Let the Games Begin

    Welcome to the Game of Thrones Jewelry Challenge, hosted by Heather Powers of Humble Beads.
    With the highly anticipated season 5 premier almost upon us,  Heather Powers dreamed up this challenge to help those suffering from withdrawal pass the time. The idea was to create something inspired in some way by the series of prized books, now turned into an award winning television series.
    I must admit that I've never actually read the books, or seen the TV show. I stopped watching TV all together about 5 years ago.
    However, I never need much of an excuse to rise to a challenge......and then, well, there's dragons!

"Mother of Dragons" 

    For anyone who is a fan, or even aware of the series, it's probably pretty obvious who my inspiration was.
    For those who are not, this is Daenerys. Last surviving members of the House of Targaryn, and rightful heir to it's throne. She was also the wife of Khal Drogo, a Dothraki warlord, leaving her to rule his people upon his death. Lastly, and most important, she is the mother of 3 dragon hatchlings!

"When my dragons are grown, we will make waste of armies and burn cities to the ground."

 -Daenerys 

    All I know about Daenerys I have learned from google search, but here's my impression of her:

    Daenerys started out as a very frail and vulnerable girl, who was heavily taken advantage of. She has been through hell and back, and has come out the other side a strong and powerful, take no prisoners, total badass of a woman. A genuine force to be reckoned with.
    She is definitely NOT your stereotypical princess!

    I created the "Mother of Dragons" necklace to encompass the enigma that is Daenerys.  A delicate image of etherial beauty, combined with a pillar of strength, and unrelenting determination. 

    The center ceramic art bead focal was made by Birgitta Lejonklou of Angel Whisperer. It was gifted to me as a prize for winning the Blogger/Non-Blogger challenge last year, and has been patiently waiting in my bead box for the perfect inspiration. 

The dragon's wings were form folded and synclasted from copper sheet metal. I had initially intended to polish them to a shiny copper finish, but then decided that the charred and oxidized look of the metal was perfect for dragon wings. 

    I made a beaded chain of an organic mix of gemstones. Etched eye dot Agates, rough Carnelian gemstones, Picture Jasper, Howlite, a ceramic art bead by Grubbi, and terra cotta dragon hatchlings. 

    The dragon focal itself is adorned with gemstone tassels of Mookaite, Tigers Eye, Czech glass blossoms, Red Jasper,  and a titanium coated Quartz crystal point. 

   

     I had not actually seen this picture of Daenerys and her dragon before creating my piece. I was quite impressed with the similarity of my vision. 

    As an additional element of the series, I wire worked a link in the shape of the O from the logo and worked into my beaded chain. 

    I finished the back off with a leather strap and a copper hook through a terra cotta wheel. I was not real pleased with the leather strap. It seemed to polish of an application for the organic look I was going for. I ended up reworking the back with a much softer piece of leather tonight, and feel it flows much better now. I will add an additional photo of the rework when I have some daylight. 

Please make sure you head on over to Heather Power's blog to see the beautiful jewelry she created, as well as the list of blog posts links for all the other participants. 

    I hope you have enjoyed this tour of Westeros and Essos, 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Peace, Love, and PyxeeDust! 

    As promised, here is the updated photo with the more organic leather strap. 

Catch a Wave - Znet Shows mini conch shells mini challenge

I got a new batch of mini conch seashells from Znet Shows cultured sea glass collection to play with......

 "Catch a wave and your sittin' on top of the world....." - the Beach Boys

                                                                     
      Surfing The Tube 

"Surfing the Tube" 

   The color on this mini sea glass conch shell is such a deep and rich shade of blue. It made me think of viewing light through water. The title, "Surfing the Tube", refers to being inside the hollow of a wave before it breaks.
    The cultured sea glass mini conch shell is wire wrapped and suspended between waves of blue sari silk wrapped around a copper cuff bangle. The striped sari silk reminds me of classic O.P. surf shirt. Accented with a dolphin charm, aged for nostalgia, and a Larimar crazy lace Agate rondelle gemstone on a balled copper headpin.


                Darling Mermaid Darling -                                 synchronized seashells 

"Darling Mermaid Darling - Synchronized Seashells" bangle 

    If you've ever seen the T.V. show "Pushing Daisies" you'll catch the reference. If not, you should definitely try to  catch the show.
    This very short lived A.B.C. series was an absolute gem. One of the many, many series ABC has cancelled. A very unfortunate causality.
    The underlying show theme might seem some what macabre, but it was done in such a way that it was nothing but funny.
    With it's bright pink and green palette and somewhat tentacle-y feel I thought these kitschy characters nicely lent some fun with their moniker.
    Sari silk, green button pearls, and pink crystals wire wrapped on an adjustable copper cuff with pink cultured sea glass conch shell finials.

