2011 BJP Revealed......finally!

As the saying goes, better late than never! In keeping with that theme, I reveal my first piece in my 2011 Bead Journal Project. I have decided to name this series "Pieces of Me" Each month I will do a 4 inch heart shaped piece in bead embroidery to journal special people or things that have a piece of my heart. For my first page, I decided to honor my Grandchildren. I used recent pictures of Kileigh and Ethan. The picture of Kileigh was taken by family friend Catherine

Massoglia of Catherine Massoglia Photography. Kileigh was a little over 3 in this picture. The picture of Ethan was taken by my Daughter Jess after his little dude haircut! He was around 16 months in that picture. I may be biased, but aren't they just too cute?

I love the colors in this piece. I used a soft matte brown seed bead, turquoise blue seed beads, a lovely mix of seed beads, some glass rectangles in turquoise blue and some brown rectangle beads along with some soft turquoise 6mm firepolish beads. I laminated the 2 pictures and hand sewed them onto my pellon. I then edged them in beads right through the plastic of the laminate. The mix of beads I used has several shades of gold, cream, brown, purple, maroon, steel blue, soft brown, and some size 15s mixed in as well. I threw together whatever I thought would work. I think it all works well together. I added the bead mix one bead at a time. This is a very tedious and time consuming technique, but it has to be one of my favorites. I love the random look of it! Oh so worth the time it takes to me. In the very top of the piece, you will see 2 very inconspicuous flower shaped grommets. My plan is to sew the completed heart onto ultra suede and thread ribbon through the grommets to hang them.

In search of inspiration.

As some of my dedicated followers know, I have been having some trouble finding inspiration lately. I think the drought is over! I made a trip to a local bead store, and found some really nice beads that got my creative juices flowing. I have finally even gotten a start on my 2011 BJP piece for January (glup, yes January) I will post about that at a later date. For now, here are some of the beads I purchased at Meant to Bead. They have me itching to create, now to find the time. My youngest daughter and grand daughter were involved in a car accident yesterday, and Courtneys car was totaled in the accident. Kileigh has some seat belt burn on her neck, and Courtney's back neck and knee are hurting today, but all in all, they are fine. Looks Mom's taxi service is back open for business for awhile until this insurance mess is taken care of. Look for some updates soon, I have been a busy girl stitching on my January Piece and I think its about half done now, so it wont be much longer. I am anxious to show it to you all and explain my ideas for this year!

Lovely Giveaway!

Lisa at Indigo Beads is giving away one of her beautiful cuff bracelets HERE! While there, check out her other beautiful works of art.

Yes, I am still alive!

I got an e-mail from a concerned friend about my lack of postings lately. I am still here, I am still a part of the 2011 Bead Journal Project. I just havent picked p needle and thread as of yet! I will get to it, I promise. I seem to be lacking a sense of direction, time and creativity right now. No, I am not depressed. I am just uninspired. I am hoping when the creativity bug hits, It will slam me right upside the head with such force it will knock me off my feet and onto the couch to bead....lol. Until then friends, know all is well and I will be back soon!

And the winner is....

The winner of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Beadbox is -
Marianna - www.stargirlshop.blogspot.com stargirl@stargirljewelry.com !! I will be notifying her by e-mail today. Congratulations Marianna!
PS. I will post pictures of the goodies I kept at a later date. This was so much fun!

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.