Oh Where Oh Where Did My Muse Go?

Oh where oh where did my little muse go? Oh where oh where did she go?  I sit at my bead table and I play with the beads and I sit and I look at the beads, but nothing comes!  Deadlines are right around the corner. Please, please come back my pretty little muse, I need your guidance.  Are you out traveling the world gathering up new and fresh ideas to whisper in my ear?  Or are you hiding, because I want to go way out of our comfort zone for the four different challenges I have committed us to.   I sure hope you are traveling and will be back real soon!!!

Well while I'm waiting for my muse to come back I would like to share something I received in the mail today.
A couple of weeks ago Jenn with JennP1751 blog had a giveaway to celebrate her 200th sale in her Etsy shop. I was the lucky winner and here is my prize.

I chose the pink flower on the green band ring from Jenn's shop and told her to surprise me on the earrings.
I am over the moon pleased with my prize, thank you so much Jenn you ROCK!!

Happy beading Y'all
Therese

Giveaway at Trolle's-Verden

Hi my friend Halinka at Trolle's-Verden is giving away two beautiful bracelets to two lucky winners.
Click on the blog link above and follow Halinka's instructions for a chance to win one of the bracelets.
Halinka does beautiful work so while you are on her blog check out all of the wonderful and creative pieces she has done.

Happy beading Y'all
Therese

I Heart Macro - Flowers In The Heat!

Hi this is my contribution today to I Heart Macro Sunday!

Joesph's Coat Rose, this rose is usually a bright variegated orange and yellow rose, but the heat has made it a variegated orange and black rose.

 Grubber Daisy, this time of year my Mom's flower patch is usually full of red, orange, and yellow Grubbers, but this summer there is only this one pitifully lonely Grubber Daisy.

  These pinkish orange roses are just opening up, but they will look pretty for about a day then wither like the rest in the heat of the day.

I do not know the name of this little blue flower, but it is growing wild in my Mom's yard every place it can take root.  This little wild flower seem to love the heat.

This is a shot of the little wild flower from underneath.  I like the way the blue petals almost blend in with the blue sky.

I hope you enjoyed my view of the flowers in the heat of summer and if you want to see what others are I Heart Macroing jump on over to Studio Waterstone and check them out you will be amazed.

Happy beading Y'all
Therese

The Long Days of Summer Challenge

This month Charlene Sevier at The Bead Dreamer presented a challenge of what does the long days of summer mean to you.  The concept is to select a photo of a summer day memory and make a piece that represents the memory.

It is so hot this summer just about everywhere, but in the Southeast where I live it is sweltering hot.  So because I wanted to feel cool, all I could think of is the cool water of a mountain lake.  Last summer I went on an Alaskan cruise with some family members.  Those of us coming from Alabama chose to drive to Seattle, WA.  We made several stops along the way doing the tourist thing.  I'm so glad we drove, this is such a beautiful country we live in.  Although I took hundreds of pictures on this trip I chose these three pictures of this mountain lake on the way to the Paradise Inn on Mt. Rainier, WA.

For the challenge I made a simple strung necklace that represents the cool water of the above mountain lake.

Most of the beads and finding for the necklace were purchased at Hobby Lobby, with the exception of the glass butterflies I purchased those at a little bead store in San Antonio, TX last month when I was there visiting family, and the 3mm dark topaz Czech crystals those were purchased at High Strung Beads a LBS.
The focal glass beads to me represent the shimmering blue water of the lake with the sun reflecting off of the wind caused waves on the water.  The copper beads represent the summer sun. The glass butterfly beads are to add a bit of whimsy, they glow in the dark, so by day they are butterflies, but in the dark they are like fireflies. Last but not least the rose beads representing all of the flowers of summer.

I hope that you were able to get out and enjoy the summer in some fashion, whether it was a vacation away or one at home.  Most of all I hope that you were able to stay cool this unusually hot summer.

Now take the time to go and visit the others in this "The Long Days of Summer" challenge:

Charlene Sevier - http://thebeaddreamer.com/blog/
Andrew Thornton - http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/
Andrea Trank - http://heavenlanecreations.wordpress.com/
Mary Ellen Parker - http://beetreebyme.blogspot.com/
Tara Linda - http://taralinda.wordpress.com/

Happy beading Y'all
Therese

Polymer clay and Bead soup mix

A long time ago at least 8 years ago I decided that I was going to make my Mom a rosary made out of polymer clay beads.  I went out and bought several colors of clay, with very good intentions of making all of the bead that I was going to need to make the rosary.  My Mom and Dad even brought me back a pasta machine from New York City when they went to visit Ground Zero.  Well I had fun playing with the clay and I made a few beads, but alas the rosary did not get made.  I eventually made one for her, but not out of the polymer clay beads.
Well all of the clay and pasta machine got put away and forgotten, it was not until I was packing up my house, that I found where they had got put and I decided to take them to my Mom's instead of putting them into storage.  After seeing all the beautiful pieces some of you make out of clay I decided to get my clay out and play.
Here are some of the things I did yesterday and today.

I found a tutorial on making polymer clay roses and thought that it sounded easy enough so I sat down and made these two roses.  The tan rose was the first one I made it was my practice rose.  I have an idea in my head of a pendant that I want to make for a Harley Davidson Jewelry Challenge I'm going to do.  The pendant involves roses, a skull, and a snake and that is all I'm going to say about it.

The pendants I did today.  I got the idea to make these pendant for the ABS August Challenge.  I love the Art Nouveau period and I wondered to myself if I could transfer pictures of Art Nouveau posters onto polymer clay, so I googled it and found a great tutorial on transferring images to polymer clay using T-shirt transfer paper.  The above pendants are the results.  I still need to sand the ones with the polymer frames and then seal them with a clear sealant. 

I received my bead soup mix from my partner Lola Surwillo today in the mail.  I love it the colors are beautiful and she mixed in crystals, gemstones and some peanut seed beads that I have not worked with before. The focal is a Mother of Pearl mosaic pendant, and the clasp is a sweet little sterling silver toggle.

I think I will sleep with this mix above my head on the top of the head board of my bed and dream of designs I can make with this beautiful mix.

Happy beading Y'all

Therese

The Gossiping Goddess is giving her heart away!

Lesley the creator of The Gossiping Goddess is giving away a beautiful lamp work heart pendant.

So if you want a chance to win this beautiful pendant go on over the The Gossiping Goddess and follow Lesley's instructions.  She is trying to get 100 followers before the end of August.

Happy beading Y'all
Therese

Bead Soup Blog Party Partner

I'm so excited about being a part of the Bead Soup Blog Party, this is my first BSBP.  I signed up early on the morning of August 1st and waited with bated breath for the email that revealed my partner.  My partner in the BSBP is Lola Surwillo at Bead Lola Bead.  Lori Anderson did a great job at pairing us up.  Lola and I have similar interests not just in beading but in other crafts as well.  I mailed out my bead soup mix to her today and can not wait for reveal day to see what she has done.  Go visit Lola's blog and her etsy shop she does beautiful work.

Happy beading Y'all
Therese