Apologies, Bribes, & Family inspired fun!



And so I have finally managed to get around to blogging... past my self imposed deadline, but hey... I'm blogging ;)

One of the main issues behind my lack of appearance here has already been mentioned in previous posts, and that is my grandmother. After a very long, painful, and debilitating illness, she's passed on and found rest. She was in an excellent facility, surrounded by family, and passed peacefully. No one could ask for more.

Eleanor Anderson

 The photo above has quickly become everyone's favorite picture of her. I'm thinking it was probably mid to late nineteen seventies. No later then the early eighties. And I just now realized, that I have that headband she's wearing... it was one of the items I claimed from a box of miscellaneous a little while ago. Wow... okay, that makes it even more awesome and it's totally going into my memorial display I plan on making :D


Any how, as I was saying, a great deal has happened in the past month and it's contributed to my funk in getting things finished. My living room floor still has a large sheet of paper taking up the middle of it, acting as a backdrop for modpodging my baskets and some pendant experiments... I'm hoping to get the baskets finished today, or at least the smaller ones... if so, there'll be pics of them right here....



... if there's no pic right there, then I didn't get them done ;)

My brain has returned to its chaotic attempts to multi task things that really shouldn't be multi tasked... at least not by me. In addition to my making messes with glue, paper, and various base materials, I'm also working on my BSBP creations. While I am not done, I have managed to better my usual efforts on this round by having BOTH main ingredients, the focal and the clasp, already in use and mostly finished :) I'm also working on about three other soup pieces at the same time, which has reduced my desk space to zilch... not even enough room to set my coffee cup down... so I'm on the couch with the laptop instead ;)

 Oh and in addition to everything else, I'm dealing with a wee bit of guilt. I NEVER spend this much money on something unless I really really need it.... and I didn't really really need this... wanted, yes, and needed, but not really really needed.. ;) ,  so despite the cost and the resulting frustrations over learning the ins and outs of a new system without giving in and killing it, I'm really glad I bought it. And not just for the luxury of being able to write or connect anywhere ( ie - in comfort :D ).

Okay, back to the BSBP chat for a second. The reveal is coming up rather quickly... kinda shocked me how much time has already come and gone! I have pushed myself to go outside of my box even more with this round then in past soups, so of course, that has slowed me down a bit as well, but in a good way :) Can't show you the pieces yet, of course, but as I've mentioned before, I tried some extremely basic chainmaille, although I'm starting to consider the idea of trying more after this. I even ordered some more jump rings to replenish my meager stash. Also some mixed-media with a bezel clasp and some modpodge dimensional magic ( I didn't want to break open the resin and risk messing it up >.< lol It's been too long since I've played with it for me to confident enough to risk it on such an important piece ;))

I've also been finding myself rather missing making beaded chain, so I think I'll be making more of that soon, too... you know, in between all of the other various crafty bits I'm doing or thinking or doing, plus my poor neglected writing.. and my painting. Although I seem to have passed it on to my brother who after taking up dabbling in song writing a couple years ago, has now started painting, and he's rather good. He has even dabbled into mixed media! This is awesome to me since, he's really not a 'crafty' person in that way... his painting used to be limited to customizing dinkycars, and the other creative type work he's done since he was a teenager has been ripping various electronics apart and putting them back together again... or trying to ;) Or taking photos and playing with the apps to change them. See, it's never to late to get your art on, people! :D



'Crazy won't wash off' ~by David Steffen



'Medicated People' ~by David Steffen

As far as I know, he has no blog or website ( I know he used to, but haven't heard about a replacement yet lol ) but he is on FB  -  david.steffen.142   Not sure whether he'd accept friends, or if you can leave comments on his page, but you can still drop him a message and let him know what you think  of his work. I'm sure he'd be tickled :)

You know... I think since I DID say that I would keep up with blogging, and had set a deadline for myself that I missed... twice in a row I think, extenuating circumstances aside, I think I should do a little something to make up for that breach.

