Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

Presenting~~~~ The Ring

     I finished my ring in class Wednesday night! I'm not sure what the stone is, I bought it a year ago, I think it might be labradorite.
     We are sandcasting next week. I haven't decided what I will cast yet, I have lots of little trinket type thing around the house. While I wait to use the sandcasting equipment I have another ring that is close to completion I'd like to finish.
  

Giveaway

I just found out about a giveaway & wanted to share. http://reginaswritings.blogspot.com/ is having a giveaway .You can win a $25 gift certificate to The Beadchest for African Trade Beads. Good Luck!

Juls Beads part 1

Here are some of the beads I got from Juls a few weeks ago. I love the cream & teel combination under the clear. Okay I love them ALL to be honest! She sent earring pairs,2 sets w/ a focal & 3 more sets. These are all so beautiful, I just hope I can come up w/ jewelry worthy of the beads. I have stocked up on some sterling wire, so I may be leaning in the direction of wire links. I will keep you updated.

Juls Beads Part 2

Here are some of the beads I got from Juls. I posted 2 shots of the pink beads to show how a difference in background can really affect the colour.My hats are off to all the glass artists, taking pictures of shiny beads is HARD,:P

Success!

Tonight my bezel soldering was successful~YAY. I didn't have time to solder the setting to  the band but if next week's work goes as well as this week's I should be able to finish the ring.

Tulsa State Fair~ Sugar Art Show

If you watch Food Network, you may have seen the Sugar Art Show from Tulsa. I took my niece & nephew today so we could gorge ourselves w/o adult supervision see the cakes. The cakes are unbelievable.These are just a few of the pictures I took.The one thing that always surprises me about them is that it doesn't smell like cake?
Are you wondering what we ate/shared? Corn dog,fried shrimp on a stick(HOT & spicy!), fried chicken breast on a stick, lemonade,fried cheese on a stick, apple slices w/ hot caramel,funnel cake( because it WAS the fair!),pineapple whip, caramel cinnamon roll, a mango/strawberry smoothie &  a smoked pork chop sandwich. Mind you, this was over  the course of several hours & much walking all split between the 3 of us. I also may not eat again until Wednesday! P/S I totally forgot the gyros until monday !

Jewelry Class 2nd Meeting

Last night I had big plans of finishing a ring. I straightened & filed the band. Then I attempted to re solder the bezel. I had soldered it @ the end of the last class, but there were a few places I missed. I fluxed, cut the solder, placed the tiny little pieces of solder & lit the torch. As some areas of solder melted & flowed just like they were supposed to, others weren't so cooperative.  As I watched the BEZEL melt, the *%^#&())(&^(*^%&%$*)(&^&(*^% * solder didn't. Craziness I tell you! So what I got done after that was removing the bezel & getting most of the rough areas left behind filed down. I'll be ready to try again next week, & hopefully have a picture to show you :)

Pinwheels for Peace

This past Tuesday was International Day of Peace.  One of the ways to celebrate/acknowledge IDP is Pinwheels For Peace. The studio where I take my jewelry class was participating & my nephew & I made pinwheels @ home. These are some of them before I cut & folded & the finished baker's dozen. I  tried my hand @ zentangles for a few & did some collage/decoupage for the rest.

Jewelry Class

It was touch & go there for a week if my advanced class would have enough students to make or not. It was on then  off & on again, even getting pushed back a week to see if enough would enroll.. We met last night, in spite of the fact that one student did change her mind about enrolling. We didn't do a lot of work, K showed us how to hide solder on copper( my personal bane!) by using some steel in pickle& soaking the piece in that. He used some steel wool & pickle in a small cup(not the whole pot of pickle!) & let it all soak a little bit. When I checked it, the steel wool had gone the colour of the copper, & when K pulled the piece you couldn't see the solder @ all.!The strangeness of the timing is I had just read this tip earlier in the week.We wrote down goals we had for  ourselves this class so K could be ready for our questions/needs. I also helped someone make some earrings for a quick gift. She hadn't made head pins  or done any wire wrapping before, so I helped out a little.
  One of my goals was to finish the 2 rings I started @ the end of our Spring class. I also want to try more enameling, maybe even some headpins.
   Tomorrow I'll have pictures of my fabulous beads from juls.

