Who Knew How Much I Could Love Yellow???

A couple of weeks ago, I found this fun vintage Lucite yellow & blue flower (I found two actually!) and I just had to have it. I spent several days this week agonizing about the perfect beads to go with it, and scoured my fave online (and in person) bead stores only to find the perfect solution in my very own stash! I wanted to jump for joy at 2 am last night when I finished making it. I don't have a single thing that would go with it. Neither that yellow or blue look good on me, but I know someone out there will be so happy to have it.

Before I made the yellow & blue necklace, I was compelled to use one of my precious carved butterflies. I was trying to avoid monochrome and I was really trying to avoid The Aqua & Brown thing, and what's springier and more stylish than honeysuckle pink cherry quartz? I really do agonize, I promise these things don't come together as easily as it would seem upon seeing the finished product. I'm sure everyone else does that too. But sometimes it feels like I spend hours putting together just the right combo for a very simple pair of earrings or something. Anyway, the simple, but agonized-over butterfly necklace:

 

 

Finally, here's a pair of amethyst earrings with some fine silver dangly leaf charms. I made those Thursday I think.

 

The reason I had to make those necklaces last night was because I had a hair appointment this morning, and I wanted to bring in some fresh new pieces to the salon. Jeanne loved everything I brought, and even my picky sister really liked a couple of the earrings. But sadly, not one thing sold since my last trip there, which was about 3 weeks ago. I can only assume it was because it's Jazz Fest season, and most of her clientele are Jazz Fest fans. 

For those of you who aren't familiar with Jazz Fest, it's a 2 week long music festival here in New Orleans, that attracts hundreds of thousands of people every year. It can be quite expensive, by the time you buy your tickets and buy all the wonderful Creole, Cajun, and Carribbean food (not to mention alcohol). It's very easy to spend well over $100 a day. So hopefully after people's budgets recover from Jazz Fest, they'll get back to buying my jewelry!

P.S. Happy Mothers Day to all you mothers out there!

P.P.S. As if my poor dog hasn't been through enough lately, she got stung by a bee last night! She's okay now, but she was limping and licking her paw for hours. Poor baby!

Worth the pain in the neck

First, I would like to thank everyone for all the wonderful comments during the Bead Soup Blog Party! I still have about 20 or so blogs left to check out, but I will get to them before the week is over. I was just itching to start a new project after looking at so much beautiful jewelry! I also want to thank and welcome my new followers - 18 new folks since the hop!

Who else endures horrible neck pain headaches after too much wire wrapping? I've tried sitting in various positions, or different pieces of furniture, with or without extra back support. I've tried magnifying glasses to see if that helped. I got an OTT lite. But I guess what it boils down to is that no matter what, I'm still looking down for long periods of time. I just can't hold it all up and work in front of my face! I love wire wrapping too, but in cases like this necklace, it's just literally a pain in the neck.

Remember those butterflies I got? I finally did something with one of them. After wrapping about 70 Labradorite chips, I found the perfect lampwork bead, and added the ivory colored butterfly. It can be worn long or wrapped twice, and it fastens in the front with a sterling hook. I'm very pleased with it. I only wish I knew the secrets of photographing Labradorite so that all its luminous glory shows.

BTW, Buddha, & a Big Bruised Belly

It's time for:

Today on my table, I have paper clay beads in various stages. Most are little birds, a butterfly, a couple of big owl faces, a couple of monster heads and one random nothing bead that I was using to test a glaze. Hey, and the butterfly was done from a mold I made of this black butterfly that everyone loved so much.

Also included for your viewing pleasure is a necklace I finished last night. I've been working on it in pieces for days, but I buckled down and finished it last night. I'm so A.D.D. about my projects these days! Plus, I've been spending a lot of quality time with my dog after her surgery this past Friday.

It's difficult to capture the magic shimmeriness of Labradorite in photos, but I think I've done it in the photo above! Click for super close-ups!

As for my dog, she didn't actually have to have a mastectomy after all. They were able to remove the tumors individually. Poor baby - she's got 7 stitches, and a bruise on her belly as big as my hand, but we're finally done with all her surgeries. Hooray! As long as I don't poke and prod too much, she's in good spirits. She started sitting up again yesterday, so that definitely means she's feeling better. Sitting up is her favorite thing to do (besides eating). Here she is looking all woe is me.

Woe is her :(

uninspired waiting + new birds

I've got several packages on their way to me right now, and I'm eager to get started on the projects I have planned with them, but it might be Monday before any of them arrive. I've made a few things in the last couple of days, but nothing I'm over the moon about. I tried to make a necklace the other night, but it wound up looking like the most boring, uninspired piece of crap you see by the thousands at every craft show you attend. After several attempts, I gave up and went to sleep.

I did come up with a pretty cute pair of earrings for myself to match a dress I've had for years, but rarely wear. And last night, I made another boring necklace, which I'm actually wearing today because it happened to match what I'd put on. I hate feeling so uninspired! Okay, I just got an opinion on it from a coworker, and she said it's cute. Maybe-ish, but it doesn't feel like me. And I want to LOVE everything I make! Funny though, it's the things you like the least that people go crazy over.

This whole jewelry blog community is wonderful and I'm really grateful I've found so many talented jewelry designers to get to know, and whose work I can enjoy, but I have to say - you all are setting the bar high! Of course that's a good thing. But it makes me way more critical of my work, and much less willing to accept half the stuff I put together. I didn't used to care much for focals, the clasps always went in the back, symmetry was a given. I'm so glad I'm over all that silliness!

Last night, I made some more paper clay birds like the one this necklace and this one. I also made a little monster face that's pretty cute. I still have to paint them, but I'll take pictures when I do. Would anyone be interested in buying just a bird? I don't have an online shop per se, but I do accept PayPal, and hey - why not cut out the middle man, right?

Meanwhile, my masseuse again inquired about the status of my recreating the famous butterfly necklace:

So that sent me on yet another search for a similar butterfly.  I found one even better, as well as two more that I just had to have, and they're all pretty big around 4.5 - 6 cm wide. I can't even wait until they arrive! I also ordered a few more similar Cloisonné beads like the one pictured above, but with a bright turquoise base.

In other news, tomorrow my dog Crazers has to have a mastectomy. I'm sure she'll be fine, as this will be her third surgery in as many months, but it's also the most serious. Wish her luck everyone!