Color Matched Findings

As promised, here are the turquoise headpins and eyepins to match the turquoise connectors from Monday's post. The color is perfectly matched!

These can be used to link the connectors together with bunches of crystals and beads hanging from them!! Yes, that sounds like a plan!

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this one too if you have a minute! :)

For tomorrow, it's the 50 cent clearance beads I found, yay!

Green Oval Connectors

I know I was going to show you the other turquoise findings I picked up at Joann, etc. Sunday, but these green ovals were so cool, I couldn't wait! These also came from Joann's, etc.

We are in the midst of greenery right now and I thought these were perfect for making something to remember this RV trip!

I'd love to find some tiny little lights to hook up to these. At night there are lots of different strings of lights and many kids with sparklers.

This is definitely a learning experience!! I hope you are all having a great week!! I'm thinking of you and wishing you were all here beading with me!!

Today I made a pair of dandelion earrings to go with my dandelion bracelet from my book and I restrung my chakra bracelet that was just a little too big. I'm in the process of braiding some hemp cord right now, so please stay tuned!

Turquoise Colored Connectors

I had never seen packages of these connectors until yesterday. I found these at Joann, etc.

They are a product of the Plaid Company and what was SO cool, but so frustrating was not only did they have these in this turquoise color, they had them in very light pink, spring green and lavender as well. The frustrating part was choosing which color to buy!!

Considering my attachment to blues and aqua tones, I chose this one. I first had the green one in my hand, then the pink...

So, back to the products... This one package had 10 of the square connectors and 15 of the rounds.

I was very surprised to see they had headpins, earwires, chain and lobster clasps in the same corresponding colors!! I will have to check my JoAnn bag to see which other pieces I bought so stay tuned for more tomorrow!!

I hope you are all having a great week!!

Quick Question and Bead Blogger Updates

I know you will all be happy once I get my vacation show on the road so I will move on to another topic...:) But, until then, I have a question for you if you have a minute.

I am curious to know how each of you selects and packs the jewelry you take on a trip. Does it matter if it's camping vs. a caribbean cruise? Do you just take the few things you love and leave the rest home? Do you take everything and wear three bracelets on each arm regardless of whether they match your outfit or surroundings?

I'd love to hear your philosophy on this topic!

The other part of the question is HOW do you pack your jewelry? Do you haphazardly throw it all in a ziploc baggie? Roll each piece carefully up in a soft cotton cloth? Or, use a product made specifically for this purpose?

Please share if you can! I have ulterior motives, of course! I am hoping to find I'm not the only one who has donned a few ziplocs and also not the only one who brings a little bit of everything!

THANKS EVERYONE! And now it's time to see what our fellow bead bloggers have been up to, Yay!

About.com Jewelry Making Thinking of selling on-line but worried about the cost? Tammy has discovered three freebie sites for selling your jewelr, crafts, and vintage items.

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts thoughts about creating multiple streams of income as a jewelry artist

Art Bead Scene Art Bead Scene finds findings worth finding!

Carmi's Art/Life World Cherry wood bezels are the stars in this new pendant collection.

Beading Arts Cyndi has a copy of "Metalworking 101 for Beaders" to give away!

Cindy Gimbrone Cindy rewinds on wire.

Strands of Beads Melissa shows off a summery necklace design with components courtesy of Artbeads.com

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie shows her Steampunk Sampler class made of mixed metals, industrial porcelain, and cold connections

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Always on the hunt for unique components, Andrew spotlights "pinch bail components" from Shoutrinse on Etsy!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio Lorelei's studio is in total disarray. Check out some pics and if you have suggestions, she would totally be appreciative!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! review of a great book: Candie Cooper's Metalworking 101 for Beaders! Don't miss this!

This Week's Project: The Universe Bracelet

In preparation for our trip, I am trying to find my universe bracelet. I made a bunch of them early last year for friends and one for myself. I was very intrigued by these beads when I saw them on an etsy site and had to have them.

Two of the people I made them for have worn them on every vacation they have been on since then. Would you believe that one of these friends has been on 5 vacations since then?!

