Maneki's bead blog recap weeks 35-36

How time flies. I feel like I've had very little "compute time" this week. Won't bore you with tales of house cleaning, apple picking (tall trees, we shake down the apples -- it can hurt sometimes), shopping etc, but I will tell you that I ate the most delicious gräddbulle -- according to Wikipedia, it would be called something like "chocolate-covered marshmallow treat", though I'd never call that fluffy foam it's filled with marshmallow -- I've ever dug my teeth into. It was my most expensive too, but it just goes to show that you get what you pay for. If you're ever anywhere near the Väla mall outside Helsingborg, make sure you don't miss Gräddbullerian!

Anyway, what I was going to write about before returning to my BSBP project (no, it's not finished by far yet), was the latest update of what's been happening on my other blog, Manekis pärlblogg ("Maneki's bead blog"). Many challenges and contests this time, but also colour inspiration and a few fun projects.




Salamander steel pendant
Free project shows how to turn a steel rod and paper clip into a cool salamander pendant, perfect for both men and women.

LimaBeads challenge
Lorelei and Shannon teamed up with LimeBeads to give you this bead kit challenge. (I think the kits have sold out, but I'm not sure.)


Lime and chartreuse yellow
I'll write a little bit about this over on this blog too, but it won't be a translation of this text. Ideas for using those zesty bright or earthy green-yellows and yellow-greens.


Swarovski Innovations fall/winter 2012-13
Read all about the latest collection from Swarovski Elements. New colours/effect are Denim Blue, Crystal Antique Pink and Crystal Petrol Pearl. Among the beads and pendants, you'll find several new hearts.

Stitched in Colour autumn celebration
Stitched in Colour is celebrating this colourful season with several monthly challenges/contests. If you like fiber and textiles -- from crochet to embroidery to sewing -- this might be of interest.

Stitch 'n' Craft's Swarovski challenges
This challenge is a bit different since you subscribe to the bimonthly challenge kits. To enter the contest, sponsored by Swarovski Elements, you must send in your creations to the shop. The challenge is called Treasure challenge and the theme focus on deserted tropical islands.

Monthly challenges for September
A round-up of september challenges: Operation Tackle That Bead Stash, Vintaj, Beads Direct, Art Bead Scene Blog, Love My Art Jewelry, Andrew Thornton's monthly kits and weekly words, Nätverket Inspira and Humblebeads blog.


Colour trends for the autumn season
Be inspired by the autumn/winter colour trends in the fashion industry. Pantone's forecast and more.

Michelle Mach's autumn challenge
All kits are sold out, but be sure to check out the reveal on october 4th (where I'll be participating). Next kit challenge will be announced in january so there'll "soon" be a new chance if you missed this one.

Autumn contest at Inspira
Design contest open to all members of the Inspira community. The theme is "forest gold".

Sari ribbon party blog hop 
B'Sue of B'Sue Boutiques invites everyone to a  blog hop celebrating the popular sari ribbons.

Dyeing tigertail and monofilament
Learn how to dye nylon coated beading wire or monofilaments (e.g. Illusion Cord) with KoolAid. If you're not american and can't find it, there are many other real dyes for nylon fabric available that you can use instead.

Deeper bezels for ring blanks
Do you have a ring blank with a shallow bezel that you wish was deeper, e.g. for embedding elements in resin? This is one way of solving the problem without having to solder. (The ring in the photo is glued together by my sis, by the way.)

Caraga is looking for design team members
What to become an inspirator at bead shop Caraga? By participating in their latest contest you can win a spot as DT member throughout the year.

Keum-boo
How to do this originally Korean technique of applying gold or silver foil on precious metal.

Faux filigree from crochet doily
Transform a stained old doily into faux metal jewellery components using resin.

Transfer patterns on metal without a rolling mill
Learn how to tranfer metal from brass texture plates to other metal blanks using nothing but a hammer and packing tape. An alternative to a desirable, but oh so expensive, rolling mill.