The Sisterhood of the Traveling Bead Box Giveaway!

If you are tracking the Sisterhood around the country, here is the path she has taken so far:

1.Heather Powers of Humble Beads- San Antonio, Texas

2.Mikki Ferrugiaro of MFD Beadwork Originals- Utah

3.Nancy Dale of NED Beads- Vermont

4.Hannah Rosner of Good River Gallery- New Mexico

5.Chris Neit of Good Quill Hunting- Maine

6.Sandy Spivey of Sandy's Treasure- California

7.Katie Nelson of Katie's Creations- Texas

8.Kristie Roeder of Artisan Clay- Pennsylvania

9.Lorelei Eurto of Lorelei Eurto Jewelry- New York State

10.Becky Caldwell of The Gritty Bird- North carolina

11.Cindy Wimmer of Sweet Bead Studio- Virginia

12.Cindy Gambrone of Lampwork Diva- New York State

13.Paige Maxim of Paige Maxim Designs- Maine

14.Cristi Baxter Clothier of 2 if by Sea- Florida

15.Tracey Nanstad of A Beadiful Mess- Wisconsin

The giveaway: The entire box of goodies, WELL over $400 worth of beads.

The stipulations: Must have an online forum to host the next giveaway. Must be living within the United States to enter and be willing to pay for shipping: $15.00 for flat rate priority mail billed via Paypal.

The rules: You'll take what you want from the box, add in items of equal value from your own bead stash to replace the items you took and then do the same giveaway on your blog. We'll keep the beads traveling for as long as we can.

All you have to do now is leave me a comment with your blog link and e-mail address. Post on facebook, I will give you another entry. Just leave a seperate comment telling me you did so.

I will be doing a drawing Wednesday March 23, 2011 approx. 6pm. GOOD LUCK!

ArtBeads Winter Enchantment

When Duchess from ArtBeads contacted me about the next Beads for Bloggers challenge, I was intending to make a Winter themed bracelet. To me, Winter is all about snow, ice and sparkle. Keeping this in mind, I ordered some gorgeous 8mm Crystal AB Swarovski Graphic Cube beads, 6mm crackled druk beads, 8mm S cut Sterling Silver Stardust beads, 3mm Sterling Silver Stardust rondell beads, Sterling Silver Earwires, and a beautiful Sterling Silver Snowflake Toggle clasp. When my order arrived, I took a close look at the Snowflake Clasp and knew it was far too pretty to be used as a closure at the back of the neck where no one would see it! I decided the clasp wouldn't be a clasp at all, but would become the focal piece of a necklace instead! I added in some aqua fire polish beads in 2 different sizes and finishes from my bead stash, some white AB seed beads, as well as some Sterling Silver wire to create a wire wrapped necklace and earring set. I am completely in love with the Swarovski Graphic Cube beads with all their sparkling facets. This is the first time I have used them in a design, and will not be my last! They are perfection. The S-Cut Stardust beads are some of the prettiest beads I have ever seen. They are so sparkly and the S cut adds a lovely touch to the bead. They remind me of a pattern Jack Frost would leave on your window! The little Stardust rondell beads add a nice look to the graphic cubes. They are really uniform and pretty. The snowflake clasp is my favorite part of the necklace. If used as an actual clasp, the toggle bar is a little ski pole! So adorable, it is stamped .925 on the back. All in all, I am extremely happy with everything I ordered from ArtBeads.

*Please note, I have received the Swarovski Graphic cube beads, the 3mm and 6mm Stardust beads, Sterling Snowflake clasp, sterling Earwires free of charge for my honest opinion of these products. I have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to these products.

2011 BJP

Well, things haven't exactly gone as planned! Since Christmas, my family and I have been passing illnesses back and forth. Some colds, a little flu and even pink eye have found a place here! Kileigh has also had some serious problems lately, that I hope are going to turn around now. Its not a pleasant subject, so I wont go into it here! I haven't been able to squeeze in much beading. Just last night I found the time to bezel my Sapphire Rivoli for my 2010 BJP Birthstone circle. Hopefully as the week goes on I will find more time to work on that. This all being said, I have had to rethink my plans for the 2011 Bead Journal Project. I had a plan to make another frameable piece similar in size to my Birthstone Circle. I am not going to go into detail, because I am planning to use that for next years BJP, providing there is one that is. I really want to get the Birthstone Circle completed soon, so I decided to pare down my ambitious plans for 2011. My theme for this year is to honor important people in my life. I will be doing separate pieces each month, devoted to honoring a specific person or group of people who have had an impact on my life. I also plan to use some new (for me) stitch techniques and colors. Possibly may use some mementos as well on each piece. Time will tell! I hope to get a start on January soon, since this month is flying by. I don't want to be buried before I even begin. In between the 2011 BJP's, I will continue working on 2010. Whew! Wish me luck.

At Last!

I am finally done with my latest Bead Journal piece. This one seemed to take forever! I guess that shouldnt really be a surprise since Christmas and New Years were both in the middle of my work time! This is the month of August on my Birthstone Wheel. The Birthstone for the month of August is the Peridot. I had some challenges with finding my materials for this one. I started off with a Peridot Swarovski Rivoli, and my usual half-moon beads in both matte and shiny finishes. I decided to make the Rivoli the center of a flower, I also used the half-moon beads as petals and leaves of the flower. I searched my stash of size 11 and 15 seed beads and found I was really short on colors that would work. I contacted Cindy of Cindy's Crafts and she so sweetly put together some colors of 11's and 15's and some Charlottes for me that perfectly coordinated with my Rivoli. You just don't find such outstanding service as she provides everyday! I also had trouble finding the correct shade of bugle beads for this one. I had to make do with a green I had on hand, I guess it works. If I could do it over, I would have used some of the darker green in maybe a size 15 to tie the bugles in a little better. Live and learn! All in all, I am happy to be done and quite pleased with the finished product! I still have not started on the 2011 BJP, but hope to reveal my plans early next week. I am looking for a specific component for that project, and once I have that, I will post what my plans are. Meantime, on to September and the beautiful Sapphire!

Sisterhood of the Traveling Bead Box Information

WOW! For anyone who is interested in beads, you should check out the story of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Bead Box HERE on Cindys blog. I cannot believe how beautiful the contents of the box are. You can read the story as well as get some sneak peeks on some of the contents of the box there too. Anyone who works with beads would be lucky to get a chance to snag some of the beauties in there for themselves. What a great Christmas gift that would be. I know I would have to curl up for hours (maybe days) and just drool over the contents...lol. Wet beads wouldnt ship well would they? Check it out for yourself and prepare to be amazed. While you are there, look at Cindys creations, she is a lovely, talented woman!

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!

2011 BJP

It is that time of year again, when registration for the 2011 Bead Journal Project is underway. It is set to begin January 1, 2011. Registration runs from November 8 - December 8. If you want to know more, or want to register, you can find the form HERE. Look for the registration button at the bottom of the page. I am doing registrations this year, so I look forward to seeing your information coming through! Happy Beading!