Something pretty!

~Jessica Earrings~

I love seeing where my bead babies end up. Aren't these earrings gorgeous? I love copper components but I never would have imagined these working with it (that, of course, is why I don't make jewelry).

Fortunately, Tari over at Pearl and Pebble could. The result: perfect, beachy little earrings. I wish I had them for my upcoming trip to the island!

Final push

Do you have plans for Independence Day? Do you have a family tradition followed year after year, looked forward to with anticipation and remembered later with sweet nostalgia?

We always head to this quaint and quiet little coastal island for the the 4th. It's all about relax, recuperate and recharge while we're there. It's such a lazy, easy-going getaway. All we pack are swim suits, shorts, T's and flip-flops. Nothing to do and nowhere to go but lay on the sand, eat ice-cream and watch fireworks.

Heaven....

Before we leave for Utopia, I've been making a final push of new bead listings. I'm really happy with these designs - some new and some old - and I hope you'll like them, too.

~Organic Hollow Focal Set~

~Flower Fairy Discs~

~Sea Blossoms~

~Pink Flower Fairy Discs~

~Moonstone Discs~

Whatever your plans are - be safe, be happy and enjoy the day!

Too busy, no time to chat!

~Rustic Rolos~

I can't even capture how cool the colors in these beads look!

Things have been so hectic around here - washing machine broke, dog got sick, lost iPod, beads got lost in the mail and had to be remade, many custom orders, swim meet, basketball game, nephew's car broke down, lawn mower broke. Seriously, I don't have time to chat right now. I do have some interesting things to share, cool shops to visit, fun things that I've bought - but that will have to wait until tomorrow. Sorry.

For now, it's just beads. I've got new things listed in my Etsy shop that you might want to check out. I'm also completely caught up on custom orders, so if there's anything you want or need, now's the time to let me know!

~Ancient Ivory~

~Tropicana BHB's~

~True Blues~

~Creamsicle Discs~

Look at all this great stuff!!!

If you're a designer or just love to collect beads and findings in hopes of someday actually making a piece of jewelry (this is me), you need to head on over to Denise Yezbek Moore's blog. She's got one insane give-away going on right now!

Destashing. Seriously!

Well, the kids are back from their vacation and so it's back to the same ol', same ol' for me. I'm getting up at 5:30 so I can get studio time in before it gets hot out. Connor has swimming 3x a week at 8:30 am and Anna has basketball the other 2 days. Meets and games on Saturdays, plus art camp and baseball camp. It's a little bit of a grueling schedule for summer but, since we aren't vacationing because of the economic situation (in our house) , I wanted to make sure the kids got to do something fun that would keep them busy and occupied.

I just didn't realize quite how busy and occupied it was going to keep me!

At least I managed to get some 'To Do' items scratched off my list while the little darlings were away. The most important one was me sorting through hundreds of beads that I've made and then tucked away - thinking I'd use them to make jewelry (ummm, yeah, right) or take to shows.

I've faced the truth about myslef, finally, and I realize that neither one of those things are going to happen so I've decided to release them into the wild.

Fly away, little beads, fly away.

The perfect Sunday...

Monday Give Away Winner!

Denise chose the blue wave links and requested that I etch them for her. I can't wait to see how they end up.

Congratulations to the Monday Give Away winner, Denise Moore!

I really want to thank everyone who participated and gave me feedback and critique. It's a huge help to get designer input and perspective. I like to make what I like to make and that won't change, but it's very helpful to know if there's some tweaking that I can do to make my beads more useable to those of you who, well, use them.

This so was so much fun and so helpful, I think I'll do it again. I've got some new design ideas brewing upstairs that I'm curious about. As soon as I get a chance to work them out, we'll have another give-away.

GRAPHIQUE

I'm having a lazy Saturday.

The kids are away and Robert and I are living like newlyweds. We were supposed to go to the beach early this morning, do a little fishing on the river, take Tuck so he could play in the water, stop at our favorite fish camp on the way home for some wings and rock shrimp, ice-cold beer and sunset.

Really just a perfect day.

