Lisa Criswell / Indigo's Beads

Many Thanks to All

2011-12-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

It has been a very good ride, learning all I did about beading. Then sharing it with all of you and getting some great feedback. I've made some really good friends through my blog that I hope to stay in touch with. But it is time for me to say goodbye for now. I can no longer bead due to the extreme pain caused by carpal tunnel. Tomorrow I am passing along most of my beads and little treasures to one of my students...my mom. I will check back in when it is time to tell you all about the book that some of my projects are going to be in. For now, though, it's time to turn off the lights.

You can still find me in blogland. I'll be writing from time to time and posting pics of my life adventures at Indigo Days. I hope to see you there. Please keep in touch.

We Have Some Winners!

2011-11-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

The Bead Crafty giveaway for 3 $20 gift cards ended yesterday, November 8th at 5:00 p.m. EST. That means that there are 7 entries into the contest. I used a Random Number Generator at random.org to select the winners. The first winner of $20 to Bead Crafty is.....

Kristin K!!! Congratulations, Kristin! The second winner is......

And that would be Abracadebra!!! Congratulations, Debbie! And the final winner is.......

Another Debbie...Craftymoose!!!! Congratulations! I will be sending you all an email with more information about your prizes. I want to say thank you to those of you who entered and shared this contest with others.

Bead Happy!!!!

Preview

GIVEAWAY!!! Enter Drawing for $20 Gift Card!

2011-10-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

FREE BEADS! Who doesn't want the chance to order beady things and get presents in the mail FOR FREE???!!! All you have to do is follow, visit the sponsor's site and comment (on previous post here) what you would to buy. And an extra entry for sharing on Facebook or your blog. It's so easy! Why aren't you entering???

UPDATE!!! I got word from Bead Crafty, the sponsor of this giveaway, that they will be offering 200 lines that will go live in November!!! Come on and enter so you can win one of 3 $20 Gift Cards to Bead Crafty!!!

Deadline is November 8, 2011 at 5p.m. EST. Come on in and play!

A Beady Review and a Chance to Win One of 3 Prizes!

2011-10-25T13:43:00.001-07:00

I would like to present to you a source for beads that is new to me, and it may be new to you too. Bead Crafty is a nice little online bead shop that is based out of the UK. But don't let that deter you! They pick orders the very same day they are placed, and shipping to the US is only $1.95! The orders may take up to 2 weeks to arrive. However, I think they have some lovely little finds that are worth checking out and waiting a few extra days for.

Their site is easily laid out so you can find in a snap exactly what you are looking for. They have 3 main categories: beads, charms and findings. Some of the categories are a little slim, and you may not find every component you are looking for to make a specific project (not to say you can't), but what they may lack in quantity they make up for in quality and unique items. For example, one thing I had never seen before I visited Bead Crafty was kilt pins. There are 3 loops that you can attach beads to, and would make a wonderful decorative pin or something similar. Neat!

The prices on Bead Crafty are very reasonable. And, even though it's a UK site, all the prices are shown in US dollars so there is no confusion about what you are getting for the price. The prices are clearly marked and to find out the size or more description of an item, all you have to do is hover over it and a little box will pop up.

Also on the site are some interesting Tips & Tricks. One that I thought was interesting and different was how to make a beaded lampshade. Beads aren't just for jewelry, are they? One section that I could not get to was the link for the FAQ's. I'm a little weird that way...I like to read FAQ's. Is that strange or do others do that too? I hope they can get the link fixed to that page so I can check it out.

I sent an email asking about the inventory, to which I received a prompt reply btw, and Sarah said they are going to be expanding their offerings, but their main objective is quality first. Overall I think Bead Crafty is a quaint little site with some interesting finds. To me it is the difference in shopping at a charming little boutique versus getting lost in a mega warehouse store. I think it is worth your while to check it out. And to give you some incentive to do just that, I AM OFFERING PRIZES thanks to the fine people at Bead Crafty! YEA!!!! And there are more than one to be had, so please please please tell your friends about this giveaway.

How to enter:

1. Follow my page.
2. Leave a comment giving two things. First, I need your email to contact you and to get your info so you can have your prize!!!! If I can't get in touch with you, then the prize will have to go to someone else and that would be sad. Second, visit Bead Crafty and tell me one thing you would buy first if you won the prize.
3. Post to Facebook or your own blog WITH A LINK BACK TO MY POST and get an extra entry (leave 2 separate comments if you do this.) I will need a link to the post so I can see that you actually did it.

What are the prizes???

How about 3 $20 credits to their shop! Doesn't that sound like fun? Let's go shopping!!!! So, don't be afraid to invite more people. After all, you want good karma so you can win, right? lol. Ok, so maybe karma won't really be a factor, but hey, you never know.

The winners will be chosen by a random number generator and entries will be accepted until, oh let's say 2 weeks...November 8th at 5:00 p.m. EST. Sound good?

Ok, kids...Get posting!

New Post

2011-10-19T20:37:00.000-07:00

New post on Indigo Days if you would please like to join me there!

New Post (but not here)

2011-10-13T19:42:00.001-07:00

For a little while I'll let everyone know here when I make a new post to my 2nd home over at Indigo Days. There's one up tonight, so go check it out. And I think I got my Follow button working, so please sign up! There's a few of us over there, but I sure would like to see more of you! Come on over!

dang technology!

2011-10-11T04:21:00.000-07:00

I just discovered that the Follow gadget wasn't working on my new blog, Indigo Days. (I almost called it Indigo Daze lol...that's how my days are sometimes...just in a daze.) anyhoo. I want to thank the people who came to check it out, and I would ask that you please go back and try following again. I think it should work now. I'm thinking about a giveaway to give some incentive to come on over. What would you all like to see for a giveaway? Give me some ideas to think about.

It's been a long time!

2011-10-10T06:47:00.000-07:00

I have been seriously MIA, haven't I? Sorry I have been away from Blogger for so long. I really need to get caught up on everyone's blogs. Do you forgive me for not visiting you lately? I hope so!

I have no beads to share. :( Due to lack of funds and the fact that my muse has abandoned me, I haven't created anything since working on the projects for the book. The book has been keeping me busy, and I really hope that you will stick with me long enough to see it published so you can look at what I've been doing. As of right now I will have 3 projects in it. I am very excited about what I have designed, but unfortunately I can't share it with you yet. In addition to designing and beading the projects, I have had to become somewhat of a mini expert in Photoshop to edit my photos and get them ready for print. Each photo takes about 2 hours, so it's very time consuming!

I want to announce that I have created a new blog that I hope you all will visit and follow. Why did I do that? Simply because I have more to share than just beads. Yes, beads are completely fantabulous, and I truly love them, but that's just one facet of what my life is. So, I guess my new blog will be a little more up close and personal. I'll still post here from time to time, but I think the bulk of my posts, beads and otherwise, will be over at my new spot at Indigo Days. I do hope you will come see me there. And I also hope that you haven't given up on me here.

I miss hearing from everyone, so I need to get back to blogging...both my stuff and reading yours!

Mirrix Loom For Sale

2011-08-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

Hi ho, everyone! I hope all of my friends out there in blogland are doing well. I have an Ebay listing up right now. I have an 8" Mirrix Lani Loom that I have never used that I am selling. If you are interested, please click here to go to the listing. There are about 3 1/2 days left to bid, or you can buy it outright now for 50% off the current list price. The opening bid is $50.00. There is only one bid right now, but there are 8 people watching it, so I expect there will be bids close to when it ends. Here is a photo of what will come in the box:

On beady news, I've got nothing. I strung a necklace on beading wire with just a mix of beads and there 2 beads on it that are making me not like it. I need to restring it and get those beads off. It's on a stand on my kitchen counter and I wrinkle my nose and make the icky face when I pass it by. Other than that, nothing really. Ever since I worked on and finished the book projects, things have really quieted down for a while. I think part of it was because I was so intensely working on those things that I got a little worn out and now need a break.

What is on your table? Share with me. Or drop me a note and just say hi. Anyone is welcome to email me at anytime at indigosbeads@live.com. Hope to hear from you!

would you like to see something?

2011-08-15T17:55:00.000-07:00

I have good news for those of you who read my last post. Matthew's blood work came back with no problems! Yea! Now we're just waiting for word on his ultrasound. Praying that turns out ok too. The confusing part is, if those two things are normal, what could possibly be causing the blood in the urine? It will be interesting to hear what the final diagnosis is. But, first we have to get good results on the ultrasound. Keep those prayers and good thoughts coming for my little guy!!! (And thank you so much to those of you who have already been doing that for us.)

As for the book, I've got 3 projects completed and ready to send out. I was working on a 4th, but it just wasn't coming together smoothly, and we are going to scrap the idea. I'm going to brainstorm some other ideas. In the meantime I beaded something just because I wanted to, and I thought it would be perfect for this month's Bead Journal Project. As you may know, my projects each month are to learn at least one new beadweaving stitch and make something pretty with it. This month was a little different. I didn't take an idea of a basic stitch and create my own thing around it. For this month I think I may have created a new method of my very own. At least I've never heard of or seen it done this way.

I was just playing around, letting my subconscious take over. I had an inkling of an idea on making something with lots of fringe. So if I had a lot of fringe, I would need a base to make the fringe come off, right? I thought about just a string of beads as the core, and I also thought about a narrow square stitch band. My fingers didn't do either of those. I don't even know how to explain what I did. The core twists and curves throughout the core, sometimes peeking out, sometimes staying hidden, while the beads just mix and mingle all around it. And there is no fringe in the final piece. Funny how that works.

After I finished it I reflected on it for a while. The only word that came to mind was "abundance". This bracelet looked to me like a cornucopia of beady yumminess. Then it made me think of all the abundant things I have in my life, despite hiccups and struggles that I sometimes tell you about. I have an abundance of love. I have an abundance of joy. I have an abundance of blessings in my life. Therefore, this bracelet is called "Abundance". I would have loved to make a necklace, but that would have taken about a gazillion beads which I just don't have. Here are two pics of my bracelet...

Abundance

You can click for a larger view. I just love the mixture of colors, textures, shapes and sizes. It just makes me feel happy when I look at it.

So there you have it. I finally have something done that you can actually look at and isn't book related. I hope you like it!

Say some prayers, light a candle, have good thoughts...whatever it is that you do.

2011-08-13T00:26:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty worried about my son, Matthew. He went to the pediatrician on August 1st for a routine physical for football, some booster shots and an asthma check up. And he peed in a cup. I got a call from the doctor's office that they did a paper strip test and it showed positive for microscopic blood in his urine. They had us go to the lab for a better test, and it came back with the same results. They want to find out if he's got any kidney disease or abnormalities that would be causing the blood. We had to go yesterday to get 3 vials of blood drawn for a blood work up. I am happy to report that I got a call from the doctor's office today and those tests came back fine. He had one more test this afternoon. He had an ultrasound of his kidneys and bladder. Of course the ultrasound tech won't tell you squat, so we have to wait until next week to hear anything about the results of that test. He's concerned. Questions like, "will they have to cut me ope?" and "what if I die?" don't make me a very happy mommy.

So, whatever it is that you do to get out the good juju, please do it for my little guy, Matthew. He's such a good kid and deserves good vibes.

At the same time, Jeff got laid off again on Thursday. The fortunate thing was that he worked just long enough for our insurance to kick in on August 1st to help pay for all these tests. Bad thing is, our savings won't hold out much longer. Put out some good juju for my big guy, too. We need him to get back to work quickly. The jobs are coming in through the union quicker now than they were 6 months ago, which is a very good thing. I get nervous when I hear talk about a double-dip recession and worry that the work will dry up again.

Please keep my family in your thoughts. Thank you.

Been in hiding...is anyone still out there?

2011-08-05T12:50:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I last posted already! Is anyone still out there paying any attention to my little corner of the world? Raise your hand and say, "Here!" I heard something faintly, so maybe there are a few of you left.

I have not been hiding. I've actually been very very busy. I am getting my projects done for the book, and that has taken up all my time. One project I did and redid 6 times to get it just right...whether it be something not quite right in the beads or not quite right in the photo. If it was a problem with the photo I'd have to redo the project to get to that point to retake that particular photo and get it right. Another project I had to take 4 inches out of (and that was A LOT of work!)

In addition to the beading I take all of the step by step photos and correct them all in Photoshop to get them as ready as possible for publication. One photo takes 20-30 minutes. That equals out to approximately 5 hours per project just fixing photos. Then I had to write all the instructions, pass them back and forth to the author for edits and tweaks, and then do the final copy in the final formatting. Oh and then put them on CD. Whew! There's been a lot to do for 3 projects! And I still have one more project to do. But this one is a little tougher because I need an extra set of hands to take photos. In one of my projects in the book you'll see my son Matthew's hands! :) He was being such a good hand model for me. :)

On top of all that, it's about the end of summer and I've been getting the kids ready for school to start. They go back this Monday, the 8th. Matthew has been soooo bored and can't wait to go back. Sara is somewhat excited, and Sami just wants to stay home. I think she'll enjoy this year a little more than last because she was able to take a couple of electives that she is really interested in...photography and intro to psychology. So maybe it will offset all those Honors classes she has to work so hard in.

Had to take the two little ones to the pediatrician's office. Matthew had to get a physical for football, get his asthma med prescriptions written, and get two immunizations that are required for 6th grade. Lots of money has been emptying out the past couple weeks! ugh! We try and try to get a little ahead, but there's always something. I'm sure you know exactly what I mean.

When I was in high school we got our schedules in the mail and we showed up on the first day. Now it's an entire production and huge ordeal...and expensive. I never had to pay for anything in high school. Now it costs a fortune to go to public school. In order to register for school you have to show up on registration day, go to the library and take a number. Take a number. Really? I don't want to go to the school and take a number and sit. oh well. When your number is called you have to go down the line and hand in certain papers to specific people out of the packet we were mailed and told to fill in ahead of time. Then you had to go get your schedule. Sami was a lucky one who got a blue paper, which meant there was a problem with her schedule and we had to take do an extra step and go see the guidance counselor. After we dealt with that we went to the lecture hall and guess what we did! Took another number. And sat and waited. Then we had to pay all the fees, get a locker assigned and then take the photo and get a student ID. Then, finally, you got in line to get your text books checked out. What an ordeal!!!!

On the beady side, I got something in the mail today! Do you remember the Picasso Jasper cab I got a while back? Here is a pic of it again in case you forgot...

Gorgeous, isn't it???!!! Well, I got something in the mail today from over at Believe Jewelry Supply on Etsy. She has amazing beads, some very pretty finished work and FABULOUS prices!!!! Go check her out!

Anyways, I got a fantastically beautiful string of Picasso Jasper coins to go with the cab I got. What do you think of these?

And the other sides of all of them...(click for a larger view)

I am SO excited to work with these and make something stunning very soon. I'm still in book mode, but soon I'll switch gears and get back into create for myself mode. I'm very sorry I can't show anything I've been working so hard on, but of course I can't ruin the surprise of the finished book, right?

Drop me a line and tell me what you've been up to. I know I have been neglecting a lot of blog reading and commenting, and I apologize for that. I will get back into the swing of things very soon. Hope you all have a super weekend! Bead Happy!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

2011-07-22T21:49:00.001-07:00

My daughter is awesome. She's super smart, sweet, funny, beautiful, goofy, athletic, a good person with a generous heart and so so much more. And, she's a beader! I have to show you what she finished making today. She beaded three tubular netting beads with 3mm pearls in the core...all by herself. Sure, the thread got tangled a time or two and I helped her with that, but other than that she did them herself. She is a very quick study. Every so often I would be beading at the table and she'd come get her bead mat and project out and sit with me and just bead and be together for a while. Sweet times.

There are 3 beads about 1" each, and then they are spaced with 1/2" metallite beads. It's on beading wire with a lobster claw clasp. It looks so cute on her. She's very proud of herself, and so am I. Here's Sara's project....

Way to go Sara!!!

The second thing I wanted to show you today is my newly acquired super duper Photoshop skills. I thought I was pretty good at adjusting photos before, but now I am like a pro! Thanks so much to Robin Atkins for spending an hour or so with me on the phone going through bunches and bunches of steps and settings. I had to learn to edit my photos really really good for the step by step photos for the new book. Here is an example of the drastic change I am now able to accomplish. The first pic is the photo as it was taken in its original form.

Pretty kinda ick, huh? Well, what do you think of the transformation in the next photo?

I can hardly believe the difference myself. I showed it to my dh and he says, "Did you just use a filter or something?" No! It wasn't "just" a filter! I had to adjust levels, colors, hue/saturation, brightness/contrast, shadows/highlights, make layers, make the shadows disappear with the dodge tool, use the eraser tool (from large to very itty bitty), and i had to merge it together and then use the burn tool to finish it off. So, no, it wasn't "just" a filter. I did a lot of work to get it to look this way. The book photos are looking great, too, but sorry to say I can't show you those.

Teaching a small group of ladies tomorrow how to make a bracelet (and of course Sara will be there, too). That should be fun!

Ok, kids. Wanted to pop in to let you all know I'm still here and haven't forgotten any of you. I've been super busy trying to make pieces for the book, write instructions, get lessons in writing instructions, having the instructions tested, taking photos and editing photos. phew. No wonder I'm tired! But it's a good kind of tired.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Let Me Introduce You To...and a GIVEAWAY!!!

2011-07-17T23:37:00.001-07:00

Do you remember a couple of posts ago I showed you those two amazing cabs I got? And do you remember where I got them from? I do hope you will visit Angela at Believe Jewelry Supply on Etsy. She has a wonderful shop with some truly beautiful things, whether you want completed jewelry pieces or stones to make your own. And do you remember what I said about her prices? They are really good! And the service and shipping time? Superb!

I'm doing this post for Angela so that you all can get the chance to meet her. She just started a Facebook page for Believe Jewelry Supply. She's trying to get at least 25 new "likes" by July 31st. To show you how much she wants to get to know all of you, she is giving away a fabulous prize from her Etsy shop. Here is the photo and description of the prize...(click on it for a larger view)

These are gorgeous 14mm genuine red sponge coral heart shaped beads. They hang from cute 16 karat gold plated over brass puffed heart earrings. They are a 10mm satin finish, brushed gold heart. They have 925 sterling silver earring posts. Retail value is $20!!!

The winner will be chosen from all the people who like Angela's Believe Jewelry Supply page on Facebook by July 31st. I do hope you will go over to her page and click "like". You could be the lucky winner of this beautiful pair of earrings! I know it will be one of you, because it won't be me. I'm playing the role of announcer of the giveaway, so you all have more of a chance to win! Awesome sauce, huh?!? Let me see all of you go on over to her Facebook page and show some love to a fellow beader and supplier of the pretties.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!

i have been busy busy. how about you?

