Saturday, January 28, 2012

My Bead Soup Beads Have Arrived!

My Challenge Is to Create Something From This Mix
I am very excited that I received by beads in the mail today from my partner Rose Binoyain.  My beads traveled all the way across the country from California to Delaware.  We are both lucky enough to selected to be in  the Bead Soup Party organized by Lori Anderson.   You can follow Lori on her blog Pretty Things .  The idea of this party is you will get a focal ,  clasp, and some of the coordinating beads from another beader who she pairs you with.  The idea is to help you think outside the box and work outside your normal comfort zone, pushing you into creative directions you may never have gone. 

  My party partner is  Rose Binoya a fellow beader whose  jewelry can be seen in her etsy store.  Rose has a blog on which she will show what she creates with what I am sending her. I am thrilled that Rose sent me a clasp that she made. 
Rose's wire wrapped clasp
I have been admiring her ability to wire wrap since I started reading her blog.  I hope that I will be able to master this technique.  She sent me quite the pile of beads and 2 focals that I might combine into one.  We will see.  I love combining purple and green together in my jewelry.  Also, those are my daughter's wedding colors so I am going to be creating something in those shades.  With that a given, I have already gone ahead and picked beads in those colors out of the mix.  Next I will have to make a decision on what beads of mine I will stir into the soup.  March 3 is the day that my final creation will be unveiled right here on my blog.
Beads from Rose that will be used in my soup.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Positive Etsy Energy

BayMoonDesign Earrings
It's never to early to start planning for summer.   As you know, I love the beach.  I found a talented SRA (Self Representing Artist) artist in Slovakia who makes gorgeous beads that have sea shells and sand etched into the glass.  Since Katerina has an Etsy website Maya Honey,  it is easy for me to do business with her over the Internet.  I thought  some of her beads would make beautiful earrings to sell at the Delaware By Hand Craft Fair held in Lewes, Delaware over Memorial Day weekend.  Since her website cautions that it could take 2 to 5 weeks to get the beads to the U.S., I thought not problem since I plan ahead.  Those beads got to me in 5 days!  For some reason it takes 2 weeks to get shipments from Florida and California. I discovered that the only difficulty doing business with MayaHoney is deciding on what color to select from her gorgeous beads!
MayaHoney Beads

I want to thank those who participated in my 12 Days of Christmas Give Away.   The winner is a lady that I met over the Internet through my membership in the Etsy Treasury Team.  She has the Etsy shop LaurelsbyLaurie.  Laurie makes gorgeous wreaths.
Wreath by Laurie


For those who are not as familiar with the world of Etsy, there are various teams that create treasuries to promote fellow team members creations.  We all click and comment with the hope that this will drive our product up in Google's rankings and buyers will see it.   On my birthday Dec. 28, I created a treasury for Capricorns.  Laurie commented on the treasury that her birthday was the same as mine.   I was excited when her name was drawn as the winner of my give away.  She deserves to win something since she has sponsored so many giveaways herself.  Congrats Laurie!  She used the $15 certificate to a pair of earrings from my BayMoonDesign etsy shop.

I am very excited that I have been selected to participate in a bead party organized byLori Anderson.  Lori happens to live fairly close to me on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and is the author of various magazines and article contributions.  You can follow her blog Pretty Things .  The idea of this party is you will get a focal ,  clasp, and some of the coordinating beads from another beader who she pairs you with.  You will also be incorporating beads from your own stash into a bracelet or necklace. The idea is to help you think outside the box and work outside your normal comfort zone, pushing you into creative directions you may never have gone. You can make one piece, two, three -- you can use the clasp in one piece and focal in another. LOTS to be creative with!

I have already selected the beads that I am sending to my party partner Rose Binoya who is a beader and whose jewelry can be seen in her etsy store.  Rose has a blog on which she will show what she creates with what I am sending her. 

In checking out what she makes, I found that we have some common loves.  She like to use pearls as I do.
She uses Irish linen cord and crochets or braids.  She also uses buttons.  I love to crochet and I use cord and buttons in my children's line of jewelry.  I've selected a special "button" from my antique button collection.

I have the desire to do more wire wrapping.  Perhaps I will be as good  wirewrapping as she is some day. 

Since she lives in California, I've got to get those beads in the mail soon!    I am anxiously awaiting what she will be sending me.  March 3, you will see what we create!


Friday, January 6, 2012