Still Playing Catch-up

So, despite several scribbled notes scattering my desk... and floor... and beading bag... concerning blog posts to write and projects to finish... *sigh*  Yeah, it's been one of THOSE summers. So many things to do, but no time to seemingly get them done..

.. and when you do have the time to do them... you don't have the drive or energy >.<

So today I'm taking a massive stab at 'GETTING THINGS DONE' .

Is it working?

YES!!

I completed two, VERY long over due projects, got them all photographed, packaged, got the notes written, and MAILED THEM. Whoohoo!! Two biggies crossed off my list! 

Plus I've written out two lists that are still attached to the notepad that remains right in front of my monitor so I won't loose them ; one list is for all the upcoming blog posts, both regular, as well as for hops, that I need to write, and the other list is for the rest of the current  as well as upcoming projects that I need to do.

One will not be completed. My dad requested a crap load of earrings and things that he could sell at his yard sale this weekend. According to my to-do list and what day it currently is... unless I'm hit by a massive creation drive the next two days, the best I can do is price all of the stuff I have here already made that have never found homes... and that I'm not allowing myself to keep >.< lol And he only gets them if I make it out to their place in time.. or they come up and get them ;) lol

Anyhow, so looking at my lists... I feel more positive about clearing them in time to still get a fairly early start on Christmas season projects. I'm thinking I might even manage to get in some Autumn and Halloween creating too if I keep myself on track :D

Now, onto one more over due task that I'm sure you're all waiting for - and it's ONLY one day late ;) lol

The winner of the Autumn Pantone Beadsoup from August's Freebie Friday giveaway is...

Gina Hockett !

Gina, you've got two weeks from today to contact me with your mailing address. :) If I haven't heard from you by then, I'll draw a new winner!

There will be more blog posts concerning a myriad of subjects over the next while, so keep your fingers crossed that I clear out my list so I can move on to making more pretties all the quicker! 

And you can also cross your fingers that tomorrow's blog post will be an early start to September's Freebie Friday ;) That will depend on whether or not I get the blogging stuff done and get time to tackle getting the goodies together for it! 

And remember last year? Autumn is my fave time of year, so starting with this month, there'll be either extra special giveaways... or just more of them ;)  Keep an eye out to see what I decide to get up to ;)

~ Skye

To-Do list catch up :)

So I decided that enough was enough..I NEEDED to stop taking on more work and FINISH OFF SOME PROJECTS!!

I actually decided that several times over a few months... >.<

.. but this time I MEAN IT!

Seriously !

I'm not doing any more gifts for my art exchange until my todo list is all crossed off, my beads are reorganized, and I can see my desk again :)

I'm making head way :D

Well... Kinda sorta  anyhow ;)

I bought two boxes of mini Rolo and Coffee Crisp ice-cream treats. Mini as in 'half of a Popsicle' kinda size.  The plan was, if I crossed things off my list that day...or at least worked towards that goal... I could  have one :)

I've had three ... and haven't crossed a single damned thing off my list yet >.< lol  BUT, in my defense...I had a really crummy day the other day and REALLY needed those two... it was ice cream or booze... seriously.

... I had the booze too, btw ;) lol

So why am I blogging instead of doing my list? 

I AM doing my list... seriously...I have a project over on my couch with one part done (yay!) and I have supper on the stove... so I figured I'd take a break to cross another item off my list... write a blog post!  WHOOHOO cross this baby off the list ;) Ice cream for dessert!!

Hmm...  this post needs more than me telling you what horrible will power I have >.<

Oh, I know! Pretty pictures :D

 

 

All taken by me.

got tons more but I need to move on and do other stuff now :)

Beads for Bloggers - Finish!

Whoohoo! 

Not only have I accomplished using my free beads from Fusionmuse, but it got me on a roll and I managed to finish off a couple other over due projects as well, and put a dent in another one :D

So  recap ... I joined Fusionmuse's Beads for Bloggers program, where you sign up for a chance to be chosen to receive a little bundle of free goodies to work with. 

Here's what I received to work with...

Check out my in progress post HERE.

And here's what I did :)

 The little turquoise colored magnesite rounds I paired up with some 20g copper wire to make beaded chain.

