So! Remember these lovelies from this past Bead Soup Blog Party?





They were published in the autumn 2013 issue of Jewelry Affaire Magazine! This is my first published jewelry design, so needless to say, I am SUPER excited. I also recently received my complimentary issue of the magazine, and it is divine! I was also very surprised to find that my earrings ended up on a photo all to themselves amid the Bead Soup for the Soul article featuring Lori Anderson. I am so thankful to have been able to participate.

And check out this super cool badge they sent me:


Needless to say, I am over the moon. Here's to looking forward to more publications in the future! ♥

Much love,

I'm pretty much in love with ZNetShows beads, so I was super excited when I got an email about this quick challenge round. The goal this time was to pick two strands of crystals from their catalog, and then create some key chains.

Here are the fun violet and purple beads I picked out:


These were product code RS123-27 for the helix/faceted twist cut beads and RS107-107 for the pretty purple metallic coated beads. Both have a beautiful sparkle! If you're interested in these cool keychain findings, you can get them here.

Key chains have become a big deal to me working in a hospital setting. As are badge holders, so this challenge was super exciting to me. Check out the cool new key chain and coordinating badge holder I made for work:

I love the finish on these beads. Such a nifty metallic sheen.

It's a little difficult to capture the color of these beads, so here's a close up.

Woohoo! New badge holder with lots of sparkle. With some soft silk sari ribbon, even.

Badge holder + keychain together = a lot of shine!

Oh yeah. Totally made some ladies at work jealous. I will probably be making a few more keychains for some coworkers. Perhaps even a badge holder or two.

That's it for now. I have some totally awesome news to share about my first published jewelry! So exciting!

Much love,

Now available in my new shop!

I had an amazing time at the show this past weekend at the Dallas Handmade Arts Market. I'm really interested in participating again at the show's normal venue in the Addison Conference Center. I met so many amazing artists and made some fantastic new friends. I can't wait to see everyone again. I'm wishing I'd done a better job at picking up everyone's business cards.

For those who couldn't make it out to the show, I'm having a post-show sale in my brand new shop! I've changed online venues, so to speak. Basically, I'm breaking up with Etsy. It's been a halfway decent run, but I think it's time for us to see different people. (It's not me, it's you. ;)

Anyhow, I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. I have a whole mess of designs I'm working on currently, and I'm still preparing for an upcoming anime convention which will be hosted over Labor Day weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!

Much love,

 

Ever have this suspcious, nagging feeling that you've forgotten something? I've been suffering this weird little flicker of anxiety all week, only to wake up this morning and realize why: AHHHH TODAY IS THE BLOG HOP REVEAL!!!11!1

So, I'm a little late to the party, but I did drag out some beads that I've been holding onto for at least 2+ years. See, I have an addiction to certain flashy gemstones. I have an entire organizer box full of predominantly labradorite and moonstone. If a stone has some sort of fancy chatoyancy (that can distract me for hours with its amazing shine), I fall in love with it. It's a dilemma.

But here I am, joining in on this blog hop to let go of some of those beautiful stones. Sort of. I may or may not be able to completely let go of them in a sale, but I will be attending the Dallas Handmade Arts Market next weekend which out to be a true test of my will in parting with the necklace I made.

Speaking of said necklace, here it is:





Ahhhhh soooo pretty. I am totally wearing this around the house right now even though I've not changed out of my pajamas. The pendant this time around was more challenging than usual. Not only did I use a focal that I had been hoarding, but I used some half round 21 gauge wire that for some reason I have never used. I've had it for ages, too. Definitely not my usual cup of tea, but that could be because of the slightly smaller gauge. I prefer 22 gauge round wire for my projects.

Anyhow.

I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM I CAN STOP ANY TIME. Uhm. Okay. Maybe not, but at least I'm not the only one with a problem! Check out these other bead hoarders, too. ;)

Hello everyone!

The official reveal date for the fantastic beads my partner Klaudete picked out for me is finally here. Just as a quick refresher, here's what she picked out from the ZnetShows catalog for me:

I received several strands of tangerine bicone crystals (RS102-83AB), khaki teardrop glass pearls (BDS1867-18), amber large hole crystals (RS139-17), gunmetal animal charms (M0514-MX-GM1), howlite nuggets that have been dyed black (BDS1817-17), green skulls (S64-B80), and seafoam cultured sea glass pebbles (BDS1926-01). All beautiful beads that were a joy to work with. The product codes will link you directly to the ZnetShows website if you're interested in purchasing your own beads. I certainly recommend their products!

So here's the inspiration photo my partner Klaudete used to choose my fantastic beads:

A stormy beach at sunset.

 And here are all of my creations!

First is this very lengthy necklace at about 30 inches long.

Glass pearls, tangerine crystals, and dyed howlite for my dark clouds at sunset.

There's actually a tiny bit of color blocking in this piece.

Next were some very fancy earrings. If you know me, you know how I love earrings!

Quite in love with the earwires I made, too.

Close up to see all the pretty detail!

I couldn't resist this adorable little turtle.

So cute!!!

Added crystal eyes to one of my skulls to make a sort of pirate-y necklace.

Finished off the design with a little bit of leather cord.

A better view of the skull facing forward.

And here we have the fanciest piece of them all with some wire wrapped recycled glass.

Lots of seafoam color, earth tones, and swirls!

Detail of the smaller focals.

And there we have it! Those are all of my designs I came up with. If you haven't already, please be sure to visit my lovely partner Klaudete. If you loved the beads, I'd also highly recommend hitting up the ZnetShows blog. They're having a give away featuring packages of the beads we chose for our partners. Head on over there today and join in on the fun!