One of the universe bracelets has been to Costa Rica, the Grand Canyon, Sonoma, a Yoga Retreat in New York and Florida! One of the others has been to Florida and Hawaii!

Since we haven't had a vacation away from home in two years, mine has not traveled anywhere except work, etc. I'm ready for some traveling, so I have to find it!!

I need to retrace my steps! I'm sure it will come to me!

By the way, I checked the tracking on my firemountain order yesterday and it said, "delivered"!! I went to the front door and there it was, how cool is that?!!

I hope you are having a great weekend!! :)

Featured Designer: Valerie of Additions Style

It's Friday and it's vacation, I can't think of any better day than that!

It just so happens this week's featured designer has been blogging about vacation recently too so this feature is perfect timing!

I feel that I am introducing you to a fabulous and fun designer AS WELL AS a wonderfully positive force whose blog, Additions Style, will make you feel good!

I am excited and inspired as I work my way through all the cool hardware inspired pieces in her etsy shop!

My heart keeps doing flip flops!! I LOVE IT ALL! I had a difficult time choosing which pieces to showcase here because each item is special!

There is something wonderful about the contrast of the hardware with the feminine aspect of jewelry that is so much FUN!

In her profile, Valerie mentioned that she wanted to try something new a couple of years ago and when she and her daughter found themselves in a hardware store, her "design process was recharged".

She realized she could create jewelry that looked like silver using hardware that was very affordable!! How fun and exciting!!

Thanks a million Valerie for allowing me to share your work here today!! Have a great weekend everyone!

Mother of Pearl Nuggets

40 piece Mother of Pearl Nugget Beads....$1.00! If you have read the last two days posts, you already know today's beads came from Big Lots!

I am looking forward to using these mother of pearl beads with Tuesday's Tiki Beads!

I love the beachy vibe... used with the Tiki beads, the only thing missing are the flowers from a Hawaiian Lei.

I want to thank you for sticking with me through my vacation-itis....I'm finally free for 11 whole days!!

Yay!!

I'm hopeful that my firemountain gems order will arrive in time, but even if it doesn't, I'm packing LOTS of beads for the RV! :)

Festive Blue Stars!

I bought a good sized package of these plastic blue stars over the weekend at Big Lots. Just like the package yeserday, this package was also $1.00! Yay!

These reminded me of some of the beads that are on my treasure hunting bracelet that I mentioned back in March.

My first thought when I saw them was to make a charm bracelet using just these beads hanging from it! Too Much???

By the way, guess what? I have one more work day to go to get to vacation kickoff! Yay! I can't wait!

More tomorrow when I will begin my new journey as a "happy camper"!

I Love $1 Beads

Yes, I've been checking out the crafting section at Big Lots again!! I just can't seem to help myself. The two things I have to look at on a visit to Big Lots are DVD's and craft supplies!

I thought these "tiki" beads were adorable! They are so cute that just one would be fun as a necklace pendant with lots of other interesting "island" beads.

I have a CD called "Tiki Party" that I found at the local dollar store. I play in the background at work when I get stressed out! I need to bring that one home for inspiration when using these beads! Lots of drums and ukelele's! :)

I hope your week is going well. I have two days down and two to go until my vacation starts, YAY!! I know I can make it!

A Winner & Today's Bead!

CONGRATULATIONS LISA MARTIN of Lisa Martin Jewelry Designs! You are the winner of my beading book, A Bead in Time!

Thank you all so much for participating in this book giveaway!! The novelty of doing these has not worn off yet, so stay tuned for the next one in July! :)

I thought it would be fun to share another bead from one of the book projects close to my heart. During a trip to Nassau my husband really wanted to go on the Dolphin Encounter excursion.

In his mind he was thinking fun and adventure...my mind was a little hung up on fear of giant, swimming mammals!

As you have probably guessed, I went and am so glad I did! I would recommend it wholeheartedly! It was a top notch program and I will never forget it. The dolphins were not in captivity, but were very well trained.

Part of the encounter was having the dolphin jump out of the water and "land" on your shoulder so you could give it a hug. (I am not joking!) I have a picture of me in the book hugging the dolphin as the inspiration photo for this jewelry.

It was amazing!

