Challenges!

Well...after the Bead Soup Blog Party and the Beading Babes and others...I swore I wasn't going to do any more challenges for a while....but then I had the opportunity to join the June challenge with ZnetShows!   ZnetShows pairs you up with another beader...then they give you a selection of beads you can pick from and you pick out something for your partner and each partner receives the package of beads the other selected for them.  The rules are, you had to pick something from each category (sea glass, natural stone, pearl, base metal and chinese crystal) and the theme is "beach". The deadline is July 6 which will probably be the day I reveal!

My partner is Becky of Becky Pancake Bead Designs.  Here is what she sent me!

I love all of those beads - how cute are those baby conch beads!?  And the sweet base metal charms!  I love all my beads and I am really looking forward to getting this challenge piece (or pieces) underway.

I finally had an opportunity to COMPLETE something with the super duo twins I received from Best Beads! (Also need to give a shout out here to Prima Bead where I got the coral pearls!)  During my early morning tutorial shopping spree last week, I also picked up this pattern for Tutorial Sunflower Earrings.  I modified it a bit and am happy with the results.  This pattern worked up incredibly quickly!

I'm still working on my bracelet using the twin beads, but that should be done in a day or two ...and then I can move on to some of the other tutorials in my pile and the fun challenge! :)

TGIF

It's Friday!  And this morning I had a wild hair and went on a tutorial shopping spree.  It started at about 7:00am this morning as I scrolled down my Facebook news feed and came across Nancy Dale's post about her new tutorial, Hexagon Bangle/Rope.  Having just the night before thought to myself, I need some more tutorials...I clicked and purchased. (Don't let anyone tell you that social media marketing doesn't work...and, no, this isn't a shameless plug for the work I do in my 'real' job!)  I also am the proud owner of another Nancy Dale tutorial so it was a comfortable purchase.  So then I thought to myself - who else's tutorials have I enjoyed? That prompted me to hop over to Kristen's etsy shop and grab her Gumdrop Peaks tutorial! I picked up a few more tutorials and I can't wait to bead them up and share!

I have had the pleasure of receiving some super duo twin beads over the last couple months.  One set from The Best Beads and another set from Preciosa.  But to be honest I've been struggling with those twins!  I have attempted using the twins many times but...well...I'm starting to think I"m an 'old dog'.....

I've started and stopped and taken apart and restarted with these beads so many times!


Took this apart...didn't really know where I was going with it.....

 I took the two pieces above apart because I didn't like the way they were laying.  A little too ruffly.

 

 

 FINALLY, I stumbled upon a cute tutorial the other day - Wings Super Duo Bracelet.  The instructions are very easy to understand and it's working up nicely. 

I hope to finish this bracelet tonight and will post the results soon!  And I am very excited to work up the pieces from the tutorials that are in my inbox right now!!  

Little Beaded Box

I'm so excited!  I finally finished a little beaded box!! 

I enjoy these sweet little boxes.  This one had some challenges.  There are a couple broken beads I had to repair...the walls are a little floppy as I didn't maintain a tight enough tension...and I"m positive there is at least the tip of one beading needle inside one or more beads in this box!

But overall - I'm happy with how it turned out!  I'm definitely going to try the other shaped boxes in the book by Julia Pretl! 

If You Tweet, Tweet This!

I've been wanting to do a post for a while now on charitable or community organizations I care about.  Really, it's hard to pick just one.  But here are a few organizations I think are just great.

 I've worked with a wonderful organization, The Children's Inn, by doing a charity golf tournament each year at the end of April.  These folks do amazing work nurturing families who are facing unspeakable difficulties. Next up I want to see about getting a group together to do something for their "Thoughtful Treasures" program!   

I love the 7000 Bracelets for Hope project and have donated many bracelets to them (and hope to do many more!)


The Bead-It-Forward quilt project is also a favorite.   It's great to see so many beaders from across the world donate squares to this project!

 
Today I want to tell you about another organization and ask a small favor.

Two years ago, one of my high school classmates lost her son suddenly.   He was 12 years old and had a heart condition they were unaware of because he seemed otherwise healthy.  

Their story is so heartbreaking and frankly I can't even begin to imagine their pain. Yet it is inspiring to see the family honor Josh's memory with the work the are doing with the Josh Thibodeau Helping Hearts Foundation. 

The Josh Thibodeau Helping Hearts Foundation is dedicated to raising awareness in preventing sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in children and adolescents, and providing charitable assistance to individuals, families, and organizations.