JULS needs your help & a giveaway

Juls @ http://julsbeads.blogspot.com/ needs your help! She has to raise approx. $500.00 for her darling little pup's medical needs.She has several special deals going right now so head on over to shop for a good cause. She is also accepting donations. Seriously, who could say no to that face?!

 On a lighter note, the lampwork diva is having a giveaway to celebrate 5 years of blogging (wow) so head over to http://lampworkdiva.blogspot.com/ & enter for a chance to win

We Have Winners!

Maddie has picked two winners~ #2 & 3#. So Francy send me your mailing info so I can get your goodie box out to you. If you are as local as I think you are, we can also arrange a pick up. Cindy, I have your info. Expect a package soon! Congratulations Chix!

Bad List

I'm not sure just when my niece wrote this, so I can't know just what it was her brother & I did. But as you can see, it's official, we made the 'bad list', (she's 7). If you can't read it it says "Boot C and Logan ure in my bad list" . If you click on the picture it will enlarge & you can see it a little better.

End of An Era

I've just heard from my sister & sister in law by text  message & phone call that our drive~in  has burnt to the ground. The wooden screen structure was not insured(wood= uninsurable) & will probably not be rebuilt. Such sad news.

Bead Swap 2

Once I joined the Bead Soup  group there was no turning back! I've participated in both Soups & both swaps. Swaps don't have any pressure( you know, besides making sure you send good stuff!), just send a little stash & hoard enjoy. This time around I was partnered w/ Sue, http://suebeads.blogspot.com, who does AMAZING glass & enameled beads. She showered me w/ assorted handmade goodies & then, as if that weren't enough,sent along some beautiful gemstone & plastic goodies . She also sent some really great coins ( how did she know?) & tied the box  up w/ fabulous sari string. A big Thank You to Sue, stop by her blog, or her store http://suebeads.etsy.com you'll be oh so tempted!

                                                this is a picture of the beads I sent to Sue
 If you're reading this, please take a minute to sign up for the  Blogiversery giveaway on the post below. I'll be putting 2  boxes of goodies together much like this one & choosing  a pair of winners on September 6th.

Happy September & Giveaway!

I know I know, you thought I had surely melted away given my last post & no real entries for July & August.
I'm still here & trying to start my one year blogging month w/ better intentions. First the giveaway~ on September the 6th,the one year 'bloggiversery' I am drawing for a name. The giveaway is inspired by the bead swap Lori Anderson has done & will be a box filled w/ beady goodness.Some pairs, some batches, who knows what all I'll put in there? There is a good chance I could even put in some mixed media items. Please leave a comment on this post don't forget I will need to contact you if your name is drawn(sounds simple but I did have someone win  w/o leaving contact info for the charm day giveaway I did). I will probably choose 2 winners so both my niece & my nephew can pick a number. I am low tech over here, friends!What kind of comment do I want? Well,..... you could tell me what kinds of beads you hope you win, based on all my bead show stash posts, you could tell me what you like about any of my posts, you could tell me about a great site I need to visit, a studio organizing tip that worked for you or you could even  give me a great chocolate recipe!Talk to me & good luck :)

  The photo? That was a pair of crossed bones under the gel cling skull. When I came home a few days ago  they had MELTED! :O

Hot Hot Hot

Today the thermometer on my front porch read 114 @ 6:00.

Additional Photos

Here are the photos I couldn't download earlier.The rewired focal on a handmade paddle.The swap beads w/ the pearls & chain I added,(not sure where my green pearls I added are...?) & 2 more shots of the necklace. The large bead hanging from the toggle is part of the original focal, in keeping w/ the spirit of the swap I made it into a second focal.

Finished Necklace

Ok, I am having more problems than I thought & only 1 picture came through the download process, :(. I am only posting the finished necklace in this post.

