Tuesday, May 6, 2014

10 Best Historical Cities in the United States

Hi Y'all,

No jewelry this time I wanted to share my excitement with y'all, the city I live in is one of the 10 best historical cities in the USA.  I am going to share with you the 10 best starting with the 10th and working down to the 1st, so here goes...

10th


New Orleans
in 1718, French colonist Sieur de Bienville established a port city named La Nouvelle Orleans near where the Mississippi River met the Gulf of Mexico. Much of the city was destroyed by fire during the brief period of Spanish rule (many of the city's historical buildings were built by the Spanish, not the French). The city came into U.S. control as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. New Orleans also witnessed the culminating battle of the War of 1812, where Andrew Jackson's troops - joined by Jean Lafitte -defeated British forces.
Photo courtesy of Spondylolithesis/iStock

9th

Philadelphia
It's impossible to study U.S. history without exploring the history of Philadelphia, the birthplace of American democracy. Independence Hall, in the heart of what is now Philly's Independence National Historic Park, witnessed the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and the formation of the U.S. Constitution 11 years later. While historians debate Betsy Ross's true role in creating the original American Flag, the famous seamstress made her home in Philadelphia.


8th

Santa Fe
Pueblo settlements in and around Santa Fe date back to the 10th century, but the city itself wasn't established until 1607. It became the capital of the Spanish province of Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico in 1610, making it the oldest state capital in the country, and it's also home to the nation's oldest public building (the Palace of the Governors) and the oldest community celebration, the Santa Fe Fiesta, first held in 1712 to commemorate the Spanish reconquest of New Mexico.

Photo courtesy of MarkKane.net

7th

Boston
From baseball to higher education and everything in between, Boston's rich history is evident everywhere you look. Incorporated as a town in 1630, Boston saw the founding of the first college in North America - Harvard University - in 1630, just 16 years after the pilgrims first arrived. In 1773, the infamous Boston Tea Party was the first act of open rebellion against British colonial rule, setting in motion events that would eventually lead to the birthing of a new nation.

Photo courtesy of coleong/iStock

6th

St. Augustine, Fla.
Nicknamed the "Old City," St. Augustine was the first European settlement in the U.S., discovered in 1565 some 55 years before the pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock. History is in evidence throughout the city, from the preserved walls of 17th century Castillo de San Marcos to the beautiful Flagler College, built as a hotel by Henry Flagler during St. Augustine's rise in popularity as a winter resort town in the late 19th century.

Photo courtesy of Floridashistoriccoast.com

5th

Charleston, S.C.
Founded by English colonists in 1670, Charleston was one of the continent's most prosperous and influential cities by the mid-18th century, thanks to its production of rice, indigo and cotton on large, slave-worked plantations. This prosperity would continue until Civil War fighting largely devastated the Antebellum city. Luckily, Charleston also produced one of the nation's earliest historical preservation societies, so walking through the historic streets feels like stepping back in time.

Photo courtesy of Bill Stamatis/iStock

4th

Savannah, Ga.
Recorded history of Savannah begins in 1733, the year when General James Oglethorpe and the good ship Anne made landfall along the Savannah River front and the colony of Georgia was established. Considered America's first planned city, Savannah still has 22 of its original 24 public squares, thanks in part to the Historic Savannah Foundation who helped forge one of the country's largest National Historic Landmarks, Savannah's Historic District.


3rd

Williamsburg, Va.
From 1699 to 1780, Williamsburg was the political and cultural hub of the largest and most influential American colony, Virginia. Not only does Williamsburg have a storied history, it's managed to bring that history to life right before visitors' eyes in Colonial Williamsburg, a re-creation of what the influential Virginia colony might have been like on the brink of the Revolutionary War.

Photo courtesy of Brianna May/iStock

2nd

Annapolis, Md.
Founded as a small English community in 1649, Annapolis was known by several other names before it was named after the Queen in 1702. During the early years of the 18th century, the colonial capital was a political, economic and cultural powerhouse, and the Maryland State House, built in 1772, is the first and only state house to serve as the nation's capitol, which it did from 1783 to 1784.

