Pine Ridge Treasures - Favorite Things

In which I choose my favorite favorites!

Another Blog Hop, from Pine Ridge Treasures. This one is entitled "Favorite Things." It's so hard to choose the beads from one of Lisa Lodge's hand picked collections... but it had to be done. 

I had thought I photographed this batch as they came in but, no such luck. So here are the pieces I came up with from a beautiful collection. You will just have to believe that I had some hard choices. 

I love black and white, so grabbed these geometric beads, added the black disks and some round white beads and some chain. the clasp included went perfectly with the geometric theme. 

I kind of get a fifties vibe from this necklace. 

In any challenge I have to sneak in some earrings. Aren't they cute? 

And these blue beads were begging to be made into a bracelet. A few tiny blue beads, those white rounds, string them up, add a magnetic clasp and....

How about visiting the other hoppers now?

Your hostess:  Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Kim Dworak, Cianci Blue

Beti Horvath, Stringing Fool Jewelry

Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera

Rosee Hanemaayer, Silver Penny Artisans

Chris Eisenberg, Wanderware

Inge von Roos, Inge's Blog

Shaiha Williams, Shaiha’s Ramblings

Karin Grosset Grange, Ginkgo et Coquelicot

Pine Ridge Treasures: Black and White Blog Hop

Adventures in Monochrome

Lisa Lodge, of Pine Ridge Treasures is hosting another blog hop, this one has a black and white theme. 

As usual, the participants received a selection of beads and other items, like findings and charms, to spark our creativity. 

My set contained light blue and white glass pearls, black teardrop beads, and an assortment of other goodies. I did not take a picture of the beads because I lost my head when I saw these components, and immediately made these earrings. 

The square ceramic dangles, and the snowflake obsidian cube beads were just perfect for this pair of earrings. 

I let everything sit for a while, and during that time I acquired some things at a bead show. A little bag of pewter ovals lead to my quickly assembling this necklace, and then some matching earrings, too. 

This is a pretty long necklace, but it is light and comfortable to wear, perfect for summer. You can get some idea of the length, here:

It's about 18 inches from the charms at the bottom, to the over-sized clasp and its little charm. I just love the look of the stone, metal and the little silver key. And the oval links are just perfect with the components of the kit. Some gunmetal colored chain carries the black and white theme to the body of the necklace. I love the way all the little charms I created from the components compliment each other. 

Of course I had to make some extra earrings, and use the blue pearls. 

I was surprised at my own ability to use this limited palette to create pieces that were such fun to wear. I know, because I've worn them.

Would you like to see the other pieces the participants have made? Click on these links!

Your hostess:  Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Kim Dworak, Cianci Blue

Shaiha Williams, Shaiha’s Ramblings

Becky Pancake, Becky Pancake Bead Designs

Beti Horvath, Stringing Fool Jewelry  <-----You are here

Marde Lowe, Fancimardesigns

Kari Asbury, Hippie Chick Design

Karin Grosset Grange, Ginkgo et Coquelicot

Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera

Rosee Hanemaayer, Silver Penny Artisans

Focus on Life: Moments - Best Captured in Black & White

Form and Feeling take Center Stage

This week, our prompt from Sally Russick for April's Moments theme, was to find a moment best captured in black and white. 

I knew right away I wanted to catch the newly opened daffodils as they recovered from being covered in ice the night before. Kind of poignant to see them bowing down.

I liked how important the light becomes. 

I then chose a vase that has been kicking around in my garden...looking much older than its actual age. 

Abuse, not age!

And then this old galvanized bucket, just because it looks cool.

Nice geometric effect on the bottom. 

 Looking forward to what others have done.

An InLinkz Link-up

Focus on Life: Black and White Self Portrait.

Seeing yourself as others see you - sort of. 

Our Minimalist prompt for this week from Sally Russick of The Studio Sublime, is to create a black and white self portrait. I am one of those people who are uncomfortable with photographs of myself. As I grow older, I seem to become unrecognizable. For some reason, though I am fine with my image in the mirror, I am often horrified to see myself in a picture. 

So...I got out some props, and tried to create a character, so the picture wouldn't be so much "me" and more a creation of mine. 

Given limited time to use the trial and error method needed for setting the timer, then taking a picture, here are some images of the Cherry Hat Lady. 

And here is one that is more like the real me. 

One thing that year two of Focus On Life has done for me is to encourage the use of my camera in ways that stretch my skills. Can't wait to see what next week will bring. 

In the meantime, let's see what the others have done. 

Focus on: A Monochrome Experiment

Photography Without Color

Our prompt for this week, from Focus on Life by Sally Russick at The Studio Sublime, is "Monochromatic."  We needed to come up with pictures either captured originally in black and white, or ones that we shot in color, then processed into monochrome, like black and white or sepia. 

I used the black and white setting on my camera for the first time, and it was fun, because taking pictures with black and white film (remember film?) was not that unusual when I started taking pictures. But back then, you saw your picture framed in the viewfinder, in color, and now you can see your picture on the screen in black and white. 

Interestingly, I found lots of subjects that are close to being monochromatic already, because winter is not a season of color around here. Here are the images I chose to share with you.  

Weeds and driftwood. And a little dirty snow.

Doorway to an 18th century house.

Cement mixer.

Then, I started to experiment. Here is an old weather beaten door. The one on the left was originally taken in black and white. The other? That one is in color. Sometimes you just have to find the right subject!  

Oh yeah, this one I played with by darkening the exposure.

Brings out the detail and shadows.

And finally, picket fence, unretouched in black and white, and then in sepia, cropped. 

Wait wait, one more: 

This is a shot taken in color, then played with in PicMonkey. It is ice forming on the edge of a stream. I use it as my desktop image!

Thanks for looking. I really enjoyed this one. Hope you did too. Visit The Studio Sublime to see what others have come up with!