Big Give Away at La Bella Joya

Marcie the creator of La Bella Joya is giving away  Sherry Serafini's Sensational Bead Embroidery book.

Go on over and visit her blog and get in for a chance to when this fabulous book.  If you do not know about Sherry Serafini, she is a wonderfully talented bead embroider.  My goal one day is to do something as fabulous as one of her creations. So if you are interested in bead embroidery go visit Marcie's blog page and while you are there check out some of Marcie's wonderful works of art. 
http:/labellajoya.blogspot.com

Margie and Me Color Challenge

The reveal day has arrived, the following are my pieces:

This piece I named "Arizona Sun" because it reminds me of Arizona.  The piece is made with a stone (Jasper I think) that I got in a grab bag from a LBS.  The bezel is size 11 Toho orange and rust cylinder beads.  The next ring around the stone is 4mm Czech gold fire polished crystals which if the light is hitting it just right it shows a plum color.  The next ring is size 8 cylinder Lt. orange seed beads.  The last ring and bail are size 11 Toho rust color cylinder beads.  The pendant is strung on a Tan  18" corded necklace.

I did two pieces in this color pallet.

This piece I named "Amanda May" the pendant is based on Laina Goodman's "Compass Rose" design in Beadwork's 2011 Favorite Bead Stitches magazine. The pendant is made with a 12mm very light creamy yellow glass pearl.  The seed beads surrounding the pearl are size 11 orange Toho cylinder and size 8 cylinder Lt. tan beads. The points are 6mm brown glass pearls and the two connecting pearls are 4mm ecru. The drop at the end is a faceted dark gold glass bead and the bezel is size 11 orange Toho beads.  The necklace is made with size 6mm and 8mm brown glass pearls, size 8mm dark gold faceted glass roundels, and size 12 very light creamy yellow glass pearls, the clasp is a silver plated togle.  The necklace measures 18" and the pendant is a 3" drop.

I made a necklace for this color pallet.

This necklace's focal is a Cellini spiral made with size 11 Toho black and brown cylinder beads, size 8 blue silver lined seed beads and tan cylinder seed beads, size 6 light blue seed beads.  Two silver plated bead caps make an illusion of one bead cap on each end of the spiral. I used sizes 12 mm and 8 mm jet faceted glass beads, sizes 4mm and 6mm Czech blue fire polished crystals, and silver plated 5mm daisy spacer beads in the rest of the necklace. The clasp is a silver plated S hook and eye. This necklace measures 20" long.

Thank you Marcie for have this color challenge it was fun.  I can't wait to see what colors you come up with for June's challenge.

Happy beading Y'all
Therese

Dagger Necklace and Earrings

Well I finished the necklace and thought I would share it with you my new blogger friends.
Feel free to let me know what you think good or bad.  Constructive criticism is always a good thing.

I don't know what kind of stone the daggers are made from, but I do know that they are died.  I used 4 mm silver plated corrugated beads between sets of four stones and a silver plated pillow square between every four sets of stones.  The necklace measures 18 inches long.

The earrings I made with 22 gauge silver wire with the 4mm silver plated corrugated beads between the stone beads.  I ran out of ear wires, but will get more tomorrow.

Happy beading Y'all
Therese

More Treasures

Ok I know that I just posted new treasure just a few days ago, but when you are a beader you can never get enough treasures to work with.  I went to my LBS Highstung Beads Shoppe owned by Sherron (Sherri) Schaefer a wonderful and talented lady.  Her blog is www.beadgypsie.blogspot.com go and visit and if you live in the Montgomery, AL area go visit her shop she has all kinds of neat goodies for you to drool over oh I mean choose from, you will be glad you went.

I found these very colorful dagger beads that are going to be made into a necklace for a friend of mine, they are right up her alley. I've never worked with lentil beads so I got some in two different colors, some 4mm stone beads they are died a lavender color, last but not least some seed beads in sizes 8 and 11 one can never have enough seed beads.

I'm going to get started on the necklace for my friend tonight because it's calling to me and I have to make it.  You all know how it is when your muse is whispering in your ear you just have to listen.

Happy beading Y'all

Therese

My first wire hoop earrings

I made these earrings with a good friend's taste in mind, since they are for her birthday. ;-)

These earrings are made with the left over twisted wire I used for the Tree of Life pendant I made earlier this month.

I made these earrings using a tutorial that I downloaded from www.jewelrylesson.com by Carol Ladine Lagoski.  I think the stones in the middle are Jasper, but I'm not sure they were not labeled when I bought them, I just liked the color and they were the perfect stones to go in a necklace I was making.

Happy Creating!
Therese

New Treasure

On May 16th I placed an order with Delphine's Flower Bead Shop and I have been waiting with baited breath for the arrival of my pretties.  Well they are here and I'm so happy. I already have a design forming in my head as to what I want to make with them.  So without further ado, here is my pretty treasure from Delphine's Flower Bead Shop.

TA DA!

