Shell Mist

I think this one is pretty cool looking.  It is covered in little pieces of black and grey shell.  I don't know what the center stone is, but it looks so misty and foggy to me I think it's neat.  It looks to me sort of industrial for a down-played casual look, but at the same time I can see it being worn with a little black dress for a night on the town.  I think it could be very versatile.  What do you think of it?  (Oh...it's 2" wide.)

Shell Mist

Teen Trendy

I'm sure that this bracelet won't appeal to all of you. It's definitely far from the usual I've been doing!  I made it with the younger teenage group in mind. I see skulls everywhere...jewelry, clothing, backpacks, purses, countless other apparel and accessory places.  My daughter, Sami, is 14 and she thinks it's pretty cool.  The skull is made of magnesite, although I have to be honest and tell you I'm not sure what that is.  :/  I don't usually buy Swarovski crystals because of my tight budget, but this one just begged for a little sparkle.  So I added pretty pink bicone Swarovskis.  It is 1 1/4" wide.  So here it is, my attempt at being teen trendy.

Skull Bracelet

A Giveaway

I just wanted to let everyone know that my good friend Beth over at Bellesanbeaus Crafts is giving away this gorgeous hand made/painted cab in tribute of Mother's Day.  You only have a few days left (April 30) so go see her right away!  She does amazing work!  Take a look at these beauties...

Made by Beth Evans at Bellesanbeaus Crafts

"Proud Mommy Moment" of the Day

A little break from beads.  My 8 year old daughter, Sara, who I've posted a couple pictures of, plays baseball.  She refuses to play softball with the girls...she wants to play with the boys.  It's not just my opinion, as I overhear other parents talking about her in the stands behind me, she is probably the best athlete out there.  One grandfather I was told was even talking about what an outstanding player she is to other parents at his grandson's game in a town over from us.  So, I am not biased in this.  She is an outstanding athlete.  (Not just in baseball, either...you should see her play soccer.)  Anyways, my little 8 year old girl schooled the other kids out there tonight.  She not only hit two doubles and made two outs, but she hit her first HOME RUN!!!  It was the only home run I've seen at this level in 3 years of being a part of it. 
WAY TO GO SARA!!!!  WOOTWOOT!!!!

Sunburst Cuff

Here is my latest creation.  I read a post by Robin Atkins on her blog, Beadlust, called How to Blend Colors (click to check out her post...good reading).  I've been toying with the idea of blending colors for quite a while, but the thoughts never materialized into anything but that.  I was a little bit at a loss.  I could visualize what I wanted, but I think I was intimidated to try it.  Her blog post gave me the confidence that it's not that hard of a concept, and it can have some great results.  My cuff here probably isn't exactly the way she would do it, or the way that it might "supposed" to be done, but I'm very happy with my own variation and the results of it. 

I call it the Sunburst in the middle because that's the first thing that came to my mind, but if you can think of a better name for, please by all means give me suggestions.  Anyways, it starts with the sunburst in the middle, then goes from green to blended green and gold to gold on the back side.  Of course, just like looking at a pixelated picture, it looks more blended when you step back from it. 

I used a circular peyote stitch around the porcelain cab, then surrounded that by a circle of short stacks with dark olive green 6/0's topped with 11/0 gold beads. I extended the burst with 9mm gold bugles tipped with 15/0 light olive green beads.  The rest is done with size 11/0's in a simple backstitch in olive, gold and transparent amber, but I was surprised at the amount of time it took to think through each row and plan which colors would go where.  Again, I am very happy with the edging that I learned from Lynn at Beading Heart Art.  All in all, I am very pleased with this cuff.  I think I am getting better with each one.  *pats self on back with satisfied smile*

So, here it is...you can click on the pics for a larger view.  I would suggest looking at it up close at your seat, but also try stepping back from your computer a ways to see the colors blend more.  Let me know what you think! 

Sunburst

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and taking the time to read what I have to say and to look at my pics.  I appreciate you coming by, and I hope you come back again!  Comments, thoughts, criticisms, critiques, just a hello...all are welcome.

