Thursday, June 30, 2011

Beading at the Show

Last week we had a show at the Flatwater Music Festival in Hastings.  I try to find beading I can do while I sit at the shows (in between waiting on customers) and here is what I made on Saturday.
bottle cap source
I have had these bottle cap beads for awhile.  I bought the tiny ones a couple years ago at one bead show, and the large one this year at another bead show.  Saturday, I finally put the set together.  I designed the pendant in my "swap-it" style, which allows ease in swapping out the cords or chain you hang it from by using a lobster claw clasp as the "bail".  I used lots of Chinese crystals and a large hole "Pandora" style crystal to add to the sparkle factor.  I love designing pendants in this style because they offer such a wide variety of design potential and they are quick to make.  The earrings also feature plenty of bling!
This set is mine, all mine!  It started with the earrings.  I made them and they got separated from the pile of jewelry I was carding up at the time.  When I found them, they happened to go with what I had on, so they are now mine.  The earrings asked me (yes, my beads talk to me, don't yours?) to make them some friends, so I made a "swap-it" pendant and a fun charm bracelet to make the earrings happy.  The bracelet uses some gorgeous large hole Caribbean Blue beads that give the bracelet a bright pop of color.  The lovely polymer swirl beads can be found here.  Lisa makes gorgeous beads and they are fun and lightweight. 

I have been teaching myself wire crochet.  I watched some videos online and have done a lot of experimentation, and here are the pictures of some things I have made. The first bracelet I made Saturday, using a mixed gemstone bead strand and 26g non-tarnish silver Parawire.  Similarly, I used red, black, and silver wire, with Chinese crystals in red, black, and silver for my "Fan Favorite" bracelet.  The pearl necklace was the second piece I made when I started this project.  I used a mix of bright, Spring colored freshwater pearls and the  non tarnish silver wire.  I LOVE that piece!  My favorite colors!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Fun Finds on Etsy

 I haven't done an Etsy showcase lately so I thought I would share some of the fun items that caught my eye when I was surfing through the Etsy wonderland!  I found that not only do the items appeal to me, but some have fun descriptions or the shop has a quirky story too.
This bear brooch is SO cute!  He reminds me a bit of Winnie the Pooh, but how can you not love a bear that loves BLING!
Warm Yellow Bear with crystals in paw brooch by ememem 
 I totally want this set of connectors, dangles, and the large cab from Earthenwood studios!  The set would be so fun to use in bead embroidery!
Filigree Flight Set by Earthenwood Studios
Pow Comic fascinator by janinebasil
 Doesn't this look like it should be on Wonder Woman, Katie Perry, or Lady Gaga?  How fun and empowering!

Morning Glory earrings by livilubaby
 These earrings look like pretty flowers or a fun, ruffled skirt that makes you want to twirl just to see it move!
Lime Tone Mini Skull Brooch by themonsterofmyheart
This fun brooch brings to mind the gloomy, but interesting Tim Burton movies.  Mina is a big fan of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and this reminds me of Jack Skellington a bit, though he wasn't this lovely shade of lime green!
The Monster of My Heart shop has a fun profile description, too!

"I am an old witch and I live in a small lost hut in the dark forest. At my home, made of wooden and nails, I manufacture for you terrible creatures with my own hands. My monsters you are waiting for you..."
50s Beat jewelry kit by 1Beadweaver 
I am a big fan of Kathryn Bowman's beaded beads.  They are so intricate and pretty!  This is one of her gorgeous kits and she has lots of others in her store.
Flower Power Focal from Beadygirl Beads

I love Tera's Flower Power bead so much I ordered one for myself with lime green bumpies on its side!

Sherlock the Squirrel ornament by RedMarionette
Our fascination with squirrels makes me want Sherlock, just to be a quirky running joke in our house!  Isn't he the cutest?!
Here is the description for Sherlock:
"This is Sherlock and he is a squirrel.
Sherlock loves cereal. Captain Crunch is his favorite. He picks out the crunch berries to eat
separately and groups them by color. He always eats the red ones first.
Keep him away from Raisin bran, the lack of sorting ruins his morning."

Hope you enjoyed my finds and hope you have time to browse for your own, too!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Suki and the Fireflies

Last night after Chris mowed the grass, he caught a jar of fireflies and brought it in for his "invalid" daughter to enjoy.  However, Suki had more fun with the jar than Mina did!




As they crawled around in the jar, the made clicking sounds and then with their flashing lights Suki was enthralled!  Did you know that west of the Rockies there are no fireflies?  I didn't know that until several years ago when my brother, Robin who lives in California, visited.  His family had never seen them before, and it never occurred to me that fireflies were not found everywhere!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Flatwater Music Festival pictures

We have been doing shows at Prairie Loft Outdoor Education Center for three years now.  It is our favorite place to do shows.  The grounds are peaceful and we are set up in a rustic old barn with other art vendors.  This is our usual set up, with a table and Chris's torching table set up along the main pathway through the barn and another table along the side by the side entrance to the barn.
The Flatwater Music Festival is fun because we get to listen to a wide variety of music during the two days of the show.  Jazz, Bluegrass, and even humorous music thrown in.  They do a great job of showcasing young, local musicians in the afternoon on Saturday, right by our booth setup!  Can't ask for a better seat for listening.

