Tell Your Girlfriends

The amazingly talented Rebekah Payne of Three Wings Studio had a give a way for these great beads ( and a few others) and I won these! Sweet! She has a great shop of handmade polymer clay beads to explore.

I ordered some new pottery focals from a great artist in Edmonton, Alberta. This owl is one of my favorites. I also have some cute denim and red hearts to play with. These round raku beads were just laying out on my bead table and matched perfectly. The maple leaf bronze tag from Theatoo was the perfect accoutrement to the Canadian made owl focal. Who is this destined for? Available in the store now.

I posted earlier about the amazing buttons I was to receive from my Button Swap partner Lori. See the photo above. What I didn’t tell you was how personal they are. The lovely sea-glass buttons Lori found and made into buttons herself! Here is what I made with one of those treats.

I strung on leather; pottery beads by Marsha Neal, glass nugget beads that look like alabaster, a wood Ebony round bead, and bone beads I won a while ago in Diana’s “Freaky Bead Giveaway”.

The next bracelet I used Lori’s beautiful handmade stained glass button for the clasp.

Lastly, I thought these larger buttons would be perfect on a cowl type scarf. I have the yarn from my girlfriend Melissa of Soulfibre who hand makes, from dying to spinning, the most stunning yarn. Here is a photo of one skein that I own and will be sure to turn into something wonderful with these fantastic buttons. I will post in the Winter when I make it!

Thank You Lori for being such a great button swapper! To see what Lori made with the buttons I sent hop over here. A big thank you to Cindy for hosting this funtastic swap and see everyone else here.

It was a busy Saturday today with lots to do around town. I went to a Japanese Festival and thought the paper lanterns in a tree looked pretty with the beautiful blue sky today.

Remember the Button Swap I wrote about? Well I am still waiting for my buttons in the mail but my wonderful Button Swap partner, Lori sent me a pic of the buttons I will be receiving any day now! Wow! Fab! I can’t say which I like more. I love sea-glass, I love mother-of-pearl, I love pottery-clay and isn’t the pansy so sweet??. The bazill card stock tags top it off.

Lori has really set my brain in motion.  What will I do with these amazing buttons? The reveal is this Sunday, May 13th  so come on back then and see the update.

To see what I sent Lori check out her blog here. The round clay buttons I sent are from France from Valou who has a few shops you may want to explore. Here is her Etsy link called Ceramic Poppy.

Amy over at Copper Diem Blog has re-invented the cocktail hour for us beady people!

We signed up and she randomly assigned us a cocktail. We can make it, drink it, be inspired by it ,”the ingredients, image, color, season it’s usually enjoyed, era it became famous (I’m looking at your absinthe), or whatever else to inspire any piece of jewelry.”

Then there will be a blog hop to show off all the creations on May 26, 2012. Make sure you come for a visit on that day for all the fab fun!

( I found this on Amy’s blog and I am a big Mad Men fan and she is Canadian in the show!)

So, yes there is a new bracelet in the shop but I am trying out some new photo software. It is a bit rough and I haven’t seen if I a can add text with this one. I love to add text when the collage is finished. So I will keep playing. Got some great stuff to show you but my camera card broke today. I will get a new one tomorrow and photograph some great findings!

It is that time of year again. No not Spring! The Art Bead Earring Swap!!

It is a fun swap where you send off a pair of Art Bead Earrings you made and receive an equally fantastic pair in return then blog about it on the reveal day of June 7th, 2012. Come Play! It is so much fun! Details are Here. P.S. Hurry Up! You only have until Friday ( May 4th)to join!

I just finished this bracelet for a custom order. The buyer wanted something that represents Canada for a high school graduate. The student visited Canada and loved it. The buyer wanted a graduation  gift  that would help the girl fondly remember her visit to Canada.

I just bought the focal from an artist in Edmonton Canada. I think the heart motif has symbolism of the love of the gift giver and the love of Canada. The maple leaf bronze charm is made by the one and only Lesley of Theatoo. The red clay bead is handmade by Ingrid of Potterygirl1 who lives in the area of Canada where the graduate visited. The handmade lampwork glass beads were made by an artist in Kelowna, BC named Pauline from Paulina Beads. Two vintage round beads allow the bracelet to be light and comfortable to wear and are a lovely addition to the handmade beads. Lastly, a sweet Czech glass dangle I made for a little sparkle. I hope they like it!…Update…They asked for more white so here is the approved bracelet.

I just got back from beautiful Cabo, Mexico. If you don’t know where that is, it is strait down from California to the tip of the Baja. So beautiful. A true vacation. I didn’t find any bead shops but I didn’t look too hard either. Just chilling. Here is a photo from a boat we went on in Cabo San Lucas. The other is the view from the hotel room. Loved it!