R.I.P. Tyson

"A Heart of gold stopped beating,

two shining eyes at rest.

God broke our hearts to prove,

He only takes the best."

~Author Unknown

Good Morning!

I am continuing the bugle bead path from last months piece.

I like the affect of the circle around the Rivoli, It makes it much more dramatic!

Both pieces together.

I hope everyone out there in Cyber Space is having a wonderful day! I am so happy to be able to update my blog once again. As you can see, I am doing my 2010 Bead Journal Page as one complete piece. I chose the pie shape because I thought it would be pretty framed! I also like that fact that the finished piece will have much more impact than several smaller pieces would have. I have completed January in lovely garnet shades, and am working on February in shades of Amethyst. I will be using a 14mm Swarovski Rivoli in the appropriate Birthstone color for each month. I think its going to be pretty! One thing I like about the choice I made, is that it is forcing me to use colors I wouldn't ordinarily use such as purple and reds! I have such a comfort zone with blacks, earthy tones and blues. I rarely stray from these colors! I also like that I am building my bead stash with many new shades to go along with each months colorway! So exciting!

January FINISHED!!

I love these Peacock Beads!

I dont understand why the color is funky in this picture.

All done, but I wish the picture did the color justice.

I am so happy I can finally say I have January DONE!! I was able to work on it quite a bit this past weekend and finished it up last night. I am excited to work with a different color palette for my February section. I am excited to bezel another Rivoli, I really like doing that for some reason! I guess because its something new. I cannot tell you how hard it was to find garnet colored bugle beads! I dug some out of a mighty old stash I came across of mixed colors of bugles. They aren't the best quality, but the color was right so on they went! I also used some 6mm garnet hearts and some 13mm half moon beads, both from Artbeads. This has quickly become my favorite place to beads shop. You wouldn't believe the amount of colors available in the half moon beads! I thought it was a neat shape so I bought several different colors. I bet you will be seeing them crop up in some of my other pages!

I hope every ones pieces are coming along nicely. It sure is fun to be able to look around at all the different blogs and see the beauty we are creating. Thanks for looking! I appreciate all the wonderful comments people are leaving.

An update finally!

Hi friends! I am sad to say, I am still not done with my January piece! I have had so much going on lately, I just haven't had the time to work on it as much as I would like!. I must apologize for this picture. It seems garnet is a really hard to capture color on my camera. I tried to darken it up some in my photo program and this is the best I could do! Tomorrow night I will get some more time to work on my page, so hopefully I will have another update before the week is done! Ethan is coming over tomorrow for a visit, so I will be in baby heaven while he is here! I hope that will give me some inspiration to finish January up! Hugs to you all! Thanks for stopping by and thanks for your delightful comments in advance. They always make my day a little brighter.

Something Different!

I was so excited to become a member of Artbeads Blogging Partners program! For this month Artbeads declred February as 'The Beauty of Spring"I was to choose products that represented Spring to me. I chose the most beautiful hand painted Porcelain oval Pendant called "Green Tree" I knew I loved it on the site, but I truly wasn't expecting the quality of this pendant. I had a hard time photographing it because of the shine on this pendant! To me this pendant represents spring in every way. Spring is about budding trees, everything is green and lush and fresh. I also chose the 6mm roundelle Swarovski beads in jet (I love swarovski pearls and crystals) and a "Grow" charm all of which I will be using to make a necklace that I will show you at a later date! I then decided to make a Spring charm bracelet! I used several of Artbeads Antique Silver charms and a darling TierraCast Antique Silver Paloma bead. I was happily surprised at the detail and quality of these charms. Spring brings back many of the birds that migrated, the butterflies, bees and flowers, so I thought these were perfect choices. I also used 6mm Swarovski Pearls in white, some lovely 5x4mm Olivine/Pink Opal mix beads from Artbeads and some sterling wire and a sterling toggle clasp I had on hand. I think it turned out darling and because of the springlike colors of pink and green and the pearls and charms, it will go with many of my outfits.

Fine Print: I have received the following items free of charge from Artbeads. I am giving my honest opinion of these products. I have not been paid for my opinion of the following products: Swarovski pearls and crystals, porcelain pendant, charms, glass beads.

January is gone....

Dont mind the Maddux hair...lol

But still not done! I have made a little progress, not nearly as much as I would like to have made. You know how it is when life keeps you on your toes, don't you? I squeeze in a little here and a little there but cant seem to find the time to sit down and work for hours like I used to. I had a good time bezeling a rivoli for this months page. That is something I have never done and I liked doing it. Perhaps more rivolis in the future?? One never knows! In case you can't tell from the picture, I am doing this months piece in the January birthstone colors - Garnet. Do I sense a theme here? Maybe!

This past weekend we had Little Ethan's baptism! Mike and Jess then had a luncheon at their house afterward. We had great food and great company. I felt such pride in Jess and her hospitality and her cooking too!. She is such a special girl to me. You just couldn't ask for a better baby on such a busy day! Ethan actually smiled and "talked" to the pastor when he poured the holy water on his head! He is getting so big and is such a good baby! Mike and Jess are spoiled. He already sleeps around 8 hours a night at only 2 months of age!

Finally!!

Yes, I am alive! I am finally set on my plans for the 2010 BJP. It took me long enough, so long in fact, I am already behind! Well, as my Grandmother used to say, "Better late than never" haha! Anyway, I have really just gotten started with my plans. Here are some pictures showing you what my finished size will be. The entire circle is 13 inches in diameter with each section approximately 1" at the narrow end, 3.5 " at the wide end and 4.5" long. Of course, there are 12 sections representing each month! You probably already knew that though, huh? The center circle is approximately a 5" diameter circle, which will be the center medallion unrelated to the 12 months of BJP. Confused yet? This is all I am going to give away at this moment! Isnt the 27mm Czech button in the middle pretty? Its a black moonstone button with rhinestones. I thought it was a pretty addition the the center medallion. As soon as I get my HUGE bead order from Artbeads I will be able to proceed! If you haven't looked at their site, you are in for a treat! They have a customer appreciation sale going on right now, check it out! PS. I am no way affiliated with Artbeads, just a happy customer!