Time to Vote and some new stuff!

Okay, first of all, it's time to vote! El Concurso for Beads Perles starts today and the participants have listed their entries. The rules state that in order to vote, you have to be on their list of artists. I know some of you are and are therefore eligible to vote, if you're not, but would like to be, you can send them an e-mail along with links to your Flickr page, store, and/or website and they'll add you to the list. I've really enjoyed following this blog and getting to know the wonderful ladies who run it. There are some incredible artists on there, so even if you have no plans of joining, I suggest you check it out, you'll probably find a new artist, or maybe even find out more about an old artist that you've followed for a while! The picture below is a beautiful bracelet and earring set that you could win just for voting! So head on over and see what all the fuss is about.
Okay, and here's some new stuff from yours truly. I call this Bronceada. It's a bead embroidered bracelet using bronzite and different shades of bronze and copper beads. I did most of it on the plane on the way back from my vacation, but finished the edging and the clasp yesterday. It's my entry for El Reto on Beads Perles. At the end of November, 14 artists from the blog will be submitting entries for a specific theme (this month is a bracelet), and everyone will have the chance to vote for their favorite. All but two of the entries are in and voting will start at the end of the month.

This was another project that I created and submitted for the Art Bead Scene Challenge. It is made using a leaf connector from Erin of Every Heart Crafts. I actually won the connector when Erin participated in the Open Studio Tour from the Beads-of-Clay blog and was fortunate that the lovely yellowy-orange color was such an integral part of this month's challenge painting. It's the first lariat-type necklace that I've created and I enjoyed working on it immensely.

Alright, have a great Monday, I know everyone is looking forward to and counting down the days until Pumpkin Pie...um, I mean, Thanksgiving!

Arab Inspiration

I'm home! Whew, what a trip! It's so good to be back, though. I'm tired and will probably spend today taking a couple of naps to compensate for jet lag, but I wanted to show you some photos of the last thing we saw before I left Abu Dhabi. This is the Grand Mosque (sorry about the speed sign!). It's located at the edge of the city, and it's HUGE! It is white because it is covered from top to bottom in white Grecian marble. The spires at the tops of the domes are also 14k gold.

This is a picture of the floor in the central courtyard. Also made of white marble, it is covered in these chasing vines which have been inlaid into the white marble, using..you guessed it...more marble. This time different colored marble from countries across Europe.

This is a picture of one of the tiled Turkish mosaics in the mosque. I'm standing beside it wearing the traditional black abaya that the arabic women wear.

Yet another picture of those amazing Turkish mosaics.

Well, I'm off to unpack, clean, rest and relax. Of course, you know what's next....a necklace and/or bracelet inspired by the beautiful colors and shapes that I saw while on my trip. In the meantime, there's no place like home!

Almost Home

Wow. I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything, and I'm sure you're starting to wonder what happened to me. Well, I'm on a vacation...of sorts. I'm visiting my dad. He works overseas with a contract company from the U.S. I'm in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and I've gotten to do and see things I never imagined I would do. Yesterday we went on a desert safari and almost lost our lunch in an all-terrain vehicle as our driver took us up and over the largest sand dunes I've ever seen. This is a picture of me during our 5 min. break. The sand was incredible, it felt like powder.

This is Dubai. EVERYTHING is under construction in Dubai. I don't know if you can see it, but all the buildings have a crane on the top which makes them look like little insects. There are very few finished projects in Dubai, and the ones that are finished have roads that aren't.

I think this picture is very interesting as well. It's a picture of a traditional beduoin hut with the city skyline in the background. It's a very here's-where-we've-been-and-where-we're-going type picture. This places has changed A LOT in the last 40 years since it was established as a nation and it's been interesting to learn about its past and see its future. I do believe that the people here are trying to make something different of themselves and not fall into the stereotype that the rest of the world has of Muslim countries.
However, I can't help but look around me and think that they might have bitten off more than they can chew. I was surprised to learn that Dubai with all its construction, The Palms, The World, Dubai Ski, The Burj Al-Arab, the Burj Tower does not have the flow of oil money that Abu Dhabi has and when the economy started to fall apart a year ago, Dubai suffered the same collapse as the rest of the world. Unsustainable building at a completely unsustainable rate.
I suppose it's not my job to worry about it. I should just enjoy my time here seeing a different place and learning about a different culture, and so that's what I'm doing. It definitely has been interesting and I leave tomorrow to go home. And, I'm ready, I miss my sisters, my mom, my niece and nephew, my fiance and I'm looking forward to seeing them again. I hope you enjoy these pictures and I'll post some more when I get home. Ahh, home. :)

