Beginnings

The task is to write about beginnings, but its hard when the world is asleep. I look outside and see the mark that winter has left on the earth....the crunchy, brown grass, the trees that have forfeited their leaves to the winter wind, the bare wisteria vine that clings to the side of the house. Nature does not speak of beginnings just now.

Tree of Life Pendant from ccvalenzo

Just now, we are far from the green trees that spread their leaves in summer and offer shade to the hottest parts of the yard. The insects and animals have gone into hiding to escape the cold and I miss the birds and the butterflies. We still see the occasional deer but not nearly as often and only one or two instead of the families of six that normally roam the woods.

Stoneware Butterfly Pendant from Every Heart Crafts

All of life seems hidden, waiting for that perfect moment when the cycle can begin anew and things can start to live and breathe again. The moment when the earth is tired of being dead and instead starts to bring forth life.

Acorn Bead from Loriola

But even as I sit and write this, I feel overwhelmed with the enormity of life. I'm up and awake and going through my normal routine, but across town in a hospital bed my sister is cuddling a brand new baby, a beginning while the world is in the middle of all its endings. It still seems surreal.

Sweetest Little Birdnest Pottery Pendant by SweetPea Cottage

I am wondering where in the world I'm going to put him in my heart. His older brother and sister have already taken permanent residence, and so now I scoot them over just a little to squeeze in a third. And, of course, I think about the future...what will I do when I have my own?! How many can a heart truly hold? I mean, truly...not friends or family who pass in and out of your life, but the people who will be there forever, who will stand around you when you are old and care for you when you can no longer do it.

Good Morning Butterfly Pendant by toofabulous

So, today, I am thinking about life and about cocoons opening to reveal their secrets while the rest of the world is asleep. Yesterday was a beginning right in the middle of all these endings, and I'm looking forward to it.
There's a certain uncertainty about the whole thing, a certain fear and curiosity that comes with not knowing, not knowing what the future will bring, or what tomorrow will hold. But then again, I think, maybe, that that is what beginnings are for.

Fire and Ice

I'm sure y'all have seen my Molten Lava Cuff. I'm using it as the header bar for my store and also my Facebook avatar. Well, I got the hankering to revisit the design and about 10 hours later, here's the result: Ice Cuff. I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to list it. I've been asked a lot for the pattern. (there isn't one!) I just can't decide if I want to part with it!
Okay, anyway, in other news, I've listed my Smoke and Mirrors bracelet in my Etsy store if you'd like to see more of that. Have a great day.

Smoke and Mirrors and Lorelei Eurto

First of all, I wanted to show you a necklace done by the muy talented Lorelei Eurto. Why? You ask. Well, because not only is it gorgemous, but she used my beads!! Yep, me and Ms. Eurto chatted one day about beaded beads, so I sent her a few of mine and whadda ya know...they look great with this combination of stone, wood, and a beautiful pendant from Earthenwood Studios. If you want more pictures of this beautiful necklace, or you just must buy it, it's called Dragonflier and listed here, in her shop.

Here's a close-up of my beaded beads. If you want to check those out, I have a couple of really cool brightly colored ones in my shop as well.

Okay, Smoke and Mirrors. This bracelet started with a very simple strand of smoky blue czech faceted beads. I normally don't do well, anything with those types of beads but I bought them on a whim at a bead show I attended last week. I was thinking about their shape and how to use them, and I had seen them used inside of herringbone stitch at the tops of the columns, and I had used them like that also, but it seemed so boring, so I thought about doing it around another bead. Anyway, I could tell ya' the whole story but it's long and drawn out. Let's just say that this was the result of much trial and error and a whole lot of counting beads. I'm still undecided about selling it. I really like it. I think that what I may do is see if I can find some more of those smoky blue czech beads, and if I can, then I'll sell this piece and make me another.

Alright, I'm off to get some work done. I was out all day yesterday and now have quite a bead mess to clean up. Have a great day all!
P.S. I sold my Spring Leaves Necklace!! (Which means a little extra money in the paypal account to put toward faceted czech glass!)

