What I'd Rather Be Doing

I have a freelance job. It's usually not terribly time consuming but lately? Oh, brother. I've been working all the time. I do research for a publishing company in DC so I can work in my pjs or schedule things to suit me most of the time. Lately I've had more work and have been working daily (oh, no!!) -- and long days at that. And my beading time is gone! GONE! I have no energy left at the end of the day but I will soon. I hope!

Here's some things I've done but all pre-blog:

Some cubes from a Jean Power tutorial.



And lots of peyote stitch bracelets. Here's a sample of ones I did w/ cube beads:







I have a stack of things I want to do. But earning some money has to be number 1 for now! Thanks for sticking around!

Monday Wish List

It's Monday. Wish day, thanks to Amy at Copper Diem.
I would love some of these beads. Ok, not some, ALL of them. The colors... the textures... the shapes. Just beautiful.

Julie Picarello is an amazing polymer artist. Look at her beads.

Look here: (sorry, flickr doesn't let you copy photos)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/julie_picarello/2702800404/in/set-72157603192652002

or here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/julie_picarello/2034346607/in/set-72157603192652002/

Julie's website is here.

That's all I want today. Well, except for world peas and all that. You know...

Bead Soup is Boiling, part 2

I volunteered to have two partners in the Bead Soup Blog Party in an effort to make myself have fun with this instead of feeling so stressed about it (as I did with my first partner). My second partner is Candice and she has a blog that's even newer than mine. It's here. Her original partner disappeared (so sad) so we made our swaps.

First of all, let me just say that I had so much fun picking out beads for Candice. Because her blog is so new, I had not a single clue about what she's into or what she likes. So I just picked out things I like. That was fun. And a lesson learned.

What I got was a very special package, with a really nice note from Candice. The beads, she said are old & new. Some are from her mom's broken jewelry (dating to the 1970s and 1980s). Her 3-yo son picked out the square beads. So cute!

I don't know what stone the focal is but it has such depth with great color. I hope the photo lets you see it well enough.



Lori said that because I have two partners, I can either make two items OR make one thing using the beads from both partners. I haven't made that decision yet. I guess you'll see on the Big Reveal Day!

Bead Soup is Boiling!

After all my angst about what I was going to send to Kelly (Adventures with Kelly), I have to tell you that we sent such similar things to each other it just made me chuckle. I love the goodies and am here to tell you and show you them all. She said she sent me things that represent what she really loves so I'm thinking that's a good omen for what I sent her!!
Here's the package: So pretty! And I love that those glassine envelopes actually match the gift card. How cool is that!

And for what's inside. That's what's really cool:

Wood and stones, glass and crystal, ceramic! All here representing Kelly's awesomeness as an outdoorswoman! The land and the sky. The trees, the ground, the water.

I really love how she did this collection. Oh, and the ceramic focal is by Kylie Parry -- isn't it great?

Kelly is a hiker and camper and canoer -- all things I am most definitely not. I go from one air-conditioned place to another air-conditioned place and the great outdoors is the distance from a parking space to a building's door! I really admire folks who get out there and do stuff! Look at the photos on her blog. Amazing vistas.
So thank you Kelly. This will be fun.

And... because of my angst over what to send to Kelly, I volunteered to take a second partner. More about Candice tomorrow!

Total Treasures

Amy at Copper Diem had a great idea. She would design some Etsy Treasures for anyone who wanted to play with her and we had to build some jewelry around the Treasure she sent us.
Here is mine:
Jadeite green. It's a really luscious color but one completely missing in my stash. So I may have had to buy 3 strands of little faceted beads for this project. (My bad, I know, but honest, only 3 little strands.) I liked this color a lot and I liked the feel of this color w/ white. Just plain old white. Look at that chair. Or the salt & pepper shakers. So retro and cool! I really thought Lori Anderson should get the typewriter so her pink one would have a partner but she passed! It is a bit pricey!

