Hidden Cove Design Challenge Reveal

Today is the day!

It is almost over and I am barely making the deadline, but I am really excited to show off the pieces that I made for this challenge.

My daughter had a bunch of homework to do tonite to make up for the day we had yesterday visiting friends in Pittsburgh and skipping school, so it was PERFECT timing for me to get my projects taken care of...

The piece above is made with two African glass beads and the gorgeous blue stones that were included in the kit. I strung them on somw leftover memory wire and it is really a nice hefty piece to wear on its own or pair with other pieces.

This piece is made with the blue silk ribbon, a bit of the chain, seed beads, vintage lucite/plastics, and jump rings.

It can be worn as long or as short as you wish, as it has to be knotted to close since I didn't use any clasps.

This piece was made using this fun Dalmation Jasper, the pretty turquoise metallic tubes, seed beads, and headpins. 

It almost has a surfer punk style and I am loving it! 

Lastly, these are the earrings that I came up with. I think these are SO much fun!!!

My apologies because the colors in all of my photos are terrible because I took my photos indoors AND at night. Too dark and too yellow!

Maybe I will take some better photos tomorrow, but I know for sure that I will be wearing that jasper necklace to work tomorrow! I really do LOVE it!!!!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Check back next week for: Sarajo's Honey Do Challenge, Art Bead Scene, Halcraft Pretty Palettes, and the Inspired by Reading Book Club project reveals!!!!

Beadfest Goodies

So how did I forget to post about my finds at Beadfest????

Oh yeah, last week was play week for the kids and I had two evening events and a visit from some friends from outta town! Crazy busy!!!

But, without further ado:

This vendor had some really cool stuff! I could have spent a ton more money, but....you know, budgets!!!

Above are the art beads I scored! $1 each because the artist said that they had imperfections. (I am still trying to find them- but now I have like 8 projects for Art Bead Scene challenges!!!)

These stars were definitely not something that I thought I would be bringing home.

But, guess what I have planned for them???

BOOk CLUB!!!! 

We will be reading 'A Fault in Our Stars' soon...

This piece was definitely a splurge. It is a Raku pendant with the most scrumptious  red glaze in the center. It has two large bails so it can be strung with beads or just placed on a chain or cord or fiber and worn to show it off. 

It is a stunner and I am a lucky gal to own this!!!!

The top two photos are a strand of ceramic spacers that I think are really pretty. I wish I had found these sooner in the day because I would have bought some more. I love how they are two different colors. They will pair well with something that needs a 'wow' factor.

Alison and I couldn't pass up the AB finish hematite strands. So we purchased 4 for $10. Here's my $5 worth. Ha ha!

Here are my goodies from Saki Silver. I adore their clasps, so I was really excited to get these fun components. Especially that heart. Oooh the patina!!!! 

(The tooth was for gift for Zack)

Look at these crazy beads!!!! They are large, orange circles with these funny bumps on them. This will make a really crazy piece!!! And the pearls are called cornflake pearls. I cannot wait to just string them up as is. Yum!!!

I like big beads and I will not lie....

Hahahahahaha.

Seriously, these things are GiNoRmOuS!!!

Faceted quartz! 

And did I say they are HUGE?!?!

Here is the rest of the goodies from the big bead seller. I fell in love with the strand in the middle and would have bought the blue cousin, but again, budget....

These are cards that I got from people that I want to buy from in the future. 

And here are the two things on my wish list so far:

Supposedly this is a seed pod. But I say it is a crown and it would look AWESOME with my Highland Games attire. 

Anne Mitchell, I will be calling you!

And lastly,

Look at these hearts!!!!

They make the prettiest sound when they clink together. 

I am thinking, 'Happy birthday to me!!!'

So, that was Beadfest Spring. The first one I ever made it to, and the last spring show ever.

I cannot WAIT to return in the fall!!!! 

Bead Fest Philly with my Bead Peeps

We left Ligonier at 8:30 a.m and pulled into the Expo Center at 12:30. We had a nice smooth ride which turned from Western Pa dismal and gray to Eastern Pa sunny skies.

We chatted all the way out, and we had the Turnpike to ourselves- so we could set the cruise control at 75 or 80 and run!

It was great!!!