That black thing on the bottom is the one foot of my tripod >.<

The multi colored shell rounds were teamed up with tiny faux pearls. The bangle is made of stainless steel wire, and the ends are hidden beneath a couple beadcaps :)

the coral coins that I was planning on doing in a bracelet changed their minds and demanded to be earrings instead.

Feminine little buggers, aren't they? Pink and sparkly... *sigh* My jewelry has such girly moments ...

and that bracelet in progress... ended up as this. The resin rounds and the focal, teamed up with copper wire and some red 'stone look' glass oval beads :)









So there you have it. My ' fusionmuse' creations :)

Thank you Tanya of Fusionmuse for the opportunity :)

 

If you want to see about getting some free beads to play with too, go check them out and become one of their blog buddies :)

Website     Etsy     Blog

Bead Buddy Info

Beads For Bloggers -Preview

Alrighty, so I am WAAAAYY over due for this.

Back in June I won a little bag of beads from Fusionmuse through her Beads For Bloggers program. I received them in July, right when I was hit by some massive 'bead overload' and had to fight my way through the creative block it hit me with. I had some things on my 'to do' list that I HAD to tackle first and now they're out of the way... with the exception of two that are being accomplished AS I do this :)

To recap, the rules are -

In exchange for a free bundle of beady goodness, you -

1) share the button on your blog ( mine's right over there in my side bar, see? -> )

2) share a photo and link to their site when you receive the beads. ( done :D )

3) share an 'in progress' picture of a project you use the beads in ( ta da! at long last :) )

4) Share a photo of the finished project! ( coming up VERY SOON!!)

and for agreeing to the rules, this is what I got to play with :)

I'm half way through them... which means I have two photos of in progress pieces to share. 

First I grabbed those magnesite rounds. The 'in progress' photo doesn't show much 'progress' because it's one of those projects that I knew once I got going I'd get carried away and forget to stop for a photo.. so I did it right at the start :)

Next I grabbed the resin beads. I'd found a tutorial I wanted to try out, but needed more beads. I raided my stash for copper wire, and some glass beads that  turned out to go with that focal rather well... good thing as it turns out.

As you can see, it was supposed to be a bangle, however, after three failures I gave up, pulled half off, and added the focal in the middle... which as I said, luckily goes nicely with the beads I added :) so now it's a necklace.

I also forgot I was going to add the business card to the pics >.< lol


So those two are now finished and I'm on to the shell rounds and coral coins :)  You'll probably see the finished pieces in a day or two, assuming neither of these give me a hard time... which I'm hoping they won't ;) lol The shell beads are bouncing between three different designs, all bracelets, and I need to pick one!

If you want to see about getting some free beads to play with too, go check them out and become one of their blog buddies :)

Website     Etsy     Blog

Bead Buddy Info

Catch you in a day or two :)

~ Skye

BSBP#6 Reveal Day!

 Whoohoo! It's here :) 
 #beadsoupblogparty !

 .. well.. actually, since I'm writing this Thursday afternoon and the reveal isn't until Saturday, it's NOT actually here YET, but by the time you read this... it will be...so..I'm babbling :D

Check out the close up maps HERE .

This round of the Bead Soup Blog Party marks some big changes. This is the last of the fall editions; from now on there will be just one edition per year in the spring :) This is also the biggest round ever with 400 participants! Having pity on us readers and hoppers, our hostess Lori Anderson has split this round into three separate reveal dates, and then to make things even nicer for all of us, Tanya of Fusionmuse is running around gathering up all the post links and posting them into a special webpage for easier viewing :)

This is the second reveal. Tanya is still busily gathering up all the post links and making the hop page for this one.

If you want to check out the first reveal, here you go ->  BeadSoupParty2012

Now... enough horn tooting and babbling... on to the good stuff ;)

Here's my finished soup!

What..? You want pictures of everything separately?!  *sigh* Oh alright...I guess I can do that for you ...;)

My partner this round was Maria Horvath of Hungary (* edit- Sorry, Maria, I have NO idea where Bulgaria came from... I must have read something about it right before I wrote that >.< *crawls away in shame to think of ways to make up for naming the Country * )   She send me a soup that contained a focal she made and beaded herself, as well as some components her mother-in-law made :)

After taking all the 'before' pictures, I left it all in that little black soup bowl and playing with it every now and then, doodling ideas, or laying things out and taking a picture so I'd remember.

