Under the Sea (Under the Sea!)

For the Etsy Beadweaver's March Challenge, the theme is Fairy Tale. I chose to do Ariel, the Little Mermaid. So...I walked around the house all day humming "Under the Sea" and "Kiss the Girl". The result was another tidepool ring in some Ariel-esque colors. (I call it Aqua Tidepool Ring)
And my entry for the challenge, Under the Sea Bracelet.

"...life is sweet here, we got da' beat here naturally, natura-lee-lee-lee..."

Have a good Sunday!

I beaded y'all some beads!

After the bead soup, I had quite a few people contact me and mention that they really liked the beaded beads and wondered if I were selling any. Well, I was, and one lucky gal scooped up both sets out of my shop during my birthday sale last week. So....I got inspired to make a few more sets, and I couldn't get the colors of the Art Bead Scene Color Challenge out of my head. Here's what I came up with....


Now, I know that they don't meet the criteria for art beads, but wouldn't something like this look so cute dangling below (or above) on of them??? (I'm just sayin'....)

Also did some in some foresty colors. These are similar to the ones that I made for Lorelei that she used in her Dragonflier necklace.

This is a focal set with complimentary beads like the one above. I used Australian Jasper and gunmetal seeds. This is the same set that I used for my Evening Shade necklace.

And last but not least I created another Tidepool Ring. This one reminds me of an English garden in spring. The colors are these rich pinks with purple tones and the greenest of greens. I'm making these to order now, so I can make a ring that fits you perfectly!

If you'd like to see the listings for any of these, just click on the picture, and it'll take you straight to the listing. Have a great weekend all!

Advice for the newbie

It was probably about two years ago that I tried my first peyote bracelet. I had these super gigantic square beads and I was sitting at the dining room table and I remember being so frustrated because I could not figure it out, the beads would not stay where I put them and I thought Nymo was the devil.

Well, needless to say, I persevered and this bracelet was the result. I thought that I was THE STUFF....I thought I had arrived. I mean, yeah, don't get me wrong, it's a cute bracelet, but shortly afterwards I proceeded to buy Beadwork Magazine and had another "there's no way in the world" moment while my jaw hung open on said dining room table.

When I look back at that I think, wow, I've come a long way. I don't do much straight peyote anymore. I'm more enamored with shapes and creating something new, but every now and then I will wear a standard peyote bracelet, and I can't help but smile thinking about that evening at the dining room table.

It's come full circle. This year I will have two of my designs in Beadwork magazine as complete projects that anyone can try and I can't help but smile and think about some beader just starting out sitting at her dining room table looking at my bracelet having a "there's no way in the world" moment. I'm here to let you know that there is a way. It's gonna take a lot of practice (and a lot of Nymo), but it's doable, you just have to keep doing it.

Good luck to you if you're just starting out, and remember not to give up, and don't be afraid to contact the artist if you're stuck in a project that you just don't get, that's why their contact info is in the mag! Oh, and also, on behalf of the entire beading community, I welcome you to the little club, and I apologize in advance to you and your bank account.

What do you think?

First of all, silver is hard to photograph on limestone. I had to pull out some gray scrapbook paper to get a good pic of this guy. This pendant was kind of a trial run. I used a technique that I had seen in a magazine and adapted it to creat a pendant. It's silver beads with pearlized blue beads in the center and aventurine rounds on the outside. It's woven with two layers, so it's got some nice heft to it and when worn, hangs more in an oval shape which kind of mimics the chain it's hung on. Silver Loop Pendant is in my shop.

I also put a new tidepool ring in the shop to replace the purple one that I sold. I didn't finish this ring off, so it can be customized to fit you. OH MY GOSH!! As I was writing this blog post, someone just bought my ring! Okay, well....I still have all the goods, so if you would like a Tuscan Tidepool Ring, let me know, and I can make one for you! (psss...click the link, I just re-listed it)

Okay, well, once I recover from the shock of that....my original reason for writing this post was that I wanted your critique on my Silver Loop pendant. It's a new design and like any, it's gonna need some tweaking. I'm looking at trying it again in some different colors, maybe even patterns. What do you think about the shape? I know (because I've checked your profiles!) that my followers are super talented ladies with a great eye for good design, so shoot straight with me and give me what ya' got. Thanks ahead of time for your input. Sometimes I'm so close to my work that I can't see the forest for the trees!

