Thursday, February 02, 2017

It's That Time Of Year!


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Saturday, May 16, 2015

The Art of Awareness Bloghop


Lori Anderson And Heather Millican had this idea to ask artists to join together in creating a piece of art to help raise awareness to a personal cause.  And so it was born.  We were each asked to pick a word that meant something to us and a color that represented the cause.  Heather then made each of us our own personal bead to create with and stamped it with an awareness ribbon

This is my piece for The Art of Awareness Bloghop.  

The green is for Mental Health Awareness.  This issue is very close to my heart.  My family suffers from Mental Health Illnesses.  Many with mental illness suffer in quiet and do not get the help that is desperately needed.  My family is one of the fortunate ones.

I learned a very important lesson from a very wise therapist, Barbara Altman.  She told me when problems arise I often "swallow them" and hold my breath and stay silent.  It creates a sadness and desperation and so much more.  I was taught that when I encountered a problem to exhale and breathe in and exhale.  During this process I was to clear my head, think about the problem and learn to discuss it.

It seems like such a little thing and may come natural to others, but for me it was life changing.  I continue to remind myself to just breathe.  


This is based on a pattern from Liisa Turunen.  I loved the simplicity of the right angle weave finished off with a little peyote stitch. 



Swarovski crystals are my favorites to bead with.  I have always been attracted to sparkle, twinkle and shine!   


There is something so mesmerizing about a crystal.  They always make me stop and pause.  And now, breathe!


This is reversible!  The foil backs are just as pretty!

Enjoy and be well.  And never forget to breathe!



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Saturday, March 28, 2015

The Art of Awareness Bloghop!


Click here to see all the participants blogs and other details ------>  The Art of Awareness Blophop!


Coming Soon!  So honored to be a part of this!

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Thursday, May 08, 2014

8th Annual Bead Party Blog Swap Reveal Time!

If you would like to check out some amazing eye candy and see the blogs of participants 
I'm not sure how many of us there were, but it will keep you busy for days!

So, now for my reveal - with the lovely items I received
(shown in my last blog post)
here are my pieces - 

I incorporated the seed beads into a double spiral rope, one of my favorite stitches!  

The wire wrapped focal is based on a pattern from Lisa Barth.  I loved the wire wrapping and have only attempted it once before.  



As soon as I received the pearls I knew this is what I wanted to do with them.  It is pattern from Isabella Lam  that I have always wanted to make.  I thought it would be the perfect little necklace to peek out from under a collared shirt, and it is!


Do hope you enjoyed my pieces!  Happy Beading, enjoy!  gv


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Thursday, March 20, 2014

Soup is Swapped!

Great picture, eh?


This is my Bead Soup teaser for Deanna Riles-Cox!  Not so fancy, but it did the job.  Below is the teaser that she sent me!  I loved the colors, it was a great tease! 


(I also need to figure out the program she used to swirl the color!) 


Here is what I sent - Czech flower buttons, a huge Swarovski Teardrop, freshwater pearls, some glass beads that I loved but don't know much about, Czech crystal silky gold picasso rondelles, 2 circa 1960's Swarovski Saturn square rivals,  a sterling silver clasp that I had the hardest time parting with and some 2 hold lentils.  I can't wait to see what Deanna makes with all these!  




And then, my box arrived!

So exciting!

I took my time and enjoyed every second! 

Here is my soup!  


Love, Love, Love what I received!  Deanna hand dyes the flowers, they are beautiful!  She makes the most amazing Fascinators!  Take a peek at her Facebook page if you can!  
Click here --->Deanna's Handiwork!
So, now what to do with my soup?  First I need to figure out where Deanna purchased the undyed pearls and get tons more of them!  I love pearls and these are luscious!  I have to figure out how to seal a copper toggle clasp - I'm thinking nail polish?, and then ponder the Rose Quartz focal and rondelles and the Miyuki beads and drops!

Thank you Lori McDaniel Anderson for hosting such a special event!

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Wednesday, February 05, 2014

That time of year again! BEAD SOUP BLOG PARTY!!!! Sorry, am I shouting. :)

Click Here to Learn More!
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Thursday, September 13, 2012

Lori McDaniel Anderson Appreciation Day!

Lori McDaniel Anderson is a very special woman and I would like to thank her for all the work she does to help the art community and for also helping me to expand my own creative boundaries!  She spends countless hours organizing amazing world-wide art swaps for the love of  bringing together artists for inspiration and sharing!

The first Bead Soup Blog Party I believe had about 80 people.  The current Bead Soup Blog Party had over 400 participants from over 20 countries.  She has brought together a community of artists that not only share ideas and knowledge, but discuss problems and give each other encouragements as well as share our awards and accomplishments

I am honored to be a part of this community and thankful to her for countless inspirations I've had and the many friendships I've made.   