Anyone interested in a little giveaway? I think I should more interesting for everyone and make you all work for your entries :) Since it IS Easter, which religious intonations aside, is a day for Family, lets get the families involved this time :D hehehe

Share, either via a link in the comments below, or in your own blog post which you can then link to the comments below , an artistic achievement by a relative :) No matter how big or small, professional or non, and no matter the artistic medium involved... even if it's the newest drawing by your toddler... in lipstick all over your wall... ;) And yes, pets and really close friends are considered family in my book too :)

And yes, pets can be artistically minded too... if you've never seen it, then you haven't met the right pets ;)


Upload a photo of the artwork in question and share the link .. make sure wherever you have the picture, the settings are set for 'public' so we can all see it :)

Sharing the picture here on my blog will get you one entry .. writing your own blog post featuring this artistic endeavor , and then sharing the link to the post here... will get you two entries :)

What are you trying to win? Hmm... how about a little assortment?
Some cat's eye chips, a random selection from my Czech glass flowers and leaves collection.  Let's toss in a pair of polymer clay frogs, fish, and pudgy pink cats all made by Marlene Cupo. A couple lampwork orphans from Gail of Oregon Handmade. A little clap bird from Starry Road Studio. A bracelet bar from Firefly Design.   And, not pictured since I haven't made it yet, but a length of beaded chain in a 'mystery combo' .. mystery because it will all depend on what I grab when I decide to make it lol

Sorry for the crappy photos here... first time uploading pics form my camera on this thing and I have no clue about the editing programs on it yet lol I'll try to fixe them later ;)

so there you have it... rules above :D

Happy Easter :)

Soup works and other fiddling...

See?! Still keeping up with this.. and no one has had to remind me yet :D

Although I did almost fall back into my trap... the one where I keep putting off blogging because I have something in the works to share... lol I stopped myself though :D Aren't you proud of me?

Anyhow, I've been eying this luscious soup Audrey sent me, and after doodling a bit, decided to just jump in.  I grabbed some super hard copper wire I salvaged from somewhere, sorted out some of my bead caps to go along with the ones from Audrey, and started to work with those amethyst rounds :) It is now official.. I have begun work on my soup pieces! :D

I would like to say, that I showed my mom the soups and she loves it too :D. She was up last weekend and we'd planned on my heading out to her place afterwards to dog sit while her and my dad went to visit my grandmother. Gram's health has been deteriorating badly, and the past few months have been touch and go. There were a couple times when we thought she was at the end of her rope, but she keep pulling through. Anyhow, as I was saying, I showed her the soup right after she'd said they were heading up to visit my gram, and she also noticed the same thing as I did... that the bird in the focal was a hummingbird, which happens to be my gram's favorite. With the way she is constantly in and out of the hospital, jewelry isn't any good for her right now, and she really only wears it when she's getting dressed up to go out, so the finished piece won't be going to her... but she'll definitely be on my mind and in my heart as I create it :)

Audrey really hit this one out of the ball park; my favorite colours, a focal with personal meaning behind it, and lots of little challenges for me to overcome and figure a way through :)

Aside from my bsbp fiddling, I'm also working on some baskets for my bathroom shelves. I have this beautiful wooden shelf my dad made me just sitting there empty ( because I don't want to clutter it up) so I bought some cheapo ugly white plastic baskets from the dollar store. Last night I sat down and mixed up some paint and painted all the trims, and today I'm doing a test run with some paper and modpodge on one of them. No worries, I'll show them when they're done, whether they turn out or not ;) I'm thinking I'll pick up some napkins of something to coordinate with them and have those as a liner... again, photos when I'm done :)

Well, no giveaway from me this time but I can't leave everyone hanging... so head on over to Grubbi Beads and check out HER giveaway :D Shop credit for her store! Whoohoo! who wouldn't love a shopping spree at Grubbi beads?!

BSBP8 - My Partner & a soup sneakpeak :)

Yes, I did it. I bit the bullet and joined up with the BSBP again :)

For the past couple weeks I've had a tray beside me at my desk, containing three different beadsoups.. each in a different colour palette and containing different materials. They were just waiting for my partner to be announced so I could see which one was best for her.

