July is done!

Whew! I was hoping this one wouldn't take the whole month, and it didn't. I was able to get it done in 19 days! This has to be a record for me. Anyway, for the month of July, Ruby is the birthstone. I found this color to be extremely difficult to capture with my camera. On my screen, it looks almost fuchsia, but trust me, it is all red! I used a ruby Swarovski Rivoli, 5 shades of red size 11 and size 15 seed beads in matte, transparent and silver-lined finishes. I used my usual 6mm hearts and half-moon beads. I am sad to say that Artbeads has clearanced the half-moon beads out. I think the are a great bead and I have enjoyed their versatility in my project. I am happy to say that I do have all I need to finish my piece though! Luckily I ordered them all in the very beginning. I can see using the flower motif pictured here with black in the center to make a poppy. I continued on with my meandering bugle bead path as I continue my journey, as well as using some pretty red peacock beads in this one. I have all my colors of Peridot picked out for the next wedge in my Birthstone Wheel. On to August! Wish me luck, I have to finish this one before the end of the year to be able to have my pieces featured on the Bead Journal Homepage Gallery. Gotta get beading! Thanks for looking!

PS. ARTBEADS is offering a 20% off coupon to myself and any of my blog followers or blog readers! Here is the message I received: This sneak peek "After Thanksgiving Day Sale" coupon can be used now to get a jump start on great savings before your favorite items sell out. This coupon expires on Sunday, November 28, 2010 at 11:59pm PT. Use coupon Code: ZZ-THANKSGIVING-SALE at checkout. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!