Bead Swap for My So Called Junky Life

Today is the reveal for My So Called Junky Life's bead swap.. I was paired w/ Julie of Legacy of Love Artistic Crafts. We sent our partner 20 beads & a focal. Let me tell you trying to stay close to only 20 beads was tough! I got some beautiful beads in all my favourite colours w/ a twist, instead of the chunky gemstones I usually work in, these were faceted glass beads, some w/ an AB finish. I added a few pearls in the same colours, a copper toggle & some copper chain. I reworked the focal that Julie had made since I used copper instead of silver. I really enjoyed working w/ the glass beads & I am REALLY digging the faceted rondelles. Thanks Julie, I hope I did your offering proud, & a big Thank You to Sarah for putting it together. Once again I can't post direct links,I'm sorry for the inconvenience

Last of the Bead Show Goodies

What w/ the Poor Beader's post & then Bead Soup Reveal I never did show all the loot from the bead show. I will use some Black Max on the copper beads to give them a little more depth. I am fascinated by this red bead. I have been seeing them for the last year or so, & even tho' I KNOW they are hard glass I still expect them to feel like red velvet! The third shot is a mix of this & that, more red glass, some stabilized turquoise & assorted stones. I got these two strands of green just to be a little different. I have lots of green stone in chunky nuggets, but these spoke to me & the price was right. The last shot is all the pearls I bought from all the different stalls together. I fell in love w/ pearls when I got some in the first bead soup. Now I have a little stash of my own built up. I let you know how that works out!

BIG giveaway!

head on over to Bling It On, http://deniseyezbakmoore.blogspot.com for a fabulous, Bead Soup inspired giveaway, you do NOT want to miss this one!

Blue Soup

Hi everyone, welcome to my soup! Filomena of Pink Velvet Bird is my partner. She makes these cute floral pins & sent me one in blue for my focal. She also sent pearls, squares,faceted beqads in various blues, a pretty hammered silver toggle & some cording. Now for me this was almost a triple challenge; blue,cording & a fiber focal. As Lori has pointed out, this is a chance to stretch your creativity, break out of your (self imposed) comfort zone.
At the first of the month I saw a necklace on Fanciful Devices that remeinded me of the mix Filomena sent. I used this necklace as a starting point for my inspiration, (in a very loose, round about sort of way). I wanted to use the cording so I added two chains,one on each side. When I went to the bead show I got two add'tl beads, a larger silver pearl & a small dark blue crystal. I only used a few of these, Filomena had sent LOTS of beads, I just wanted to add to my options.I started w/ the three large blue crystals on one end & a few of the bigger pearlson the large chain. I did a 'cha cha' style mass of beads on the other end on the small chain. I wire wrapped the cording & made loops on each end so I could attach it to the clasp. The flower is a pin & it is pinned to the cord. I hope you enjoy my blue soup!

Bead Soup Delay

I was hit w/ a bug this week that took me out for a couple of days. When I could get back up & around I had to concentrate on the 2 day show I am doing this weekend. I'm there now, I have my soup w/me & I hope to have it finished & posted this evening, after 7:00 central.I'm very sorry for the delay.

Poor Beader's Post

This bracelet is one of a pair I made in 2007. My best friend of 30 + years came to visit & we pulled charms & trinkets, drilled some holes & I strung everything.This quickly became a go~to bracelet, I usually wear it @ least once a week. This is one of my most treasured pieces. Last year, when it was time for a long over due visit, T died the morning of the day she was due. I'm so glad we made these together.
I'm new to blogging & the picture taking that goes w/ it. I just have a basic point & shoot digital but I have found that the micro setting combined w/ the text setting( if you have it) can do a nice job of taking up close & personal shots of my work. I also am always on the lookout for a good background. I remembered a couple of wallpaper books I had tucked away & I have found some really great backgrounds. Some of the pages have great textures in a range of colours from light to dark.

Gem Faire 3

New flower jade & some pearls. I bought similar jade from somewhere else & thought these would be good w/ what I had.The big pearls may be used in my bead soup,(yes I know, I should have it done by now!)I just wanted to have them in case I needed them. The second photo has some chunky green stones(we all know I can't resist those!) & more little colourful glass beads. I make & sell a lot of anklets & these felt like summer to me.

Gem Faire Goodies 2

Here are today's goodies. A beautiful Opalite Donut, some matte green glass beads & some happy little floral beads. I see anklets out of these.

Gem Faire Goodies 1

I will show goodies by booth. I thought these metal beads were something I could use in a lot of ways. The small bumpy beads are small spacers/caps.I am going to try using my Black Max on these to see how they patina. I couldn't resist the cherries, I almost have an idea for them, maybe as a 'hang bead' on my etsy items? Yes, I am working on an esty store, details coming soon!