Please vote for my friend's band!

I promise we'll get back to beady-ness soon, but in the meantime, would you please take a minute to help my friend's band out?
The Ryan Montbleau Band has been nominated to rock out aboard JamCruise 8. This is well overdue for them and would be wonderful exposure (not to mention a damn good time). Your vote would be greatly appreciated by me AND them.
Here's the link to VOTE.

Tresuries!

Yes, plural...found myself in TWO treasuries over the weekend, and the curators were lovely enough to contact me to let me know!

Click on the pictures below to go to the treasuries, feel free to click and comment!

Summer Peach Harvest

Levitate

Here are my favorite items from the curators of the treasuries (the people that picked the items for their treasuries). Click on the pictures for description and pricing info.

From AngiesJewelryDesign:

From BeadSire:

Here come's the bride!

Voting has begun for the latest Etsy Bead Weaver's challenge - "Here Comes the Bride". Once again I am floored by the massive amount of talent here...and I know I'm going to have a hard time choosing my favorite. To get a closer look at each item, click on the links below. Then head on over to the Etsy Bead Weaver's Blog to vote.

1. Pearl Romance Collar - nemeton

2. Intertwined in Love for Wedding Bliss - kraftymax

3. Pearls and Crystals and Silver OH MY - cigarboxbeads

4. Neptunes Bride - triz

5. Pearls And Gold - Bridal Jewelry - Rainy Lane

6. Something Blue - randomcreativ

7. Love Goes Round and Round - 1BeadAtATime

8. Forever Yours - beadsandblooms

9. Bridal Cameo Necklace - Medic5415

10. Geometric Decadence - vanishingpearl

11. Floral Lace - ArtfulAr

12. Champagne Dreams - HauteIceBeadwork

13. A Touch of India - BeadazzledofOregon

14. Seaside Wedding - caraway

15. Two Hearts Become One - BeadworksbyKerri

16. Bridal Tradition - glimmerstone

17. White Bridal Wave - HannahRachel

18. Dare to Dream of Crystals and Pearls - dreambeadweaver

19. Gothic Wedding Fetish Beaded Fishnet Gloves - crownrosegems

20. Two Shall Become One - beadsforever

21. Something New Something Blue - jodihorgan

22. Halloween Bride - alatvian

23. The Blushing Bride - Fivefootfury13

24. Something Borrowed, Something Blue - AmethystRavenstar

25. The Mermaid Bride - ThesePreciousThings

26. Something Blue - copperwaycrafts

27. Beadwoven Bridal Necklace and Earrings - SmadarsTreasure

28. Jewels of Dawn Bridal necklace - CieloDesign

29. Walking on Air - RedCatArtBeads

30. Wrist Corsage - MoreThanSomewhat

31. Stars in my Eyes Bridal Necklace - SpringColors

32. Sparkling Bride - Amykohndesigns

33. Champagne Sparkle necklace - FleurDeIrk

34. Crystal Ice - fashionsfrome

35. Fairy Tale Princess Bride Choker - FrancescasFancy

36. Rebel Bride Freeform Cuff - playnwithbeads

37. Here Comes the Bride - enchantedbeads

38. Indian Bride - BeadCatcher

39. And Together - LiciaBeads

Voting ends midnight July 15th, so go vote for your favorite now!

Lacy Beaded Rings

I've been experimenting with cross-needle weaving, or, two-needle weaving a lot lately. For a while I was quite content working with one needle. As I look to expand my experience, though, I thought it was worth a shot. There are some things you just can't do with one needle alone, and some things are just a whole lot easier using two needles. At first it was difficult, I felt like I was learning to bead all over again. My left hand is used to holding the beadwork, not a needle, so it took a little getting used to. After I was comforable with it I just couldn't stop! I'll share more with you throughout the week, but here's a glimpse at my first cross-weaving endeavors...some lacy beaded rings!

Treasure!

Found my items featured in a whopping three treasuries over the weekend! That's a lot for me. I feel honored to be amoung such talent...check out the other featured artisans as well:

Tetris Necklaces

8-bit has never looked so good!

These little guys have been in the making for a while now - on and off for the past 6 months or so. I really wanted to show each one off as soon as I was done with it, but I felt it would be best to "release" them as a set.
This idea has been in the making (in my head) for YEARS now...I just didn't know how I was going to pull it off until I started working with right-angle-weave, the perfect stitch for this geometric endeavor. It wasn't until I started weaving (in size 11 toho beads) that I fully understood what an endeavor it would be. This truly was a labor of love...the entire set together took me approximately 40 hours - that's almost an entire "work" week! Worth the time, though. They are all structurally sound - these babies are not hollow. They are built up layer by layer - you can't really SEE the beads woven in the center, but they are there...and that what makes the piece strong and able to hold its shape.

Because I really wanted the shapes to be the total eye catcher, I finished these necklaces off by stringing them on illusion cord - so that the shape appears to be "floating" on your neck.
After spending a good part of the weekend finishing up the last one, I'm ready to work on something a little less rigid!

Now available in my Etsy shop:

"T" Shape

"L" Shape

"I" Shape

"S" Shape

"Square" Shape

Bead Artists Against Breast Cancer update

Starting in 2005, Jeanette Shanigan, with the participation of hundreds of beaders, has put together beaded quilts to be auctioned at the annual Bead and Button show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - and the proceeds go directly to breast cancer research. The 2009 Bead and Button show finished up last week. This year just about $2150.00 was raised!

I feel proud to have been a part of this, and I will definitely be beading more squares for Jeanette's future quilt auctions.

Below is a picture of the finished quilt I was included in (I put little red boxes around my squares).

Please visit Jeanette's website to see pictures of the finished quilts in all their beaded glory!