Since it was my first time ordering from their site I got the sample bag (top right corner) that was 5.00 but I got a coupon to take 5.00 off my next order of 10.00 or more. For being a first time customer I got to take 15% off of my first order (not including the sample bag).
3 sets of the Baby Trumpet Lucite Flowers @ 1.70 per set
1 stackable frosted Lt. orange Rose 4 pieces total cost 2.77
5 Icy green Rose leaves .85
free shipping
total order 13.92

I'm going to be off from my job that pays the bills from May 25 to May 30, so I will have the time to make the vision in my head come to life.  That is if that is what these flowers want to be, they may have a different idea in mind LOL!

A Bit More About Myself

Let me give you a brief summary of my life to this point.
I was born in 1959 the oldest of five, a child of the 60's, a teenager of the 70's, and became a full fledged adult in the 80's.  I met and married a man and had a beautiful baby boy in 1983.  In 1994 I started my current occupation as a Police Communications Officer, but back then I was known as a Radio Operator.  In 2000 my marriage ended, thus starting a new chapter in my life.  I was on my own, scary, but I was up for it.  In 2001 my Son graduated from high school, went to college, and is now gainfully employed and a home owner, I'm so proud of him.  In 2003 I bought my first house, that I'm still living in today.  In 2010 I met a wonderful man that I believe is going to be around for a while.  Well there you have it that is my life in a nut shell so far.

My Craftiness
For as long as I can remember I have had a fascination with making things.  As a young child I would gather up the material scraps from a dress or a top that my Mom would be making and make my doll clothes.  First by just tying the scraps around the doll, but when I got a little older my Mom let me use a needle and thread. I would also take boxes and make houses for my dolls and other found objects for the furniture.
When I was in school I loved art and music(not a surprise, right). I could not wait to get my hands on some paper, paint, crayons, glue and scissors.  The first necklace I made was made with painted macaroni, painted because back in the mid 60's the colorful pasta of today was not available.
In 1968 I became a Brownie, I loved being a Girl Scout.  I was a Girl Scout until I was a Senior Scout at the age of fifteen.  Being a Girl Scout just opened up my artistic talents even more.
When I was twelve I spent the summer in PA with my Grandparents.  That was the summer I learned how to crochet and I did not learn a simple stitch like the Granny Square, Oh no not me!  I want to make an old fashion lady's under garment with a crocheted yoke.  The yoke had an oak leaf pattern in it using the double and triple crochet stitch.  The pattern also called for size 1 crochet thread and size 0 crochet hook.  I worked on it everyday, but sad to say I never finished it and now it is long lost.
When I was sixteen boys took over my interests and it was not until I was pregnant with my son that I started crafting again, and I have been doing some form of craft ever since.
My love for jewelry making started in 2005, I'm now straight on the time, because I looked back through my magazines and the first beading magazine was purchased in Jan. 2005 Simply Beads which is no longer in publication.  It was in that first magazine that I saw a necklace made with bright colorful glass beads and I knew I had to make it.  So I went about looking for those beads and found them online at Fire Mountain Gems.  I love this site I have always been able to fine just about everything I'm looking for at reasonable prices.  When my treasure arrived I was as excited as a child in a candy store.  I looked at, touched, and played with my new treasure, then I got the magazine out and sat down and put the necklace together.  It turned out great and I gave it to my Sister for her birthday.  That magazine and necklace set me on the path that has led me to where I'm at today on my adventure.  I'm always amazed and thrilled when someone purchases one of my pieces.  I hope that feeling never goes away.

My Adventure

Adventure:  An unusual experience or course of events marked by excitement and suspense.

I did not realize that there is a whole wide world of jewelry making out there, yes I read the magazines and not just looked at the pictures.  It was not until I started participating in the forums on Beading Daily that I discovered I was only standing on the shore with my toes in the water.  I have walked off of the shore and into the water and started my true adventure in the world of jewelry making.

There are so many creative and talented people that visit the forums on Beading Daily.  By reading the forums I have indirectly learned a lot from these talented people.  I have also been a help to those that are just starting the journey in the world of jewelry making and are standing at the shore's edge getting there feet wet and soon they will also be knee deep in their own adventure with jewelry making.

Because of the forums on Beading Daily I have started this wonderful blog, something that I'm still learning how to navigate. I started my blog because I wanted to participate in a color challenge by Marcie with La Bella Joya.  Marcie has some very beautiful items in her Etsy shop and when I get some extra money I'm going shopping and not in just her shop, but in several other's shops that I have visited and ooh and awed at their beautiful creations.  Okay let me get back on track, I can not wait till I can post my creations for the Margie and Me Challenge I'm so looking forward to what others and Marcie have done.
I also entered another challenge this month a blog hop started by Jamberrysong's Creations the inspiration is a song titled Mystery by the Indigo Girls, looking forward to the end of the month reveal on this one as well.
Oh and yes last but not least my own personal challenge the Cellini stitch reveal.

I'm looking for my adventure to keep on going with excitement and suspense for a very long time.

Margie and Me Color Challenge

I have completed my pieces for the Margie and Me Color Challenge and I think that they turned out pretty nice.  I am looking forward to reveal day so I can see what other people came up with.
My work hours have been crazy lately so I did not think that I would get through with my pieces this early, but I managed to get them done.

