Bead Soup Blog Party Update

I hope I'm not jumping the gun, but since I know that Laura at Hg - Elemental Mercury has received the beads I sent her, I'm posting a reveal picture of what I sent (can you tell I'm excited/impatient?).  I tend to like earth toned beads, but I tried to add in some beads that brought out the colors in the beautiful heart shaped pendant created by Beth Roark of Carpe Beadem. 

I'm very excited to see what Laura creates with the beads I sent and I can't wait until the blog hop on September 17th to see all of the wonderful creations made by the other Bead Soup Blog Party participants!

Laurel Moon Jewelry and Beads: Earthenwood giveaway!

Visit Laurel Moon's blog to find out how you can win these wonderful and whimsical Earthenwood beads!

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Laurel Moon Jewelry and Beads: Earthenwood giveaway!

I ♡ Macro August 28, 2011

It's Sunday and time to join Lori of  Studio Waterstone for "I Heart Macro" / "I Heart Close Ups: Up Close Photography for Macro Makers and the Camerologically Challenged".

This week I have another shot of rusty metal.  I just love the colors and texture that are viable on some rusty metals, especially iron. 

This is a macro of a pendant that I had purchased at a local bead shop last year,.  When I asked who made the pendant, I was told that they couldn't give me that information.  I didn't think much about it and went on my merry way.  Almost a year later, I'm reading my Summer 2011 issue of Stringing and what do I see under Bead Beat?  A picture of pendants similar to mine and they are made by The Lipstick Ranch!

This is a full view of the pendant I had purchased.  I receive a lot of compliments when I wear this necklace, so I'm definitely going to order some more pendants!

Click on the button below to check out the other wonderful I Heart Macro pictures!

Enjoy your day and have a wonderful week!

What a Wonderful Way to Start My Day!

Art Bead Scene Blog: Featured Designer - Creatively Kym

Can you imagine my surprise this morning, while reading some of the blogs I follow, to read that I am the featured designer of the week at Art Bead Scene?  I wish that I had a picture of the jaw dropped, dumbfounded look that I had on my face, or one of the transformation into a giant grin when the words finally sunk in.  There are so many talented designers who have submitted beautiful pieces this month and I am so honored to have been picked as designer of the week.

I'd like to thank Shannon LeVart for the lovely things she had to say about the piece I submitted (see below, from the ABS blog.  I did correct the spelling of my name in the post below).

Each Monday the Art Bead Scene features a Designer of the Week.

One of our editors picks her favorite from the Monthly Challenge entries.

This week's featured designer is Creatively Kym!

Here is what ABS Editor, Shannon LeVart, has to say about the chosen design:

"I really enjoyed this piece and it's connotation of the Ramsdell poster with the warm, earthy yellow focal by Nancy of Round Rabbit. Kym designed a beautiful piece with lots of flowing texture that mimics the sweeping look of the art work in the poster.  Thank you for sharing your talent with us, Kym!"

Please visit Kym at her blog to see all the other treasures she shares!

Creatively Kym

 

Please take some time to visit the Art Bead Scene flickr group to see all of the lovely submissions for this month.

Genea Beads: GIVE AWAY- CLAY PENDANT, WING DINGS, AND RUBBER O'...

 Would you like to win this beautiful pendant and bead set?  

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 Visit Genea's blog for information on how you can win one of Cindy Buehler's scraffito pendants, 5 of Genea's "Wing Ding" beads and 15 rubber o's from MY ELEMENTS!

I ❤ Macro August 20, 2011

I ❤ Beads!

A couple of months ago I bought these beautiful beads at a bead store in a neighboring town.  They always have lovely, unique beads that I can't find online and I always have a hard time sticking to my spending budget. When I decided to make this bracelet, I realized that the tag did not include the name of the beads and I had neglected to write it down on the pad that the store gives you to record your purchase.  Oh well, I guess I'll have to make another trip to the bead store so I can find out what these beads are called ;-)  Hopefully I'll have some additional spending money to take with me.

Joining Lori of Studio Waterstone for "I Heart Macro" / "I Heart Close Ups: Up Close Photography for Macro Makers and the Camerologically Challenged".  Click on the button below to join along, or to check out the macro pictures that others have posted.

Enjoy your Sunday and have a wonderful week!

BSBP Update

BSBP beads mailed to partner Laura Sanger ✔

 I was able to mail my Bead Soup ingredients on Thursday and I can't wait till Laura receives them.  Here's a teaser picture of what I sent to Laura.

This being my first BSBP, I've been so excited and I guess I've been acting goofy at times (so I've been told).  Oh, well, I think acting goofy every now and then, helps you stay young at heart!  

I'll be watching the mail for my BSBP package from Laura and I'll post pictures when it arrives.

Enjoy your day!

Bead Table Wednesday

I finally order some of the peanut seed beads that I've been admiring for a while.  They're waiting patiently on my table for this weekend.  Hopefully a couple of other items that I ordered will arrive before then and I'll have plenty to play with!

Have a wonderful day!

Chinook Jewelry Designs Blog Partner

I have had the honor of being one of the monthly design blog partners for Chinook Jewelry Designs.  Mellisa sent me two of her beautiful ceramic pendants to play with.  I chose the lovely floral pendant to use for my July ABS Challenge piece, but wasn't able to upload my pictures before the challenge deadline.