2011-07-15T06:45:00.000-07:00

It's been an exciting week with the mailman bringing me packages. I got another one the other day from Artbeads.com and also Fire Mountain Gems. Got some really scrumptious things in it. What's that? Oh, you'd like to see? Ok, sure! ;)

First, I got the beads for one of my students for my little bracelet making class coming up in a HOLY COW a week. lol Just looked at the calendar. I better not forget. That would be bad. Anyways, I think these beads are just gorgemous together.

Click on the pic for a larger view. The druks have a real pretty topaz kind of color sheen to them. Very interesting beads. I love them. And the delicas have a nice two tone look to them as well. Neat!

Next, these don't come out in the photo too well because they are so pale, but here goes. Blue is a big color this week. I had to try on a few different shades in a few different sizes and types to find the ones I like the best for one of my projects. None of the beads in this pic are going to be used immediately, but they are very pretty and will definitely get used one day. The middle one almost looks white, but it is a very light blue. uh, very light. :)

Next up are some of the beads that will be used in one of my projects for the book. Some of them made the cut and some of them didn't. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

And finally, one more pic of some beads I chose based on a runway dress that I saw. (Wait, something else first.) Did you know that's a good way to find interesting palettes that can take you outside your little box? Do a Google search for something like "fashion trends runway" or look at "art paintings". Take your color cues from a photograph that catches your eye. Here are some photos that I thought were interesting and I was attracted to the colors.

Choose your beads based on the colors in the photos you choose and in the ratios in the photo. For example, the next pic is beads based on the dress in the bottom left hand corner. I chose beads in those colors, and in the project the green and pink will be almost equal with a lesser amount of orange. Also on the collage here are the Pantone Fashion Colors for Fall 2012 if you care to enlarge and see them closer. That's the swatches on the bottom right.

Ok, so here's the pic of the beads I got based on that dress...

Oh, now that I look at the pic closer...that orange with the pink undertones is one that I bought, but it's not the final orange I decided on. The beads look great together in piles next to each other, but beaded on a string next to each other they were very similar in tone and I felt there wasn't enough distinction between the two for photos in a book. So I went to my local stomping ground and made a couple quick seed bead purchases and chose an orange that is a bit brighter. I got the beading part done on the bracelet (still have to do the clasp and the matching necklace), and my kids would walk by and ooooh and aaaaah. The colors are bright, festive and happy together.

Again, I can't show you my bead work I've been doing because that would ruin the surprise of the book unveiling, wouldn't it? I was told I may get "a few" copies of the book when it's done. If I get more than two don't you think my blog should be screaming for a giveaway? I think so! That's a long ways off yet, but still fun for me to think about.

Ok, kids. Have fun playing this weekend. What's on your bead table???

Mailman brought something besides bills!

2011-07-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

I love it when the mailman brings me something that starts with a "B" that's not "Bills". I got beady goodies today! Two packages!!! Last week I was so lucky to win a giveaway by Spyder Jewels. She got a screamin' deal at a going out of business :( sale and decided to share the love with two lucky blog readers. I am new to her blog, and I'm glad Mandy over at Beads for Brains: 365 posted about the giveaway because I have really been enjoying Spyder Jewels blog. (And speaking of Beads for Brains, you should go check out the stunningly gorgeous beaded bead that Mandy made today!) I'm going to show you pics of everything I got from Miss Spyder Jewels...

Look at that pile of beady goodness! Let's take a closer look...

All the blacks...bugles (they have a very satiny/silky look to them), magatamas, delicas and cubes.

Some crystals...6mm cubes in garnet and 4mm faceted rounds in green. Also, I have never had Tilas before...wasn't quite sure what to do with them. Now I get to try them out! Lucky me!

Some more delicas and tear drop looking crystally ones.

Some purple 15/0's. I love purple!

Look at all these yummy delicious colors!

And finally, some more of my favorite things...metallics! galvanized silver, nickel plated, copper and a raspberry metallic hex. Very cool! Did I make out like a bandit or what???!!! Please go over and visit Spyder Jewels.

Next, I ordered some things from Believe Jewelry Supply on Etsy. I chose two really gorgeous cabs. I made a mistake, though. I fell in love with the photos, checked the sizes and went ahead and ordered. Then I went back and read the description. You shouldn't do that. It said that the photo of the Picasso Jasper was much brighter in the photo than it was in real life. Oh no! That's what I loved was the vibrancy and the lines and gradients. So I was very worried that I wouldn't like it when I got it. When I nervously opened the package and unwrapped the pretty pink tissue paper, it literally took my breath away. It. Is. Simply. Fantabulous! It's true, it's not quite as reddish as the photo, but I am so in love with this stone. I am so happy I clicked that "add to cart" button! Take a look at the front and back of this 30mm cab...

You know what it reminds me of? The name of the place escapes me, but it's down in South America in the deserts where there are mysterious lines and gigantic drawings made with rocks that you can only see from a plane...do you know what I'm talking about? This stone immediately reminded me of the desert sands, dunes and mysterious alien runway lines. Now, if that isn't some inspiration to make something cool, I don't know what is!

The 2nd cab I chose was a purple Crazy Lace Agate. I loved how the colors blended from pink to purple and even some coral in dramatic waving lines. And when I opened it up I was not disappointed at all. It is really beautiful. It is also 30mm high and I think 20mm wide. Check this one out!

Was the mailman nice to me today???!!! Thank you so much from Spyder Jewels and Believe Jewelry Supply. Oh, I forgot! The prices at Believe Jewelry Supply are really super reasonable and there's LOTS to choose from, so go check the shop out. The seller was also quick to put the cabs in the mail; the service was very good.

I got an email that one of my orders from Artbeads.com shipped today. For some reason it seems to take a really long time to get things from them once they have shipped. I mean, Spyder Jewels mailed my package on Friday and I got it today, Monday. But Artbeads usually takes about 4 days. I mean, it's not like it's an eternity or anything, but when you want something now, you just want it now. Right? When that comes I'll have more goodies to show you. Then after that I have another Artbeads order and one more from Fire Mountain Gems. I was such a bonehead! I spent soooo long calculating how many beads I would need of a certain kind for one of my book projects. I needed I think 6 strands. Dummy me only clicked in 1! I had to put in another order and pay the $7.65 shipping all over again!!!!! GRRRRRR!!! I guess that's a lesson to double and triple check your calculations with your order to make sure you got enough.

Ok kids. That's all I got for today. I hope you enjoyed seeing all my fun stuff! Have a very happy week!

Shopping for beads and more stuff

2011-07-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone. I hope you are all doing well out there in Blogland. This post may seem a little incoherent as I am seriously sleep deprived. My pillow is softly, sweetly calling my name. I will do my best to stay focused!

The past few days I have been doing some major bead shopping. At least for me, it's been huge. I have orders in with Artbeads, Beadaholique, and Fire Mountain Gems, and I am going to be ordering some wire here pretty quick with Bello Modo. Honestly, I would rather have one place to shop because going to all the different sites trying to find the right colors, sizes, textures, etc. is so exhausting. And then to meet the minimum order amount so I don't have to pay shipping. ick. Hey! Did you know that Bello Modo has no shipping minimum and ALL orders ship free? Yea for Bello Modo! Artbeads is still reasonably low at just $10. It's not hard to come up with $10 at all.

Then there's Beadaholique which I think is pretty steep at $25 for no shipping. I don't usually order that much at one time from one store unless I am doing a major purchase. That's why I went to them this weekend. That, and they had the colors and things that one of my students picked for our class later this month. I still had to put in some few random items that I have no plans for to meet that minimum. Although I do like their Preciosa crystals and the prices on them. It's just coming up to that $25 that's hard. Of course I could spend less and pay s+h, but if I'm going to give them money, I want to get product in return for it, you know what I mean?

Now, FMG...they're a whole other story. I doubt that I will order from them in the future. I needed just 1 thing from them for less than $5. Shipping and handling was almost $8!!!!! So, $13 for a $5 item? No thanks! I ordered a couple other random things with them, too, just to feel a little more justified in my purchase and paying such high fees. But I HAD to go to them to get the color I needed. Do you remember the last post about needing an apple green color in a 6/0? They had something close. But I totally feel like I got robbed.

Exciting News!!!!!

I don't think I'm at liberty to give away too many details, but I will give you the basics. You may not see much of me the next couple months. That's the bad news. But it's for a good reason. A friend of mine who is a bead goddess just got a deal to write a new bead book. She has asked me to contribute projects for the book!!!!!! How awesome is that???!!! I will be doing 2 for sure and possibly 4 projects for the book in different sections of it. This will be quite a challenge for me, and I am learning so much about the process it's unbelievable. That's the main thing I have been shopping for...supplies for the book projects. And all 4 are due with instructions in both a photo story and written step by steps on a CD to the author with the finished pieces no later than SEPTEMBER 1st!!!!! Yikes! I better get my groove on, huh? The bulk of my book supplies is coming from Artbeads, and they haven't even shipped my order yet! Crazy. I got my order in the mail today from Beadaholique, and my Artbeads order that I made at the same time hasn't even been picked yet.

So all I have to show today are my goodies from Beadaholique.

The gold and silver 3mm are just because I wanted them. They are sterling silver plated and 22k gold plated. I have beads like this in my stash, but they are the cheapies. I wanted some nice ones like this. So I got them. The clear crystals are to finish a bracelet I've had in my UFO pile and the black bicones are for one of my students for our class.

These are the other beads for the class. This student is addicted (I mean seriously addicted) to green. These are the colors she chose, and they do look very pretty...more so in person than in the photo. But isn't it always that way?

The tube clasps are for one of the book projects. The red 8mm are just because I liked them...and I had to buy something to get to the $25 mark.

I just liked the color and look of these 8mm's. Also a "no reason purchase except to get free shipping".

These are the most gorgeous color of capri blue I have ever seen. I mean ever. They are super gorgeous. It will have to be a special project indeed to get these babies!

And that's it. $27 worth of beads so I could get free shipping. lol. Am I crazy? Should I just have paid the shipping fees? No, I don't think so. These beads will be the perfect ones for a future project. It always works out that way.

And my other exciting news? I was a winner winner chicken dinner on a blog giveaway the other day! I haven't got my prize package yet, but as soon as I do you will be the first ones to see it. I won it courtesy of a great new blog I was introduced to, Spyder Jewels. Thank you Mandy at Beads for Brains: 365 for the intro!

That's all I got today. Hope you all have a super fantabulous weekend!

In Search Of.....

2011-07-03T21:20:00.000-07:00

Help! Sending out an A.P.B. to all beaders...be on the lookout for any online bead store that has 6/0 seed beads in matte, opaque or frosted transparent sour apple or lime. Or if you have some in your stash that you'd be willing to part with, I would like to buy them from you. I have looked everywhere that I know of including: Artbeads, Bello Modo, DJ Beads, Auntie's Beads, Fusion Beads, The Hole Bead Shoppe, Beadaholique, Whimbeads, and FMG. I cannot find the color/size I need anywhere! Are there online shops that you know that I've missed? Please let me know! Either comment here, or contact me directly at indigosbeads(at)live(dot)com. I need maybe 15 grams of these beads. Thanks for any and all help you can give me.

July 2011 BJP....aka "the albatross" :)

2011-07-01T23:55:00.002-07:00

Yes, it is the albatross around my neck. The other day it was the monkey on my back. Getting a picture here? I have worked so hard on this simple little necklace. It has most definitely been an exercise in persistence, commitment, and trying to be more patient. It was a lesson that some things won't allow you to rush them. With this I was limited by my hands, and although I am usually a fast beader, with this project I had to go much more slowly. Commitment...I started it, and I was determined to finish it. Many times projects are started and they aren't as fun and exciting as others so they go in the UFO pile. Believe me. There were several times that I thought about it! So, I had to be persistent. I had to motivate myself to work on it and go through some physical pain to get it done. And I did!

The pendant was another challenge. I had no idea how I was going to bead it, but I got some beads and a stone to go specifically with the seed beads I used, so I was going to make something work. I had a few sputters and false starts, but I think I was thinking about it too much. The other night I decided to "just bead" and let the stitching work itself out. And it did! I went back to my first days in bead embroidery under the wings of Robin Atkins, learning how to bead "improvisationally" and "just do it". I am very happy with the way the pendant turned out. I didn't like the big gaps between the round beads surrounding the stone (a very pretty piece of fossil agate...that's a close up on the first pic at the top), so I just started going in between them all with the seed beads. It sort of reminded me of petals on a flower. Of course, my husband didn't think it looked anything like a flower. Do you know what he said? He said it looks like his grandparents' old sofa. Zing. Ouch. I guess he doesn't like it. Why should I be surprised? He rarely likes anything I do...it's because he says "it's not his thing". But I ask him why he can't appreciate my craftsmanship and artistry? He doesn't get it. Oh well.

The colors might not be the "IN" colors on the Pantone Fashion Report, but I thought they looked rather nice together. I used peach, tangerine and brown seed beads with the core bead in brown to create this triple spiral. I know one other month I did an embellished regular spiral, but this was much more challenging. The beads got real tight by the third color in the round and I really had to coax and push and pull the needle through a lot of the time. Working so hard on something, though, gives a nice sense of accomplishment, don't you think? It is just over 23" and is hooked with a gold-plated simple lobster claw. Oh! And I also tried a new stitch on the bail! I showed you a twisted tubular herringbone not too long ago, but tonight I did just a flat herringbone. I guessed at how to make the turn to the next row and thought, "No, this can't be right." I looked up a tutorial online and I was right! Gave myself a pat on the back for getting the hang of this beadweaving stuff and seeing how it should go intuitively.

Ok, here it is...my July 2011 BJP project and new stitch in my repertoire...

Also, the pendant is backed in a nice soft tan microsuede and beaded the beads using Nicole's Beadbacking. It is so nice to work with, holds its shape, doesn't fray or unravel...you should try it! Check it out at her Etsy shop and visit her blog, Beadwright.

Get That Monkey Off My Back!

2011-06-28T23:39:00.000-07:00

Did you ever feel that way? You've started something and then it just seems to linger and haunt you? That's kind of how I feel about this project I've been working on. Guess what! I finished the necklace part!!!! Finally. whew. I also finished the pendant. I need to bead the bail for the pendant next, but that shouldn't take too terribly long. And then I need to get a clasp for the necklace. I was soooo bummed out when I finished it and realized I didn't have a clasp. I know I bought two just last week, but I have no idea what happened to them. Maybe they're around somewhere. Or maybe I used them and just don't remember. *sigh*

MY CAR NOW HAS A/C!!!!! For those of you who don't know, I live in the stifling heat in the Valley of the Sun, Scottsdale, Arizona. Temps the last couple of days have been about 115F. It's an unbearable heat. You walk outside and you instantly feel dehydrated like a raisin. Your eyeballs dry out. Your mouth is parched. And what fluids you do have in your body are now sweating out of you. And inside the car is even hotter than outside. I've been without A/C in my car for about 2 years now. It's been miserable for 6 months out of the year. I could only bear to drive late at night when the sun has been down for hours (even now at 11:30 p.m. it is still 99 degrees outside!) and have the windows open, whipping that hot air right back in my face. But that hot air is still better than the stagnant, suffocating heat inside the car. It cost us a lot of money, but my husband FINALLY said we could get it fixed!!!! That's the highlight of my week. That, and finishing that dang necklace.

Sorry I don't have any pics of anything to show you right now. I have been working on a few things, but there might be some exciting things coming up in my future. I will let you know more when I am able to divulge secrets. What are you all working on?

I hope all of you are having a good week. And I just want to say HELLO! to my new followers. Thank you for joining me! Feel free to jump in with comments at any time!

More Right Angle Weave

2011-06-21T04:50:00.001-07:00

I think all of the RAW I have worked on has been squares made up of multiple beads per side, like 2 or 3 per side so 8 or 12 per circle (or square...whatever). This morning I woke up at 2:00 and started looking for something to do. I decided to do a RAW bracelet that uses just 4 beads per square, and man was it ever easy compared to learning with 8 or 12! Plus it was just one row. So easy. I looked through my stash and found some 8mm dark blue cat's eyes, and some 4mm (I think) in two different shades of blue. I didn't know if I would have enough of either one, so I decided to alternate them. Then I looked for just the right beads to make the embellishment around it. I dug up some 11/0 cobalt blue Toho's. I just looooove these colors!!!!!

I finished it pretty quickly and I wish I had more of the right sized beads in other colors to make more and some more clasps to finish them off. I really like how this one looks. I found a video on how to make it here, and I just added embellishment to both sides. I like the spiral going down both sides. You can't tell from the pics, but it looks neat. I guess you can say that embellishing both sides is a waste since one side will be against the wrist, but that's ok. I like it.

Here are some pics of what I made. Aren't the colors so pretty!?

And on non-beading things, I'm really proud of my daughter, Sara. She certainly has a greener thumb than I do! She is growing tomato plants. They sprouted and we just transplanted them to bigger pots the other day. Every morning she gets up to go check on them and to give them some water. She also said no one is allowed to go out and say anything mean to them...we all have to be nice to her plants. I thought that was kind of cute. Like any of us would go insult her plants to begin with, but it's funny how she figures they have feelings too and won't grow as good if they're not happy. Here are some pics of her little children, as I call them.

Hope everyone is having a happy week.

Practicing RAW

2011-06-19T16:10:00.000-07:00

I know you're never going to believe this...I started something else instead of doing my current project! lol Or maybe you would believe it. But I did a whole inch last night on it! Boy, is it tedious. I got bored quickly and so diverted my attention elsewhere. I did try to stay with the project by beading a pendant to go with it. Didn't work out too well. Ripped it apart.

Here's what I did instead...little RAW bracelets I found in Bead & Button by Abby Cobb. It's just an easy and quick bracelet, and so I made two! :) I am definitely getting better at RAW and it's not quite as scary as it once was. Don't get me wrong...it's still scary. I'm going to stick with simple RAW for now. I'll work my way up eventually. Here are pics of my two bracelets. I did one last night and one today.

It's kind of a raspberry pink base with metallic rosey/coppery something or others on the top. I did the same bracelet but on the 2nd one I used cobalt blue (one of my very favoritest colors of all) and silver. I did the embellishment a tad different on the 2nd one. In the first one the little stacks on top are all one color. In the 2nd one, I made the center of the stack blue so to me they look like little silver flowers on top.