And wouldn't you know it? My partner turns out to be a very difficult woman to compose a 'challenging' soup for. Who is she? Why Audrey Belanger :)

This is the first BSBP where I've been partnered with someone I already know :) Oddly enough, Audrey has always been partnered with people she already knows ;)

Audrey is something of an assemblage artist... she can take just about anything and make it work. A bit of patina or paint, some glue and glitter, and whammo... jewelry. 

counting stars

BSBP#7

Lion

Season's BlogHop

So you see what I'm up against here? Very difficult to challenge someone when they can use pretty much anything.

I did come across one little mention in her blog about being stumped by yellow... shame I'd just promised her I wouldn't give her a single colour soup ;)

I was able to add a little bit of that particular challenge to the soup, just for her though ;) which brings me back to the my three soup decision... The one soup would've been perfect for her... which meant it was out of the running. It was purples/ blues/pinks... soft and subtle, but colourful... Her colours and her style... therefore... NOPE :) This Is suppose to challenge her after ll. Plus, it looks like the same palette as the soup she made me... ;)

The other two were harder , since neither were colour palettes she'd done much with before, but I finally decided.

One soup with two halves... the focal and clasp with two different ways it could go... one softer, and one more bold :)

I can't wait to see what she does with it :) I know she'll come up with things I've never thought of, since that is what she does ;) As for what she has in store for me... she posted her sneak peak and the colours are  already getting me itching to play ! I have no doubt that I'll spend some times scratching my head trying to figure out what to do with it, but that's just one of the parts I love about this :D

*sigh*

Did it again >.<

Keep planning on blogging, but keep thinking of things to do first... and then never get around to actually blogging >.<   I'm going to try to stop that ! I'm setting a goal to blog at least once a week... whether I've got photos taken or edited to share, or jewelry done, or NOT. I will post! lol

So... promise made.

In recent news, I bit the bullet and signed up for BSBP #8. Yes, it'll no doubt be a huge hop... which is rather wearying just thinking about >.<  but despite that, it's always a lot of fun and gets my butt in gear :)

I've also been considering jumping in the Ears Inspiration challenge going around... where a photo is shared on the first Friday of the month, and you have to make a pair of earrings using it as inspiration, then blog and join a little hop on the third Friday of each month. Pros - gets me creating and gets me blogging. Con- another freakin' hop >.< lol

Haven't picked up the tools or the paintbrush much this month at all, so far, but I will.

Another challenge I should join is the one for cleaning/reorganizing studio space... you know, since I'm doing it anyhow..I should sign up. Only problem is... if I sign up, I just know I'll be hit by something ( even just the lazies) and not get anything more done >.< lol I'm thinking I'll just do it and if I'm done in time or have made significant progress, I'll blog and link it in... considering this has been an ongoing project for over a year now... I'm not holding my breath. It's one of those things where I'll between half and three quarters done, and then something gets in the way - whether it be illness, or whatever- and by the time I get back to it.... things have exploded again and I need to start all over :(  this time it'll be different though... I have a stack of boxes behind me, into which I'll sort everything as I dig through. Anything I have plans for but am not sure when I'll find the time, will be packed, labelled, and stacked neatly out of the way. Anything I use or will use, but don't have a need for often, will go into the cabinet behind me ( the one I can never get to because of the stuff piled up in front of it ;) ) AND, most painful of all... I WILL admit to things that I will probably never use or get around to doing... and I will get it out of the house. In addition, I will make room on my work space, or find a place with easy access, for the tools and equipment I'd like to use but can't get to.

That is what I've been trying to get my butt in gear and do for the last couple weeks >.< The bitter cold temps are back and since I'll be hiding out indoors as much as possible, I'll be trying to get started on that this week.

There. Blog post written... no photos, but a few updates.

As well, since I've been so horrible at keeping myself going at it, I think I need to reward all my followers who haven't deleted me from their lists out of boredom... I shall have a giveaway :) It's been AGES since I had one, so I'll need to make sure it's a good one ;) My bead stash has grown considerably... plus there's plenty of stuff that I haven't found a spot for yet... maybe I should just gather up a bunch of that and do a little soup giveaway...  Hmmm.. decisions decisions... Like I said, I'll have to think on it ;)

So... next blog post I'll have something up for you to try for. Whenever that is... some time within a week.. or so... lol ;)

BSBP #7 !

It's finally here! After two ( very much appreciated ) delays, the final round of the seventh Bead Soup Blog Party is here!