Sold.

Okay, I promise I won't do this every time that I sell something, but yesterday I was super excited because I sold 7 items during my birthday sale! It was awesome which means that today will be a super trip to the post office to send these babies off!
Among the items finding a new home:

...some beaded beads (I sold both sets in my store!)

... both of my lacy cuffs! (to the same person, what a lucky lady!)

... and a special order for a tidepool ring. (of all the things I make, these are the most fun to wear)

I was so excited that I had to tell you! This, of course, means that there will now be room for all new things to pop up in the store, so keep your eyes peeled for some Spring-appropriate jewelry! Thanks again to the wonderful customers who gave me their support yesterday. It is such a good feeling to have someone appreciate your work in that way.

Sick

Yep, all day yesterday. Did not leave couch from 10:00 AM until 11:00 PM. I watched the Olympics, Top Gear, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, the Olympics, The Chronicles of Riddick, the Olympics...did I mention the Olympics?
But the good news is that while I was sleeping, someone took advantage of my Birthday sale and bought this:
Today's the last day for the sale, and I'm tellin' ya' there's some good stuff in there. I'm anxious to clean out my store a little bit, so that I can get some good stuff put up for Spring! Alright, I hope that you guys have a good Sunday and that it does not involve sickness in any way! (And, I'm writing again about my sale, just to see how many more times I can post a hyperlink to my own store in one blog post! Whew...six!)

It's my birthday and I'll have a sale if I want to!

Yep, it's my birthday and you guys get to benefit because I'm having a....

SALE!!!

I've already taken 25% off everything in my Etsy store!

So, you're gonna gets some great jewelry for some great prices, go check it out!

In other news, the birthday gifts were ordered on Monday and they are....

This set of pendants and rings.
Notice how they are conspicuously empty of color or decoration....hhhmmm....but yet have a lot of space where one could possibly deposit bits of paper, beads, or even....

Oh, maybe this stuff!
That's right, I did, I went and bought the ICE Resin, I had to, after scanning through the Objects and Elements blog hop, I had to try this stuff out. So, I ordered enough of the above bezels for me and my sisses to spend the afternoon playing around. (Hopefully it will all arrive today!) I also bought the coolest pack of scrapbook paper from Michael's. They were having a great sale and I got a big stack of card stock at a great price! Alright, well, I'm off. I gotta get some housework done before the fun begins, but believe me, the fun will definitely begin! (I'll post pictures ASAP) Have a great day y'all!

It's all about the tease...

Sorry, I've been so absent lately! I've been out of town...it's been snowing...yadda, yadda...I've been busy. However, I've still found time to do my obsessive compulsive, mindless, looking-for-things-I-can't-buy Etsy hunting and I've come to a conclusion....when it comes to jewelry photographs it's all about the tease. Here are some examples:

The first is a pendant of mine I call River Rock, the above picture is super up-close and you can see all the detail, but you don't get an idea of what the pendant would look like on the wearer until you see the next picture which is a little farther back.

Same thing here with my Ferris Wheel Bracelet only to the extreme. In this pic, you wouldn't even know how to wear it, until....

you get to this pic where you can see the clasp and the full profile of the bracelet.

Here's another example, in Beadsforever's shop the first photo you see is an up-close of her Golden Rose Netted necklace.

It's not until you keep clicking that you get the full shot of the necklace.

The Beaded Lily also does this with her equestrianne necklace. Super up-close shot with stunning detail of the beads.

Keep clicking, and you're rewarded with a great picture of what the necklace would look like if it were yours.

I tell ya' what....I am learning so much about taking pictures just by shop hoppin'. It's really helped me to understand what makes a great pic, and I'm enjoying it to boot. I hope this helps you a little or maybe just inspires you to go shop hoppin'. Either way, if you own a shop, the next time you visit one that you like think not only about their product, but also how they present it, there are so many people who have been doing this a lot longer than me and they are really good at it. Who knows, you may pick up some great tips?

