i heart macro Sunday

For my entry in the second Time to Stitch Challenge, click here.

For my entry in the Beadwork beaded bead contest, click here.

We visited the arboretum last weekend.  Surprisingly, we had an 80 degree day last weekend, so it seemed a perfect time.

On the way out, we saw a tiny pumpkin growing on what looked like a tomato plant.

When we got home, I did a bit of research.  These turned out to be pumpkin tomatoes.  I had no idea there was such a thing, but now I want to try one!

For more macro goodness, check out Studio Waterstone.

Beadwork Magazine's beaded bead contest

For my entry in the second Time to Stitch Challenge, click here.

You may have noticed here, there, back and again that I have a bit of an obsession with beaded beads.

For the past several months, in celebration of its 15th anniversary, Beadwork Magazine published patterns for a series of beaded beads.

Many of us have been making those beads and waiting for the time we could use those beads to create something for Beadwork's Beaded Bead Contest.

When I started with the first beaded beads, I knew it would be a challenge to make them all play nicely together.  I figured I would just wait for an idea to come to me.

And an idea did come to me, in the form of the kiddo.  When I showed her my first few beads, she asked if they were supposed to be stars or planets.  *lightbulb*  (Have I mentioned that my daughter is awesome?)

The kiddo and I spent the afternoon researching planets.  We took notes on color and size.

The first pattern published was "Seeing Stars," designed by Melinda Barta.  I used this pattern for Mercury and Pluto.

The second design was the "Cube Cluster Beaded Bead," designed by Gwen Fisher.  This wonderful bead became Jupiter.  My Jupiter even has the red spot.

I used Florence Turnour's "Stargazer Beaded Bead" for Earth and Uranus.

These two beaded beads are just a sampling of what Gwen and Florence have in their store, Bead Infinitum.   Gwen and Florence are mathematicians and their beaded cubes, rings, prisms and spheres are well thought out, fun to bead and amazing when completed.

The "Treasure Trove Beaded Bead," designed by Cynthia Newcomer Daniel, was perfect for Venus and Neptune.

Cynthia has other wonderful designs in her etsy shop.  Cynthia's patterns are a joy to bead and the end result is always stunning.

The last design was the "Dewdrop  Beaded Bead," designed by Cindy Holsclaw.  I was excited to use this pattern for Saturn and Mars.

If you like the "Dewdrop Beaded Bead," you should visit Cindy's store, Bead Origami.  Cindy designs amazing beaded beads and pendants.

Once I finished my beads, I realized I had given no thought on *how* to make these beads work together.  The different colors and various shapes made it difficult for me to create cohesive design.

Then I remembered a set of beads made by Donna Millard.  The colors worked amazingly well with my beaded beads.

You can find more of Donna's work in her etsy store.  I have yet to see a bead from Donna that isn't absolutely breath taking.  I highly recommend taking a peek at her store.

I put Jupiter in the middle and laid the rest of the beads out in order.  (Who else remembers "my very eager mother just served us nine pickles?")

I even found the perfect clasp.  Do you see how great it looks next to Donna's beads?

I could not be happier with the result.

I love how Donna's beads pull everything together and make my beaded beads work together in a way I didn't think they could.

You can find my entry here.  If you have time, though, take a look through the gallery.  There are some fantastic designs and you can vote for all of your favorites.  The winning piece will be published in an upcoming issue of Beadwork!

A Time to Stitch 2

Welcome to the second Time to Stitch Challenge reveal.

In June, Therese Frank of Therese's Treasures and Christine Altmiller of One Kiss Creations hosted the first of a series of challenges designed to tickle the fancy for new and experienced beadweavers:  create something (anything) using a specific beadweaving stitch.

The turnout was awesome and everyone involved had a blast.  (You can see my entry here.)

This time around, Therese and Christine chose right angle weave and St. Petersburg stitch.

For me, right angle weave is synonymous with Marcia DeCoster.  Her projects were the first right angle weave projects I really attempted (and finished).  Marcia's book, Beaded Opulence, is a great source for right angle weave projects.

When my husband suggested that I attend the Bead and Button convention last summer, I immediately signed up for Marcia's Rising Sun class.  I really enjoyed the class and it was fun to meet Marcia -- I felt like I was meeting a celebrity.

I was able to finish the focal in class and got a start on the band ... and then it sat on my bead table.  This challenge was the perfect motivation to get me beading!

The focal consists of a right angle weave bezel around a Czech button.  The bezel uses different sized beads to create a little "pocket" for the button.

The bracelet is made by embellishing right angle weave stitches.  I took apart the band I had and started from scratch.  The bumps were fun to do and beaded quickly.

The end result is stunning.

I can't believe it took me so long to finish this.

Therese and Christine, thank you for hosting another fun challenge and making me get to work on something that *deserved* to be finished.

Please check out the beady goodness offered by the rest of the participants.  I promise, you are in for a treat!

Therese Frank and Christine Altmiller

Nikki Byers

Kristen Stevens

Shirley Moore

Cynthia Machata

Lola Surwillo

Maryanne Gross

Alenka

Karin Slaton

Katherine Gale

Sally Russick

Amy Severino 

Alicia Marinache

Sonya Stille

Tanya Goodwin - you are here

Lisa Stukel

Marla Gibson

Sarah Sequins

Mandy 

Andra Weber

Kim Hora

Karen Williams

A BIG "Thank You"

The first week in October was an 8 day celebration of Lori Anderson's new book, Bead Soup.

All of the book contributors got in on the fun and the week was full of beady goodness, awesome eye candy and giveaways.

