Monday

It has been a lovely weekend!  The weather in Northern Virginia has been nothing short of fantastic, which means low humidity!  I won't even begin to describe the puffiness(more like frizz) my hair achieves in the hot, humid Virginia summer!

Friday, Great Grandma (aka my Mom) and I drove down to Fredericksburg to meet the new babies!  I must remind you that I have no children, so the awesomeness of the new lives was nothing short of breath taking!  Jen and Jason, though very tired, were beaming with joy!  Mom was the first person in the family, outside of Jen and Jason of course, to hold the little munchkins.

You can just see the instant love in Mom's face while holding Evelyn!  My flash was going nuts - so this was the only picture I took.  Mom, Dad, and new babes are doing wonderful! :)

I had not even gone to my bench in over a week.  This does not mean I have not been buying beads, though!  I have a hoardful (is that a word?) of beads from one of my favorite artisans - Donna Millard.  There is just something so very special about her beads - I buy them and leave them on my bench to stare at - each bead is truly a work of art!

With my last purchase, I promised Donna I would take her beads out for play - and I did just that on Sunday.

First I made this bracelet.  I wrapped the focal in heavy gauge wire - coiled the ends and made a hand forged toggle.  The rustic treatment Donna put on these beads really softens the orange and makes it "wearable".  

The beads have a base of orange, green or black - the frit gives it a wonderful element of texture and brings the cohesiveness of the focal into play.

Next up was the "matching" necklace.  I made the extra large infinity hoops from heavy, 14 gauge wire.  I hammered the heck out of them and then wrapped them with 20 gauge wire in the center - they remind me of bow!

Rustic - earthy - boho - love this necklace!

This last necklace was a labor of love!  I wanted to accentuate the gorgeous rounds - transparent glass with her signature scroll, leaf and hand-applied murrine work - also treated with the rustic finish.  So, I got some sheet copper, textured it, and hand cut some bead caps.

I wanted the bead caps to have a touch of "bumpiness" to them.

Just look at these beads - can you understand why I keep her beads on bench to stare at all day long?!

This transparent, icy blue has fast become my favorite shade.

I added just a few links of handmade what I call "ladder chain" to the ends - again, I used 14 gauge wire.  I made these links larger than usual - I am happy with how they turned out!

My hands were tired by day's end! 

I hope you all had a lovely weekend!  Hot nasty weather will return for a couple of days here - and then we hit Labor Day Weekend!  So excited for the return of Fall!

Thanks so much stopping by!

Patti