A Note from the Trenches

Hello Everyone,

Although I know there's never an excuse for not beading, I've been quite ill this week and just wanted to blog my little heart out with apologies for not writing sooner. Wishing you all well and you'll hear from me asap!

Happy Beading!!!
PS: How about beading a few extra rows for me while I'm under the weather? :-)

The Gal Behind the Beads

Hello!

I figured it only fair that you get a glimpse of the person doing all of this beading and blogging business. I literally just snapped this photograph especially for you, my beading and blogging buddies. Notice the t-shirt?

Happy Beading!

The Beauty of Spring Part 2

Thanks again to Artbeads.com, I was able to create my vision of "The Beauty of Spring" with this piece called "Metamorphosis." Funny enough, as soon as I saw the blue cat's eye cabochons on their website, I immediately envisioned a beautiful flower focal piece.


As I worked on the flower, it somehow evolved into a butterfly. Just the transformation of my own creation, let alone the actual lifespan of a real butterfly, led me to the title "Metamorphosis" because, really, nothing else was right.

To complete this piece, I incorporated the cat's eye cabochons into a center focal piece by creating the basic bezel out of blue satin delicas. After much deliberation on how to situate the focal, I used the 4-mm porphyr sapphire cat's eye round beads as the basic foundation for the necklace. I had a great time with this project and thanks again to Artbeads.com for the opportunity.

As always, Happy Beading!

Disclosure: The 13x18 oval glass cabochons (product code GCOV-PSAP18) as well as the blue satin delicas (product code DB0831) and 4-mm round cat's eye beads (product code CATR-LTB4) were kindly provided free of charge by Artbeads.com as part of their blogging program. The author has not received any payment from the above and any posts about their products represent the author's personal opinion only.

Memories of Dragonflies in Baxter State Park

Hello, Fellow Beaders!
I'm in love with the chunky look (hmm, possible book idea?) and have a bunch of gemstone chips that I've been planning to use in such. Well, one look at my dragonfly pendant (below) and it all came together. Let me introduce "Sunset Hike in Baxter."


Below is the detail. This was pretty tricky to create, I must admit, probably because I didn't think through the attachments very well. Working with 10 strands of gemstone chips and beads proved difficult when all was said and done. It's a very heavy piece. I'm considering this a lesson learned!




Have any of you out in the beading blogosphere mastered the art of multi-stranding? I would truly welcome any tips.

Happy Beading!

Early Bud Under a March Frost

Hello, Fellow Beaders!





This is the piece I produced for the Artbeads.com blogging program. Here in Maine, we're more than ready for some sunshine, so "The Beauty of Spring" was a theme I could definitely relate to!

The 22-mm peridot Swarovski Cubist focal piece was such a wonderful source of inspiration that I had great difficulty in deciding what to do with it. This focal piece was very easy to work with because of the way the hole was drilled and the size of the hole, accommodating a number of attachment options. My original plan for this piece evolved and I couldn't have been happier with the result.

As you will see in the detail below, I complemented the Cubist focal piece with both 6-mm faceted peridot Swarovski cubes and 4-mm faceted peridot Swarovski cubes to balance the look and highlight more "early buds." As with the focal piece, I adored working with the Swarovski cubes and due to the versatility of these little darlings, any number of combinations could have been achieved.

I'm really into the use of color right now and I love color transitions. That's why I wanted this look to invoke a feeling of early spring by using medium-dark green on one end and crystal-white on the other. The crystal faceted bicones on the "winter end" of the necklace remind me of the late winter frosts that try to sabotage beautiful early spring buds. As you can tell, I had a great time with this piece. Thanks again, Artbeads.com!

Happy Beading!

Disclosure: 22-mm peridot Cubist (product code 6650-PER22) as well as 6-mm/4-mm peridot faceted Swarovski cubes (product codes 5601-PER6/5601-PER4, respectively) were kindly provided free of charge by Artbeads.com as part of their blogging program. The author has not received any payment from the above and any posts about their products represent the author's personal opinion only.

Every Bead Has a Home

Serendipity!

Yesterday was my 37th birthday and lo and behold...I received my first shipment from Artbeads.com! What a treat!

I'm working on a Spring-themed project with those materials (to be posted) but I found that I had some leftover blue cat's eyes. With Spring still in mind, I thought about bright blue skies and the sense of renewal this particular season has to offer. With that, here's what evolved:

Happy Beading!

Disclosure: Round 4mm Cat's Eye Bead - Light Blue Product Code: CATR-LTB4 - Was kindly provided free of charge by Artbeads.com as part of their blogging program. The author has not received any payment from the above and any posts about their products represent the author's personal opinion only.

Please Help Me Come Up With a Name!

Hello All!

I'd love your help in coming up with a name for this work of blue stones. It was a lot of fun to do, but nothing is coming to mind as to a title for this piece yet. Help!

I really liked the top photo because of the way the light shines through one of the stones. However, I realize that it's a bit shadowy so here's a better photo:

Happy Beading!