Today would have been his 14th birthday.  His older brother has organized a movement today, to make this hashag: #happybirthdayjosh trend on Twitter, to honor Josh and to raise awareness of the Josh Thibodeau Helping Hearts Foundation.

So if you have a Twitter account - won't you please tweet #happybirthdayjosh ???

My life in pictures

I just haven't been beading as much as I WOULD LIKE!!!  Over the last few weeks, I've been basically only beading on the weekends...I picked up a new client where I need to be on site part-time (instead of working from home, like I was used to!)...and as would stand to reason my personal/beading/blogging time has taken the biggest hit....on the other hand..I'm grateful for more work...and the scenery isn't too shabby!

But now...I do struggle with my time....I've got work:

And I'm still homeschooling my son during this crazy year of transition....I decision I do NOT regret whatsoever!  I've never done anything in my life, that was so challenging, rewarding, informational, and wonderful.  I will miss my little guy when he goes back to 'regular' school next year!

 And then there's this....my growing pile of beadery I want to attack and complete!!!!!!!

 

 I've just begun working on a little beaded box.  It's so funny - because I began to learn beadweaving by creating amulet purses and little vessels, I feel like I am picking up where I left off on an old, old, old project! 

 And a few days ago I  finally completed the cellini spiral I didn't finish for the Time To Stitch challenge!  I ran out of the large bronze beads...so I replaced them with the pale pink beads....

 

...and then finally finished the piece with cream silk! 

Saturday mornings are usually my beading time...then I squeeze some time in, during another block of time during the weekend depending on what we have scheduled...but, in the next few weeks, I'm hoping to work in another night or two during the week!  

TGIF!

Happy Friday! 

I'm still working on my cellini spiral - but I think I only have a few more sessions of working on it before it's complete. 

In the meanwhile - I was also working on a necklace to go with a new shirt I picked up last week.  When I dropped the necklace on the shirt to make sure those yellows matched, I immediately thought of my good friend Kristen at My Bead Journey. 

At the beginning of Kristen's beading journey, she highlight many of her pieces that she created to go with her shirts.  I recently picked up a new client that requires me to be on site more frequently, so now I find myself racing to get jewelry together to go with my outfits! 

Without much else to report - I thought it would be a fine time for another color palette!

This is my new obsession - Salads in a Jar!  Look it up!  A bit of effort on a Sunday afternoon, gives you plenty of reward throughout the week.  They last for almost a WEEK!  Fresh and crispy!

Have a great weekend!

A Time to Stitch 3 • Reveal!

(Disclaimer - I'm sorry I didn't finish any of my pieces!!  I've been a very lame beader and blogger lately - but my schedule is just starting to settle down so I hope to get my *&^% together soon!!!!)

I love the idea of the Time to Stitch Challenge hosted by the very lovely, Therese of Therese's Treasures, and Christine of One Kiss Creations.  They are both sweet women who happen to be quite talented.  And they are the brains behind this very fun challenge!!!

This is a fun challenge to do, if yoiu have been wanting to try a new stitch, brush up on a stitch you know but haven't used in a while, or to participate in a fun hop using stitches you know well!

For this round of the challenge, I didn't have tons of time, so I only focused on the spiral stitches.  Specifically - I decided I would go for the Russian Spiral and the African Helix, since in my nearly 20 years of beading, I've never tried them!

 First up was Russian Spiral...how bad can it be right??


 
Well...apparently pretty bad!  This was my third attempt!!!!! I don't know what I wasn't 'getting' but I tried between 3-10 rounds on each try, and it was never quite coming together.....


It's quite possible, I need to be looking at a better tutorial...but I gave up!   Next up was the African Helix....this went better - but I have to be honest.....stitches that are held by threads between beads make me so uncomfortable (I'm lookin' at you too, Brick Stitch)!!  I think this could have turned out nicely but I was having some kind of weird beader anxiety about needing my thread to go through a bead....I just had to stop!  Although, here you can see a pattern was starting to form!



Finally - I went back to an old friend, Cellini Spiral.  I avoid this stitch because 'it's hard to start'....but the result is so gorgeous, I realize I should play with this stitch more often!   I'll finish this piece this week and hope to post the final result of a necklace!



Special thanks again to Therese & Christine.   Also - please check out the list of participants:

Therese Frank

Christine Altmiller

Maryanne Gross
Cynthia Machata

Bobbie Rafferty

Katherine Gale

Sally Russick

Niky

Alenka

Kim Hora

Karin Slaton

Shirley Moore

Tami Norris

Amy Severino

Alicia Marinache

Lola Surwillo

Mandy Duffy

Kristen Stevens