Treasure Trove

My awesome bead swap buddy, Beadstylin sent me this wonderful selection of beads for the JET Team bead swap. I didn't take the picture right away, so as you can see, I couldn't wait and made some earrings which are in the picture. This was a really fun event that the JET team put on and I'm am very pleased with my new treasures. Thank you, Beadstylin!
beadstylin.etsy.com

Gift Basket Donation

I just finished my donation for our JET TEAM's Wedding Challenge bride's gift basket donation. (Wow, is that a mouthful!) I just got these really cool biwa stick pearls and I thought it would be neat to use them just as very simple pendants with just a little accent bead, so I made one in each color. Autumn can keep them all for herself if she wants, or she can share with her bridesmaids.

The Wedding Challenge

A challenge? I'm all for that. I was so excited to have this week off so I could work on my wedding challenge set. The 2008 Wedding Challenge is sponsored by the Etsy street teams: JET (Jewelry on Etsy team), EtsyFAST (Fiber Arts Street Team) and Etsy Greetings and it's a way the get the word out about buying handmade. Each team is putting together certain aspects of the wedding and then posting them in a Flickr pool for all to see. I actually had an inspiration that evolved as I started working. I found these really elegant pod shaped pearl/shells and I thought they would be perfect for this. I thought I could dangle Swarovski Crystals with the Aurora Borealis finish off the bottom, interspersed with some freshwater pearls- a nice dangling cluster. Then, I wanted to do something special for the necklace rather than just dangle the one pod down the front. Then, I was struck with the front toggle idea. I've been meaning to do one for awhile, I just hadn't yet. I dug through all my toggles until I found a fancy, dainty one and my necklace was born. I'm always up for a challenge.