In a Bead Stouper

Here's my sneak peek from my amazing Bead Soup paaatnuh (I have to say that word like I'm in a Clint Eastwood flick). Lois Moon gave me the most amazing group of beads in the most amazing color palette! I can only hope that I can do her beads justice. These kinds of beads are all new territory for me, mostly because they are large enough to be seen with the naked eye!

What's more, my partner's a Spanish teacher! How much of a cool pairing was that! You can see what I sent her here. I'm looking forward to what we're gonna work up.

Also, do you remember the story that I wrote to go with my Home is Where the Heart Is Pendant. Well, someone bought the pendant yesterday! I was so excited. Way more so for that person. I really, really like these pendants. They are so much fun to make, and so unique. I hope she likes it, it's going into the mail today, with copy of the story just for good measure.

Alright, today, someone very special in my life is having a birthday so I'm off to celebrate!

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!

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....

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!