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Don't forget to enter for your chance to win the next stop on the Art Bead Love Tour!!! Drawing this Saturday May 5th!


Now that the insanity of the last two weeks of work has passed (late nights, going in on a Sunday) I finally have time to share some new stuff! One thing I made last Saturday, but it needed an adjustment, which I did last night. And the other one I did last night. Both feature items I claimed from the Art Bead Love box! I'm about ready to turn over that pesky flower focal from the last two blogs and claim one more thing. I just might do it. 

Surprise Fairy Necklace

Ever sit down fully intending to make one thing and then come away with something completely different? That's what happened last night. I've got a Round Rabbit flower focal I've been trying to use, but nothing ever seemed right. I figured surely I would be able to find the solution in last weekend's gem show haul, and I thought I did. I had the strung part of the necklace done, but it just seemed to overwhelm the focal.

So I soldiered on and added the sari, not sure what I would really do, because the way I designed the front - it needed a focal. I left a space for it between the beads. Once I was done with the sari bit, I poked through my growing, but still not massive, focal collection. Jessi's ceramic fairy pendant jumped right out at me and it was perfect!

I was slightly disappointed, in that it wasn't the necklace I set out to create, but by the time I woke up and looked at it again this morning I was quite happy with it.

My friend Jessi's fairy pendant, sari silk, Swarovski crystals, pyrite, apatite, waxed Irish linen cording, and upcycled pyrite rings (they were finger rings from Nine West!)

April Flower

New stuff! I made this bracelet last night. It's a bracelet! It's asymmetrical! Two things I usually fail at, but I think this one's a winner. I've had this vintage red flower button for a couple of years. I loved it, but never knew what to do with it until last night. Actually, I could say the same about the green & red dot lampwork bead and the green bead - it's made like a cotton pearl, but differently coated. I guess asymmetrical bracelets are the way to use up those cool singular beads I've got lying around. Now, if the salon customers would just embrace bracelets. Not once have I ever sold one there, and there have been a few really cute ones, albeit symmetrical...

I posted a quick iPhone snap of this necklace on Facebook the other day, but here it is in all its glory. Round Rabbit focal, Czech beads, opalite beads, vintage lavender seed beads, silver spacers and waxed Irish linen. Of course I missed Easter, but rabbits are cute all year. Not just on Easter!

Lorelei's e-book & more

For those of you who don't already know, Lorelei just released an ebook called Asymmetry Made Easy, which I just had to buy. It was way too late last night, and I didn't have the time this morning - but I can't wait to read it! A quick peek revealed that it's going to be very fun & helpful. I really struggle with asymmetry and while I get the concept, I have a hard time doing it. I can't wait to see what the master has to say about it! Get your own copy here: http://lorelei1141.blogspot.com/2012/04/ebook-is-ready.html

Meanwhile, I made this necklace over the weekend with one of my long-hoarded Golem pendants. I figured since I just got a few new ones, it was time to let one of the older ones go. This is the first time (but surely not the last) that I've put waxed linen cording together with sari, and I like it.

Lemon Lime

I had a discussion with Malin the other day about how we approach our necklace designs. I didn't used to be so focal-centric, but lately I've become that way. It can be a bit stifling sometimes - you get in a rut of doing things the same old way. Malin said she'll often just start putting together certain beads and then the focal will come later - or maybe not at all.

That inspired me to do something with these faceted quartz coins I've had for a year or more. I pick them up constantly, but can't ever figure out what focal to put with them, or how to deal with them at all. Now that I've started playing with waxed Irish linen cording, that allowed me to bring some color to those clear quartz beads and that's when I started really wanting to use them. I was set on the green cord, so I began digging and for some reason I knew I had to use the little bright yellow faceted matte glass beads. I still couldn't figure out a focal, but decided to plod forth anyway.

After about 6 inches, I knew SOMETHING had to break up the design but I just couldn't find a good focal. I dug and dug and pretty much gave up. I finally picked up the yellow & green resin beads and gave those a try. Huh. Not bad. Tried two million spacer ideas, and finally found this forgotten bag of rhodium thingies and ta da! The more I look at it, the more I like it. I think it would be perfect with a sundress. The green & yellow with the bright clear quartz reminded me of Sprite, the soft drink. hahaha.

And now, some recent earrings. The top left pair is my fave. The bottom 3 are mostly composed of vintage goodies from the Heather Boxes. Several of these will be going to the PBS Art Auction that I do every year. I've already sent over a necklace, and will send over a few more things I'm sure.

Recent Happenings

The Bead Soup Blog Party was a lot of fun - I still have a few more blogs to visit - but I've seen a lot of really beautiful creations so far and made some new friends along the way. Lori sure knows how to host a good party!

This past weekend, I was asked at the last minute to fill in for a vendor who'd cancelled at the Mandeville Trailhead Market. I was excited to put all my new props to use, and while I wished I'd had more last minute cram time to make a few extra things, I went with what I had, plus 2 new necklaces I did rush to make two nights prior.

Here's my table!

I took this before everything was out, but this is the general idea. However, I only managed to sell three pairs of earrings. Of course, that's better than nothing at all, and it did cover the cost of my booth (which was a ridiculously cheap $15 anyway). Plus it was a gorgeous day and lots of fun. My friend Ashley helped me out, and we sampled lots of cookies from the old Italian guy next to us. Ultimately, I decided that since this is a weekly market, and it's the same vendors every week, people don't really attend expecting to buy a lot on a random day, not close to a holiday. They might be there to get fresh eggs from the lady that sells them every weekend, or the plants sold by the guy at the front, etc. I did get a lot of oohs and ahhs and plenty of people took  my cards, so hopefully that will result in some etsy business or something.

Here are the two necklaces that I made at the last minute.

Check out this cool Lynn Davis pendant!

Yesterday, I was so ready to make something new and springy and use some of my new Irish Waxed Linen Thread. I'd been eyeing this mermaid focal I've had for months when it suddenly dawned on me that I had the perfect coordinating lavender beads from a recent Heather Box! Before long, it all came together like magic. I love when that happens. Here she is, and she's available in my etsy shop right now! I'll list the other two a bit later. Speaking of my etsy shop - I'm having a 15% off sale through the rest of March in honor of Daylight Savings Time! The code is FORWARD15.