There you have it...that's what's been keeping me busy. We are having a very uneventful Father's Day. My hubby is being very bah-humbug about the whole thing and says it's "just another day". grump butt. Hope you all are having a great weekend.

new bracelet done tonight

2011-06-17T23:41:00.000-07:00

No, not THIS kind of ladder. I did a bracelet based on a pattern by Silvana Terry...it's a free project with Bead & Button. It's called Bugle Clusters and is based on the ladder stitch. I must admit that I am NOT very good at reading instructions or illustrations. I do so much better with videos. But tonight all I had was the written instructions. I used seed beads in two different colors each of 6/0 and 11/0 and then 6mm bugles.

If I understood the directions correctly I was to make 2 separate ladder stitched lines, 2 beads tall and divisible by 3. I went with 42 stacks. Then it's just a matter of stringing in the middles and stitching the top and bottom onto the middle in the process. In the picture there are the 3 bead picots on the top and bottom edges that goes across 2 and skips a space. In the skipped space I decided to go back and add the same 6/0 I used in the middle of the bugle clusters.

I first ran into trouble when I was trying to figure out the clasp. She did a toggle using a headpin. Hmmm. Ok. So I went searching for my 2" headpins as the directions say and got out my wire tools. If I strung the beads in the pattern she said, it wouldn't have fit on my headpin, even though I used a 2" headpin just like she said. So I adjusted it to a shorter pattern and made my little toggle. Then to attach it, it said to put the needle/thread through the middle 6/0 seed bead on the wire and go around through it a couple times. NOT!!! The needle does NOT fit through there. I don't know what gauge of wire she used, but mine was definitely too thick. And if I used a much smaller wire so that it would fit, the wire would be so easy to bend I don't see how it would be functional. So I scrapped the wire toggle and went with a simple beaded loop and lobster claw clasp.

My next problem was trying to understand how to embellish the center of the bracelet. I simply could not figure it out. I tried so many times, and it just looked like a heap of a mess every time. I decided not to embellish. Then once I was all done, my bracelet with the clasp was MUCH too long. I let out a heavy sigh and started ripping it apart. I managed to salvage the ladder stitched top and bottom so at least I didn't have to do that over again. And I was able to save a few pieces of usable Fireline. I only had a tiny bit left on the spool and I was afraid of running out. Then I put the whole thing together again. This time I didn't add the last single line of bugles on the ends and did the clasp instead from the middle of the last cluster on each side. When I was done, it measured just at 7 1/2", so I was much happier with that. Yes, I know that will still be too big for the thin women out there, but I think 7 1/2" is an average size that fits a lot of people. I can always make another one smaller if anyone ever decided they wanted one from me, right?

Even though it's not embellished, I still think it's pretty. The 6/0 in the center of the clusters and along the outside edges is one of those that changes colors from purple to green to a little bit of gold depending on how the light hits them. The other beads making the picot on the edge is my very favoritest (yes, that's a word in my book) purple seed beads. They are a true, beautiful purple and I love them. The bugles and other seed beads are greens, but not solid. The colors have a slight variation to them that makes them very pretty.

Here is my Bugle Clusters bracelet that I did tonight. And if you're keeping track, yes, I am still avoiding that other project that I can't seem to finish. Obviously I'd have a better chance of finishing it if I stopped starting new things.

And wouldn't you know it...good thing I was able to save a few strands of that Fireline because between the reused thread and the little bit that was left on the spool, I had just enough. Yea!

Got some beads to show

2011-06-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Flag Day. I thought this flag heart was appropriate and very cute and definitely says love of country. I didn't sleep again last night, so I had plenty of time to work on beads, and I actually have something to show today. Imagine that!

I saw a photo of a rope I liked on greeniezona's Flickr page. Normally I would put the link, but her Flickr page is also filled with personal photos of her family, and I don't know if it would be right for me to direct a lot of people there. greeniezona....if it's ok to post your Flickr page, comment and let me know. Anyhow, I asked her what stitch it was and she said she was inspired by another necklace on Etsy. I set out to try to figure out how to do the stitch, and after a lot of searching and a lot of help from Mandy over at Beads for Brains: 365, I figured it out. Then it took a lot of tries and some ripping, sorting and restarting before I got it right. And mine still never looked quite like the one from greenie or the Etsy shop...their's kind of kinked up along with the twist. mine just layed smooth and twisted.

I used a bronze 8/0, and in 11/0's I used gold metallic, galvanized brown, cream and a transparent champagne color. This stitch was very easy on my hands, and I know I will do this one again in some other color/size combinations. I really like how it looks. And I love the colors I chose. I took some with the pendant and some without. I wish I knew what the stone is in the pendant, but I don't. If you do, let me know. Who wants to play the name game? Any suggestions?

It is 23 3/4" and is hooked with a gold plated lobster claw clasp. This was the first time I had made and attached a beaded bail. I wasn't sure of the "proper" way to do it, but my way seems to have worked just fine. Oh, and the pendant is backed real nice with a tan micro suede.

Checking In

2011-06-13T05:15:00.000-07:00

I have not posted for a bit, so I thought I'd better check in. I have been busy beading, but the two projects I am working on have been taking forever to finish. I am working on two necklaces. One is peachy something or other, tangerine and brown...ick, right? it really doesn't look bad. I like it...it's different! The other is bronze, gold, cream, transparent and brown with an embroidered cabochon pendant. I'm not sure how to attach the cab. I've never beaded a bail and attached one before, so I'm going to be winging it. And I'm hoping the rope is sturdy enough to handle it because it looks really pretty together.

I have to go buy some clasps for them also. But it is getting hot here (low 100's) during the day, and the A/C in my car has been broken for quite some time. So I don't drive during the day unless it's absolutely mandatory. Then by the time evening rolls around, the sun has gone down and it's cooled down a bit, all I want to do is stay home. I'm going to a Craft Night at a friend's house tomorrow evening, and I'm hoping to have at least one of these necklaces done in time to show.

In between beading on my projects and stuff around the house, I have been busy playing with Studio J and making more scrapbook pages. I've done quite a few, but I'm going to post just a couple for you to see a glimpse into my world. The first page was 4th of July when we lived in Plattsmouth, Nebraska in 2006. It was a tiny little town taken out of the pages of the books of days gone by, and they had a tremendous fireworks display down by the river. Matthew was so scared of the fireworks. But did you know that zombies love fireworks? It's true. They are attracted to the big booms. And Matthew loves zombies. So he played he was a zombie during some of the show to get through it all. lol. The pic of him with his head dropped while standing up is his zombie impersonation. The first pic of Jeff and Sara is one of my all time favorites. You can click for a larger view.

The 2nd one is of Sara. We had a beauty day and I put a little bit of makeup on her, then she modeled and posed for the camera. What a doll! This was also in 2006. The thing about this page is that Sara basically made the whole thing herself. I uploaded the photos and did the clicking, but she made all the decisions on the paper, layout, embellishments, etc. Didn't she do a great job?

She's so beautiful!!! :D Sorry I don't have any beading to show you again. I have been working on things and trying to get them done, but the two things I am working on are very time consuming. So I hope you have enjoyed this little interim post and you now have a view into my little corner of the world.

Close to My Heart Online Scrapbooking

2011-06-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

I discovered something really cool! Online scrapbooking! No tools to buy, paper and stickers and products to store...NO MESS!!! I found it through my good friend Beth A. (click here to see more on her website), who is a Close to My Heart representative. I've got a ton of photos on my computer, and last year when my desk top died I lost sooooo many photos and I was devastated. This is going to be a fantastic way for me to get my photos into books. All you do is upload your photos (everything is taken through for you step by step), choose a paper pack of already coordinated papers (there's a ton), choose a layout, and then start making your pages. It's so easy because it's all drag and drop and click here and there to change colors, embellishments like ribbons, brads, hinges, buttons, etc, stickers and tags, edit text blocks and titles...voila! You have professional looking scrapbook pages.

This month they are giving away a free jpg file which includes 2 high resolution files of each page for you to print on your own, and one low resolution file that you can share on the net. All you have to do is create an account and start playing. Give it a try! It's a lot of fun to see everything come together. And what else is nice is that you can change paper colors and patterns with just a click, and if you don't like it you can undo it. Unlike real scrapbooking where you have to cut up lots of paper, decide you don't like this or that, and then you've wasted stuff. No glue. No tape. No paper scraps. No crooked cropping. Here are the two pages I made first. Now, I did this when I didn't know to click on the different pull downs to access different embellishments and things, so it is just a little plain, but I love it and Matthew loves it (he picked out the paper pack). Except I realized after I did it that I made a typo. Figures, huh? Here's my layout of Matthew's 11th birthday this year. You can click on it for a larger view.

You can order prints of the 12x12 pages and have them mailed to you also. That's what I'm trying to talk hubby into letting me do. I really want to get caught up on my scrapbooking and this makes that task fun and so much less daunting. I've made 2 more layouts, but I can't show you those since I don't have jpg's of them. If Jeff let's me order some then I will show those to you also. I'm getting better with a little practice.

So if you would like to learn more about Studio J, contact Beth A. here through her website.

Gifts From My Children

2011-06-06T19:34:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post pics of the beautiful gifts my kids made me for Mother's Day this year. I know. I'm a little slow and Mother's Day seems like ages ago already, but I've had a rough week and am just now getting around to it. First, Matthew (11, 5th grade) made me a most beautiful little woven tapestry. I was very impressed with it because he made it nice and even throughout. I remember doing these when I was in grade school, and it was difficult to keep the tension right and they would usually cinch in through the middle. It can happen that way when looming too. But Matthew did a wonderful job! I'm going to put it in a frame and hang it for everyone to see. Thank you, Precious!

Sara (9, 3rd grade) also did some weaving, but it was a little different. I have never seen this idea before, and I thought it was a great idea. It made a super gift! They used cups for weaving. They cut the cup from top to about 1/2" from the bottom all the way around to make the warp strips. Then she weaved up the cup and made a terrific little vase that now sits on my table next to my computer. She even added beads for her bead-addicted mama. Thank you so much, Punkin! Here is Sara's vase:

Also, Matthew was sooooo proud of himself for his state report, a very large project, that he wanted me to put it on my blog, too. Matthew chose the state of Nebraska. That's where his daddy comes from, and we lived there for a short time too. Did you know that Kool-Aid was invented in Nebraska? Did you know that the University of Nebraska leads the nation in the number of All Americans? (65) Did you know that there are approximately 40,000 farms in Nebraska? Holy mackerel! Anyways, he now knows tons of stuff about Nebraska. He worked very hard on his project, and he is very proud of his work. He's got pics of the state flower, tree and bird, a Nebraska football player (his favorite pic), some Kool-Aid, and a map in addition to his facts pages. There is also a written report that goes with it. Here's his display...

He's hoping for a great grade. Matthew has made a deal with his Dad this year. If he makes Principal's List (all A's or all A's and 1 B) all year, then he will get to buy Gears of War 3 for his X-Box 360 the day it comes out in September instead of having to wait until Christmas. So far, Matthew has had straight A's all year. It looks like he will reach his goal as this last quarter he is getting all A's and 1 B. I'm so proud of him for all his hard work!

Ok, gang. That's about all I have for today. I am working hard on some new designs. I finished a set this morning, but I am going to wait to post it until I have a similar set done with the beads I ordered earlier this week. It is for my June BJP. I'm very excited about it, and I think the set turned out beautiful. It's shades of pink. Love it!

Hope you are all having a fabulous week.

Calla Lilies (in beads)

2011-06-06T05:45:00.000-07:00

I just love calla lilies. They have always been one of my favorite flowers. I don't know why, but I just love the shape and simplicity of them. To me they are very elegant. Some time last year I found the prettiest frosted calla lily beads. I'm having a hard time now remembering though if they are glass or resin. The writing on the plastic bag rubbed off, so now I don't even remember where I bought them. I had been looking for quite a long time to find just the right beads to go with the calla lilies.

I had in my mind what I wanted to do with them, but I needed a green bead and a yellow bead that would fit the bill. I came across the perfect green beads at Artbeads.com...on clearance nonetheless. Of course, not knowing exactly how many I would need I bought 2 strands of these gorgeous, sleek olivine cat's eye rectangles. Since they were on clearance I knew if I didn't order enough, I'd never find the same ones again. Finding yellow beads is so very difficult. If I did find the right color, they weren't the right size or I didn't like the shape. Then one day I wasn't even looking for them and these little yellow and white nuggets caught my eye. Perfect color, perfect shape! How lucky am I?

I wanted my necklace to be a little abstract, but still get the feel of the calla lilies. I strung the beads on flexible wire, which I have never used before, and crimped the ends around the clasp. I like the wire! I am definitely going to use it again. Here are pics of my simple little (20") calla lily necklace. Each of those flower beads is 1 1/2" long and 1/2" wide...pretty substantial! And the flowers do match up and are centered...I just had the necklace skewed on the form. dumb me!

As always, you can click to see a larger view.

What Is It??? And What The Heck Do I Do With It???

2011-06-05T08:01:00.001-07:00

Since my last post I had a terrible headache for two days and didn't do any beading at all. Then I felt like I was just in a funk or had the doldrums. I missed my bead therapy!!! Needing to bead, I sat down and started working more on my current project that is taking forever. I measure it every 30 minutes or so to see how far I've gotten, then I get bummed that I didn't get more done...because I just want this one to be over!!! It's been on my table for what seems like an eternity. But did I stick with it? NO!!! lol I started something else.

A while back I did some clay cabochons if you remember, and I was looking forward to beading with them. I ordered some beads from Artbeads.com to go with the pink and white cab that I made. It's been sitting there for quite a long time. Every now and again I would pull it out and wonder what the heck I was going to do with it. Some of the beads were not the right shades of pink...one was too pale and the other was too hot. And then I thought, "That sure is a whooooole lotta pink!" Dang. I just remembered my last post when many of you said you didn't like pink. Now I'm going to be embarrassed to show this to you.

Ok, onward anyways because it's the only thing I have sort of done to show you. I promise my next something or other won't be pink.

To try to counterbalance some of the pink I added a little green, and there is white to also soften it. When I got to the outer edge I felt soooo dumb because I couldn't do a picot. I thought, how basic is that and I can't figure it out??? So I stopped thinking about it and took a break. Wouldn't you know it? When I wasn't thinking about it a light bulb went off in my head and I could see in my mind how to do it. Yea! I'm not so dumb after all!!! But I don't know. It kind of looks like a cake. Or the top view of a frilly hat.

I have no idea what to do with this. (It's 3" x 2.75") Put a pin back on it and call it a brooch? Make a beaded bail, bead a rope and make a pendant on a necklace? Or, put it in a drawer and call it practice, never to see the light of day again??? Well I can't do that. That would be a waste. Should I rip it apart and salvage the Swarovski's and other beads to be used another day?

I think I need to ponder this one for a while and go back to my boring project. What do you all think?

Card Class Pics

2011-06-03T06:30:00.000-07:00

A couple of you wanted to see pics of the cards Sara and I made on Wednesday. The lighting wasn't the best. The cards were supposed to be an assortment of sentiments, but I chose to make mine Thank You notes. I will use those most often. Sara was more creative with hers. She had fun choosing the sayings and doing the stamps. I'll show you mine (I left my insides blank), and then Sara's and how hers were different.

Father's Day Card

Sara's Mini Father's Day Card (hers is only a few inches each way, whereas mine is a full size card. You can tell the difference in the sizes by comparing the "Happy Father's Day" circles...they are the same size, but hers takes up a lot of her card.) It's super cute. The card closes by tucking up under the collar. Inside is a square of paper to write your message on.

I messed up with my stamping on this one a little bit. I put the curly q going too far in the middle of the strip, so there wasn't enough room for the heart stamp that was supposed to go on it.

Here is Sara's (done correctly).

Another one...

Sara's...

and the inside...isn't that such a cute little saying?

My peacock card. It is silver embossed and then painted with a little fingertip dobber and a feather stamp. It's really pretty.

Sara's peacock card and her inside saying. She said she loves it too much to give it away. This is her favorite.

And the last card. I was getting real tired by this time and my brain was on overload, so I left off some elements and simplified mine.

Here is Sara's last card done correctly with the little pinwheels. Very cute.

Didn't Sara do a great job? She's very creative and artistically talented. Thank you to Beth A. for a very fun afternoon!!!

Special Request for a Little Girl

2011-06-01T23:53:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the cute little blue/peach/green flowery chain I did the other day? It got snagged up yesterday. A good friend of mine thought it would be a great present for her granddaughter. She wanted one for the sister, too, but not exactly the same. She thought maybe red flowers instead of blue and peach, but then I was concerned if the red and green would look to Christmasy. My friend was saying how the girls are very different people and she likes to give them unique gifts. She asked if maybe there was a similar stitch that wasn't the same. I said that I had never done it before, but the daisy chain would make an adorable necklace for a 7 year old girl. So I set about to learn how to make a daisy chain.

I have to admit, I don't think I did my daisies exactly "correctly" but I won't tell if you won't tell. ;) It just worked out better the way I did it, and I think it looks great. I finished it up and I had my Sara try it on to see how it would look. Ooooh, I thought it was super way cute, and I told her to go look in the mirror. She came back with her shirt up over her chin and said, "What? I don't have anything!" lol. That meant she wanted it. Of course I told her I would make her one too, and I did.

Here are some pics of the Daisy Chain necklace with lots of multi colored flowers. Makes me think of a spring time garden.

Once I got it beaded I doubled the thread back through with lots of half hitch knots along the way to reinforce and secure it since it is for a little girl. They tend to be a little rougher on things. Cute, isn't it?

I had a very long, but good, day today. I only got a few hours of sleep, so I was real tired which concerned me. I was wondering how well I would make it through the day because when I get tired I don't function well at all. I'm not one who can power through. Nope. My brain says, "Overload!" and just shuts down. Kind of frustrating sometimes. Sometimes I can only last an hour. Today, though, I lasted almost 6 hours!!!!! Holy cow, that is some kind of record for me! I went to a card making class with my good friend Beth (she sells Close to My Heart scrapbooking supplies). We made 5 different cards, and they were all beautiful! The kids were supposed to stay in the bedroom and watch a movie on the DVD player, but the player wouldn't work. Pretty soon Sara made her way to the table and Beth was very tolerant and gracious and let her join us. Matthew stayed in the bedroom and played Sara's Nintendo DS and didn't complain one single time through the entire class!!! Such a good natured kid. Never causes waves.

After the class was over and the guests had left it was the kids' turn for some fun. Beth has a swimming pool and the kids got to go swimming! They had such a good time and played so well together. It makes my heart happy to see them get along so well...you can tell they'll be very close throughout their adult years.

