Arts & Crafts Week

I just came across a few bracelets I made last year and since I haven't posted any real arts and crafts jewelry projects recently, today seemed like a good day to do that!

I also came across some pieces and parts of things that I had intended to work into jewelry projects, but never actually finished them. So...why not stretch this into a week long arts and crafts adventure!

I thought it was funny that there were several versions of this bracelet made with wooden flower pieces I found at Joann, Etc. That's a pretty good indicator I was having fun with something.

This wooden flower comes in a bag of at least 6 or 7 pieces for right around $2 I believe. I also bought some antiquing glaze and crackling glaze to see what would happen.

Well, at first glance these do appear to be sort of juvenile arts and crafts jewelry projects.

HOWEVER, anytime I have worn these bracelets, they look very fun and have gotten lots of comments.

It does seem that no matter how great an idea I have involving paint, my projects always seem to find themselves looking a bit juvenile. Maybe that's just my style :) and not a sign of stunted artistic growth!

I remember having lots of fun drilling the little holes and attaching these great jump rings. I loved that the E beads were a perfect fit on the jump rings and wish I had more of these pieces to play with right now!

I hope you are all having a great weekend!! Stay tuned for more arts and crafts! I'd also love to hear about your arts and crafts jewelry projects, so please share!

Featured Designer: The Waters Edge

Wow! That was all I could think of when I came across this bracelet on the Etsy site of "The Waters Edge".

The name of the site alone was a good indicator that I was going to see some awesome things here! I was RIGHT!! :)

Most of the pieces on the Waters Edge etsy site are inspired by lakes, rivers, basins...how wonderful and what a perfect name to describe her work!

I had just recently mentioned that some people evolve into creating a definitive style in their jewelry pieces and Waters Edge is a perfect example of that. Her Etsy site reads:

"...thewatersedge features leather, stone and silver wrap bracelets that can be worn alone or layered. Most bracelets feature a handmade (by me), fine silver button..."

Every piece is fabulous and I have to admit it took me quite a while to narrow down which pieces to show you here.

If you have a minute, I encourage you to check out all of the great work on this site.

Thanks a bunch to the Waters Edge for allowing me to showcase her wonderful work here today!! :) I am in awe!!

Yay, it's the weekend, have a great evening!!

If Only Glass Leaf Beads Fell From the Trees...

I was just envisioning the yard and driveway covered in glass bead leaves. If that was the case, my husband would be thrilled because I'd be out there sweeping and raking up instead of him! :)

He wouldn't be able to use the lawn vacuum though and that would be a bummer!

I LOVE maple trees and appreciate them for the shade they provide us in the summer time and the gorgeous greenery!

Our street probably looks exactly as the architects planned it out in the 1950's....lined with maple trees as far as the eye can see.

What kind of tree would shed glass bead leaves? A Glass bead tree? Okay, I'm having a little too much fun imagining all the cool beads appearing in the yard every day! :)

I hope you are having a great week!!

CZ Teardrop Pendant

This Cubic Zirconia (CZ) Ruby Teardrop Pendant is 14x9mm. In real life, the ruby color comes through, but with just a hint of orange. The color I was looking for actually seemed a little darker rusty/orangy red in my mind, but I thought these were very pretty and made a nice bold statement.

A friend of mine had purchased a pair of earrings on vacation that were made using a variety of fall colored beads twisted on gold thread with a redish/orangy briolette hanging from the bottom of each earring.

I am working on gathering the pieces and parts because one of the briolettes came off, so I thought I'd start over and try to make something reminiscent of the earrings she bought, but with my own twist keeping her in mind.

So, keeping her in mind, I think the beads need to be just a little bit more bold to match her personality :)... of course I mean that in a GOOD way!

These CZ teardrops are actually intended to be used as pendants which meant they were a little more expensive than I would have expected to pay for just the beads, BUT sometimes you have to go with the way the wind blows and believe that something even better is in store!

These are packaged on individual cards by Halcraft USA, Inc. These came from one of the larger craft stores, but I'm afraid I can't remember which one, either Michael's or Hobby Lobby.