                             Wings of the Sea and the Skye

"Wings of the Sea and the Skye"

"Adrift on the Sea and the Skye"

    

         If you've been following along you'll know this is actually the second post about the "Wings of the Sea and the Skye" necklace. If you missed it please check out my previous post  "a little Grey Bird flies from the Isle of Skye"  for all the juicy details about the amazing artist and her beautiful beach that helped inspire the piece. 

    I made the mismatched earrings to go with the necklace. Heavily patinaed copper "buoys", hang from my handmade nautilus ear wires. Each adorned with a  sea shell. One a natural shell spiffed with rub-n-buff and Gilder's paste and wire wrapped. The other a Znet Shows mini cultured sea glass conch shell in a lovely icy blue. I did a sea salt patina on the copper to blend.
    I actually gave this baby it's test run at an etsy craft party at Crafted @ the Port of Los Angeles on Friday night. I had quite a few people beg me a closer look. Success!



    So    "......go catch some rays on the sunny surf, and when you, catch a wave you'll be sittin' on top of the world."

All Polished Up - Diamond in the rough reveal- ZnetShows design team

"S'Urchin 4 Atlantis"

    If you've been following along, you'll remember that back in January, Bill Zhang of ZnetShows wholesale beads company asked me to be a member of their design team.
     He sent me an awesome stash of their newest product, Cultured Sea Glass to work with. As well as some coordinating findings. Check out that reveal here  http://travelingsideshow.blogspot.com/2013/01/znetshows-tuscon-design-team-reveal.html

     I had so much fun playing with those awesome supplies, and two of my designs were chosen to be on display at the Tuscon Gem Show.  Both my "Mad About Saffron" earrings and my "Soleita" necklace made the journey. What an incredible honor that was to be chosen.

    Well, they so loved all the designs from the first challenge that they asked me to do it again. This time they sent a list of 500 gemstones and asked me to pick 10. Oh, what an ordeal that was to narrow it down.
    My mom loves to tell this story about how it took me hours to pick out just 1 piece of chocolate the first time I ever set foot in a Godiva shop. You can imagine how long it took me to narrow down this list. It took daaayyyssss.
     I wanted them all. First I picked out my 10 faves, but then decided I didn't have any sort of cohesive group to work with, so I put back all the reds toned things and went with a blue/green color palette.
    Here's the treasure trove of goodies I picked for this round.  

As well as a few extra goodies Bill threw into the mix.  

    He really threw me for a loop with that hot pink donut. Can't work that into my planned ocean theme. Wow, is it pink. It has a beautiful luster pattern in the mother of pearl, but for someone who doesn't usually do pink, that's a whole lot of pink.                              I've dug through my entire stash looking for something to coordinate with it and can't even get in the same family. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around what to do with that. 

    However, these watery blue and green gem stones hold plenty of inspiration.

    I have an "Atlantis" series. The colors fit right it with that. My newest handmade component is a form folded Sea Urchin donut. I made them from copper sheet and shaped the with the dapping and doming block I got for Christmas. Thank you to my dad and oldest brother for that. I've tinkered with it a bit, but these urchins are the first thing I've really made with my new tool. Now that I'm getting the hang of it I have all sorts of ideas. Stay tuned for those. Limited edition Sea Urchin components will be available for sale in my etsy shop soon. http://www.etsy.com/shop/pyxeestyx

 

"S'Urchin 4 Atlantis" bracelet

     Sea Urchin Donut and hook Clasp handmade by me. Green Fire Agate BDS1591-14, Prehnite nuggets BDS1300-03, Amazonite pebbles BDS1413-06, yellow Turquoise cube SCBDG142-46, African Silverleaf rondelles BDS1517-18, with dangles of Moss Agate cubes SCBDG142-40 and African Sliverleaf in both rondelles and coins BDS1517-18 and -21 on balled copper headpins handmade by me and sari silk snippets for texture.