For those who may remember, my partner for this round is Lucie Bouvier and here's what she sent me :)

 

You may remember that those bottom red and black spotted beads turned out to be poisonous seeds that had been banned in this country, and had to be tossed... so sad :( Despite their unfortunate demise, they did give me an idea for a project using the sole remaining bead in that baggie...

Originally going to be a pendant for a necklace, it ended up becoming a zipper pull/bag charm.. because I needed one :)

 See? A cute little death theme zipper pull in honor of 'deceased' poisonous beads ;) lol

 Okay... so back to the beginning.

When I got this lovely soup, I was both thrilled and a little stumped... everything was RED. I've never had a single colour soup before.. it kinda threw me for a bit. Still, I immediately sat down and sorted things into baggie with beads from my own stash that I visioned going with them into different projects.

Since the focal is the one that always seems to be the 'ohmygodtherevealistomorrowandIamnotgonnamakeit' piece I'm still working on the day before the reveal, I decided to tackle it first. I knew right off I was going to pair that simple heart with pearls and gold, and that I wanted to add something to the heart itself. I envisioned strands attached via fancy metal connectors, so did up two strands , one for either side of the heart... and then got sick >.< Everything was sealed up into the baggies and set aside. Once I was feeling better... the separate strands/connectors idea no longer struck the same spark it had and so it stayed in the baggie while I played with the rest.  Once again, the focal piece became the last one finished >.< lol I think it's now traditional for my BSBP pieces. I tried to resuscitate  the connecter idea a couple days ago, but was plagued with head aches that made hammering a bad idea, until today I bit the bullet and took it apart to start from scratch.

Twice.

 Really glad I did since I rather like the way it turned out :) 

Heart on the Wing

Sticking with my original colour scheme/layout, I alternated white potato pearls, red glass seed beads, and gold oval beads with the red swirled glass beads Lucie sent me. The golem Beads heart pendant has a gold coloured wing layered over top .. and of course, I made matching earrings :)

If that was my LAST completed piece... what was my first, you ask?

Well duh... when stumped, fall back on the best muse kick starter... EARRINGS!

Gothic Droplets

 I took two gunmetal filigree bead caps and squished the little buggers flat... then used some gold jump rings to attach a couple faceted garnet rondelles and the Unicorne glass drop beads to the bottom. And I only lost one garnet and three jump rings somewhere beneath my desk >.< lol

The next done is actually three pieces... what I'd originally intended to be a triple strand bracelet changed it's mind as I was still working on the different strands, and instead became a ' stack' of bracelets. I'd add in a few bangles to fill out the stack, but haven't made 'those' yet.. so here are the three main ones...

Coke bracelets

I used the coke bottle cap bead, and the other red & metal bead form Lucie, and paired it up with more pearls - this time some gunmetal coloured ones in various sizes, and more little red glass seed beads as spacers.

The next piece was another one that was 'in progress' for a while. It began with the Tagua Nut toggle clasp, and the accompanying nut beads Lucie had sent.. I knew it was going to be a charm-style bracelet from the start, but beyond that I was a bit stumped. I kept getting over powered by the red >.< Finally I hit upon the perfect colour to ease of the fierceness of the red.. a choice I blame completely on Shelley Graham Turner and her darn purple bead situation. You may remember that from my post ' Sneak Attack', where my project bead faeries sent her a huge box of purple beads... Which she turned into another group called Jilly's Bead Posse, where we all make purple jewelry to donate to raise funds for Alzheimer's in memory of Shelley's sister Jill.

Anyhow, thanks to Shelley, I ended up with purple taking over my creative center of my brain, and knew the only way I was going to get this bracelet made was to use purple. Decision made, I then sorted through to find the right shade of purple... then the fun began. I started making dangles only to run out of head pins... so I had to take a break and run out for more. Then after making a couple dozen mixed dangles, I decided one style in particular, and rather then do a bracelet full of mixed ones, I'd do mainly these... the already made dangles that no longer fit could be made into earrings later on.

