Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Mis-Matched Earring Swap

A few weeks ago I read about a mismatched earring swap Diana -suburban girl studio-Ptaszynski was throwing. After debating  back & forth w/ myself (it's an Art Bead thing) I decided to take the plunge. The uber talented Rebecca Anderson, was my partner.

I think these are brilliant in their simplicity on several levels. The colour scheme of  positive & negative is a deceptively easy mismatch, & then she throws in those wire wrapped pearl dangles. We all know that isn't a quick easy little detail, it takes some time to wrap wire so nicely. Now, about that flower, look closely, that's LEATHER! These wear so well. I debuted them w/ a black & white outfit & I really liked the pop of brightness I got w/ these. "Less is More" really applies here! Thank You so much, Rebecca, these are destined to be a favorite pair of earrings.
                                         So, here's the list of the Mismatched Swappers, enjoy!

   Diana Ptaszynski www.urbangirlstudios.com your hostess
Jayne Capps http://mamasgottodoodle.blogspot.com   <<<< you are here
Charlene Jacka http://clay-space.com
Stephanie Woods www.rainydaydesigns.com
Melissa Trudinger www.beadrecipes.wordpress.com 





            

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Macro Sunday

From the Dallas trip.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Bead Soup Blog Hop 6 Reveal!

 Welcome to the sixth Bead Soup Blog Hop. My partner is Vonna, she sent a gorgeous glass bead she made.I think that is one of the best perks of BSBH, I get to use beautiful handmade components I wouldn't have otherwise owned.

  I knew immediately what I wanted to do with the focal.I used some of the chain Vonna sent, added some leftover snippets of chain I had & made a tassel with a wire wrapped loop. Originally I wanted to put this charm on a plain soldered 8 g brass bangle.Sadly, that idea didn't work, my micro torch would ball the solder up, but wouldn't melt it any further~ No Solder For You! Plan B was wrapping the unsoldered bangle with sari silk then wire wrapping the charm over that. While I miss the free floating aspect of a charm on a bangle, I really like wearing this. 


Vonna sent three different clasps, a little brass toggle w/ beautiful detailing & coordinating beads, a BIG brass toggle & a really intriguing little copper clasp. I was drawn to the biggest clasp, but I didn't want to use it in the expected way.I subbed out the circular half for the wooden disc Vonna sent. Now all I needed was something strung that needed to be fastened. I used the ovals I received & added some citrine, pink impression jasper & some wood from India.I drilled the wooden disc & knotted everything w/ waxed linen.

  This is where I was stuck.I was still trying to make the first bracelet work & had a lot of soup left to use.I liked the other focal, but I didn't know what to do with it.Then I thought about the pearls I had sent Vonna. I put some of those next to the stone & really liked them together.I got out my silk & went old school. Hand knotted w/ a vintage clasp.

It felt strange not to make a pair of earrings so I turned to the beads used in the multi strand bracelet. I added a different sari silk,some copper washers & large kidney wires. 
I still have some beads I didn't use(yet) but I'm happy w/ the four pieces I made.
Thanks again to Lori, our fabulous hostess. Here's a link to the page w/ all the July 28th reveals.
Thanks to you for stopping by & enjoy the hop!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

What's In A Name Blog Hop

Mama's Got To Doodle... I'm not a mom so why the Mama? Here is the story behind the name.
     I met T the first time I went to college. I'm not being coy, T was short for Teri,nicknamed T-Bird,shortened to T. College didn't take,but the friendship stuck.Moves happened, years passed but we always managed to reconnect.
    When I went back to college,I found T again.In one of my clay classes was a young pup who always wanted to know where I got my bag,(did I want to sell it,barter it for something?) my jewelry, or my hat, he had a friend that would really like it. One day he was giving a tour of the clay studio to some people & lo & behold, one of them was T! She ended up taking some clay classes & we made porcelain beads by the thousands,stringing them up into jewelry.
    Weekends often found me @ her house.She lived in another town about an hour away so I usually stayed over Friday & Saturday nights, got to love southern hospitality!
     T's daughter had spent weekends w/ her grandparents since she was born,so she was usually waiting to be picked up when I got there. During one of these times T was trying out some new pens I brought over. As she was bemoaning lack of funds to buy some of her own, her daughter came in & started talking about some tennis shoes she wanted. I joked "You can't get new shoes, your Mama's got to doodle, she needs these pens". We all laughed, T looked @ me & said "Mama's got to doodle, I like it"
We used it as our 'dba' once to enter a show, but the show fell through. After that we used it as a shorthand way to say"necessities be damned, we need these art supplies", little inside joke,if you will.
      In June of 2009T was scheduled to come up & visit. We planned to hit the bead show that was in town,float in the pool,eat too well, drink too much, & make new juju,( it had become a tradition on our visits to make new jewelry to commemorate the visit). T didn't make the trip,she took ill Wednesday night, & that Friday morning she stepped on a rainbow,( a Kinky Friedman reference,a shared love of ours).
      It was a rough summer.
      September found me searching for a new outlook. I had discovered blogs in August & thought one of my own would be a good place to start. As soon as I knew I wanted to write a blog, the name was obvious, it had to be Mama's Got to Doodle.
     So there you have it. The long meandering story behind the name of my blog.I hope you could feel the love & enjoy the story w/o too much sorrow.
       Thanks, & Happy Birthday to Shelley of  Tori Sophia for the hop.I've always had it in the back of my mind to share the story but never followed through.This hop was just what I needed to get me going.Below are the other hoppers, Enjoy!



and
 Blog Host/Birthday Girl! - Shelley Graham Turner of Tori Sophia

a pair of T's earrings,cica 1992




Sunday, July 8, 2012

Soup's On!

