.   I used quite a bit and still have enough to make a few more things, or add to my stash for another day.
A reminder of all the wonderful beads.
  

   I decided to work on a necklace first.  I wanted to make something that dangled in front. I laid out all the colors and thought I would use the yellow and blue sea glass with some of the white beads. I had a really cute silver head pin that has flowers on it and I used that to dangle some more beads.  So reminds me of summer!

 

Then I decided I needed a bracelet and earrings to go with the necklace. The glass beads that look a little green in the photo actually are this wonderful warm shade of yellow gold.  The bracelet is a simple stretch bracelet and is very light.  The bottom pair of earrings I also added a green crystal along with the blue and gold crystal.

 
After I finished those I thought I would make a gold set but with a longer chain.  This necklace can be worn with jeans or even that little black dress don't you think?

I love these gold earrings made with the crystals and sea glass.

Well that is it for this blog hop.  Hope you enjoyed my creations. Be sure and visit Pine Ridge Treasures to see all the other artists.

Anchors Aweigh!! Design Challenge

 Rita of Toltec Jewels invited me to participate in Anchors Aweigh!! Design Challenge Featuring  Suburban Girl Studio 

 

We received two very cute porcelain anchors for free to use in our designs. Each artist received either green or blue. 17 of us will be participating and the reveal will be on September 2nd so make sure you check back to see what I did.

I received green ones although they look blue :).

 I think this will be a fun one!

 

Pine Ridge Studio Summer Carnival Blog Hop

Lisa Lodge of Pine Ridge Treasures is holding a fun Summer Carnival Blog Hop.  The reveal will take place on August 2 which is coming up really quickly.  I have been very busy trying to get our house ready to put up for sale so I haven't had much time to be creative.  I had such a hard time coming up with a jewelry design even though I love, love, love the colors in the beads that Lisa sent me.  I think I might be having trouble because of the sparkly glass beads.  Kinda funny when I make sparkly dichroic glass pieces all the time.  When you join the hop you get a whole bunch of beads and Lisa lets you know the guidelines which are to use as many beads as you can from the kit, use what you have in your stash and don't buy any beads etc.  The hop is supposed to be challenging.  Anyway here are the beads!

A little blurry because I took them with my phone, but the sparkly beads are just a beautiful light golden color and I absolutely love the blue sea glass.  Well stay tuned for the hop and reveal which is August 2nd and see what I came up with.
So fun!