Friday, January 27, 2012

In Rememberance

Dad
May 23, 1929 - January 27, 2005


We little knew that morning
That God would call your name.
In life we loved you dearly;
In death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
But you did not go alone,
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.
You left us beautiful memories,
Your love is still our guide,
And though we cannot see you,
You are always by our side.
Our family chain is broken
And nothing seems the same,
But as God calls us one by one,
The chain will link again.

Author, Unknown

This picture above is of my dad and his family, circa 1934.  He is the little one on the left with the cheesey grin - he had that grin his whole life.

June 5, 1954.  Still had the grin, and he married such a beautiful lady!


Mom and Dad in Florida, where they retired, on my brother's boat.  This is my all-time favorite photo of the two of them.  It was taken in the early 2000's - not sure of the exact date.  I also have this photo in a keepsake ornament that I disply on "my tree" every year - and I will continue to display it until the day I die.  I mean, look at the smiles on their faces!  Priceless!

My father died of cancer.  He suffered.  Greatly suffered.  I hate that part the most. 

Rest in Peace, Daddy.  I think of you EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Love, Patti

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Bead Soup Ingredients!

I received my Bead Soup ingredients from my partner Natasha Lutes today!

The package:

The ingredients!

The focal:

While these are colors I am used to...the shape I am not!  I see some creative wire wrapping in my future!
The clasps - vintaj (yeah!)
Most of my work involves silver -- a little copper, but mostly silver.  This will be fun!
She even gave me LOTS of coordinating Vintaj components:

 And, some coordinating semi-precious gemstones:
And last...but certainly not least...she gave me some peacock pearls and a few glass rondelles:
I have have several designs floating in my head...can't wait to start working on this!!!

Many thanks to Natasha for this gift!  And, of course, thank you Lori Anderson for hosting this party!  Stay tuned for the big reveal on March 3!!!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

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!  

Saturday, January 21, 2012

I Heart Macro

studio waterstone

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!


Tuesday, January 17, 2012

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!