Here is our entryway selfie! We pretty much divided and conquered. The boys had to work, and Alison and I had to get shopping.

So much to see, so little time!

Alison and I planned to walk the show and then go back and buy.

Sounds good in theory, but that tactic worked for about 30 minutes.

Just look at this table! How can you pass up deals like this???? This table had an offer of strands at 50% off with another 40% off of that. Sooooo tempting!

Alison scored some great deals on Art Beads, and I got a mixed assortment of stuff (see my other post where I highlight my goodies, and check out Alison's goodies on her blog too). 

It was all fun until we went bust... So then we went and visited folks we knew and talked about the Inspired by Reading Book Club...

Oh yeah, And here is Alison at the Green Girl booth:

And the boys? Here they are, hard at work!!! (I even got Andrew and his good side... Lol!)

I was so happy that we got to go!

Did you see that I won an umbrella from a radio station??? Crazy fun!

When we had finally shopped ourselves silly and the boys had made their final stop for the shop, we headed out to eat at this fun place in Phoenixville: 

I loved the art- I even think it was local-

So, cannot wait for Beadfest Philly in the fall. I am saving my monies now!!! Who wants to join us????

When hair goes wrong....

So this would be filed under a 'such' post. There is nothing here about rubber stamps, designer bags, or my other favorite subject, beads beads beads. 

This time it is about hair....

I have a confession to make. 

I am hair illiterate.

I can wash it, dry it and put it up into a ponytail or a clip and that's about it.

For those who do not know me, I am a brunette with super thick, super straight (and formerly long) hair. 

I am sure there are a few of you saying, OMG, I would love to have that!!!! And right now I would agree with you....

My daughter is 7.5 years old and not quite a master in the grooming or personal hygiene department...We have been battling for about 3 months with the hairbrush (I think we own every possible detangling brush on the market) and the knots in her hair. 

Everytime her hair gets knotty I have to beg her to brush it. And she fights and cries, and I get mad, and we stop and the knots get worse until every so often she knows it is bad enough that something has to be done or else it will have to get chopped off.

And today, I just couldn't take it anymore. 

I started brushing it before we left for the salon. But she stopped me before we were a third of the way done. And I knew that the hairdresser was going to give me 'the look' once we got there, because she would know how much brushing and detangling she would have to do before she even lifted her scissors....

We got to the salon and we checked in and were ready to go. My daughter was excited that she was going to lose the length on her hair and that it was going to be easy for her to brush.

So the stylist started brushing, and all was well. Another stylist was ready for me, and I thought to myself, I need to lose some length so in my mind I was ready to go to shoulder length.

I always get an inverted bob. Whether it is long or short, it gives my hair a 'style' and takes some weight off. When I started today, my hair was 1/3 of the way down my back.

When it was over, it was chin length. And it was all one length.... 

Meanwhile in the other chair, my daughter was in tears from the brushing, and just starting to get everything cut.

I was about to lose my shit on my stylist, but instead, I looked over to my little girl and said, 'Hey honey, look! When you are done, we will be twins!

She looked at me, then my hair, and beamed! 

Luckily for my daughter, my stylist had screwed up my hair enough to give me and my daughter twinsie hairstyles.

And my little girl is tickled pink.

Mommy still needs to come to terms with everything, but in the interim, if anyone needs a pirate, pageboy, or colonial extra, call me! I definitely have the hairstyle for it...

Art Bead Scene: March 2016

In March, the Art Bead Scene posted the challenge on their blog based on this painting:

The colors in this palette are super muted and neutral. But I had a strand of beads that I knew was just perfect for the challenge.

Here is my completed project:

The photo quality isn't the greatest, but you can see the blue/gray czech glass beads that I used on the bottom. They really pull out the mustard/gold tones in the painting and make the piece have a certain 'glitz.'

The top strand of beads are a matte finish seed bead using a darker gray smaller foil lined seed bead as a spacer.

The art beads, which accentuate the other pops of color in the artwork, are glazed ceramics by Keith O'Connor.

A friend posted the following blurb in FB about a week before the challenge deadline. I was glad that I copied it, because she has no affiliation with anything 'bead.' 

Coincidence, maybe! It's a small world, afterall!!!!!