My next project is to make a chain for my Tree of Life pendant.  I'm going to make a herringbone chain just need to pick out the colors.

Tree of Life pendant

I took a break from the Cellini spiral to make a Tree of Life pendant.  I have always wanted to make one since the first time I saw one a couple of years ago.  Lately I have been picking up wire in different gauges in silver and copper, because I want to start learning to make wired jewelry.  So when I was looking at wire tutorials I kept seeing The Tree of Life and so I thought about how I could make one, and sat down and made one.  It looks more like a peace sign than a tree, but I think it is pretty good for my first try.

I took one piece of 20 gauge copper and one 20 gauge silver and twisted them together for the ring. I formed the ring around a bottle. To make the bail I wrapped the wire around a dowel and wrapped a piece of 26 gauge copper wire around it to hold it together then twisted the ends around the ring.  I cut three 41/2 inches of 26 gauge copper and three 41/2 inches of 26 gauge silver wire for the tree.  The leave on the tree are Citrine and Carnelian chips.  Now I think I will bead a Herringbone rope to hang the pendant on, but first I need to finish my Cellini spiral project.

Cellini Spiral

Well I think I finally got a hang on this Cellini Spiral stitch.  I started it three times and the third time was the charm.  I found two good hints first hint was to use a tube to get started on that way it is easier to see which bead to make the next stitch in, second hint is the color your needle exited from is the color your next stitch will be.

If you are following the Margie and Me color challenge you will notice the colors I chose for the Cellini Spiral match one of Marcie's color pallets.  Saying that these are all the pictures I will post of my progress, because I do not want to give away my plans for the finished work. Well back to stitching I do not have that much time before I need to be at work.  I hate to leave it when I finally got in the groove.

The Flimp Festable in the Park

In Montgomery, Al the Museum of Fine Arts puts on the Flimp Festable in the Park where they invite the local Junior and High school students to compete in a chalk drawing contest.  My neice goes to a BTW Magnet High school and she participated along with several other of her school mates in this years contest that was held May 6th & 7th this year.  Here are some of my favorites from the contest.

Above is my neice's entry, she and two others worked on this Mermaid.  Her school's theme had to do with underwater.

Another one from BTW school.

The title of this one is "An Octopus's Garden" from BTW students.  This one won a place in the contest.

Cats looking at a painting of Cats.

It's amazing that these were done on the pavement with chalk.

Can you guess who this is?  That's right John Lennon.   These drawing just blew me away, there are a lot of talented children in this city.  Great job!!!

Bead colors picked out and ready to start beading

Well I have picked out the bead colors and got a plan in my mind with a rough draft on paper for the Margie and Me color challenge.  I'm so excited this is the first challenge of any kind (other than my own personal challenges) that I have participated in.
I have also picked out the bead colors for my Cellini Spiral stitch for the month of May.  I will be posting my progress with the Cellini Spiral as I go.

I hope that everyone had a pleasant Mother's Day.  Mine was good, after I got off from work at 2pm I went to my Brother's Mother-in-law's place and had an early dinner and then we went to the park to see the chalk drawings from the past weekend.   My niece participated in the art festable. I took pictures that I plan to post when I get my cord back for my camera.
When we got back from the park my Mom was back from my sister's and we all visited for a while.  It turned out to be a very nice day.

New Stitch A Month Personal Challenge

As I stated in my first post I am going to challenge myself to learn a new stitch each month (or a new variations on a stitch) for twelve months. 
Well I have already taught myself a new stitch last month so, I will start out with April and the Flat Spiral Stitch. 

I first saw this stitch when I started viewing the forums on Beading Daily.  I thought to myself, Wow, I really like the way it looks and wanted to learn how to do that stitch.  I went to YouTube and searched for the flat spiral stitch and found a very easy tutorial to follow. I set about learning the stitch.  Although it looks difficult it is very easy and I had it down pat in thirty minutes. I have made several bracelets using this stitch.
The pictured bracelet is 71/2" made with 6 mm jet black faceted glass bead, 4mm aquamarine crystals and size 11 rainbow green seed beads. The clasp is a silver plated toggle.

The month of May will be Cellini Spiral.  This is one of the stitches that I have gotten so frustrated with that I put it down and don't come back to it for a while, but I know that I will be triumphant this time.

Slow Day

Well I have been at work since 5:40 am today(it is now 11:10 am) and it is sooooo slow today there's not anything going on, so it is giving me plenty of time to think about what I want to put on my blog page.  I have made up my mind that I am going to give myself a challenge.  Here is what I am going to challenge myself with, learning a new bead weaving stich per month for the next 12 months.  I will use the new stich I have learned by making a bracelet.
I plan to post pictures and talk about the frustrations and joys I will be experiencing along the learning process.  I am excited there are so many stiches out there I have not tried and some that I have tried but have gotten so frustrated that I put it down and did not go back to. So in the case of the ones I have tried and did not give it the chance I should have, I will give them a second chance, and I will be triumphant.

Before I get started on my personal challenge, I am making a peice to enter into The Margie and Me: Oil on Canvas collor challenge, by Marcie (La Bella Joya).  I have already started and will reveal my peice on May 28th.