A Little Trip

Wow. I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything. I've been very busy. I have been creating, but I just haven't gotten around to taking any pictures. However, I did want to tell you something that I recently got involved in. I don't know if any of you read the blog Beads Perles, but it's an excellent website started by a group of artists in Spain who wanted to showcase the talents of jewelry artists from around the world. They succeeded. Their blog has interviews from some of the most amazing artists in the world. Well, recently, I was contacted to see if I would be willing to participate in what they are calling El Reto Beads Perles. Basically, the concept is that each month a group of 14 artists will be given a theme and then will be asked to create a piece of jewelry to go with that theme. At the end of the month, all participants who read the blog will be able to vote on the one that they believe is the best. It should be fun and I'm looking forward to it, and to meeting and making friends as part of this wonderful group of artists. Finally, I'm leaving today to go on a trip. It's going to be pretty significant. My total flight time will be about 16 hours! Whew! This is a photo of one of the significant sights in the city that I will be visiting. Any guesses as to where I'm going??? I won't tell you for now, I'll see if you can figure it out. Hopefully I'll be able to post from where I'm at, but I'll just have to wait and see. I'll only be gone for a week and a half, so you'll just have to miss me until then. :) Have a great rest of the week and I'll be posting some more pictures soon.

What I've been up to...

Okay, I decided to skip Tip Wednesday and write a little bit about what I've been up to the past couple of weeks. First off, I made this bangle using a connector from Earthenwood Studio. I got them from Melanie while she was having a BOGO sale. They took a week and a half to get here! However, because Melanie had sent me a tracking number, I was able to find my package when it didn't show up. It had gotten stuck in Indianapolis and hung out there for about 5 days! Weird, huh? Anyway, there are three more of those in different colors sitting on my work table, so stay tuned!

I also won some prizes when the Beads of Clay blog had their open studio event. I won two things. The first was a leaf connector from Erin of Every Heart Crafts. I also won this incredible pendant from Kristie Roeder of Artisan Clay. I'm modeling it in the picture below. I wore it all day yesterday and absolutely LOVE it! I got complimented by quite a few people as well!

And, finally, here's my fridge: Why? You ask. Well, this morning, I read a very interesting article about a photographer who traveled the country taking pictures of people's refrigerators. Here's the link. I know it sounds strange, but it was actually very interesting, and I found myself totally engrossed in what these people had in their fridges (a frozen snake, for one!). So, I decided, why not join the bandwagon? Here's a picture of my fridge, It's a smaller pic, but you should be able to click on it and blow it up a little. I'm noticing that leftovers take up a lot of room in a fridge!

So, my challenge to you is to post your fridge! I think it's kind of fun, like the article says...you are what you eat! Leave a comment here with a link to your blog if you decide to post your fridge, I'd love to peek into everybody's fridge.

Finally, I'm asking a question of my bead blog buddies. I'm getting ready to go out of town and this trip involves a pretty lengthy plane ride, and not wanting to waste any amount of time that I might spend sitting on my toosh, I was planning on taking my beads and getting to work. Any tips, advice, websites about beadin' and travelin'? I would be so grateful for anything that you could tell me or any advice you have to share.

Whew! I think that's it....have a great day!

Still Playing Along

Heather Powers' challenge is still on. Anyone interested in playing has three more days to get their entries in! This is my third entry. The challenge was to use a finding in an interesting way to create a focal piece for a necklace. This is what I came up with. The focal is a Branch Lentil bead by Humblebeads and below it, I've attached a magnetic clasp with some embellished chain fringe below. It's a large focal, and so if you decide that you don't want to wear such a large pendant....
your option is to remove the fringe and just have the lentil bead with a small charm hanging below it! You can adjust the length and the look of the necklace just by removing half of the clasp.

Here's a picture of the two separate pieces together.

I hope you like, and I hope that you'll play along with Heather if you get the chance, she's really come up with some creative ways to use beads to create findings and I've enjoyed stretching my brain to meet the challenges. Check out all the info here on Heather's blog.

Still Playing Along...

The challenge was to "chain-up" your focal bead and/or pendant. These are two jasper stones chained together and hung on gunmetal wire. Some pink beads thrown in to keep it from being too masculine. What do you think?

Playing Along

If you've been following my blog at all, you know that I'm not a big stringer, and I'm especially not good with wire, but when I started reading Heather's Fun with Focals Challenge over at her blog, I really wanted to participate. The challenge of working with jump rings particularly interested me and for whatever reason, this design popped into my head. I'd had these big brass rings hanging around for quite some time, it was nice to pull one out of the stash and use it. I hope that you'll check out Heather's challenge and play along if you get a chance. I've really enjoyed seeing what everyone has made. Here's a link to the Flickr group if you'd like to visit: Fun with Focals Flickr.

Now, I'm off to see if I can come up with a design for the other challenges! Have a great day.