Bead Hoarders Blog Party - The Reveal!

All beaders have those beads that they just can't let go of, and that they just can't bring themselves to make something with. Beader's block? Fear of not creating something that lives up to the beauty of the bead? Just the dragon-like tendency to amass a collection of shiny things? Whatever it is, we all have those hoarded beads in our collections, just waiting to be pulled out and used.

Lori Anderson to the rescue! She created another one of her legendary bead swaps, but this time the only rule was to send a bead we'd hoarded, along with a story of why it's important to us.

My fabulous partner Kathy Lindemer sent me a gorgeous handmade ceramic donut by Diana Ptaszynski of Suburban Girl Studios. Kathy said she loves Suburban Girl beads because they often have a nautical feel, and the blues and greens that she uses are colors Kathy enjoys using in her jewelry. They are pretty delicious colors, aren't they? Along with the ceramic bead was a lovely length of blue satin cording and a clasp that Kathy made herself.  If you'd like to see the whole package, go here.

How did I know this was a perfect hoarded bead for me? Because it was a perfect match for some seed beads that I'd been hoarding...blue transparent green-lined lovelies that I hadn't found the right way to use, until now. They were absolutely the perfect match for the shades of green and blue on the donut.

I wanted to stay pretty minimal with my design, to focus attention on Kathy's bead. A herringbone rope with superduos, miniduos, and tiny crystals, undulating from small to large and back again, echoing the large to small decoration Diana used on the donut. 

A lariat style allows the focal bead to stay front and center, and the fringe has one, two, or three tiny crystals at the ends both to add sparkle and, again, echo the larger/smaller dimples on the donut.

But wait, there's more! I couldn't pass up using Kathy's clasp and that luscious blue cording. Again, a simple design to focus on the lovely components used - this time I used a pendant I made with seed beads and two-holed triangles. Easy peasy, just right for spring (if it ever gets here and stays here!)

Thanks for visiting, and huge thanks to Kathy for sharing such a beautiful bead with me. I hope I did it proud for you.

Now, go treat yourself to the eye candy created by others in this swap party. The full list is HERE. Enjoy!

Well, THAT Was Unexpected!

You know how you can start out thinking you're going to accomplish one thing, and the end result is something COMPLETELY different?

Like when you tell yourself you're going to have the healthy kale salad for lunch, but end up getting swept away by the temptation of a juicy burger and fries, followed by a scoop of luscious ice cream? (Or is that just me?)

Or when you run into the store for one thing and walk out with six bags of stuff? (Remind me to tell you someday about the time I ran into Target for a bottle of glue for a child's school project and came out with $200 of stuff.  And forgot the glue.)

Above is part of a selection of beads I pulled out a couple of weeks ago, intending them to be the freeform portion of a bead bezeled cabochon necklace. But when I started on the freeform, it just wasn't working.  So the cabochon is sitting on the worktable, still awaiting its mate.

And here's what the beads ended up as:

It certainly isn't freeform peyote, and the cabochon is nowhere to be seen.  But it is slinky and colorful and great fun to wear.

So sometimes unexpected is good -- and the necklace is much better for my waistline than a scoop of ice cream!

She Who Should Have Been Shared Earlier

This little darling existed in an unfinished state for a while, but she finally got herself together.  Or rather, I finally got myself together to finish her and take pictures!

When I moved in October, she traveled in her incompleteness in a UFO box. When I started getting settled in, she was the first thing I reached for to work on.  The ocean jasper cab is one of my favorites -- but then, I'm a sucker for that gemstone anyway.

The challenge I set myself on this piece was to attach the neck strap to the pendant without weaving a bail or loop.  I incorporated the edging of the pendant into the tubular herringbone of the neck strap as I wove it, and I'm very happy with the result.  (Of course, I forgot to take a picture from an angle where you can actually see what I'm talking about....) Each time I used an edging bead in the strap, I did the whole round in that kind of butterscotch color.  You can kind of see the variegation in the part of the strap that is visible, showing that every other round is where a pendant edging bead was used as an attachment.  The result is particularly nice when wearing the necklace, because the clasp can't come squirreling down to the front of the necklace, and the pendant always hangs the way it should.

The picasso glass daggers were a serendipity -- I bought them "just because", and only by chance did I put them near this piece on the worktable.  They matched so beautifully, it was meant to be.

I ought to have shared her here before, but better late than never (that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!)

Triple The Fun - A Time To Stitch Challenge Reveal

Therese and Christine have done it again! This time, a challenge to take a basic bracelet pattern and switch it up for three variations, changing base color, bead size, etc.

I took my jumping off point from one of the pieces I made for the latest Bead Soup Challenge, specifically the lower section of the neck strand of this necklace:

Essentially, it's a herringbone with twin beads, embellished on the side with Czech bricks and triangle beads. Although I doubt I invented it, it was a stitch I developed during the BSBP process, and I was really happy to have an excuse to explore it some more.