Photo courtesy of VisitAnnapolis.org

1st

Montgomery, Ala.
In 1819, two small settlements of cotton plantations merged together to form the town of Montgomery. During the Civil War, Montgomery was home of the First White House of the Confederacy, where Jefferson Davis and his family lived, but its most important historical contributions came during the Civil Rights movement as the site of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The city also had the first electric street car system, and the first flight school set up by the Wright Brothers.

Photo courtesy of VisitingMontgomery.com

Montgomery is the city I live in and it is the 1st best 10 of the historical cities in the USA what an honor to be recognized.  The photo above is of 1 Court Square and it shows the view up Dexter Ave to the Capitol steps. There is a lot of historical places to visit just in this area of Montgomery alone, not to mention the other parts of the city and surrounding cities, such as Prattville just to the north of Montgomery in Autauga County, Selma to the west of Montgomery in Dallas County, Mobile to the south of Montgomery in Mobile County, Birmingham and Huntsville to the north of Montgomery in Jefferson County and Madison County.  The whole state of Alabama is bursting with history, so if you are ever incline, please come and pay Alabama and especially the city Montgomery a visit.

The above pictures and commentary was taken from this web site 10best.com

The other nine cities have always been on my bucket list to visit and I have every intention of checking each of them off my list one day. Congratulations to all for making the 10 Best list.

Happy beading Y'all,
Therese

Saturday, April 26, 2014

The Creative Continuum of Seven Artist - April Challenge - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

Introducing: The Creative Continuum of Seven Artists ~ an adventure in art creating with friends :: All Pretty Things

Hi Y'all,

Well it is April 26th and this time around in the CC7A challenge it is my month.  Here is a small recap about this challenge...
Back in the latter months of 2013 Alicia Marinache of All the Pretty Things blog asked seven of her blog friends if we would like to participate in a challenge that would cover 7 months, of course we all said yes. So we were assigned months, we picked themes for our months, and shipped out packages with all sorts of little goodies to design with.

The theme I chose for my month is "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". Why you ask? Well simple really, April's birthstone is a diamond and the Beatles's song "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" kept playing over and over in my head.  If you are not familiar with the song you can listen to it here

This is what I sent to my six other CC7A participants.

This is what I created with my package that I kept for myself.




I beaded around my cab with blue iris size 11 Delicas and size 15 round seed beads I had some black small roundels in my stash that I beaded around the cab. I brick stitched silver lined clear size 8 seed beads around the outer edge of the cab and added 3 mm blue crystals and picot with size 15 silver lined clear seed beads. The neck strap is done in CRAW with size 8 blue and down the front center I used clear 3mm bicones.  I did not have enough of the blue seed beads to keep going so on the ends I used the silver lined clear seed beads and made a toggle clasp with them as well.  To give the necklace more length and to use some of the other beads in the package and connected the cab to the neck strap.  I laid the cab on it's side to represent the line in the song "The girl with the kaleidoscope eyes"

Thank you Alicia for giving me April, this month holds a lot of sentimental value to me. Thank you to all of you for stopping by, now please go visit the other CC7A bunch.  Next month will be Alicia's month so be sure to come back to see what we have created with what Alicia sent to us.

1. Monique
3. Sally
4. Therese (you are here)
5. Alicia
6. Cynthia
7. Emma

Happy beading Y'all




Monday, April 21, 2014

CC7A April Reveal Reminder and ATTS 5 Participant List

Introducing: The Creative Continuum of Seven Artists ~ an adventure in art creating with friends :: All Pretty Things

Hi Y'all

This is a reminder that on April 26, 2014 will be the April reveal for The Creative Continuum of Seven Artists.  April is my month and my theme is "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds".  Here is what I sent to my six fellow Artists.

This is a picture of my set, I did not take pictures before I sent them out.  Everyone got one of my dichroic glass cabs, 12 or 14 mm stone lentil beads, small blue stone roundels, 8 mm  Opalite, and various sizes and shapes of clear glass beads.

