I Made Something!

It's kind of small and didn't take a terribly long time, but I succeeded in creating something.  What a breakthrough!  :)  The funny thing is, the only thing I used from the stash I bought the other day was the seed beads. lol.  This may not fall into the category of "powerful" or "empowering" by looking at it, but truly it was.  After reading Beth's post on her blog at Bellesanbeaus Crafts regarding her mother "keeping things for good", I was moved to use one of my treasured Painted Ladies that she made.  That to me was very empowering.  I took control of the fear of not doing the cab justice and not being good enough, and just let myself create something with it.  I decided I would not "keep my painted beauties for good".

This is a pin that measures 2 1/4" across and 2 1/2" down on the main oval part.  Side to side including the silver doodads it is 3 3/4" and the loopies on the bottom hang an additional inch.  I hope you can get an idea of the beautiful purples and the different shapes I used from the pics.  I outlined the face with two rows of seed beads in two different colors.  Then the next row I alternated between these luscious and yummy purple balls and fantastic varigated bugle beads.  I added some leaves that are deep purple with hints of blue and green and have a great sheen to them.  The silver doodads were kind of a fun little story.  I had discovered metallite on the Artbeads.com website.  I'm a poor beader and can't really afford true silver and gold so I thought the metallite would be a fun substitution.  (It is!)  Well, I ordered about 10 different shapes in silver and gold and these that you see here were a mistake.  They were off one product code number from the ones I actually ordered.  I called Artbeads about it right away because I didn't like these at all.  They were so big and clunky and I was positive I would never use them.  Well, they said they would mail the correct ones out right away and to just keep these because it wasn't worth the postage to send them back.  Ok, I thought maybe I would find a use for them someday.  And I think they worked perfectly in this project!  So, even if you think you don't like something, just remember that a project one day will scream for just those beads. 

Leaf Masquerade

Is this face not gorgeous, or what???!!!

Another photo color-adjusted slightly differently.

I put this one here so you can see the different dimensions of the beads around the face.

I wanted to say thank you to all of you who lent your support over my last couple of posts.  A lot of you are going through a rough patch as I am, and I want to thank you for your understanding but also know that I am sending hugs and warm thoughts your way, too.

Have a good week and HAPPY CREATING!!!

I love it when the mailman brings me presents!

OMG!  I got the most fantastic presents in the mail today!  A while back my friend and I (Beth from Bellesanbeaus Crafts) decided to make a trade.  She is just getting into beading so I sent her a stash of beads to get going with.  She had quite a few 11/0's from what I understood, so I sent her a lot of 15/0's and some 8/0's, 6/0's and bugles to go with what she already had.  In exchange she was going to send me 3 of her gorgeous painted lady cabs.  But much to my surprise, I got more than I bargained for.  She sent not 3 but 4 of her cabs!  On top of that she sent me a pkg of blue beads, a stunning square cab that I'm guessing is some sort of jasper, and some cylinder beads to go with it.  She said that she thought of me and my cuffs when she saw this square cab.  How thoughtful was that???  Now, I'm going to have fun making a "Beth" cuff.  Take a look at these treasures that she sent to me!

These are the beads to compliment the square cab.  Pretty, aren't they???

The cab is 1 3/16" square and will be just the perfect size for a cuff!  It's gorgeous!

Just take a look at these face cabs!

They all measure about 1 1/2" x 1" and are made of polymer clay then hand-painted.  They are just exquisite.  Please stop by Beth's blog (Bellesanbeaus Crafts) and take a look at the other wonderful things she has done.  She is so very talented!  lol  I just realized there is a blue bead stuck in the eye of the first cab.   I thought I got them all out.  She packed that one in the bag of blue beads and the beads got packed into the eyes of the mask and I had to work at getting them out with a needle.  Oops...missed one! :)  And you can click on any of the pics for a larger view.

THANK YOU BETH!!!