However, instead of the perfect day, we stayed out too late last night, played too much pool, listened to too much music and overslept this morning. We didn't get up until almost 8:30!!! By then, it was too late for fishing and we were feeling very, very lazy anyway.

So, I've frittered my day away watching the Star Trek movie (the latest one), eating popcorn and building the above treasury. I think it turned out very pretty.

Last day for the Give Away!

It's the last day to weigh in on my give-away items from previous post. Thanks so much for all of the great critiques and input! Later this afternoon I'll be drawing a winner, so don't miss out!

I've also got some fun new items listed in my Etsy shop. I'm heading to the torch right now to get some work done while the kids are away at Grandma and Grandpa's house, but I wanted to share some quick pics.

Monday Give Away!

Should I etch these?

Here's the deal. I tend to operate in something of a vacuum. I make beads because I enjoy the process of making them. I like color theory, I like trying out new glass, new designs, interesting shapes, etc... I'm very interested in the science of glass, but I don't really keep in mind that somebody is going to have to make something with all of the beads I produce.

Lately, I've really trimmed down my designs to make them more user-friendly. The beads are more streamlined and, I think, usable. But I'm not really sure.

I have questions.

So, I thought I'd put up some of my recent experiments here and try to get some feedback from jewelry designers. I want honest (but useful) critiques. I need this. It'll be good for me.

All you have to do to enter the Give Away is leave a comment with some feedback about these - or any other of my beads that you've seen. On Friday, I'll scientifically (name drawn from Tupperware container) choose a winner and that winner can then select whichever one they like from these four sets.

Pretty easy, huh?

Are these too plain? Etched or shiny?

Would you ever use something like this?

Do these look like bacon?

OK, that question is irrelevant. I was going for a petrified wood look, but I'm pretty confident that I achieved bacon.

Yummmmm, bacon!

Sunday Mornings

Sundays are a gentle time at our house - the one day of the week where we aren't rushing, bickering, working, studying, bickering, etc...

But there is a routine. I get up early, usually around 6 a.m., I tend to all of the pets, and put the coffee on, then I do a little yoga stretching. If I'm in the mood, Tuck and I will go for a quick run.

If I'm not in the mood to run, I do what I did this morning. I take my coffee and my big, furry boy - my third child - out to the patio and I clean the pool.

I like this little chore, actually. It's so peaceful out there in the morning. The water birds are fishing at the edge of the lake where a soft breeze is usually blowing, the tree birds are singing, few cars are out on the roads and no child is calling for mom to do, find, get or make something for them. It's good exercise, too, but relaxing with it's slow, repetitive motions.

Tuck's a huge help...

Being good is just exhausting !

By the time we finish, everyone (except Tucker) is up and restless, ready to make a plan, ready to roll.

How do you spend your Sundays?

Just a swingin'

Courtesy of Coastal Living, photo: Colleen Duffley

I'm having this!!!

Well, not this exact one, but a similar one. I've always wanted a patio swing bed and now I've got my chance. When my daughter was younger and used to have tons of sleepovers, I bought a beautiful, high-end futon for our family room so she and her friends could stay up late, watch tv and not be cramped into her bedroom. Now that she's older and sleepovers are more private (and rare) occasions, I've decided to appropriate the futon for my own use.

You may not know this, but I love to build things. I've built several pieces of furniture from scratch, converted others for better use and functionality and also created some more utilitarian items for my work area. So this is right up my creative alley!

I've drawn out my plans and this promises to be a pretty simple conversion, requiring only some extra supports, heavy-duty hardware, good quality rope and ingenuity. I think it'll make a perfect addition to the patio!

I'll share photos as soon as it's done.

Beads, anyone?

~Eternity Wave~

Lots of new beads in my Etsy shop right now. With just 6 days of school left, I'm trying to stock up before the little darlings are released.

~Pink Gold~

~Tangerine Dream~

~Antiquity~

~Lagoon Spacers~

Thanks for looking!

Scenes from yesterday

As always, we spent most of our Memorial holiday at the beach. This year, instead of showing all the photos I took, I thought I'd share some of Anna's. She snapped all of these with her little $30 Kodak point-and-click.

She hates having her own picture taken, but I did manage to capture one of her off-guard.

Never too grown up for ice cream!