I searched high and low for a "dolphin" bead and was sad that I couldn't find anything online or in person that could be used to represent the dolphin without being sort of juvenile looking.

While I was sitting in the dentist chair having a root canal (seriously), I was trying to meditate or block out the fact that I was having a root canal and the next thing you know I was having an inspiration! Who knew!

The thought occurred to me that I might find the bead I needed at a bead store about 40 minutes away that I hadn't visited for a while. I went that day and here is what I found...

The perfect dolphin bead! I made a necklace and a ring using these beads and LOVE that it reminds me of the trip to Naussau's Dolphin Encounter! In this picture they remind me of happy dolphins jumping out of the water together. :)

Peace, Love & Bead Bloggers!!

What a great day for sharing what has been happening all week out there in the beading world!

About.com Jewelry Making If you are selling your jewelry on-line or thinking about it, then you'll find some of these rescources very helpful.

Art Bead Scene The June Monthly Challenge is a painting by Toulouse-Lautrec.

Beading Arts Do you like Chinese food? Do you like jewelry...?

Carmi's Art/Life World A button get's glammed up with tear drop rhinestones.

Cindy Gimbrone, The Lampwork Diva Cindy touts one of her favorite colors in this week's rewind.

Strands of Beads Melissa shows off her necklace design that won second place in the Metal Clay category of Bead Dreams 2010.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton On the heels of his trip to Milwaukee for the "Bead & Button" Super Show, Andrew documents and shares his favorite highlights from the experience.

missficklemedia.com Come by and visit for a chance to win free Patina-ted Metal Components!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie explores building materials as texture and symbolism in a new set of pendants inspired by a fortress theme

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio Lorelei got together for a fun beady date with Kerry Bogert, and together they created a necklace!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean is fascinated by the beautiful necklace which Jennifer Dangerfield created and reposts her analysis of what makes it so appealing! All jewelry afficionados really must see this lovely piece!

This Week's Project: Fun Flower Bracelet

I found these gem centered flowers at Big Lots today for $1.50 and knew I wanted to work them into a bracelet to wear on vacation.

They reminded me of a slap bracelet that I had found many years ago for our family vacation that had small white silk daisies glued all around it.

These flowers are a bit larger and I didn't have a black slap bracelet to glue them to, but I did have a silver bracelet blank!

I used a couple of scrapbooking brads with black and white stripes as well as some red plastic gems that fit perfectly on the blank circles.

I am SO ready for vacation and now that I have some new jewelry to wear and some great beads on the way to play with, I am getting excited!! :)

I hope you are having a great weekend so far!

Featured Designer: Karyn White

Happy Friday everyone! This is my favorite blogging day since I get to introduce the week's featured designer!

This week's designer is Karyn White of Queensland, Australia. She can be found on her blog, "Releases by Rufydoof" where she shares her daily beading and life adventures.

You can also check out her flickr site for more fab photos!

Karyn has been beading for about 6 years and her beadwork now includes bead embroidery, bead weaving and cabochons.

I am always in awe of this kind of intricate work and wish I had someone close by that I could sit and learn with!

Karyn has also branched out into making cabochons in a microwave glass fusing kiln. Seriously, I had no idea there was such a thing!

The green piece shown here is VERY intriguing! I have no idea how in the world she made this and wish I could pick it up and study it!

Wow, I really need to take the summer off so I can explore all of these fabulous mediums!

By the way, you might have recognized Karyn from her recent win in the "Wonderfully Whimsical" category in the latest Use the Muse competition! CONGRATULATIONS!

Her dream is to have one of her pieces chosen for "Bead Dreams".

Thanks so much Karyn for sharing your work with all of us!! Have a great weekend! :)

Happy Bead!

Is there any such thing as an un-happy bead? Hmm...

I'm going to have to say, NO! Even more serious or "quiet" beads offer beauty or zen qualities to jewelry which can bring inner peace to the person wearing them.

Today's bead is on the fun, playful side. It will bring a happy vibe to any piece of jewelry even if it is just hanging alone on an earring wire.

However, I think a handful of these would make a very festive, vacationy bracelet. I know I have several variations of this in reds, oranges and yellows, I just need to dig them up.

