Well hello again!

It's been awhile. I hope everyone had a pleasant holiday season, one filled with lots of love, family, egg nog, all that good stuff!
Unfortunately for me, things got a bit hectic at my office job. Without delving too deeply into everything, I've had less time to do more. Suffice to say, my internet presence and social networking have taken a back burner.
I still have made time to bead, but I haven't been as aggressive as I usually am about it. Last year, I put a lot of time into photographing, descriptions, listings on online auction sites, and marketing. While I can't say that it did nothing for me, perhaps I had a few sales from it all, it's not how I want to continue to spend my time. So, I decided that this year is going to be for me. Sure, I'll put a few items on etsy from time to time, but I have one main goal - to have fun! There's a bunch of patterns out there I want to try, ones in magazines that I enjoyed looking at and "mentally beaded" along with, that I never actually physically did. There's some cross needle 3-d patterns I want to try - because they look fun, and a bit challenging. If I get around to listing them for sale, that's fine, if not, that's fine too. As long as I am having fun, it's all good.

Not to leave you completely without beady goodness - here is a little something I made for myself for New Years Eve. The necklace was inspired by Russian beading, and the earrings are a classic Russian Leaf. I wore a lovely black and gold sequin dress and gold sequin boots, so this set really completed the outfit for me.

I am admittingly bad at finding time to photograph my jewelry. I work a 40 hour regular office job in addition to my beadwork. Every day I wake up at 5am, my dear husband even earlier. By the time I awake, my coffee cup is waiting for me on the living room table. After a few minutes of yawning and snuggling with my hubby I reluctantly find something to wear and get ready for work.

I commute 45 minutes to my office. The work day goes by - sometimes fast, sometimes slow. I drive another 45 minutes to an hour home. We make dinner, we eat dinner. Now it's 6pm. Do I bead? Do I exersize? Do I take hundreds of pictures and sift through them all to find the good ones?

More often than not, I bead. I'll take breaks and do some wii fit, or some stretching and hoop dancing. Before I know it I'm yawning again...and it's time to get ready for bed.

This is my day. Not super exciting, I know...

The weekends, however, is my "me" time. I bead lots, I clean a little. If the mood strikes, my husband and I will get out and hear some local live music. But THIS weekend I promise I'll take some pictures and get some good stuff to you next week.

I even have a bracelet all made for a giveaway (that I still need to photograph, of course), that will most likely start on Monday. Stay tuned! In the mean time, here are some simple yet lovely netted bracelets I made recently.

Hearts A Plenty

I'll admit, I'm usually behind the power curve when it comes to "seasonal" jewelry. Actually finishing two heart themed necklaces 8 days before Valentine's Day is pretty good for me.
I think the key may be thinking two holidays ahead. If I could forget about St. Patricks Day and concentrate on Easter, then I might get something accomplished. But I'm Irish, how can I forget about St. Patty's!? I guess we'll see what happens...a lot of times I don't choose the project, they choose me.
In any event, here are my two latest creations, Hearts-a-Plenty. Both were beaded with sz. 11 Toho seed beads in a netted weave. They are very light, and have an incredible drape to them. Holding one in your hand, it almost feels like sand wanting to sift through your fingers. The texture just makes you want to touch it!
The first is a very subtle blue-on-blue. I used a transparent blue for the background, and an opaque light blue for the hearts.

For the second, I used the same transparent blue background, but used a lilac-lined blue for the hearts to give the necklace more contrast. Both necklaces were finished with a silver-plated swivel lobster clasp. I love the swivel clasps, because you don't have to worry about your clasp twisting on you.


Look for these choker style necklaces in my Artfire shop, they'll be available later this evening.
All of my items come shipped in a box suitable for gift giving (with your reciept outside the box of course) so you don't have to worry about buying wrapping paper, or a special box...it's all taken care of for you. Order by Feb. 10th for guaranteed delivery by Feb. 14th. I will ship overnight at the cost of the buyer if last minute shopping is your thing.
Valentine's Day is only a week away fellas!

Something for ME!

As I delve deeper and deeper into my art, I find myself making less and less items for myself. Custom orders, gifts for friends and family, and keeping inventory up to date all takes a good amount of time and effort. Occasionally though, a special event will prompt me to make a set to match an outfit. New years eve was such an event. My theme for the night was pink and brown, my entire outfit revolved around that. Having no pink and brown jewelry in my wardrobe, I just had to make something to match, didn't I?
I wove this choker with silver lined brown delicas and pink opaque toho seed beads. Delicas aren't usually the greatest for netting, but I find when I mix them in with tohos the drape comes out just lovely. I finished it with antiqued brass wire guardians, and an antique brass lobster clasp. It feels great on, I'm really happy with how it turned out.

The earrings I struggled with to be honest...I took them apart several times before getting it just right. I originally was going to do a fringe type dangle earrings, but things just didn't turn out that way. I ended up with a fan dangle (not a fandango). They match the necklace superbly, and have a wonderful swing to them. I used opaque brown, matte pink, and metalic pink toho beads, along with metalic brown bugle beads. They were finished with antiqued brass earwires. I'm looking forward to wearing them for years to come!