Thing is, I didn't have any more bricks (kind of a tila chopped in half) in my stash. (Note to self #1, put bricks on the beady shopping list).  So I chose to use tilas, thinking the translation would be easy.

Not so.  The size was just off enough to make it weird.  Some things I tried were way of in proportion and just flopped around like a beached fish.  Others were just ugly.  So, in the spirit of challenge, I punted (friends, this is the closest I will ever, EVER get to performing a football-related action, aside from those associated with being a rabid spectator).

Here's variation number one: herringbone center with twin beads, edged with tilas and daggers.  I love it.

Variation number two, this time with the tilas turned 90 degrees from the first bracelet, and with drops added, mainly because I didn't have enough of those fabulous red polka dot daggers to do the whole length. (Note to self #2: add sexy red polka dot daggers to beady shopping list, too).  I love this one, too, although it's a little more cha-cha flashy than the first.  It would be perfect to wear to an Alabama football game...

Variation #3 is the most buttoned down, but it's still blingy with the silver twins -- this time a herringbone with twins, tilas, and narrow daggers. While I fabricated the clasps on all three, this is the only one that I made a beaded toggle clasp for.  I wore this one at an art show today, and I can testify that it feels slinky and grand.

All three together, progressing in order of creation from bottom to top:

Thanks, Therese and Christine, for pushing my creativity once again!  Here's the list of everyone participating.

Hosts:

Therese

Christine

Participants

Kim

Maryanne

Lola

Dagi

Shirley

Alenka

LiliKrist

Amy

Crystie

Sally

Cynthia

Bobbie  (you are here)

Karin

LizE

Becky Pancake

Karin G.

Ana

Wendy

Mary H.

Jasvanti

I'm Armed With Seed Beads and A Needle -- Be Afraid...

It's time for another blog hop!  This time of year is always crazy for me at work, so committing to another deadline was not on my list of things headlined "Smart Things For Bobbie To Do Right Now If She Wants To Retain Any Semblance of Sanity".

But I couldn't resist this one.  Especially since sanity is, if we're honest, only a fond memory right now.

Christine Altmiller and Therese Frank dreamed up a fun idea -- A Time To Stitch, a challenge to create something in peyote or herringbone. 



Yippee! An opportunity for those of us who love the tiny beads to gather with likeminded people (some might call us crazy wackos who invite frustration by playing with miniscule bits o' glass...).  So I dove into the trove of seed bead tubes in my workroom, and grabbed a couple fists full to work with.

The hop is Tuesday (yes, I appreciated the gentle reminder Christine emailed yesterday.  I appreciated it more once I had recovered from my involuntary yelp of panic, but you know...).  Things are progressing pretty well, though nothing is completed yet.

Tonight's plan is to rip out and rethink an unfortunate turn things took during last night's work session.  Seriously, the design I had in my head was gorgeous.  What was at the end of the working thread looked more like the love child of a 50's horror movie nuclear fallout mutant creature and the wierdest sci-fi alien you can imagine. 

Yep, it was ugly.  But where's the fun if nothing challenges you, right?!?

Bracelet Blog Hop!

Welcome to the blog hop for 7000 Bracelets of Hope, organized by the
fantabulous Lori Anderson. Thanks for visiting!

This beautiful lapis lazuli carved flower has been living in my bead collection for years. Seriously, years.

It's just been waiting for the right project to come along. What a wonderful reason to break it out of storage!

The focal itself was so gorgeous that I didn't want to distract from it. It needed to be the star of the show. So, here's the final version, called Midnight Flowers. I imagine a beautiful night blooming flower, unfurling against a background of deep azure sky dappled with stars.




There are 112 jewelry artists participating in this hop. Here's a list of everyone who's playing along, so grab a nice beverage, a little snack, and prop your feet up to enjoy a wealth of eye candy...

1. Lori Anderson, Pretty Things
2. Jayne Capps, Mama's Got To Doodle
3. Kym Hunter, Creatively Kym
4. Mandy Duffy, Beads for Brains: 365
5. Charlene Sevier, The Bead Dreamer
6. Lisa Boucher, Lisa's Clay Happenings
7. Mary Harding, Mary Harding Jewelry
8. Barbara Lewis, Painting With Fire
9. Amy Severino, Amy's Beads
10. Jennifer Pride, Jewelry by Jennifer Pride

11. Jenny Cameron, Glass Addictions
12. Susan Ferguson, Windrock Studio
13. Mortira vanPelt, Inspirational Beading
14. Brandi Hussey, Brandi Girl
15. Jenny Vidberg, Shyme Design
16. Angela Barribou, Re: Angela Rae
17. Stefanie Teufel, Stefanie's Sammelsurium
18. Sue Hodgkinson, Hello Gorgeous
19. Jean Yates, Snap Out of it Jean, There's Beading To Be Done!
20. Nicki Keller, Nicki's Reef