I got all the dangles attached... and then ran into trouble with the toggle. First I didn't like the way I had it attached.. so I fiddled with it a few times... then my adjustable clasp plan didn't work because I'd forgotten to check my chain link size versus my lobster clasp >.< So I was faced with a heart breaking choice.. either remove EVERYTHING and put it on a bigger linked chain... or do a simple lobster clasp with an extender chain and use the tagua clasp for a different project.

Which way did I go...?

Garden Charms

Neither :)

I nipped the bracelet in the center and turned half the toggle clasp into a focal instead, attaching the chain to either side. I added a third link with a flower and crystal dangle off the new focal, just because I felt like it :)

The red parts are all from Lucie, and are all natural nut beads :)

This bracelet will be heading off to Shelley to be sold in support of Jilly's Bead Posse's Alzheimer's efforts :)  I might be sending the coke bracelets too if I get the remaining bangles finished to complete the set. The pearls do have a very purplish tint to them, after all ;)

So, despite the delays and the issues that popped up, I'm happy with how things turned out, over all. It's going to be hard to part with that charm bracelet... that is one of those pieces that I love and want to make mine... but if I kept it it would rarely get worn, and I KNOW that. Far better to stick with my plan for it :)

Thank you for dropping in to check on me :) Sorry I've been pretty invisible around here this month. I'll try harder to blog more again! In the mean time, make sure to hop along the rest of this reveals list and enjoy some truly lovely work :) To find out what my partner did with the soup I sent her, click HERE.

  Third Reveal HopList

Here We Go Again!

I decided to hop on board the BSBP train again this year :)

This is my third 'helping' of Bead Soup.

First round I got the fabulous Shai Williams, who opened my beading world to so many new fabulous materials that I'd been afraid to try do to what I thought they'd cost... and whom I am still friends with :) I even ended up friends with her hubby, Saje, and have bought two of his books :)

The second round I was paired up with the talented, Mária Horváth,who challenged me with a some of her seed bead work, and some crochet :) It was a fun lot to work with, making me think out side of the box! Unfortunately, we didn't connect the same way for a lasting friendship, but we had a language barrier to overcome that seemed to join forces with a lack of shared interests. 

This round, I've been dealt an unexpected hand ... a fellow Canadian! 

Lucie Bouvier, owns "Carlos Little Bead Store" out west in Alberta.

A real, brick and mortar shop where she has ; 'free classes and over 1000 square feet of products, giftware, etc.'  ( yes I stole the info right from her about page..I wanted to get it right ;)  )

'Glass, resin, semi-precious beads, crystals, pearls, seed beads, chains, wire, cord, leather, tools and all the findings you an imagine, from all around the world.

We offer a variety of classes, parties, lunch and learn and customized workshop during hours of business or on appointments outside regular hours.'

See... that gets me right there... not only does she offer a full selection of beady goodness...AND classes... but she does parties and stuff, too! Makes me wish I lived in Alberta >.<

Her blog and fb page have very little about HER, so it hasn't been easy to come up with a post to introduce her. Of course, I COULD have sent her some questions and done an interview deal, but she has a family,  a business... and she just got back from the gem show in Tucson! (jealous!) so I figured she'd be a tad busy ;)

I did manage to find out a few little things... like, in addition to loving beads, she LOVES shoes ;)  Seriously loves shoes.. to the point they're part of her logo...

 lol  I tried SO hard to play with this, thinking it would be cute to make a pair of earrings or a charm bracelet featuring shoe beads or charms to send her as a little gift... but you know how fate goes... when there's something you really need, it's impossible to find... until you no longer need it, of course :(

I also learned , that she started n the jewelry business as L.B. Creations ( apparently, there are a few jewelry based businesses by that name on Facebook, however >.<). I did have too fun fun looking through her gallery. I had to message to make sure they were all her pieces, since many bead stores, especially ones that host classes, often have a page to share clients and students work... but this gallery is all hers .  After much consideration... and nail biting and ooohing and awwing... here are some of my favorites...

via

via

via

via

 Check out her gallery... there really are too many beautiful pieces there. Her bracelets are all the same style but in different colors and materials, but they're too pretty to chose between >.< I could just keep posting her entire gallery here... 


 The first BSBP I did was some where around three hundred and some odd participants I think... I'm thinking 360 or somewhere in that area.