First up  was this... I used one of those orange MOP beads as the focal for this. I was already working on this piece when the soup arrived and gave me the perfect piece to finish :) It was meant for a specific person... but somehow, despite all my measuring, it ended up too small >.<

The large orange beads are from the Pantone mix Solange Collin sent me. The large blue lampwork beads are by Cottage Cove. I keep wanting to put something on top of the orange but so far nothing has jumped out at me as 'perfect'.

That was it...the rest of the soup sat and waited. It wasn't until just a couple weeks that things began to cook.

The start of the muse really getting to work were these two.

Not really surprising that those little dyed magnesite skulls would be among the first to get me going. I'd known what I wanted to do with them for a while. I've worn them several times since :) The other pair with the MOP ovals isn't the original design I had in mind for those... that involved those brass filigree cones... but when it came down to having the tools in hand, the cones were out.

Next came this one. Putting that beautiful dragonfly clasp to use.A design I'd sketched the day my soup arrived, and then changed and altered slightly many times since. Originally it was a three strand, using some of the yarn or tatting worked in somehow, but in the end, that just didn't work. I detoured and did another beaded strand .. but that came out and went to a different project instead. I even tried some blue velvet ribbon... nope. So two strand it is :)

The clasp and the oval Czech glass are from my soup. The white flowers are from Solange's Pantone mix, and all the blue & purple Czech glass flowers I bought from Grace Neff when she had her destash.

This next one is that missing strand from the last one redone. I used up all but four of those little clear rondelles, and that's some of the sodalite chip stone Solange sent me for the Pantone swap we did :) I'd had a different plan for the three crocheted flowers, but then this popped into my head so it became a decorative bail 'cover' for my focal :) 

This piece still feels 'unfinished' to me. I've tried adding  different elements in a second (or third) strand, but so far nothing has worked. I do still have a few ideas to try so maybe I'll have something done to 'finish it off' and get this edited before the reveal.

And then we have the soft and fuzzy  - This was born of a 'need' to use some of this gorgeous yarn and tatting. Shaiha suggested I try kuhmino, and while I still plan on trying that out, I ended up trying a tutorial on finger weaving.  Really quick and simple :) The ends I recycled from a thrift shop find and glued on :)

And then there's this...

Originally to be a blue velvet choker with a vine pattern stitched in and the rest of the bits sewn on. I don't have any ribbon ends at the moment though... and I keep forgetting I can't sew >.< ;) lol  So this may or may not be completed.  For the record, I had a similar design in mind for a ribbon cuff in my last BSBP with some gorgeous stone flower buttons Shaiha sent me... that never happened either ;)

I still have the tatting and most of the brass bits, along with the rest of the MOP beads, and four Czech glass rondelles left over. They'll be used up fairly soon :) I have plans for most of that to be mixed in with some of the other bead mixes I need to use and post about  in the coming month or so :)

Don't forget to visit my partner and see what she made with the soup I sent her! LINK

While you're here, pop over and check out my newest Freebie Friday post, and enter for a chance to win some yummy Fall Pantone Bead Soup :)

Then continue on to checking out some of the amazing talent in the list below :)

