It's Pretty and It's a Give-Away!

As a result of all the vegetables I got on Thursday I have been up to my elbows in pumpkin, cabbage, and sweet potatoes and haven't even started on the brocolli, so I need a break and something fun, so I am going to

GIVE AWAY A JEWELRY SET!

(a pair of earrings and a bracelet)

I have been working on jewelry sets for my craft sale and need to get to the painting projects, but my beads keep enticing me away, especially since I can make them while I listen to Violet do her reading for school.

Just leave a comment at the end of this entry and tell me:

"What is your favorite thing about fall?"

 and you will be entered in my free jewelry give-away.  You will be able to chose one of the following sets:

 Elegance in Blue.

Colors of Fun

Simply Purple

All three of these sets contain glass and acrylic beads and were strung by me,

the Farmer's Wyfe

(which explains the rough contours of the hand illustrating them below:

they speak of a rather long day making pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin cookies, and then sauerkraut. Yes, strange combination, I know.  I taste tested the first two, but not the last.

I need to tell you that I had beautiful hands once upon a time that would have done this jewelry proud; 

which is why you need to rescue them from me.)

 Elegance in Blue:

the earring hooks are silver;

the bracelet is strung on memory wire, so it is like a slinky, hoops that are not attached at the end and beginning.

Colors of fun:

I adore the flowered beads on this set.

It has gold earring hooks

and the bracelet is made of stretchy elastic.

Simply Purple:
These beads are great fun, especially the rectangular shaped ones with mirrored colors on them.
The earrings have silver hooks
and the bracelet is also stretchy elastic.

We will let this giveaway sit open until noon Thursday, October 21, and then somebody will randomly be picked from those who commented.

Please, only one comment; and for this give-away, you must live in the continental USA.

To leave a comment, just scroll down past this lengthy tutorial;

For those of you who might want the directions I didn't finish from this post

here are those:

THE BRACELET

 Select the beads you'd like for your bracelet.

 Select the string you'd like to use: I used this bracelet elastic.

 Try the beads on the elastic, especially the ones with the smallest hole to be sure they will fit on the string.

 Now try the pattern you would like on your bracelet.  I tried a small bead between each larger bead...

 and then two smaller beads between each larger bead and I liked this look better.

 String your beads using ones you like best.  Make it long enough to fit around your wrist with a little bit of space.

 I thought this was too big, so I took a few beads off.

 Ending with a larger bead, chose the one you want with a larger hole so you can slip the knot from your beading string into the bead.  I chose the silver one because it was somewhat hollowed out in the middle and so would hide the string better.

 Tie your knot right at the beads: left over right, right over left.

Tighten as much as possible without getting wild and breaking it, just so it is very tight and won't come undone.  It can take quite a bit of pull, but you just don't want to stretch it from the floor to the ceiling.

(Please, don't ask me how I know this).

 Slide the tightened knot into the large bead.  Again, tug and wiggle; try not to just stretch from ear to ear.

Presto!

 There's your stretchy bead bracelet!

EARRINGS:

 I use these two tools: wire cutters, and these pinchers.
 

 Pick out the metal base pieces you will need: earring hooks, eye pins, and your base bead.

 Pull the eye pin circle apart and slide the bead into it.  Then pinch it shut.

 Experiment with your beads til you get the look you like.

 Snip the tip of the eye pin down so you have just enough left to curve into a closed circle shape.  It is best to cut both the eye pins for both earrings now so that you have the same length for both.

Curl the eye pin end around so it closes up at the bead and gives you a loop.

 Next open up the loop on the French hook earring piece.

Slide the loop you made on the top of the eye pin onto the opened loop on the French earring hook.

(Oh, my sad, sad nails.  I can't believe after all my years of keeping my nails so beautiful, this is now what I show to the world.

  My vanity is squashed.)

 Close the hook up.

 Repeat on the other earring and you have your beautiful beaded earrings!

And there will be lots of beads left over for other jewelry, too!



 Happy Beading!