Luna Park Necklace

Yeah I know I need to work on more creative titles..... Here is my submission to the Art Bead Scene February Challenge. It is based on a painting by Vestie Davis. I made the felt bead and adorned it with delicas. The clasp is a vintage button. Love that button!!! I got the glass beads a few years back from Venetian Beads and never quite knew how to use them.

Mommy?

A little blurry and the color is off-I took the photo in the living room after dark. I'll have to re-shoot everything tomorrow in daylight and with a tripod. The show is next week and I have to deliver on Saturday, so tomorrow is also a framing day. Don't much care for framing. Do we like the title?

Can't Wait To Play!

A week or so ago, Melissa Lee had a wonderful give away- an Artbeads gift certificate!!! And I was the lucky winner:D This is what I picked out: Thank you Melissa!!! Be sure and check out her blog and her Etsy Shop. She creates really fun and wonderful pieces with metal clay.

Floaties

Here is my necklace that I made for Erin's Solar System Challenge! I suspended natural stone and crystal on Supplemax nylon line. I did take liberties with placement and size, but I tried to stick to the colors somewhat! It's all fun anyway, right!!!???!!!

Look What You Could Win!!!!

This is just one grouping of glorious beads that could be YOURS if you go on over to Barbara Lewis' new blog, Painting With Fire, and become a follower. Then blog about it. It's that easy!!!! I happen to have one of those beads up there- the cut-out one, and a few of those head pins down there in the corner-GLORIOUS! In robin's egg blue. So beautiful.

The Full Monty

This is my latest pastel. The pears reminded me of those in the spotlight on stage. Which reminded me of the movie........

BEWARE-LUSTABLES PICTURED

New acquisitions from Sue Beads. She included a couple little beauties in the orders! Love the silvered earth tones in the etched bead!

Now , do we L-O-V-E the little owl pendant from Patina Queen ?!?!?

BE STILL MY HEART! I am IN LOVE with this little monster pendant from Cindy Ginter at Potterygod.

Totally diggin' these tiny lampwork glass jump rings from Hanson Stone Handmade.

Gorgeous glass from Kelley's Beads! I love the etched with the "undulating ribbon." She included a couple of her new little nuggets! Love Them!! BTW, Kelley is very good about whipping up a batch of just about anything you need and is very convo friendly, so if you see something or have an idea, give her a holler.

UMMMMM Love These Pendants from Diane Hawkey! The little frog is my FAVORITE!!

Here are some glass beads I just bought from Checkoway Glass, a new shop I found on Etsy.

Incredibly lovely beads from Artisan Clay! The blue pendant and sodalite beads were my winnings from the Beads of Clay Color Challenge. The beautiful connector pendant was one that I had had my eye on since Christmas. Since Kristie was going to be mailing me a package anyway........

Wonderful beads from Andrew Thornton. I love the earthy glass - and those owls!!! Sooo sweet! He included a neat little polymer bead that he made. I love it and I think it is going to be perfect in a design for Erin's Solar System Design Challenge.

Tantalizing glass from Cindy Gimbrone.

That's all. ahem. Looks like this little missy has some beading to do!

A fun time had by all at the bead soup party. Still catching up on all of it! I can't wait to wear my beautiful new necklace tonight! I slept horribly - all was well until Mr. Pearl and Pebble "bounced in his sleep, freaking the dog out, making her jump off the bead, scaring the cat who was on top of me...... I hate being woken up. Good luck with that I know when the baby gets here. Here are my latest pastel paintings. I was thinking cheerleaders in a pyramid the whole time painting this. These baby beets were too beautiful at the market. The colors were amazing! They tasted good too. Suprisingly easy to cook: Break the greens off, Wash, Put in a pan of boiling water with enough water to just cover them. Boil until tender-I found that this was until the water pretty much boiled away. Put in bowl of cold water. Slide the skins off, slice. I put them back in the pan with melted butter for a quick reheat. Toss with fresh chopped parsley, salt and pinch of pepper. Done and Yum.

I called this one Private Party. I love the perceived animation I conjour up in my head. Must stem from early childhood when one plays with their food.

SOUP!!!!!!

Melanie from Earthenwood Studio is my soup partner and this is the wonderful selection of ingredients she sent me. So lovely and perfect. The color is just amazing! I love turquoise - it is one of my favorite stones! Now as you can see, Melanie was way beyond generous and because of it I have plenty of glorious beads left over for future creations! Thank you Melanie!!! Now to talk of the process and the beads themselves..... You know, when I first opened this package of yumminess, I instantly thought "piece of cake." I mean, how much of a challenge could this be- it's ALL here! And yet, I spent a good thirty hours or so -no lie- just on configurations. And the challenge I found was in Melanie's beads themselves. YOU HAVE TO HOLD AN EARTHENWOOD BEAD TO UNDERSTAND. This pendant is significant in size and weight. Yet the color and motif - soft and delicate. It did not want to be paired up with multiple strands of chunky turquoise-which I kept insisting on doing. It wanted all it's aspects to be respected. It wanted earthy and airy. It wanted lightness ala substance. While I know that each designer is different with unique tastes and perspectives, this is the final design that I came up with. I feel like the part of the necklace that wants to take flight is anchored with chain elements and earthiness. The solid look of turquoise juxtaposed with faceted transparency of crystal and green garnet. Thank you again to Melanie. Make sure you check out her blog and her Etsy shops. And by all means, treat yourself to one (or more!) of her beads! Thank you again to Lori for hosting such a great event!!!! Click on the Bead Soup Party picture on my side bar to go to her blog page where she has all the participants and links to their blogs. Thanks for looking! Enjoy!!!

We LOVE the butterfly clasp!

What A Great Day

Today has been a great day. I started and all but finished a pastel painting. I finally managed to get to the market that has the good coffee. (What we've been drinking just isn't the same. I can make do, but poor Mr. Pearl and Pebble.) At the check-out I grabbed a bag of RJ's Raspberry Soft Eating Licorice from New Zealand. Nobody made me say it, but it is darn good! And best of all when I got home and sat down in front of the computer, I saw that my monochromatic bracelet was the lucky winner in the Beads of Clay Color Challenge! Yaaayyyy:) I am very excited because the price is something yummy from Artisan Clay . (Follow the link and check out her shop and you'll understand my glee!)

Color Challenge Bracelets

So I did decide to use this design for the Analogous Color Scheme in the BOC Color Challenge. And here is what I will submit for the monochromatic color theme. It also has a Lisa Peters' stoneware connector. (one of the criteria is that a clay bead must be used) Also in there, glass jump rings from Hanson Stone Handmade - (one of my new favorite things btw), carved sodalite rose, vintage crystals and a glass bead with a "dZi" design that I have had forever and never had the right occasion to use it. Here again I must stress the importance of never getting rid of anything! (Are you reading this Mr. P&P?!?!)