September 28, 2013

Creative Bead Chat 2000 Thank You Blog Hop


  This summer the Facebook group Creative Bead Chat (CBC) reached 2000 members and the wonderful ladies that keep this group thriving, organized a big giveaway. More that 50 prizes (from components to finished jewelry, magazines and gift certificates) were donated by some CBC members and given away to other members. 
 
  I have to admit I run for several prizes, mostly components. There was also a beautiful purple beadweaved bracelet that seemed just perfect for my younger sister. She is currently undergoing a chemio and I said that if I win that bracelet, I'll gift it to her to cheer her up a little. I do like and wear purple as well, but that bracelet was calling my sister's name from the moment I saw it.


  And guess what – I won just that bracelet!!! As soon I received the bracelet I've gifted it to her without taking any pictures, so I'm using the picture from the giveaway … She was really happy and she loves it! 





The bracelet was created by Ginger Hammond. Here are some more of her beautiful pieces – the pictures are borrowed from Ginger's FB profile just to thank her and show you her lovely work.


by Ginger Hammond

by Ginger Hammond

by Ginger Hammond

by Ginger Hammond
  

Thank you, Ginger, very much, from my sister and me!

And a big thank to Melinda Orr and Marla James and all the other wonderful ladies behind CBC and Artisan Whimsy!


Here are the links to the other participants in this Thank you blog hop:





Alenka  - http://pepita-handmade.blogspot.com ß You are here!









Be happy,

Alenka

September 22, 2013

Surprise & Twinchie Polymer Clay Swap with Japanese Flavour / Swap presenečenj in ploščic iz polimerne gline z japonskim pridihom

  Yep, I've had a partner from Japan in this last International polymer clay FB group swap: the lovely Chieko Sasaki of MINA Creations!!!
  Tako je, moja zadnja partnerica v mednarodni izmenjavi izdelkov iz polimerne gline prihaja z Japonske - to je Chieko Sasaki, ki ustvarja pod imenom MINA Creations!  

  Chieko lives in the central Tokyo, Japan, with her hubby and six birds. She is a certified FIMO instructor/artist and teaches miniatures at a major handicraft store in Tokyo called Tokyu Hands once a month. She is also a certified metal clay artist/instructor of PMC (MITSUBISHI precious metal clay) and a practitioner of Findohorn flower essences. How cool is that!!!
  Chieko živi v osrednjem Tokiu z možem in šestimi pticami. Je certificirana inštruktorica/ustvarjalka ter enkrat mesečno poučuje izdelovanje miniatur v največji trgovini z ustvarjalnim materialom v Tokiu. Poleg tega ima certifikat tudi za dragocene metalne gline (precious metal clay) in se ukvarja s Findohorn cvetličnimi esencami.

   We decided to swap a set of jewelry - a necklace, a bracelet and earrings.
   Odločili sva se za izmenjavo kompleta nakita, in sicer ogrlice, zapestnice in uhanov.



  Let me first show you what I've made for Chieko.
  Naj vam najprej pokažem, kaj sem sama naredila za Chieko

 
  Chieko likes autumn colors, so do I, and as the autumn was just around the corner, I've decided to use yellow-orange + bronze palette. I used my currently favorite techniques - the combination of Hellen Breil's Shapes and Cosmic Ceramic of Iris Mishly & Hila Bushari, all combined my way.
  Chieko so všeč jesenske barve, ravno tako kot meni, in ker se je jesen hitro bližala, sem se odločila za rumeno-oranžne odtenke v kombinaciji z bronasto. Uporabila sem trenutno najljubšo kombinacijo tehnik, to je Shapes od Hellen Breil in Cosmic Ceramic od Iris Mishly & Hile Bushari, skombinirano malo po moje.


The necklace I made for Chieko / Ogrlica, ki sem jo izdelala za Chieko  
 
   
The earrings for Chieko / Uhani za Chieko

The bracelet with the infinity symbol / Zapestnica s simbolom neskončnosti

The twinchie using the same texturing and coloring techniques / Ploščica, za katero sem uporabila isti tehniki teksture in barvanja

  I was a little late sending out my swap items for Chieko, so I've decided to send to her a little extra gift to apologize for the delay. I've decided for something related to the place I live - the Sečovlje saltpans:
  Ker sem tokrat malo zamujala s pošiljanjem paketka za Chieko, sem se odločila, da dodam še dodatno darilce v opravičilo. Izbrala sem nekaj, kar je povezano s krajem, v katerem živim, to so Sečoveljske soline:


