MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

It looking like a DR WHO day...  Hope your Christmas is as special as the day you were born...  Enjoy!!!

I found this cute Christmas coloring page. Print it out and color it..  :-)

Natalie Cole - Mary, Did You Know

I just love how Natalie Cole sings this song... Its a beautiful song!

PEARLS CHALLENGE for ZNETSHOWS

I just posted the Creative Spark Magazine.  I thought I would post my designs which I made for the magazine.  There was a handful of us designers for Znetshows which were challenged to create designs from their pearls.  We got to pick out our own mix.  I posted this challenge earlier if you would like to see what beads I used.  I also have them listed in the magazine.  I love challenges because they get my mind thinking in different directions and I never know what brain is going to come up with.  Sometimes I get that...Ah..I know what I am going to do...and other times...its like...Hmmm...I think this is what I want to do...oh wait..nooo...not that...its ugly!  Oh, how about this?  Ok...this might work...  you see how it goes?  Hehehehe...  Anyhooo...  here are some pics..

Please feel free to leave a comment or two...would love to get your feedback!

THANKS....

This set is called... Cinnamon Teal with Attitude!  LOL

I had seen somewhere on the web, wish I remembered the name of the artist, the hammered bar.  I knew right away how I would change it and add my own to the creation.

This is called....Sparkling Teal Champagne

I made this necklace first.  I made some beaded beads and I had some sari silk which matched perfectly with the beads.  Lots of fun to make...then once I finished the necklace I made the bracelet...using smaller beads

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I might make a tutorial on both of these sets...let me what you think...  :-)

Creative Spark Winter 2013 is here!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this issue. Hope did an amazing job putting all the pieces together.  You MUST check this out!  There is so much information in this issue, lots of tutorials, lots of amazing jewelry designers and many beautiful pictures and inspiration!
I have a tutorial in this issue you will not want to miss...its fun and simple to add more spice to your sea glass beads...  I also have my pearl necklaces, a bracelet and a couple pairs of earrings..

THANKS again for the wonderful ZNETSHOWS for putting my designs in this digital magazine!  And a SPECIAL THANKS to HOPE for all her hard work!

ENJOY!!!

Click to view Creative Spark Winter 13-14 on GLOSSI.COM

Love this version of the Little Drummer Boy...beautiful!!

My Newest bundle of joy!

I love it when I get that call from Beads On Main to remind me when they are having their awesome sale.  How often do you get to go to a local bead store and get a nice yummy discount?  Yes, and yummy I mean a whopping 40% of ALL items in the store other than the already marked down items.  Beads On Main does this about 3 times a year and I just love their store.  They have lots of fun metals that I cant find in other bead stores or even online!  They carry a large variety of bead which are different than my other favorite bead store, The Bead Gallery.  So, today, after work, driving in stop and go traffic off and on, I headed on down to Beads On Main.  Jessica was there chatting away with her customers while I walked in.  I was in AWE...they had totally reorganized the little shop.  It was beautiful...all set up for the holiday season..and lots of new stuff!  Normally I walk into a bead store with an agenda, but today I wanted to just look around and see what I could find.  I dont NEED any more beads...I just WANTED some new fun stuff to play with.  I probably spent an whole hour plus wandering around.  As you see in the photo below...I really had a great time...

I will take more pictures soon and show you more of what I bought...and perhaps a few finished pieces too once I dig in...

Awww....look at my babies....

Aren't they just the cutest little creatures???  I just had to share this picture...there are actually 2 pictures here that I merged into one...  Gracie is on the left and Lily is on the right..they are sisters we adopted when they were just 6 months old.  Can you guess which one is the feistiest?

7000 Bracelets of HOPE

Znetshows has invited all of their designers to join them in supporting THE GLOBAL GENES PROJECT in creating bracelets in support for all those who are affected with rare and unusual genes. We were given a choice of two different beads, pearls and crystals, all in blue.  Once we chose our beads, they were quickly sent to us.  We had less than 2 weeks to create our bracelets. Today I shipped mine off.  I chose to use the magic stretch so my bracelets would be a little more flexible for different sized wrists. I used a variety of  metal components to add a little more bling to the bracelets.