Please come back on the 26th and see what myself, Alicia, Emma, Monique, Sally, Cynthia, and Christine have created for the April challenge of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds!






 Now on to the participant list of A Time To Stitch 5

Christine and I had a nice turn out for our 5th time around for this challenge.  We enjoy presenting this challenge, because it is always a thrill to see all the different creations y'all do with the stitches suggested.  This time around we are asking that one chooses their favorite stitch and make three of the same pieces but changing something in each piece, either the color, size of bead or shape of bead, to see that with these slight changes the whole piece changes.

Here is the list of participants, without their blog links, that will come later.

1. Therese (Host)
2. Christine (Host)
3. Kim 
4. Janet
5. Maryanne
6. Lola
7. Dagi
8. Shirley
9. Alenka
10. LiliKrist
11. Amy
12. Crystie
13. Sally
14. Cynthia
15. Bobbie
16. Karin S.
17. LizE
18. Becky Pancake
19. Karin G.
20. Ana
21. Wendy
22. Mary H.
23 Jasvanti

Christine and I are so looking for to seeing what each of our participants and each other makes.

If you missed this go around, be on the look out for ATTS 6 to be announced in September for a reveal in January 2015.

Happy beading Y'all,
Therese

Monday, April 14, 2014

Shibori Ribbon Blog Hop - hosted by Tanya Goodwin

Displaying shibori ribbon badge 2.JPG

Hi Y'all,

Today is the reveal day for the Shibori Ribbon Blog Hop Challenge hosted by Tanya Goodwin of A Work In Progress blog.  Tanya was giving away five nine inch pieces of shibori ribbon for a challenge, but I missed out on the drawing, Tanya said if I had my own shibori ribbon  I could participate in the blog hop.

I have never done anything with shibori ribbon, but I have been drooling over all the beautiful designs and creations I have been seeing on Facebook and Pintrest.  I ordered some of the ribbon from AriaDesignStudio on Etsy with the full intentions of making a cuff, well that did not happen.  So I was so happy when Tanya included me in to her blog hop, because now I had to do something with the ribbon.

Well inspiration did not come easily to me for this challenge, until the other day when I was on Facebook and I saw a simple design and I thought yeah I can do something like that.  So lucky for me I had this weekend off from work, because Tanya sent out an email with the reveal date reminder and I was thinking I had until the 16th.  So I got busy with my design and here is what it turned out to be.


I cut a 3 1/2 inch square out of bead backing and covered it with the ribbon.  I cinched the ribbon in the middle and fanned the ends out.  I had the Czech glass button for a few years now and thought it would be great as the focal in my piece.  I wanted to keep it simple so other then the bezel of seed beads around the button I used 4 mm fire polished Czech beads to embellish and then size 8 silver lined clear seed beads for the brick stitch around the out side of the piece and the bail. I had a silk ribbon string that matched my piece so I used it for the neck strap.

Things I learned from using the shibori ribbon: 
1- it snags very easily 
2- don't pull it to taunt if you want the pleats to show 
3- tack it down when you get the look that you want.  
It would have also helped if I had another hand to hold the ribbon in place while I tacked it down LOL!

Thank you Tanya for allowing me to participate in the blog hop it was fun playing with my ribbon, I will be using shibori ribbon again.

Now please go by and see what the others have done with their ribbon.

Tanya   (our host)
Therese  (you are here)

Thursday, April 10, 2014

A Time To Stitch Five Sign Ups


Hi Y'all,

It is that time again for A Time To Stitch Challenge.  This is mine and Christine's fifth time bring you A Time To Stitch.  The sign ups are from today April 10th through April 17th,
Here is what we are purposing for this go around:

 You will be taking the same stitch of your own choosing and make three of the same pieces with it, just changing up the beads each time.  You will either change up the size, the color, the finish, or the shape.  

