Sunday, February 10, 2013

Bead Soup Time Again !

Yep, it is that time of year again ! All signed up and have received the name of my partner. We have done the usual chit chat and I am ready to stir up a soup for her.

In case you are new to this, it is only my second time to participate, let me go over some of the details.
Lori Anderson is our hostess with the mostest. You can't imagine all the work that goes into this party ! It is amazing how she co-ordinates all of the entrants , addresses, blog sites, etc. to create the largest Bead Soup Blog Party ever !

We enter our names in the event list. We are each assigned a partner that we get to know online and then exchange a "soup" or mixture of beads and findings. We blog about the event as it goes along, like I am trying to do now. Plus we can chat with the entire group on the Bead Soup Cafe group on Facebook. You get a chance to meet and learn about another jewelry artist. Very exciting and always interesting.

My partner this time is Rose Thorn. You can find more about her at http://swtrosethorn.blogspot.com/ .

I hope she will like what I am cooking up for her. Remember to check back in a few weeks to see the soups we have exchanged..

Friday, February 8, 2013

Pantone Bead Swap

In this interesting swap -

You swap beads with a partner - no blog hop, no need to make anything, just send a thoughtful package of excellent beads to your partner, as if you were giving a gift to your best friend.

Good rule of thumb? Please do not send anything you would not be proud to turn in for a magazine tutorial.

Partners decided between themselves as to how many colors they want to trade (one, three, all, it doesn't matter).

Colors can be found here:

http://www.pantone.com/pages/fcr.aspx?pg=20948

About PANTONE

WHO WE ARE

Pantone LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite, Incorporated, is the world-renowned authority on color and provider of color systems and leading technology for the selection and accurate communication of color across a variety of industries. The PANTONE® name is known worldwide as the standard language for color communication from designer to manufacturer to retailer to customer.

I was partnered with the fascinating Jessica Klaaren from Cellardoor Jewelry !

We introduced ourselves thru emails and decided on colors to send. I forgot to take a picture of the ones I sent her. Here are the stunning beads I received.

I am going to make earrings from the butterfly wings! The purple focal is so pretty. Thrilled with all of them !

Thank you so much Jessica !

Thursday, February 7, 2013

2nd Annual Holiday Ornament Swap Blog Hop !

This swap called for us to create one ornament which must contain an art bead, be handcrafted, by the artist, and make sure it is quality work. They were to be mailed out by November 21st and kept secret until the reveal date of December 15th.

The main ornament I created is this angel pendant bead.

I also made this little stocking, which can be worn as a pin and hung it from satin ribbon.

Since it had a tracking # on it I know my partner received it , and the other little goodies I sent along. Unfortunately she did not follow through with the swap. Sometimes the swaps go that way.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Creativity in 2012

You might be wondering if I found any time to be creative this past year. Of course I did !

As I started unpacking the mountain of boxes art and crafting supplies started emerging ! Huzzah ! Slowly the little room we choose as my studio area started coming together. Adjustable desk in the corner by the window where I can look out over the barn area and the river valley. Nice to look up every so often and enjoy the few. Plus the benefit of a nice breeze on a warm evening.

I was invited to join several groups on Facebook. Of course I jumped on the invite to C F Originals . It is an open group where we gather to discuss the works on delightful polymer clay creations of Christi Friesen. Her fun style of sculpting captures my frivolous spirit and helps to nurture it.

Her series of "How To" books are delightful ! Look forward to the publishing of each new one.

Found a book store that trades books and came home with several on costuming. Love to thumb through them to kick start ideas for dressing up the art dolls I make. Also uncovered a crate of Fairies I had created. All spruced up and ready to go to market. These little ladies won first place at the fair in the recycling division. Love to use found objects in my projects !

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Okay, I give up !

Okay, I give up !

No, really and truly, I give up !

My blog was at another host and I decided to consolidate everything here on Google. I figured it would be no big deal to copy , paste, relocate, or transfer many of the posts from my old blog to my new one. Wrong ! After nearly a month of fiddling with and attempting everything I could think of, read about, or have offered by others on how to do it, all I had was a hodgepodge of stuff . Simply not acceptable. Nope, no way !

Thus, decision was made to simply to take a little ramble through the happenings of 2012. So grab a cuppa and a snack, and let's start this journey , shall we ?

In February of 2012 conditions of the house we were renting became so bad we were forced to move. The house was located in the lowlands next to the reservoir . We trekked farther south in the state and moved into a single wide mobile located on the side of a mountain, in the bend of a river ! It was a horrid undertaking in truly miserable weather. Had to leave many storage cupboards, layout tables, and other things behind. All the critters we call " family' made the trip safely and love their new home.

The spring and summer were spent clearing property and repairing things. Managed to plant a small garden and grow a few things. Several very old apple trees and some cherry trees here, plus tons of blackberry vines meant lots of fruit to can and dry.

Can't wait for next year's garden !

Added a few new gals to the flock, said good bye to a beloved fur baby.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

6th Bead Soup Blog Party

Astonished ! That is the best description I can give to the invitation from Lori Anderson to join her Bead Soup Group on Facebook. Then I was accepted to take part in her 6th Bead Soup Blog Party!

What an honor ! Since this was my first time doing this, and I am a beginning jewelry artist I was very nervous. A blog party is where you sign up for an event and are randomly matched with a partner somewhere in the world. the 6th Bead soup Party had nearly 400 participants from 45 states in the United States and 25 other countries !

It took me a bit to figure out exactly what was required of me and proceed to get it all together ! Everyone was so friendly and helpful.

I was partnered with Paige Maxim from Readfield, Maine, here in the United States.

This is the soup I sent to Paige

You can go to her web page to see the creations she made from these ingredients

Paige Maxim, Paige Maxim Designs

Here is the delightful soup I received from Paige

I will be the first to admit I am a beginner in jewelry making. I have taken a couple of simple classes from a local lady and watched the videos on the internet, bought a few magazines and studied all the photos. I have done some basic stringing, following the instructions as best I can. Paige had included a spool of wire ..... that means ... wire working, wire wrapping ! I have never done any of that. Several email conversations with a wonderful lady in Washington and I started my first attempts at it. Ended up cutting a good deal of that up and starting over. all part of the learning process. In the end I was starting to get the hang of letting the tools do the work and just being the guide.

I received generous portions of Chalcendy , Lucite flowers, plastic flowers, swarovski crystals,a clasp from LynnDavis made of PMCL Bronze, carnelian,a ceramic butterfly created by RoundRabbit, vintage Lucite Moonglow rounds, Brazilian sodalite, and a spool of wire.

Here are the items I created.