Mailman brought something besides bills!

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!

Up All Night

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!

Hand Dyed Dominos

Here is another fun thing that I like doing...hand-dying dominos.  They make awesome pendants for necklaces.  You can put a glue-on bail and then just a strand of leather with a simple clasp to make a cool, unique necklace.  Or you can use them as cabochons and bead around them for fancier designs.  I have used a domino in my bead embroidery before and it turned out really neat.  Although my camera couldn't pick up the shades of red very well, so I was kind of bummed about that.  Anywhere that you can use a stone cab, you can use a dyed domino.  The colors are permanent and won't rub off or anything like that.  Here are pics of some that I have done.  If you would be interested in having one of them, let me know here or contact me offline.  I will sell them for $12 each, including shipping.  They measure 1" x 2".  Either way, leave a comment and let me know what you think of my designs.

As always, you can click on the pic for a larger view.  I am still working diligently on the embroidery piece that I showed the sneak peak of beads for.  I am about 2/3 of the way done.  I am hoping that I can get it done by tomorrow or the next day.  So stay tuned for that!  :)

I hope everyone is having a fun holiday weekend.  Please stay safe!