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.

Kileigh's Garden is in full bloom...

As you can see my January Bead Journal Project is done! I am shocked at how quickly this one went. Was it because in addition to a bazillion size 15 seed beads I also used some larger heart beads and silver frames? Was it because of the subject matter as compared to Novembers piece? Was it because of the building pressure I was putting upon myself because of the dreaded *GASP* Behind word? I don't know and I don't care because whatever the reason is, it is done and I am very happy with both this piece and myself. I think the background I chose almost gives it a wool tapestry type look. Do they call it crewel work? Anyone know what I am talking about even? I am not even sure I know what I am talking about 1/2 the time! Now for my next project. I will be going back to Decembers piece. I have a plan, have the beads picked out, the silk I will be using, and a wonderful new product my SIL told me about called the Q-Snap. One of the things I have always hated most about embroidery is the dreaded embroidery hoop. It never seems to get tight enough, damages the fabric and your thread always seems to get tangled on the part you use to tighten the hoop. No more, not with this product! Check out the website if you are unfamiliar with it. For all I know its been around forever, but its new to me!

AND THE WINNER IS........

SUSAN! Congratulations! I added several new goodies to the package, so it will be a surprise when she gets her winnings! I will post a picture after Susan receives her package. Don't you just love my little chicken bowl? I have a fetish for small bowls. I don't know what to do with them, but I have several tiny bowls. This one is my favorite! Look for an update on Kileigh's Garden tomorrow. I cant believe Kileigh will be 1 year old on Friday! They grow up too quickly. Hugs to everyone out there. Happy Monday!

Yet Another Update!

I can't believe how quickly this piece is coming along! I think the leaves I have added gave it an almost Folk Art look. I really like it! I have named this piece Kileigh's Garden. I plan on adding a few more leaves and then figuring out what I want to do with the background. Not sure yet. I did add a few light blue beads in, but felt it detracted from the rest, so I tore it out. I love how you can do that so easily, rip-it rip-it! I don't think I will get much done today. I have a Mary Kay party to go to at Jess's house tonight. I get to see her, Courtney and Kileigh so that is a definite plus. Otherwise, I wouldn't be too thrilled. We have had several of these parties in the last year and I am Mary Kayed out! Hugs to everyone out there! I think I am going to do a Freebie Friday this week! I will let you know my plans for that tomorrow, along with what I will be giving away, so look for that!

PS. Maddux continues to do well. He is getting an antibiotic preventative every day now, so we will see how he does on that. It should lessen the frequency and or severity of his fevers. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Lots of progress!

In between meetings with our insurance company (hubby totaled his car - he hit a county Sheriff) he is ok, sore but ok! Anyway, in between the meetings and being sick yesterday I managed to get some beading done. I am liking the way its turning out so far. I am very unsure how to proceed with the background. It will come to me, but right now I am not sure how to proceed. My fabric finally came for my December project, so I may put January down for awhile and move onto that one. It might help free up my mind and open it up to ideas. We have been so worried about what will happen with this accident. Seems that its not a good thing to hit an officer of the law while he is on duty, in route to a home invasion. My husband is very good about yielding for emergency vehicles, however he had a green light and the snow banks were so high on the highway intersection that he just plain didn't see it coming. The State Patrol is doing an investigation on the accident to determine fault, so we are on pins and needles to see what will happen. I think that is why I was sick over the weekend. I don't do well with worry or the unknown. At the very least, the car is totaled. He may also get a large ticket from what we hear. Joyous Joy! The important things is both he and the officer are ok.

Lessons Learned!

Sometimes you have to learn the hard way! I did on this project. After working on this page about 4 hours yesterday, I started working around the dark purple circles. Little did I realize that the purple would show through the beads! So I wasted 4 hours and had to start over, This is my progress so far today. I have Kileighs last name blocked out with blanks for security reasons, I just don't like putting all her information out there in cyber space. Trust me though, its there. My plan is too add 5 pictures of her birth, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 1 year which is coming right up!

January Begins!

I decided I am sick of waiting for my silk to arrive for my December page! I feel like I am just wasting my time, so I decided to get on with January's page while I wait. I hate to skip December, it completely goes against my nature. I like things to be in the order they are supposed to be in. I know, I am strange, but its the way I like things to be. In order. Here is a teaser picture. I think its pretty funny how the rough draft looks! I know in my head how it will look and its nothing like this! I also have a little container of some of the beads I will be using on this page. I bet you cant guess where I am going with it can you? I welcome anyone to try to guess! We are expecting about 6" more snow tomorrow, so hopefully I can get a good start to this page. I am excited now that I have somewhat of a plan. Hugs to you all!

PS. I am shocked! I just did spellcheck and for the first time no spelling errors were found. Gotta write that one on the calender!