Tie-Dyed Tulips

Today's bead, in MY mind, resembles a tie-dyed tulip! This could be because I have spring on my mind and am SO READY for sunshine and flowers!

I found a small tube of these beads last weekend while rooting around in my creatively chaotic crafting room.

The vision I have is so clear of these beads each having a long green stem!

Now the question is: how can I make that happen?

They could be individual components, each on a headpin, with either green rubber tubing or seedbeads creating the stem.

They could then be hung from ear wires or a neck wire.

OR, there might be a way to get really interesting and have them strung on a bracelet with long stems creating LOTS of crazy dangles!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one! :)

Swarovski Sun Beads

Have you ever heard of swarovski sun beads? I just googled that phrase and found these beads (among others)! I'm not sure you will get the same list I did, but here's a link to the google results.

These seem more like "sunset" rather than a high sun, but I WILL TAKE SUN IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM!!

Would you believe we had a snow storm today?!! I know!! You are probably thinking, you DO live in Ohio you know... :) Yes, I just like to have selective memory when it comes to winter weather!!

I just had to share these beads in hopes they will help bring on some real sunshine tomorrow!!!

ID Badge Lanyard Contest ($300 Grand Prize!)

I received word today that a company by the name of IDWholesaler.com is running a design contest! This is a company whose business revolves around ID Badges.

So many of us wear an ID badge a good 8 or 9 hours every day, so it makes sense to have something that is special to wear it on.

If you are interested in entering this ID Badge Lanyard Design Contest, you have until 5/13/11 to submit your entry. The top prize is a $300 Visa Gift Card, yay! Second prize is a $150 Visa Gift Card!!

The contest started yesterday and public voting begins immediately!! 1 vote per person per day. I just checked out the voting page and there are already a couple of fab designs out there!

Check out this site for all the entry details and GOOD LUCK!! :)

Speckled Art Project

Have you ever seen anything like this before? It was in a bargain bin for beads that maybe didn't turn out exactly as they were supposed to and I felt a strong need to rescue it!

I would have thought this was a rock that was dug up and considered a treasure.

I don't know how it made it into the world, but I think it is very artfully perfect! Sort of speckled egg-ish or freeform art project, maybe even comic bookish!

Now that I think of it, that is probably why I was drawn to it. I have a HUGE collection of Archie Comics and not a day goes by that I don't pick one up for a quick read. :)

What do you think? Have you seen anything like this before?

This Week's Project: Leftover Bead Bracelet

I forced myself to make a few minutes today for beading! I don't mean to let on that I had so much going on I had to squeeze it in... I really mean, I made time within my resting/relaxation time today :)

I had a handful of these 12mm swarovski pearls left from the Crystally & Pearl Winter Artbeads.com project I made, so I was able to quickly connect these pieces using jump rings and a magnetic clasp.

Yay! I LOVE a simple project!!

I'm looking forward to wearing this tomorrow and enjoying the sparkle!

I wish you all a great new week with a little bit of creativity thrown in for good measure!

Peace, Love & Bead Bloggers! (A Day Early!)

Saturday seemed like the PERFECT day to share these bead blogger links! Everyone has been up to fun and exiting things!! I'll catch back up tomorrow with this week's project!!

Have a great evening!! :)

About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy combines wire, chain, and crystal teardrops for some dramatic earrings.

Art Bead Scene
The ABS is serving up a free project courtesy of Ornamentea.

Beads & Books
Enter a jewelry, beading, or mixed media contest or challenge this spring. Michelle shares links to nearly a dozen opportunities.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi has a two part beaded sachet tuorial this week on her blog.

Cindy Gimbrone, The Lampwork Diva
This week's Tuesday Tangle is about taking up a challenge!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean writes about a book she was given years ago concerning Elizabeth Taylor's astounding jewelry collection

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
To celebrate National Craft Month, Andrew guest blogs for Beaducation.

Featured Designer: Heather of Blissful Garden Beads

When I clicked on Heather's Blog, Blissful Garden Beads, I felt like I had entered an english garden!

Wow, she has really perfected a "feeling" in her beads!

The flowers made me so happy and then I saw the bird houses! Aww, so cute!!

Heather is from Vancouver, Washington (US) and her profile reads:

"I am a self taught lampwork artist living in Vancouver, WA. I have been lampworking since August 2000 and love it. My work tends to be filled with flowers.

Every so often I try to get away from the flowers, but the flowers just make me happy."

I LOVE it when people find something that just makes them happy and they are smart enough to keep doing it!! :)

Considering we had to pull our winter coats back out this week, the dream of happy summery gardens helped me to feel the warmth again! Even if it was from the heat of my laptop!

Thanks so much for that Heather and for allowing me to share your work here tonight!!!

If you love these, wait till you check out her Artfire shop, WOW!!

Have a great weekend everyone!