Last chance to enter my giveaway!

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!

February BJP and Winter Enchantment Artbeads Project!

It's time!  I've been telling you that I've got some pretty things to show you.  I got them done today...both sets...and I can't wait for you to see what I've learned!  I've got two sets to show, one for the BJP for February, and one for my Artbeads.com Winter Enchantment themed project, so stay tuned in for all the pics.  Here we go!

First up, I'm going to tell you about my BJP project for February.  If you read my post on last month, you'll remember that my goal this year is to learn at least 1 new beadweaving stitch per month and make a jewelry set using that stitch.  Last month I learned wire crochet.  This month it is the flat spiral.  I just adore this stitch!  I can tell that it will be one that I use quite often in the future.  I watched a video many times to get the idea of what I was going to be doing.  The video suggested 6mm bicones for the center and 4mm bicones for the edges, along with 11/0 seed beads.  I found a mix of seed beads I like called "Witche's Brew".  It's pretty and not at all witchy.  The seed beads are considered 11's, but they are smaller than Tohos or Miyukis and they are not real regular.  That meant that I had to adjust the number of seed beads I used in my set as compared to what the video said to do.  Then, I didn't want to do just bicones.  I found at that same store by me some strands of what I think is Hematite.  The beads are 6-sided, so they have a very interesting cut to them.  Although they are 6mm, they are actually a tad bigger than bicones, so again I had to adjust.  But, no problem!  I just played for a little while until I got it right.

I actually had some problems with this when I first started.  Ok...a LOT of problems. lol.  The first two times I started the side loops weren't laying correctly.  It took the third try to get the hang of it.  The first bracelet I made was entirely too huge, so I took the completed bracelet apart and started over.  Then on the necklace when i was just knotting off the final end on one of the sides, the string got all wonky and the whole thing was ruined because I couldn't get out that half-hitch knot.  I had to take it all apart as well and start THAT one completely over.  As you can imagine, I gots TONS of practice with this stitch! :)

Sometime last summer I was at a store and found a dragonfly pendant that I really loved, but I had no idea what I was going to do with.  Isn't it amazing how the perfect thing just jumps out of your stash to complete a project?  I love dragonflies.  For some reason they cause me to stop and reflect when I see one buzzing around.  It's amazing to me that here in the desert where there's no water for miles I'll just suddenly see a dragonfly.  It's seems so special that this dragonfly showed up just for me to see its beauty that I just stop and admire it.  It's almost as if they try to whisper something to me with their wings fluttering in the air.

This set I call Dragonfly at Midnight.  Things have been a little dark these days for me...personal problems that I'm sure you would have no interest in.  But what this set says to me that even in the darkness their is a glimmer of beauty and magic.  Here are some pics of what I have created for the February BJP...

Dragonfly at Midnight

I was so very excited when I finished up this set!  I think it's probably my favorite things I've ever made.  They look so gorgeous on.  The Hematite is heavy, so it's got a great feel to it...slinky but not flimsy.  As soon as I finished this up and took a step back and looked at what I did, my mood lifted and really made my day.

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On to round 2!!!  I was super excited today when I finished my Winter Enchantment project for Artbeads.com.  You all know how much I love Artbeads, so any time I get new orders from them is a good day for me.

I realize that much of the country is bound tight in the grasp of terrible storms, and most of you are probably sick of snow and ice.  But for me in the desert, thinking of a winter wonderland makes me happy.  When I got the email saying what the theme was, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  I used the same flat spiral stitch, but I used my favorite seed beads...Tohos.  In this project I used 11/0 Silver-Lined Crystal, and boy do they sparkle!  To compliment the side loops I used Swarovski 4mm bicones.  I searched and searched until I found the perfect focal point...a Swarovski  30mm Cosmic Ring, also in crystal.  I have always wanted to use the cosmic rings, but didn't know what to do with them.  This was the perfect necklace!  And I tell you, I was certainly not disappointed when I opened it!  It's thick and weighty, just feels good.  And the glimmer of it is gorgeous!  I have to say, though, that I'm super afraid of dropping my necklace with my clumsy hands I have and cracking that thing right apart.  I don't know how easily they would break, but I definitely don't want to find out!!!

Now, I thought about using Swarovski pearls, but I have to admit that I just couldn't afford them this go-around.  After searching for something else I came across Druk 6mm beads in Crystal Luster.  They really worked out well!  For the clasp I thought the logical thing to do would be to go with a silver one.  But something just kept nagging at me and told me to go with gold.  I just think it adds a little extra pop right there at the end.  Some people may differ with me, but I think the TierraCast Antique Gold Leaf Clasp set really did the trick.  I also used simple gold-filled ear wires for the earrings.

When Michelle put on the set I just grinned from ear to ear!  It looked so pretty on her.  I think this set is so versatile...with a little black dress for a night out on the town, dressing up a casual outfit for some real bling, and I think it would be beautiful as a wedding set.  Artbeads never lets me down.  Here are some pics for you to see.  I can't think of a name for it.  Was thinking of "Crystal Shimmer", but that sounds kind of boring.  Michelle and her sister Malissa thought the name should have something "sparkly" in it.  Do you have any ideas?

oh, bummer.  i just realized my bottom loop was pushed to the side.  guess i need to retake that shot!

Do you see how the sun just really gleams off the beads?  I love that!  I hope you all have liked what I had to show you today!  I am going to put these sets in my Etsy shop and see how that goes.  Hoping to fund some more beads.  :)

Do you like the jewelry sets I've been working on?  I hope it was worth the wait!

FTC Disclosure:  Artbeads.com has supplied me with the beads highlighted above.  No compensation has been made for my true and honest opinions of their products.