Moe wants to Thank You!
And Angel Thanks You!

Lilibelle wants to Thank You also!
Arielle and I want to say Thank You too!

We enjoyed getting pink for you! 
(The bath after, not so much....)

Lori, please know you have made such a huge difference in my life for the better!  You are appreciated, valued and loved by me and so many others.  Thank you.  Some day I'll get to say that in person and give you a great big hug!

(for links to Lori and for more information see the blog post after this one!)

Check out all of us in pink here!


Here are the rest of us in the In The Pink Appreciation Tribute to Lori
if you would like to take a peek at their blogs and pink and thank yous!

Gail Vanderster-Zwang http://angelmoose.blogspot.com
Kelley Katherine Hagerty-Fogle  http://www.mylifeonebeadatatime.blogspot.com
Jennifer Chasalow VanBenschoten   http://www.vanbeads.blogspot.com
Mary Howell Govaars  http://mlhjewelrydesigns.com
Lynnea Perry Bennett   http://designsbylynnea.blogspot.com
Alicia Marinache  http://www.allprettythings.ca
Courtney White Breul http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com
Mária Horváth   http://horimarikabeads.blogspot.hu
Andrea Beth Trank www.heavenlanecreations.com
Heidi Mansfield Kingman  http://mybeadtherapy.blogspot.com
Emoke Schmidt  http://emoke1.blogspot.com 
Sandi Marinaro Volpe  http://www.sandivolpe.com
Sonya Ingersoll-Stille http://dreaminofbeads.blogspot.com
Audrey Belangér  http://esperianterra.blogspot.com
Sally Bohner Anderson
Judy Daly Reganti
Brenda Lee Sigafoos 



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Sunday, August 26, 2012

Bead Soup Blog Party Reveal!!!

Once agan another Spectacular Blog Party has come to an end.  There were 400 of us around the world!  If you would like to see some incredible artwork you can take a look at all the reveals on the Bead Soup Blog Party  page!  

Lori Anderson is the fabulous woman in charge and I am once again amazed at her ability to run such a massive swap and her ability to gather such an amazing group of talented artist!  I also can't wait for her book, Bead Soup: 32 Projects Show What Happens When 26 Beaders Swap Their Stash  to be released!

My daughter convinced me to participate again because she knows I absolutely love and look forward to this swap every year!  So it's only fitting that I should be here with her at the reveal.  And thank goodness as she just fixed my computer once again...or I wouldn't be sitting here writing this at all.

I was in the third reveal, 25th August 2012, with Dee Elgie, an incredibly talented and generous person whom I hope to meet someday!  Click here to see the soup I received.

I hoped to have 4 pieces finished, sadly I only have 2.  I will post as I complete the rest!

My first piece was created around one of the beautiful focals Dee sent me.  I also used the Toho Iris Green 11 Rocaille, 4MM Antique Rose Fire Polish Czech and some of the Semi-Precious beads.  

I am incredibly happy with this piece and my husband gave it a "10" which is high praise.  I made 2 dutch spirals inspired from a pattern by Julia Gerlach.  




My second piece was based on a pattern in a book A Bounty of Bead & Wire Necklaces.  The cover of the book says fun, fast jewelry projects.  I found this piece neither fun nor fast.  It was tedious, time consuming and worth every moment!  I only wish I could capture the sparkle and elegance!




In this piece I used Malachite & Fossilized Bamboo, Stabilized Lapis Chrysocolla, Micro Facetted Agate, 6mm Swarovski in Peach and El Dorado, the Semi-Precious Mixed Beads and the Hill Tribe Silver Toggle.


This was my first time cutting sterling silver chain into small exact pieces.  Each section of chain has 3 pieces and they had to match exactly.  I sat under 2 lamps and used the strongest reading glasses I had and a magnifier!  I Love the results!  Again, I wish I could capture the true beauty of this piece!

My third piece needs to be reworked.  I was trying for the first time a RAW bezel.  My 4th piece which would use the lovely Super Special Lampwork Fish is still in my head.  It's planned out, but I need to start it!


So, now I need to clean up my work space - and relax and look at a few hundred blogs!

Enjoy, and Happy Beading!  gv


 


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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

This week's ramblings

This necklace for my daughter took me so unbelievably  long to complete!  It was a triple spiral rope of hematite, sodalite, obsidian, Swarovski and seeds with beaded end caps.  The problem came in when I decided to use faceted obsidian for the core bead!  There was no play between the beads making it very difficult to bet the needle in.   I broke about 12 needles in this process, not to mention how many finger piercings I ended up with!  