I have a feeling I will end up trying to squeeze every bead I have in the RV for vacation....Oh dear, I think I need a plan for which beads, tools, etc. to bring.

Another list to make!!

Solar System Jewelry

I just came across these beads, nicely organized in one of my bead containers. They originally came from Michael's as part of a strand of multi-colored ceramic beads.

Don't these look like they could be used in a model of the solar system to represent the various planets. How about solar system jewelry!?

Since I am fully obsessed right now with our upcoming RV trip, now I think I need to add the telescope to the list of the 100+ things already on it. I know this isn't about beads, but I'd love to hear any seasoned RV'ers thoughts on this.

We have never camped in any way, shape or form, so I'm pretty much thinking we need to bring everything but the kitchen sink!

I don't want to regret not bringing it since we can only use it at home during winter months when the leaves are down since we have so many trees in the back yard.

Please also let me know your thoughts on a planetary bracelet...doesn't that sound fun!?

COOL Silver Plated Chains

I want to thank you all so much for coming along with me on my FMG gift certificate shopping spree!!

I think I better get on the ball and get my order in, so I get everything for vacation!!

The last two items on my list are silver plated chains. I originally thought I'd find something more rectangular, BUT as usual things change when you start to shop and design in your head!

Look at these two cool chains! The flowery one is a bracelet chain and the oval is a LONG necklace chain with a toggle clasp, nice!

I've never, ever had a 36 inch long necklace....EVER! I'm excited about something new and different for me! Why don't I do this more often???

For some reason I think sticking with the same or similar is safe or provides stability, when in reality it's BORING!!

Can you tell vacation is approaching? I think the walls are already starting to come down, yay!

Hope you are having a great week!!!!! By the way, don't forget to follow this link and leave a comment for a chance to win my upcoming book giveaway :)

Fancy Aqua Links

Ooh, these are so adorable! I'm trying to wrap up my Firemountain gift certificate shopping list and just added these pieces to it!

The interesting thing about ordering these 17x11mm links is that I could get something completely different than the design shown...!

The catalog describes these as: "Colorful Czech rhinestones adorn double-drilled, lead-safe pewter-based beads. Flashy beads add the perfect amount of glitz to bracelet designs. Package includes two beads with similar color schemes set in whimsical patterns. Great for creating one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces - you get two different designs per package! Design may vary from that shown."

I'd LOVE to hear your ideas for using whichever links happen to show up!

As much as I enjoy making bracelets, I was sort of thinking about incorporating a handful of these in a necklace with the aqua rectangle that I posted last week (below).

These links could be one of the last items on my gift certificate shopping list other than possibly some kind of silver plated chain in interesting link shapes.

Help!!....please send ideas!! I'm going to order these soon so I have them to play with while on vacation in a couple weeks!

Yes, I'll be beading in the RV and outside the RV at the campsite!

That's the great thing you don't want to forget about life, there are new experiences around every corner! I can't wait for this one!

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!!

Peace, Love & Bead Bloggers!

It's time for the weekly update to see what some of our fellow bead-bloggers have been up to over the last week or so.

I am always amazed at the diverse, fun, interesting and GENEROUS things going on out there!

If you follow the links below you will find: giveaways, special announcements, a surprise for mom and LOTS of fun! What a great way to spend a quiet Sunday evening!

I wish you all a great new week!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton

Andrew hosts the BIGGEST prize in Thursday Giveaway history ever! Find out how you can win a set of beautiful lampwork glass beads by Barbara "Basha"!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!

Lydia Muell's mesmerizing art beads and her free giveaway this week!

About.com Jewelry Making

Tammy is proud to announce some of her jewelry designs were recently published in BeadStyle magazine.

Strands of Beads
Melissa shows off her entry that won the Grand Prize Gold Medal in the 2010 Fire Mountain Gems and Beads' Metal Clay, Metal Beads, Wirework and Chain Jewelry-Making Contest

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts

Look at all the fun I have have playing with fire.

Beading Arts

Shhh...don't tell Cyndi's Mom! Cyndi made her a necklace from some wonderful lampwork beads from Artbeads.com!