Spring Leaves

It's nice when you have the vision in your head for a piece of jewelry, and it turns out exactly the way you wanted...AND you got to learn a new technique. This is Spring Leaves. It's in my Etsy store if you want to see more.

Art Bead Scene and I sold sumfin!!

I started entering the Art Bead Scene challenge in July and I told myself that I would make it a goal to enter every month. Well, it was gettin' darn close to the end of January and my brain was not wanting to do white AT ALL. I was so confused on what to do, and then it hit me!

I made beaded beads to look like little white snowballs and strung them together with some seed beads and some wood beads and a cute little bird charm from Green Girl Studios. I call it Snowbird Bracelet and I like it alot. It's in my Etsy shop too.

In other news....I sold sumfin!! (that's "something" in case you don't speak toddler!) I sold my Green with Envy Tidepool Ring. It's on its way to its new home in Texas. So, because my shop looked lonely without it, I had to make another. Here's Purple Tidepool Ring.

And just to make sure it didn't get lonely, here's Key Ring. (Get it? Key Ring? But not for your keys....I'll stop now.) Well, alrighty, I'm out. Enjoy your Sunday, I'm off to make a list of all the things that I need to get done beady-wise before the end of the month! (This includes quite a few contests and challenges, hhhmm..... :)

The Loot

Here's what I got from the Intergalactic Bead Show.....
Seed Beads. Size 15, 11, and 8. The top two hanks are Picasso. I love those colors. I also got some faceted czech glass and some mixed gemstones.

Here are the cabs and gemstones. I am absolutely in love with the cabochons. I bought them from Gregg Graupp and they are cut beautifully. I'm so excited to actually be working with some high quality cabs, I'm gonna have to treat them like royalty! I also bought some other mixed gemstone strands that I thought were gorgeous, and a strand of Mexican Lace Agate. I love this stuff as well, it reminds me of spiderwebs or snowflakes.

In other news, the Rosy Revolver is having a giveaway! For those of you who have never seen her work, you should check it out. She is also a lover of great stones and makes some of the most interesting and beautiful rings that I've ever seen.

Oh, I also finished my Bead Soup piece! Whew! The inspiration was slow in coming, but its done! (Of course you won't get to see that until Feb. 10th, sorry!)

Have a great day!

Sherlock Holmes, Resin, and a Bead Soup Par-tay

We'll start at the beginning. Sherlock Holmes. I happen to think Jeremy Brett was THE Sherlock Holmes, that he was born to play the role and did so with such finesse and attention to detail that there can be no other. As a result, I have been watching his entire series of episodes, streamable through Netflix.
Problem: I'm done with the series and I have nothing to watch.
Solution: I must find a new series to stream. (If you haven't gotten on the Netflix bandwagon you are missing out.)

Okay, on to Resin, I've been reading Enchanted Adornments by Cynthia Thornton (thank you Ms. Powers for my copy!) and am itching to try making anything with resin. For whatever reason, the idea of encapsulating something permanantly inside of a clear, glue-like substance that dries hard just speaks to me on such a deep level.
Problem: I cannot afford to start a new hobby, I'm up to my eyeballs in seed beads.
Solution: We'll keep resin on the back burner for now and revisit it this summer.

Finally, the Bead Soup Par-tay... Here's a snapshot of the goods which arrived yesterday. My partner is Michelle Mach. I've always admired her things in Beadwork and she served as editor of Beading Daily when I won the Pattern Play Challenge. So, I am definitely looking forward to making something with this lov-e-ly set of beads.
Thank you, Michelle!

Oops, I forgot.

These were all Christmas presents: For my mom, a necklace with an interchangeable focal, the first is a beaded bead and the second is a locket.

For my sister, a spiral peyote bangle. (It's the first bangle she's ever owned. Looks very grown-up!)

