Prickly Pear

Finally, the rest of the pieces came in the mail yesterday so I was able to finish constructing, photographing, and mailing off my BFAC project. And what a relief it was to do all of that.

The kit we started with didn't look half bad to me when we first got it back in March. When I finally sat down to play with the beads though, I found I had an obstacle. All of the beads looked quite different when they were strung, and I found that I didn't like the colors at all!

I came up with the idea to make some beaded beads with right-angle weave, and that way I could use small concentrated blobs of color spread out through my project. After adding some 8mm round Jade beads, I came up with this necklace/bracelet set.

All of the beaded beads are different from each other and both the necklace, and the bracelet have magnetic closures that are hidden within the beads, so that each piece seems to be a continuous beaded rope.


One of the other nice features of the magnetic closure, is that the necklace which is 16 and 1/4 inches long, and the bracelet which is 8 and 1/4 inches can be combined to make a necklace which is 24 and 1/2 inches long.

Hopefully the versatility of this set will make it the perfect addition to someones jewelry collection. I am so happy to be done with one more challenge, and on my way to the Pink Ribbon Turtles! Woooohooooo!!!

ahhhh...relief

Well, I finally had to set down the mask, and move on to other things. I still have a reasonable amount of work to do on the mask, but for sanity sake, I know when I need to take a break. I still intend to finish it also, hopefully before Christmas, but I needed to get some other projects done first. The Beadin' Path will be posting pictures in about a month so everyone can see what the talented artists who got theirs done in time did with their masks.

First to get done is my Beading for a Cure project. I finally came up with a pattern that works for me, and made a bunch of beaded beads. I am almost patiently awaiting a delivery of the few last supplies I need in order to take some pictures, and send it on its way before the deadline of July 15Th. Hopefully I will get these pictures up on my blog before the holiday this weekend(fingers crossed).

Then I get to start my turtle for the Pink Ribbon Turtles 4Q. I have all sorts of beads that I have been buying, and getting all my creative juices flowing, and I am revved up, and ready to go! I am hoping to start the shell this weekend, while I am in Fife Lake at the cottage this weekend. Hopefully I will find some time to work on it, but with all the family being there, I am sure I will be distracted.

In the meantime, I am creating a website for myself. This is the year I would really like my beading career to start to take off. I have been playing around for about 24 years now, experimenting, and having lots of fun. Now that my kids are a bit bigger (Xavier is 7 and Aiden is 5) and both will be in full day school in the fall, so I will have some time to concentrate on furthering my goals. Keep your eyes and ears open, because I want to try and get the website up and running this month. The address will be www.libeadobeadwork.com .

Tough times

Have you ever gotten one of those feelings that you have emotionally hit bottom? I think today is that day. The past month has been very difficult for my family with illnesses, and deaths. I cant even begin to describe what we've been through, but hopefully it wont get any worse. I am tired, and drained. The tears have flown, and are now starting to dry up...hopefully things will start to look up soon. I know that I have been neglecting my blog, due to lack of pleasant things to say. I hope that too shall change. May I have something pleasant to share with you soon.

I didn't manage to get my mask done on time for the deadline at The Beadin' Path. I am still trying to see if I might be able to complete it in time for the grand unveiling on June 27Th. I hope to take some pictures soon, if the sun has any plans for reappearing here in Michigan. We have had some real severe storms lately, luckily we were spared at my house (first bit of luck Ive had in awhile), but lots of people have had problems with loss of power, and lots of trees down in the area. I am still working many hours a day at trying to complete the mask, and cant wait to get started on something new but I figure that if I put the mask down now I wont pick it up again for a very long time, and I would just like to finish it, and see it completed. I cant even begin to count how many hours, and beads have gone into this thing, but the number is surely impressive.

We Give Our Loved Ones Back To God

We give our loved ones back to God.

And just as He first gave them to us

and did not lose them in the giving,

so we have not lost them

to Him...

For life is eternal,

love is immortal,

death is only a horizon...

and a horizen is nothing

but the limit

of our earthly sight.