"S'Urchin 4 Atlantis" necklace

Form folded copper Sea Urchin toggle pendant handmade by me. Prehenite nuggets BDS1300-03 and green Fire Agates BDS1591-14 hang on Nautilus headpins also made by me. Accented by Amazonite pebbles BDS1413-06 and a Czech glass Ammonite bead on balled copper head pins.One side is tied with soft chiffon sari silk in turquoise blue spinning softly, it flows like water. The other side more Green Fire agates, Prehnite nugget, Turquoise cubes, Amazonite pebbles and African Sliverleaf.

"S'Urchin 4 Atlantis" earrings

Nautilus ear wires handmade by me out of 20 gauge copper wire.  Hang with roughly triangular shaped Prehenite nuggets BDS1300-03, and green Fire Agates BDS1591-14 on nautilus headpins. Accented with Czech glass Ammonite bead on balled copper headpin and watery blue sari silk snippets.

             

"Weekend in Aruba - Flowers in my Hair" bangle 

 A heavy gauge copper wire scrap worked into a circle and soldered. Then fiber wrapper with sari silk and wire wrapped, and embellished with Amazonite pebbles BDS1413-06. The shell white flower pendant SCPDG287-06 spins freely, anchored by a Green Fire Agate BDS1591-14 on a nautilus headpin.

"Weekend in Aruba - Fruit on the Vine" bangle 

Sari silk wrapped copper bangle embellished with Amazonite pebbles BDS1413-06. Topped with a billowy sari silk bow and a vintage mother of pearl button from my granny stash. Two juicy green Fire Agates  BDS1591-14 anchored on nautilus headpins bobble freely.



 I have three more pieces, works in progress that I'm hoping to finish up tomorrow. I'll try to edit those in as ready.

Check out ZnetShows blog for links to all the other design team members. http://znetshows.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping and happy hopping !!!  : )

Soups On -The Second Course - 7th Bead Soup Blog Party Reveal - Part 2 - Celebrate!

    Welcome back. Thank you to those who made the second trip. Sorry Kayla for making you wait so long for the big focal finale. Please don't think that my being late is carelessness. I've literally fallen asleep at my computer every night this week working on this, and then got up and went to work again in the morning.
     I have no problem rising to a challenge as far as the creativity goes. My muse never sleeps. Ideas abound. Making connections is where I am really lagging. Between a dial-up internet connection and an overloaded hard drive, and a 22 year old Toyota that's grounded with a seriously leaking water pump, I'm having a hard time getting all that creativity out of my studio.
    I wait with bated breath for a tax return. You know "checks in the mail". The first thing I will be buying is a high speed internet connection and a new hard drive. Then I'll deal with transportation. It's difficult enough , the day to day business, grocery shopping, etc. Doing a show is almost impossible. I've figured that out trying to pull one off this weekend. Trying to coordinate caravans.
    Again my apologies for the delay. I really did put a lot of effort into this, and I'm thrilled with my results. I hope you will be too, and find it well was worth the wait.
     Now for the second course, cause who doesn't love a banquet.

Celebrate! - Let's Hear it for the Boys. 

                                              Part 2 - Celebrate!
    As I said in Part1, I love all things Asian, to the extent that I have Kimonos hanging on my walls. My moniker, PyxeStyx is in part derivative of the chopsticks I pin my hair up with for work and one of my most prized possessions is an antique Chinese carved wooden coffee table with a black lacquer surface that belonged to my grandparents. There's a pair of them in the family brought back from the orient in the 50's by a great uncle who was a merchant marine. So needless to say, the Antique Chinese cloisonne ball focal pendant Kayla sent was loaded with inspiration for me.

  My first thoughts were of Chinese lanterns.....of  Asian festivals....... Chinese New Year ......... Lantern festivals .......or, here we are in April and coming up next, on May 5th, the Japanese celebrate Children's Day.
    Traditionally known as boys day. The Japanese sail Koi fish shaped wind socks in honor of the men of the house. As a child my uncle had these flags hanging over the swimming pool. They were very familiar to me , but I didn't understand their significance until recently. One flag for each male in the household, the father and each of the sons.
     Now celebrated as the more politically correct Children's day. Famous for the beautifully colored flags seen flying in mass throughout villages. It is traditionally a celebration of the beginning of summer................. A great day to fly a kite.

    The two koinobori represent my two boys. Punkin and Freckles are now 16 years old.

The colors of my soup are a little on the dark side, but wanted to do something sunny and happy. So I used the blue and gold Czech glass beads and the green gemstone nuggets as the anchors and surrounded them by vibrant colors picked out of the cloisonne focal.