Hostess, Lori Anderson, Pretty Things

Adlinah Kamsir, Dream Struck Designs

Adrienn Lukacs, Raszputyin Designs

Agata Grygiel, Cytherea Bijoux 

Alenka Obid, Pepita Handmade 

Amy Dickerson, Damyjo Designs 

Amy Schmidt, Amy's Treasure 

Amy Severino, Amy Beads 

Ana Krepel, Cat's Pajamas, Dog's Tuxedos

Andra Weber, Andra's Joyful Journey

Andrea Trank, Heaven Lane Creations

Anke Humpert, Anart Island Studios

Ann Rishell, My Critical Eye

April Grinaway, Brooklyn Bead Goddess 

Ashley Bunting, Miss Ashely Kate 

Astrid Boyce, Astrid Boyce Beads 

B.R. Kuhlman, Mixed Mayhem Studios 

Barb Fernald, Barbara S. Fernald Jewelry 

Barbe Saint John, Saints and Sinners

Beata Benkone Meggyesi, Beahobbi

Brandy McNair, Bella Vita Handmade Jewelry 

 Bryna Lumb, Bryna's Bead Box

Carmen Lau, Little Maketto

Cate van Alphen, Fulgorine

Cathie Carroll, Cathie Carroll's Studio

Cathy Khoury, Touch Jewelry 

Christina Stofmeel, Feng Beads 

 Collette Collins, Fire Fly Myst Artisan Jewelry

Courtney Breul, Beads by Breul 

Crystal Thain, Here Bead Dragons

Cynthia Abner, Created Treasures

Deana Hager, Just Deez'Art & Life

Debbie Davis, Natural Treasures by Deb

Debbie Phenes, Deb Joy Sing

Debbie Rasmussen, A Little of This, A Little of That

Dhea Powers, Java Bead

Diana Welte, Lilyweeds

Dita Basu, alankarshilpa

Dorota Zeranska, gdymamczas 

Dot Lewallwn, Speedie Beadie

Eleanor Snare, The Magic Square Foundation

Elisabeth Auld, Beads For Busy Gals

Ema Kilroy, Ema K Designs

Emma Todd, A Polymer Penchant

Eva Sherman, Eva Sherman Designs

Evie and Beth McCord, EB Bead and Metal Works

Francy Inman, Francy's Studio

Ginger Bishop, lilmummy likes...

Giorgia Rossini, Jo in Wonderland

Ine Vande Cappelle, Jewels by Ine 

Iveth Caruso, Creative Atelier 

JJ Jacobs, Coming Abstractions

Jackie Ryan, Kydo Jewellery

Jeannie Dukic, Jeannie's Blog

Jelveh Jaferian, Jelveh Designs

Jenna Tomalka, Twin Birch Studio

Jenni Connolly, Jenni's Beads

Jennifer Van Horn, Jennifers Jewels and Junk

Jo-Ann Woolverton, It's a Beadiful Creation

Johanna Rhodes-Nash, Fire Phoenix Creations 

 Joyce Blair, Bent Wire West Coast

JuLee Wolfe, The Polymer Penguin

Karen Vincent, Swallow Tail Jewellery

Karin Slaton, Backstory Beads

Kayla Potega, The Eclectic Element 

Kim Dworak, CianciBlue

Krafty Max, Krafty Max Originals

Kris Lanae Binsfeld, Cherish Designs by Kris Lanae

Kristen Latimer, MJM Jewelry Designs

Kumi Fisher, Malie Kai Designs

Kym Hunter, Kym Hunter Designs

Lennis Carrier, Windbent

Leslie Wayment, AA Beads & More

Linda Florian, Lilys of the Valley Jewelry Creations

Linda Murphy, Bonita Bead

Lisa Johnson, Whimsey Wonders

Lisa Lodge, Pine Ridge Treasures

Lisa Sittniewski, Love, Yesterdays

Lois Moon, Que Onda, Q'Town?

Lola Surwillo, Bead Lola Bead

Lorelei Eurto, Lorelei's Blog

Lori Bowring Michaud, Artfully Ornamental

Lori Callahan, Dancing Wire and Beads by Lori

Lori Finney, Using My Beads

Marcia Dunne, The Alternative Foundry

Margareta Saari, Mags-koruja

Maria Horvath, Horimarika Beads

Marian Hertzog, M's Place

 Mary Ellen Parker, BeeTree by m.e.

Mary K McGraw, MK's Creative Musings

MaryLou Holvenstot, time2cre8 

Martha Aleo, Ornamento

 Maybeline Tay, The Jewelry Larder

Megan Collins, Churchy & Her Sailor

Melissa Meman, Art. Life. Love.