This round.... OVER 500..... PLUS there's an extra group doing a Facebook version! A ..BSFbP lol ;)  Luckily, it's divided into three different hops, and I'm in the last one :)


Want to see what I sent her? I SHOULD use it in a second post, but I delayed a bit too long on getting this one up and she could be getting her soup any day now... so...

 

:D

I'm looking at this trying to remember what each blob is ;) hehe

In The Pink

A little while ago I saw a note from a certain Shelley Graham Turner posted in the Bead Soup Cafe, asking for people to message her about a special project... curious, I did.

Bam.

Next thing I know I'm eyeballs deep running a secret group dedicated to showing Lori McDaniel Anderson just how much she is loved and appreciated.

One must always be careful when replying to messages on facebook, don't you know ;) you never know what might happen ....

like for instance... answering that one message...  did THIS to me...

 See that 'duh' kind of expression on my face? That is the result of a couple months of helping organizing this thing, keeping it all a secret, and helping to calm the stressed nerves of members who kept freaking out every time Lori mentioned the words 'color' and 'hair'  in the same post >.< They were POSITIVE that some one had blabbed and Lori knew EVERYTHING!! I'd have to go investigate, then come back and let them know it was FINE... *L*

Okay... so yeah, while I did do that... that's not the reason for the terrible expression. I'm just having a hard time lining up the shot in the mirror lol

Here... this one is MUCH better..

Yes... I did it. I had the bottom three inches of my hair bleached and dyed BRIGHT pink :)

ME... the ANTI-PINK chick... has pink hair.

Only for Lori...I swear ... lol

And yes, this was taken back in the first week of July... and I STILL have pink in my hair... I found I rather liked the pink, but still wanted blue or purple... so in August I whipped up some Koolaid 'dye' and did blue... but didn't do enough... and when I went to buy more to finish it off, I found I really rather missed the pink. So I went back to pink... but not this bright lol It's more of a soft raspberry... and needs to be redone again.

I would like to point out that I spent the week this was first done hanging out with my mother... and she said nothing... not even my father, who HATES me dying my hair and ALWAYS has some comment... said nothing  ...lol

Here's another shot.. terrible lighting, but you get the bonus of seeing some of my beady mess behind me :D ...I'm wearing a black and white skull-bedecked bandana ... but it slipped off and ended up being used as a glorified hair tie while I worked lol

So my 'going Pink'  has hopefully made Lori smile. It's definitely made me smile :D

You know, the original 'plan' was for 'everyone' to dye some of their hair pink. That then changed to include in fake hair clip ons ... then people getting creative with feathers, beads, ribbons, yarn... In the end, we have everything from semi-permanent dye, to temporary dye, to hair chalk, to feathers, to wigs, to flowers, to photoshop.  

And some weren't satisfied with just 'pinking' themselves... they nabbed family and even pets :)

Despite the work and stress of being one of the 'organizers', it was a lot of fun. Not that I'm interested in signing up for another 'leadership' position any time soon, mind you ;) lol

I gathered up all of the photos submitted by people, along with little notes they wrote for Lori,  and have put them all together into an album that everyone can look over and laugh at online. Plus Lori can come back to over and over whenever she needs a smile :)  I've decided to leave it open so that should anyone else feel the need to 'go pink' in appreciation, they can send me their contributions and I'll make them a page and add it in :)

For those of you who are wondering what kind of woman could inspire over fifty people to 'pink' their hair in someway, I'll tell you.

Lori is one of those amazing women, who despite their own troubles,  always does her best to have a warm smile and helping hand for anyone who needs it. She's one of those women who tends to put herself last in her efforts to make sure everyone else is happy with things. She's also one of those women who go above and beyond to make something fabulous for people to enjoy. She came up with an idea for a bead swap and jewelry design challenge a few years ago... the 'Bead Soup Blog Party'. People signed up and she visited their blogs, got a feel for things, then paired them up with someone else and the two of them send each other a mix of beads to design something with. She's done six of these BSBP now. 

In the course of JUST THESE SIX

- she has visited over a THOUSAND blogs, at LEAST twice during each hop - once to get a 'feel' for the person and make sure the blog is active, and again during the hop itself to comment.