A wooden spoon for salt and Grandma's Recipes cooking book / Lesena žlica za sol in knjižica z recepti stare mame


 ~~~

  And here is what I have received from Chieko:
  Tukaj pa vam predstavljam, kaj je Chieko izdelala zame:

 
The necklace Chieko made for me / Ogrlica, ki jo je Chieko naredila zame


Earrings from Chieko / Uhani od Chieko
 
Bracelet from Chieko / Zapestnica od Chieko

 
Chieko included even a ring / Chieko je dodala celo prstan

 
and not one, but two beautiful twinchies / in celo dve ploščici


 The beads look like glass and not polymer!! And have you seen her food miniatures??!! They are perfect in each detail!!! 
  Njene perle izgledajo kot steklo in ne polimerna glina!! In ste videli njene miniature hrane??!! Perfektne so v vsaki področbnosti!!!

  Thank you, Chieko, for being my partner in this swap! I've enjoyed every moment of it and I'm happy to have a new polymer friend in Japan. 
  Najlepša hvala, Chieko, da si bila moja partnerica v tej izmenjavi! Uživala sem v sakem trenutku in sem zelo vesela, da imam novo kolegico na Japonskem.


Be happy,
 Bodite veseli,
 
Alenka 
 

September 15, 2013

So loooong .... / Tako dolgo ....

  Oh, it's been soooo looong from my last post here .... but I'm still alive and kicking!!! ;-)
  Ajej, ogrooomno časa je minilo od moje zadnje objave ... a sem še vedno živa in zdrava!!! :-)

  I've changed my diet almost two months ago and from then I'm cooking at least twice as much as I did before (but the results are great!) ....  and then also the beginning of the new school year and all the activities/obligations that come with it ... it seems I've just didn't find enough energy or desire to make jewelry and to blog. 
  V tem času sem povsem zamenjala svoj način prehranjevanja in preživim za štedilnikom vsaj dvakrat toliko časa kot prej (čeprav so rezultati odlični) ... poleg tega pa je ponovno začelo šolsko leto z vsemi povezanimi aktivnostmi in obveznostmi ... tako da nisem našla ne energije ne volje, da bi ustvarjala nakit ali pisala blog.


  Hopefully the things are settling down, now, and I'll be more present in this world again. In fact I have a lot of things to show you and talk about!!! :-)
  No, upam, da se bodo sedaj vse stvari nekoliko umirile in bom spet bolj prisotna v tem svetu, saj vam imam veliko za pokazati in povedati!!! :-)


  Today I'll show you the gifts I've received this summer ... 
  Danes vam bom pokazala darila, ki sem jih dobila to poletje ... 


   The first one is a giveaway prize I've won at the giveaway hosted by Sarah of Sweden on her blog - two strands of beautiful beads. My choice was for the light blue 3 mm glass beads and 10 mm green agate:
  Prva je nagrada, ki sem jo zadela v nagradni igri na blogu Sarah iz Švedske, in sicer dva niza čudovitih perlic. Izbrala sem 3mm steklene perle v svetlo modri barvi in 10mm zelene agate:



    Thank you very much, Sarah!!!
    Sarah, Najlepša hvala!!!


  The second gift was the bracelet made by Cynthia Machata of Antiquity Travelers for my 1st blogoversary blog hop. She was so kind to gift one of the four pieces she made with my components to me and two other pieces to my followers. My choice was this beautiful bracelet:
    Drugo darilo pa je zapestnica, ki jo je izdelala Cynthia Machata (Antiquity Travelers) za  "blog hop" ob prvi obletnici mojega bloga. Izmed štirih kosov nakita, ki jih je izdelala iz mojih koščkov, je enega podarila meni, dva pa za mojo nagradno igro. Moja izbira je bila ta čudovita zapestnica:  

photo by Cynthia Machata

  Cynthia told me it is a new style she's playing with - bead embroidery inspired by Native American work (colors are different, but beadwork is similar). Thank you, Cynthia, again!!! However, the best part is to wear a piece that is made in collaboration with such a beautiful person and artist.
    Cynthia mi je povedala, da je to nov stil, s katerim se poigrava, in sicer išče navdih v izdelkih domorodnih Američanov (barve so sicer drugačne, a delo s perlicami podobno). Cynthia, še enkrat najlepša hvala!!! Pravzaprav je najlepši del tega nositi kos nakita, ki je nastal v sodelovanju s tako čudovito osebo in ustvarjalko.

  That's it for today, but soon I'll blog about the summer international polymer clay swap ... with a Japanese ingredients this time :-)
    To je vse za danes, ampak kmalu bom pisala o poletni mednarodni izmenjavi ... z Japonskimi sestavinami tokrat :-)

Be happy,
Bodite veseli,

Alenka