So that was my day. How about you?

Bead Journal Project for June 2011

2011-05-31T07:01:00.000-07:00

It's that time again...I've completed another month for The Bead Journal Project 2011. As you know I am not doing bead embroidery, which is the norm, because it hurts my hands to do that type of beading anymore. I am learning at least one new beadweaving stitch a month and creating jewelry pieces. This month I tackled tubular netting.

I really had a lot of fun with this stitch. I have admired it for so long in other people's work, but had no clue on how to do it. I finally found a link on how to do it, and I am ashamed to say that I can't remember where I found it. :( I did one monochromatic necklace and bracelet in pinks first. I was happy with the way it turned out, but it just wasn't, oh I don't know...enough of something. I wanted something that stands out a little more. Maybe a little more "fancy". I'll show you the pink one last because I really want to talk about the 2nd set I made first.

I chose 3 different colors of 4mm Druks for the core. I had a little bit of a problem ordering these at first. For the pink set the packaging for the core beads said 3mm (bought from a local store). Therefore, for the 2nd one I also ordered 3mm. Then they came in the mail...They were NOT the same size. I measured them both on the ruler and they both look like 3mm when measured, but the pink must have been a large 3mm and the browns a small 3mm or something because the 3mm Druks I ordered were so small that I could only do a 3 bead net instead of a 5 bead net. That just wouldn't do. How can 2 different 3mm beads be so different in size??? Crazy. BUT, since I ordered the Druks from Artbeads.com, they have a very simple return/exchange policy. It was pretty painless, and the replacement order was processed and shipped pretty quickly after they received the old beads in.

Back to the tubular netting set. I chose 3 different colors of core beads. One is a gorgeous tortoise shell looking bead, one is a brown sparkly luster bead and the 3rd is a brown matte. Then I used 3 different colors of accent beads for the intersections of the net. I used a bronze seed bead, a Miyuki rainbow matte rose/green metallic cube and a Toho orange/rust hex. The cube says rose/green, but it is really just a light colored metallic that is very pretty. The seed bead for the net is an 11/0 in medium brown lined amber Toho. I started and ripped apart the necklace 3 or 4 times before I decided on a pattern I liked. I took each of the core beads and matched them up with one of the accent beads and used the same throughout. The beads make a wrap-around diamond pattern that is really hard to see in the photos. Just know there is a pattern with rhyme and reason to it! lol

I really struggled with what to call it, too. (again) You know how I am about naming my pieces. I'm a little weird that way. I think I like "Noble Luster". It is very sparkly, and the colors just appear to be stately to me. Sara says it reminds her of Fall, but to me it was a little more than that. For this set I created a necklace, 18" long, a bracelet 9" long (but it's not truly 9" around. Since it's a fat bracelet, the inside circumference is actually smaller than 9" and fits an average wrist very well). And a set of little dangly earrings with 14k gold plated ear wires.

Here is the necklace...

And the bracelet...

And the earrings...

And the whole set together...

You can click on the images to get a larger view. The camera never picks up the sparkliness of the beads, you know? I find that frustrating.

Here are photos of the original tubular netting project I did that I embellished with a dragonfly pendant. It's pretty, but it lacked some "oomph". That's why I wanted to do another set that was a little more dynamic. But it's still pretty if you ask me. Here's the bracelet...

And here's the necklace...

By the way. This little necklace form that I got from JoAnn's to display my jewelry was one of my best purchases. I highly recommend getting one. It was less than $8.

Bead Journal Project for June, 2011...done! I can't wait to see what I do for next month!

Oh, and one more thing. In my post with the little flower chain stitch, I forgot to give credit to the writer of the tutorial. If you would like to do that stitch, visit Inspirational Beading.

Peach Blue Green

2011-05-26T17:49:00.001-07:00

I've gotten into this habit of finding clip art to go with the theme of the post I am doing. Sometimes it's really challenging to find anything at all, and sometimes there's so much to choose from I can't decide. Today I really have no theme, so I entered "peach blue green", the colors of my project. And look at this pretty little picture of trees that popped up in just those colors. Cute, huh? Very simple and understated, just like the necklace I am going to show you today!

I've been working on another project that has been taking what seems like forever because it hurts my hands and I have to stop and switch gears a lot. In between sessions with the project I chose 3 tubes of beads that I showed you pictures of the other day that I wanted to work with. I made a simple little choker (14 1/2") of a pretty little flower chain with blue and peach flowers and green stems. I think it turned out super cute. My daughter was wearing her P.E. t-shirt, which just wouldn't do for photos, so I recruited her friend, Taylor, to be my model. Sami laughed at her. lol. I'm not showing her face, though, because she's not my kid and I wouldn't feel right about posting her. Pretty as she is and as good a model as she was, I'm going to err on the side of caution.

I've had a very horrible couple of days and it feels like the weight of the world crushing down on me. I am not it well at all. My therapist has been out on medical leave since December, and my only therapeutic outlet has been my beading. This simple little flower chain I worked on helped to lighten my thoughts. Maybe I should do 3 or 4! lol Actually, maybe I should. It would look great in so many color variations, from dark with sparkles to bright and happy or delicate and sweet, it does have a lot of possibilities within its simplicity. Ok, here it is...

Do you like my little chain?

Beady Gift for my Mother in Law

2011-05-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

My mil has always been a really big supporter and encourager of my bead work. I've been beading for quite a few years now, and I never made her anything. The other day I showed her the black and silver Oglala necklace and she completely looooooooooooved it (click here if you want to go back and check it out). I should have known she would...she adores ruffles! If it's got ruffles, she's a-likin' it. Now, she has really liked a lot of my other work in the past, but none of them totally clicked in my head as thinking she would wear it. But as soon as she saw the Oglala, it just hit me that this is what I needed to make for her...I wanted to make for her.

I told her I wanted to make her one, and we discussed color and length. She likes bright colors, with teal being her favorite, and she likes her necklaces to hang longer. We decided it needed to be at least 30 inches. I went bead shopping yesterday at a little shop not too far from my house. For the core I chose a 6/0 in a metallic iris finish. Depending on the light they change from purple to green to gold. I chose in 11/0 a transparent lined teal, a matte purple (really pretty shade...it's hard to find gorgeous purples), a cranberry tinted goldish metallic and I had on hand some cranberry colored beads.

The color that is used the most and goes throughout the necklace is the teal. I used almost the whole tube of those. The next color was cranberry/rose-ish gold to give it some sparkle (my new favorite word this week) and kick. The large ruffle down the middle/front is the purple and there is just a wee hint of the cranberries. I so wish the camera picked up the colors better. They are really really pretty.

I originally told her it would take a while to finish, being that it is so long and that I was in the middle of another project. But I was a little bored of the project on my table, so I switched over to hers. I started yesterday afternoon, worked for quite a few hours, went to bed, woke up at 4:30 a.m. and worked quite a few more hours. I went back to bed and worked on it throughout the rest of the day. Between yesterday afternoon and this evening when I finished it I guess I have about 11 hours into it. Not bad...I've been told I'm a fast beader.

So I called her up and told her I finished it and I wanted to bring it over to give to her. I had such butterflies and knots in my stomach. I soooo wanted her to like it. I told her she had to be honest with me about it. I showed it to her and she said she did like it a lot. (whew!) She said it was a good choice I made to put that rosy metallic in there, otherwise the colors might have been too flat. (whew, again!) She went to her room and pulled out a top that she's going to wear with it. It is almost the exact same shade of purple as the beads in the necklace! It looks like it was meant to be together from the very beginning. If I had actually planned it to go with that top I don't know that I could have done as well. (whew, again!!!)

Here are some pics. Maybe I'll get a pic or two of her wearing it sometime to put up to show. It kind of looks like a little knot or tie in the back. Since it's large enough to slip over the head and didn't need a clasp, I wanted to make it a little more interesting than just a circle. The two ends curled in a bit, so with the string at each end I backed up about an inch, tied the string in four knots, glued the knot, weaved the threads back through the beads and back out again, tied it in four knots and glued it again, then tucked in the threads and snipped them. Hoping it will hold well enough! But I thought that little tie thing in the back would add a little more interest than just tying the very ends together. What do you think?

You can always click on the pics for a larger view.

Etsy Sale!

2011-05-21T14:58:00.002-07:00

Today until tomorrow morning, Sunday 5/22, I am offering a 15% Discount on all items in my shop! Have you seen my shop lately? Why don't you go ahead and take a peek? Is there something you've been wanting? Today is a great time to take advantage of a great sale! Use coupon code SNS05212011. Thank you for visiting!

On My Table

2011-05-20T06:30:00.000-07:00

I don't have any finished pieces to show you today, but I can give you a hint as to what I'm working on. No, lol, I'm not working on all of this! I'd lose my mind if I had that much on my table. Would be fun to sit and go through to get some wheels spinning though. I've definitely got some much simpler things going on.

First, I'm working on a necklace? bracelet? Oh, I don't know, in these colors...

They do look kind of boring sit side by each like this, but hopefully they will look pretty once they are all finished getting beaded up.

Then, I've also got something started (I also don't know what the finished piece will be for this one yet) in some colors I found in a bag I haven't used in a while. They're not my typical colors, but I found them so I decided to see what I could do with them...

I hope it looks ok when I'm all done with it. The first thing I tried with these colors was the horrible mess of ugliness I mentioned the other day that I ripped out. The second project is going better.

Finally, I also found these tubes of beads that I haven't started working with yet, but I really like them and I'm trying to figure out what to do with them. I probably won't put all of these in one project...that may be too much. But I'm really liking the colors. Something different for me, but I'm really loving that blue and that green.

I have started to become very good friends with someone I inherited from my mil, Beth A. She's very creative herself and does work with scrapbooking and card making. I'm going to take some of her classes. Next to my son Matthew, Beth says she's my biggest fan. :) She's been a great promoter for me, and I am really happy to have her as a friend. I told her about my new bead classes here in Scottsdale / Phoenix that will be coming up, and she has been helping me spread the word. Turns out that I may have 3 or 4 students already! So my first class will be scheduled for June 11. I'm really looking forward to it! Thank you Beth!

And, what kind of mother would I be if I didn't show off my kids? Here is a very short video (just over a minute) of highlights from the game on Monday. Come on, you can spare a minute to watch some great kids play ball, can't you?

Hope your day is a happy one!

All in the Family (and some beady things too!)

2011-05-18T00:48:00.002-07:00

What is more wholesome and family-oriented than little league baseball on a spring evening with families all around rooting on the kids playing the all American game? Nothing in my book. It's about as good as it gets. Just some highlights from Monday's game. Matthew pitched a great game, as usual. He doesn't have the strongest arm and fastest pitch yet, but he is very accurate and gets them swinging and missing. Sara plays 2nd base and when Matthew isn't pitching he plays Short Stop. So the batter hits the ball - a pop fly - and Sara catches it for an out! Then she is quick enough to realize the kid on 2nd ran on the pop fly so she turned and threw it to Matthew who ran over to cover the bag. He caught it and made the out at 2nd for a double play by the Criswell kids! woohoo!

As the game was winding down, the other team had the last at bat. We were already ahead by 6 or 7 runs, so there was no way we could lose the game. In our league at this level you can't score more than 5 runs in an inning to prevent anyone from getting completely crushed and dominated. So even if the other team scored all 5 of their runs, we'd still win. So Jeff, my DH and the kids' coach, decided to have some fun out there. He switched everyone's positions and told them where they were going to play. All but Sara. She asked where she was going. He said, "You're pitching!" She had a serious heart attack and you could hear her panicked scream, "Noooooo!" in the bleachers. He whispered to her, put one hand on her shoulders and one hand on her chest (which he said later her heart was racing like crazy) and gave her his vote of confidence in his calming daddy way. So she went up to the mound and gave her first warm up pitch. (Mind you, she's never ever pitched before.) It went straight down the pike!!!! Let me tell you, once those kids got up there to bat she really held her own. I think we have another pitcher in the family. With some practice I think next year she's going to be pitching and striking a whole lot of boys out. We were so proud! So much fun, let me tell you.

We also got their baseball photos on Monday. Here is Sara (9) and Matthew (11)...

And this next photo is pretty special. It has 3 generations of Criswell's participating in Little League. Jeff is the head coach, my fil is an assistant coach, and our two kids...grandpa, daddy and little ones. How neat is that?!?

I'm so proud of my family, and I love them all so very much!

On to beady things to give you an update. I worked on a new necklace for two days, thought it was a horribly ugly monstrosity and ripped it apart and resorted the beads today. Started working on another new stitch, once again inspired by Mandy over at Beads for Brains: 365. Maybe will have something new to show in a few days.

Also, I am going to formally start promoting myself as a teacher and work on getting together some small groups to teach stitches and techniques to in my home maybe once a month. Won't that be fun?! If you live in the Phoenix Metro area and want to take some very affordable classes and make your own beautiful custom jewelry, please contact me. If you haven't beaded before, don't be afraid...I'll make it very understandable and enjoyable! For those of you who have done some beading, maybe you'll learn a new thing or two and have some good company for a girl's afternoon. If you know people who live in my area, please pass along the word. I will provide a kit in their color choice to include beads, clasp, etc., a set of written instructions to take home and a link to a private youtube video showing how to finish off the clasp if they don't get to that point by the end of class. All that for a mere $25!!!! A screaming deal!!!!! So please help me out and spread the word. I would really appreciate some help in the blog world network...remember...sunny Phoenix! (Actually I'm in Scottsdale, but easy access from anywhere in the Valley.)

I hope everyone is having a very happy week! Getting kind of bored and lonely all day here by myself...drop me a line!

Inspiration

2011-05-16T04:54:00.000-07:00

I like to put a little clip art picture to start off my blog that is related to my post. I Google the topic I'm looking for then click on "images". Sometimes the pics are right on and I have a hard time choosing. But if you Google "inspiration" and click "images", you get some pretty weird things. So I finally found this artist sitting with what looks to me like muses watching over, and I thought it was perfect. This week my muse is named Mandy. Do you all know Mandy from over at Beads for Brains: 365? She is very committed to her goal, let me tell you. You'll have to go to her blog and check her out. She's learning and practicing a new stitch every day for a year! And I thought my goal of one stitch per month for the year was pretty good. She does some pretty interesting things. One day last week (can't remember which) she did the Oglala stitch. I really loved the look of it so I created a necklace using the tutorial she gave a link for then making my own variation and pattern based on that.

My mil thinks it's my best one yet. I think she's a little biased because she likes ruffles sooooo much! I'm going to make her one too, but that will come sometime later...have to go buy more beads. Darn. I don't have a name for it. Some people don't care to name their things, and that's ok too, but I feel like my creations should be named just like other things you love...kids, fur babies, dollies, whatever. So help me come up with a name for this. I used 6/0 black seed beads for the core then 11/0's in silver, black and some kind of maybe antique silver? Don't know what it's called because the store where I buy them just puts numbers on the labels. No color names...see? Things should have names. Makes it easier to identify. That's the way I roll anyways. Ok, here it is.

What do you think?

Remember on Saturday when I posted what a great day I had? Well, I did have a perfect day except I have to tell you about Matthew. He was not feeling well all day. He has asthma (which is hard for a kid who loves to play sports) and he was really struggling to breathe all day long. During the day I gave him a breathing treatment. Didn't get any better. Then I had him use his rescue inhaler several times...Didn't get any better. (He has two inhalers. One is a rescue inhaler when you're having a bad attack and need quick relief. Then there's the regular inhaler that is a slower acting and not as strong I guess.) I had him using the rescue inhaler over the regular inhaler. But throughout the day I was really worried about him. Being a weekend, and by this time it was night time, the pediatrician isn't in and the urgent care clinics are closed. Jeff doesn't like anyone going to the doctor unless there is a limb missing. I told him enough times how worried I was and I guess he got worried too because he ended up taking Matthew to the emergency room Saturday night.

His breathing was so poor that he didn't have to wait for anyone in the E.R. They rushed him right in to see a doctor. That's how you know it was bad. When they rush you through instead of making you wait for 2 1/2 hours just to get into a little curtained room. They gave him 2 breathing treatments. The doctor said that the breathing treatment medicine vials we were using were past their shelf life and ineffective. I didn't know they had a shelf life! No wonder it didn't help him. Then on top of that he said the rescue inhaler was empty!!! (it made the little swoosh sound and stuff so I thought it was fine.) omg, I felt so bad. It was all my fault. But I had no idea the rescue inhaler I had been giving him was out! Good news is about an hour and a half later he came home, breathing much better and feeling hungry.

The other scary part is that we took him to the emergency room without any insurance. Since Jeff had been off work for 5 months, our insurance ran out. The bill is going to be terrible, I know. But I think I'm going to try to get Jeff to call the billing department and ask them if they can cut any slack on any of the fees. I've heard of people doing that and that it can work. Keeping fingers crossed. Our insurance will kick back in next month, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that no one else gets sick or hurt.

Ok, gang. That's all the news I have for today. I'm working on another necklace like this one in some different colors, then I'm going to make one for my mil in some bright colors and a little longer. That's what's on my plate. Oh! and my 3 orders from Artbeads.com finally shipped on Friday (after FIVE days of waiting to be picked in the warehouse). Maybe that will come tomorrow too. I love getting packages in the mail!!!

Beading Day With The Girls

2011-05-14T18:14:00.000-07:00

Today was a very fun day! I had two ladies come over, Beth and Eve, to learn how to do some beading. We started with this pattern of mine in square stitch. Neither were used to working with such tiny beads as delicas, so it was a challenge to pick up and work with those little buggers.

We were going right along learning how to do this, and Eve made a mistake. The pattern is set up for loom, so it reads left to right on all the rows. Well, for square stitch you have to go left to right, flip over the work for the next row and then go right to left. She forgot to read the 2nd row backwards, so we were going to have to take out the work. The beads weren't agreeing with us and they weren't coming out, the thread was fraying, etc. So we ended up just starting over. I said, ok I'll get you back to where you were quickly. I started beading away, got to the 2nd row to about where she was and gave it back to her. She then gets to only room for 2 beads left, but the chart says there should be 6 more beads. WHAT???!!! uh oh. What went wrong? I checked all the beads in the 2nd row and they were all correct. Guess what! I messed up from trying to go too quickly and skipped 4 beads in the first row! I was so upset that I messed her up! I felt so bad. I said, "ok, what I just did....don't do that!" Started it over again. In the entire time the girls were here poor Eve only got through the 2nd row, and there's only 17 beads in one row. I felt terrible having messed her up.