Snow Babies

I know anyone north of the Mason-Dixon Line is sick of seeing the white stuff, but down here it's about as common as....well, it's not very common. Here's what we did this morning.

This bird house used to say "See Rock City".

The woods behind the house.

Me and baby Dodie.

My two sisters.

My fiance and the snow chef.

I hope y'all have a great day. I'm going to go take a nap.

Bead Soup Par-tay

I have already been blog-hoppin' a bit this morning before I got my post up. (Sshhh....don't tell anyone!) And already I'm blown away by some of the things that have been created. Great stuff. I'm honored to be a part of the group, and Lori Anderson did such a great job organizing everything. To see the full list of participants (and trust me, you'll want to) visit her blog.

Okay, and now for the good stuff!! My partner was Michelle Mach. Now, I must say when I found out, I was just a little intimidated, I mean, come on, this girl was Beading Daily's editor!!! But, on the flip side, I knew that that meant that whatever she sent me was destined to be awesome, and of course, it was. Here's another snapshot of the goods. Now I must confess that I racked my brain for days to come up with a necklace design that I liked and well.....

I call it XYZ. It's very geometric and because of all the wire loops, just a little outside my norm!

I started by creating the Y shape with the focal. I added one of the porcelain beads that Michelle sent me along with a beaded bead that I made. I made two more sets of beaded beads and strung them together with the other two porcelain disks and two more porcelain beads that I had on hand. Some size 11 and size 8 seed beads round finish out the necklace and the sterling silver clasp is a perfect compliment to the geometric feel of the focal. Thanks Michelle!!!

Here's a close-up of the focal.

Here's a close-up of the beaded beads. I've been making these beads like crazy lately and I love them. I even have some for sale in my Etsy shop, they make the perfect addition to stringing projects.


I hope you enjoyed this stop on the Bead Soup Party. Please be sure to keep hoppin' around. There are plenty more incredible creations to see and I know you'll love them. A big thanks again to Lori Anderson for pulling the whole thing together and here's the link again to her blog so that you can see all the participants. Have fun partying!

It's Coming....

Stay tuned for tomorrow when the whole world shall see what a lot of talented women can do when given things from other talented women....

Hotlanta Finally

We're here after about 9 hours of travel. Why nine when it should only take six? Well, it all started when the transmission died on I-20. Three hours, one Enterprise rent-a-car, and a tow truck later and we're here. So I'm asking any suggestion on what to do? Already got the aquarium in the plans. Anything else?

The Passage of Time

Back in December I joined the Round Rabbit's book club. The idea was to read a book, The House of Riverton, Kate Morton, during the month of January and then create something that had to do with the theme of the book or that you were inspired to create from the book.
Well, here's my creation...

I call it Frozen in Time. I was so overwhelmed with the theme of time as I read the book. It was as if it were a character in the book. It was almost as if the clock were a silent antagonist and every member of the house was subject to its whims. I watched the characters and even the house change, grow, and lose innocence as time passed.

So, I created a bracelet that reflects this idea of time. I used little clock components to make miniature clocks whose hands spin freely, almost kind of the way that time passes of its own accord and we can't control it. The two cogs connecting the clocks are wrapped in jasper because I wanted to put stone in their for age and durability. The clasp is made of another open cog and the minute hand of a watch.

I really enjoyed reading the book, it really made me think about the fleetingness of a moment and to enjoy every moment that I live in . I want to look back at my life like Grace did and be able to tell a happier story. One that was full of happy beginnings and endings and full of decisions that filled the people around me with joy. Thanks to Nancy for organizing the book club and I'm looking forward to the next go around.

I gots a Treasury and it's time to vote!!!

I haven't gotten a treasury in a long time, but yesterday I just happened to stumble onto this: It's still cold outside... I hope you like it. It has lots of good beadwork in it!

Also, here's my challenge entry for El Reto on the blog Beads Perles. A group of jewelry artists got together and the challenge was to make something using recycled materials. So, I worked up a bracelet with an old fabric belt that I don't wear anymore and a button that was buried in the deepest recesses of my mother's sewing box. Result? A very Gilligan's Island meets Forever 21.

Here are all the entries for this week: You can click here to vote, and yes, I am shamelessly soliciting votes!