Bead Soup Blog Party - Teaser

I feel so honored - and downright scared - to have been "randomly" selected as one of the participants of Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party!  I have only recently plunged into Blogland and opened an Etsy store, so my self-confidence is lacking!  But, I know this challenge will push me, creatively speaking, and for that, Lori, I thank you so much for this opportunity!

My partner for this venture is Natasha Lutes of N's Whims. A Wisconsin girl!!  My entire family (except me) is from Wisconsin - Cheese Heads and Packer Backers through and through - sorry about the game last week :(

I struggled with what to send her, but received emails from Lori telling us to send what we ourselves like...so that's what I did.  Then I struggled for two days on how to package the soup!  I have seen the extent of what other people have done with their packaging - it's like Christmas, or a special Birthday event!  I am afraid that my creativity in the packaging department just isn't there lately, but I did my best. Here is a sneak peak:

I sure hope she likes it! The big reveal date is March 3rd - 200 participants!  How exciting is that?!

Thanks for stopping by!  

I Heart Macro

Winter FINALLY came to Northern Virginia.  Unfortunately...

It came in the form of freezing rain...

My BFF, Sam -a 90lb lab-does not like this stuff...it crunches under his feet and he just looks at me all confused.  But no worries, Sam, this crazy weather is supposed to hit 50 degrees again by Monday....ugh.  Until then...

Thanks for stopping by!

New Work - With Sue Kennedy, Unicorne, and More

I have been busy lately....first up is this necklace I made with gorgeous red and gold "marble beads" from Unicorne:

 I was lucky to find some Czech glass beads in the exact same color tones, 2 small sterling silver coin beads, and a very large sterling silver bead that I was hoarding for just the right project. 

I finished it off with a hand forged clasp, also in sterling.

I made another necklace, featuring a donut bead from Unicorne.  I have not worked with a donut bead before, but I loved the colors!  So, I went through my stash and found these gorgeous bead sets I have from Sue Kennedy - the icy blue ones are called Glacier Sparkle (I love the name as much as the beads!), and the second set is called Blue Danube. These beads from Sue matched perfectly with the donut bead!  I stared at all the beads together for I swear at least 30 minutes...just stared!  I decided to make the donut bead into a toggle clasp.

It's rather asymmetrical and can be worn with the toggle in front, like a pendant, to the side, or even in the back. 

I also made several pairs of earrings - the first set below is made with these awesome filigree beads from none other than Sue! 

I love these earrings - I see them worn with a classic black dress.  This is the third time I have used these exact beads. In fact, my very first etsy sale was for this bracelet:

The customer who bought this wants a similar one for her sister - that's how cool these beads are!  The last pair of earrings below were made with enameled components by Sue, and very cool coral beads by HavannaBeads on etsy.

That's it for now...thank you so much for stopping by!

I Heart Macro

I am a bird lover, for sure.  I have 9 bird feeders in my backyard and nothing gives me more joy than to see the feeders FULL of beautiful birds, feasting on a snack while on their way to their next destination.

But let's face it....it's January and the colorful gold finches are not rushing to my feeders lately.  So, my macro came from this cute little hand painted (not by me!) bird house that sits in my kitchen, next to my windows where the real birds are flying free.

Thanks for stopping by!

Art Bead Scene Challenge - January 2012

Trellis by William Morris, 1862

This is my first attempt at creating a piece of jewelry based on artwork selected by the Art Bead Scene.  It is a beautiful wallpaper design entitled Trellis and designed by William Morris.  I LOVE these colors together!  The beautiful moss green with pops of orange and yellow....well, just lovely!

The first thing I did was look at my ever-growing bead stash - I was searching for a bead with a bird, or an enameled bird.  The only birds I had on hand were dragonflies.  But then.... I found one of my lamp work eggs that I have been hoarding, made by the talented Kelley Wenzel. It is the PERFECT shade of green and it had flecks of yellow!!  How awesome for me! It was close enough because really, what DID come first, the egg or the bird????

As it so happens, I also found some additional lamp work beads in the same shade of green also made by Kelley. As my search for additional components continued, I happened upon the gorgeous clasp you see in the picture above, made by Cassie Donlen.  I have been waiting for just the right piece to use this clasp.  Personally, I could just keep it on my bead table and stare at it all day long.  I mean, she etched the copper, hand cut the form, added the awesome patina, and she even added riveted elements!  Such talent!  Here is a another picture of the toggle clasp:

I knew the piece still needed some sort of focal and I wanted to capture the leaves.  So, I wire-wrapped a few enameled pieces together, starting with the gorgeous brown enameled maple leaf, made by Anne Gardanne, an enameled flower charm by Sue Kennedy (more pops of yellow!) and an enameled headpin made by the Enameling Queen herself, Barbara Lewis.   I was a winner in one of her blogging book tours this fall and I was excited to use that head pin!

Additionally, since I did not have a bird bead or charm, I made the wired bead components in a "messy wrap style" to loosely resemble a bird's nest.  I DID say loosely resemble, as I realize that they are not truly a bird's nest shape! 

Finally, I HAD to use this awesome copper leaf chain by Ad Adornments.  I do love this fringe chain! Leaves!! Here is my finished piece:

I had so much fun with this challenge.  I hope to keep it up throughout the rest of the year!

Thank you so much for stopping by my little world!