We had a very fun time together, though, and I'm so glad they came over and had a bead day with me. We're going to get together again when it's time to learn how to do the clasps. The first two rows are the hardest because there's not much to hold on to. Once Beth got to her 3rd row she agreed at how much easier it was.

Here are some pics of Beth and Eve. (Oh, btw. You've all heard me rave about Beth and her cabs. Don't be confused. That's Beth E. This is Beth A.) And...Beth was such a sweetheart. She brought me a little goody gift...a Symphony chocolate bar with almonds and toffee bits! OOOOOOH YUM!!!!! Guess what I'll be snacking on tonight!!!

Beth holding up her first two little rows. lol

Eve's first couple rows...I don't know if this was the 1st, 2nd or 3rd time we did it. lol

I don't have many friends...I'm pretty anti-social. So it was fun to interact with live humans for a change (not that I don't love and appreciate all of you...it's just different). And my hubby was so cute. I laid down for a nap before they came and when I got up he had gone shopping for our little get-together. He got several kinds of soda and some Chex Mix to munch on. Wasn't that thoughtful of him? He's so cute.

Rings

2011-05-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, maybe not these kinds of rings, but as I was looking for ring clip art all I saw was engagement and wedding rings. Then I saw this pic and thought I'd try to grab your attention with something a little more colorful and fun. Do you remember these rings? I had them when I was a baby, and all my kids had them too. They've been around forever. Anyhoo! No, this post isn't about baby toys.

I've been working on a necklace/bracelet set in a new stitch I learned (not the one in this post though). Last night I was up late...again...and wanted to get a little bead diversion. I didn't want to get everything out for the necklace, and honestly I needed a little break from it. So I hopped on over to Auntie's Beads and started looking through their videos. They've got the best videos out there! I have spent many hours watching Karla demonstrate new techniques for me. I found a video for a little ring using the ladder stitch.

I know most of you out there probably already know the ladder stitch, but for me it was something new. Karla's instructions were so easy and clear that I decided to give it a try. I actually found some 4mm faceted beads in my stash that I had enough of, AND they're black, which my daughter loves. Decided I'd make a ring for her. I edged it in sparkly crystal seed beads. I didn't know her ring size so I guesstimated. Wouldn't you know it? I decided to take out a row of beads, and when I gave it to her it was too small! I'll bet if I had left that last rung on the ladder it would have fit. Damn. Oh, well. I still learned something new, had a nice little diversion and it will find the perfect home someday.

But I still wanted to bead a little more, so I decided to try to make a ring for Sara too. I didn't have anymore 4mm beads, but I thought what about bugles? I found the perfect 3mm bugles in cobalt blue. Sara will be making something new this weekend and she picked blue, so this ring might just look perfect with it. In the pic it looks pretty lumpy bumpy, but once you have it on it all straightens out.

Hope everyone has a mahvelous day!

May Bead Journal Project

2011-05-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have been watching my BJP entries for 2011, you know that I am learning 1 new stitch a month and making a necklace/bracelet set to learn and master some new skills. The stitch I learned this past month is the spiral rope stitch. I used 2 different colors of size 8's (green and blue) and alternated them in the core. To spiral around I used 6 different colors of 11's and 2 colors of 10's (purples, blues, a green and a pink). I picked them up randomly. That's to reflect how I've been feeling lately. Things are randomly organized if that makes sense to you. I also used little bits of things I had only a few of to swirl around the spiral. That's the little bit of chaos thrown into my life. lol.

This rope took a lot of time and dedication. The bracelet is 7.5" and the rope is 35". I was soooo over the spiral stitch by the time I was half way through it, lol and I had to really make myself continue. But I do like the look of the spiral stitch, and I'm positive I will use it again in the future. Maybe not on such a long rope, though. It is long enough to wear both as a long necklace or doubled as a short necklace. This piece to me has a little bit of quirky charm. There are different sizes, shapes and colors of flowers, discs, iris beads, glass rounds, some puffy pillow types, a cube, some pretty magatamas and all the while consistently placed gold metal discs in between. So on every angle of the rope there is something colorful and fun to look at. And with all these colors, it will go with anything! :)

Here is the set I call "Baubles & Bits".

As usual, if you want a closer look just click on the pics. I've got ideas floating around in my head for June's BJP, and I'm thinking I would really like to incorporate some of the cabs and beads I have been making with the polymer clay. Lots of fun!

To all my mommy readers, whether to people babies or fur babies...Happy Mother's Day!

What a Fantabulous Day!!!

2011-05-06T22:53:00.001-07:00

I had a really great day today. Jeff got up early this morning to go down to the union hall to try to get one of the seven jobs going out today. He was #106 on the list. The way it works is that you have to show up to get one of the jobs. So he needed 99 people in front of him to not show up. Miracle of miracles...HE GOT ONE OF THE JOBS!!!!! He starts on Monday. We'll find out then what type of project it is and how long the job will last, but I am ever so grateful for each and every day he is employed. This is also his first job in his new role as a Journeyman Electrician. He had been going to school and getting training for 4 or so years and was an apprentice. This past winter he passed his final exam and collected all his required hours, so now he's a Journeyman. This is a very good thing. Now he'll be supervising and training apprentices himself and could get on as a foreman or something if they like his work. And Jeff always impresses his bosses...he does impeccable work, he shows up on time, he's never drunk or on drugs (a big problem in the construction world), etc. etc. He's VERY good at what he does. I'm so proud of him. *beaming smile :D*

Next, today is my 17th wedding anniversary! Jeff and I went through two years of total, complete and pure hell and were one month away from our divorce date when we got back together again. Ever since getting back together, we have been happier than ever and stronger than ever. During our time apart we both learned and grew a lot, and now we are better for each other than we ever were before. I love my husband. He is the most perfect man in the world to me, and I am one lucky lady to have him as my husband and father of my children.

Then, I got a package in the mail today. Do you know Mandy over at Beads for Brains: 365? You should go check her out. She is determined to learn, practice and blog about a new stitch every day for a year. Pretty amazing. She had a giveaway, and I was the winner! This was a fun project because it was a trash to treasure piece. The bright blue you see being woven throughout the bracelet is plastic bags. Here are a couple pics...

Thank you Mandy!

AND on top of all that...I sold TWO items in the last day! I sold a Swarovski square button wire wrapped ring...

and my Greenman in Springtime necklace!

Do you know what that means? BEAD SHOPPING!!!!! woohoo!!! Thank you so much, Beth A. I've got a deal with Beth that she will wear my pieces when she goes out and about, because she is out A LOT and knows so many more people than I do, so hopefully she'll enjoy wearing some of my work and I might get a customer or two in the process. But she decided she wanted the Greenman for keeps. So now it has a happy new home. Matthew is sad. That was his favorite.

Also had fun at the baseball game tonight. The kids played the Yankees, which is the team that is stacked with all the really good players. Our team put up quite a fight and made a great ball game. When it was all said and done we were only down by 1 run. Way to go Bulls! We play the Yankees 2 more times this year...they better watch out next time!!!

Yes, it was a very good day. I can go to sleep with a happy smile on my face.

Baseball

2011-05-05T19:52:00.000-07:00

I have 4" of rope left to go, so I have nothing beady to show you today. But I wanted to show off my kids at their baseball game this past Monday night. Sara came up to the plate, and got straight down to business...she doesn't mess around! Jeff has her first in the lineup because over all the boys on the team she's the most consistent hitter. So, here's Sara!

And Matthew pitched a fabulous game!!! He pitched 4 innings, 8 strike outs and only allowed 1 run. Way to go Matthew! I just put a sampling of his pitching and strikes on this video...but in the first few seconds you'll see Sara playing 2nd base backing up her big brother.

New Beads

2011-05-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

I kept my word to myself this time. I didn't start playing with clay until I finished nearly 4" on my rope. I've only got about 12 or so more inches to go! Yea! But as soon as I put the rope away, out came the clay. My daughter Sara spent the night at my mil's house last night so it was just me and Matthew hanging out in the kitchen. He was playing X-Box (as usual) and I was getting ready to play with clay. I asked him if he wanted to help me, and he jumped right up ready to go. He's always game!

I got this idea from Marie over at Art From My Heart. Man, is she awesome! She sent me a link to a cane that was made by stacking extruded squares on top of each other to form a pattern. I pulled up my Bead Creator Pro program and decided to play around with making patterns. Here are the steps Matthew and I took to make some new beads...

First, we decided on three colors: white, red and light blue. I wanted to bring light, medium and dark tones to hopefully give some contrast in the finished cane. I think it's really hard to extrude clay. We worked and worked and worked the clay both with the noodle bender (that's what my dh calls the pasta machine) and with our hands. The blue was exceptionally hard to work with. Maybe it was a stale block or something. We put that clay through the bender at least 20 times, snaked it, mashed it. We put it in the Stim Pak (that's what Matthew calls the extruder. A Stim Pak is a thing that you use to heal yourself in the X-Box game Fallout...lol...always about the video games with him.) Anyways we put the blue in the Stim Pak at least 3 times, couldn't get it to budge and started the conditioning process again and again. And that was with us putting it with the plunger side on the table, my hands around the barrel pushing down and Matthew's hands on top of mine pushing down. It would. not. go. My hands were hurting! I had him laughing so hard because I put the clay in his armpit to try to get it warm. It was kinda funny. I did finally manage to get it through, but I actually worked up a sweat working that Stim Pak!!!

Once we got all the clay extruded and cut to (sort of) even lengths, we started stacking. Here's what it looked like to start off with:

I put it in the fridge for a while and then took it out to stretch and pull. I took it in my bedroom, layed in bed, watched t.v. and stretched the cane in the dark. It was easy to do with it being square. After I stretched it, I cut it into 4 even pieces and stacked it again...

Ok, so maybe my squares didn't stay exactly square, but I thought it would add "character" to the cane. lol Do you buy that? I let it rest for a few minutes and stretched it out again. Then I cut 4 more pieces and stacked again...

If you look at the stripes on the outside I do think I did a pretty good job keeping it straight. And you can see how intricate the inside is getting. One more time of stretching and pulling and this is what I got...

As interesting as the inside is, I liked the outside even more. I let it rest for the night, but as I was laying in bed I had images swirling through my head on just how I was going to use this cane. I really like it. I think Matthew and I did a good job! This morning I cut the cane into beads. I poked holes in them, some of them length-wise and some of them sideways. I'm going to alternate the beads going across and then up/down for a necklace with some rounds in matching colors in between. Here are the final beads...

I made 18 of them...10 going long ways and 8 going up/down. I goofed on one and made it a little shorter than the others, and one I started to drop and as I caught it I mushed the end a little. I'll just put those in the back. :) Do you like our striped beads?

Also, I posted this pretty quick after my last post, so if you didn't see my leaf headpins I made scroll down to see those.

I Lied

2011-04-30T19:48:00.000-07:00

I didn't get back to my beading project like I said I was going to do. I couldn't stay away from the clay last night and this morning. I didn't do anything earth shattering, but I had lots of fun. I played around with Sculpey Bake n Bond, some shell pieces, wire, two colors of clay and 2 colors of Pearl Ex pigment powders. I also messed around with some alcohol inks, but wasn't successful with it. I am making a brooch. I have the main part of the clay done, but I need to embellish it somehow so I'm not going to show you that yet. What I am going to show you today are the 13 leaf headpins I made. I took 3 parts of a green green color with 1 part chocolate and got a more subdued green. I shaped them into leaves, put a little dab of Bake n Bond on the end of a piece of wire and stuck it in the clay. Then I brushed a green Pearl Ex powder all over, but it was pretty bright. So I brought it down a few notches by going over it with copper powder. After baking I coated it in some kind of gloss I got on clearance. I'd tell you what it is, but it's all put away now and I just don't want to dig it out again. I almost had a heart attack when I tipped over my little jar of green powder and half of it came spilling out! Luckily I got most of it back in, and I used what was on the table to cover the leaves with. Only a little ended up being wasted, thankfully! That stuff is pricey! So here's my experiment for the weekend...Leaf Headpins on 22 gauge non-tarnish copper wire. The leaves are not all the same but they roughly measure 15x8mm on the big end to 10x5mm on the small side.

I need to find some, what's it called? Gum Arabic? to make paint with my powders. And I need to get a better paint brush. Anyone know where to get that stuff? I'm wondering if I can get it at JoAnn's or Michael's or if I have to go to a good art supply store. Or maybe I can find it somewhere online.

My exciting news (for me) is that this month I sold over $60 in patterns on The Bead Coop! Woohoo for me! Can't wait to get the deposit in my paypal account...more shopping is in my future! :)

Who Doesn't Like A Sale???

2011-04-30T15:22:00.000-07:00

The Saturday Night Specials team on Etsy is in full swing for tonight until 6 a.m. tomorrow morning (May 1st). Click here to see ALL the shops' different specials and wide variety of unique finds. Click here to see my shop...get 20% off everything in my store!!! (Coupon code sns04302011).

Happy browsing!!!

Teaching!

2011-04-29T17:40:00.000-07:00

Lucky me! I've got two ladies who want me to teach them some things about beading. I'm always glad to have new beady friends. They got some of my patterns from The Bead Coop and we are going to start with square stitch on a bracelet. Then when they are comfortable working with the beads and charts we are going to move on to the loom for more complex tapestries. I'm really very excited. They have to order the beads first, so that may take a week or so. Then we have to coordinate schedules, and that may be a little tricky. I'm hoping that Jeff is working by then which means my afternoons would be more tied up and we'd be stuck with either evenings or weekends. But it will work out. If anyone else out there reading my blog lives in the Phoenix area and wants to get together for a bead day with some new friends, give me a holla. If they let me I will take pics and show our day. Fun fun fun!!!

In the meantime, I don't really have any pics to show today because I am trying to finish up a project I started about a month ago. It has sat unfinished for quite a while and I don't like leaving unfinished things around. So I'm going to finish that before I move on to my brandy new handmade cabs. I made a little headway today...got about 3 inches done on my rope, which I'm aiming for 34". I'm almost half way! Hope I don't run out of beads before the end. I'm using leftovers of things, so it might get nip and tuck there at the end.

Ok, kids. That's all I got today. My in-laws are coming over for cake and ice cream tonight at about 7 (it was my mil's bday yesterday). Made a super delicious black forest cake! Can't wait to dig into that!!!!! But first, it's what my husband calls Jimmy's Casserole. (Frozen burritos layed out in a baking pan, covered with cheese with green salsa poured on top and baked for about 45 minutes.) It's a quick and easy night. But still surprisingly tasty nonetheless. It's best with my amazingly awesome homemade guacamole, but avocados are still a bit pricey. So it's just topped with sour cream for tonight. I've rambled on quite long enough for one day. Have a very happy weekend everyone!!!

Up All Night

2011-04-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

Had an anxiety attack, and when that happens it takes my body a VERY long time to get back to normal. Therefore, I didn't sleep a wink. But you know what that meant? An all night clay-fest!!!

I got some molds in the mail, but I wasn't altogether happy with them. It was partly my fault. I didn't look at my measuring tape to see exactly how big they were going to be. I wanted BIG. Sadly, 25mm isn't really all that big. And one mold was so tiny I know I'll never use it. But also, one that was big has a floral pattern in it and the pattern is very shallow so it doesn't give the best impression. Bummer! I decided to make my own molds. I dug and searched and hunted for any cabs I had and larger beads with an interesting shape, got out my mud clay and made me some molds. I don't know why I didn't think of that before I spent the $27, but it was because I didn't know to make a mold from the clay itself. 'doh!

I played around with some colors, some translucent, some mud, some glitter and some powder pigment. How can you go wrong with all that??? Making cabs, I discovered, will take some time to learn the nuances of; but I think I came up with some interesting things. After baking some I sanded and buffed and some I didn't. I coated them all in Diamond Glaze. The only problem with that is that it left some eeny weeny bubbles. Bummer again! Could be my cheap paint brush too though. Ok. Here's what I made in my all night party of moi...

These were made from my mud from my canes the other day.

This I used some kind of brownish color, gold and a hint of red.

This was made with slivers of my cane from the other day covering a base of clay.

For these I used translucent and raspberry and glitter and threw them in an ice bath after baking.

These were interesting. I used a translucent light blue, a royal blue and some blue pigment powder. When I mixed them there were large streaks throughout. After baking it looked solid blue. But after sanding and buffing, some little details came through that I think are kind of cool. Love the color!!!

This was made with a lot of translucent white and a little blue. I threw it in an ice bath after baking.

There you have it! My party for the night. I am pretty happy with what I created, and my mind is already working out what I'm going to make with these babies. I'm thinking the pink ones will be first up! Oh, I forgot to say...don't pay any attention to the edges. I didn't quite get the hang of nice clean edges, but it won't really matter anyhow because they'll be covered up with beads.

BASEBALL HIGHLIGHT!

Watch Matthew's great at-bat from last night's game. We won, btw, 13-3. Go Bulls!

Playing with clay

2011-04-26T06:51:00.000-07:00

Don't laugh!!! I'm a beginner! I've got so much to learn, and this is going to be a real process. I have been searching as much as I can on the internet on making polymer clay beads as well as checked out a couple books from the local library. I've been working on some very basic things, and the ONLY reason I'm showing you these things...not because I'm so proud of them...but because I'm hoping for some guidance (maybe Marie? :)

The first thing I did was a simple jellyroll. Matthew helped me late one night over the weekend. We had fun together! We picked red and yellow...good high contrasting colors. My first lesson was all about translucents. lol. The yellow didn't look so yellow after being baked. Ok, so I think we did all right on the jellyroll...except that I can't cut them right. I watched videos and read and watched more videos and read some more. I learned that the clay has to rest in between steps or it will become distorted. Check. I'm not usually a patient person, so this will be a real test for me, but I did let the clay rest, and even refrigerated, between steps. But the clay just seemed to get so warm and soft so fast. When I would go to cut the slices they wouldn't stay round. I even rolled the cane a little as I sliced downward like I'd seen the pros do. But mine still came out all wonky.

Next I decided to try a simple flower looking cane. I chose a gold, bright blue, black and a hint of white (which was such a "hint" that it altogether disappeared later in the process). I got the cane all cut, let it chill, stretched it out, let it chill, and then went to cut it. Same problem...lopsided slices. grrrr. AND by looking at the petals I realized I was twisting as I was stretching because the circles became distorted. Even so, I was ok with my first attempt at a flower cane.

