Showcase

The BAO team has a showcase each week where the members can  feature one of their items. This is the mosaic for the week. All different styles, colors, and textures.... a feast for the eyes.You can click on each item separately to see an up close view and if there are specials offered by the artist. Happy Friday!

A Wandering Heart

The current color challenge for the BAO etsy team includes olive green, eggplant, and bronze. The olive green I had no problem with, the eggplant on the other hand puzzled me. I ended up going to the craft store and buying a bottle of "eggplant" paint and then matching my beads to that. I call it purple! But for the sake of the challenge my purple is the exact color of the eggplant paint!

My daughter saw this little saying and liked it so I decided to use it. It is so true, just because you look like you are wandering without out purpose or plan doesn't really mean much. If God is in control of our lives and our plans are His plans...There is a distinct path. Often others can't see it because it is narrow and on small stones instead of wide sidewalk. My heart is not lost, just on the narrow path.

JOY

I am in the process of reading and applying a book that I've read before but trying to put to practice this time. The book was given to me by a precious prayer warrior friend! The book is THE 4:8 PRINCIPLE by Tommy Newberry. The book is about living in JOY. This project demanded to be beaded last weekend as a remembrance of how I should be living. Enjoy the little beads. The sparkly represents the JOY that surrounds (and wins out!)the black and negative that tries to surrounds us.

Serenity Pendant

I created this delightful pendant using a handmade polymer clay face and a piece of broken china. I love creating using throw away things. Things that are broken and seemingly of no use.

The fantastic beads that I used to bead this with were from Artbeads.Artbeads carry a wide variaty of beading supplies. I used size 11 and size 8's in the same smokey topaz. They have such a vintage look. The colors seem to change as you hold them up to the light.Check them out at http://artbeads.com. They are called Toho beads.Toho Seed Beads


Check back soon, as summer is here and the beads are flying!!

Don't Rain on my Parade

I didn't realize that it had been so long since I had posted.
In my mind of course, I blog daily!
Of course I'm working on some new things for summer. Bead embroidery has consumed my time lately. It could be reverting back to my childhood days of actual embroidery, or those days of smocking. Which ever the appeal. I find it very rewarding.

It is often hard to turn a negative into a positive. That was the goal with this little totem pole face. I loved it's snarling glare, but that doesn't sound very nice. Hence a turn around!! Don't rain on my parade was created. Enjoy!

One before Two

Number one today is to finish my front flower garden. I started reworking it last Friday and haven't gotten back to it. The perennials were going crazy and looking too Snakey.
Number Two is BEADING. I can't do number two until I finish number one.....
I've got a couple of new ideas in my head and can't wait to get those beads strung.
Here is a little taste....
This necklace I finished yesterday.
I was pleased with the mix of bead work along with the metal.
I always struggle to make wearable pieces, not just the art!!!
Going to the yard!!!

As Promised - Sir Hollyhock

I got a few pictures taken.

This little guy is hilarious and the colors are wonderful, but it was sure hard to get a good picture.

I named him Sir Hollyhock because he has a cocky little knight in shining armour expression and because the best pictures of him were sitting on the Hollyhock plant.

Tons and Tons to Do!

The Last two weeks of school are CRAZY!

Needless to say, I haven't had much time to bead but I've done a little.

I have fallen in love with these cute little faces.

They are just screaming with personality and emotion.

I think that I want to do a whole line of them on their own little tag cards.

I need a cute and catchy name for them.

Suggestions please!!

If you leave the name that I end up using, I'll send you one.

Here is the first guy. I'll show more as soon as I get to take pictures.

Only one more Monday of school!!

Jewelry designed with Beautiful words

Forgiven is not a word that we generally use in our every day life.
It is a very freeing word.
It is a word of hope, of freedom, of new beginnings.This is a powerful word, a burst of energy and redemption.

The basis for this unique necklace is the word "forgiven"

I tried to capture the emotions of the word by the colors that used in the bead work.

The pendant was created using the peyote stitch and bead embroidery.

Enjoy!

Love those words!

I've done

a couple

of really

cute

things lately using a discarded dictionary!

I thought that you might like to take a look. One is a pin and one is a pendant

using the words whimsical and wacky. I also did one that used the the definition

of faith, but I've already sold that one!!

If you have a favorite word that you want "bebeaded" please don't hesitate to let me

know. I'm sure I'll list some more real soon.

Blessed

I think that Fall is finally here! The air feels different, along with the temperature being lower. I enjoy gradual change. It is good and not to painful! Its the fast stuff that scares me.

I recently read a book, actually in one day! "90 minutes in Heaven" It was incredible. I am a Christian and believe in heaven and that I'm going there but this was a wonderful book to describe it. The part that was also interesting was the fact that God sent this man back to earth to live in pain and to suffer after he had been whole in heaven. The guy's revelation that he had purpose even in pain was remarkable. It puts the bad things of life in a better category for me. Not so much answered but in the categories or files in my mind - it goes to a safer place not the its not fair folder.

Now for lighter brighter, Newest from my fingers of creativity is the brilliant butterfly.
This was in my head before the August nights challenge came out and I couldn't make it fit the theme!!
The September beadweavers theme is "show your colors" I am already having tons of ideas pop into my head!!!
If you're a beadweaver and want to join us on Etsy for the challenge we'd love to have you.
Happy Labor day!!

A Little bit old....A Little bit new

One of my goals for the summer break was to learn to do beaded cabochons well.
I had learned to do them using the peyote stitch and making the cabochon real tight, but I still wanted to learn to do them with the "rings" around them.More like beaded embroidery.

I think that I've got it down!

This is one of the results.
I glued the definition of "faith" from a 1950's dictionary to the bottom of the glass bubble and started beading.
I love the results.
Old words, new beads!!
Check out other beaded creations at my Etsy store


Off to find some more words!!!

Challenge # 60

Well, I bit the bullet and participated in one of the Etsy creative challenges. This one was to create something inspired by Paris, France. I did visit Paris on a band trip while in high school!
The architecture was what totally overwhelmed me and the fact that everything was old. Here, once its 20 yrs old, its old and you tear it down and build something new.
The next thing that stood out was the language barrier.
That's where the inspiration started.
I created a cabochon out of one of those glass bubbles with a reproduction print underneath. Next I beaded a bezel out of seed beads and voila, My take on Paris. Hope you enjoy!

Sunday - 4 more weeks!

Well we only have 4 more weeks of school!
I love school, I love my job, I love being around the kids.
I love to sleep late, lay by the pool and bead.
Hard choice...
I got a great idea to bead a beaded bezel around broken china ..... sort of like you bead around the stones.
As soon as I can take pictures, I'll post it.
It might work...might not. I thought I'd give it a try.
Wouldn't it be neat to have a necklace made out of vintage china or a piece that was your grandmothers.

Here's a few flowers that are blooming in my yard right now.

Saturday

I just listed a new piece on my etsy sight. Here's the picture. This one is called KNOT AFRAID OF COLOR. Talk about a process.. this one started out as a half inch wide peyote strip that I was going to embellish with beads. It never looked right,so I started tying knots with the beaded strip and this was the creation!!

On our way to the tennis courts, hopefully I can get some good shots of my son,Jordan.