Whoohoo! I'm POSTING!

:D

See? I remembered and kept to my deadline ;)

And thank you to my reminders - Even though I didn't need the nudging and poking THIS time, I'll probably need it the next.. or the one after that. So if you notice the week drawing to a close and no new post from me... ;)

Anyway, I had a three day to-do list that consisted of JUST cleaning/sorting my office/stash area, doing this blog post, and baking. The baking is in progress ( it was supposed to be done on the first day so I could eat the muffins for breakfast.. but instead I ate the last three eggs then couldn't bake until I bought more.. and today was the first day I was at a store .. See? not REAAAALLy procrastination on that one ;) )

.... and the blog post is right here...

... the cleaning... the only things moved were for me to access stuff for this blog post >.< I WILL get it done. I WILL. sooner or later... usually later, but still, it WILL get done!

So, what have I been making jewelry wise?

Nada.

I had four V-day type braclets on the go.. then the chain on the one proved to be absolute crap... the same chain is on two of them, and I didn't discover this until both bracelets were three quarters done... so  they got shoved aside in a bit of a minor tantrum... right into the first two that had made it about half way done, all pretty dangles and beads done with gold accents to go on a gold chain... when I discovered I was out of the right sized gold coloured chain >.< All I had was a big chunky one that was too big, and a fine one that was too fine... but that I used for the other ones and it turned out to be crap anyhow >.< so again, not really procrastination on those... merely frustrated refusal to touch them until I have the right sized chain.

My modpodge experiments were halted after that first batch due to my needing my table for other stuff, and it was the project set up that would give me the most room the quickest. I'd hoped to have a couple decent podged pendants made to add in to the giveaway, but maybe next time. Ditto for my clay experimenting.

Okay... now I DID promise a giveaway.. but while putting the one batch together, I decided to do a second as well ;)

So first up we have a little bundle since it's V- Day.

 

So all the beads in the center are pairs, the ones on the bottom are singles, and then there's a nice sizes piece of cord :) All of the beads are glass. Now, since it's for V-day, and I didn't have any hearts to include, I'll see if I can't have a heart or love-inspired pendant made in time for it to be mailed out to the winner. not sure on what it'll be made of.. could be wood, could be clay, could be... whatever I decide to play with ;) If I don't have anything good enough to send made, I'll substitute a pendant of some type form my stash.. it just might not be lovish-type-stuff ;)

 

And for the second... which I considered doing on a different day, but then it kinda defeated the purpose.. ditto theV-day one.. so... number 2...

The 'Back to Work' giveaway

' Okay, now those two big peachy/orangy tubes kinda feel like stone, but the bottom one is definitely polymer, as are the two brown flowers. The speckled orange beads and the goldy/brown beads are all glass, and the pendant in a copper wrapped stone I collected from a local beach and polished up and sealed :)

Okay, so  the 'Back to Work' bundle is done through rafflecopter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How do you win the Valentine's one, you ask?
Simple - leave me a comment below and tell me if you have plans for today/tonight .. or if you'll be checking out the 1/2 off V-day goodies tomorrow with me ;)
I'll do a random drawing for the winner Monday, Feb.17th ( Family Day here in Canada, so it'll be an evening/night posting ;)

SNEAK ATTACK !!

Yes that's right... another Bead Faerie attack!

This one was an extra sneaky surprise attack on one of our own faeries! While I had her working in the secret head quarters on Lena's gathering, I was coordinating a second one for her through FB messages and email ! :) 

Yes I'm sneaky ;) She had no clue :)

So who did the Bead Faeries visit? Why, Shelley Graham Turner, whom you may remember from my first Shop Feature :)

ToriSophia

 Shelley's sister Jilly was a victim of Alzheimer's. Last year Shelley made a bunch of purple earrings, and her and her grandson handed them out to those who ran for the cause. This year she planned on making a lot more, but was running low on purple beads. She'd put in a trade request in one group but didn't receive many offers from what I understand. Marlene brought it to my attention, since I'd somehow managed to miss the news ( I blame not enough coffee on my end ;) ). And so, a Bead Faerie Sneak attack plan was hatched!  