Example :  If I choose to make a peyote stitch bracelet, I will make one bracelet with size 15 seed beads, one with size 11 seed beads and one with size 8 seed beads.  OR I will make one in red, one in blue, and one in brown.  OR I will make one in red matte, one in red transparent, one on red iridescent.  OR I will make one in seed beads, one in cubes, and one in peanuts. 

The idea behind this Hop is to see how changing the bead can change the whole look of the piece, even using the same stitch.  It is fascinating how bead choices, more than stitch choices, change the piece.  Hopefully this little experiment will broaden all our repertoires!  

Sign Up today through next Thursday for this easy hop ~ work with a stitch you are comfortable with, and have a little light fun this Spring :-D  

So what do you say are you in for this super easy laid back challenge?  If so leave a comment either on my blog or Christine's, stating that you want to going in on the fun, and we will put you on the list.

Happy beading Y'all,
Therese

Monday, March 31, 2014

March's She Made She Made

Hi Y'all,

Today is the reveal for March She Made She Made with Christine.  This month Christine chose to use a clay butterfly and 4 mm Czech round bronze beads.  Christine's butter fly is from  Chinook Designs, and mine is from Marsha Neal Studio.  Thank you Christine for another great pick.

Here is what I designed.


When I think butterflies I think of flowers, so I connected my butterfly to six cute little daisies.  I used the bronze Czech beads in a Zig-Zag stitch to finish off the necklace.

Thank you for dropping by and be sure to go visit Christine's blog to see what she created this month.

Happy beading Y'all,
Therese

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

CC7A March Challenge - Contrast - Sally Russick


Hi Y'all,

Welcome to The Creative Continuum of Seven Artists March Challenge.  March is Sally Russick of The Studio Sublime blog's month and the theme that she chose is Contrast.

For those of you that are not familiar with this challenge I will recap.  Back in the latter months of 2013 Alicia Marinache of All the Pretty Things blog asked seven of her blog friends if we would like to participate in a challenge that would cover 7 months, of course we all said yes.  So we were assigned months, we picked themes for our months, and shipped out packages with all sorts of little goodies to design with.

Sally sent out various beads to each of us from the following list:


Here is what I received

I had already started my design when I remembered I did not take a picture of what I had received.

What is the definition of contrast in art?
(taken from About.com)
Definition:
(noun) - Contrast is a principle of art. When defining it, art experts refer to the arrangement of opposite elements (light vs. dark colors, rough vs. smooth textures, large vs. small shapes, etc.) in a piece so as to create visual interest, excitement and drama.
The colors white and black provide the greatest degree of contrast. Complementary colors also highly contrast with one another.
Contrasting colors are opposite each other on the color wheel, they are also known as complementary colors.


Now that you have an idea of what a contrast color is let me show you what I did with my contrasting color palette.



Juli Cannon of Studio Juls got a new cabochon mandrel and started making cabs.  I bought one and when the package came there was an extra one inside as a gift.  When I saw it I new it was perfect to go with the color palette that Sally sent to me.  I got stated on my project right away, you know when hot inspiration strikes you have to go with it before it goes cold.  I had also downloaded the Bead Me e-mag from iTunes with the Starburst Pendant tutorial that Tanya Goodwin of A Work In Progress blog created.  I kinda took one of her steps from the tutorial and used it in my piece.  I also liked the neck strap that she did with the super duo's and used that as well, thank you Tanya for also giving me inspiration.


I had several of the super duo's left so I started playing around and the above bracelet is the result.  I am in the process of writing up the tutorial for this bracelet, which is my very first tutorial.


I made a pair of matching earrings in the daisy pattern...


and with some of the remaining Czech beads.

Thank you Sally for the wonderful color palette that you sent I truly enjoyed working with it.  Also thank you Alicia for thinking up the challenge it is so much fun to create something each month with the palettes and themes that each of the CC7A participates have created.

Now please go and visit the others and see what they have created in this month's theme challenge and thank you for stopping by my blog.  The month of April is my month and the my theme is Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.

1. Monique
3. Sally
4. Therese (you are here)
5. Alicia
6. Cynthia
7. Emma


Happy beading Y'all,
Therese