Blue Moon

honestly, you can't see the thread with the naked eye...beaded balls are best shot with macro and not super macro!

The moon faced charm hangs at the back

this is beaded on a 10mm bead and is about 12 mm across

Sakura

In early spring when the flowers were bursting I found this pattern and finally got working on it last week while watching a marathon of Doc Martin episodes.  I purchased this drop-one even stitch peyote pattern, but when I started on it a few things combined to prevent me from starting the project.  First, I could not find some of the Delica colors needed (later it turned out that the European studio who put out the pattern had access to new Delica codes that were unheard of by Fusion Beads or Art Beads for a few months).  Then when the beads arrived I found the colors to be rather garish, but I decided to go ahead anyhow because frequently they look different when in place.  The colors are much better in place.  I love this pattern and bought more beads for another - this time the translucent background is more of a pearly cream and the flowers lean toward peach blossoms.  Oh, Georgia on my mind.  I love the little toggles I added.

Although I'm not really a pink girl, I do like the results.  I'm going on a little trip and will look for some more subdued and botanically correct cherry blossom colors which I can select in person.

The Best Bead Giveaway Ever

Check out Denise Yezbak Moore's blog, then pick your chin up off the floor.  There is no hyperbole in her title The Best Bead Give-A-Way Ever.

My talented Bead Soup partner Marcie Abney recently published a project in Beadwork June/July 2010.  I followed the directions for her Color Swirls bracelet to make my own.  The pattern reminded me of an eddy:

swirling ice eddies from a NASA photo found in a Remote Sensing Tutorial

I got to work and played with a few colorways, but was frustrated because I have a mix of 11/0 Japanese and Czech seeds beads (despite the same number designation, they are not quite the same size), but didn't seem to have four colors that I liked together in either size.

Finally I ordered a few beads to fill out a colorway similar to what was shown in Beadwork.

Alternating rings - I switched out only one of the four colors in every other ring.

The toggle bar has brick stitch bead caps.

Check out the magazine and try your own circular peyote swirls.

Bead Soup Reveal

I joined the Bead Soup Party a bit hesitantly because I am mostly just a dabbler who only sells when people approach me and ask about something I'm wearing.  However, I jumped in to give myself a challenge and to push myself to learn a few new things.  My partner is Marcie Abney from La Bella Joya, and as she pointed out in a post, we are strangely suited for each other - we both seed bead and we are both Spanish teachers.  Marcie sent a bead soup package in a fantastic colorway.  I took my cue from the copper clasp and got to work with pliers, hammer, and patina. 

I have been on a quest to learn to make very simple beaded beads and this provided the perfect opportunity.  I stitched up a beaded bead using circular peyote to cover a wooden ball and I made an octahedron from 4mm beads and seed beads.  Coming home from a dog walk one morning, I found a length of heavy gauge copper wire in the street in front of my house and decided to use it instead of searching for copper washers as I had planned.  From the wire I made hammered loops.  I also made the copper jump rings used to form the little bit of chain I used.  All this was subjected to patina gel from Cool Tools and tumbled.  In the necklace there is also a bead I made from a stack of pale green buttons.  All these pieces were assembled to show off the pretty resin pendant made by Marcie.

Some copper work, the octahedron bead, the stack o'buttons bead

That octahedron beaded bead sure looks like a World Cup tribute bead!

Here are today's partiers: 

14. Jen, Jen Judd Rocks

15. Kella, Me But a Little More In Depth

16. Emanda, Artemisia Studio

17. Marie, Skye Jewels

18. Loretta, Designs By Loretta

19. Stacy, Sissy and Jack's

20. Joanna, Filcowe

21. Diane, Diane Hawkey

22. Marianna, Pretty Shiny Things

23. Anna, The Laughing Raven

24. Marcie, La Bella Joya

25. Lois, You have just read this one
You have just read this one
26. Jayne, Mama's Got To Doodle

Thanks Lori for a great experience.  What fun I've had preparing and looking around at all the talented beaders blog.

Guilty Pleasure

I've been hooked to the computer watching the British comedy drama Doc Martin.  Martin Clunes (Men Behaving Badly) stars.  The setting is a gorgeous little port town in Cornwall.  Here is a little summary from tv.com:

Martin Clunes stars in Doc Martin , a brand new comedy drama, as a doctor whose truculence and tactless manner causes mayhem in a small Cornish community. Martin plays surgeon Martin Ellingham, whose glittering career comes crashing down around him when he develops a phobia which prevents him… More conducting operations. He makes a life changing decision to retrain as a GP, and applies for a vacant post in the sleepy Cornish hamlet of Portwenn, where he spent childhood holidays. If the patients are expecting tea and sympathy from their curmudgeonly GP they are going to be disappointed. Despite his surgical brilliance, he has no personal skills, and his understanding of humans is practically non existent. Martin is joined by a prestigious cast which includes Stephanie Cole as his Aunt Joan, who provides him with emotional support in the face of the disquiet among the villagers. Caroline Catz plays pretty primary school teacher Louisa Glasson. Doc Martin is attracted to her, but he is hopeless at personal relationships

You can get episodes of the four-season series, plus a movie length episode On the Edge which came between seasons 2 and 3, on any number of sites.  I've been watching on hulu.comhulu.com (seasons 1-3), and youtube (season 4 and On the Edge).  Season 5 will air next year.

I'm a fútbol widow

from Getty Images

The World Cup, also known in our house as the Mundial has left me without a mate.  He is glued to ESPN.  I am be thankful that this is only a month every four years and not months and months every year.  I actually love watching some of the games, but the noise is driving me crazy.  ¿The noise?  ¿What noise you ask?  The noise thousands of fans blowing their vuvuzelas.  You can check out this slide show/article and discover it for yourself.  You can also hear the vuvuzela for yourself.