Bead Soup - the BEADS!!

Thought while I was working away, you might like a peek at the beads I sent and received for the blog party! First up the Focal and Clasp I sent to Courtney...she beat me to it and has them posted on her blog too!...

http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com/

including the ingredients I sent for her to play with.



Now the awesome stash she sent for me to play with!

The Focals


The Stash.


While I was pulling together the boards I thought I was going to go with the Scarab. I've made a couple Egyptian inspired pieces and I could really expand on those ideas. But.......the idea was to challenge yourself and be inspired, to inspire. The Sand Dollar inspiration board was truly inspiring to me! As I pulled the beads together for that board I had visions of treasure chests and mermaid bounties, I was captivated by the exotic richness of color! I had to restrain myself and not throw every bead I have that would work in here. Courtney sent great bones and I was so caught up and having so much fun pulling beads, my daughter was laughing at my exuberance and teasing that she couldn't even see the focal anymore - let alone the keyboard! So the Sand Dollar Focal wins out!



On to sketches and pulling it all together!
Til next time!

What's on the Desk.......

.......Bead Soup is on the Desk!

So the beads arrived and like a kid I couldn't wait to get started! Courtney was so awesome and sent a couple different focals for me to play with and I immediately set up Pinterest boards to act as Mood boards or inspiration boards based on those focals. This is a fun process for me and I do it for pieces I consider special or have a high level of inspiration and don't want to get swept away by the flood of alternatives that pop up as I work. With inspiration boards I keep focussed and the alternatives get quick sketches for exploring later. For Alex's date's beaded corsage I had Stargazer Lily bouquets, scroll work, and baby's breath on the board. For Gimme the Peacock it was several angles and close ups of Peacock tails. The difference between those boards and the ones I'm putting together now were that I knew what I wanted to do and wanted reference points. These are visual word associations and wow!! I love what I'm pulling together, really love it! I don't yet have final designs worked up but I definitely have the general direction I want them to go.

Egyptian Scarab Board:
http://pinterest.com/winddancerspin/bead-soup-inspiration-egyptian-scarab/

Source: etsy.com via Dana on Pinterest

Sand Dollar Board:
http://pinterest.com/winddancerspin/bead-soup-inspiration-board-sand-dollar/

Source: flickr.com via Dana on Pinterest

Next step - pulling the beads together and then down to work with pencil and sketchpad :)
"Til next time!

Bead Soup!!

Oh my! I'm like a kid at Christmas! The goodies I sent arrived safe and sound and my Christmas er.... goody package arrived today too! I'm so excited the ideas are already starting to perk. I think I'll create a couple boards on Pinterest and Pin some inspiration as the ideas start taking form. My blog buddy is so awesome, she sent enough to let me take this in any number of ways!

I'll get pics posted of what I sent and what I got and start putting together my Pin boards asap! This is going to be so much fun!

Stay tuned!
Dana

Happy New Year!

I'm so sorry I totally slacked off the last couple of weeks - but I really needed a little destress and down time. Think it worked too as I am starting to feel energized again! Those blue skies today probably didn't hurt any either!!

I got an invitation to join the Bead Soup Blog Party over on Lori Anderson's blog. I love swaps! They are a blast! You never really know what you're going to get, it's like Christmas all over again :) I had about a 50/50 shot at getting in, the blog hop has gotten really really popular and there's a cap of 200. But I got in! I've sent a quick hello to my blog buddy and I'll just wait to hear back and then we can exchange addy's.



What's on the Desk: The Dragon's Eye Ring is almost finished, I revamped a necklace, made two jewelry busts - because sometimes an upright position really is the best option :), and I have several designs being worked up in my head and the sketchbook!! But FIRST! The hubs can't seem to find his hat I knit for him before we got married (a loooong time ago lol) and he's asked me to knit him a new one. He has another (a gift from one of the ready mix outfits) but it doesn't keep his ears warm like mine did. It's about half way made now. But boy did my shoulders knot up just as quick as I cast on! I think they were afraid I was settling in for another marathon session o_O

Oh I nearly forgot! I have been wanting to make a Look Book. Something I can load up with the pics of what I've made, what I have currently available and what has sold. I popped into Hobby Lobby and just about fell over at their prices! My daughter had a few things she wanted to get at Wal Mart so I tagged along - GC in hand. Found a nice purse sized album for $5 WITH lined space on the side, perfect for descriptions and prices! Then I picked up some really pretty scrap book paper, I don't scrap book but I loved the paper and it does look very nice around a photo. I also picked up some clear templates for cutting those papers and photos to size. I hate to say it, but I do have 8 yrs of photos waiting to be put in albums, so this my be another crafty topic for discussing on occasion. OK probably will become another topic lol

I've also been working on my goals for the upcoming year and thinking about the best course of action in achieving those goals. As I've been working on them I was overcome by the feeling that it's going to be a Wonderful Year! I hope it is for you too! Happy New Year!