I had started the piece below before I had completed the one above and had all the intentions of using it for another challenge. But, it reminds me more of the little kittens on the branch than it does with the other challenge, so I am posting it here.

The dangling glass beads are foil lined African pretties. And the fun tubes are some sort of embossed and rolled leather from Africa. 

Both of which were sourced from Allegory Gallery a few years ago and although they don't teally count as an 'art bead' I think they are wildly different than most of the materials I use and fit the color scheme enough to be included with this post.

I look forward to playing along in April and I hope you will check back to see what I have come up with for that challenge.

Be well!

Laurel

The Swan Thieves: The Inspired by Reading Book Club March Selection

Last month, we read this book.

Well, some of us read the book, some of us listened to the book, and some of us started to read the book and didn't finish it.

Guess which category I fall into?

If you picked option one or two, you are VERY wrong....

I got to Chapter 8 and had the highest of intentions of reading the rest of the book on the plane to, by the pool in, or during our travels by car in, Florida.

So yeah, that didn't happen!

When I returned, I googled a synopsis of the book and realized that what I had surmised from the first 8 chapters, was the same as those on the blog....

'Overdescriptive, lacking in interest, and no nice nifty resolution'- and that sealed the deal for me.

I cannot stand when a book doesn't 'resolve itself' and leave the reader with all the loose ends tied up and wrapped in a nice, pretty package with no more questions to ask.

So, I was glad I didn't read all of the (over 500) pages of the book, just to be let down. 

I did however deduce that there was a lot of love in the book. Or at least, lust.

For instance, why would a demented artist keep painting the same woman in his portrait over and over if there was not some love or lust (aka obsession). And consequently slash a painting in the National Gallery. Ugh!!!

And what about the narrator? He says a few times that he had been in failed relationships, but has no problem picking up chicks in the book... 

And then there are the love letters. And in French too!!! Ooh La La!!! How convienient that the narrator has to call up one of his former 'loves' to come over to have coffee and translate...

It just so happens that Alison and I ordered some fun stuff from Swoondimples this winter and that I had chosen the heart that is at the center of my necklace because I knew that I would need it for a book club project!!!

The cracked agate were strands from two seperate trunk shows at Allegory Gallery and I thought of them immediately because they look painted. And they also make a really great necklace to wear for Valentine's Day too! 

So, I may not have read the entire book, or even had my project done for the meet up, but I was able to piece something together that I absolutely adore 'de tout mon coeur' or 'with all my heart'- even if that wasn't my sentiment for the book...

See you next month for my thoughts on 'The Girl of the Limberlost' which I read as a teen and cannot wait to read as an adult to see if I still like it as much!!!!

See you then,

Laurel

 

Sarajo's Honey Do Challenge #2 (Inspired by Black & White)

I LOVE black and white as a jewelry inspiration. One of my favorite pieces to make EVER was one that was for our book club and inspired by the imagery of fall leaves at twilight in New England.

The book was 'The Bucolic Plague' by Josh Kilmer Purcell aka one of The Fabulous Beekman Boys. (If you haven't read it yet- it is a must! Oh to have endless capital and Martha Stewart to promote some of your products when you are just starting out...)

Anyhow, the white that I used for that piece was a white and gray round gemstone strand that in my uneducated days I figured was some sort of marble, but turned out to be Howlite.

This stone is also one of my favorites to work with still! So it was no surprise that I had a few strands laying around that I knew would be perfect for this challenge!!!

So why am I so late to post all this? I was in Disney!!!!

This was in one of the fun shops in Disney Springs. Notice Minnie is sporting a white necklace?

Oddly enough, I was ready to go with most of my projects before I left for FL. I took my necklace with me to post about but ran way out of time. However, I wore it a bunch- here I am with my Grandma and her sister in West Palm Beach and I am sporting it!!!

Those are my kids with their GREAT grandma and GREAT GREAT aunt y'all! 

We had several great visits = memories made with the kids.

Sadly, my necklace made it all the way home and the night I brought it with me to the bead shop to blog about, it got stuck on something and broke. Luckily, it was an easy repair, and not many beads fell off the soft flex wire. 

I took two of the beads off and made earrings to match and now I have a fun (and complete) set to wear- because howlite truly goes with EVERYTHING!!!!