    I really wanted a garden. Bright, bold, beautiful flower. But how? Well, I have those lacey metal bead caps for enameling in my shopping cart. This is supposed to be a challenge. It's about time you fire up that torch.......

     ...............Eventually, I talked myself into it.
    It's not the flame I was afraid of. It was striking the match. The whoosh of the gas is just scary.
    I'm glad to say that I am totally over my fear and am going to be spending a lot of time playing with my new toy.

     I made lots off cool components to go with my soup. I torch fired all the enameled blossoms and headpins. I also made the paper mache lanterns and koinobori wind socks.
     I had originally intended for all these pieces to be in one necklace, but it got to be way too much stuff. Then I couldn't decide what to leave out (cause it's all so cool) that I divided it up and made more pieces.

    The Chinese character Fu  means good fortune and is adorned by one of the 7 lucky gods of Chinese mythology. Possibly Fukrokuju, the god of wealth, happiness, and longevity.
     I'm pretty sure that the vintage stamping is silver, patinaed to a lovely golden age. It looks like it was once a bracelet link based on where the holes are, so I had to get creative. I used enamel head pins to make the connections. They work perfectly as ball joints allowing everything to swing freely.
    All the large chunky stones are turquoise, with the exception of the large orange flower, which is died Howlite.
    The  little yellow ceramic pig bead is my zodiac sign. I picked it up at a Chinese New Year's parade a few years ago.

 Boar (inoshishi)
Born 2007, 1983, 1971, 1959, 1947, 1935, 1923, 1911. People born in  the year of the Boar are brave. They have tremendous inner strength which no one can overcome. They display great honesty. They are short-tempered, yet hate to quarrel or have arguments. They are affectionate and kind to their loved ones.

The first part bold and daring to represent the boys ( theme music  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7FGbhpr2pg  yeah, I know, total flash back ), the second part a little bit softer to represent the feminine side (theme music  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A   I must be stuck in the 80's ).

Celebrate! Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

    The paper lantern earrings are lacquered, and are reversible with different designs on each of the four sides. Hung with enameled blossoms , cloisonne beads and antique Chinese bells. The enameled flowers jingle with the most magical sound. Like fairy bells.
    I recycled all sorts of goodies to make the Chinese lantern. Paper mache over a copper wire frame. I used everything from recycled book pages, to Christmas tissue paper, to cutting the butterflies out of someone's business card. The Sakura blossoms are a polymer clay cane sample that was included with a recent order. Top and bottom wrapped with sari silk snippets.
    The tassels from Kayla's focal hangs from the lantern. Along with a ceramic geisha girl bead, enamel flowers, glass leaves, cloisonne bead, and antique Chinese bell.

    Thank you to my awesome partner Kayla Potaga    http://www.teejewelry.blogspot.com/    If you haven't yet please stop by and see all she made with her soup.

Thank you to our most awesome hostess, Lori Anderson    http://www.prettythingsblog.com/   She's amazing they way she keeps keeping on, in-spite of all she's been dealt. That woman deserves pie!

Thanks for stopping by. Please follow to join me on my next adventure. 

Happy Hopping!!!!

Letting the Soup Settle

    The Bead Soup Blog Party reveal #3 has been postponed for another week. Saturday April 27th will be the final reveal date. Please come back then for Part 2 of my reveal.
    Our gracious hostess Lori Anderson    http://www.prettythingsblog.com/     is out of commission again. She has sure been through a lot. I know that we are all hoping and praying that she'll make a speedy recovery.
    To hold us over, I'd like to share a little bit of my partner, Kayla Potega's reveal. As well as some of my favorites.
    I have realized that in my state of delirium as I posted in the wee hours last week that I completely forgot to post anything about the soup I sent to Kayla. So, long over due, here's what Kayla had to work with.
                  The Focal -

 I usually stamp my copper work with PS, but I couldn't resist using our initials, since we share the same, for our collaborative project. 

Sari silk ribbon, Turquoise pillows, glass leaves, Mykonos ceramic beads,  bronze caged lanterns, Czech glass flowers, skeleton key, green glass vintage buttons, chevron glass beads, copper balled head pins, flower shaped fresh water pearls, Czech glass trumpet flowers, Venetian glass, handmade swirly copper S links, Millefiori glass, beaded copper paisley connector, cloisonne, iridescent glass tubes, the recipe book, earth swirl lampwork glass beads made by my mother, hand made jump rings, faceted citrus glass cubes, Swarovski crystal bi-cones, and handmade bejeweled flourish clasp. All the copper work was done by me (with the exception of the balled head pins and key).