Decided to go a step further and make that cane into another cane. cut the pieces, stacked them, wrapped, let it chill in the fridge overnight. The next day I stretched and pulled. I did a much better job of keeping the cane straighter as I stretched this time. BUT I still can't cut a slice to save my life. When I did the slices some were thicker than others. On the really bad ones I was going to put the clay in the "mud" bag, but decided to see what it would look like if I made the garbage into beads. Kind of a nice affect. Lesson learned...nothing is garbage. Try different things and you just might get something interesting.

This is the "mud swirl" made from garbage

This is a side-by-side progression of my canes

After I let the slices and beads chill again, I tried making the bead holes through them. They became even more distorted. *whimper, sniffle* Still I carried on. Next was sanding. That didn't last long. How in the world do you sand something so small??? I couldn't even hold onto them, let alone sand them. I ended up putting the sandpaper on the table and holding it with one hand while rubbing the tops and bottoms with the other hand. I wonder how long one has to sand in order to get that glassy finish I've seen the pros do?

Oh...I forgot. I also did some wrapped beads by layering four colors of circles into the extruder, pushing out long snakes, wrapping a core bead made from mud (again, using the garbage), baked them and then started sanding down through the layers of colors. Looked really cool on the video, but it seems the only color I could get to show through was the orange. There was also yellow and green in there. Still a fun bead to make, and I'll probably play with this one a little more in the future.

So that was my adventure in an intro to polymer clay over the weekend. No masterpieces yet. lol. No...that will take quite some time, I'm sure. But I'll keep you posted on my progress. And anyone who wants to chime in with any tips, I'm ready for it!!! Oh! I've got some molds on order that I'm hoping come any day now in the mail. Got about 5 different cab molds. It will be fun to swirl colors and powders and glitter together to see what happens! Will post more on that later.

Bead happy.

Vintage Inspired

2011-04-24T13:17:00.001-07:00

In addition to my clay hoard I just got, I am also working on my May Bead Journal Project piece. I've got quite a ways to go on it yet, but I've been switching gears between 3 different things so it's getting worked on a little at a time.

The third project I have been working on is a themed piece. Artbeads.com gave the assignment, and let me tell you...it was a challenge!!! The theme is "What's Old is New Again." In other words, take something vintage (or vintage inspired) and recreate it into a new, modern piece. Have you ever seen me work in vintage, steampunk or anything like that? No. Why? It's not my thing and I haven't a clue how to go about it. Now I had to do something I just wasn't comfortable with. Talk about stretching the creative muscles! I think I have a sprain.

Let me start by showing you the things I got. I started with 6 different antique brass chains in 1 foot pieces.

I had the idea of taking a bunch of old chains and reconstructing them into one new piece. I really like the look of the antique brass. It has a very nice finish, and all the chains are a very high quality. They will not easily break or come apart!

I got two filigree links, also in antique brass. They are so pretty! I also got antique brass jump rings, and I had no idea they were such a thick gauge and so strong. I was a little panicked at first because my idea was to put crystals on the jump rings and attach them to the chains. But these jump rings were so thick there was no way on God's green earth that those crystals would fit on that wire. I ordered 2mm Swarovski crystals in Dark Indigo. Holy crow are they TINY!!! I also got 5mm bicones in Mocca and 5mm round Swarovski pearls in Night Blue. (Soooo pretty!!! I couldn't capture the colors very well in the photos. Sorry.)

But none of them would fit on those jump rings! Uh oh! What to do now???!!! I had to make an emergency purchase at one of my local bead stores and pick up some alternate supplies. I took the beads with me and I had to try the wires to see what gauge would fit through the beads. For the 2mm, I had to go with a 24 gauge...not very sturdy. :( For the other beads I could get by with a 20 gauge, which wasn't bad. I then invested in a set of simple jump ring makers.

What a good buy!!! I am now a pro at making jump rings, and I will never buy another jump ring ever. Since the jump rings I got were too big for what I had originally intended, and I didn't want to not use them I decided to make a 7th chain from them.

For the pearls I made a simple head pin by making a bend in the bottom of the wire and pinching it completely up to make a little stop. For the bicones I made a head pin with a spiral bottom and they both just had simple loops at the top. For the tiny crystals I just made little jumprings and put them on.

I needed to also attach the chains together and to the filigrees, but I also had a problem with the jump ring sizes on those too because the holes were pretty small. But I did manage. Also, my snips are not a very good quality, so they didn't make nice, smooth cuts for the jump rings. This made the edges where they close together not very tight. To help prevent any from coming off, a lot of the time I doubled up the jump rings. I figure one might come loose, but maybe not both. In the end two of the chains did not make the cut. I used 4 chains I ordered plus the one I made with the jump rings. This is what I came up with. I call it...

Links In Time


You can click for a larger view

With this project I have become a master jump ring maker, and I had more than my share of opening and closing the rings! I've also become pretty proficient at simple loops and making those little spirals. All in all, I'm pretty happy with what I came up with considering this is not my usual style. The necklace is 17 3/4" and drops down from the top chain to the bottom the pearl dangles about 6".

Artbeads.com rocks. I must have said it a gazillion times. If you haven't yet visited them, you really need to because they have the supplies to make almost anything you want.

I hope everyone is having a nice Easter weekend!

FTC disclaimer: Artbeads.com provided me with supplies at no charge. I am not being compensated in any way for my true and honest opinions of their products.

The Day After

2011-04-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

Wow! I had an amazing day yesterday!!! It all started with all of you who sent me such thoughtful birthday wishes. Thank you all!!! In reading the comments, I was so pleasantly surprised to find that so many of you agree with me that inexpensive beads are NOT a bad thing. I have read some blogs where they really bash those types of beads. Not my friends! Nope...we're all on the same page!!! :)

I'm going to give you a run down of my day and show you some pics of my haul. First, after dh dropped the kiddos off at school he brought me breakfast in bed...a sausage egg mcmuffin with cheese. i just love those things. We started out at mid-morning and drove across town to Hobby Lobby. Remember how excited I was about going there? It turned out to be a big disappointment. First off, their weekly coupon was for 50% off...sharpie markers. That's it??? That's the coupon of the week??? AND they DON'T take competitors' coupons. I have a hard time paying full price for anything when I don't have to. I specifically went to Hobby Lobby, though, because they had the pasta machine I wanted. I read reviews of lots of different ones, and this one seemed to have the best feedback. Therefore, I ended up paying the full $24.99 for it. Ouch. That kills me. I got 2 little packages of basic cutters in squares and circles and an extruder. Other than that, they didn't get my money. Very little to choose from. And the bead section? Disappointing. Michael's and JoAnn's are much better.

On the way home we went to JoAnn's. I went crazy in there!!! Just look here at everything I got!

Ok, maybe it doesn't seem so impressive when I lay everything out, but I felt like I hit the jackpot of goodies. I'm so dumb, though! I got to the register and realized I brought the WRONG Michael's coupon and I could only use the one JoAnn's coupon. Bummer! I still saved over $25 with that one coupon!!!

By the time I got home I was exhausted. I have a terrible time getting good, solid sleep, so I always sleep during the day for a while. My usual sleep time was past due, and I was ready to hit the pillow. After a good, long nap I woke up to do more shopping...online. I went to Mad About Molds and bought about 6 different molds for my clays to make different sizes and shapes of cabochons. That was fun!

THEN we went out to dinner. I just realized as I started typing this post that I should have taken pics of our outing...dummy me! We went to Souper Salad for a buffet dinner. Was it ever good! My son, Matthew, hit that buffet hard! lol. Sami had lots of vegetarian things to choose from, and they even had her favorite food group...fishy crackers! You know those little fish-shaped yellow/orange crackers, right? She looooooves those! Sara didn't eat a ton, but she got her chocolate milk and had fun getting up and making all the kids strawberry shortcakes with whipped cream on top. Jeff had loads of pasta, which he loves. We had such a fun, happy time at dinner. It was really wonderful.

When I got home I got ready to go out AGAIN. This time I went to Michael's...with the right coupon this time! I splurged on something I wanted but would not normally buy because it was really expensive. But it was my birthday and I had that 40% off one item coupon. I got a 12 jar set of pigment powder for my clay!!! I saw this being used in a You Tube video once, and ever since then I wanted some, but I could never find any. It was my lucky day though. 12 jars for just $14!!! That was the deal of the day for sure. I looooove the bright, beautiful colors and the way they totally shimmer in the light. I can't wait to try them! The colors don't show up nearly as vivid as they really are. You'll have to take my word for it. They're awesome!

I also picked up a few odds and ends...

In addition to the stuff in the pics, I also got a couple jewelry display forms for photographing my necklaces. And the best part? I still have a little bit of money left after all this shopping!!! I am going to have a LOT of fun this weekend, that's for sure!

After all that shopping I then sat down quietly by myself and opened up my birthday cards...one from my kids and one from my husband. The kids' messages inside were so sweet! Even though the card made fun of my big milestone birthday number, it was still a great card. The card from my dh brought tears to my eyes. For real. It was so sentimental and spot on. I know he spent some time looking for this card because it was absolutely perfect.

And they bought me a giant Symphony chocolate bar with almonds and toffee bits! So after everyone was sleeping I got into bed, turned on the tv and savored a few squares of that decadent, delicious chocolate. What a way to end a fabulous day.

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

2011-04-21T00:16:00.000-07:00

I'm 39! Again! Today is going to be a fun day. My DH is taking me to Hobby Lobby to go shopping with the money my wonderful daddy put in my bank account today. I am going to get polymer clay supplies, and I'm going to check out their beads. I know there are those out there who would never dream of using "cheap" beads from places like Hobby Lobby, Michael's, etc. But you know what? For those of us on a budget, we can stretch our money and use our creativity to make those "cheap" beads into some pretty nice things. What is wrong with some inexpensive things as long as they're pretty and you like them? That would be like saying no clothes are worth buying unless they come from Nieman Marcus. That would just be ridiculous. When I get home I'll take some pics of what I get and post them in a day or two.

I also had a hard time deciding where I want to go for my birthday dinner with my family. Damned if I'm cooking on my day! I was thinking Panda Express, but my DH says that adds up awful darn quick, and they don't have anything vegetarian for my daughter, Samantha. Came up with a great idea! Souper Salad! What is better than a buffet for a family with kids? They don't have to wait to eat, they can eat as much as they want, they get to make their own desserts, AND Sami can have her vegetarian food. Win win win!

At tonight's baseball game my daughter, Sara, hit a HOME RUN!!! She's the only girl on her team in the boys' league and one of the youngest on the team to boot. She sure showed those boys! Way to go Sara!!!

AND to celebrate my birthday with all of my readers, everything in my Etsy shop is 20% off today with coupon code happybday2011!

Introducing the Next Generation of Bead Artists!

2011-04-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

On Saturday my daughter, Sara, was complaining about how bored she was. I was sitting at the kitchen table working on a necklace and I asked her if she wanted to help me. She sat down, eager and ready to learn. I showed her a couple times how to do the spiral rope stitch and we worked on my necklace for a few minutes. Then I asked her if she wanted to make a bracelet of her own. Her eyes lit up and she got a great big smile on her face. I got out all my color-coded buckets of beads and spread them out on the kitchen floor for her to see. She started picking colors, and before you know it she had her color palette ready to go.

I did the first 3 loops because getting started can sometimes be a little bit tricky, and I did the clasp. A couple times the thread got tangled and I helped her get it undone. But other than that she did this entire bracelet all by herself!!! I am so proud of her. What a talent she is already at 9 years old. Can you imagine how good she'll be in a few years? She's already anxious to learn another stitch.

She chose a 8/0 apple green color for the core bead, then red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and pink for the twist. The rainbow colors are size 11/0, except the green that is a 15/0. She has decided to name her bracelet "Rainbows Over The Hills". Isn't that a pretty name? Here are some photos of Sara and her beading.

RAINBOWS OVER THE HILLS

You can click on the photos for a larger view, too.

And the best part? She says you can wear it with anything because it's got all the colors! She's talented and practical! :)

She'll come home and ask me if anyone said anything about her bracelet, so don't be shy...leave Sara a message.

My Project Is Done!!! :D

2011-04-13T20:50:00.001-07:00

What does this little daisy clip art have to do with my newest project? Not much, except maybe that I felt like my latest project really "blossomed". And, hey, I think it's cute.

Ok, on to my project. I felt so good making this necklace. That's what I find so gratifying about beading. I get to be creative, and it makes me feel good. It's great therapy. This piece really flowed for me. I didn't have to think about it...it just came together. No forcing it, no second guessing it. You ever have a great project like that? I hope to have many more because it was so utterly enjoyable.

The centerpiece is a cab by Beth Evans of Bellesanbeaus on Artfire. She does amazing work. It turns out this cab was a little bit of a mistake. I had asked for shades of blue, but she mistakenly sent me shades of green. And it's a good thing she intuitively knew exactly what I needed better than I know for myself because the green cab is PERFECT!!! I also used Nicole Campanella's wonderful-to-work-with Beadbacking. It's so easy to work with when doing bead embroidery. You don't have to worry about backing your fabric with lacy's or anything else. You just bead right on it, you can cut around it in the shape you need, and it won't fray or stretch. And it's acid free. PERFECT as well! You can get Nicole's Beadbacking from her Etsy shop, Beadwright.

Another awesome thing is that I used everything from my stash. The only thing I bought for this project was the clasp. The little green cabs Beth gifted me. That was so nice of her! Again, she intuitively knew what I needed. I also mixed in some orange, which is not a color I normally work with. I find it a very difficult color and orange and I don't play well together. But this week we called a truce, and look how the orange just shines with the green. I love the orange lucite flowers that rest near the collar bones. (They're a little higher on my "model" because he's only 11 and a little smaller than a person it was actually meant to be sized for.) But Matthew was a good sport and jumped right up when I asked him to model for me. He's kind of funny because he's in his underwear only and he was real paranoid that I didn't show his boobies in the pics. hahaha. Kids are fun.

I've never made a necklace where I did bead embroidery and had to put the pieces together. I wasn't sure how to do that. Then I remembered the wise words from Robin Atkins, the bead embroidery goddess..."Just do it!" I don't know how other people do it, but my way seemed to work! Yea!

Enough, enough already! I know...let's get on with it! Ok everyone. Here are the pics. I realize that this probably won't be everyone's cup of tea, but for me it's just stunning. And I guess that's what counts. Matthew doesn't want me to try to sell it, but he reluctantly said I could lol. Someday it will find the perfect home.

I originally was going to call it Lush Green, but I just had the idea of Greenman in Springtime. I've always loved the Greenman, so maybe it's fitting that I make a tribute to him.

Greenman in Springtime

Normally I take my photos in the daytime in a nice shady area to get the beautiful natural light, but I was too anxious to wait until tomorrow to show it off. I also learned how to do a spiral rope for this necklace. I was pretty happy with it. It took the 3rd try to get the color combination I was happy with, and I'm pleased with the way it turned out. You can click on the photos to see a larger view. Isn't that face cab fabuloso!?! Comments anyone?

Mother's Day Giveaway

2011-04-13T08:06:00.001-07:00

Artbeads.com is having another giveaway. This time the prize is a big $100 gift certificate!!! All you have to do is select your favorite item from their Mother's Day selection of suggestions and leave a comment on their blog on what you would do with that item. To see the rules and links just go HERE. I really really really want to win, but if I can't I hope one of you do so I can live vicariously through your purchases and projects. :)

These are just a couple of the many pages of items to choose from. Good luck!

What a Difference in a Day

2011-04-11T22:46:00.000-07:00

Wow. I have been experiencing two polar opposite ends of the spectrum these last 2 days. I have been working on a necklace featuring one of Beth's face cabs that I always talk about. I sat it on my table and started pulling out beads. I am using some colors that I do not normally use. That may sound difficult, but I am finding that this piece is practically creating itself. I have been loving working on it, looking at it, showing my progress to my biggest fans (my kids :). Matthew loves it so much that he said I have to keep it and not put it up for sale. The beading has been effortless. Well, maybe a slight hiccup. I learned how to do a spiral rope and I had two false starts. Not on the stitch itself but on the choice of colors for the core and stuff. The third one was the keeper, but it wasn't even a big deal. I stitched about an inch each of the first two combinations, so I'm just calling those 2 inches practice. I can't wait to finish it up and show it off. But I have to get a clasp for it first. Could have sworn I had an extra gold-plated clasp in my box, but no. Plenty of silver plated, but not what I need. Bummer.

this is how i feel today. huh?!?!

I went from that extreme of artistic and creative flow to complete and utter confusion. I have to create something now that is totally not my style. I've never attempted it or particularly cared for it. And now I have to make something beautiful. I have tried looking to my computer and the trusty old Google to find ideas. I have scoured Etsy looking for inspiration. Nothing. Nada. Blah. So what do I do? How do I come up with the perfect idea when I don't even really know what this style is supposed to look like? I've been giving myself pep talks, telling Me that this is an artistic challenge and I'm stretching my boundaries, spreading my wings. It's not working.

I know you amazingly talented artists out there in Blogland have had this happen. I have a mental block and my muse is no where to be seen. Actually, I think she is still hovering over the necklace I'm so happy with and doesn't want to leave it. What are your suggestions, ideas, remedies, mental block busting methods of overcoming such a challenge?

Finished a bracelet

2011-04-09T10:50:00.002-07:00

Remember the Wrapped in Red netted collar necklace I did just recently? I finished the bracelet to go with it. I had it done except for the clasp for about a week, but I was procrastinating putting the clasp on. I don't know. I guess there's just not a lot of fun in putting on a simple clasp. Had the netting part of the bracelet done in two days. lol. Oh well. It's finally done and here it is... (and btw, if you are interested in the patterns to make my netted necklace or my hematite bracelet, I have them listed in my Artfire shop.)

Out of the Flames Giveaway!

2011-04-08T15:39:00.001-07:00

Lori Cook of Out of the Flames has hit a milestone for her blog...150 posts! To celebrate she is giving away a very lovely set of a bracelet and earrings. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on her blog, and maybe you'll be the lucky one.

My thought of the day...if the government shuts down this weekend, does that mean there won't be any mail service either? That could really screw A LOT of people up. My other thought...I'm super pissed off that Congress will get their checks on time but our servicemen and women won't. How f'ed up is that???!!! Ok...enough of politics. I think it's the very first time I've ever mentioned politics here on my blog, and I probably won't ever do it again. At least not for a very long time! Unless they really make me angry again. lol

sharing a giveaway...come look!