Thank you.....

As many of you know, my family's bread and butter business is in construction. We're established well enough and have our own niche we can weather some bad weather or a down economy. But the combination of the two can be a little tougher to take in stride on occasion.

After having two record breaking weather years in a row and again over 2 feet of rain in the last month it's been a little nerve wracking. Add to that, the little bit of work we've managed during a dry spell was for a contractor that has gone from writing a check at the end of the day, to we write checks once a month and only if we've been paid on the job you worked on. Well, let's just say the Hand Made Pledge and you, my wonderful customers, are what made Christmas possible at my house this year. I have been "the unpaid or volunteer office manager" for many many years (don't get me wrong - the benefits are to die for, I got to be with and there for my kids and I wouldn't give that up for the world) I haven't had my own "earned" money in a long time, and the fact that I was able to contribute to our Christmas meant an awful lot to me.

For that I offer my deepest heartfelt Thank you! I truly am looking forward to the coming year and wish for you too a Happy and Prosperous New Year! :)

It's a Hand Made Holiday -

Christmas is this weekend and as I pledged it's a Hand Made Holiday! I am up to my eyeballs in my gifting creations heading down the home stretch with several gifts to go yet.

We'll be making cookies and fudge in my house tonight and then it's back to the grindstone for me :) So far I've made a necklace, crocheted three cute ear flap hats, made 16 ornaments and am currently finishing up a ring and trying to decide what to make for the youngest nephews.

I make ornaments every year, mostly for my own tree but I do make them as gifts too. So if you're looking for that last minute gift todays post should serve as great inspiration for you!

Christmas Ornaments!! Enjoy!

Source: instructables.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: the-w-s.blogspot.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: aphroditesweddingblog.com via Dana on Pinterest

Normally I tell you where I found these awesome goodies...... quite a few are available to purchase and the rest are free tutorials. Click through to my Pinterest board, and click again to get to the original.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

What's on the Desk..Getting Ready for the Holidays... Week 5 The Art Gallery

Source: crushculdesac.tumblr.com via Dana on Pinterest

Todays cameras are equipped with a million megapixels - well maybe not that many, but enough to give you very crisp family and vacation photos. The real kick to all those megapixels is they allow you to print large poster sized images without losing that crispness.

There are probably as many photo editors out there as there are cameras so I'm not going to get into editing your photos other than to say crop out all that extra stuff you weren't looking at when you snapped the photo but the camera saw and captured anyway :) Now you have the main focus of your image and most likely a really cool shot too.

Source: walkinginmyadventure.tumblr.com via Dana on Pinterest

You can print that out on glossy paper at home or at a photo kiosk, or you can use some photo transfer paper and get that awesome photo put on canvas! Find yourself a great frame and depending on your subject you've got a gallery photo/portrait shot. If you're feeling adventurous there's a tutorial out there on the web (http://www.instructables.com/id/Inkjet-Printing-on-Fabric/) for printing directly on the canvas. Or if you're feeling adventurous transfer it onto a piece of wood!



Now take that same concept and this time blow up your photo to a large enough size that the printer needs to break it up into four pages. This is a great way to get those gallery shots of a sunset :) Use pre-stretched canvas paint your edges black (or a complementary color or print the photo at a size where it can overlap the edges) and hang on the wall with a little space in between.

Source: etsy.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Dana on Pinterest

Collect Artist Trading cards? Find smaller identical frames and hang together in a block of 3 x 4 or however many you can fit inside a great vintage frame - instant mini art gallery!

Source: etsy.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Dana on Pinterest

If your children are very creative and the fridge isn't quite the spectacular display their art work deserves, here's another idea for your Gallery Display. Group vintage frames together on the wall and display their artwork in a way it deserves, complete with a photo of the artist and short bio! Your kids will LOVE it, so will their Grandparents and anyone else who gets the pleasure of seeing it!

Source: 221vision.com via Dana on Pinterest

Frames can be found here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ABackyardCreation?section_id=8060251
and here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeautiSHE?section_id=10512467

Art Work can be found here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheGoldenTrees?ref=top_trail

Til next time!