I hope to post a finished pair in the near future :)

Pretty, Shiny Bail

Today's bead is a sterling silver fold-over style bail from Fire Mountain Gems. I had originally ordered this for an Italian glass pendant a coworker had picked up on a trip to Italy which was posted here a few weeks ago.

This shiny bail is fun and pretty at the same time. I love the little squiggly lines on it. The thing is, it was just too much for the beautiful glass pendant.

I took a few options to my friend and she ended up agreeing with me that the little black velour neck cord that came with a clasp already attached was the best way to show off her pendant.

So, thanks to my Dad who had given me a pack of several of those cords, it ended up not costing a cent to properly display her work of art.

I now have a lovely fold over style bail that I don't exactly know what to do with! Help! Your ideas would be greatly appreciated! :)

Edgy Rectangular Chain Links

I just love this ultra hip chain! In reality, I highly doubt that it is metal of any kind because it is so lightweight. I'll have to get a magnet out!

Regardless of its non-magnetic qualities, I love the idea of doubling or tripling the chain to create a fabulous cuff-like bracelet that you could hang so many things from!

You could also use several strands as channels for running beaded strands in between. What do you think?

It definitely has more of a rebellious or industrial type vibe which is great for those days when you need a little extra attitude!! This chain came from either Michael's or Joann's, I just can't remember which.

Hope you are having a great week so far!! Take care!

Peace, Love & Bead Bloggers!

I hope you have all had a great weekend! I've been catching up with lots of bead bloggers and, as usual, am so impressed by everyone's creativity and drive!! You have to believe people are following their passion if they are somehow finding time to not only squeeze in beading, but blogging as well!!

If you have a few minutes saved up, I hope you will join me in taking a quick trip through these sites below. I'm always anxious to take a look at what this group has been up to because it never fails to inspire me!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew revisits a bracelet design and creates six others.

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Better get on board, Lorelei is having the last of the Enchanted Adornments giveaways. Leave a comment to play!

About.com Jewelry Making
After posting a new jewelry book review for a very cool mixed media book, Tammy is looking a head to other reviews coming up very soon.

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
Barbe gets tangled up with Chain Style book review

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean has a little Boo power going on for her in this hand made Halloween bracelet!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
The inspiration for Melanie's Machinery of Nature necklace comes from science, steampunk, and nature.

Art Bead Scene
You've heard of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants? Well, this Sisterhood shares bracelets.

Strands of Beads
Melissa shows off metal clay goodies from Rings & Things

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi decided to finally use her bead stash from Paris.

Cindy Gimbrone aka the Lampwork Diva
Cindy's got some new findings from Ornamentea. What's she going to make with them?

Jean Campbell
Jean struggles through the creative process while bezeling some unusual crystal shapes

Jewelry & Beading
Little beaded flowers are addictive to make, and before you know it, you've got enough for a complete necklace!

Katie's Beading Blog Check out Katie's ideas on making your old beads new again- and make some affordable gifts along the way!

Birthday Greeting Turned Bracelet

Earlier in the week I mentioned I had received a very special handmade card from a friend/co-worker who is also a stampin' up representative.

She is very talented and extremely detail oriented. Her cards are always beautiful AND heart-felt.

Considering all of the many things she has going on in her life such as work, real estate business, grandchildren and stampin-up, she made the time to create a birthday card for me!

That makes me feel so special!! She was also extremely generous to include a Michael's gift card! Wow!

I immediately thought I'd love to find a way to remember this in the form of a piece of jewelry.

I thought it would be a nice reminder of the lengths a friend went to just for me. Carrying around that special feeling would be comforting.

I took the card to Michael's and looked for beads with similar colors. I had no idea until earlier this evening what I was actually trying to make.

After a number of other ideas I remembered I had a sterling plated cuff with holes for "sewing" on beads. I just started sewing! I thought this was certainly unique and sweetly representative of this wonderful gift.

I hope you are all having crafty weekends out there too! See you tomorrow!

Featured Designer: Lisa Burkin of Island Girl Designs

It's Featured Designer Friday, yay!! What a great day this is! I can't tell you how much I look forward to it.

