Thursday, February 28, 2008

Fell from the face of the Earth...

No, I haven't. Just have had the stomach flu all week. UGH! Still afraid to eat! Aside from my intestinal issues, Mina had a fabulous band concert on Tuesday night (which I missed) where she got to play with the 6th, 7th, & 8th graders. They sounded awesome even on the video camera! Beading hasn't really happened this week because I was asleep most of it! Last night Chris, Mina, and I tied bead sets together getting ready for our Kearney show. So I will try to get back in the swing of the crazed life I normally lead, and have pictures to show you soon!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Wow Pictures Twice In One Week!

These are pins I made last night. Cool huh?! I really love the inspiration these felt pieces have brought to me this week. They are both seed beaded and the believe is also a bead, some I had picked up on clearance at Joann fabrics.
These were made late last night. The green earrings are dichroic from Paula Radke which I purchased from Glass Garden last October at the Lincoln Bead Bazaar. The others are from my felt stash received this week.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Pics as Promised

Here are the two pendants and the earrings using the felted ball beads I got yesterday. I really love the green one. I used tiny buttons (actually I think they are for scrapbooking) and stitched them on with coral size 15 seed beads. The purple pendant has teal beads topped with tiny 2mm Swarovski rose crystals. They are actual crystals in seed bead size!

Here are my "MayDay" basket earrings. The design still needs some work, but aren't they cute?



New Inspiration

Has it really been a week since I last "spoke" to you? Time certainly does get away from you! I have some new stuff and will get up the pics for you asap. Yesterday, I received a package of felted beads from the website artgirlz.com. Very fun and funky the artgirlz are. They have a variety of felted supplies, charms, scrapbooking supplies, and rubber stamps. Months ago, Jodie Marshall had a felted bead she had seed beaded and sequined. So Cool! Well, in the months that have followed I bought wool to make my own beads (but haven't yet) and then last week in my Beading Daily email, they talked about supplies they saw at the major bead show they had gone to and the artgirlz stuff was listed in the article. So, always on the hunt for fun and funky beads and supplies, I went to the website, and ORDERED! I can't wait to get home and make some more! I made a pair of earrings, two pendants, and started on a pin. The other thing I have been working on is a pair of "MayDay" basket earrings. They have tiny Swarovski margaritas in them and even butterflies! Still have some issues with the design, so it may take a bit more tinkering. Pictures SOON!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

New Items

Here are some pictures of items I made last week, and the bracelet we donated to the Hastings Museum silent auction (Saturday night).
This necklace has a large shell pendant and the "jelly bean" colored beads are candy jade.
These fun earrings use zilli beads (polymer clay handmade) and silver jump rings.

These are "Chris" beads. He had made them on a snow day home with Mina, and I happened to get a beading magazine that had the idea in it for earrings similar to these. What a fun combination!
This necklace has a large mosaiced seashell bead as the focal, and then is surrounded with Swarovski crystal pearls, sterling silver, and blue glass. I think it is very pretty, and nice for spring!
And drum roll please...this is the beautiful bracelet Chris made for the Valentine Silent Auction at the museum. He made the lampwork and then surrounded them with small pink Swarovski pearls and sterling Bali beads. It is so pretty!






Friday, February 8, 2008

Yeah Sunshine!

Don't you just feel better when the sun is bright first thing in the morning? I certainly do, especially on these long grey winter days! It is a beautiful morning here, sunny, blue sky, birds singing~surely spring can't be far off! Yesterday, in the midst of all of our errand running, we dropped off our beautiful lampwork, small pink Swarovski pearls, and Bali silver that is our donation to the Valentine Event silent auction. So pretty and romantic! Chris used a violet blue colored glass (called halong bay for you bead makers) with light pink accents and then with the pale pink pearls, it was just gorgeous. For you Nebraska Democrats out there, there is going to be a first this weekend~the Presidential Caucus! We are planning on going to the one in Hastings at the fairgrounds, Saturday evening at 5:30. It has always been important to me to exercise my voting rights (if you don't use them you could lose them!), and Chris feels the same way. This has rubbed off on Mina, and when we listen to the news on NPR, we get in to discussions with her about politics and our views, and other things that are in the news. Also, her language arts teacher makes them do a current event worksheet each week, where they take a news story and break out the who, what, why, how, and why is it important. I really like that~it makes them pay attention to things they normally wouldn't. So if you have a chance get involved with the election, no matter what party you're with.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Bee or Mosquito?

Two weeks ago, while I was in Grand Island, I found a desk calendar called "Wild Words from Wild Women". I thought it would be an excellent source for quotes for the blog. I put one on the Favorite Quotes column for today. It and the book I am reading "Mine Until Midnight" by Lisa Kleypas got me thinking about romance. I love romance novels especially the Victorian era ones. I watched "Miss Austen Regrets" last night on Masterpiece Theater on PBS. They are running a series highlighting Jane Austen's novels. So far I have seen Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, and Mansfield Park. I have actually seen all the books on dvd through Netflix, but I enjoy watching the different versions of the same story to see a different perspective. Next Sunday and for the two Sundays following they will be showing the "Pride and Prejudice" that stars Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy and Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet. This is one of my all time favorite movies. It origonally ran as a British miniseries, and I saw it on either A & E or PBS, and then bought the 5 hour series for myself because I loved it so much. For those of you who haven't read Jane Austen, the thing I find so amazing is that her books are so romantic, but it is all very proper and barely any alone time or touching between the couples occur. Yet the romance and love is there, and the couples are able to convey that without stripping naked and hopping into bed with each other. I guess that is why I love the stories so much, love comes through and wins in the end. Who doesn't love a happily ever after ending?

Friday, February 1, 2008

Pay It Forward

There are a great deal of places talking about "spreading the love", or "paying it forward", and I even saw yesterday "Pray It Forward". The concept is certainly not a new one, just new "tag" phrases to promote it. I am a big believer in the pay it forward concept. Several years ago I read the book "5 People You Meet In Heaven" by Mitch Albom, and when I picked it up I thought it would be about the 5 people who were the most important in your life that you got to see again in heaven. I was wrong. It was about five people you briefly touch in life, but how those tiny moments can change someone else's life forever. I definitely recommend the book, easy read and wonderfully moving story. Anyway, that is the topic I want to discuss today. I volunteer for many things, helping at school, church, and with Girl Scouts. People know that if they ask me to help, I will more often than not help. I think about growing up poor, and how the small things people did to help us, made a difference in my life. Also, I had 3 wonderful teachers in my life, that went out of their way to make me feel special when I so often felt invisible or bad about things happening in my life at the time. In college, I wrote to those teachers to thank them for the difference they made in my life. Our friend Carla (from beads and botanicals) blogged this week about her support of the Hastings Museum, and the Border Collie rescue society. I really am amazed at all the other things she donates too also, cancer benefits, Girl Scouts, post prom parties, etc. So yesterday, I was moved to also contact the Hastings Museum to donate to the silent auction that helps support programs and displays at the Museum. Mina absolutely loves to go to the museum, and I love the gift shop and the movie theater, and that they work so hard to bring in the traveling exhibits to bring new info and ideas to families and kids. It is a wonderful resource and it was wonderful to get an email back from the museum, telling us they had visited our blog and love our stuff, and we could donate anything we wanted. What a wonderful compliment! So what can you support today? You never know what difference you might make in someone else's world.

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