- she has spent COUNTLESS hours pouring over blogs and etsy shops, getting a feel for people to partner them up...

- she has written MILLIONS of emails... LITERALLY MILLIONS of emails... think about that for a moment... THEN... consider the hundreds of Blog posts and Group feeds she has written concerning the hops...

- and I'm afraid to think of how much MONEY she has spent on the BSBP ... The cost of the websites and domain names, the cost of all the beads she's sent out as extra soups to those whose partners had to pull out... the cost of the international shipping for all of those beads... plus this year she had special postcards made and mailed out to all the participants ... thats 400 postcards sent all over the world >.<

 ... my wallet hurts just thinking about it.

 but, for Lori, while I'm sure the cost is something she does consider, in the long run, what's more important to her is that people ENJOY what she does. She's the kind of person who would bend over backwards, no matter how much it hurt... just to help you.

And THAT is the kind of woman who can inspired  so many others pulling together to show her some love :)

Everyone in the beading groups I'm a part of has a ' Lori & the BSBP' story... and they're usually the same... being accepted into one of Lori's hop's was the best thing for them... it helped them step out of their comfort zone and learn new things... and introduced them to an entire world of people just like them.

I know because she did the same for me :)

Thank you, Lori ! *Hugs*

Visit some of the others Pink'd people!

Gail Vanderster-Zwang http://angelmoose.blogspot.com

Lea Avroch http://lajewelrydesign.blogspot.com

Leslie Wayment  http://www.aabeadsonline.com/blog

Kelley Katherine Hagerty-Fogle  http://www.mylifeonebeadatatime.blogspot.com

Sheila Davis http://www.stonedesignsbysheila.blogspot.com

Amanda Effron http://craft-o-licious.blogspot.com 

‎Solange Collin  http://www.blog.ahowinjewelry.com

Jennifer Chasalow VanBenschoten   http://www.vanbeads.blogspot.com

Isolina Perez  http://IsolinaPerez.blogspot.com

Toltec Jewels www.JewelSchoolFriends.com

Sherri Stokey  http://www.knotjustmacrame.com

Mary Howell Govaars  http://mlhjewelrydesigns.com

Bee Kuhlman http://mixedmayhemstudios.blogspot.com

Lynnea Perry Bennett   http://designsbylynnea.blogspot.com

Alicia Marinache  http://www.allprettythings.ca

Heather Otto http://www.thecrafthopper.com

Kimberly Flood  http://www.goddessesandbeads.blogspot.com

Courtney White Breul http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com

Lisa Liddy  http://lisaliddy.wordpress.com

Marlene Cupo http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com

Marianne Baxter  http://www.simplyseablimejewelry.blogspot.com

Mária Horváth   http://horimarikabeads.blogspot.hu

Andrea Beth Trank www.heavenlanecreations.com

Heidi Mansfield Kingman  http://mybeadtherapy.blogspot.com

Emoke Schmidt  http://emoke1.blogspot.com 

Sandra MrtzDiaz www.petaloazuljewelry.blogspot.com

Lupe Meter  http://gesmpccorner.blogspot.com

Tanya Boden http://fusionmusebangkok.blogspot.com

Ambra Chicandfrog http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com

Kumi Fisher http://maliekaidesigns.blogspot.com

Sandra Young  http://blog.gypsyroadbeads.ca

Sandi Marinaro Volpe  http://www.sandivolpe.com

Gretchen Nation  http://www.artfoodlodging.blogspot.com

Mimi Gardner  http://www.othercuriosities.blogspot.com

Marian Hertzog http://mhertzog-msplace.blogspot.com

Sonya Ingersoll-Stille http://dreaminofbeads.blogspot.com

Terry Matuszyk   http://pinkchapeau.wordpress.com

Audrey Belangér  http://esperianterra.blogspot.com

Sandra McGriff http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com

Shelley Graham Turner http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com

Sally Bohner Anderson

Mowse Doyle http://mowsemadethis.blogspot.com

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

Soup's On!

Wheew... was starting to wonder there;) lol  My partner got hers last week and we mailed them on the same day!

