Hello – Thank you for your patience! The Bead Hoarder’s Blog Hop reveal was scheduled for yesterday… and I am finally here, finished and posting!
The hop – held by the ever imaginative Lori Anderson – was a challenge to beaders everywhere to dig through your stash. ( We ALL have a stash!) Select a piece you had squirreled away and finally use it! Permission to break out the treasures! Create something fabulous!
I have a stash that dates back 10 years to my time working at the Shepherdess in San Diego! With so many pretties… Here is a collage of my final, much edited , round of contestants:
From top left: Kwan Yin shrine from a London’s Portobello Rd. antiques market, assorted glass vessels that make me swoon, a Basha bead and suitably flashy seed beads ( a going away gift when I left San Diego!)
Row 2 – a lampwork vessel – I think by Gail Crosman Moore, a lampwork ocean bead, oops. vessels snuck in again!
Row 3 – clay beads by Fete of clay; a collection, in the original Shepherdess box, I received when I left to move back East; lampwork swirly bead – also a going away present.
That was a really hard thing to do. I loved going through the stash, and I have so many ideas!!! But to select one, and make a final decision in the time alotted? Well, you can see I was late…
As you can see I selected the box of beads. It was my intention all along to design and create a piece where the lampwork bead took center stage. If I had treasured it for 10 years, it deserved to be the star.
The lamp work bead, in swirly and speckled greys and browns, wanted to be paired with smoky quartz. I decided to add the bronze clay moon face as the colors/tones were so perfect, and to give the focal more volume, more importance. The triple strand uses the wee grey seed beads – and a strand of bronze pearls. The extra smoky quartz drop on a jump ring? Simply to aid in keeping the three strands hanging correctly.
I rarely name my pieces – it is not my preference to do so unless there is a contextual clue I want to give the viewer. This necklace wanted to be named “Stormy Night”.
Please take a look through the treasure boxes, the secret stashes, the creations of my colleagues and fellow blog hoppers! The full list can be found at Lori’s Blog – Pretty Things.
Thanks for stopping by! I would love to hear what you think.
Jenny Davies-Reazor 
I’ll keep checking back! Thanks!
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I love your necklace! Did you make the bronze clay face?
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No – I have yet to try bronze clay – although I badly want to. From stoneware to metal clay seems like a small lateral hop… It was in my stash and is unknown. I got it in a destash bundle from the awesome Nina Bagley. ( not made by Nina though. ) Its stamped “Begin” on the back.
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Jenny, what a marvelous dramatic creation… it certainly deserves the name “Stormy Night”!
(I have to remark how those glass vessels kept muscling in and demanding their due LOL. Hope to see them appear in a special design soon .)
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The glass vessels haunt me. I adore them both visually and symbolically. I actually have a plan for the clear glass one…<smiles mysteriously>
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I love the feel of this piece. The name fits it very well !
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I love that you let that bead be the star and simply complimented it. It turned out beautifully!
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I really like this necklace, and it was fun seeing your treasures. Thanks for sharing.
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Beautiful stash! and I like the name and the beauty of the simplicity (meant in a very positive way!!!)of the necklace. Have a nice summer!
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A very dark piece, but meant in a good way. Your name is perfect. Well done!
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Thank you! Since I never name pieces I am gald this one was well suited!
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What beautiful work! I absolutely love the color combination of this necklace… I think it showcases your lampwork bead perfectly.
Thank you so much for sharing–both the lovely necklace, and the lovely beads that you’ve been keeping in your stash! What treasures! 🙂
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Thank you. I truly do feel a bit piratical when I go through all my bead stash!
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Beautiful!
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Jenny your pieces are always so original and creative. I admire your work.
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Thanks! I an itching to get back into the jewelry studio! I miss it as I am sequestered in the clay studio (basement) getting ready for Beadfest! Maybe I need a day “off”….
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Funny how some pieces name themselves. I really like your piece. Beautiful earthy colours with lots of different textures and movement. Lovely.
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The grey seed beads were so tiny and subtle and when I pulled out those pearls! Wow. It designed itself! Thanks!
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I can see why you hoarded that focal-it is awesome! I love the necklace you made and the added dangles. Nice job!
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Hee Hee. My close jewelry friends know I want to add dangle to everything…
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Simply beautiful!! It was hard for me too to select what to work with from my stash. It took me weeks to narrow it down! You did a great job and you had so much awesome to choose from.
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Thanks Hope! I think it may actually make me use more of my stash since I spent a while looking and fondling…
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Jenny,
What a great bead stash you have been hoarding away. I fully understand what it’s like to stash your treasured beads though. I think it’s fantastic that you decided to go with your bead from your Shepherdess days (and so cool that you have the original box). Your necklace is beautiful and so serene…colors that look amazing together and that I would wear in a heartbeat. I think the addition of the bronze clay face was the perfect addition to add length and impact to the focal. So well done! 🙂
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Thank you! I was working on the piece at a “Girls Jewelry Night” and a friend was all about the bead – encouraging me to NOT ad dthe face. I am glad I went with my original impulse – as I feel it does give the focal a bit more “umph”.
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