Yah!! My Bead Soup Arrived!

Look at these awesome beads from my partner, Kristen Stephens at My Bead Journey.  I can't wait to get started on them....
The focal is from Suburban Girl. 

And I got an extra bonus - a whole set of beaded beads, beaded focal and a beaded toggle, made by my partner!  How awesome is that?  They look so pretty and even feel so awesome.  

Learning from Others

Whe I can't think of what to do with my beads, I turn to others and try to make something that I really like that someone else has made - maybe to learn a new technique, maybe to figure out what to do with certain beads - and so that's what I've been doing a little of lately.
A bracelet - from a Lorelei Eurto design - she makes the loveliest mouthwatering funky jewelry.

 And some cluster earrings from a tutorial by anthology27

New Techniques

A few posts back, I was showing a new technique I was trying to learn - bead crochet ropes, afterall I already crochet.
Well, it didn't go well.  I finished one that ended up being 6 inches - you really cinch it together at the end and I'm done - not big enough for me.  This is one technique that is not for me.  But at least I tried.

Earrings I fell in love with..

I really like all of the jewelry I make, but sometimes I find pieces that I just really, really love and can't wait to wear and it happened this week.  I was making some earrings for my store and these just came together perfectly - so one pair for the store and one pair for me. 

Golem Beads, Vintaj brass findings and a dyed jade beads.

Beadweaving

Sigh....This is what I would like to grow into.  Actually, taking the time to do some beadweaving.  I will be doing the Lori Anderson bead soup blog hop coming up and just got my partner yesterday - Kristen Stevens.  She does some amazing beadweaving - just beautiful stuff.  Here's her blog - My Bead Journey.   We talked on the phone today - its so good to talk to someone else with a beading passion (my husband just doesn't cut it or qualify, and only lends a deaf hear to my beady topics).  And I have questions that I've liked to ask other beaders and now... I will finally have someone to talk to about.  So we were talking about beadweaving - here is my start to beadweaving - simple projects I have completed.  I hope that these are a beginning to more challenging pieces in the future....

 2 peyote stitch bracelets - the first two projects in Mastering Beadwork by Carol Huber Cypher.  I really like the triangle one and wear it frequently. 

And some beaded beads - the pattern is from Beadwork magazine.  Not sure what I am going to do with them yet - that's why there are still strings hanging from it.  I actually made another pair of these - but gave them as a gift. 

Valentine's Jewelry

I've been working on some new jewelry with a Valentine's Day twist.  Of course, I'm a little late to the bandwagon, and realize I should have had Valentine's Day stuff ready just as Christmas was ending. 
Well, they do look like they can be worn anytime, if I do say so myself (especially since I made one for me and have been wearing it for sometime!)....

Happy 2013!

This is as close as Joey will get to Santa.

We're finally back to some normal everyday life; after the holidays and parties and birthdays of the past month and a half.  Here's a look back with pictures.

 Daphne and I went to see the Nutcracker.

 New Year's - they both stayed awake until midnight!

 This guy's excited face - especially when he eats spaghetti.

 Kevin's birthday.

A surprise retirement party.

and back to crafting - learning a new technique for jewelry and finishing a wreath - which I actually started one year ago.   It is so cute - wish I would have finished it earlier to enjoy.

There's also lots more jewelry listed now and will be listed this week on my Etsy store.