December 2014 AJE Component of the Month

Our lovely components this month are from Diana Ptaszynski of Suburban Girl Studio, LLC.  We had our choice of stoneware snowflakes.  I chose a white one.

As per my usual modus operandi, I waited until the very last minute, then some family dynamics prohibited me from completely finishing mine.  The chain needs to be secured, it needs LOS and a tumble, and I may completely redo the clasp.

Along with Diana's sweet focal, I included a cute blue bird by Caroline Dewison of BlueberriBeads, a white lampwork bead from Mermaid Glass, one of my own copper metal clay components (it started out as a flower, but I filed it into sort of a snowflake shape!) a Czech glass flower, and some cool brushed-finish copper beads from my stash.

I really like the monochromatic effect of all the winter white, with the one pop of color Caroline's sweet bird adds.

I may add some more beads and completely change the design...stay tuned!  But first, go see what others have created!  Thanks for stopping by...

Monthly Winners

Dana Hickey

Cate Van Alphen

AJE Blog Team

Lindsay M Starr

Linda Landig

Lesley Watt

Caroline Dewison

Susan Kennedy

Jen Cameron

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Melissa Meman

Kristen Stevens

March AJE Component of the Month ~ Moth Wings

Caroline Dewison of Blueberribeads sent us some gorgeous porcelain pieces!  We had a choice of moths or bees!

Here is what I created...I wanted to offset the beautiful gold metallic glaze with some pops of bright color, but decided to stay fairly monochromatic, so chose teal.  I rounded up some Czech glass beads, then went through my stash of art beads and found a pretty borosilicate lampwork bead by Julie Delaney, and a lovely ceramic swirl bead by our own Karen Totten.  I remembered some pyrite nuggets and briolettes that I had and wire-wrapped them into the necklace with brass wire.

I decided to create a hook clasp and just use one of the component's links for the loop!

There you have it!  Simple, but bright and beautiful!  I had been holding on to these pyrite briolettes for a while...I think they work perfectly with this!

Sorry for the drab photos...it was rainy and gross yesterday and I waited until this morning to take photos, but didn't have enough light!

Now, go forth and check out all the other gorgeous goodies created by this month's design team!!

Guest Artists

Helen Simon – Helen's had to drop out due to a hand injury - get well soon Helen!

Niky Sayers – http://silverniknats.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/aje-march-component-of-month-reveal.html

The AJE Team

Caroline Dewison – http://www.blueberribeads.co.uk 

Diana Ptaszynski - http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com

Susan Kennedy - http://suebeads.blogspot.co.uk

Kristen Stevens - http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.co.uk

Keirsten Giles - http://cerebraldilettante.blogspot.com

Jenny Davies-Reazor - http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog/golden_wings_aje_component_month_reveal

Melissa Meman –  http://melissameman.blogspot.com (you are here!)

Rebekah Payne - www.treewingsstudio.com

Lesley Watt - http://thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/aje-component-of-month-march-reveal.html

Linda Landig - http://lindalandig.wordpress.com/2014/03/30/luna-moth-necklace/

AJE Component of the Month Challenge for October

I was really excited to receive my gorgeous copper clay component from Kristi Bowman.  She managed to get some awesome flame colors in the copper.

 I really wanted a simple design, not to take away from the focal.  The curved shape just screams "bracelet"!!

The gorgeous ruffled lampwork bead is from Mermaid Glass...aren't those colors to die for?

I immediately knew I was going to use this faceted agate that I have been hoarding for a while.  I remember falling in love with the sunset oranges, cream and russets, and was going to make a wire-wrapped necklace of just the agate.  I still have enough, so I might just do that!

The lampwork was an impulse addition.  I knew that I wanted to include that awesome pop of indigo blue in my piece, but wasn't sure how for a while. I had tried several other beads to bring out the blue...some of my enamel (couldn't get the color just right)....some Czech glass (mmm, no).  I saw this beauty from Mermaid Glass and my heart skipped a beat.

I had originally wanted to make a special link for the clasp from Cindy Wimmer's new book, The Missing Link (fabulous, by the way, and if you don't have it, you need to get it!).  Since I was trying to stay simple and was running a bit behind, I decided on the big wire-wrapped loop that I flattened and textured a bit.  I then used a balled headpin to wrap the ruffle, and then added a swirled hook clasp.

I have to say, I love the way this feels on and I love that the somewhat eclectic color combo evokes something deep in me!

Thanks, Kristi, for creating such a fun and unique Component of the Month!  Go take a look and see what the rest of our team and this month's guest bloggers created!  Happy Wednesday!

Guests

Kym Hunter Designs
MiShel Designs

AJE Team Members
Jennifer Cameron Glass Addictions
Lesley Watt Gossiping Goddess
Kristen Stevens My Bead Journey
Caroline Dewison Blueberri Beads
Jenny Davies-Reazor 
Melissa Meman 
Rebekah Payne Tree Wing Studio
Francesca Watson
Kristi Bowman Design
Sue Kennedy