Dots

I finished another cuff bracelet last night.  I really kinda like this one.  Simple, but fun.  I found these little rectangle black shiny beads with colorful spots on them.  So I just mimicked the colorful dots throughout the bracelet.  I am ecstatic about the edging.  I had seen pictures of cuffs that use just a one bead edging that I thought looked really sharp.  If I only knew what it was called I thought I could look instructions up on Google or find a video on youtube, but I didn't know the name of it.  I saved some pics from other cuffs and sent them to my good friend Lynn at Beading Heart Art and asked her if she could identify the stitch for me. She did better than that...she made a video for me!!!  (On a side note about Lynn, please click on her link and look for her post called "Done!" and take a look at the amazingly gorgeous handbag she made for this year's Beading for a Cure.  You'll see why she's my bead idol.  I call her a Bead Goddess!!!)  It's a good thing she did send the video because I never would have gotten it if it was just written instructions.  My edging on this cuff turned out so nice and even.  I am simply happy with it.  And I'm pretty pleased with my backstitching too.  For as simple as this one looks, for some reason it took me quite a while to finish it.  Maybe because I was trying to make the stitches even and nice.  I don't know.  And I wish I knew what the little rectangle beads are called.  The bead store where I do most of my shopping is pretty poor at labeling their beads and stones.  Anways...

Dots

And, for those of you who were wondering...my beading class went great!  I hid my nervousness well.  I made an outline so I stayed on track and didn't get lost, and man did that help!  During the class a woman and her daughter came in and stopped to see what we were doing and looked at my work.  They both seemed very eager to learn and to take the class.  Also, the owner of the store said that some others really wanted to take the class but that it was a bad day for them yesterday, so it looks like we will be scheduling another one coming up pretty soon.  I didn't get through everything on my outline and it took 2 hours!  I can't imagine what it will be like when I get someone who is slow or just doesn't get it.  Fortunately I loooove beads and have patience for it.  So it will be ok.  I took my camera, but taking pics wasn't on my outline, lol, so I forgot. 

Well, that's about all I got for now.  Have a beadiful day!!!

My Exciting News of the Day

Robin made a post to the BJP blogs today about a message she received from Sue Cordes, a writer for Australia's Creative Beading magazine.  She is going to be writing an article on the BJP and was looking for photos from this year's project.  I decided what the heck and went out on a limb and submitted two of my pics for her consideration.  Well, she emailed me back and said that she is "blown away" by my work (my head is swelling!) and she is going to use both pics along with my name in her article!  It's going to be published in August, barring any schedule changes.  I can't tell you how excited I am about this.  This may be old hat to some of the beaders out there, but this is new territory for me, and I'm floating right now.  Here are the two projects I submitted...

January's "Disconnected"

February's "Love Blossoms"

Anyways, I just wanted to share with all of you.  Have beady happy day!

Pride and Celebration

I've already done an April Bead Journal Project piece (see a few posts down if you missed it), but April is such an eventful month for me that I couldn't put everything into just one piece.  So this is my April BJP piece, part 2.

This piece is called "Pride and Celebration" because I have so much to be thankful for in my life.  This project is my reflections of me.  First, I chose the colors based on inspiration from a peacock.  Bright blues, greens and gold, with a little bit of purple thrown in.  I was drawn to the shape of the swirl, but I don't really know why.  Robin A. had some insight on this when I met with her, so maybe she will share her thoughts. 

I celebrate April 18.  Due to my illness my family and I had been living apart for about 2.5 years.  Last April 18 we moved in together as a family again.  It has been nothing but a joyous home life, and our one year anniversary is important to me.  April 21 is my birthday.  I am officially 39, and I will hereafter be 39!  Because it's my birthday, I've been reflecting on me.  I take pride in who I am, perceived flaws and all, and I celebrate my talents and accomplishments.  I feel that I am a talented beader, I am an awesome mom and wife, a great cook, a good friend among other things.  I have a lot to offer as a unique individual, probably because of my morals and values that I was brought up with.  And April 17 is the date of the first class I will be teaching...it marks my progression as a beader and is something I was wanting to accomplish.  I'm hoping that it goes well and that it is the first of many more to come in the years ahead.

I did have difficulty managing the 15/0's for the entire background.  They always prove to be a challenge to me, and I guess the only way to get better is to practice, practice.  The colors in the photo were kinda washed out.  The background is an aqua blue/green, and the colors in the swirls are very vivid and bright in person.  I'm just not that great of a photographer.  I did try to adjust the colors in Photoshop, but I'm not that proficient with it yet, either.

I am very proud of my peyote stitch around my paua cabachons!  I'm not a peyote stitcher, so this was quite an accomplishment for me.  I was very happy with how nice and neat the peyote came out around the paua.  Oh, and I certainly can't forget to say thank you again to Robin for the gift of the beautiful shell sequins that added some confetti to my party.