                                                    Overview shot of all the goodies, it's oversized for reasons I'll explain below.
 Close up of the clasps, I am particularly intrigued by the little copper one. Note the coordinating beads for the smaller bronze clasp, nice detail!
                    I really love these dagger beads, my head is swimming w/ all the possibilities...
 ANNNd this is where the  close up love shot of the fabulous lampwork focal goes, except my camera started acting up. I'm recharging the batteries,again, so we'll see if that was the problem.
   Overall this is a Soup I can really sink my teeth into(sorry, I couldn't resist!). In the past I have used Soup Mixes & not added anything, or I've added w/ wild abandon. I haven't decided about this one yet. I see several directions I can go, w/ more than one piece, (way more as a matter of fact).
 My swap partner is Vonna, of justvonna. She has been showing some really lush cuff bracelets WIP's so I'm curious to see how she interprets my Soup I sent.
    If you've ever wondered about my blog's name, I'll have the answer for you on the 17th in the What's In A Name blog hop. Hope you stop by, happy beading, Y'all!

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Cocktail Blog Hop

  TEQUILA! Ok, now that you have that running through your head,( & maybe Pee Wee is dancing along, who am I to judge?) we can get to the drink. I was given Margarita as my cocktail. So many ways to go w/ this, frozen, on the rocks, strawberry & a myriad of  other fruity variations. I personally like mine on the rocks- no salt, but I  make a mean frozen margarita on request.
   It's no secret I use green a lot in my work. I don't know if  Amy Knew this & humored me, or it was the luck of the draw I got margarita as my cocktail. Which ever it was I knew in about 10 minutes which beads & how I would use them for my representation.The most thinking I had to do was which bead to use for the 'rocks'. I had originally planned to use a very  large faceted glass bead but then I found a smaller clearer bead(honestly I had forgotten I had them) that was a better fit to the size beads I had picked out. While I don't like mine w/ salt, I liked the idea of the rocaile seed beads as grains of salt. Three hours of wire wrapping later I had my very own version of margarita, on the rocks w/ salt.




I'll leave you w/ my family's 'secret' recipe. It's quick, simple & deadly.
                     1 can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed-6 oz
                     1 can tequila
                   1/2 can triple sec (original recipe called for 1 full can, that can be a little sweet)
                     ice cubes, approx. 2 1/2~ 3 cups (small or crushed is best, depends on your blender)
add ingredients to blender  & blend until slushy.  If you don't want frozen, mix the liquid ingrdients in a pitcher & pour over ice, makes 2.I like to garnish w/  a wedge of lime for each glass.( I also use a wedge of lime to wet the rim of the glass when I salt them for friends) Enjoy!
   
                 Here is the list of the rest of the participants, ('beadtenders'?) Salude
            
                      
        

Copper Diem your hostess

Stefanies Sammelsurium
My Bead Journey
Adventures with Kelly
Mama's Got To Doodle <---you are here
Sadafulee
Wait Just One More Bead
Cynth's Blog
Palm Coast Art
Tell Your Girlfriends

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

New Bracelet & Birthday Choker

  I went to a class this morning @ my local bead store & finally learned how to make one of these. It was so easy, I don't know what took me so long!
 I've also finished my niece's charms for her choker. I started w/ the red flower, that was on something I made a few months ago & she wanted something w/ one of those. Of course I can't stop @ one, so I made a couple more,then decided to make 9 for her ninth birthday, then ROYGBIV because I was so close to a rainbow already &.... well you get the idea,(been there done that, right?). I'll give them to her in a special box so she'll have someplace to keep them(in theory) together. The orange ones & the pink one go w/  her outfit I got her so I think she'll like the idea of changing out charms to go w/ an outfit!

See everyone this weekend w/ the cocktail reveal!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Blue Dome Festival

The Blue Dome Festival starts tomorrow. I finally have a dressmakers dummy to display necklaces, she'll make her debut this weekend. Now it's back to checking my lists & packing up!



Sunday, May 13, 2012

Button Swap Reveal

I had my niece & nephew w/ me when my buttons came, so I can't say for sure who was more excited to open them. So excited in fact, I forgot to take pictures of everything before I started making my pieces!My neice claimed the first set of buttons, telling me she wanted a hair clip w/ one of them. I countered w/ a matching ring using, the biggest button of the set.

She picked out the ribbon.



 When I saw this button I couldn't believe how similar it was to one I had used earlier in the year. I decided to make a ring for a 'set'
 I haven't done anything w/ this set yet, but I really like the metallic lacy design.
This is the special button & I'm torn. It could top a collage box or be part of a little pillow, I can't make up my mind. It's too beautiful to rush into something, that's the one thing I'm sure about!

 I'd like to thank my partner Kim for the great stash, I loved working w/ these buttons. Another big thanks to Cindy for putting this swap together! Here's the list , enjoy!


 Kim Roberts and Partner unable to participate at this time.
Pam Ferarri and Stefanie Teufel (will share their reveal on a later date)
Stefanie Teufel and Pam Ferarri (will share their reveal on a later date)