This week's designer is doing something amazing that I had never seen before!! Lisa Burkin of Island Girl Designs has been making one of a kind jewelry using REAL FLOWERS, gemstone beads, sterling silver, 14K goldfilled and vintage elements, since 2001.

What struck me immediately was the fact she is using these real flowers that she has solidified in resin. WHAT!? I had no idea this was possible and am so thrilled she agreed to allow me to post her work here today.

Her Etsy site descriptions of these flowers reads, "I have coated the rose in poly resin, which preserves it forever, and makes it very durable, yet lightweight."

She then uses these solidified flowers in jewelry pieces with fabulous gemstones and pearls which continues with the "nature" theme.

The flower's colors are brilliant and you can't help but feel a deep appreciation for the miracle of nature's design.

Thanks so much Lisa!! I am now a HUGE fan!

Butter-minty Goodness

It's been a while since I've had buttermints, but I have not forgotten their smooth and yummy goodness! They are so soft and melt in your mouth....

I was just wondering why you always find mints and nuts where there is cake an punch...hmm, I'm curious now. I've done my fair share of setting up for cake and punch parties!! Sometimes during times of early retirement buy outs, there are multiple retirement parties on the same day. That's a lot of mints and nuts!!

I thought these sweet, creamy yellow pearls were very reminiscent of the buttery-minty candies. Okay, I might have to break down and get some this weekend! I'll skip the cake and punch though. :)

In the mean time, I better quit thinking about sweets and get my beads out!!

Have a great evening!

Smooth, Round Stones

These sweet little stone beads were part of my Michael's purchase recently. I took a handmade greeting card with me to the bead aisle to look for beads that I could use to make a wearable representation of the card. I was mostly interested in the shape and color of the beads.

These stones are somewhere between 8 and 10mm. I haven't come up with a final design yet, but I still have a few days left :) I'm waiting for some great inspiration to strike!!

Sometimes it comes at unusual times and places, but other times all it takes is running my fingers through a bunch of beads to see some design possibilities. I tend to want to do something just a little different, so I'm excited to see how this ends up.

Have a good one!! :)

Blue Stick-Like Glass beads

Today's bead is from Michael's, and as I mentioned yesterday, is part of a project I am working on to make a piece of jewelry representative of a beautiful handmade card I received recently.

This tubular bead looks a bit like stick coral, but is actually made of glass. The interesting thing is that the hole is not length-wise through the bead, but is straight through the middle, how cool!

I can imagine how cute these would be lined up on a strand of beading wire in the form of a bracelet and sticking out of the sleeve of a black suit. That would be a nice surprise of color!

Interesting Collection of Beads

You are probably thinking, this is an interesting collection of beads, and I would have to agree!! Seeing them in a group like this does make me wonder...

I received a beautiful birthday card that was made by a friend who is an extremely talented card maker. She happens to be a representative for the "Stampin-Up" company and is a perfectionist when it comes to her craft (and yes, she's a beader too)! I think she would make a perfect addition to Martha Stewart's staff because of this!

When I received the card, it made me so happy and I wanted to do something cool with it. Since she so very kindly also gave me a gift card to Michael's, of course, beads came to mind! I am in the process of putting something together representative of the gorgeous card.

So, I would like to look at each bead more closely this week and HOPEFULLY close on Saturday with an actual project alongside the beautiful card!! :)

Have a good one!!

Peace, Love & Bead Bloggers!

Wow, it's time already to check in with all our bead blogging pals to see what exciting adventures they have been having all week!

So, here we go, please join me if you have a minute!


Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts Barbe gets a mini artpiece from Artbeads.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean is wowed by the plethora of activities a beader can find this weekend, both online at Earthenwood Studio and also at the supergreat classic, Soft Flex Glass Art and Bead Festivals!

About.com Jewelry Making Fall is in the air, at least in some areas of the world, so it is time to think about making fall jewelry.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie heats things up with some fire inspired crystal and porcelain beads in her newest necklace from her Art Beads crystal week

Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi makes some resin filled embellishments quickly!