For my other sister a bracelet made from brass rings and peyote strips as connectors. Kind of eclectic, but definitely one-of-a-kind.

I've been working on some ring designs, I'll try to get them photographed and put up tomorrow. Hopefully!

Made something. Sold something!

First of all, I sold my Sand and Sea Cuff that I posted in the previous blog post! Wow! I am so excited!
Okay, coming off the high of that, I made this:

I call it Butterfly Moss. It's made using a clasp and bead from Green Girl Studios, and then I strung it with large aventurine beads and little handwoven beads that I created using agate and seed beads. It's in my Etsy shop if you'd like to check it out.
Also, for those of you who don't know about Mellisa of Chinook Jewelry, you should definitely check out her shop. She does some incredibly beautiful work. Awhile back she sent me some cabs, and I created some pieces with her cabs. I've already shown you Morrocan Pendant, well, here is the second necklace that I created for her. Ya' know, I'm just now realizing, I haven't given it a name! Any suggestions?

The Sand and the Sea

One of the guidelines for being a member of the Etsy Beadweavers Team is that you have to at least once a year enter the challenge, well, this month the challenge theme was ocean or sea. I just finished my entry today. I call this Sand and Sea Cuff. I tried to use more muted tones because when I think about the ocean in winter I always think about paler blues and the muted sand tones. Things just aren't quite as bright as they are in summer, plus it's cold! So, here's my entry for the challenge. Voting won't open for about another month, but when it does I'll let ya' know.

However, if you'd like to vote for something, you can still go to the Beads Perles blog and vote for your favorite necklace/earring combo for El Reto of this month. The voting box is on the right, and there are links to all the entries if you scroll down through the post. I hope you enjoy browsing through the entries, there are some really talented designers out there.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and that you have a great week!

If your friends jumped off a bridge....

Finished this yesterday at the request of a friend who said they wanted to see me work with pink. It's extremely fememine, but I really like the look. I used a design that I had used before but added flowers and went with a more spring-like color them. I posted it in my shop if you'd like to see more pices. Me likes...mucho. (I tried to photshop my sister's neck to make her look a little less pasty...nope, wasn't working, we're just too deep into winter and us Abney girls don't hold a tan past September.)
Okay, and here's the reason I titled this post the way I did....yep, I'm in the par-tay....and so far it looks like we've got like a billion people coming. (Okay, maybe not that many). But you can go to Lori Anderson's blog to get the details and sign up.

Last, but not least, I was recently accepted into the Etsy group Etsy Beadweaver's, these ladies are the bomb! Needless to say, I am muy excited! I'm lookin' forward to sinking my teeth into their next challenge. Speakin' of challenges....Kristie Roeder of Artisan Clay is having a cool one involving color, you can check it out here on her blog. Alright, I'm gonna go bead it up! Have a great day!

New Year, New Friends...

Okay, so this wasn't exactly in the new year. It was New Year's Eve in fact, I drove up from the last minute run to the grocery store, (we made tacos for dinner) and saw this:
He was just chillin' on the fence like he owned the place. We've seen him once before and he hung around all day New Year's Eve. (He must like Mexican). He reminds me of the movie Ladyhawke, remember that one?

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!!

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway on my blog and my facebook page. I assigned everyone a number, used the trusty random number generator and Candace Miller, who signed up on my Facebook page won the bracelet! Congrats to Candace!

Okay, I wanted to show you two things that I've been working on this weekend. The first is a pendant made with size 11 seed beads and blue goldstone rounds. I'm trying to come up with a good name for it. Maybe something like Medieval Shield, or the Sword Maiden's Shield. I dunno, I'm kinda stuck on the idea of a shield, but I'm open to suggestions if anybody sees it as something different?
This second one is a very simple herringbone necklace. It is made with bugle beads and size 11 seeds. I made one in this style for a friend, and loved it enough that I wanted to make a second. The rope is only two beads wide, so it's very feminine and easy to wear. I'll be listing this one in my Etsy shop if you'd like to check it out.