What to take?!

Back in March the Rings & Things trunk show came to Denver. Not just anywhere in Denver, but practically right down the street from my house. Happy Birthday to me! I have used some of my awesome finds but quite a bit of my favorite pieces have been stewing in my brain as I play with designs that use them to their full potential. Take a look at some of what will be coming on vacation with me.

Various gorgeous tiger eye strands.

BLING!

Carnelian, various agates and some amethyst. Those large agate coins are about 45mm, btw! Love them!!

So, my advice is run to the next Rings & Things show you can or failing that, check their online store anytime of the night or day. Gotta love the internet.

While you're surfing said 'net, pop over to Humblebeads and say hi to Heather who started the Bead Table Wednesday blog party every week. The whole gang can be seen on Flickr here.

Work in progress...

Just "quick and dirty" posts this week because I am in crunch time mode before we go on vacation at the end of the week. Here are the beads born of my most recent canes. These particular ones are going to be the make up of my mother/daughter necklace giveaway. As soon as I get more made I'll be listing them on Etsy but it may have to wait until after I get back from Baltimore. We shall see how much get's done before I leave ;)

BTW 5/18/11

My turquoise and orange phase has moved into the realm of polymer this week. Here are some canes that I developed to scratch the incessant itch I have developed for this color way.

Here are some beads in progress.

Here are a some finished focals that are going to be a corrdinating mother and daughter set that I am making for friend at church who won the giveaway I sponsored for Mother's Day.

Both pieces will have this focal and some coordinating beads but have totally different looks.

Come back next week to see them, hopefully!

The results of last week's BTW! Which I have worn multiple times already :)

Check out more of Bead Table Wednesday on Flickr and pop into Humblebeads to give Heather some bloggy love for starting this show!

I can't blog today

Because somebody needs a playmate. I'll let you know what I'm working on in between reenacting Toy Story scenes when we return to the regularly scheduled Bead Table Wednesday tomorrow.

Octodogs!

I get bored easily...especially in the kitchen. Here's a twist on an old favorite that keeps me at least half way interested. If you eat all your noodles and octopus you get to see Spiderman on the bottom of your bowl ;) Have an awesome weekend!

BTW

I quite often get inspiration from clothing and outfits that I either wear or see on other people. On Monday I saw this awesome outfit on a lady in line at Chipotle. It started this new color obsession...orange and turquoise! Yes, I am aware this is not a new combo but it never grabbed me like it did after seeing this lady wear it SO well!

Here are some potential earring pairs.

Here are some Halfway Around the World" bracelets from last week's BTW post.

Check out more BTW on Flickr and pop into Humblebeads and virtually high five Heather for this awesome idea!

My most photogenic Mother's Day present!

I got some great stuff for the bath and awesome tasting stuff that I should be eating but life's too short, enjoy the Dr. Pepper and Sour Patch Kids, I say! My hubby got me this awesome orchid and I decided to practice my photography on it. I think it went pretty well, don't you?!

ABS May Challenge

This month the Art Bead Scene Challenge piece is "Hide and Seek" by Berthe Morisot.

Click on the images to make them larger, there is some great detail.

When I first looked at the painting I saw a lot of greens. Green is not a color I use all the time so I have to admit at first nothing sprang to mind. Usually when I look at a piece of inspiration a piece of jewelry kind of crawls off the the page and lodges itself in my brain until I make it. This time I started pulling out my art beads that I thought might work well into the color scheme. I landed on my faux carved jade and couldn't put them aside. I started trying to decide which pattern to use and decided to mix the styles. You'll see the most detailed one on the left in the picture below followed by a less intricate pattern and finally one that shows more of the faux jade with less "carving".

Upon closer examination some of the warmer colors like the cherries and the roofs started to come out so I decided to mix in some antique copper colored artistic wire to link the faux jade. It still wasn't quite "there" yet though. I wanted a little more "roof and cherry" and it was also feeling too dark at that point. I grabbed some green tree agate briolettes to add some lighter green with some carnelian chips and sunset agate for that "pop". I also mixed up the metals in this piece because I wanted some to be seen (like the gold on the carnelian) and others not so much (like the jasper and the green agate). I love the way it came out and I'll be wearing it all this week, I'm sure.
The finishing touch was the sari silk! I tried chains but it just looked too modern and not earthy enough for me. I tried one ribbon but didn't get the depth and substance I needed to really compliment the focal section. Finally, I found three great greens that worked well together and braided them and voila!
This was a super fun challenge! Be sure to check out more on Flickr and at ABS!

The best bouquets

Are collected from the backyard as your family spends time together in the sunshine. Have an awesome Mother's Day!

I should be working...

...on posting to Etsy! So while I pop over there to add the new Vintage Chic collection that should have been up over the weekend you take a peep at a couple snaps I got of these cuties the other day :) We are hoping to have a play and picnic date today with a friend so you might see some more later. Have a great day!

BTW

Today I am experimenting with my new "bead mirror" for taking photos of jewelry. By that I mean, I bought a square bezel mirror on clearance at Walmart and am seeing if I like how pictures turn out when I use it :) So far I think it's a winner!

Here are the raw components of what I plan to make today...

They will be turning into my new design I call "Half way around the world"

Here are the first two in the collection.

Check out more Bead Table Wednesday on Flickr and pop in at Humblebeads to check out Heather Powers who started it all!

Singin' the blues...

Blue seems to be my color lately!