BIG HUGE GIVEAWAY!!!

One of my very favorite Art Bead Artists :

Heather Powers is cleaning out her bead inventory.  

The Humble Bead Big Huge Giveaway Set !!!

These beads are to die for 

and to have a chance to get a batch for free 

of her truly unique and amazing beads is crazy wonderful!!
Hurry tonite at midnite is the deadline!!! 

Click HERE 

to see what you have to do to have a chance to win.  

If you would rather go to her etsy store and pick your own beauties, 

click the same spot and look for her code so you can get 20% off.

You can go to her etsy store right from her blog. 

This is exciting, 

I think the heat is getting to all of us but shurely Heather Powers has gone mad!! 

( Just Kidding Heather) 

I had one of the most productive weeks of my life this week.
Here are pictures of everything I made after Bead Table Wednesday and the Art Bead Scene July Challenge deadline I managed to make:

The mythical characters called Nymphs, Sirens or Mermaids 
have always intrigued me.
I love the ocean and  this focal from 
Green Girl Studios has a quote by Crouseau. 
I watched all his documentaries about the sea. 
He says:
"the sea, once it casts its spell holds one in its net of wonder forever". 

I used these wonderful twisted blue glass beads to represent waves and added the mermaids ride: a sea horse charm.


Next:
My Waves Bracelet
I used blue and turqoise in this one. 
I made the polymer clay turquoise swirl beads and flat spacers.
The rest are glass beads.

This one features a naked lady. 

 I like to think she is skinny dipping in all that blue green water!

For this bracelet I used memory wire covered with coiled pink artist's wire and beads.  
I made the polymer clay flower beads 
textured on both sides so they look great 
no matter where they turn. 
The pink stone is dyed howlite, 
the green, crackled glass. 
The necklace below is extra long.  
I love this length for summer- 
looks great with a cool cotton shirt.
Fortunately we had very cloudy weather yesterday morning- perfect for photographing shiny beads.

This one was a quickie with glass and shell beads on memory wire.  

I love the flower dangles, I picked up the pink curled glass beads at Road 2 California last year.  

Sorry I can't remember who the vendor was. 

They remind me of one of my favorite flowers, fuchsias, 

combined with the bright green glass and crystals.

A few orphan beads found their place in these earrings.

I am finally parting with some of my favorite finds.

This butterfly bead is an amazing little ceramic focal for this bracelet.

And the Star with a bead wired in really shines in this bracelet. 

The reds, oranges and browns remind me of hikes in the Valley of Fire. 

Here was a super quickie made with painted bone beads 

and the speckled beads are some kind of nut. 

(like me).  

This one has an extra long length too. 

And one more orphaned lampwork bead found a home, 

Queen of some necklace to be. 

Last but not least a Macro shot of the dragon side of this lovely etched deep navy blue bead. 

Click HERE to see more Macro Photos

Well I made all that in one day, so I took a rest yesterday and floated in the pool

with one nicely iced stien of Rogue Chocolate Beer!! 

Come on back on Wednesday for Bead Table Wednesday. 

Happy Weekend to you all! 

BTW- Working on the Art Bead Scene Blog July Challenge

As usual I am the queen of last minute 

and finished my piece for the Art Bead Scene July Challenge today at 1 pm.  

So then there was a nasty photo session in the 106 degree hot wind 

in my south facing back yard under the patio cover. 

Then lots of photo editing, uploading and picture collaging on picnik. 

I have to say I took a nice break and had a little frozen yogurt with my friend Barbara this afternoon. 

So it is 6:16, hubby is fortunately working a little late 

and I am scrambling to finish this post for Bead Table Wednesday 

and the Art Bead Scene July Challenge for the blog hop 

and I will be done blah, blah, blogging until Saturday. 

Here are my pictures: 

House Pendant from mixing the clay colors in the inspiration palette to the finished pendant.

Screeching in at the last minute for the deadline!!!
For some reason I had a really hard time making this piece today.  I started the moment my husband left for work (7:15am) and finally, all alone in the house at 1 pm said to myself outloud:

"Ok Heather , you are done, just leave it the way it is 

and go take the (*$!#) pictures,

it's getting really hot outside!!"

The Bad News: 

I ruined a bunch of jump rings and a stretch of chain because 

I must have taken this apart at least 20 times and reconstructed it ;

 over and over and over......ugh.

 I am finding that I really prefer my copper and antique brass findings. 

For some reason they seem more neutral and less intrusive than silver.  

I really want the time back I wasted making polymer roses and leaves on Monday 

because they were too big and too distracting

making the house pendant just disappear.   

The Good News: 

This is not one of my most favorite designs but it is what it is.  

And it is done!! YAY!! 

And I got my yellow enameled copper head pins just in time yesterday 

from Kimoras on Etsy and I love them!!

If you read my blog last month you already know 

I am very, very low on the color yellow in my stash. 

My collages are created on picnik.com

For more pictures and information about my polymer clay process 

including a secret recipe for sparkling yellow go HERE.

To see the other wonderful Bead Tables and July Challenge pieces 

click on the highlighted words at the beginning of my Rant.  

