Bead Show

Rings & Things is kicking off their Fall 2011 Bead Tour. They are headed to their first stop, Minneapolis {Bloomington} MN, on September 11th. From there, they make their way to Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and on and on and on till the last show on November 6th in Sacremento {McClellan} CA.


Bead Tour

Even though I live in the same city where Rings & Things lives (lucky me-hehe...), I still love going to their bead show! Only 32 more days [yes, I'm corny & counting the days-LOL] until I get to stroll from table to table to table looking and fondling [and probably a lil drooling too] at all the hundreds and hundreds of beads, gemstones, pearls, crystals and findings. I can't wait!!! They always have demos going on too, and those are cool to watch. I'm always up for learning new techniques. ;-) 
If you've never been to one of their shows, don't worry, they will point you in the right direction. No need to bring anything to hold your treasures while you shop, they have lots of trays on hand for that. I always make sure to take my calculater, and I leave my purse at home. All you need is your credit card and lots of energy to shop till you drop! LOL! Oh, you will need your invitation too. If you don't get one in the mail, you can email them to send you one or request your invitation on the Bead Tour Page.  You can check that same page to see if Rings & Things will be in your town or at a town near you. If you live in or close to Spokane or Spokane Valley WA, they will be at the "Mirabeau Hotel" in the Valley on Sunday, October 9th - 11am to 4pm. Maybe I'll see you there! I'll be the one with a big smile on my face...no wait, that will be everyone!! :- D  ;-P

I just hopped on my laptop to check my email and found out that my "Jessie's Butterfly Necklace" is featured on Artbeads.com's Blog for Beaders!

Last May, I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in Artbeads "What's Old is New Again" design partner's challenge. The idea was to take something old and/or something that you love and put your own spin on it using components from Artbeads.com and making it new again. And that's what I did with my late Aunt Jessie's butterfly pin. You can read how I did it here.

Lots of stunning pieces were created from all of the design partners! To see them, "ohhh" & "ahhh" over them and maybe even drool a lil bit [LOL] just go to Artbeads Facebook page and check out the Design Partner's Photo Gallery I and Photo Gallery II. Feel free to "like" and comment on as many as you want. There are so many beautiful designs!

Thank you SO MUCH to Artbeads for this awesome opportunity and for featuring my necklace today! You made my day!!

Well...I'm hooked..

on resin that is!!! LOL I purchased some of Lisa Pavelka's resin late last year, but just started playing with it last month, and I have to say...creating with resin is in my blood now! I just love it! The creative possibilities are endless! I've been making pendant necklaces using scrapbook papers, collages I've purchased on etsy, and more recently, gemstone chips.

For this one, I used Peridot chips. [my birthstone] My Mom's b-day is 3 days after mine, and since Peridot is her birthsone too, I made her a pair of earrings with a pair of small round bezels filled with the beautiful Peridot. Didn't get a pic...but I know she loved them!

and this one is filled with brilliant Fluorite chips.

I bought the silver bezels at my new favorite place, "Hobby Lobby", and got them for half off. It was a great deal, so I bought every package [each pkg had 2] of this style! I figured I was going to need a lot of them, and I couldn't pass up the bargain. ;-)  Well, sad to say...I ended up losing almost half of them, because I noticed a bubble here and there in the already cured resin, and that's not a good thing. But I like to make a positive out of a negative, so I'm making sure all is good before I cure my pieces. I received a gift certificate to Hobby Lobby from my sweet hubby on my b-day a few weeks ago, so I've got my bezel collection built back up. ;-D Also, I've got a mold with different shapes that I'm going to try out. So I'm off.....my resin awaits me!! :-P

If you want to see more of the pieces shown above, just go to my etsy shop. Thanks for reading & happy creating! :-]