June Monthly Blog Tour

Oh, how I long for a vacation in a little cottage on the edge of the sea! In my minds’ eye it would be in a quaint little village not unlike the Jackknife Village of our painting this month, with the gentle waves lapping the shore and the salty air tickling my nose. I would bask in the warmth of the sun and delight in the ever changing vista before me, light and shadow racing across the sky ending in a glorious sunset. But since I cannot play at tourist, I can dream of what this scene must be like and allow my beady friends to take me on virtual tour transporting me to another time and place.

Let’s kick things off with a design by our own ABS Adminstrator, Heather Powers! This necklace (above) has the perfect blend of beachy themed beads like urchins and shells along with a summer palette of teals and tans and a sweet little house bead tucked right in!

Welcome to Miss Catherine of Meadowland Designs (above)! The gently swaying grasses on the edge of the rugged landscape is the focal for this lovely necklace. I enjoyed reading about how Miss Brandi’s palettes inspired her color choices and how she came to the colors she ultimately used. Read about it here.  We look forward to having you join in again!

I love the laid-back easy feel of this necklace (above). The rope reminds me of boat riggings, the jagged stones look like the island and the rocks and the wee little house makes me wish I were right there on the edge of the sea. Read more of the inspiration for this necklace by Leah at Beady Eyed Bunny.

When I do have the rare occasion to go on vacation, I like to look for trinkets to remember my time well spent. This bracelet looks like a collection of all the beach houses you might have stayed in over a length of time, like a festive little neighborhood block party for your wrist! Check it out at Ahowin.

Kathy of Bay Moon Designs (above) was inspired by the sky and the sea with her soft, ethereal color palette. The mix of shapes and multi-strand design give this a refined edge while the art bead pendant lends it a bohemian feel. Such a soothing design!

A most ingenious design! The way the bugle beads are strung gives an illusion to me of a picket fence surrounding the quaint little cottage above the cliffs along the sea shore! Clever use of materials. Read about the design at Just Beadey.

Monique of A Half-Baked Notion (above) was inspired to create this mult-faceted design as a tribute to her fisherman family roots. From the craggy rocks and the soft swirling seascape to the houses hugging each other for protection, she did a great job of interpreting this painting.

Okay, seriously? The best part of reading about what Beth and Evie create each time is hearing their process. And this time we are treated to a sketch of the pendant! I totally love the collaborative spirit of these two. And the colors in this necklace just scream summer at the beach to me! Check it out at EB Bead & Metal Works.

There is a very sea-creature sort of vibe in this lovely bracelet by Fulgorine (above). The twists and turns of the bead work act like waves gently caressing a seashell worn by time and perpetual motion to the beach of this sleepy little town.

Jen of Purple Fish Studios (above) finds that there is a great similarity with seaside towns no matter where they are. Her necklace features a rare basalt heart stone added to a pretty array of wired stones and a handmade clay and wire coiled clasp. This is truly a memory of a fine vacation along the coast!

To ‘live in the sunshine’ (as the message on the reverse of the pendant states) would be to experience life at it’s finest. And where better to do that than on the while picking up shells on the beach! The beautiful lampwork reminds me of the setting sun and did you notice the weaving of the blue silk through the chain? Much like the waves along the shore. Read more of Karin’s inspiration at Gingko et Coquelicot.

These sweet earrings (above) make me want to don some flip flops, a jaunty hat and a flowy sundress and live at the beach! Their vibrant hues are an amped up version of the palette and I just love them as it reminds me of time spent on the beaches of Jamaica and Mexico with the bright blue of the Caribbean sea. Read more about this design at Fresh Baked Designs.

This necklace is island living at it’s finest… a lazy day filled with sun and heat makes you want to pare down to the bare essentials. It is incredible how deep you can get with a handful of treasured beads and some simple leather cord! I love the abstract quality of these beads and how they relate to the painting… the houses, the sea, the sky. Read more of this design by Ann at Bead Love.

Lampwork beads fascinate me. I am not sure how those artists and wrangle a flame and spears of glass into gorgeous landscapes, but I am so glad they do! There is some serious magic happening in this bead that SaraJo Wentling found. Look! There is a whole world inside of it! And a world that lives at the beach is my kind of world! Check it out at SJ Designs Jewelry.

Wow. There is nothing that I can say to top these delightful earrings! Miss Lynda (above) makes the most incredible polymer clay creations look so easy, when I know that they are far more intricate than you would think. Her use of color and pattern and texture is truly masterful. These look like the striations of stone on the craggy rocks where this little town is perched. And the mosaic reminds me of how these houses are likely built of the stone on which they rest. So wonderful. Read all about it at SC Diva.

I want to live in a house with a polka-dottie door. A place where the sea meets the sky and the wind dances along the shoreline twisting my hair in knots. I want to walk along a path that takes me to the edge of the water to dip my toes in. That is what I see when I look at this charming necklace by M is the Word.

The sea is the sea is the sea. It doesn’t seem to matter much if it is along the coast of Canada or Western United States, I think that anyone that has actually been to a seashore can relate to this pretty painting. Shaiha finds the time to join us again and take us on a beach excursion with her pretty necklace. Read more at her blog Shaiha’s Ramblings.

Pam of Klassy Joolz (above) made the most delightful bracelet for the challenge. The soft white clouds meeting the swirling blue sea are so soothing. And the unexpected delight is that wee little fish dangle that makes me smile!

Doing what you love to do can be a sort of vacation when you can’t find the time to take a real one. Mary Ellen of Bee Tree by m.e. (above) shares her creative vacation with some faux beach stones she created paired with actual sea glass from a beachy foray.  Wearing this pretty sea-inspired necklace would help me to escape!

And I know that it is not a finished piece of jewelry, so I am sort of breaking the ABS rules, but I wanted you to see the bead I worked on all month inspired by this painting (seriously. All. Month. Long.). I took my {very} new-found skills at making polymer clay canes learned from Heather Powers at her Garden Party Beads retreat in May and turned that into a seascape that I hope would make Franklin Carmichael proud! If you can’t detect the scene on the bead, I chose to focus on the left third of the canvas. (Squint a bit if you can’t quite make it out! 😉 ‘Painting’ with polymer was a new technique for me and these beads are on their way (very late!) to the Simple Truths Sampler Club members for June. Watch for the extras to pop into my shop next week. (Notice the sweet little skeleton key cane that Miss Heather made for me based on my logo. So stinkin’ cute!) I am the sponsor of the giveaway for this month, and one option the winner has is a three month spot in my Sampler Club for July-August-September, all inspired by the challenge paintings for the month.Who knows what I will be making for those months?

As always, it is such an honor for me to share all of these amazing designs with all of you. I truly enjoy reading the inspirations, the color choices, the reminiscences and the deep meanings of all the projects that you share with us. I look forward to seeing what you will do with July’s inspiration!