This is the bead soup I sent to my partner in England. There are some beautiful Chinese Crystals, pink freshwater pearls, a lovely enameled clasp from  Rock Candy, lots of Czech glass beads of all different shapes and sizes, seed beads, glass beads, metal findings, an ocean jasper donut focal and of course some Hello Kitty charms.  I can't wait to see what Dee comes up with!

 We have Hello Kitty in common, hence the packaging!  



I drove to my daughter's this weekend.  I thought it was pretty funny to see this sign just before getting to the Tappan Zee Bridge.  What should have been about a 20 minute drive from the Palisades Mall to this point took over an hour.  You can see everyone's brake lights are on, so we are not really moving.  So, seriously,  expect delays?  Ya think?

I love it when my daughter takes my camera, I get the loveliest pictures!


Lilibelle finding a cool spot in the heat!

 

Thought I'd help Angel keep cool by getting rid of some of that hair!


Breakfast with the family.

The doors at Ridgefield Hardware!  



On the way home I plugged in the address of a bead shop, Bead Mosaic.  I had no idea it was going to take me down to Route 59, around the corner from where I lived for a little bit as a child.  It ended up being right across from the Nanuet Mall that my dad worked on when it was built.  It opened in 1969, the same year he died.

The woman at the bead shop told me it was being knocked down and rebuilt.  I stood a while and thought about my dad and my life.  I have such happy memories from that time.  I guess someone wanted me to see it one last time.  It was such a gift.
I felt blessed.



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Sunday, July 15, 2012

My Bead Soup Arrived!





I received my Bead Soup from Dee Torcherer Elgie today and it is wonderful! My mind is swirling already with the possibilities! Thank you so much! 

What I sent is so different from what I received ..... I hope she receives mine soon and finds it as worthy ..... crossing fingers and holding my breath .....



Now ... on to what to do with all these goodies!
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Sunday, July 01, 2012

6th Bead Soup Party!


This will be my second time participating in this swap and for this round Lori Anderson of Pretty Things has paired me up with Dee Elgie of Cherry Obsidia!  Dee lives in England and is primarily a lampworker.  You can see some of her creations here on her facebook page.  I went completely nuts with the like button!   She's got a fanciful dark side that I LOVE  - take a peek at her lampwork doll!  I also love her sense of whimsy and her use of color!

Speaking of color, I asked Dee to tell me what colors she likes and she told me to think of the rainbow.  I should have guessed that would have been her answer after viewing her work!

I went out to the store thinking rainbows, rainbows and got drawn in a completely different direction, I saw these sparkly vintage "things" (that's a tease for you Dee!) and then they started speaking to me and jumped right in my hand!   When I got home I looked at my purchases and thought, there's no rainbow.  I hopped on Etsy to try and find some more pieces to add to her soup to make a rainbow and, squirrel.......

Well, I adore everything I have sent for, but I'm once again not seeing a rainbow!  I will continue to go through my personal stash to pull fun bits and bobs until all the other packages arrive in the mail, hopefully today!  I'll take some pictures and then get the soup on it's way.

Did I mention that at the store and on Etsy I purchased one for me and one for Dee?    Let the creative juices flow, happy beading y'all!
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Saturday, June 23, 2012

Hightlights from My Week with Ted in California!


I got my first look at CalTech in Pasadena where Ted is working!  
I love all the purple trees!  Jacarandas!  I have heard of them and have seen pictures, but in person they are amazing!  They line all the streets and are everywhere!
My first morning there we went into town for breakfast and had no idea it was the annual Chalk and Music festival!  We then knew what we would be doing for the next two days!

I grabbed my shorts from last year when I was 25 pounds heavier.  They were not staying up!  There was a Brighton store and Ted went in and picked out a belt for me!  I can't even remember the last time I wore a belt!

Can you imagine walking up to see your boyfriend's chalk and seeing this.  I hope she said yes!!!

Some of the music acts we saw were The Happy Hollows, The Peach Kings, SoKo, Y la Bamba, and GroupLove.  There were so many more and some I don't remember.  We lucked out and got a table at a restaurant right next to the stage!


It was amazing!
GroupLove!


I finally got a picture of Ted and his car!  
This was Ted's Favorite Chalk!

I couldn't resist the Panda shot with Ted!

This is the chalk that won 1st Place!

These were some of my favorites - 













It was a perfect weekend!



Ted and I ventured into the Farmer's Market in L.A.






My last day there I took Ted and his roommates out to dinner.  We had a fun time.




I had an amazing time and can't wait to see him again!
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