I was lucky enough to win the grand prize.  Lori must know someone at the post office because the box arrived lightning fast.

Opening the box was like my very own Christmas in October.  What did I find?

This gorgeous faux sea glass from Z-net Shows and a string of pearls:

An awesome brass toggle:

Sandi Volpe's gorgeous necklace, made for the Bead Soup Blog Party 6:

You can read more about the necklace in her Bead Soup 6 post.  Check out Sandi's etsy shop for more beautiful creations.

A fabulous "Bead Souper" apron:

Did you know that you can get your very own "Bead Souper" apron here?  If aprons are not your style, you can also find t-shirts, tote bags, mugs and more!

Two amazing color pallettes by Brandi Hussey:

Brandi has more palettes available here.

A gorgeous pendant by Erin Prais-Hintz:

Erin has more pendants available in her etsy shop.

A beautiful beaded bead by Malin de Koning:

If you want your own (and you know you do), you can find more in Malin's etsy shop.

Tacky glue, a Fiskars mandrel and nail files:

A handmade notebook and recipe cards:

A wooden bangle Bead Soup Kit: 

Several metal blanks:

Lori even threw in some lotion and a mini soap from Moon Dance Soaps.

Lori, thank you so much for organizing such a great week for us.  Thank you, too, to everyone who donated these awesome prizes!  I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your generosity.

Now, I need to get creating with all of these beautiful things.  :)

i heart macro Sunday

For my entry in the My Bead Table Blog Hop, click here.

I only have one picture today.

I must  be in an odd mood.  When I saw it, my first thought was, "he loves me, he loves me not."

For more macro goodness, check out Studio Waterstone.

My Bead Table Blog Hop

Lisa Lodge, from A Grateful Artist, hosted a fabulous challenge/blog hop.  She sent 25 lucky people a selection of stray or orphan beads from her stash.  She asked us to combine those beads with some orphans from our own stash to create something awesome.

I was excited to take part and even more excited to receive my bead soup.

I took Lisa's soup and added odd beads from my stash, then mixed in some seed beads.  I ended up with quite a large cup of soup.

Yes, I stirred my soup with a spoon.  :)

I haven't done much in the way of bead soups, so I turned to Beaded Colorways by Beverly Ash Gilbert.  In her book, Beverly does an amazing job of explaining how to create a bead soup and how to transition between different colors of soups.  The projects are amazing and one in particular caught my eye.

Beverly's "Wander with Flair" necklace incorporates sari ribbons into a freestyle beading technique.

I had so much fun making this necklace.  There wasn't any "wrong" way to go and the bead soup blended perfectly into the fiber.

I was stunned to see the final product.

Never in a million years would I think I could make something like that!

It turns out that my approximation of beads was *way* off because I had over half my original soup left.

That soup became a bracelet.

I chose to do a freeform netting, similar to that in the necklace.  It was so much fun to just let go and string beads.  Lisa's bead soup was perfect.

I used a snap for the closure.  I love that it's hidden.

Please take some time and check out the other wonderful designers who participated in this hop.  I promise, you will see some awesome beady goodness.

Lisa Lodge, A Greatful Artist (our host)

Molly Alexander, Beautifully Broken Me

Audrey Belanger, Dreams of an Absolution

Ginger Bishop, lilmummy likes...

Tanya Boden, Fusion Muse

Lisa Boucher, Lisa’s Clay Happenings

Michelle Buettner, Mishel Designs

Eleanor Burian-Mohr, TheCharmed Life

Mikala Coates, MaybeJust Perhaps

Marlene Cupo, Amazing Designs

Kathleen Douglas, Washoe Kat's

Mary Anne Klinglesmith Flesch, Hand Crafted Serenity

Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs

Tanya Goodwin, A Work in Progress - you are here

Mary Hicks, Falling Into the Sky

Tina Holden, PolymerClay Bytes!

Shelly Joyce, Au jour le jour

Carolyn Lawson, Carolyn'sCreations

Kathy Lindemer, Bay Moon Design

Susan Lloyd, Designs by Susan

Cynthia Machata, AntiquityTravelers

Kashmira Patel, Sadafule .. always in bloom!

Inge von Roos, Inge'sBlog

Kristen Stevens, My Bead Journey

Sonya Stille, Dreamin' of Beads

Christine Stonefield, SweetGirl Design

Toltec Jewels, JewelSchool Friends

Norma Turvey, MoonlitFantaseas

Sandra Wollberg, Cityof Brass Stories

Kalmbach Bead Soup Party - the reveal

To celebrate the release of Lori Anderson's book, Bead Soup, Kalmbach Publishing is hosting its own bead soup party.  I entered for a chance to receive a bead soup from one of the generous shops working with Kalmbach for this event.

I received this soup from Advantage Beads in Wichita, KS.  

I wanted to use only beads from my stash for this project and the color palette of my soup made it easy.

I started with a cabochon that's been sitting in my stash a bit too long and created a focal inspired by Lisa Kan's Corsage Cuff, published in the February 2009 issue of Beadwork.

I started a spiral rope and based on Scarlett Lanson's "Aegean Sea" necklace in the October/November 2009 issue of Beadwork.  I was able to incorporate the bead soup beads here and there in the rope.

I found the fuchsia crystals and pink pearls in my stash.  Both were either left over from something or bought for something else and never used.  I thought the blue seed beads brought a nice "pop" of color and echoed the colors in the cabochon.

I really love the end result.

I love how all the different beads work together and add interest to an otherwise boring spiral chain.

Thank you to to Advantage Beads for providing the soup and to Kalmbach Publishing for putting this whole thing together.