Blog Giveaways are Cool

I've been checking out blogs forever, it seems, but hadn't been an active follower until just recently when I started this blog. Now I actively follow many blogs, because the world wide web is full of amazingly talented and creative people. One of my favorite blogs has got to be Inspirational Beading by Mortira. She posts alot about what inspires her and then shows her resulting beadwork. She also has alot of other info such as beading tutorials. So anyhow, she recently had a blog giveaway, and the color of the beads was so incredibly vivid, I just had to enter. This was the 1st blog giveaway I had ever entered, so imagine how special I felt when I won the gorgeous beads from one of my favorite beaders!! Here's a pic of the beads. They are 8mm round cobalt vintage lucite beads. The color is even more amazing in person.

Thank you Mortira for your generosity and your inspiration. You can check out her amazing beadwork and blog at http://inspirationalbeading.blogspot.com/ .

Since then, I have been paying more attention to giveaways. I plan on having one soon, too. I think it will be good karma, seeing as I just won one. I just need to find a decent prize. In the meantime, check out this giveaway on the talented Andrew Thornton's site. Auntie's Beads is giving away some Chinese glass beads. Here is the link http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/2010/09/thursday-giveaway.html .

So now its time for my latest beadwork. Another flat spiral bracelet. This time I got to play with a little color.

Remember the Pantone fall colors I posted a while back? Well, this bracelet comes pretty close to matching 3 colors on the chart. I used  some two toned crystal and rose Czech glass beads which resemble living coral from the chart and then I used  blue lined purple seed beads which resemble the lagoon and purple orchard from the chart. I think the colors look nice together, but to me it doesn't look very fall-like. What do you think?

Oh well, fall has just begun, and I am still studying color, so sooner or later I guess I will come up with some Autumn colored beadwork. As usual, I hope you'll stay tuned for more.

TTYL and make it a good night,

Debbie

A Surprising But Welcome Request

In my last post, I stated how excited I was to be studying color, playing with bead soup, and thinking about fall colors. Well, since then, I got and read the book The Beader's Guide to Color by Margie Deeb. Then I had started reading Color by Betty Edwards: A Course in Mastering the Art of Mixing Colors. I couldn't wait to start beading fall colored jewelry. But then all of that got put on hold, because I got an urgent request from the most unlikely of all people. So I immediately dropped everything else and completed this project for my new biggest fan. So first I'll show you the pic, and then I'll tell you why this piece is now my favorite and why I am so proud of it.

Ok, so the pic is not all that great, but it is a heavily fringed bib-style necklace. The colors are a gunmetal black and a silvery blue. This necklace is definitely meant to be noticed and makes quite a statement. Either you are going to love it or hate it, no in between. Well I happen to love it. And so does the thirteen year old named Miss Thang Tammy. 

Now, there is a story with a moral about this necklace. I started beading this at least a year and a half ago. It was a project in Bead & Button Magazine. At first I wasn't too sure about it, but then fell in love with the colors which have to be seen in person to be appreciated. I even named it, "Ebony & Icicles" You know, like the song Ebony & Ivory.  Any how, Tammy was a bit younger then and really didn't like my beadwork at all, especially this piece. She just loved to tell me how my stuff was too "out there" for normal people. That was her opinion, and she was entitled to it. So right after she told me that, I accidentally spilled coffee all over it. Not just any coffee, but coffee with extra,extra,extra sugar in it. I carefully cleaned it up with hot water and dish suds, but it felt a little weird afterwards, so I just threw it into a box and thought to myself, well maybe Tammy's right. It is a little out there. I was about halfway through the fringe, and figured I'd rip it apart and use the beads for something else. 

So, moving on with the story, the necklace got put in a box and thrown into a bigger box in the closet where it sat, unthought about for over a year and a half. Then all of a sudden, last week, Tammy comes up to me with the necklace in her hands, and says,  "You never bead anything for me. You have to finish this necklace, and I want it for my Bday" "Please?". So I checked it out and it no longer felt sticky. I immediately sat down and started working on it, and fell back in love with it. Tammy now wears it alot and tells everyone it was made  just for her by her mother who owns Abracadebra Designs, where you can get the coolest beaded jewelry!