Art Bead Scene

Join the Art Bead Scene Carnival Bloggers as they pay tribute to Bead and Button by creating a statement necklace.

Carmi's Art/Life World

Carmi recycles a beautiful tea box to create this necklace.

Cindy Gimbrone, the Lampwork Diva

The Empress models a statement.

Jean Campbell

Check out Black Crow's Gothic Contest winners...fantastic!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio

Lorelei started up a new website, and would love to hear your input on it!

Time for a Book Giveaway!!

I know it is so cliche, but time really does fly right by. It might not seem like it if you are counting down days or minutes to something, but when you reflect even a little bit, you realize how true it is...

It's almost the middle of June already when just the other day I was wishing the snow away! With all of that said, I am thoroughly thankful for these gorgeous sunny days, chirping birds and bright colorful flowers!!

It feels like the time is right for a book giveaway! Not just any book, but my book, A Bead in Time! :) I know...you saw that coming!

Please feel free to leave a comment of any sort on this post over the next week, making sure that if I click on your name, it will take me to a profile for contacting you. If not, please leave an email address just in case. I will announce the winner a week from tomorrow.

Now, what led me to think about the fact it was time to do a giveaway was my recent shopping trip through the Firemountain Gems catalog this week.

After I shared the aqua rectangle on Thursday's post, I was getting ready to close out of the online catalog when I saw two of the fabulous beads I used in a project for the book!

Here are the Celestial Crystal faceted leaf beads that I used and the funny thing is when I ordered the beads for the project, I only had a very minimal idea of what I wanted to do to represent fall and the "falling leaves" of that season here in Ohio.

I had a great picture taken from the backyard of a pile of colorful yellow and brown leaves, but couldn't find the beads I needed to represent them.

I hadn't paid attention to the size of these beads when I ordered them and was shocked when they came that they were so large... a whopping 30x24mm. I was bummed out, but after a couple days decided to see what they might look like and I was so glad I didn't give up on them.

I love the way the project turned out and believe it was destiny!

I hope you are all having a great weekend!! :)

Featured Designer: Barbara Bechtel

I hope you will take a minute to cheer with me that IT'S FRIDAY, YAY!

This also means it's time to present this week's featured designer!

You may already know artist & designer, Barbara Bechtel, from either her blog or etsy site. Her blog is entitled, "second surf" and her Etsy site is "Floridity".

Okay, you just can't go wrong with a name like that...there's nothing like the palm trees and sunshine you find in Florida! Makes me happy just thinking about it!

Here are the things I have fallen in love with so far....the LOVE necklace is so great!! You really need to visit Barbara's blog to see a full view on a live person to feel the coolness of it all!

The polymer bird fetish beads are sculpted by hand, sanded, distressed and polished to a high shine to give them the look of stone. So cute!!

I can imagine the turquoise "fly" pendant hanging from a bunch of hemp cord (which I have tons of), some knotted and some loose, giving it a free spirited vibe!

I didn't have enough space here to show all the other pieces that I have fallen for on Barbara's "Floridity" Etsy site, so if you get a chance, you might want to pop over.

Make sure you take a look at the Dandelion Wine bracelet, it's so cool and reminds me of a story my husband tells about getting stuck in a blizzard as a teenager, walking to the only house in the middle of nowhere for help and the guy inviting them in and giving them homemade dandelion wine! :) Seriously! He does spin a good yarn, but after 20+ years, I've heard this story enough to believe it.

No blizzards here today, thank goodness!!

Thanks a bunch to Barbara for letting me share her work with all of you!! I was going to say with "y'all" for some reason. I have noticed that I tend to acquire a southern accent sometimes while blogging...I have no idea why!!

So, have a great weekend y'all! :)

Aqua Rectangle

I'm so excited to use my Firemountain Gems gift certificate especially now that I have received help from the blogger world! Thanks so much to everyone for helping me design my orange/tangerine/multi-color necklace over the last couple of days, how fun that is going to be to make!!

So, on to the next item on my order... I'm switching gears and have to admit I loved the price of these celestial crystal aqua rectangles.

At less than $3 for 2 of these 28x16mm beads, I am going to get several pairs to use to make matching necklaces for gifts or for the next craft night!