Melissa Mesara, One-Eared Pig Beads

Melissa Muir, Kelsi's Closet Jewelbox

Paige Maxim, Paige Maxim Designs

Pam DeBoer, Purple Notes from the Studio

Pam Farren, re-maker

Pam Hurst, Pam Hurst Designs

Patricia Handschuh, The Color of Dreams

Patty Miller, CabariBeads

Penney Klapoth, Faerie Acres

Regina Santerre, Regina's Writings

Rhea Freitag, starrgazer creates

Rochelle Brisson, A Creative Chelle

Sabine Dittrich, PerlenDschungel

YOU ARE HERE -> Sandra McGriff, Creative Chaos

Sandra Neights, Petalo Azul

Sandra Young, It's a Bead Life!

Sara Oehler, SoftFlex Girl

Saturday Sequins, Saturday Sequins

Shanti Johnson, Sunshine Bliss

Shari Replogle, Plays With Paper

Sonya Stille, Dreamin' of Beads

Stefanie Teufel, Stefanies Sammelsurium

Tammie Everly, TTE Designs

Tania Spivey, Moobie Grace Designs

Tanya Wiles, Tenebrous Hollow Studio

Therese Frank, Therese's Treasures

Tina Holden, Polymer Clay Bytes!

Toltec Jewels, Jewel School Friends 

Tracey Nanstad, A Beadiful Mess

Tracy Choy, BumbleBeads Designs

Valerie Norton, Hot Art

~ Skye

Thrift Store Blog Hop

Reveal day!  Whoohoo!

This is Sarah of Poodledo's first go at running a challenge and bloghop and I think she chose a great challenge :)

Here were the rules ;

• Go to the thrift store/charity shop and buy an item for less that £1 ($1.50 approx at the moment)
• Take a photo of the item when you get home 
• Take an "in progress" photo
• Take a photo when you have finished making your item
• And blog about it on Saturday August 4th.

 I'm constantly finding treasures at my thrift and second hand shops, so I didn't think I'd have any trouble at finding stuff within the budget. As a matter of fact, I knew my trouble would be in STOPPING finding things >.< lol I had a pair of metal candle holders that were layers of petals held together by a single screw and had plans to use them.... but that fell through >.< Luckily while I was growling and grumbling over my failed plans, I came across one of my lucky finds.

 Yes... that is a bag of jewelry for $0.88. Like I said, I find stuff like this all the time.. sometimes it's salvageable, sometimes it's not.

Here it is out of the bag.

 A HUGE necklace of resin 'amber' beads permanently attached to the string, a necklace of blue plastic beads, also permanently attached to it's string, and a black link necklace that I immediately had plans for... and promptly lost >.<

 And two necklaces of wooden beads .. the purple are wood but all the white on with them are plastic.

 So there's what I found and had to work with.

My first idea had me painting those big purple beads, and two of the medium round greens.  yup, this was one of my failed Panda projects >.<

I had them ALMOST finished before I messed up and had to scrap them .. shame since they'd been getting really cute...*sigh*

So one idea trashed.... onto the next !




So what did I use?

I used that 'Amber' necklace, the blue necklace, the smallest of the green wooden beads, and those stripey purple and white beads, and made three different pieces.

Here are the in progress shots of each.

First I had to alter some of it to work. Here I applied a light coat of black paint to the blue beads, then wiped it off again, leaving a black 'patina' .

 Once the 'patina' was varnished and dried, I began attaching it to the amber by weaving some black waxed cord through the 'three' strands.





And this is where I realize I forgot to take a picture of the second project in progress... oops >.<

and the dingy purple and white beads get painted in orange and 'turquoise'
... because I felt like it. so there :p







Ready to see the end results?

Above and to the right is the bracelet I forgot to snap 'in progress' . The greenish wooden beads strung on orange faux suede and knotted, with one of the black wooden beads as a button hole clasp.












so there you have it :) how I took a bag of 'junk jewelry' and reworked some of it. I'm not happy with the way I finished the ends of that 'amber' one... think if I do another one, or remake this one, I'll do the weaving with a suede or ribbon and cover the ends completely...