Now you know why this is my favorite piece and why I am so proud of it. As to the moral of the story......
Pouring coffee on your beadwork makes it look nicer. No, just kidding. The moral is that if you are unsure of your beadwork, set it aside for a while. Maybe when you pick it up again, you will see it differently.

TTYL and make it a good night.
Debbie

It's All about the Colors

"Colour is my day-long obsession, joy and torment." Claude Monet

"The best color in the whole world, is the one that looks good, on you!" Coco Chanel

As I posted last week, I was getting pretty tired of beading with pink beads, so this week I decided to bead up something in my favorite colors. By favorite colors, I mean the colors that look the best on me. So here is a pic of my latest project.

Now that I am done with pink beads and have used my favorite color combo of black and red, I have to start doing fall colored stuff for my Zibbet shop. As I was going through my bead stash, I noticed that it is getting quite low. I am not totally out of  beads, but what I have is mostly beads leftover from past projects. Little bits of many different kinds of beads, but not a whole lot of any one type or color of bead. So instead of  buying more beads,  I ordered the book Beaded Colorways by Beverly Ash Gilbert. She makes amazing freeform beaded jewelry using bead soups. Bead soup is when you mix a whole pile of color-related seed beads, gemstones, crystal, etc together creating colors and textures of great depth. I plan on making lots of bead soups to use up all my left over beads. The book comes with two color wheels and templates to use with them to explore many different color schemes. The book has gotten me very excited about color.

So in closing, here is the new fall 2010 color guide for women from Pantone.  Pantone is a world wide authority on color across several different industries including fashion and interior design.

I hope you find these colors as inspiring as I do.
TTYL and make it a good day,
Debbie

All Pinked Out

OK, so I finally remembered to purchase the beads I needed to finish the project I told you about in my last post. Remember, the project that I was really excited about? Well, I did whip right through the project and  I did thoroughly enjoying beading it. I kept forgetting to stop at the Bead store though, to pick up the Swarovski crystals I needed to complete the project! The bead store is between my work and my house, and every morning I would tell myself that I would have to remember to stop at the bead store on my way home. Every night, though when I would sit down to watch tv and bead I would kick myself for forgetting. I guess that's what work does to one's mind :) Anyhow, without further ado, here is my latest project:

The pattern is from Christina at Good Quill Hunting. She is very gracious to let me use it. If you want to see some major beaded eye candy, you need to check out her work at http://goodquillhunting.wordpress.com/ .

These earrings were done in the second stitch I ever learned, which is brick stitch. I hadn't done any brick stitch in a while. When I first learned it, I must have done about 20 pairs of fringed brick stitch earrings in a row! No wonder why I haven't done it in a while, I guess I just got sick of it.  Anyhow, the earrings are beaded with galvanized purple and light pink delicas. At the bottoms and tops are a 4mm purple Swarovski crystal bicone bead.

OK so, as the post title says, I am all pinked out, so while I was waiting on my purple Swarovskis, I beaded up a fall themed piece. No pink involved. Here it is:

I had seen some necklaces like this for sale at the Brimfield Antique Show & Flea Market, and I thought to myself,  "Hey, I can do that" so I had the Donut and the chips in my bead stash, and filed the thought away for later. So while I was waiting on my Swaros for the earrings, I remembered that I was going to do the necklace, so here it is, just in time for fall. The gemstone chips and the donut are Fancy Jasper. The seed beads are metallic rainbow green.

Well that's all I have to show for now. As usual, I have already started my next project. This one is going to include a bezeled focal stone. The only problem is that I have never bezeled anything, so the project will be a learning process for me. Hopefully it turns out well. I'll be sure to let you know.