So here is "Pride and Celebration", pride in myself and celebration of my April milestones.

By the way, if you live in the Phoenix area and want to take my class, there is one or two spots open.  Email me at indigosbeads@live.com to get more info.  Hope to see you!!!

Summer Blossom

This bracelet is way different than the ones I've been making.  This one is much simpler, but I think it's fun.  I think I did a really good job on my stitches on this one.  What does it remind you of?  Watermelon?  Strawberries?  A Hawaiian lei?  These are all things that come to my mind.  My husband hates watermelon, so he's not particularly fond of this one.  lol  oh well.  I wanted something bright, cheerful and that reminded me of summer.  I call this one "Summer Blossom".

Give me your honest opinions.  I value your feedback!

Thanks for stopping by!

Kreativ Friends Blogger Award

I was nominated for an award by a wonderful and talented blogger, Robbie at Robbie's Paw Prints!  How fun is that?  Thank you Robbie!

This can be a lot of fun, so if you were one of my 7 nominated, keep it going to make another crafty and creative blogger's day!

Here are the rules to be followed for this award:
1. Thank the person who gave this to you.
2. Copy the logo and place it in your blog.
3. Link the person who nominated you.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that no one would really know.
5. Nominate seven 'Kreativ Bloggers'
6. Post links to the seven blogs you nominate
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.


Ok, here goes!  My 7 nominations are:
1. Lynn at Beading Heart Art
2. Bobbi at Beading at the Beach
3. Bobbi at The Bead Goes On
4.  Beth at Bellesanbeaus Crafts
      (She makes the most exquisite face cabs...you have to check them out!!!)
5. Terri at Crowwoman-terri
6. Christi at Sweetpea Path
and last but certainly not least
7. Dees at W.I.P. Work in Progress

7 Things About Myself That You Probably Didn't Know
(and might not care to know! lol)

1.  I taught myself the first level of the piano when I was 7 and took lessons until I was 15, playing everything from Meatloaf to Beethoven.
2.   I have four children, all of them born on a Tuesday.
3.   I have been married to an amazing man named Jeff for 16 years come this May!
4.   My family and I think farts are funny.  (hehe I probably lost a few friends and readers on that one!!!  lol)
5.   When I grew up I wanted to be an author, teacher and doctor.  Now all I want to do is BEAD!!!
6.  I've lived in Arizona (Scottsdale, Phoenix, Mesa, Surprise, Gilbert) California (I don't remember where), Ohio (Wilmington and Aurora), Pennsylvania (Aspinwall and O'Hara Township), Hawaii (Waipahu, Waikiki and Mililani) and Nebraska (Lincoln, Bellevue and Plattsmouth).
7.  I make the world's best cinnamon rolls!!!  ask me for the recipe, and I'll share with you!

A Couple of Firsts

Here is the cuff for my first sale.  I'm very happy with it!  I have to give a great big shout out to Bobbi at Beading at the Beach for giving some awesome advice on making my peyote better.  I think her tip worked, because my peyote around my cab is nice and even with no strings showing. 

Jennifer (the lady that ordered the cuff) only said that she liked the colors in my mom's cuff and that she wanted gold beads in it.  I think I have filled her requests with this one.  My husband is not too interested in my beading, but even he said this one was really good.  That made me feel spectacular!

I wish you could see it in person.  My picot edging was really nice and even too, although you can't really tell in the pics.  Rather than looking at the top edge, because I think the front side and back side overlap and make the edging in the pic look messy, look at the picot on the bottom edge.  It's my best yet.

I for sure undersold myself on this one.  I gave her a price, but after looking on Etsy and stuff later, I could have at least doubled what I asked.  But it was my first sale, and I was just happy about it.  I can always go up a little in the future.

AND it was confirmed yesterday that I am going to teach my very first class!  It will be on improvisational bead embroidery.  I specifically asked for the class to be small...not more than 5 people...because I have a lot of problems with nerves and anxiety.  I don't want to get overwhelmed my first go around.  It wasn't that long ago that I was agoraphobic and wouldn't even step out, let alone be in front of people.  I wrote up my handouts last night and either today or tomorrow I will be going to the bead shop to pick out beads for the kits.  We haven't set a date yet, but it will be in the next couple weeks.  I'll take my camera and see if anyone minds if I take their picture to write about it and post on my blog after it happens.