    Kayla  made some amazing things from her soup. First up is my favorite, because she named it in my honor. How tickled am I! "Pyxee's Dance"  features Sari silk ribbon, copper swirl  links handmade by me, and lampwork glass beads made by my mother. A 3 artist collaboration. How cool is that.

    If you haven't yet, go check it out.   http://www.teejewelry.blogspot.com/



Then check out my "BeDazzled" board on Pinterest for some of my favorite reveals from the 1st and 2nd rounds.    http://pinterest.com/pyxeestyx/bedazzled/

Don't forget to stop back next Saturday, April 27, for the new final reveal date, to check out my Part 2. I'm really excited to show off all my handmade components!!!

............and if you haven't already, stop by and buy Lori a slice of pie (or some painkillers or something). She deserves so much for all she endures to pull off this awesome blog party.  http://www.prettythingsblog.com/

Soups On - 7th Bead Soup Blog Party Reveal - Part 1

    That's right, I said Part 1. I've used most of my soup. Regrettably, the piece with my focal isn't quite ready. I got really brave and finally fired up my torch to make those enameled components. Now that I've gotten over my fear of lighting it, I'm totally hooked. There'll be no stopping me. My torch fired enamel pieces are turning out awesome. Unfortunately I ran out of gas in the middle of the night  : (  Trust me, nobody is sorrier about this than me. I made the most awesome paper mache pieces for the set. I'm dying to show them off, as well as my new enameling skills. Please return next Saturday for Part 2.

                              Part 1
     My partner Kayla Potega  http://www.teejewelry.blogspot.com/  sent me a  vintage Chinese cloisonne ball focal with tassel in a lovely shade of green. Blue and gold faceted Czech glass beads, wooden beads, a mixed strand of green gemstone nuggets including Moss Agate, Adventurine, and Fluorite, silver chain, lacy silver art nouveau links, a silver colored botanical toggle clasp, and a silver coin charm with a dove on one side and stamped "PEACE" on the other. (see last picture)
    I love the cloisonne focal. All things Asian really. So I immediately had ideas for a theme and where to go with that. I've been working on that for weeks. Making components to go with it, etc. I was then left with a whole lot of silver pieces and the wooden beads. I don't do much silver, so this is a challenge. I set these pieces aside and let them simmer while I worked on my main piece. So here I was 2 days before go time and I have no idea what to do with my clasp. This set was the last conceptually, but the first to fruition. I started tinkering and came up with a variation on my original theme, (you'll have to check back next week for the original theme, trying not to give too much away) and the set just flew together.

  Introducing "Shambahla - a Place of Peace".

"Shambhala - a Place of Peace"    Tibetan Prayer flag bracelet

Inspired by colorful and festive Tibetan prayer flag banners waving in the wind, spreading wishes of peace. I used sari silk snippets for the flags. Reinforced with Fraycheck on the tip and seam. Edges are left to fray naturally. I love the way the frayed edges give motion to a piece and bring it to life. Hung on a knotted leather cord. Weighted with gem stones. The silver dove charm stamped "PEACE" on the back brought thoughts of prayer flags. I've never made a double strand bracelet before. I really like the way it turned out.

    I used all the round silver links, and my toggle clasp in the bracelet. I also used some of the yellow Czech glass beads from Kayla's stash. Then I pulled an array of gem stones and an accented of vintage Chinese bells from my own collection. I punched extra holes in the silver dove charm to dangle gem stones there.  Carnelian, Citrine, Honey Jade, Orange Chalcedony, Buttered Rum Chalcedony, CherryQuartz,  Red Banded Jasper, Dragons vein Agate, Turquoise, Orange Jade, Aqua Terra Jasper, and orange creamsicle Quartz. All of the silver I have hammered to distress, and patinaed with liver of sulfer. My intent was to age it and make it look like Tibetan silver.

  Then came the earrings. The Hamsa hand charm I used as an accent in the bracelet becomes the focal here. The "flower of life" symbol in the palm. This ancient talisman offers protection from the evil eye. Hung from the leaf shaped silver links. Sporting a prayer flag and a bevy of dangly gem stones.