Participants 

www.pookledo.blogspot.co.uk

Deb - http://greenshoot.blogspot.co.uk/

Kimberley - http://goddessesandbeads.blogspot.co.uk/

Skye - http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.co.uk/

Ambra - http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com/

Beti - http://stringingfool.blogspot.com/

Emma - www.apolymerpenchant.com

Shelley - www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com

Tammie -  http://ttedesigns.blogspot.co.uk/

Leah - http://beadyeyedbunny.blogspot.co.uk/

Denielle - www.somebeadsandotherthings.com

Keri Lee - http://www.pinklemonade.typepad.com 

Rochelle - acreativechelle.blogspot.com

Pam - http://pamelas-studio.blogspot.com/

Ingetraud - http://ingetraud.wordpress.com/

Audrey - http://esperianterra.blogspot.com/

Julie Anne - www.thepeacefulbead.com

Sharyl - http://www.sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com

Micheladas - http://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com 

? -   http://thecreativeklutz.blogspot.co.uk/

Kala - http://maybejustperhaps.blogspot.co.uk/

Freebie Friday #8

Welcome to another FF :)

To the new followers and readers, the first Friday of every month is Freebie Friday - which means you'll discover a giveaway of some sort that will run until the last Wednesday of the month.

Last FF I put together a bead mix, the one before that I did some handmade chain. For August, I was originally thinking of doing either some jewelry or some handmade components, but the month got away from me >.< too much work, too little time *sigh* Shame on me for all that procrastinating I tend to do >.<  The other day when I realized it was time to post the new FF and I didn't have anything set aside for it, I'd thought of ransacking my new goodies and maybe offering up a pendant and a few coordinating beads...  then inspiration struck.

While hanging out in the Bead Soup Cafe, someone posted the Pantone Fall color chart.

( picture via artbeads.com )

Hmm.... I wonder if I have enough of those colors to put together into a Pantone Fall soup?

hmm... yup :) Looks like. 

 So there you go... The winner  for August will get a nice yummy Fall Pantone Soup :) The beads are a mix of everything... seriously. That big yellow leaf is made of deer antler,  the orange nuggets are dyed magnesite, the little brown ones are wood... the rest are shell, porcelain, clay, Czech glass, glass, and acrylic.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

  For those who are unable to use the Blogger 'Follow' feature, Subscribers &  Email followers count as well. Just put which way you follow in your entry :)

I gotta run , get some more work done on my challenge piece for tomorrows reveal and hop, then while that's drying, go buy some coffee while it's on sale, then come back and finished & photograph my pieces :) Totally last minute run-a-round, as always :)

~ Skye

FF#7 winner :)

Just a quick post today. I'm on vacation, sitting in my mom's basement on her computer...with her dog on my lap in an effort to inconvenience my typing in the hopes I'll give up and take her to ponds instead...it's 6 am...I'm not taking her swimming yet >.<

I've had a fabulous couple days with my mom :) spent way too much money, but I'm on vacation and I have some fabulous goodies to play with now :)  Of course, the ones I need to get busy with ( as soon as I deal with my pieces for the Thrift Shop challenge this Saturday ) I got for free... two bulging pockets full of beach stones :) We just got carried away walking in the water at the beach spotting pretty stones...I need to go polish them up and practice my wire wrapping... dad's having a yard sale on Saturday so I said I'd send him a bunch of my jewelry for it...so...I'd better make more lol I figured a bunch of beach stone necklaces would be  good :) Plus... wire practice :D hehe

I've also got a couple pieces made out of my bead soup... totally keeping both for myself. Wore the one yesterday... and yes, it has those skulls she sent me ;)

Oh and cross your fingers for me..I believe I have the panda issue beat! It's just a matter of whether I can resist giving in to the urge to add that last little touch and risk screwing it up again... >.< that last touch will make it cute as hell and more panda-like... currently it's just pretty and panda-themed only in color and an abstract kinda deal... I'll share pics and ideas in one of the groups later lol

But none of that is why you're here reading this. ;) you want to know who won that box of beady goodness from July's Freebie Friday.

According to Rafflecopter, the winner is Kristi of Curiosities by K :) Congrats, Kristi! You've got two weeks to poke me and let me know you've seen this... and maybe give me your address again... I had it to send you your CCDC kit but ... not sure if I still have it or not... >.<

I'm heading home today, so I'll be getting together some goodies to post August's FF tomorrow :) I have no clue what it'll be since I've been a tad busy and haven't thought about it until today lol  Come back and find out :D

~Skye