I still need to work on some other pieces to go with this, I'm thinking some kind of bright silver tubes or other silver baubles.

I hope you don't mind accompanying me on this shopping spree, but it just wouldn't be the same all by myself!! :)

Decisions, decisions...PART 2

Thanks so much for all the great comments on yesterday's post!! VERY helpful!!

The orange pendant won out which will be perfect for summer!

A couple of you mentioned pairing the pendant with a variety of sparkly colors and the more I thought about that, the more I veered in that direction.

So, what do you think about this...? A gross of tiny little 3mm bicones in a "passion" mix floating in between crimps on several strands of colorful wire.

Now, the question is WHICH COLOR WIRE?!

It was so much fun hearing your thoughts on the bead, so I'm hoping you can help me decide on the wire.

I have narrowed it down to either gold or tangerine flexible beading wire.

What do you think???!

Decisions, decisions...

I am hoping to get some input on which of these cubic zirconia teardrops I should order with a gift certificate I am fortunate enough to have in my possession for Firemountain Gems.

Of course, I could order all three, but having too much variety of one beautiful thing isn't always good for me.

I get too distracted and unclear about what to make and sometimes don't make anything at all!

It wasn't that long ago that I used the bright yellow cz teardrop to make a necklace using the autumn brown softflex wire.

I have been wearing it often since it warmed up and it's like wearing a little piece of sunshine with me.

I was wishing I had another teardrop to make something similar in a different color.

When I took a quick look at the Firemountaingems catalog I saw a few of these that I would like, but not one specific color that stood above the rest (since I already have the yellow).

Actually, I take that back. I really liked the champagne, but it's rather close in color to the yellow, so I think I need something different.

Here are the three I'm thinking about. Black, since I wear a lot of that to work. Clear, since it would go with everything. Orange, because it is bright and happy.

Hmmm.... HELP!! I'd love to hear your thoughts! :)

Happy Chevrons

I picked these adorable green chevron beads from a giant bowl of chevrons at the local bead store. I thought the color was sweet and cheerful!

I was thinking they would make adorable earrings with a huge crystal hanging from them OR they would make an adorable focal bead if they were right angle-woven together with a bunch of crystals to form a large beaded bead to act as a conversation piece.

Perfect for this time of year when it's spring one day, fall the next and summer two days later! Love it and so glad it's not winter anymore!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on fun ways to use these and the many other very colorful, happy chevron beads. I learned a little about these beads recently, so here's a bit about how they are usually made:

Chevron beads are composed of a number of consecutive layers of colored glass. The core is formed from a molten ball of glass that was melted in a furnace and air is blown into the center to create the opening. The ball of glass is then placed into a star shaped mold with various number of points and then additional layers are added until formed into a cane. Wow, that's amazing!

Peace, Love & Bead Bloggers!

It's time to share....

Sunday is the perfect time for sharing the bead blogger happenings from the past week. I also wanted to share my finished craft night necklace and earrings.

We all had a GREAT time and loved all the sparkle. We used bright silver beading wire and just flattened our crimp tubes for a very simple, but fabulous project that didn't require any special beading knowledge or skills. Just the ability to string beads and squeeze pliers.

I hope you all had a great weekend! If you have an extra couple minutes, check out the fun sites below.

About.com Jewelry Making Tammy is getting back to the basics, starting with jewelry making tools. What is your must have tool?
Art Bead Scene Gearing up for that big bead show coming up? ABS has the top ten tips for your bead buying trip!
Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts Barbe is having a "City of Love" giveaway!!!
Beading Arts Chapter two of Cyndi's e-book is available for download! "Altered Surfaces" begins the exploration of the exchange between mixed media and bead embroidery!
Carmi's Art/Life World A handmade bezel results in a new necklace for Carmi called FAITHFUL.
Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva A set of smokey quartz beads inspires a new necklace.
Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie celebrates her 1000th blog post with Ten Days of Giveaways!
Jean Campbell Jean reviews Nathalie Mornu's Leather Jewelry, a bang-up book.
Katie's Beading Blog Get the 411 about BeadStyle's gorgeous All Star Issue!
Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio Lorelei has been answer some of her reader's questions from a previous giveaway post. Read up on what everyone wants to know!
Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean is thrilled to be in BeadStyle magazine's July All Star issue, with pals Tammy Powley, Heather Powers, and Katie Hacker who made the cover so beautiful! Come and see!
Strands of Beads It's Melissa's turn to review Kate McKinnon's fabulous Sculptural Metal Clay
The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton The prize for this week's Thursday Giveaway comes courtesy of Green Girl Studios! Find out how you can get ahold of these fine pewter beauties!
missficklemedia.com The Staples of Jewelry Making

It's Craft Night!