 I was done with this set at this point. I had used all the links and the clasp here, which is what I had set out to do. I tried to move on. Yet it kept asking for a necklace. What do I even have left to work with? hmmmm, I have a chain, and some wooden beads, and........... not much else. So I pull out my "silver" bin and start digging. I found this elephant charm I've had since.....high school maybe. He's a bell. Totally forgot I even had him. I wrapped him with some colorful Sari silk snippets and wired on some sparkly gem stones and voila        
                 "Painted Pachyderm"

I love the way my little painted Indian Elephant turned out. An orange wooden "urn" shaped bead embellished with sari silk and vintage Chinese bells, tethers the chain. The wooden urn bead reminds me of the water vessels that women carried on their heads. Seems appropriate, and somehow regal balanced on his back. I spaced out a few chunky gemstones and some of the wooden beads on the chain on one side and wove leather in between through the links. The other side has a portion wrapped in sari silk fiber and wrapped with gem stones. Handmade clasp closure hooks right into the chain and has an adjustable length and features lots of dangly charms on both the hook and the extension.

 

    I was initially unsure about the color combo, because I don't wear silver myself. It's a cold metal, and I went with a warm color palette. That made me uneasy. I've now come to think of it as Tibetan silver and the color of "monks" and I'm warming to the idea of how it all plays together with my theme.

Here's my soup from Kayla

Please go check out what she made with her soup. http://www.teejewelry.blogspot.com/

Thank you to the hostess with the mostest, Ms Lori Anderson. I'll refer you to her site for the hop list cause it is soooo long. While you're there, why not buy her a slice of pie  ; )   http://www.prettythingsblog.com/   Happy hopping! see you next Saturday for Part 2. 

Tribal Beat -Turmi - challenge reveal

    I've signed up for yet another challenge. I'm totally hooked now. I love being able to take a theme and run with it.

    This is a photo inspired challenge. Dini Bruinsma, the hostess of this round, took this picture on a trip to Ethiopia.  The photo is gorgeous. Ripe with inspiration. Here was the real challenge for me.......I live about as urban as you can possibly get. In a building with a 100 units. 10 of these buildings on my street. This is just a small portion of my city block. Based on the volume of people that live in this building alone, I'd have to estimate that there are about 10,000 people living on my city block. If even 10% of them drive, well, you can imagine the parking situation. I live in a major city, that's a suburb of another even larger major city. There are over 10 million people residing here in Los Anegeles county, in an area that covers about 4 thousand square miles. L.A. county is the most populated county in the United States. More populated than 42 other states. That's apartment buildings, and washing machines, and microwave ovens, and buses, and cars, and trains and planes, and T.V.s, and computers, and cell phones, and stereos, and video games, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, piled  atop each other. About as far the other direction you can get from the scene in this photo. In a world of modern conveniences that are mostly taken for granted.

 So the real challenge for me was creating my pieces, with materials I had on hand, to look like it could have been made with materials they'd have on hand in Ethiopia.   I've never made anything even remotely like this before. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I tried to use a lot of patterns and textures because there is very little color in the photo, yet there is so much going on. I plucked the little bit of rusty red from the henna hair dye. I used natural materials I thought might be readily available in Ethiopia, as well as readily available in my studio. I used feathers, stone,  shell, sea urchins, wooden beads, sea spines, annealed steel wire, heavily oxidized copper wire, coral seed beads, Agate teardrops, heavy cotton thread, and leather cording. A lot of the materials were recycled. I'm thrilled with the results. I love how dramatic the collar and earrings turned out.

A big thank you to our Hostess Dini Bruinsma for the amazing photography that so inspired us all..
You can check out her blog here  http://angazabychanges.blogspot.nl/

Here 's the list of all the challenge participants. Not all have blogs in this challenge, but they can all be located on facebook.

Hostess - Dini Bruinsma

* Sandra McGriff

* Gloria Allen 

* Susan Nelson Bowie

* Dolores Raml

* Robin Reed

* Susie Harris

* Shalini Austin

* Andrea Glick

* Marlene Cupo

* Tania Spivey

* Sam Waghorn

* Sierra Barrett

* Patty Way

* Cheryl Dunham

* Jayashree Parames

* Deanna Cox

* Kelly Hosford Patterson - you are here *

* Lynn Jobber

* Robin Showstack

* Cindy Wimmer Muse

* Valerie Tilghman

* Jenny Kyrlach

You can view all the entries in the album here   http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.556732894351555&type=1

 Now go on and march to the beat of your own drum!