Art Bead Scene ABS shares a motherlode of giveaways for October.

Jean Campbell Jean reviews Wendy Ellsworth's wonderful new book, Beading--The Creative Spirit.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton See what Andrew whipped up when he sat down in the studio after a dry spell.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva There's a new addition to the Heartz n Skullz Family. Come check out the new Skully Bowz!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio Lampwork glass beads always end up in Lorelei's work, and she passes on links to one of her favorites!

Strands of Beads Melissa shares her new work, "Natural Selection", that placed Second in the Necklace category of the Bead Arts Award 2009

Jewelry & Beading Cyndi shares the instructions for a special necklace that she made for a friend, called "The Fourth Day of Creation"

This Week's Project: Zen Stone Bracelet

Before I mention this week's project, I wanted to share something special with you that I have been working on for the last year and a half. I had a miraculous moment of inspiration AND confidence strike at the same! An idea came to me that I wanted to share with my fellow beaders. It occurred to me that one way to do that would be to put the ideas into a book.

It is my pleasure to announce that I will have a book coming out sometime around December '09 or January 2010. I will be mentioning more about this as things progress, but for now, the final edits have been completed and it has been sent to print. Yay! This has been a wonderfully surreal experience and one that I can't wait to share!

Now, getting back to this week's project... I bought Monday's calming matte stone bead for the purpose of making something for my co-worker that she could remove easily for the purpose of enjoying its calming zen qualities.

I used stretchy cord and just clear swarovski bicones or flowers in between them so it wouldn't distract from the stones. I had thought about using just one stone for the focal bead, but once I got started, it seemed important to have them go all the way around the wrist.

I was surprised to find this bracelet has a bit of an art deco look to it on the wrist which makes it extra cool! The more I handle these stones, the more I like them. They do have a warmth to them that you don't get with polished stones. Nice! (Yes, I made one for myself too....)

There were some great ideas left on Monday's post about using one of these stones in a simple pendant which I'll be doing tomorrow. (Thank you for the inspiration!)

I hope you are all having a nice and crafty weekend!! :)

Featured Designer: Melanie of Earthenwood Studio

Happy Friday!! :)

Today's featured designer is Melanie Brooks of Earthenwood Studio. Many of you are probably already familiar with her work because it is always turning up in bead magazines!

Melanie is a ceramic artist, specializing in the miniature world of beads and jewelry. Working in the comfort of her home studio, she has been making and selling ceramic beads and jewelry of her own design for much of the ten years since she graduated art college. If you have a few minutes, take a look at her website's press page. This is a great place to pick up some inspiration!

As luck would have it, Melanie is running a huge clearance sale today, buy one, get one free! Buy one item in the shop and get another item of equal or lesser value for free! What a great deal!!

Her Halloween themed pieces are adorable and scary at the same time :)

You can also find Melanie's work on the following sites:
Earthenwood Studio, Earthenwood Etsy, Earthenwood Ceramics Etsy, Earthenwood Blog and Earthenwood Live Journal.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!! :)

Ebony Hearts

Today's beads are part of an interlocking strand of Ebony Wood Hearts, very sweet!!

The Rings & Things tag reads, Ebony Wood Heart Bead Chain. I thought these were so neat and was very curious about how they could be used.

They are all interlocking and would require cutting apart if you wanted to use them seperately in a design. A nice long necklace of them would be cute in the fall. You could also add some components to this design by using large fall colored jump rings with dangles. OR, it would be very cute with some pearls wired around the frame here and there. For those of you who are beadazzlers at heart, the flat surface here sure would make a great base for some sparkle!

If any of you have used these before, please let us all know how you used them. They sort of remind me of a puzzle that needs to be unlocked!

Fascinating Facets!

I was first drawn to the colors of this very long strand of 8mm glass faceted beads, but I loved them even more when I got a close up look at the facets.

I'm not sure the effect comes through in the photo, but up close and in person, it's like a party of colorful disco balls!

With the holiday season fast approaching, I was thinking it would be great to pull all the reds for a project, the blues, clears, etc.

