Saturday, March 3, 2012

Bead Soup Time!

Thanks again to Lori Anderson for hosting this blog hop and to my partner, Vonna for all of the beautiful beads she sent me.  When I first opened her package, I was excited to see a lovely lampwork focal that she had made herself.  I almost never use actual lampwork in my stuff (that is weird though, isn't it?) but I couldn't wait to try.  First, I thought I would get out the wire and create a wire worked masterpiece.  One problem - I suck at wire, anything beyond the basics just doesn't work for me.  So I thought I would make a bracelet.  Never looked right - I knew that it had to be a necklace.  At one point, I thought I would just make a bail and hang it from a piece of cord, but I knew that I wanted it to be a little more fancy than that.  So, what do you do when you are stumped?  Keep it simple.

I added some of Vonna's chain to the bottom and added some navy blue glass beads.  I strung this with some lightweight wood triangle beads and peanut beads in a mix of tan and brown.  Nothing too outside my box, but I was happy that I was able to actually make something for the first time in a loooooong time. 

Happy hopping!!







Hostess, Lori Anderson





Special Book Sneak Peeks, Cindy Wimmer






1.  Adlinah Kamsir (Singapore) and Hajer Waheed (Kingdom of Bahrain)





2. Adrienn Lukacs (Hungary) and Agata Grygiel (Poland)





3.  Agi Kiss (Hungary) and Carolien Muller-Genger (the Netherlands)





4.  Agnes Asztalos (Hungary) and B.R. Kuhlman











7.  Alicia Marinache (Canada) and Dita Basu



















































15.  Bonnie Coursolle (Canada) and Fay Wolfenden (Canada)





16.  Carmel McGinley (Australia) and Tracy Stillman (Australia)














































21.  Cheryl Brown (Canada) and Diana Ptaszynski





22.  Christina Stofmeel (the Netherlands) and Eva Kovacs (Hungary)








24.  Cilla Watkins (Canada) and Elaine Robitaille (Canada)





25.  Sabrina Straub (Switzerland) and Kathy Combs




















































32.  Dee Elgie (UK) and Joanne Lockwood (UK)





33.  Dian Hierschel (Germany) and Eniko Fabian (Austria)














37.  Doris Stumpf (Germany) and Eszter Czibulyas (Hungary)








39.  Elke Leonhardt-Rath (Germany) and Marjolein Trewavas (UK)
































41.  Erika Nooteboom (the Netherlands) and Giorgia Rossini (Italy)








43.  Evelyn Duberry (Canada) and Gaea Cannaday








45.  Ginger Bishop (military, Okinawa) and Martina Nagele (Germany)











48.  Helene Goldberg (Australia) and Karen Vincent













































54.  Joanna Matuszczyk (Poland) and Julianna Kis (Hungary)





55.  Joanne Tinley (UK) and Michaela Pabeschitz (Austria)






























































65.  Kristina Johansson (Sweden) and Penny Neville (Canada)





66.  Krisztina Erlaki-Toth (Hungary) and Nicole Keller (Germany)
























































76.  Lori Finney (Canada) and Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp (Canada)








78.  Marta Kaczerowska (Poland) and Milla Starchik (Canada)

























































83.  Michelle Jensen and Sandra Young (Canada)
































































92.  Rosa Maria Cuevas (Mexico) and Tejae Floyde





93.  Sabine Dittrich (Germany) and Sally Russick








95.  Shanti Johnson and Tracy Mok (Canada)








97.  Sonya Stille and Traci Zeller (Canada)





98.  Stefanie Teufel (Germany) and Tania Hagen (New Zealand)








Monday, February 6, 2012

Bead Soup Ingredients

Same old, same old going on over here.  Not much new to report.  I did receive my bead soup from my partner, Vonna and I finally got a picture taken that I wanted to share. 


A really neat lampwork focal made by Vonna, some strands of pearls, a stone bead and some pink accent beads.  There is also some brown leather cord and antique brass chain and clasps.  I think I may have an idea for what I can make, but we will see if it turns out the way I am picturing in my head.



This is the soup I sent to Vonna, a ceramic focal from Starry Road Studio, Czech glass, wood beads and two clasps.  She took a much better photo of all my stuff on her blog, go check it out.  Can't wait to see what see makes with it!


Monday, January 23, 2012

Long Story Short

I have not been online in quite some time.  I have had this particular post written out in my mind for awhile, but just haven't put the thoughts down.  What to go into and what to keep to myself.  I normally try to only share positive thoughts and cheery statements, not only on line but around friends/family/acquaintances too.  When something is bothering me, I usually keep my thoughts to myself.  Not the healthiest way to be, but it has worked for me for 32 years, so why change now?  I can't really get out of explaining my absence without really addressing the issue behind it.  What I have been up to:

1.  Dealing with my son's school.  And his teachers.  Hearing a lot about disorders, emotional issues, and lots of this is wrong and that is wrong.  Hearing a lot of sentences that start, "well the way he does this is not normal" and "the way he talks is not normal" and "if you had another child you would know it is not normal."

2.  Developed an aversion to the word "normal."

3.  I was sick in November for Thanksgiving, December for Christmas and just to finish it out once more in January.

4.  I made a bunch of money selling stuff before Christmas and instead of purchasing new beads, paid off my bead Visa.  This is completely responsible and also completely out of character. 

5.  I have not bought beads in over two months.

6.  I have not made anything for longer then that.

I have no drive to make anything.  At all.  I used to have ideas swimming around in my head all the time.  So many I used to have to write them down because I can't draw to save my life, but now nothing.  All that extra space is taken up with worrying.  I joined the Bead Soup Blog Party party in an effort to rescue, recharge my muse, or whatever you want to call it.  Put of me knew that if I joined there was a chance I wouldn't make it in.  I figured if I didn't, ok, well not meant to be.  But now I know that I did get paired up with a lovely partner and I am going to have to make something out of what she sent me.  Can I do it?  Or will I stare at them and not have a clue?

Well, if you have made it this far, thank you for letting me vent.  I will take pictures of the soup that I receive and will properly introduce you to my partner, Vonna.  Just finished putting together her soup that I will hopefully get into the mail tomorrow.