Yay! I'm so glad Craft Night has arrived!! Every quarter or so my Mom and I get together with other family and friends to craft.

This actually should be called the "eat, drink and be merry" night.

Everyone brings snacks, drinks of choice, a craft to teach and sometimes their jammies. :)

My Mom makes a meal of some kind and tonight it's Frito-Tacos which my husband LOVES! He comes for the food and then splits before it gets too crazy! By crazy I mean loud, glittery and silly! We usually craft until around 4am.

It's a great time!! As usual, I haven't made my prototype of my craft yet, so I better get busy.

I'll post the finished product tomorrow, but I wanted to share the pieces here tonight.

I don't think we will use the brown bicones since we are going to be using either silver plated bead wire or black softflex, but I have lots of extra crystal and black diamond bicones.

I can't wait to see how this turns out. Catch you all tomorrow!! Have a great evening!

Featured Designer: Designs by Dawn Marie

This week's featured designer is Dawn Doucette, otherwise known as "Designs by Dawn-Marie".

Now, let me first tell you how much I have appreciated Dawn's positive and giving outlook.

She has lifted my spirits on more than one occassion and I wanted to formally thank her for that and let her know how special it is to know someone who has this gift.

Dawn's designs are both bright and cheerful, just like her. I wanted to post a couple of my favorites here.

The set she made for her friend's Paris wedding made me just a tad envious.

However, once I thought about it I was sincerely happy for her friend :)

I also wanted to mention that Dawn is one of the fabulous Blogmania participants.

The next round of this event in September is kicked up several notches which means each of the individuals involved will have serious giveaways over $100 each.

In fact, I am thinking she's at the $200 level. Wow, that's so fun and generous!

Dawn, thank you so much for allowing me to share your wonderful-ness and your work here tonight!!

Have a great weekend!

MORE Bead Embroidery!!

For today's post, I have a special treat for you!

Our friend and fellow bead-blogger, Cyndi Lavin, of Beading Arts, recently provided the first chapter of her bead embroidery e-book as a free download.

It is still available here if you didn't have a chance to download it previously.

She has just announced that Chapter 2 has been completed and is now available on her blog, Beading Arts, for a very minimal fee of $3.00.

I just had a chance to roll through all 72 pages of chapter 2 and am amazed that she is churning this out so quickly. It seems to me like a "life's work" project. I think when you can put something out at this pace, you know you have tapped into your inspiration.

I love how she provides some step by step shots that finally take the mystery out of how these artists actually do this bead embroidery. Very cool! It makes me think maybe even I could do something like that!

Cyndi describes this chapter as an exploration of the exchange between mixed media art and bead embroidery...a fancy way of saying "Altered Surfaces".

Thanks a million Cyndi for allowing me to share this here!!

Summing Up the Fruit Beads

Okay guys, here are the rest of the fruit beads!!

I mentioned yesterday that I found three little $1.00 baggies of miscellaneous beads at a local bead shop, Ally Beads.

I was so excited to find these glass fruit beads that I dug around so much in the treasure chest that I am SURE I got all the pieces of fruit!

There was something about it that reminded me of being at a kid's carnival in elementary school!! :)

So, to sum it all up, the total take for $3 was:

1 banana

1 lime

2 oranges

2 bunches of grapes

4 lemons

in addition to: 36 bicones and 5 miscellaneous beads to play with!

Phew, that was a great haul and I am so happy that so many of you shared your ideas yesterday!!

If you haven't had a chance to share yet, please let me know in this post what you think I should do with these beads!! :)

I can't tell you how much I LOVE virtual beading with you!!