However, the more I look at this strand and feel the fun vibe of the colorful mix, I am thinking they would make a festive piece all together.

Hmm....this is the kind of brainstorming that makes my head happy! What do you think?

Dyed Chalcedony Strand

I almost forgot to mention these beads!! They are gorgeous and interesting, but there was another reason I took this photo of a cool pile of beads at the recent Rings&Things bead show. The tag reads, "Dyed Chalcedony, TD Druzy."

They reminded me so much of fellow bead blogger Tish of Just a Tish. These look like they were made for her. It's so cool to find people who can make any style of jewelry, but seem to have created a niche of their own or defined their own unique style.

Tish is definitely one of them. She gravitates to multi-strand necklaces made with a variety of stones, such as her bead-star finalist piece shown here.

The art and craft of jewelry making is big enough for all of us because each one is unique in how they think, design and execute their pieces. Isn't that cool!?

Is there a particular type of jewelry you tend to want to make? I lean toward bracelets because I love to see the beads. Sometimes I get mezmerized by them, so maybe I should make a couple more necklaces :)

Have a good one!

Calming Matte Stones

There is something about these stones that provides a calming effect. The reason I picked these up at the recent Rings & Things bead show was due to a co-worker that I walk with at lunch time.

Our downtown building connects to a large insurance company's building which connects to the city's convention center, all through a series of over the street tunnels or walkways.

This is great for walking whether it is summer or winter. We put on our tennis shoes and have a great time chatting.

Once we get to the convention center, we first head through the bar/restaurant section of the Hyatt Regency hotel just for the cool vibe of it. Currently, their "flower beds" are filled with very large faux black stones with rectangular containers of bright green grass on top of them.

My co-worker has a thing for the faux stones and likes to run her hands through them as we are walking past for a nice zen moment.

These stones reminded me of those faux stones and I thought it would be fun to make her a bracelet in some way so she could take it off and play with it when she wanted to. I haven't come up with a cool zen design yet, but am open to ideas!

I hope you are all having great week so far!!

Happy Bracelets & Bead Blogger Updates

I've been anxious to share these adorable stretchy bracelets especially now that I have had the chance to gift some friends with them.

I think I bought 7 of them, but should have probably bought more because they were less than $3.50 each!

As I have presented them to friends, the first thing I noticed is that they complimented everyone's outfit regardless of the colors or style they were wearing. That's amazing!

I ended up wearing mine with my favorite swarovski pearl knotted bracelet in a bronze tone and it seemed to be perfect with it. I actually tried two of them on and put the pearl bracelet in between and it had a cool bangle effect, but then ended up giving that one away. I'm not sure if these are in the Rings & Things catalog, but now I'm going to take a look since the holidays are approaching!

And now, please join me in taking a peek at what our other bead blogger friends have been up to over the last week or so. Have a great week!! :)

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva Cindy shows off her new buckle charm necklace but what should she name it?

Jean Campbell Jean shares her delight with Cynthia Thornton's new book, "Enchanted Adornments"

About.com Jewelry Making Tammy has taken her net and collected some butterfly crafts for you in plenty of time to participate in The Butterfly Project at the Holocaust Museum Houston.

Art Bead Scene The October Art Bead Scene Challenge gets folksy.

Earthenwood Studo Chronicles Melanie brightens up her beading palette with some spring colors for her second Art Beads crystal blog post

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean is swooning over the newest Crystallized Innovations from Artbeads!

Jewelry & Beading Bring home a souvenir, and figure out how to wear it!

Katie's Beading Blog Katie's mixing polymer clay with beads again - check out this new design!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio Come join in on the fun of the 6th Enchanted Adornments giveaway, it's FROGS! Ribbit!

Strands of Beads Melissa is proud to be Soft Flex Company's Spotlight On... Designer for October!

This Week's Project: Last Minute Necklace

This week's project is a quick last minute necklace to go with the amber bracelets I posted recently.


I made the earrings right after the bracelets, but I made the necklace today since I have been wearing one that doesn't really match the other pieces.


There aren't a lot of beads on this necklace, but it is perfect for me! I wanted something that could be nicely framed inside the collar of a blouse, so this worked just fine.