Heavy Heart

I have some heart ache today. Last night my grandmother passed away. It was her time, and she passed with no pain, but I am still on the verge of tears when I think about her. She is a good woman who will be missed greatly. Most of my pain, I must admit, I am feeling for my grandfather. He has spent so many years at my grandmothers side, that I worry what his loss will bring for him. For the last two years he has devoted almost every waking hour to her, sitting by her, even when she wouldn't recognize him, he was there. I hope that his strength, and the love of his family will hopefully see him through this most painful time. I wish I had a picture of Grandma to post. She was such a beautiful woman.

On somewhat of a lighter note, I have been working non stop on this blankity-blanken mask. I am making great progress(I hope to get some photos soon, and maybe even post them), but I fear that it still will not be done on time. I am now starting to feel the pressure building behind the deadlines that are coming up shortly after the mask. The project that I have for Beading for a Cure is due back by June 15Th, and I will admit that I still don't know what I am going to make. I figure that will be easy to do as long as I start by June 1st. And then I get to start my Pink Ribbon Turtle ! I at least have the fabric picked out for that. Now I just need more beads! (my husband would argue that with me...)LOL!

Speaking of more beads, Red Fox Beads opened this week. You can check out this short video that the owner Shelia Reisinger made of the store. She is staring out well, and with some beady support, she will expand in time. I was there on opening morning, and she already had a few customers in, and even I couldn't resist buying something (I don't have much self restraint when it comes to beads).

Panic!

April 11Th and my mask is no where near done! I am in a panic at the moment because my beaded mask for the Behind the Mask Challenge is not nearly close enough to being done to make me feel very good right now. It took me until January to come up with a feasible idea, and I have been working steadily on it, but it is not coming along like I dream it should be. I guess there is still a slight chance I might be able to pull it all together, if I give up sleeping, and driving my family taxi. I told Brian that if he would put his life on pause, and take over my duties (children, house, car, etc.) and if I also gave up sleeping, and glued myself to my chair, I might be able to do it...but I don't think any of that is plausible. I will keep beading, and trying, and panicing...until....it is time to start the next challenge so I don't fall behind on that one too. Why is there never enough time? Well, maybe because I am sitting here at my computer, reading e-mails, and forums, and posting on my blog...oh my, the guilt is tremendous.

I have been exploring the world of BeadBugle.com . William Johnson has asked me whether I might be interested in writing for them. I had never heard of Bead Bugle before, but he tells me they have been around for 11 years, and somewhere near 40,000 readers. That's a lot of people. I am still exploring what other people have been writing about, and giving this a lot of thought. I think it will be a lot of fun, but I haven't actually come up with what I might write about. I have never really been a writer, but there is a first time for everything. I'm writing here aren't I?

On another note, I have been out beading with the girls. Shelia has told us that May 13Th her new bead store will open. Red Fox Beads. It will be in her house for now, until she gets a good customer base, and can afford to move to a regular retail establishment. I'm happy for her, I have always thought that Freeland is a good area for a bead store. I am a bit upset though because seed beads are not on her list of must carries yet. Why can no one except Bead Haven carry my beads? I hate driving out there...ah, well, I guess that's my problem though. Maybe she will be pressured by the general beady public to carry them, and they will want to take classes and such, and she will give in to the pressure...a girl can dream, cant she?

Love Squared Revealed

Last night Monica Magnuss posted the photos of the pink artist project. The doll has been named Love Squared and is approximately 40 inches tall. Now that Monica has finished constructing her, she is going to start her journey to Art Doll Quarterly, and then will be auctioned off. All of the proceeds will go to the Susan G. Komen foundation to help with breast cancer research.
I cant believe how beautiful she is. Monica did a fabulous job creating her. And a big round of applause for all of the people who donated their time, and their craft to help with such worthwhile cause. Cancer affects so many people, the only way we can fight such a disease is together.
I dedicate my squares (one is featured here, on the right side, silver beads with a pink ribbon) to my step-grandmother, Evelyn Kitchen, who was lucky enough to win her fight with breast cancer not once, but twice. I hope that my efforts, and everyone else's, will help make the chances of surviving cancer even just a little bit easier for everyone.