Alenka's Birthday Butterfly Blog Hop

A Return to my Earring-Making Roots

When Alenka, of Pepita's Handmade suggested a Butterfly Blog-hop, in honor of her birthday, I hopped right on. I seem to need a challenge every once in a while to get my creative juices going.

And I knew I wanted to to make these simple but effective earrings. I have made this basic design before, and I always sold anything I didn't hoard for my self.

So here we are. So simple, fairly easy, but so pretty and spring-like. I started with making a little "body" for my craft-store purchased butterfly links. Hanging a coordinating bead dangle gives them a little swing. 

Peach and light green seed beads, with sweet matching green  dangles. 

Perching green butterflies on a "leaf."

Butterflies look pretty in pink. 

Purple-y  body colors are set off by amethyst glass drops that change color depending on the light.

I loved digging through my stash for the beads used in this project. I hope the other participants did too!

Here is a list of their blogs:

1. Alenka (Pepita) - hostess --> http://pepita-handmade.blogspot.com/

2. Monique (A Half-Baked Notion) --> http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com/

3. Beti Horvath -->http://stringingfool.blogspot.com/  <---You Are Here

4. Kathy Lindemer --> http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com/

5. Kepi --> http://kepirasmussen.blogspot.com/

6. Christine Altmiller --> http://onekisscreations.blogspot.com/

7. Amy S. --> http://blogspot.amybeads.com/

8. Dini Bruinsma --> http://angazabychanges.blogspot.com/

9. Cynthia (Antiquity Travelers) --> http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com/

10. Alicia --> http://www.allprettythings.ca/

11. sheilaposter --> http://catswithbeads.blogspot.com/

12. Therese Frank --> http://theresestreasures59.blogspot.com/

13. Rebecca White --> http://morganafeycreations.121hub.com/

14. Rachel Mallis --> http://www.mintmonarch.com/#!blog/c1jlz

15. Liz E --> http://beadcontagion.blogspot.com/

16. Ana (ACBeads) --> http://acbeads.blogspot.com/

17. Jasvanti Patel --> http://jewelrybyjasvanti.blogspot.com/

18. Carolyn --> http://carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com/

19. Nan Smith --> http://wirednan.blogspot.com/

 

Do-Over Challenge

Butterfly Fantasy!

Jeannie Dukic sponsors a challenge from time to time, where she offers a piece of jewelry from the early part of her design career to others to "do over." Visit Jeannie's Blog.

Here is what she sent to me.

Frankly, I like the design! But the double strand is rather short,  at least on my neck! And while the butterflies are sweet,they are very insubstantial, and don't seem to interact with the lovely Swarovski crystal beads. I decided to give the whole thing a little substance and expand the color palette a little. 

I colored the butterflies with Vintaj patina. 

Then, I did the earrings too, although they were not technically part of the challenge. I added another crystal when I strung them on a pin. It just picked up the blue a little. 

And here is the finished necklace. It is long, because I used all of the original chain. I added some pink and blue flower and leaf shaped pressed glass beads. I like my butterflies a bit chunkier in the body, so you can see some of the pink crystals wired to the center of each. (And another little bit of wirework, can you see it?) 

Here you see the necklace worn by Sweet Sally Stitch. 

Join the fun by seeing what others have done with their pieces. 

Beti Horvath  http://stringingfool.blogspot.com/

Charlie Jacka  http://clay-space.com/blog

Dagi http://kokopellidesign.blogspot.com/

DiYana Alcalde http://agapecreationsjewelry.blogspot.com/
Donetta Farrinton  http://simplygorgeous-donetta.blogspot.com/

Ginger Davis Allman http://thebluebottletree.com/

Jeannie K Dukic http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog

Kathy Lindemer  http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com/

Lynne Bowland  http://www.islandgirlsinsights.blogspot.ca/

Molly Alexander  http://beautifullybrokenme.blogspot.com/

Mary Govaars  www.mlhjewelrydesigns.com

Mowse Doyle  http://mowsemadethis.blogspot.com/

Penny Houghton  www.smellynelly.blogspot.com

Renetha Stanziano  http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com/

Rita Avila http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com/

Susan Delaney  www.ladyflowersbysusan.wordpress.com