Much love,

The beads from the ZnetShows June Challenge arrived today! I was so excited to get them. They were definitely the pick-me-up I needed after waging a small battle with my vehicle. Long story short, I had to have the darn thing towed, but thankfully a friend fixed what needed fixing. After that stressful ordeal, and I am very much looking forward to designing with these beads.

The challenge them is "The Beach." I was paired with Klaudete Koon, and these are the beads she picked out for me based upon one of the pictures from the ZnetShows Design Inspiration board on Pinterest. I am so super excited about them!

So. Many. Things. OuO <3

Those black nuggets are dyed howlite. Those will be very fun. ♥

Lots of beautiful crystal and glass pearls.

IT'S A SKULL. You have no idea how much this excites me.

Can't wait to get started! I have some great ideas so far. Some of them will have to wait at least for a little bit. Thanks to being outside for way too long I'm feeling a little under the weather due to my allergies flaring up. Anyhow. Expect more updates of shiny things soon. ♥

Much love,

Cabs to be made into rings for her grab bags.

Recently, I helped a lovely friend get ready for the artist alley at A-kon. I can only imagine what that was like at the new hotel this year. It's always interesting when a show switches venues. My mind is still boggled at the idea of an anime convention being held at a place as ritzy as the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, but I digress.

So many cute little cabs!!

Yay! So excited! The reveal is here! I had a total blast with the beads that Audrey sent me. Some of you may not know this, but I actually know Audrey quite well. We've been friends for many, many years, so I was tickled pink when I found out she was my partner [ must explain all the pink beads I sent her ;) ].

She had actually prepared the soup package before she ever found out I was her partner. I'm in awe of this, because the beads she sent had my name allllllllllllllllll over it. Seriously. Rainbows and stars? Oh my. She loves me, I know it.  8D

The big challenge for me was the sari ribbon. I am so neat and controlled with my work that the fringy mess that sari ribbon makes, while beautiful, makes the OCD part of my brain twitch uncontrollably. I've always admired sari ribbon from afar, but I think I got the hang of it. I have a whole mess of it left over, so I'm definitely thinking a second helping of soup is in order. Particularly since I have some awesome necklaces planned with it that I just ran out of time for.

I do plan on blog hopping / working on jewelry all day Sunday. But before I start posting pictures of seconds, lets check out what we made with the first helping of soup:

Audrey made this pendant herself! So impressed. ♥

And of course this clasp belonged with the pendant.

Mother of pearl stars were from my stash, crystal from Audrey, and fancy cathedral beads from a certain German ladyfriend of ours.  ;)

Lookit me not being lazy and making my own earwires.  X3

Next was this beastie. So loved the rainbow of the titanium quartz points.

This necklace is also why I ran out of 22ga silver wire.  XD

Soooooooooo sparkly!  *u*

It wouldn't be one of my designs without matching earrings. Lovely crystals are from Audrey. ♥

Amusingly enough, a mutual friend of both mine and Audrey sent me these swirly Czech beads.

I bought these lampwork beads off of ArtFire from an artist 2-3 years ago. Finally put them to good use!

Isn't the ribbon pretty? Totally have to make a matching necklace or bracelet!

I actually made this one yesterday. The two agate beads Audrey sent demanded to be made into earrings, and I had already snipped up those two bits of sari ribbon trying to figure out what the heck to do with this stuff.  I so liked the lampwork earrings, that I figured why not repeat the design with a different color scheme?  :D

So purple and rainbowwwyyy. ♥♥

And that's all I've got! For now, any way. Be sure to check out my Etsy shop on Sunday. I'll be listing a few of my rainbow-y BSBP pieces up for grabs to clear out space for more design work.

Much love, and happy blog hopping!

Remember those lovely cultured sea glass beads I had posted about a few weeks back? Here are the finished designs. Some of you may have already seen them on Facebook. ZNETSHOWS was awesome enough to promote my work on their Facebook page.

So without further delay, here are the fun things I created from the lovely beads I received. ♥

Crystal Tassel Earrings

Square Glass, Sea Opal Rounds, and Blue Crystals in Copper

Opera Length Wrap Necklace featuring Chinese Crystal & Glass Pearls

Glass Pearls, Chinese Crystal, and Frosted Sea Glass Earrings

Freshwater Pearl, Sea Opal, & Sea Glass in Copper

Full sized image of the necklace. The copper chain looks a bit dark, but it won't take long for the wire to oxidize.

Sea Glass & Gold Plated Brass. Kind of reminds me of The Little Mermaid.  :)

Close up!  ♥

Earrings to match.

A sort of talisman necklace. The necklace is opera length with no clasp.

Close up of the "charms."

It's a very long necklace. I've been on an opera-length necklace kick here lately.

And of course there are earrings to match!  :D

Thanks so much to ZNETSHOWS for the awesome beads! I had a fantastic time designing with them, and certainly hope to continue designing with these lovely beads in the future. If you'd like to pick up some beads for yourself, I highly recommend that you visit their website.

Much love,

Well hello world! I've been meaning to post this up for a bit, but I've been distracted with work and various projects which I shall get to share with you soon. My soup from my lovely partner Audrey has arrived, and isn't it divine? I'm already working on an assortment of designs with these lovely beads and fibers. <3

Such a pretty pink package! And with an ickle note, too. ♥

Uhm. Yeah. Those chocolates disappeared pretty quickly.  ;)

So. Many. Shines!

Close up of all the pretty beads in their packages!

Well, it's soup! Soup goes in a bowl.  ;)

Close up of the soup. Sigh. It's so pretty! ♥

You can check out what I sent to Audrey by clicking here. And yes, I did in fact send her a pony. I knew she'd give Twilight Sparkle a good home.  ;)

Much love,