New beauties from Kerribeads...

I've been checking out a few new beads posted on Kerri Fuhr's blog, The Daily Bead. A gorgeous swan and one of her fantastic dragonflies, only this time it's on a red bead. Awesome... a must see... http://kerrifuhr.blogspot.com/
She was away for a week, but her shop is open again!
http://www.kerrifuhr.etsy.com/

EBW Team Colors of Spring...

Check out this treasury of beautiful jewelry done by a few members of the Etsy BeadWeavers Team.

New items in shop...

I've added three new items to my Etsy shop! Hope they're well received. I'm looking forward to my first sale!! The first, Sweet Amethyst. The photos really don't do it justice, so my photography skills are going to HAVE to improve!

Second, Shimmering Sapphire photos were better in my estimation. The earrings are sophisticated, yet feminine.










Last, but not least, Summer Strawberries look good enough to eat! Yum! These are Cherry Brand vintage strawberry beads from the late 40s, early 50s. I absolutely love vintage beads!

Birdie fever...

No, not bird flu!! Recently, I added 7 new chickadee bird beads to my stash. SOOOO adorable! They are hand made by lampwork artist Mary Lockwood who very kindly made up a selection for me to choose from. As some people know, I have a hard time making decisions---so, I took the whole flock!!

Her shop is here: http://www.marylockwood.etsy.com/ , and she also has a website: http://www.marylockwood.com/ . If you are interested in lampworking she has tutorials that are highly recommended. Not a large selection of lampwork to choose from, but she is convo friendly, and super nice! She also does beautiful turtles, other types of birds, and she just sold the cutest little white froggie I had my eye on! :o( Oh well, I love the birdies! Seven birds in the hand are definitely worth more than a frog!

Stars...

I like stars a lot, but someone I know LOVVVVES stars! So here's a little something for Krissie Belle. Stars are the theme for the Treasury (West) I was able to curate today. Please pay it a visit and give it all the clicks it deserves! http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=44037 " ...Anything your heart desires will come to you...."

Glitz and Bits...

A cool surprise! My Hearts and Berries bracelet was chosen for a Treasury by http://www.noahsarkcollection.etsy.com/ Hurray!

Can you guess Noahs ark's shop specialty? Critters of course! And as a critter-lover extraordinaire, be assured that I visited the shop and found several goodies for my item heart collection! I always figure an animal lover MUST be a lovely person!

A confession-well, ok 2.....

First, I have to say, the creative process certainly gets bogged down a lot lately. I finally managed to get a couple of things completed. Not brain surgery, mind you, but little things. The second thing, and please don't tell anybody this, is that I LOVE kits. Yes, I know I have been beading and making jewelry long enough to put together my own projects and design my own stuff! However, visiting Chris Prussing's Etsy shop certainly puts a new spin on that theory. And I quote, "Art is swell 'n all, but some beads just want to have fun." I needed that, so I purchased her "Cowgirl Beads Kit". (By the way, I know first hand that cowgirls like to have fun, I am from Texas ya know!) And I had fun, for several days! No, I didn't design the bead! But I did design a necklace with the bead. I used some fun "bullet" beads I picked up at the Miami Bead Fest last year. I don't know if anybody will ever buy it ('cause it's not a good style for my chunk of a neck) but hey, I enjoyed it! And it's certainly good that "math geeks" like beads too, (say Rhombicuboctahedron 3 times fast) because if I had to figure out the thread path for this puppy by myself, I'd just have to throw it at a squirrel (as my step-dad used to say)!

So, Chris is sending me another pattern. Yep, and I have another kit for bead crochet in the drawer just waiting for an opportune moment. Maybe when that's all finished up, the bog will be cleared, and I can design a OOAK spectacular! Well, maybe not. We'll just see, 'cause I hate pressure! In the meantime, if I want art I can go to the Etsy BeadWeavers member shops, 'cause they do awesome work! So, if you're in the market for bead-fun go here: http://www.chrisprussing.etsy.com/

Gonna bite the bullet..

Yep, I've been working up to this. I finished off that box of cookies last night and today is the first day of my diet. Of course, I think I gained 3 pounds just finishing off that box! Bob (the dear hubster), started Weight Watchers at his office a week ago, and he has already lost 2 1/2 pounds, Hurray!! So, I just plan to follow along in his footsteps. Except for the fact that he can have about TWICE the points I can have! Oh, well, I can do this. Done it before, and I didn't gain ALL the weight back this time. Praise the Lord. I can do all things through Christ...

A nice surprise...

I just happened to find my Precious Star bracelet listed in a Treasury today! What a very nice surprise! "Blues and Creams.." was curated by Sandra at http://www.marbelladesigns.etsy.com/ . She has a blog which I plan to visit: http://marbelladesigns.blogspot.com/ . Her shop announcement says she is having a "GIVE-AWAY" for one of her pieces, so I for one want to see what that's about! She does some lovely metal work!

So many pretties...

Amazingly enough, yesterday I was able to get another Treasury (West)! I must say putting this one together was not as fun as the first, since I had already been running the other one around in my mind, and this second one was a spur of the moment thing.

Etsy BeadWeavers Jan/Feb Challenge...

Tropical Holiday is the theme, and the entries are in. The artistry is simply fantastic! I guarantee visions of which you have never seen the like! To take a peek at all the amazing entries, and cast a vote for your favorite, go to the Etsy BeadWeavers blogsite http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/ . Voting is open from February 9-15. Not that voting is going to be easy! There are MANY entrants and SO MUCH talent, it is going to be very difficult to narrow it down to just one. I am expecting a big brain overload trying to make my decision! So many favorites---only one vote.

Here's Charlie...

Another member of the family. Charlie is not allowed to say hello, cause if we get him started he'll not stop! He's a very chatty boy! Charlie and I have a love/hate/like/despise type of relationship.

A week for firsts...

First, I made my FIRST post in my FIRST blog! Next, I was able to curate my FIRST Etsy Treasury (West)! It was called "Feelin' Chirpy?!" Yep, it was all about one of my favorites of all of God's little creatures. Birdies. It was great fun, and I loved doing it. I would have posted a pic here, but couldn't figure out how!!

So, how could it get better, you ask? Next, Cheryl of http://www.littlestonedesign.etsy.com/ featured my Woven Heart Necklace (shown above) in HER treasury!! It was my FIRST time to have a piece featured in a treasury! (The heart is a design by Charley Hughes, aka Beadyboop.)

Yes, it was a lovely week! A record low here in South Florida, but cozy in front of my little laptop. I have made contact with some very sweet fellow bead lovers. First, in the Yahoo group 4TheLuvOfBeads of which I am a member. Second, in the Etsy BeadWeaver Team of which I am a new member. This might be too much excitement and contact overload for a hermit like me! LOL!

A recent purchase...

One of my recent purchases is a beautiful heart shaped bead formed by lampwork artist Kerri Fuhr. I was very excited to receive it and I really admire her work. There are a couple of more items I have my eye on! If you are not familiar with Kerri, you really should visit her Etsy shop, http://www.kerribeads.etsy.com/ . She also has a lovely website, http://www.kerrifuhr.com/ . Nice eye candy!

Jack says "hello!"...

Jack is my "wee mon"! He's a sweetheart.

Here we go...!

A native Texan, I currently reside in Key Largo, Florida with my lovely husband and our three fur and feather children. Every few months I trek back to Texas, where we still have a home, to love on the rest of my family and friends. I can't stay away too long, because grandchildren grow up too fast and I don't want to miss more than I have to! The countdown is on, another year and a quarter and we shall leave "paradise" to return to home-sweet-home!