Then just breathe!! 

Inspired by Nature: Forest Floor Challenge

This challenge is 

sponsored by Heather Powers at Humblebeads.  

Go HERE to see the rest of the entries.

Here are some shots of my finished entry I took this morning.

I just like the odd angle of this one and how the background blurred.

Close up of the center pieces of the bib necklace

One of several copper clasps with patina  I purchased from Melinda Orr at ORRTEC on Etsy

Full on view of the neclace. Blends right into this little forest on my pool wall.

The left side of the necklace- here you can see my wood bead and tassels at the top
near where I joined the interesting copper cage chain. 

Free motion stitched lining on back of necklace and hand couching of yarn and specialty threads.
This one will join my bib necklace series for all seasons as an autumn piece.

That's all for now!! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. I will be back for Bead Table Wednesday on Wednesday of course!

Forests.....

Before I moved to Nevada I always pictured the desert as miles of empty dunes, 

with cactus, snakes, lizards, spiders (eeeooowah) and not much else.  

Much to my surprise Las Vegas is surrounded by mountains 

of which my favorite is Mount Charleston. 

There is a wonderful oasis up there 

where the temperatures average about 20 degrees cooler than the city.  

As the elevation increases on the ride up the cactus grow, 

then there are larger bushes, short trees 

and finally full grown ponderosa pines with bright red orange bark.  

The scent of lemon balsam is everywhere 

and I feel at home, at peace and full of wonder. 

Here is a collage with some of the pictures I took Thursday 

on a hike with my daughter Jessie and the two dogs; Durango and Harley.  

The pictures in my header are all taken at the top of the Mary Jane Falls Trail. 

 You have to see my macro shots of the wild delphinium and thistle up close. 

Wild Delphinium- this tiny flower looks like a fairy queen's crown!

Thistle- unfortunately not flowering yet.

I couldn't have conjurred up of a better lead into my work in progress 

for Heather Power's Challenge: at Humblebeads 

"Inspired by Nature": 

this week's theme is "the Forest Floor".

These photos were actually taken on a rock in my backyard, 

in the garden wall above the pool

and in a couple of my potted plants.  

I am addicted to color so flowers and greenery are a must in my yard, 

even if most of them die every year from the heat. 

Every year I try to add more of the plants that do survive

and my gardens are growing. 

I  will be finishing up tonight 

and take more pictures of this bib necklace completed tomorrow morning. 

For now it is off to do some outdoor chores and jump in the pool. 

Someone is waiting for me to play with him-

My little Big Boy- Durango

Come back tomorrow for links to the Challenge and see everyone's Forest Floor Creations! 

Bead Table Wednesday a day late....

I had a very busy day yesterday and was lucky to be able to walk my dogs, take my photos, upload, edit and post on the site before I left the house at 9 am.  
I didn't get home until 6:45 pm and I forgot all about posting here for BTW.  
So a day late but here is my bead table from yesterday. 

I am working on Heather Powers Challenge: Inspired by Nature; 
this week's theme is the Forest Floor. 

Monday, my major work at home day of the week, 
I collected some great images from google and 
made a collage on Picnik for inspiration and color palette ideas 
and set to work with my polymer clay.

I made fall leaves,

 acorns,

 faux twigs,

 a slug, 

( much smaller than the ones we used to see in the NW when we lived there). 

 I really like the way my acorns turned out. 

 I added embossing powders under a layer of translucent clay 

to get the grainy look on their tops and 

then had to try some faux stones too. 

 I had a great productive day and will use these for another bib necklace.  
My plan is to put together a series and go peddle my wares to some local boutiques. 

Here's to wishing all of you a productive week too!! 

Another Bead Soup Party Coming Up!!

I just have to say that Lori Anderson at  Pretty Things 

has had a huge positive influence in my growth 

as a blogger and jewelry designer.

I am so grateful for all the opportunities she has provided. 

These are pictures from my last two Bead Soup Parties. 

My soup ingredients, my partners's ( Emanda Johnson  and Angela Rae) soup ingredients
 and all of our our resulting creations. 

Lori's picks 2010 

and my "A Leap of Faith Necklace"  published in Bead Work Magazine!! 

 So here is your chance to take a leap of faith and participate too!! 

For more info go to http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.com/ and check out the fun!! 

Inspired by Nature: Trees Challenge

Heather Powers is one of my favorite bead makers.  

If you go over to her blog Humblebeads you can find out more about this weekly challenge 

and maybe even participate.  

She is hosting a retreat, working on a book and has beautiful beads she makes from polymer clay. 

Here is my entry for this week's challenge:

That amazing etched copper tree pendant was created by Christine Brandel.

Thanks for such a beautiful piece Christine! 

You can visit her at "A Hot Piece of Glass"  to see more about her and her wonderful creations. 

I have been saving this pendant for quite awhile just waiting for the right opportunity to put it to use. 

I hand beaded the spiral and since this is a very light weight piece 

I used my favorite style magnetic clasp for a closure.  

The little wooden beads are recycled from a really old necklace I pulled apart. 

To see more creative entries click HERE.