Below is a collage of the pendant and the finished necklace that I made.  I used red and yellow rivershell beads, periwinkle peanut seed beads, olivine opaque Czech glass wavy disc beads, brass beads, brass wire and a brass colored clasp.

I also received a sweet little heart pendant that I used as a charm on a bracelet made with gray, 10mm round, shell pearl beads, matte gunmetal seed beads and a silver plated clasp.

The pendants are so lovely and are beautiful colors.  My pictures really don't do them justice.  Mellisa has updated her Etsy shop with more wonderfully handcrafted ceramic and porcelain pendants, in colors that are perfect for your autumn/fall jewelry designs.

Visit the other August Blog Partners blogs to see the beautiful designs of  Shannon Chomanczk, and Lisa Petrillo 

August Art Bead Scene Monthly Challenge

The art chosen for the August Art Bead Scene Monthly Challenge is the beautiful 

Illustration for American Crescent Cycles, 1899
Frederick Winthrop Ramsdell

I created the following necklace using a lovely porcelain pendant made by Nancy E. Schindler, of Round Rabbit Extra.

I used several different colors of hand dyed silk yarn fibers that I left untidy, because it reminded me of the girls hair in the picture.  Some of the silk ribbons are strung with pearls and Montana Swarovski crystals. On the pendant I added a dangle made of fossil coral and a Montana Swaroski crystal. The necklace is finished with brass colored wire, jump rings and clasp. The teardrop shaped fossil coral bead is really pretty and  it complements the pendant very well.  I tried to capture this in the photo's, but I couldn't get a clean shot.   C'est la vie

Please check out the other beautiful entries for this month's challenge at the ABS Flickr site.

I ❤ Macro August 14, 2011

It's Sunday and time to join Lori at Studio Waterstone for I Heart Macro!

Here are my pictures for this week.  Can you guess what this is?

I love the gritty texture and the colors.

Here is a better view.

Now you can see, it's a bell, on a wind chime, on my back porch.  It's too rusty to make noise any more, but it has it's character and I can't seem to part with it.

Click on the button above to view this weeks I Heart Macro shots posted by some very talented people!

Enjoy your day and have a wonderful week!

Rings and Things Wonderful 39th Anniversary Sale!

Top five reasons to come to the Rings and Things Anniversary Sale!

5. Red Tag Madness!!!

We have bins and bins of of marked down beading goodness! There are marked down gemstones, findings, pendants, glass beads and more! Get ready to dig! Oh and P.S. you get an additional 10% off all red tag times!

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Visit the Rings and Things Blog to find out the other top 4 reasons to go to the sale. Wish I could go. It looks pretty awesome!

It's Raining! It's Pouring! My Old Man is Snoring!

Sorry, Honey!  Yea!  I woke up to the sound of thunder and looked outside to find beautiful, glorious rain! 

  
The temp is 75 right now, which is the coolest it's been in a month.  The high today is still showing 101, but I'm hoping the rain will keep the temp lower than that.

Have a wonderful day!

My BSBP Partner

For my first Bead Soup Blog Party I've been partnered with the talented Laura Sanger of Hg Elemental Mercury.  Laura makes lovely custom Astrological jewelry based on the customers natal chart.  Visit Laura's Etsy shop for a sample of her jewelry and floral hair clips. 

As soon as we exchange addresses, this is the Bead Soup Mix that I'll be sending to Laura.

  

 I can't wait till September 17th to see what Laura created with the beads I send her!

Nina on the Moon interview with Lark Calderon Gomez

Visit Nina on the Moon blog for a wonderful interview with the very talented artist and painter Lark Calderon Gomez.   Larks giclee paintings, with rich, warm colors, are beautifully moving and seductive. 

Lark has offered a signed and numbered, limited edition giclee print to one of Nina on the Moons lucky readers.  Visit the blog for details.

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Andrew Thorntons Allegory Gallery Giveaway

Help Andrew Thornton get the word out about the Allegory Gallery Fundraiser and you might be the lucky person who wins this winged-themed selection of components!

Visit Andrews blog The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton for more information on how you can help.

Beads of Clay Blog: 2nd Wednesday Giveaway time!

Visit Beads of Clay Blog for details for their wonderful giveaway! 

Beads of Clay Blog: 2nd Wednesday Giveaway time!: "Why do we give away our work? Because we can! Today we are giving away ALL of these beautiful handmade ceramic pieces from: Pam Cresswe..."

Bead Soup Blog Party!

This will be my first time to participate and I'm so excited!

I already have everything picked out to send to my partner.  I'll try to post some creative "hidden" pictures before I package everything up to ship.

Studio Waterstone Giveaway

Lori Plyler of Studio Waterstone is having a wonderful giveaway!

This recycled suede journal and leather cuff.

Visit Studio Waterstone to find out what you need to do for a chance at winning both of these wonderfully handmade items.

I ♡ Macro August 07, 2011

I borrowed this from my son for this weeks I Heart Macro picture.  A family friend gave it to him a year or so ago.  I'm not sure if it was once attache to a piece of furniture, a gate, or what, but I've always liked it.

I also wanted to share some pictures of what my sister gave me for my birthday.

I really like these colors together!

It's a little terra cotta bird for my garden.  It's so cute!

He says "Hop on over to Studio Waterstone for I Heart Macro!" 

Click on the button below and check out all the other Macro Lovers.

Have a wonderful week!