2011-04-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

As you have read recently, I am delving into the world of polymer clay. Can I tell you how many times i typed "polymer clay", "polymer clays beads", and all other variations into google? I found a blog over on Wordpress that has an amazing tutorial series on African Trade Beads with polymer clay. At the same time my friend Beth kept mentioning the name Marie Segal to me. Then Marie came and visited my blog here on blogger, so I went and visited her blog (also on Blogger). Wouldn't you know it??? It's the same blog that is on Wordpress, and even though Beth had mentioned her name several times I didn't make the connection...it was Marie's blog!!! Then to have Marie come visit my blog in the meantime. How funny. Small world! Anyhoo, on Marie's blogger blog (not Wordpress), she is having a giveaway of one of her pieces she created using her polymer clay canes. It's really beautiful! I want to win it for myself, of course, but it's so pretty that I thought you should see it too. Just go see her on her blogger blog (not the Wordpress one) at Art From My Heart for a chance to win. And while you're there take a look-see at some of the other wonderful things she has done. Good luck!

And the winner is....

2011-04-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

I wish that I had something to give away to every one of you. I received such nice comments from so many people and I could tell that a lot of you really did want to win this bracelet. When I decided to do this giveaway, I wanted it to be something really nice. I had this cuff listed in my shops for quite a long time. It got lots and lots of looks, but I'm guessing the price tag must have put people off. That's when I thought that rather sit and collect dust any longer (don't worry...it's been put away and not really dusty), I'd give it to one of my blogger friends. The bad news is that there was only one Drops of Honey bracelet. But the good news? I've got a couple more cuffs that are sitting in my shops collecting dust. They will make great giveaways for other milestones, right? So there will be more chances to win something.

I used a number generator from random.org. There were 25 entries and on the click of the button, it was number 4. Congratulations......Mandy!!!! Mandy is currently on a quest to learn and post something new every day for a year. Why don't you go visit her blog, Beads for Brains, and take a look at the things she has done.

Last chance to enter my giveaway!

2011-04-02T09:04:00.000-07:00

WIN ME!!!

I'm excited about the giveaway. Remember, if you want to get in on the fun and have a chance to win my Drops of Honey embroidered cuff, deadline is tonight. So hurry and get your name in the hat. Go to the previous post for all the details!

I'm also excited about the new things I will be creating soon. I have decided to jump head first into the pool of polymer clay. I've seen such amazing things come from polyclay that I wanted to give it a go and see what I can do. I am in no way, shape, or form talented in the area of painting, so making amazingly painted face cabs like Beth over at Bellesanbeaus is definitely out...but, I think I can mix clays and techniques to make some pretty cool polyclay beads and focals. I'm hoping the birthday fairie (my daddy) comes this month. I have on my wish list a pasta machine that I saw at Hobby Lobby, an extruder, some little cookie cutters and, of course, lots of colors of clay. I bought a few blocks of clay about 2 weeks ago along with some tools and a bead roller. I learned one important lesson already. Don't use Fimo Classic! It is soooooo hard and is nearly impossible to get soft enough to work with. Fortunately I only bought one of those.

I have 2 books about polyclay beads on order at the library. One of them came in and I'm going to try to get hubby to take me to the library to pick it up. I can't drive myself....had a scare yesterday morning. I got up early and went to the corner store. I have no a/c so I was driving with the windows down. I heard a swoosh-swoosh-swoosh sound coming from my tire as I was driving along. I thought that maybe i need some air in the tire. They sometimes make that sound if the air is too low. Went home, got Sami ready for school and was headed out the door to take her to school. I decided to take another look at my tire. I bent over, put my hand on the tire as I started looking at it, and OUCH!!!! Something cut me!!! Holy crow...my tire is almost shredded! The wires are coming through and the tire is all cracked around the side wall!!!! I am sooooo lucky my tire hasn't exploded and come off already! Especially on the freeway or something. How dangerous is that?! So, to make a long story short, I will not be driving my car until we can afford some new tires and I will be depending on my DH to take me where I need to go (I don't drive his van). Sooooo I am excited about picking up the one book that came in and drooling over the pretties and learning whatever I can. I will keep you all posted.

Also, I have learned how to make PDF patterns for beadwoven pieces. I have made a pattern of my Wrapped in Red netted collar necklace and a pattern for my hematite flat spiral bracelet. If you'd like to take a look, they are in my Artfire shop here. And, I had some pros review my first patterns. They were gracious enough to take the time to guide me along, give some critiques and suggestions, etc. to make sure that my patterns are as professional as possible. Thank you Nicole from Beadwright and Kathy from England!!! You two were my angels these past few days, helping me with something new.

Ok, kids. I'm going to head off for now. I have been rambling today, haven't I? :) Don't forget...go to the previous post and enter the giveaway if you haven't already!

Giveaway Celebration!!!

2011-03-28T23:09:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? I have reached 100 posts! When I started this blog, October 31st of 2009, I had no idea what I would write about on a regular basis, if anyone would ever read what I had to say, or how long I would continue to do it. So far it has been a great journey! I have met so many wonderful people and made such good friends through the blog world. It has been great for me because I don't get out much, and I have never been good at meeting people. Maybe it's just that I don't put myself in situations to be able to meet new people. I live a very sheltered life, even having gone through almost 2 years of severe agoraphobia where I barely even left my room let alone went out and spoke to someone.

I have so very much enjoyed writing, reading your comments, emailing you back and talking about things and then visiting your blogs and getting to know you through your posts. I appreciate your friendships very much. In return for your kindness, I would like to give away one of my pieces. I thought about making something new, but all of you probably already know I am really short on funds, and I didn't want to skimp on anything. I wanted to give away something special. So what I have decided to do is take one of my cuffs out of my online shops and give it away to one of my readers for my 100th Post Celebration. I am giving away one of my bead embroidered cuffs that I call "Drops of Honey". It is one of my favorites. I just love the shell discs. The colors are so rich and creamy...they look just like nice big dollops of honey to me. Here are some photos of it:

What do you think? Do you like it? It is made with an aluminum cuff base with microsuede on the inside. It could be yours! All you have to do is be (or become) a follower here on my blog and leave me a comment...make sure you tell me how to reach you in the event you are the winner. If you'd like a 2nd chance to win, post this to your blog with a link to the post, and I'll even do a 3rd chance to win by sharing to your Facebook page (you'll have to friend me, too.) Leave me a separate comment for each of your 3 ways to win so I can keep an easy count. I will do a random number generator to pick the winner.

The deadline for entering my giveaway is going to be Saturday, April 2nd at midnight EST. I will ship this anywhere, so everyone is welcome to enter. I will announce the winner on Sunday, April 3rd. I hope you like my giveaway, and I hope to see lots of entries to make my celebration a party.

Thank you again for making my blogging experience a great one!!!

New Opportunity

2011-03-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry if I haven't gotten to everyone's blog posts this weekend. Please forgive me. I ask that you all keep my family in your thoughts, prayers, send hugs...whatever it is that you do. It was an extremely traumatic weekend, and I will never be the same.

I went out with my mil and daughter today for a day out, trying to carry on and forcing myself to not sit and think. It was a good day for the most part. Samantha, who hardly ever goes out with us, went and she got pretty spoiled. A new haircut, some clothes, a flat iron, body wash, and a smoothie to top it off. Oh! And a Buzz Lightyear bubble wand from Michael's! lol. We were standing there and the display was in front of us while we were waiting for my mil. I jokingly asked her if she wanted one. She said yes! Even 15 year olds need bubbles in their lives, right? I bought the bubbles and a little package of fimo clay. I had my 25% off purchase coupon in my hand and the man behind me said he would buy my coupon off me. I thought he was joking at first, but he wasn't. At first he said he would split his savings difference with me (his order before the coupon was almost $80), but I felt guilty about that. My things only came to $5.98, so I said I'd be more than happy with a fiver. He was so happy and willing to do that! lol. It worked out for both of us...He saved a bunch and I got mine for 98 cents!

On to my new opportunity. We have an art district here in my town with lots of artsy fartsy things, jewelry, clothing, southwest stuff, a few souvenir shops, lots of paintings, pottery and other artwork. My mil yesterday went into two of the shops and while she was there asked the people if they use work from local artists in their shops. She said her dil does really wonderful jewelry and beadwork. (Thank you, Linda) They said to bring it in. We went into one shop, and the shop owner (Nooshie) was a very sweet, outgoing woman. She looked at my things I had packed up. She is putting 3 of my things in her jewelry case with my business cards (no rent for shelf space) and showing them on consignment. We really had a hard time discussing prices, though. I got the short end of the stick. On one hand she's stressing to me how she wants everything to be sterling silver and then she's talking about how other artists sell her things dirt cheap. Sterling silver and dirt cheap don't go well together. I gave her my pieces well below what I feel they are worth and lower than what they are listed for in my shops (barely even over my costs), but if I sell them then I get to buy more beads. I don't know how to buy good quality beads cheaply. What's wrong with silver plated components anyways?

We ended up not going to the 2nd shop because they were closed and not going to be back for a couple hours.

I would really love to have conversation on this, so please leave your comments and tell me your thoughts/experiences.

ONE MORE POST TILL THE BIG 100TH POST CELEBRATION! I hope you all join me...keep watching for it.

Go Team!

2011-03-25T16:45:00.001-07:00

Guess what! I am on a team! I am so out of shape and unathletic it's a real good thing that it's not a sports team. No, definitely not one of those! I joined a team on Etsy called Saturday Night Sellers. This team does sales in their shops from 5 p.m. EST on Saturdays until 6:00 a.m. EST the next morning. Fun, huh? I love sales! I will tell you all that my sale this week will be 15% off anything in my store...even the bead embroidered bracelet that is already marked down. So that item is a double sale. The coupon code will be sns032611. If you've been looking at something in my shop, tomorrow night just may be the day you would want to get it. Also, if you want to see other sales in other shops, just click on "community" at the top of the Etsy page and do a team search for Saturday Night Sellers. There will be posts of sales there for you to look at. Also, I probably won't run a sale every Saturday night, so come now while the gittin's good!

We are just a couple more posts away from my giveaway! Keep coming back, and tell your friends to come keep an eye out to see what's up for grabs. I think it's a pretty good one, if I do say so myself!

Branching Out...again

2011-03-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

Hi, all. Hope everyone has been having a great week. Things will be changing around my house. My son and his girlfriend finally got a car yesterday! That means my taxi service duties will drastically be cut down. I'm really excited about that! That's all the news I have from the home front.

But in the beady world I have decided to do something new. Do you remember how I had bead embroidery videos up on that video website (not youtube)? And then how I took them down because I thought they were crooks? Well, I had someone ask about them, so what I decided to do was post them on another blog. I wanted to see what Wordpress was like, and was thinking maybe I'd be able to meet a whole new group of people besides all you wonderful ones here on Blogger. So I started a Wordpress blog, and I have decided to start posting my bead embroidery video series on it. I am hosting through youtube, but I have the videos marked as "unlisted", which means you can't search for them on youtube. The only way you (and all your friends you tell about it *wink*) is by going to my new blog and watching them from there. I've only got a couple up right now, but if you bookmark the page you can keep coming back and checking for more.

Is there something other than bead embroidery you would like to see a video of? Leave me your comments and suggestions and maybe I can make a video of your request. To go to my Wordpress blog, click here.

Also trying to think of what I should have for my giveaway for reaching 100 posts. hmmmm. what to do, what to do. Such dilemmas I have these days.

Blogger went haywire on me

2011-03-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

I just had a really weird thing happen. I made a post 3 days ago and thought that nobody liked what I had to show because just one person left a comment. I went to look at the post from my dashboard because I needed the link to give to someone, and it said that my post was still in edit and not published! I thought how weird is that because one person did comment on it. Then I scrolled through the blogroll, and sure enough it showed up as having been posted 3 days ago. But then it was mysteriously in edit mode. hmmmm. I'm very confused. Not that it takes much these days. But anyhow, I just wanted to let you know if you haven't seen it, or tried to see it and it wasn't there, please look at my previous post. I showed something I made that's actually not beading. And some updated info on the contest I'm in. Please go have a look-see.

Something a little different

2011-03-20T17:07:00.002-07:00

Did you know that I had a life of hand crafts before beads? lol. Yes, it's true. I did lots of things before I did beads. I was downloading pics off a flash drive from my dearly departed desktop the other day, and I came across a photo of one of my projects. I learned how to do a technique called "filet crochet". Have you ever heard of it? It used to be wildly popular back in the day to make table runners, sofa arm covers, doilies, wall hangings, etc.

Filet crochet uses a series of chains and double chains to make a grid of open and closed squares. The closed squares create a picture. I found this free pattern that dated back to the Victorian era! How neat is that? The string is not black as it looks in the photo. It is actually navy blue...the closest I could find to indigo. :) It is quite big. If I remember correctly it is about 22" long and I think 14" tall. Something like that. I am embarrassed to say it is folded up in my closet somewhere. I really should frame this one. Last I saw it, though, the folded side facing up was dusty so I would need to figure out how to clean it without completely destroying it first. Here's a photo of my filet crochet Victorian Dragon...

I liked this patter so much, in fact, that I converted it into beading patterns for both peyote and loom/square stitch. Both are for sale (just $4!!!!!). If you would like to see (and consider buying) these patterns, just click here for the loom/square stitch and here for the peyote. Because I am soooo creative (lol) I have them on the first page under "2 Tone Dragon".

Now, I want to thank those of you who have voted for me so very much! Right now I am in the lead! Yea!!! You have left some really awesome comments, and it sure was an instant warm fuzzy! However, some people have come to me because they aren't sure what to put in the blanks in order to cast a vote. When you click here to see my entry page, scroll to the bottom of the page. You will then see this:

The first blank is for your name. You don't even have to put your whole name if you don't want to. The second blank says "mail" and it is for your email address. It won't be published. The third space says "website" and you can leave that blank. Then, just fill in a comment and click the submit button. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!

Here's a reminder of my entry...Remember...the use of tagua beads (the type of beads this contest is promoting and giving away) SAVES THE LIVES OF ELEPHANTS!!! It's a great cause.

AND
Did you know that I'm getting close to my 100th post? Do you know what that means? Yep!!! It's going to be giveaway time!!! So stay tuned...it's coming soon.

Can you please help me? I need votes!

2011-03-18T14:44:00.000-07:00

I have entered my very first beading contest! I am not a "bead diva" and I am not in the "in crowd", so I need all the help I can get from those of you who read my blog, because we're all friends, right? YES!!! I have entered a contest by Ecuadorian Hands. They run a monthly contest to promote tagua beads. Have you heard of tagua? I'll give you a little info, because they really a great item to know about and use. Tagua comes from the ivory palm. When the tagua is dried out it can be used just as elephant ivory. It is very hard, can be carved just like ivory to make things like figurines, and of course...beads. Tagua is also dyed with some really gorgeous, vibrant colors.

They have just opened up the contest to include all materials, not just tagua, in an effort to more widely promote the use of tagua and TO SAVE ELEPHANTS! And, if I remember correctly from when I bought some of these types of beads, some of the money from the sale of tagua is also used to help save rain forests. Are these good causes, or what???!!!

I am really hoping that you will take the time to go to my entry and leave a comment to vote for my hard work in making my netted collar.

To vote for me, please click HERE.

Thank you so much!!!

I Conquered Netting!!!

2011-03-17T11:03:00.000-07:00

Yea for me! I am a very stubborn person when I set my mind to it. Thank you to all of you who responded so helpfully to my last post. What I ended up doing was finding a very very basic netting pattern, and I studied the thread paths and how the rows went together. From there I designed my own pattern. Now I don't know if my pattern is "correct", if there is such a thing for "technically sound" netting, but it is what it is and I am over the moon for it. This is going to be my April installment for my 2011 Bead Journal Project. I am actually ahead of schedule a little bit. Well, not really. I still have the earrings and bracelet to make to go with it, but I ran out of seed beads and the store where I got them is fresh out (I took the last two tubes to finish my collar). I put some more on order so I can finish up the bracelet and earrings.

I bought these wonderful red daggers from Fusion Beads, and there weren't very many left. I got most of what they had in at the time. I do get lucky sometimes! I bought the Swarovski Pearls in Bordeaux from Artbeads. I had intended to use my reds and whites to make something for a Valentine's Day contest. I have never entered a contest. However, at the time my muse was on hiatus and I couldn't come up with a single thing. Too bad I didn't come up with this collar at the time because I would have been proud to put it on display.

The collar is just about 22" long by 4 1/2" wide. It is quite substantial and a little weighty. That's good, though, because it doesn't slide around too much. I used A TON of 11/0 seed beads, size 8/0 seed beads, bugle beads, 4mm cubes, 5mm Swarovski Pearls and the red daggers on the ends. I couldn't believe how many seed beads this thing ate up!!! I used about 3 tubes!

Ok, everyone. Here it is! I call it...

Wrapped in Red

What do you think? Was I successful in defeating the netting stitch, or did I make technical errors? I can't wait to do the bracelet to match. As soon as the beads come in to my local stomping grounds and I pick them up I will get going on it. Obviously a bracelet won't take nearly as many hours as I have invested into this collar, so I should hopefully have it up soon. I also see so many possibilities with this stitch. Color combinations, patterns, etc. I think I will do more of this!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! Don't have too much green beer!

3 - 2 - 1 Blast Off!!!

2011-03-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to bring you this news. My very good friend Beth over at Bellesanbeaus Crafts is an enormously talented woman. I look at her work and wonder how she can do what she does. She has many talents, but the one I want to tell you about today is her creation of face cabochons. No two are identical. The painting and details are wonderful. They are so unique and interesting, I just love them. I have to admit that I don't particularly care for face cabs. I think they're weird. Maybe even creepy. But THESE face cabs are so phenomenal that I knew I had to own some. You want to know the really good news? Now you can too!!!

Beth has launched her first online store over at Bellesanbeaus Crafts on Artfire! I think they are a complete steal, too. You will not find artwork of this nature and caliber anywhere for this price. I'm not kidding. Just go to her Artfire shop and see for yourself. Each one is molded and hand-painted, and you can even tell her your unique specifications so she can create one (or lots!) especially for you. She even has created one with glitzy glitter, which is a lot of fun. She will also be opening an Etsy shop, but it isn't done quite yet.

I thought I would include here pics of some that I own and also some pics of ones currently for sale. Take a look at these beautiful painted ladies!

She calls them Mardi Gras, but I call them Masquerades. I love the mask and the swirly curly q's. The eyes themselves have great detail.

The next one she based on the concept of the Greenman. I love it!!!

The Moon Face is unique and has double dimension to it.

Here are some more recent ones in the past couple weeks...