So, we both have our goodies now, so I can share pics! yay!

first off, here's what I sent her - (  window light with old camera >.< I And yes, that's my little ceramic floor tile I got at the thrift shop that I use as a backdrop for some pics...I have two, one cream/brown marble-esque, and this one which is more greys with just a touch of brown))

The full soup - pearls from Magpie Gems,  Crystal and goldstone from LimaBeads, Czech glass... from an etsy shop whose owner was raising money to bring her son home... and whose name escapes me at the moment. I have it written here somewhere... lol >.<

The copper and black glass chain I made, & the rose focal and the heart clasp are both by BeeTree by M.E. 














And now what Maria put together for me to work with :)

Isn't that a great soup?  The crocheted flowers are from her mother in law, and Maria made the cab and beaded it into a focal for me :)
 The fibers are inspiring far too many ideas >.< lol  I LOVE that dragonfly clasp and the rest of the metal is being just as pushy about ideas as the fiber ;)


And the bright orange and yellow MOP beads have spoken already... they're taking over a previous project ;) lol


The Czech glass and magnesite skulls are content to take a back seat for a moment because they KNOW they'll get used up ;)


BTW, I'm sorry about the black shiny bowl in the first picture... I was on my fire escape and didn't want to risk them all rolling away on me >.< It was enough fun to block the wind from taking my flowers and fiber! lol

 And hmm... my date's off on my camera... need to reset that...>.< lol


Sorry, Shaiha... I know I told you I'd take a picture of my mailbox when I retrieved my beadsoup... but I didn't get it from the mail box... the mail man rang the doorbell and met me half way down the stairs. ( I think he's sucking up after that last complaint I filed against him ;) This is the second registered piece he climbed stairs to get signed instead of waiting on the porch lol )





Alright... off to get some more housework accomplished and a painting/gift finished so I can let myself play with my soup without feeling guilty :)




~Skye

BSBP#6 - Introduction & Teaser

Hello again :)

Well the mad crush of stuff due at the end of June has passed by and I some how not only survived, but somehow manged to come out near the top. So I decided it was time to catch up on some blogging that I've been letting pile up. 

tsk tsk tsk

I mean, it's not as if you people don't know by now that I'm a procrastinator in the advanced class here... ;) lol

At any rate, THIS blog post, is my long over due introduction to my BSBP partner, Mária Horváth of horimarikabeads . 

I snitched this  photo of her from her Blogger profile :) She's in Hungary so I get to send goodies across the pond for this BeadSoup swap. 

I had a few partial potential soups started months ago, so that when I was partnered up, all I'd have to do would be to chose which soup base was best for them, then season it up to perfection :)  My first instinct is to give things that they will love and have no trouble using. That however, is kind of counter productive to the whole point behind the BSBP, which is to create a soup that will challenge your partner to step out of their comfort zone. I think I've managed to do both, however :) at least I hope I have ;)

So what is Mária's comfort zone?

Seedbeads... check out some of her work... 

 

 

All the photo's above were snitched from her blog :) My absolute fave is the seahorse, but I rather like the eye of Horus too :)  She has tons more, this is just a sampling :)

But she does play with other things... as long as when she's finished, she can use her seed beads with them ;)

Here are some cabs that she made along with a group of friends. Aren't they all lovely?

So, after checking out her gallery on Facebook, as well as looking through her blog... and having fun trying to make sense of some of Google's translations  >.<  I discovered that... she's apparently addicted to teeny tiny beads that she can sew into amazing shapes and patterns ;) She also  has a lot of bright colors in her work.

So what kind of Soup did I make for her? Want to take a peek inside the pot ?

BSBP#4's teaser pic was a swirl of color that looked gorgeous.. but looked nothing like beads lol  This time I decided to play with a mosaic.. still barely hints at it, but it makes  it seem like it's showing more than it really is ... ;) hehehehe

I hope she enjoys all of it :) I've been hoarding the focal and clasp for... well... since shortly after the 4th BSBP, and every now and then I'd end up getting some beads that just went PERFECTLY with them... and thus they became the main ingredients in some Bead Soup :)

I can't wait for her to receive them :) So excited :D I love BSBP time!

Make sure to visit Mária's blog, horimarikabeads and play with Google Translate :)

~ Skye