This is the cool thing about knowing how to make jewelry! You can usually make something in less than 30 minutes that can not only make a great impact on an outfit, but on your attitude as well!!


Hope you are all having a great weekend!! :)

Featured Designer: Deez News

Here we are, Friday night!! Yay! For me, it's a 3 day weekend thanks to a state holiday on Monday, Columbus Day. I plan to make the most of my time crafting!!!

And now....it's time for our featured designer spotlight!

I came across "Deez News" from reading Dawno's weekly post from around the blogosphere. When I saw her earrings made with grungeboard and wallpaper samples, I really flipped! (Sorry, been watching too much of the Patty Duke show)!

One of my most favorite things to do is incorporate a craft into jewelry making. Anything with cutting and gluing makes me happy.

Davinia of Deez News wrote that she cut all the discs out with her cuttlebug which went through them like butter!

Because they are so light, making big bold designs isn't a problem as they won't drag down your earlobe to the top of your shoulder.

I hope you will take a few minutes to visit her blog and take a quick peek!! I am SO INSPIRED by this unique and creative idea!!

Thanks a million Davinia!:)

Classic Color Combo: Red & Black

Not only is this a classic color combination, these particular 15mm square mother of pearl beads have this hip stripey thing going on.

I can easily see these coordinating with a pinstripe suit OR a casual solid color blouse in one of these colors, Wow!

I received a comment from Whimsy Beading on Monday's post for the bead giveaway and she said she really wanted the red and black version she saw at her local Rings & Things bead show.

Well, I just had to show you the red and black ones!! Unlike Whimsy Beading, I didn't resist! :)

Speaking of Monday's bead giveaway post, I'll be mentioning who I will be sharing the bead love with on Saturday's post once I get them in the mail. And, if Whimsy Beading wants to send me an email, I'm happy to share the red and black bead love too!

Have a good one!!

Bead Coolness Factor

I have to admit that I am eclectic by nature and am influenced by mood, environment or other people. One day I might be completely in love with something elegant and crystally and the next, something earthy and simple.

I was drawn to today's bead for its "coolness" factor! Of course, everyone's definition of "cool" is different and could even change from day to day.

On the day I saw these beads, I was thinking cool flared jeans, flip collar blouse, crisp casual tailored jacket, high heeled boots and sunglasses. On another day, "cool" could mean grungy flats, zippered hooded sweatshirt and aloof attitude.

I thought these beads were perfectly cool in any situation! They remind me of ID bracelets and I thought it was great that they were already linked together with jump rings. The bead fits perfectly across the top of the wrist and some of them even have a little bend to them for a comfortable fit!

I wonder how many different definitions there are of "cool" and whether this bead could be transformed to be perfectly cool in any scenario.

What do you think? I'd love to hear your ideas for making this into something "cool"!

Oh, by the way, these beads were also perfectly priced. I'm thinking they might have been $3. And that's pretty cool too! Thanks to Rings & Things!

Pearly Pendant

Isn't this a gorgeous mother of pearl pendant? It is just the perfect size, not too big or too small. It has a beautiful silvery frame and bail attached! The colors and shine are beautiful! Very impressive for $1.95!

I'm sure you already guessed I picked this up at the recent Rings&Things bead show. Now that I see how pretty it is, it's a shame I didn't dig through the huge container for a few more! I was actually practicing a little restraint!! How about that? :)

My instincts tell me to slide a chain through the bail for a beautiful necklace. However, I visit many blogs of bead stitchers and imagine that one of them would create a fabulous, extensively beaded neck cord for this piece........OR, slide this onto any one of the various colored neck wires or chokers, add a few beads and you can customize it for any outfit!!

Love it!!

Have a good one!!

Sharing the Bead Love 2

As I was shopping at Friday's Rings & Things bead show, I came across these 18x25mm rectangular "striped mother of pearl" beads and of course my first thought was, "like so totally 80's"!

I'm not sure anyone else would agree. After giving this some deep thought, I would at least say these are some kind of updated version of a 1980's style. However, many of the designs from the 80's were sort of updated/revised versions of art deco style from the 30's.