21. JJ Jacobs, Coming Abstractions
22. Stacey Curry, Star Hitched Wagon
23. Carrie Tahquechi, Carrie T
24. Deci Worland, Gem Trails
25. Debbie Goering, Prairie Emporium
26. Staci Smith, Staci Louise Originals
27. Francy Inman, 8 Second Studio
28. Linda Landig, Linda's Bead Blog and Meanderings
29. Cherin Poovey, Lanyard Lady
30. Deb Price, Green Shoot Jewellery Designs


31. Suzette Bentley, Ellies Bijoux
32. Mallory Hoffman, For the Love of Beads
33. Shirley Moore, Beads and Bread
34. Kate Gardenghi, The Tropical Blonde
35. Marina Dobrynina, Savon Feutre
36. Molly Alexander, Beautifully Broken Me
37. Linda Djokic, Lutka and Co.
38. Cory Celaya, Art With Moxie
39. CJ Baushka, 4 His Glory Creations
40. Tracy Bell, Copper, Glass, and Recycled Trash

41. Sandra Richardson, Sandy's Coloring Box
42. Sandi Volpe, Sandi Volpe Designs
43. Kim Roberts, Bahama Dawn
44. Hilary Frye, FryeStyle
45. Emanda Johnson, Artemisia's Studio
46. Lisa Kavanaugh, Beading Bliss
47. Sue Kennedy, Sue Beads
48. Raquel Amaral, Raquel Amaral
49. Robyn Hawk, Daily Jewel
50. Linda Inhelder, Must-Haves Jewelry


52. Krista French, French Elegant Jewelry
53. Andrea Robinson, Madame Magpie's Shiny Things
54. John Rasmussen, Rasmussen Gems and Jewelry
55. Breana Fry, Vault 31
56. Erin Prais-Hintz, Treasures Found
57. Cyndi Lavin, Beading Arts
58. Dot Lewallen, Speedie Beadie
59. Hope Smitherman, Crafty Hope
60. Heather Pyle, Aquariart

61. Adrienne Campbell, Adrienne Designs
62. Dee Gordon, Runako Designs
63. Judy Glende, Judith B. Designs
64. Susie Hibdon, Vintage Susie & Wings
65. Tania Spivey, Moobie Grace Designs
66. Norma Agron, Norma's Clay
67. Ana Novak, Cat's Pajamas, Dog's Tuxedos
68. Johanna Rhodes, Fire Phoenix Creations
69. Raida Disbrow, Havana Beads
70. Christa Murphy, Adventures of One Beady Woman


71. Holly Westfall, Silver Rose Designs
72. Catherine Pruitt, Boo Beads
73. Deana Hager, Just Deez' Art & Life
74. Lupe Meter, Gem's PC Corner
75. Valerie Norton, Hot Fused Glass
76. Janet Bocciardi, Honey From the Bee
77. Kitty Durmaj, Perles and Life
78. Rose Noble, Lady Noble Design
79. Sally Russick, WireWorked
80. Margot Potter, The Impatient Crafter


81. KJ, KJ's Beadacious Beads
82. Lana Kinney, Something Unique by Lana
83. Melissa Meman, Melissa Meman ... Art, Life, Love
84. Karen Bien, Everyday Gypsy
85. Rebecca Anderson, Songbeads
86. Cyn Gagen, Creative Edventures
87. Niky Sayer, Silver Nik Nats
88. Deb Beechy, Beetique
89. Marian Hertzog, M's Place
90. Kerry Bogert, Kab's Creative Concepts


91. Judy Riley, Three Red Beads
92. Charlene Gray, Gray Girl Studio
93. Erin Fickert-Rowland, Elysian Fields
94. Sharon Palac, Sharon's Jewelry Garden
95. Maryse Thillens, Glass Bead Art
96. Christine Altmiller, One Kiss Creations
97. Eileen Bergen, The Artful Crafter
98. Bobbie Rafferty, Beadsong Jewelry (You are here!)
99. Rebekah Payne, Tree Wings Studio
100. Mari Aparicio, Mis Amores

101. Tracy Statler, Make Bracelets
102. Marcy Lamberson, Studio Marcy
103. Kim Stevens, Picking Poppies
104. Karyn White, Releases by Rufydoof
105. Elisabeth Auld, Beads for Busy Gals
106. Lisa Hamilton, Simply Irresistible Jewelry
107. Serena Trent, All Things Made Jewelry
108. Sharon Driscoll, Right Turn Artwerks
109. Debbie La Rue, For the Love of Beading
110. Maggie Towne, Maggie's Bead Towne


111. Cassandra Watsham, Designs by Cassandra
112. Mary Ellen Parker, BeeTree by m.e.