Time to start cooking!

Coming out of hiding...

I know I haven't don't much to speak of in the eons since my last post but work and school. And fight depression... get diagnosed with narcolepsy... have my house burn down. 

Since the fire, I have been struggling to find some normalcy in my life.  I'll be honest.. I haven't made much in the way of jewelry in a long time.  But I miss it. And lo and behold, Lori's starting up another Bead Soup Blog Party.  I can't wait to find out who my partner is. It's gonna be great!

Been a long time...

Almost a year to be exact.  Lots of crazy things happening in my life.  I'm slowly getting back on track bit by bit.

There are once again items for sale in my Etsy Shop.  AND.... Everything is priced at a huge discount.. up to 50% or more PLUS free shipping within the US.  Please be sure to check it out.

Bead Soup Blog Party.. finally

I'm a couple of days late, but hey, better late than never, right?

To start.. My partner for this Soup was Ingrid McCue.  Poor Ingrid had to send me 2 sets of beads because the first set got lost in the mail :(  Judging by the set I got, I can only imagine what the first set looked like.  This is what she sent:

A gorgeous mixture of Indian Agate, Carnelian, Labradorite, and a set of mystery beads I think are Jasper

As luck would have it, I did end up with 2 sets of beads.  And by luck, I mean bad luck on Ingrid's part.  An injury put her out of commission for a few days, and so Lori was kind enough to send some beads as well.

Marsha Neal Studio [ceramic] pendant, Tierracast toggle, matte rose quartz pebbles, and Czech glass

Out of these, here's what I created with what I received from Ingrid:

Carnelian & Labradorite with a Leaher Wrapped Jasper Donut

The photo doesn't do the carnelian justice.  These beads are the most beautiful red-orange I have ever seen. I paired the carnelian rounds with labradorite disks, with a couple of faceted agate beads in there for good measure.  The donut I wrapped with red leather cord and it hangs from a silver bail.

Indian Agate with Fancy Jasper

With this one, I just had to go simple and let the beads speak for themselves.  Just look at the colors!  To the Indian Agate Ingrid sent, I added some smaller, faceted agate beads, along with even smaller fancy jasper beads for some contrast.  The bottom photo shows the Bali Silver toggle that Ingrid chose.

And from Lori:

Marsha Neal Studio ceramic pendant, Elaine Ray ceramic beads, Czech glass, and Rose Quartz

When I opened the package from Lori, my first thought was "Wow".  Then, "How am I going to put these together??"  So, beads in hand, I headed down to Ornamentea.  As luck would have it, there was a string of  ceramic beads by Elaine Ray that are virtually the same color as the ceramic pendant Lori sent.  Yay!  Add some more rose quartz and I'm in business!  By the way, I am in love with those Czech glass beads!  What an amazing color!  Below is the Tierracast toggle that fits the necklace perfectly.

I know I was late to the party, but in case you haven't already seen the list a billion times already, click here for the list of other Bead Soup participants showing off their creation.

A Full Plate Means No Room for Soup

source

Regrettably, I do not have any Bead Soup to share this morning.  Oh, I have beads, and some almost finished pieces, but because I bit off more than I could chew so to speak, there won't be Soup to share till this evening or perhaps tomorrow evening.  Sigh.  That's what going to school and working full time will do to you :/

Stay tuned though, because, I have not one, but two, batches of Soup to share, courtesy of the USPS.

In other news...  I can't believe I missed the posting, but my Etsy shop was featured at Kaeli's Kiwis.  While I am uber-excited about the feature, I'm holding off on sharing the link at the moment because Chrome is telling me that Kaeli's blog may be the victim of a malware attack. :(

And I can't forget about my Creative Sistah's!  I finished my "August" sketch in Brandy's book in the nick of time, and it is now in Stephanie's very capable hands.  Here's what it looks like:

More to come, but right now, it's time for this busy girl to get some sleep.

Bon Voyage

Making Room for Making Art is on it's way.  Or, rather, it should be arriving at it's next destination today as I sent it to Kim, the Queen of Arts herself, two days ago.

Now, I'll admit, I didn't read the whole book.  Just the parts I felt were pertinent to me.  It gave me a lot to think about.

Right now, making room for my art is not so much of a problem as I only work 40 hours a week or so.  However, in about a week and a half, school starts, so I'll be working 40 hours a week plus going to school full time.  I'm not going to lie.  It'll be tough, but I think I can pull it off. :)

Thank you to Jamie for turning a giveaway into a traveling gift for many rather than just one.

Let's try this again...

Ok, I'll admit it, I've been slacking off in the blog posting department.  Life seems like it's been especially busy for me this summer.  Yes, I'm working, but less hours than I was before I lost my job this time last year.  I guess you could say I've been a little preoccupied... with school, with marriage... with art.

I've already revealed my discovery of ATC's and Swap-bot.  I'm thoroughly addicted.  I've posted a few more pics on flickr.  I say I'm addicted, but I haven't made all that many.  My problem is, I think, that I'm not sure where to start a lot of times.  I see things that I like, and that I'd like to emulate, but I have so many thoughts and ideas bouncing around in my head that I have trouble starting.  Unless I'm prompted, that is.  Most of the ones I have completed have been the result of swap prompts.So... if anyone wants to offer up any ideas to get me going, my poor concentration would thank you.

On to other things.  First, I have no offering for the month of July to the Sisterhood of the Traveling Sketchbooks.  I haven't even started, really.  I know what I'm going to do, but I think I'm afraid to start.  I just know that if it doesn't come out as I hope, I'll be heart-broken..Hopefully, it'll turn out fantastically.  That being said, Lisa's sketchbook is on its way to Stephanie with a page missing.  July will play catch-up.

Now, maybe a month or so ago, I received in the mail the Traveling Book, which has it's own Sisterhood.  It came to me from Teresa of Poppy Place Pdx.  I had started reading the book, "Making Room for Making Art," but then I got sucked in to my own art that I had trouble making room for reading this great book.  I'm back on track now, and before school starts next month, it's be on it's way.

Finally, the Bead Soup Blog Party.  I had debated briefly about participating this time, but then I thought, "Who am I kidding?"  Of course I'm going to participate!  If you make any jewelry at all and are interested, check out Lori Anderson's blog Pretty Things for more info.  Sign-ups are August 1-3.  It's really fun.  I highly encourage any fellow beaders out there to consider it.