This is the front view of the bracelets.  After I finished making the bracelets, I still thought they were a little plain.  I went through a box of my fabric and found this awesome piece of blue jean material.  I tore strips and tied them around on one end of the clasp.

This is the backside.  It looks really busy here but they really are much prettier with the fabric strips tied on.

Now you can see each bracelet here.  The theme used by the Global Genes Project is jeans.  So I needed to make sure that not only the blue was used in the bracelets but a hint of jean material...

I made some cards to go along with the bracelets.  I used one of the support badges and I found this beautiful saying and added it to the card.

"Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops at all."

~Emily Dickinson 

I attached the cards with the same strips of jean material onto the bracelets and packed them into a box and off the went today.

If you are interested in participating, please check out the GLOBAL GENES PROJECT

If you just want to learn more, go to their website and read some of the amazing stories.. they will put tears in your eyes of sadness and happiness and hope!

Winter is coming...

Yes, before we know it, winter will be knocking at our door.  I know in some states its already there...but for CA..it takes some time to bring it on!  Today though...the wind sure picked up.  64 degrees is not that cold, but man when that wind rips through it can sure go to the bones!  So, today I stayed inside for the most of it, but I did make a quick run to the bead store.

We have 2 awesome bead stores here and one is usually closed on Sundays but the other is usually open everyday!  I like them both, they seem to carry different beads and all the fun elements to create with.  I bought me some cute scissor charms for a special order I have and a few extra beads for the Winter Challenge from ZnetShows.  So I thought I would give you a little peak at the colors I have going.  The challenge is all about the beautiful pearl.  Who can pass those up?  I actually have a necklace all finished but I am not ready to share that just yet...soon though I promise!  It will be worth the wait trust me.  I am learning more about making metal links...I bought the book.. The Missing Link, a book well worth every penny!  Cindy Wimmer has an amazing book packed with nothing but good stuff.  I will write up a little review on it later.  Anyway, here is my little bundle of joy!

Yes, I believe this is a beautiful mix.  You can see those yummy crystals?  Trust me, they make the necklace soooo amazing!  I still have a lot to make for this challenge, earrings, perhaps a bracelet or two, or even another necklace.  The deadline is Novermber 18th, then it goes into publication for the Creative Spark Glossi...  I cant wait to see what the other designers have created...  I will be back with a few more teasers this week!  :-)

New project/challenge on Face Book

Well about a 2 months ago, I joined in on a challenge from from JewelryLessons.com by Eni.  I belong to her group on FB.  Eni created this awesome website where you can purchase jewelry making tutorials from many different artists.  She also created her own Design tutorials where you can learn from her lessons.

Anyway, our first lesson was to make a drawing of a shape and create different ideas as to how you would make a piece of jewelry from it.  Then the next month was to pick a flower and draw it in several ways in which you can create a piece of jewelry.  We focused on shape first, then reshape it, then put it together in a drawing and then make it into a finished piece of jewelry.  We could choose any medium we wanted to, there are no limits as to how you want to make it.  So, with trial and error I put together this fun pendent.  I am going to make it into a necklace eventually.  I love how Humblebeads makes her designs and beads from different types of clay.  She has shared how she creates her designs through Art Bead Scene, she is my inspiration in this design.

first creation, not that pretty... YUK..

second creation, getting there, but needed more work. OK

third attempt, MUCH BETTER, is putting a smile on my face now!  I feel this is the final creation for this design.  I like it a lot.  It was faster and easier to make this time around.  And a bit messier since I used alcohol inks instead of acrylic paints...and I made the press mold much better so it didnt leave a ridge like it did on the first creation..

Please feel free to leave me some feedback.  Thanks...  :-)