Blue Antiquities

               Bead Soup Blog Party 2013- Reveal 

Welcome Guests and Our Hostess Lori Anderson!

Special Thanks to my Partner Linda!
Linda will be revealing her design in the 3rd reveal here...
Please follow my blog, I will be doing a give away for my next Bead soup Reveal! 

Fossil Feud Necklace

When I was working with my Bead Soup from Linda I began thinking of the Wild West because of the  leather and colors of the beads.  The handmade ceramic focal pendant looks like a fossil unearthed.  This caused me to do a little research.  I ended up learning about the great Fossil Feud which was during the Wild West Days of America.  My first piece is a tribute to the 2 men behind the story.  I hope you enjoy reading it.

Here is the story....

It's the Wild West, in the late 1800's.  The days of Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and Buffalo Bill.  It's also the  days of cattle drives, and the last of the buffalo hunts. The great land ownership quest is going on all along the western frontier with white settlers taking advantage of the Homestead Act of 1862.  The California gold rush and the wagon trains on the Oregon trail and others are over.  The fights among the white settlers and the Native American Indians were raw and happening all across the west.

Another fight was going on in the late 1800's that I had not heard of, maybe you have.  The big feud, is now the famous feud of 2 men, and is called The Fossil Feud.  It was between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. They were paleontologists, who amazingly discovered 136 new species of dinosaurs in North America. Previously scientist only new of nine.

                                    

The extinct animals that Cope and Marsh introduced to science include many dinosaurs commonly known today, such as Triceratops, Allosaurus, Brontosaurus, Diplodocus, and Stegosaurus. They also named and cataloged innumerable, long-vanished species of mammals, fish, and birds. Today, more than a century after their great discoveries, the names Cope and Marsh–like Lewis and Clark or Stanley and Livingstone–remain linked together in history books. Unlike these other famous duos, however, Cope and Marsh hated each other with a passion. Cope and Marsh clashed for 20 years as the discoveries of dinosaur and extinct species intensified.

Marsh discovered a site in Como, Wyoming, where there was a mother lode of dinosaurs from the Jurassic Period, a stage in the Mesozoic Era that ended 135 million years ago. In the first year of digging alone, Marsh’s men shipped 30 tons of bones east, including those of Allosaurus, Diplodocus, Stegosaurus, Camptosaurus, and many others.

Although the 2 men were known for their hatred of each other, they amazingly discovered so much in a short period of time. The digs were difficult, with harsh climate conditions, and often there were Indians that would would have to be fought off. It's a shame they are known more for the feud between them, rather than the amazing fossils they found, unearthed and showed the world.

Marsh and his crew

Fossil Feud Necklace

I used the blue ceramic rounds, focal pendant, leather and clasp, and a shell bead from my soup.

Can you find the shell bead?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Gorgeous leather and pendant from my sweet partner Linda!

                                           
I created 2 components to go with the soup Linda sent.  I took a donut shell bead (from my bead soup) and made it into the vintage looking text bead with the word, " nature".  I also made the glass tube bead that holds the "fossil finds" (chip beads from my soup) of Cope and Marsh.

                                               

I was determined to use the leather, since I dont know what I am doing when it come to working with it.  The leather Linda sent was really a nice grade, easy to knot and work with.
I chose the blue beads because they were the only ones with large holes...ah, easy decisions, this is good!
     

Fossil Feud Necklace BSBP 2013
Laura Guenther-Linda Younkman

Impressionism Bracelets

The term Impressionism is derived from 

Claude Monet's painting, Impression Sunrise.   

I love all of Monet's many paintings.  I really love his painting, 

Poppy Field in a Hollow near Giverny I decided to use it as inspiration

 for these bracelets, because of his lush display of natural colors.                                                                     

Poppy Field in a Hollow near Giverny by Claude Monet-1885

For these bracelets, I used the pale green faceted stone beads, the red faceted beads, and the braided leather.  I purchased a magnetic clasp for the wrap bracelet.  Again, this leather is gorgeous, which you can not appreciate from the photos. These look really cool together when worn.  Thank you Linda!!!

I decided to keep this bracelet simple, and I must say

it does really look great on. I am very happy with the 

results.  You can't tell from the picture, but it is a really cool bracelet.

I made the connector to go with the beads from vintage brass, tin
patinas and  mica.

Love this leather!

Thanks for visiting BlueAntiquities!  Enjoy the party!  Be sure to check back for the third reveal.
My partner Linda will be revealing what she created and I will be revealing another bead soup!