Showing posts with label bead soup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bead soup. Show all posts

08 July 2012

My Bead Soup Arrived!!! :)

Yay!  It's here! It's here!!  :)  And it's SOOOOOOOOO pretty!  My partner, Mary Govaars, really sent me an awesome soup, and I already have SO MANY ideas!  You'll have to wait for the ideas (I can tell you I'll be creating multiple pieces, and most likely using stringing, weaving, and wire work.  :)  I can't wait!!!!) But, I can show you pictures of the pretties!  :)

Okay, here's the box and what came in the box (I love the red bubble wrap.  It's my favorite color! lol!)



And Mary had everything packaged all up in a cute bag, and wrapped in the brightest tissue paper:



She included a lovely card with details about the beads she sent, and with the most gorgeous picture of The Golden Gate Bridge at night:


So, on to the goodies!  :)

Mary sent me a BUNCH of gorgeous lampwork beads:

Blue Accent beads by Canyon Echoes, Green hollows and orange/green focal by LL Designs (I can't seem to find a link for them), and big focal bead by That Bead Girl

And a beautiful set of coordinating beads, including seed beads, chips, and some awesome coral discs:


So, the focal an the clasp (the 2 pieces I HAVE to use in my design!)

A simple and elegant sterling toggle, and a fabulous focal lampie by LL Designs.  It's more orange than red in real life :) 
And I've already started looking through my stash for more goodies to round out my plans:


So there it is!  The pretties I get to play with! :)

And here's a partial pic of what I sent to Mary:
The lampie is by Nancy Gant




07 July 2012

Oh, a Pretty Things Giveaway! :)

So, the fantabulous Lori Anderson of the Pretty Things Blog is hosting an AWESOME giveaway!

It's a 5-part Giveaway, and you can find out more about it here.

I'm really excited about this one, because she's offering such pretty things (well, that is the name of her blog, after all... lol!)  and useful things!  She's got a gorgeous collection of beads from the Bead and Button Show, a copy of her Bead Soup book, a copy of her inspirational blogging book, an adorable Bead Soup Blog Party tote (so cute!!) and a surprise bead soup!

You can find all the details about entering on Lori's blog (but feel free to forget to enter! :) lol!) and you should definitely go see what she's up to (check out the resin pendants she and her son made!)

Oh, and I got my Bead Soup from my partner Mary Govaars! (it is so pretty!!!!  I am such a lucky duck!!!) Look for more about that in a day or so! :)

Talk to you soon!



20 June 2012

Why jewelry?

So, I signed up for the Bead Soup Blog Party this past weekend, and Lori Anderson, the awesome lady who is organizing that blog party, gave us a blog prompt a few days ago that got me thinking...

She asked us to tell the story of why we became jewelry designers and what we like best about it... So, I got to thinking about it.... A few years ago, I bought a little jewelry design kit from Michael's in anticipation of summer boredom.  See, as an adjunct, I work really REALLY hard during Fall and Spring (usually 7 classes each, which is a LOT!!), and then in Summer, I only have 3 or 4 classes.  It's a nice reprieve from the work load, but sometimes I get a little bored.  And as a long time crafter, I'm always looking for new things to do.  So, I decided to try my hand at jewelry making.  I made a few things with the beads in the kit, but, since it was just a little cheapy thing, I quickly decided I wanted better supplies.  Thus began a love affair with Swarovski and czech glass, which quickly evolved into a passionate (and occasionally expensive) interlude with seed beads, lampwork beadies (LOVE!!), wire, and all things sparkly and awesome.  I can already see, this will be a lifelong relationship. :)

So, for part 2 of the question, what I like best about it...  hmmm....  what don't I like?  lol!  I mean, seriously, I get to play with GORGEOUS beads, learn all sorts of new techniques (wire wrapping has been the latest), and make pretties!  And if I'm very, very lucky, awesome people like my pretties and give me money for them!  lol!  Okay, yes, that last bit might seem a bit crass, but hey!  Adjunct on a VERY low salary here! lol!

Check out some of the pretties I get to play with:

This is part of my pretties stash (yes, I have a stash...) Beads by Flamekeeper, LampworkBeadsbyLinda, Bastille Bleu, NLCBeads, Maybeads, and Javabead.  Swarkies from FusionBeads. :)
And here's some pretties I made! :)

Wire, stringing, beadweaving, hammering, painting... FUN! 
So there you have it!  Why I make jewelry--because I can! lol!

(oh, and photo editing courtesy Picmonkey.com. Very easy to use!)