Yep, something old is new again! :) The art deco vibe comes through so much more because of the mother of pearl. So, as the title reads, I wanted to share some of the bead love.

I'd love to split these up into groups of 5 beads to send them to the first 4 people who email me here: abeadaday@sbcglobal.net with their name and mailing address.

I have a couple other surprise beads that will be thrown in as well just for fun! Do you happen to remember that old commercial from the 1970's about sharing? It seems like it went something like this: That's the way it is, truly, uly, uly is, so whatcha gonna do today? I think I'll share!

Oh my goodness, I just googled that and why this surprises me I don't know. Of course, it's out on You tube for anyone looking for a trip down memory lane... I have to admit, this little song has stayed with me for many years!

Have a good one!

Weekly Project & Bead Blogger Update

This week's project uses all the components from Rings & Things that I mentioned throughout the week. Such sweet and sparkly parts, I was anxious to put something together that seemed festive and special.

This was originally going to be a necklace, but I honestly couldn't stand the thought of it being around my neck where I couldn't see it, so a bracelet it is! I'm afraid you will need to click on the photos to get a better view.

I had also planned to to use the bottom tubes to hang long chains with beads at the end of them for a fun focal piece around the neck. I have a couple tube pieces left that I could try a mini version of that to go with the bracelet.

The parts include 8 of the double curved sterling tubes, 3 & 6mm swarovski rounds in silver shade and golden shadow. I doubled up 5 pieces of chain for the bracelet to make up 10 strands on either side. It's very soft and comfortable to wear.

The final piece is one that I picked up at Friday's Rings & Things "live and in person" bead show in my area. The silver plated coiled star was a must-have and seemed to make a fun addition to this week's project. I'm getting ready to make earrings by hanging a silver star from a piece of chain. Too cute!!

The finished piece seems to have a tiara-like feeling, I was feeling a bit princess-like while wearing it today. :)

Hope you are wrapping up the weekend with something crafty! It looks like our fellow bead bloggers have also had a crafty week. Please join me in taking a quick peek....

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts Simply Gemstones book review

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva Take a walk on the dark side and see what kind of jewelry Cindy comes up with.

Strands of Beads Melissa blogs about an intriguing new blog by lampwork artist Sarah Moran

About.com Jewelry Making Tammy offers you two simple ways to become part of the on-line jewelry making community.

Art Bead Scene Take a tour with the Art Bead Scene. We've got places to go and beads to see!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean recalls and reposts a recipe for some cool October earrings, now that there is a chill in the air!

Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi creates a new necklace with heart shaped resin pendants she made.

Earthenwod Studio Chronicles Melanie begins her celebration of a week of crystal pendants with an autumn inspired fairy butterfly necklace

Jean Campbell How do you use beads to decorate your house? Check out these photos of Jean's beady household decor.

Jewelry & Beading Have you ever thought about trying glass fusing? The talented Wendy Talaro shares a fused glass primer this week!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio Lorelei is hosting a Necklace Round Robin, come check out the necklaces as they transform!

Bead Show Adventure

Hello! I'm saving my project of the week for tomorrow so I could show a few pictures of the Rings & Things bead show I attended yesterday.

This is the first I have been to and was in awe of the large inventory! The R&T's team sure seemed to have it down to a science.

I contemplated showing you all my beads at once, but for today, I wanted to show you one of the special strands I bought.

I have looked at strands similar to this one at local bead shops, but for some reason I just wouldn't allow myself to buy them.

When I saw this strand of Red Cubic Zirconia sparkling under the bright lights yesterday, I knew I had to have them!!

Most of the beads at the show were marked at the retail price, which means you first take 50% off to get to the wholesale price and then an additional bead show reduction of 15%.

So.....at that price, I would have been foolish to pass them up!

I love having these pictures of the mounds of beads so I can look at them all over again.

When you are actually there in person, it can be a little overwhelming when your brain kicks into design overdrive and the entire plan you came with has been thrown out the window!

I hope you are all having a great weekend and getting a little beading in! :)