So here's what I made.
I must give a shout out to Kristen at My Bead Journey for convincing me that I could actually make the Sparkly Wheels that she raved about in a recent blog post. She was right. They were so fun I could have made dozens. And the colors I found match my Etsy Treasury so perfectly. I will probably never wear this bracelet because I don't wear much green (none actually) so it's going in the little container with a lot of other things I've made because I like the process of making things as much as (or more than) the finished product. I think it's time I made some things I actually wear, don't you?



Here are the other people who are playing along: Go visit them, too!
Copper Diem
Fuego, metal y color
Silver Nik Nats
Beads and Bread
Copper Penny Designs
Green Shoot
Wild Sally Road
Mamas Got To Doodle
Beads for Busy Gals
EBS Jewellery
Cianci Blue
Beads for Brains
Nicki's Reef
Sweet Girl Design
Nicole Rennell

Nancy Dale of NED Beads -- So Awesome!

I was talking about not wearing things I make but today I want to show you jewelry that I actually wear. This is my favorite necklace ever. I won a giveaway (lucky me!) from Nancy Dale of NED Beads. A nicer person you couldn't find! I love her work and am amazed and awed by her use of color and her designs.

This is the one I got to pick for myself. Oooh. I love it so much. Even my husband who doesn't comment on the jewelry was impressed w/ her work. I wore it OUT (yes, I actually left my house) and got compliments from complete strangers. I will probably wear this every day forever because I love it that much! Just look at this beauty. I must say my photos don't do it justice. It's actually a richer deeper color of purple and all the other colors just pop off of that. It is yummy!

Thank you so much, Nancy!

Bead Soup is Simmering

It seems like every blog (almost) that I look at these days has some info about the Bead Soup Blog Party (which I keep calling the Blog Soup Bead Party!). My partner is Kelly at Adventures with Kelly and what a breath of fresh air she is! She couldn't be more opposite me -- she's young, she's a gardener, she cooks, she backpacks and hikes (OMG!), she's a newlywed (a year still counts, right?). And I love reading about her active life, and her cooking, and pets. I'm very grateful to Lori for introducing us.

That said, I had a horrible time picking out beads! I wanted to send things she'd enjoy and that kind of went along with her lifestyle. But I was having so much trouble picking out the right things that I actually thought several times that I shouldn't have joined this party.

Now, you all know that one of the reasons I started this blog was so I could participate in this party. But this angst I'm having is not so fun. The package is mailed. The deed is done. I hope I didn't get it totally wrong.

No photos (I was so distressed I forgot to take any). I hope you're all having fun with this and not getting so stressed out by it!

Wish upon a Star

Copper Diem's Amy has the Monday wish list going.

At first I thought there wasn't really anything that I was wishing for or wanting. HA! Fat chance of that happening.

I was reading about this: Interweave's Bead Fest. In Philadelphia this month and in Texas in October. Fun. Instructive. Educational. Gorgeous beads. Yes, I would wish for that. For sure!


Or this one: Weekend with the Wire Masters in California in November. (I'll actually be in Southern California when this is happening but will be busy w/ family and not working the wire). Besides, I'm not wire master or anything close but I would love to learn more about it.

And as long as I'm dreaming, it's not too soon to start wishing for this one, too: June 1 thru 10, 2012! Awesome.

I'd also love to go to Tucson and just see what it's like. It sounds like sensory overload but I think it would be great to see -- even if just once.

Nice dreams ... but I don't see any of them happening this year.

So those are my wishes for this week. I'll try to contain myself now but reading about all these great opportunities for learning new stuff has me jazzed again!

My biggest wish is health for my dear friend Teena who has just been diagnosed with cancer. We've been friends for nearly half a century (yeah, we're old!). She just retired in June and is ready for some fun, not this crap. Your prayers, good thoughts, positive vibes, healing light and energy will all be welcome for her. Thank you.