Since Shelley is a busy little Bead Faerie, she'd have become suspicious  if she wasn't invited into the group for another round. And trust me, she'd have KNOWN if we had one running, whether anyone told her or not... the woman would KNOW. 

So... we ran one and invited her in. Luckily we 'd been considering two, so we just did both :D Since Marlene was already acting as the Collection Faerie for Lena, I asked Rita of Toltec Jewels to play Collection Faerie for Shelley. Let me just say, the woman had WAY TOO MUCH FUN! She took the purple theme and RAN with it BIG TIME! lol

I have a total of 24 photos she took, showing all the beads and ear wires that were donated, and all of these gifts wrapped in different shades of purple tissue paper and tied with ribbon.... several shots of the card, including the picture, the signatures& message, and the envelope  ( she even used purple ink! )... and the stages of packing the box ! lol  Plus, as the topper, she printed out the Project Bead banner and taped it to the top of the box!

I understand she's setting up a photo account somewhere to host all the Project Bead Photos, so when she does, I'll edit in the links here so you can see them all. In the mean time, I'll share a few of the highlights :D

The card - photo courtesy of Rita

Message inside card -photo courtesy of Rita

Pretty gifts to open! - photo courtesy of Rita

the goodies INSIDE the pretty paper - photo courtesy of Rita

The box with the banner :) photo courtesy of Rita

 

It's been decided that from now on, we'll have to include kleenex with the beads ;)

Shelley's Bead Faeries

Rita/ Toltec Jewels, Sandra McGriff, Marlene Cupo , Alicia Marinache , Heidi Kingman , Robin Reed , Jana Perex Stribel , Christine Crowe Smith , Sandra Wollberg  , Ali McCarthy, & Kristen Stevens

Sadly, Shelley's sister just recently passed, making this gift even more bittersweet. Her self appointed task of making these earrings will keep Jilly in the forefront of her heart and thoughts, and every single pair she makes will no doubt carry a piece of her love for her sister with it.  Now that Jilly is free of the curse that is Alzheimer's, I know she is watching over Shelley and loving what she's doing for her :)

... and now that I've made Shell cry again, I KNOW she'll be plotting some form of revenge... ;) I doubt even the little note I slipped into my donation will do much to save me.  What did my note say?  Just two simple words...

 'Blame Marlene'

:D

Attack of the Bead Faeries!

The ' Bead Faeries'  of Project Bead have struck again!

This time, we singled out Lena Adams, who agreed to make jewelry for a program in her home town - 'Dressed for Success' is put on by her local women's shelter, that helps provide women with clothing and jewelry to help them make a good impression for job interviews and new jobs :)  And committed herself to making 100 pieces of jewelry for them! Personally, I think with the big ol' box of beads we gathered up and sent to her, she can do a lot more than that ;)

photo courtesy of Marlene Cupo

Here's a glimpse at what was stuffed inside the box. This was tallied in at 8.6 lbs, and included a few finished pieces of jewelry to be donated to 'Dressed for Success' as well :)

photo courtesy of Marlene Cupo

photo courtesy of Marlene Cupo

photo courtesy of Marlene Cupo

The cast of faeries changes for each gathering, with no faerie contributing to more than three in a row.

Lena had 13  Bead Faeries taking part in her gathering ;

Sandra McGriff, Marlene Cupo, Alicia Mariache, Mimi Gardner, Gina Hockett, Tammy Everly, Shelley Turner, Michelle Dotson, Elaine Ray, Rita aka Toltec Jewels, Shaiha Williams, Robin Reed, and Ali McCarthy.

photo courtesy of Marlene Cupo

  Marlene was once again our 'collection faerie' - everything was sent to her, and she packed it all up and sent it to Lena :)

The first round with Kashmira, we had fun stalking the usps tracking page to see where her parcel was. For Lena's I didn't get a chance to even check! Parcels within the states seem to move quickly... as long as the weather doesn't get in the way ;)

Project Bead is a big success  and warms hearts, whether they take part or not :)  If you know of any one who works with beads, and donates their work or time to a cause, let me know and we might consider them for a future faerie attack ;)