This last one is the one that has the glitter and sparkle in the paint. Cool, huh? So please won't you go visit Beth's new Artfire shop? These cabs are really awesome with bead embroidery around them. I'm positive you will be more than happy with what you receive!!!

A Thanks and a Reminder

2011-03-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

Wow! I sure did get a lot of support in my frustration over netting! You ladies really rallied around for me. I appreciate it so much! I have managed to figure out the basics of netting! woohoo for me!!! It's not such a monster once you get the hang of it. In my quest for instructions I have seen netting worked two different ways...I have seen it done horizontally, and I don't like that way at all. I much prefer to work vertically. It is much easier for me to grasp for some reason. I drew up my own pattern :0) and I was able to make it a little fancier than just a basic netting stitch. I had no idea that it would take up so many seed beads!!! I had 3/4 of a tube left from a long time ago, and that got sucked up so fast! I am going to the bead store today to buy more so I can finish this project, and I estimate that I will need at least 3 more tubes!!! holy cow!!! I hope you will all stay tuned to see what I accomplish with my netting and my pattern.

Click here to enter!

Now, on to WINNING! You don't even have to be Charlie Sheen to be a winner. bwahahaha! Nope! All you need to do is go to where? Artbeads.com of course!!! Your time is running out to enter the sweeptstakes for a trip for two to next year's bead and gem show in sunny Tucson, Arizona. You know why I should win? Because I am right here in Phoenix and they wouldn't even have to buy me a plane ticket! Not only do you get airfare, but you get accommodations and classes, too. What would be more fun than to spend a few days around new and exciting beady things with your best bead buddy? Just click here to get to the right spot to enter your name. And tell your friends too, because if one of them wins, you might be the person they take with them! Good luck!!!!

Until next time, my friends! Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Netting

2011-03-10T07:09:00.000-07:00

Netting is kicking my butt. I have in my mind what I want to create, but A) I can't find a pattern that's even similar and B) I don't know how to create it myself. Frustration has definitely set in. I have some beautiful beads that I want to use, and I think what I have in my mind could be really cool....*sigh*...if only. I found a free beginning netting pattern. I think I will start with that and then modify from there. I just need to remember where I put that pad of graph paper. (hmmmm. If I were graph paper, where would I be hiding?) Wish me luck with this one, kids.

What's on your tables these days?

Weekend of Grab Bag Blog Stuff

2011-03-06T12:14:00.000-07:00

Happy weekend everyone! It's been a very busy weekend for me. Our house is VERY noisy! ick. But it's all been for a very good cause. Tomorrow is my son Matthew's 11th birthday! He had a couple of his buddies from school spend the night, and he's had a great little party. He doesn't like cake, so he requested pie. He wanted dutch apple and cherry, but his friends like pumpkin. Over $20 for those dang pies!!! Would have been so much cheaper to get a Betty Crocker cake mix, but these are the things we do for our babies, right? Of course he got the 2 new video games he wanted for his X Box, and they are playing those right now...right next to me. ugh. I'm sooooo happy he's having a good time, but I have to admit that I'm watching the clock waiting for the party to be over. Happy Birthday Precious!!!!!!! (lol. I'm not supposed to call him that in public, but you all can keep a secret, right? :)

Next up. O M G ! ! ! You all need to head on over to Happy Mango Beads and see the absolutely incredible giveaway they are having!!!! I'm only telling you this out of courtesy because those beads are MINE!!! lol. Actually...they are giving away FOUR sets of this bead package, so I'll share with you.

Finally, I made a few things the past few days that I thought I'd show you. Remember the forest green RAW bracelet I made about a week ago? Well, I made one just like it in a royal purple that I think is really pretty. Here's a pic.

I was going to make a ring with one of these really cool 9mm gaspeite beads I got, but the dang wire wouldn't fit through the hole! Let down. I wondered what I would do with those beads, and then I remembered these really pretty antique copper celtic heart beads I had leftover from a previous project. I thought they would go really well together, so I made a pair of earrings with them.

Ok, kids! That's all I got for today. I'll see what I can come up with next and post again soon.

Please Visit

2011-03-04T02:02:00.000-07:00

Solar Flare, Wall Art by Jan

I just wanted everyone to know that there are a couple new shops in town! First of all, I want to tell you about my good friend, Jan, over at Laughing Dog Arts on Etsy. Her shop is newly re-opened, and I really encourage you to go take a look at the vibrant, colorful works of art she has to offer. Jan does amazing things with fibers and beads. Please go take a look, and keep checking back because I'm sure she'll be adding more wonderful pieces. This is just one example. Look at those colors, shapes and textures! She also has a blog that I'm sure you will want to see, also Laughing Dog Arts, right here on blogspot.

Next up is a teaser. You know how I'm always talking about the fantabulous work done by my super friend Beth over at Bellesanbeaus Crafts? Well, guess what!!! She is finally going to be opening an Etsy shop! I'm so excited about that! I don't have the URL yet, but you can be sure that as soon as I have it, you will get it! Isn't the banner for her Etsy shop really cute? lol...I can say that because I made it for her. :)

I opened an Artfire shop! I actually opened an account months ago, but I just started putting things in it. If you've visited my Etsy shop, thank you very much! But I want to tell you that each of my shops carries a few different things. So if you're not looking at all of them, you may be missing something. Please stop in! I would be ever so grateful for whispers in the ears of even just one of your friends that I exist. Word of mouth is the best way to grow, and I'm just asking for that little seed. Also, did you know that I design patterns for peyote and loom/square stitch? If you do these stitches, come see my 174 patterns for both tapestries (large and small) and bracelets. You can find me at The Bead Coop. Links for my Shop Handmade and Etsy stores are in the right side bar.

I want to thank you all for being a part of my little corner of the world. It gives me so much pleasure to share with you and hear from you!

Faeries, Dragonflies and Crystals, oh my!

2011-03-02T15:10:00.001-07:00

I made a few little things yesterday. I made two pairs of earrings and a ring. I got charms and a square Swarovski crystal button from Artbeads.com...you know how much I love shopping there! Here are a few pics.

It really sparkles in the light!

The dragonfly earrings I made with large blue beads and 2 smaller beads that change colors in the light...purple, green and blue. Pretty! :)

Just as much as I love dragonflies, I also love faeries! They are made with purple beads.

Reader Beware!!!! SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION AHEAD!!! ;)

Please see my new items in my Shop Handmade store and in my Etsy shop. (Not all items are listed in both shops.)

Hope everyone is having a great week!

I had a productive bead week!

2011-02-28T22:12:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone! Hope you had a nice weekend. I know I sure did. I was busy busy busy with beady things, which makes me a happy lil girl. I've got two things to show you today, and I love them both. My March BJP project is 2nd, so stay tuned for that, k?

The first one is, well, definitely green. lol I like green, but this is really green. I still think it's pretty though. I think the bracelet turned out awesome, and I can't wait to do it in other colors. Next up will be a deep luscious purple with gold bracelet and I'd like to do a necklace/choker to match. I DID IT!!! I finally got up the nerve to try RAW. I had a few false starts, but I think I managed pretty well in the end. I see people do RAW jewelry that is really embellished and fancied up and I just love them. Hopefully one day I can do that, too. For today it's just a simple embellishment.

Like I said, I can't wait to try this one in other colors. I really love how it turned out.

Next up is my March BJP Project. I have actually been working on this for about 2 months. For the month of March I decided to learn the Cellini Spiral. I chose the blues because that color really represents me. When I first started I didn't buy anything special. I dove into my stash and chose beads that have spoken to me in the past, and I decided to put a bunch of them together. It's a "Lisa Whirlpool". hahaha Over the past two months of working on and then staring at my 7" of labor intensive Cellini Spiral, I had different things cross my mind on how I was going to finish it. First I was going to do the whole necklace in the spiral, but then I thought that would be overkill. Then I thought about using a cab from my very good friend Beth over at Bellesanbeaus as a focal for the center. I had intended to do that all the way up until this evening as a matter of fact. I even did a trade with her to get the cab for it.

When I realized that an entire Cellini necklace would be too much, I looked high and low for just the right beads to finish it off with. Sure, crystals would be pretty and Swarovski pearls would have been divine. You know what though? I'm really happy with the mixture of Druks I got to mimic the colors in the spiral in different sizes to represent the ups and downs of it. I guess that's really the way things are going right now...up and down...but in the end those ebbs and flows really make up a beautiful life. So it made me stop and reflect on mine. Working with beads is such wonderful therapy for me!!!

I decided, too, that if I put the spiral right in front it wouldn't be as interesting as if it were a little off kilter. After all, I am a little off kilter. :) And I thought that the clasp is far too beautiful to hide in the back of someone's neck. Don't you think? So I put it all a little skewed to the side, and it was then when I saw it that I knew it was done. This necklace was complete and needed nothing else to speak its statement. Here is my work for the Bead Journal Project for March:

As you can see, I also made a little bracelet using the Druks in the same pattern as the necklace. I'm thrilled with the work I did for this month, and I can't wait to start on next month. Don't know what I will do yet, but the idea will come. Probably at 3:00 a.m. and wake me out of a dead sleep. lol

I will be posting both of these in one or the other of my shops in the next day or so. Indigo's Beads on Etsy and Shophandmade.

Oh my gosh!!! I almost forgot!!!! I made a sale through my Shop Handmade store over the weekend!!! How awesome is that??? I don't know if she wants me to publish her name or not, so I will just say a great big "Thank you!" because she knows who she is.

Here's the pic of the one I sold:

I hope you love it when it comes in the mail!

And, I've still got that fantabulous cab coming from Beth, so watch for it to make its appearance soon!

Giving a Bad Review

2011-02-25T15:58:00.001-07:00

For those of you who have been with me, I'm sure you have read that I put up instructional videos for bead embroidery on a website called Videojug. They have been up for a few months and I think have been pretty popular. I actually get a lot of views...in the hundreds...each month. (To me, that's a lot.)

It all started when I got an email from them about how much they loved my blog and my beadwork. They said they would really like me to contribute articles and videos to their website and earn money in the process. I wasn't sure at first and really tried to check them out as best I could. I read other user reviews, looked at many pages others had done, etc. etc. They said you could easily make more money on their site than on similar sites. I'm all for making money...gotta pad that bead fund, you know? So I finally decided I would give it a try and signed up. I enlisted the help of my daughter to be the videographer and spent quite a lot of time writing and taping for the site.

Guess what. Never made a penny. I couldn't understand how I could never make any money when they said it was so easy and I got so many views to my pages. I know my pages were pretty good because at one point they ran a contest to see who could post the most judge-approved pages and 11 of my 13 pages had been given the thumbs up. One thing I couldn't understand about that site on the contest either was that here the name of the site is VIDEOjug and touts instructional and informational pages and the grand prize winner of the contest with the most pages did not have one single video nor were they instructional. One page, for example, was a 3 paragraph essay about how ad execs never get a lunch. WHAT???

Anyways, back to making not a penny. Turns out you have to have ONE THOUSAND views a month to make a few cents. And even if you got 999, come the first of the month you were back down to ZERO. I have to tell you that I felt I was incredibly misled, and I feel that my knowledge bank was raided. You know what? I would give anyone help who asked me for not a single penny with a happy heart. But it makes me angry when I feel that I'm taken advantage of.

I'm not one for writing bad reviews, but I have to tell you that I will never go back to this site, and I have taken all my pages down. And I have "unliked" them on Facebook. So there. *sticking out tongue*

Making a Trade and Some Other Things

2011-02-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

Warning...long post ahead!!! :) It has been a busy beading week for me. Yea! Beads, oh glorious beads. :) I can't say they were anything too complicated or extravagant, but you know what? I like them anyways!

First up though I recently went into a trade with my very dear friend Beth over at Bellesanbeaus. She does the most amazing face cabs, and I'm getting another one. woohoo for me! I'm working on a project that I want to use one of her amazing faces for as the focal point. Being a little tight on funds I asked her if she would be willing to do a trade. A pretty for a pretty. She was game so I started wracking my brain on what I was going to make for her. Her favorite colors are the same as mine...blues and purples...and luckily that's what I have the most of in my stash. I picked out some of my most coveted beads that I haven't used before and set about making her a bracelet. Had a few false starts, but what I decided on first was a Russian Spiral. I just couldn't get the beautiful shades captured in a pic the way I wanted to, but you can get the idea. I used my favorite bugle beads with varied shades of blue and purple along with some seed beads I found last year. Until now they have been unopened. Have you ever looked for a true purple purple shade of seed bead? It's really hard to find the perfect purple! When I saw these I knew I had to have them, and they were perfect for Beth's bracelet. Here's some pics of the Russian Spiral:

I love the way it twists around. Reminds me of DNA. I was nervous that maybe she wouldn't like this one, and I really wanted to make sure she was happy so I made her a 2nd one. This one uses a 4mm (I think) round that was actually called Indigo. Hey! They named it after me! :) Ok, maybe it was the other way around, but these are another of my coveted beads. They are a super dark blue, not black. I also used a triangle seed bead and a sparkly blue for the picot tips to finish out this netting bracelet. Here are some pics:

Her package came in the mail today and she told me emphatically that she loves loves loves BOTH of them, so I am oh so very happy! She also told me that my cab is looking pretty marvelous, and I am waiting on pins and needles to get it. I will show it to you all as soon as it comes in. She does the most amazing work!

A couple weeks ago my mother-in-law was telling me that I need to get some stuff together for her to take to work to sell there. She works at a high school, and the teachers just love things like what I make she says. I have my two higher end sets (the crystal and the dragonfly sets), and I also wanted to give some lower priced things too. Again, I just used this and that from my stash and set about to see what I could put together with what I already have. I was pretty pleased with what I came up with. The first one I think is super pretty. It's all purples with gold. Can't go wrong with that, right? It's made on memory wire, and I just love the way it wraps around. Here are some pics:

I also did another one like this but using some wood beads that I had no idea when or if I would ever use them. Surprise! They worked out great with the combination of natural stones and Czech glass in earthy colors.

Then I did some even simpler ones, but they are using some really great things so I like them. The next one is made using Stretch Magic, one of my new favorite stringing materials (now that I know how to keep the knots secure). It's all about lusterous beads.

And then there's this next one. I picked up this really unusual 3 sided piece of shell quite some time ago. It's really interesting and has great shades of pinks and browns running through it.

And finally I did one that is using very simple blue beads. It's dainty, but very sturdy.

Sometime in the next few days I am getting an order in from Artbeads.com, so I'll be showing some more things soon. I posted these new things in two places. One is in my Etsy shop here and the other is in my Shop Hand Made shop here if you would like to go take a look.

I probably won't be writing more posts for a few days, so I hope you all have a great weekend! Bead happy!

Purple On My Mind

2011-02-23T17:12:00.000-07:00

Here's my newest bracelet I created today. I really love it...there are so many great beads mixed in this one including Swarovski rondelle crystals, Swarovski pearls, freshwater pearls, amethyst and my most favorite rich, luscious purple cat's eyes. I've posted it to my Etsy shop if you'd like to take a look at it there too. Just click here to visit.

Do you like?

Exclusive

2011-02-22T22:02:00.001-07:00

The bead gods must not have been smiling on me today. I thought they were. Actually, my day in bead terms went really well. My DH let me spend a little bit of money today on beads, which is totally awesome of him considering he's been unemployed for so long and money is tight. My disability income just pays the rent and his unemployment each week basically covers food and gas. Other than that we're eating up our little savings. So to get a few dollars to shop with was a happy, fun thing.

I went to my favorite little bead shop near me, and I was soooooooo disappointed. I usually go there when I'm looking for seed beads. They've got a really good little seed bead collection, so i can usually find what I'm looking for at a pretty good price. But today was not for seed beads. The store was soooo hot, and I don't know about you, but I can't shop when I'm hot. I get super cranky. I did find a few things though. I treated myself to two actual bead mats. I've never had those before! I've always used a cloth placemat or a twin sheet folded and folded to about placemat size. Actually, that works out really well. It's thick so it's a nice little cushion for my arms on the edge of the table. Anyways, I got two of those, which I thought was pretty cool. I found a set of bead caps in the size I needed, which I was having a hard time finding. The selection wasn't very good, and they were scattered about. I looked high and low and didn't give up easily. Paid off for me because I did find them. Then I got two sets of sterling silver ear wires. I'm not really a fan of lampwork beads, but I found the perfect ones to finish off the project I'm working on. Until I realized they were $1.62 EACH!!! I don't know, but for me that is quite expensive when you're looking at needing about 30 beads. So I left there and I spent a whopping $6.92! lol I was pretty disappointed in my non-haul so what did I do?

I went home and started shopping on my favorite internet bead store...artbeads.com! I got a nice little buzz looking through all the pages, putting in search words to see what I could find in "14mm blue" and other things. I was shopping away and looked at the clock...OOPS!!! I almost forgot to pick up my daughter from school. Yikes!!! The hazards of shopping and getting lost in beads! I did get there in time, so all was well. Came home and finished my shopping and spent all the money DH gave me, and I was more than pleased. Now the hard part...waiting for the mailman to deliver my goodies!

So it was a good day, right? Yes, it was, until I came home tonight to an email from Artbeads for an exclusive discount for me and my blog readers. I already placed my order today, so now I can't take advantage of it since I'm sure I won't get any more money before the end of the month. Sad, isn't it? For me, yes it is. But for you....YOU still get to get in on the action!!!! Lucky dogs. From now until the end of the month, copy the code ZZ-DESIGNER-0211 and put it in the coupon box when you check out. It's good for 15% off your entire order!!!!

I'm about tapped out for the night and need to head off to beddy-bye. I hope you all take advantage of the coupon and get lots of wonderful, luscious, delicious things to make more beauties with!

Ebay?

2011-02-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

Has anyone of my beading friends out there ever tried selling their wares on Ebay? If so, can you tell me about your experience? Someone suggested I try this route, but I'm just not sure if it is a good idea or not. For my readers out there who like to buy beady things, have you ever shopped for anything on Ebay? If you have, can you tell me about what you were looking for and what was the trigger that made you decide to bid/buy?

I've been increasingly frustrated with trying to sell my jewelry and things as I've had very little success. I think my things are pretty, and I'm told from people who see my stuff in person that my things are very well made and beautiful, but it's just not coming across in the selling venues. I'm usually not overly pushy to people on Facebook or on my blog, but I'm really reaching out to you for some help and guidance, as I am trying to break into the selling world and am doing a pretty poor job of it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Maybe I should press my shops a little. My things can be seen on Etsy, Shophandmade and I have peyote and loom patterns on The Bead Coop. You can also friend me on Facebook at the link on the right bar.

Thanks so much for any and all help!!!