TTYL

and make it a good night

Debbie

Not Much Going On Here

Wow, I think this is the longest I have ever gone without posting. Probably because I don't really have much going on lately. So I guess I will update you on the craft show I was telling you about. Well, I sadly underestimated the whole show. I thought hardly no one would be there, including  both sellers and buyers. So to make a long story short, I got lazy and only set up a small table with about 25 items. Bad mistake. There was a bit more action than I thought, including 2 other jewelry vendors each with about 200 (or so) items for sale. I did manage to get a bit of traffic though, and somehow made my booth fee back. Oh well, I am just going to file the whole thing under "Lesson Learned" and move on.

Ok, so moving on to better things, Here is a cute pair of cloisonne earrings I whipped up. Very summery.

And here is another bracelet made with the pink glass pearls I used for the last bracelet. This one is in a different stitch, though. It is done in a flat spiral stitch. I also used a different color of seed bead in this newer bracelet. The seeds I used are transluscent light purple luster. Anyhow, here it is.

So that's about all I have for now. I should be posting again very soon though, because I have already started a new beading project which takes me back to the 2nd stitch I ever learned. I am thouroughly enjoying working on this project and feel it will turn out really well. So as usual, I hope you'll stay tuned for more.

TTYL and make it a good day,

Debbie

A new Bracelet

Hello. I hope everyone is enjoying summer and is not too hot. It is very hot up here in New England and Tammy hasn't wanted to go swimming yet. I can't go swimming without her, because I am a water wimp and I usually don't get into the water until she literally pushes me in!!! Oh well, more time to bead.

Well, I finally was able to start and finish an entire bracelet. It is an embellished right angle weave bracelet. I used medium pink glass pearls and transluscent light pink luster seed beads. Anyhow, here it is:

So now for the 1st time I get to say,- "This bracelet can be found in my Zibbet shop." - Now I just need to figure out how to actually link to the item in my shop. Oh well, another thing to add to my ever-growing to do list. First things first, though. I still need to put a clasp on the spiral rope bracelet I also whipped up over the past week. It is light green, light blue, and gold and matches the necklace I posted a while ago. I also found a pretty little lampwork bead that matches perfectly to dangle off of the extender chain. I think I'll whip up a few more spiral bracelets in summery colors for the craft show I'm doing later this month. So that's another thing to add to the to do list,  if only I could find it!!! I'd better start looking for it now, before I find something better to do, like bead --- or swim!!! 

TTYL and make it a good night,

Debbie

Mission Accomplished

Yay. I did it. I listed my 1st item in my Zibbet shop late Tuesday night. I listed three more yesterday evening. I was working on the 4th when Tammy came home. I haven't been able to get to the computer or my camera since then, because Tammy has been using them both non-stop since she got home. She finally went outside with some friends just now. So I am jumping on the chance to use the computer to report my progress.

Listing the items was actually pretty easy. Zibbet is very user friendly. The hardest part was, of course, getting decent pics up. I am going to have to break down and buy a better camera eventually, but for now I have to make due with the one I have.

Maybe I'll list some more stuff tonite, but I kind of feel like taking a break from it for now. I am itching to start a new beading project. All this Zibbet stuff is taking away from my precious beading time. There is an award winning beader named Laura McCabe who has named her business "Just Let Me Bead" . I think I now know how she feels.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you that I will be setting up a booth at a craft fair on July 18. This is big news for me because I work every Saturday and can't really do craft fairs. This one is on a Sunday night, so I can do it. Our town holds concerts on the common on Sunday evenings during summertime. This year they are trying something new and inviting vendors. July 18th is crafter's night, so of course I jumped right on board. I am hoping that I can generate some traffic to my Zibbet shop and have already updated my business card with my shop's web address. I think the card came out really nice. Here it is if you want to see.

Ok, so now I am finally done with my "quick" update. Now I can go bead. It's about time.

TTYL and make it a good night
 Debbie