An unexpected event happened during the show on Saturday.  Mina stepped on an old cut off pipe that was embedded in the concrete by our table (without her shoes on) and got to visit the emergency room for stitches.
Now she gets to skip swimming and wear this lovely sock to cover her bandages for 10 days,
and her biggest worry, not that she would have to go to the emergency room or that she would have to have stitches, but that they would have to give her a tetanus shot in her behind.   Chris took her in and was laughing at her excitement, he said if she could have watched them stitch her up, she would have!  Mina has loved going to the doctor, dentist, and hospital all of her life.  She has known that she wanted to be a doctor as long as she has known what a doctor is.  Recently, Mina has switched medical professions, deciding that she would rather be a pediatric nurse instead of a doctor, because she didn't really want to go to school that long.  We'll see, I have a feeling she may wander back to the doctor idea yet.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Flatwater Festival Today and Tomorrow

We will be vendors at the Flatwater Music Festival Today and Tomorrow!  Stop out for some awesome music, art, food, wine tasting, and family activities!  Here's the link for more info:
Flatwater Music Festival at Prairie Loft in Hastings, NE

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Thoughts for the Day


When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  (perfectly iced and yummy on a hot summer day!)
If life gives you melons, you maybe dyslexic.  (that makes me giggle every time I read it)

Happy Thursday!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Ugh...

Blogger is not wanting to load my pictures this morning, will try again later.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

12 Hours of Me Time

Antique Brass Sew Charming Bracelet

Chris's Box Chain Chainmaille bracelet

Sticks and Stones Bracelet

Fan Favorite crocheted wire bracelet

Poe's Raven Necklace pendant close up

Poe's Raven Necklace full view

Wired Earth Tones (pendant bead by Lewis Wilson)

Purplicious charm bracelet

Green Lace bracelet
Last Thursday, I took the day off from my jobs to play in my beads.  Technically, I was making last minute additions to our inventory, but it was SO MUCH FUN!  I am so proud of the design on the Poe's Raven necklace (domino beads made by Jen Martin), I love how it came together.  Also, the Wired Earth Tone's is really lovely, I bought the Lewis Wilson bead when I was in Tucson.  The Purplicious beads and the Green Lace beads came from Julie's and they are GORGEOUS!  The Fan Favorite bracelet is in colors popular to this State and I am teaching myself to crochet wire!  We had a class in chainmaille a couple weeks ago at our monthly Seed Beading Group meeting.  Mine is in black, orange, and lime green for Halloween time, and Chris went with the mixed metals for his.  He had leftover rings and made a pair of box chain earrings too, but they were absent on picture day!  WHAT do you think of the new designs?

Monday, June 20, 2011

Pictures from Cottonwood Festival

 We had a wonderfully successful show at the Cottonwood Festival last weekend!  Thanks to all who came out looking for us and stopped by to chat or shop!  Met some new people and Mina got to hang out with her best friend, Lexi.  Chris's Dad Keith spent some time with us on Saturday and we all got our summer "tattoos", henna from The Garden of Ink, owned by Megan Stoner.  She does a terrific job and it is fun to get them in the summer when shorts and capris show off your bare legs. 
Here are some photos from the show.
Chris and his Dad

Mina's henna tattoo

Chris's henna tattoo

Chris and Mina sharing the torching demos

Chris helping Mina shape a marble

Chris's bead table

Mina and Lexi, after visiting the face painting booth, the gal did an awesome job!

My jewelry

 For some reason, my tattoo was deleted from the camera and I will have Chris re-shoot it tonight.
I spent 12 hours making jewelry on Thursday IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!
So those pictures will be coming tomorrow, I hope. Made some very pretty pieces, though not one of them sold at the show!  Just never can guess what people will want!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Off to Bead

Well, I took the day off from my part-time job and it is my day off from my full-time job, so I can spend the day at my jewelry table making last minute items for Cottonwood Festival tomorrow and Saturday.  I have a list of what I want to finish before the show, so I better get busy before the computer sucks me in and the day vanishes finding me sitting here.  Here is the show info again, and I will see you back here on Monday!  Have a great weekend, and if you are in our area, stop by and see us at the show!
Festival Website

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Suncatchers and New Jewelry Designs



As promised, my new suncatcher designs.  Chris and I have been doing more collaborative pieces.  People tease me that I have a bead maker and don't use his beads in my jewelry.  The response to that is most of his beads sell themselves and I do my own thing.  It is fun to work together on designs though.  Wish the pictures weren't so dark and that you had sun sparkling through those huge crystals on the bottom of each suncatcher!

In other news, new jewelry is being produced at an amazing rate!  We have a month of back to back shows, so I am a crazy jewelry making woman!  Chris has even gotten into the act, working up some designs to sell and some designs for himself.  We drafted our beautiful daughter, Mina, as our jewelry model!

lampwork and leather
 Chris's lampwork, leather flowers with crystals and a variety of beads as the centers, and matte copper/brass chain/findings.  Really LOVE this, expect to see more like it!
 
turquoise do dangler
 When I started making these designs, I called them Swap-its as they are built on a lobster claw clasp that can attach to whatever chain works with your outfit.  Chris called them "do-danglers", which seems to have caught on more that the Swap-it name.  This "do-dangler" features Chris's lampwork and I made a pair of earrings to match (and use up extra beads).
Chris's new ankle bracelet with African trade beads and antique brass bells.
jelly beads bracelet (candy jade double strand bracelet, don't they look like jelly beans!)

sticks and silver bracelet
 These were some turquoise sticks brought back from Tucson.  Chris loved them on sight and he made this bracelet with simple sterling silver spacers between them.

picasso's turquoise (picasso jasper, sterling, and turquoise)
jelly bead earrings

gunmetal tweet (Chris's lampwork birdies, Lucite flowers and galvanized Lucite leaves from the Hole Bead Shop)
summer skies (chris's lampwork and Bali sterling silver beads)

flame on (Chris's coral spike bracelet)
Hope you enjoyed the beads, jewelry, and suncatchers!  I am sure we will have more to show you tomorrow!

Lori Anderson, Bead Soup Queen, is hosting a HUGE bead giveaway of the lovely purchases made at Bead and Button last week!  Be sure to stop over and sign up!

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