Peek at My Weeks (April 4-17)

While I usually do these roundups weekly, we started vacation last weekend, and I wanted to hold off on my peek. Today is the last day of our staycation, and I just can't stand the thought of putting a peek off any longer. So, here's a look at the last two weeks. 

Sunday was Easter, and we weren't expected at my mom's until after noon. We had a slow-moving morning, but I still went out to kick the bamboo. While out, I spied these two shapes (above). At first, I thought it was some kind of wasp nest remnant, but on further inspection, I realized that they're decaying seed pods from a Sweetgum tree. I kept them to possibly use in an art project at a later date. 

At my mom's, she was still frantically trying to get lunch made and had my niece add the frosting to our traditional strawberry cake. For some reason, it's always a mess no matter what my mom tries to do. Despite the toothpicks, the cake layers still slid. And, then my niece added ALL the icing which pooled and dripped from the cake plate. In spite of the way it looks, it was delicious along with the rest of the meal. 

Monday was nothing special of a day really. 

While Pat took Zoe out, he found this little gem of a rusty keyhole and surprised me with it. That man really knows me!

I struggled with what to do the day (besides grocery shopping) and landed on an idea from my list of busy-work tasks I keep on hand.

I cut down old belts to make cuff bracelets. I've actually always struggled with cutting the thick belts but saw somewhere that using a rotary cutter would work. It totally made the task so much easier!! I had this pile in no time. 

It seems that I spent a good portion of Tuesday working on making and business-related tasks. . .after dealing with the bamboo. That time outside always gives me a chance to discover the beauty in nature. 

This little spiral vine caught my eye.

Before long, I headed to Southern Antiques and Accents to update the booth with a few new pieces.

Then, I focused on those cut belts and turned them into bracelets.

Adding snaps is always a bit finicky, and I did waste a few, but now I have a good stack of leather cuffs to accent. Yay!!

On Wednesday morning, I was drawn to the dewy blueberries.

A few hours later, Pat and I headed out to get the first doses of our Covid-19 vaccines. 

After that, we waited around almost all day for the concrete guys to show up to work on the building. They were four hours late and only worked for two hours once they did get there. This whole process is breaking our hearts as it moves at a snail's pace. 

This is what our dirt pile looked like Thursday morning pushed around on the old slab. 

While checking the mail a few hours later, I spied these tiny blooms.

I spent much of the day watching art videos and eventually worked on some of the techniques that were taught.

I got my chores and a few other tasks accomplished on Friday but seemed to be focused on the natural world as my camera roll was full of pretty outdoor pictures. 

This fungus on a downed limb had me tromping out into the briars to get its picture. I think they look like little rainbows or seashells. 

Our big Japanese Maple has been in bloom, and the tiny flowers always mesmerize me. 

Speaking of blooms, I've never seen these little buds on the Horsetail reed before. Aren't they cool?

That evening, we met a few friends for dinner and drinks. In the wee hours of the morning, a horrible thunderstorm rolled through the area, and I woke with a bit of a hangover from the margaritas and lack of sleep. But, it was Bead Soup Swap reveal day, so I occupied myself with hopping through the participants and making sure my post was up.

I also found some buried treasure when I willed myself outside for a bit. 

Treasure may be a bit of a stretch. It's really just an old, rusty hedge trimmer.

And, I made sure to take in the glory of the many colors on the Japanese Maple tree. 

This post wouldn't be complete without a cute kitten picture.

I spent some of Sunday hopping back through the Bead Soup participants I had missed.

And, I discovered a patch of honeysuckle in the yard. 

Since it was the start of our vacation week, we kicked it off with a sunset ride on a friend's boat up Fish River.

The river was eerily calm and perfect for getting some reflection shots. 

On Monday, I took my niece for her second vaccine. Back at home, we fired up the grill for the first time to make sure the day had some sense of vacation to it. 

Tuesday was a friend's birthday and we headed down to Pirate's Cove for lunch and Bushwackers.

After we left there, we took a bit of a detour.

We ended up taking a peek at Bamahenge! It's a full-scale reproduction of Stonehenge. The area also boasts dinosaurs, Greek statues, and a "Lady of the Lake" (which we didn't go see because we're pretty sure the hurricane damaged her.) After that, we took another Fish River boat ride before having dinner with the same friends. 

Wednesday was mostly about catching up on errands and a few chores in the morning. That's also when the rain returned.

And, it's rained every day since. It put a real damper (literally) on our staycation. But, I stayed busy with making art and watching art videos.

As it rained pretty much all day on Thursday. I sat on the couch more than I really should have. But, I chalked it up to vacation. 

I finally started working on the altered-book journal for the Transformation class from Tiffany of Southern Gals Designs. 

As we watched TV in the evening, I worked on these flower fairy doodles that have become a bit of an obsession. 

Pat told me that I need to learn to draw arms, and now that's messed with my head and my process. Dang!

It rained much of Friday, finally clearing up for a little while in the afternoon. As the rain kept me inside, I searched for something to keep me busy. 

I decided to tackle one of the items on my list of jewelry techniques that I've been wanting to learn: sawing metal. Y'all, this skill has intimidated me longer than I care to admit, but I bit the bullet and went for it. I still have loads of practice that I need to do, but it doesn't seem as intimidating anymore. Whew!

When the rain cleared for a bit, I ran a few errands and stopped in the parking lot to take a picture.

I can't help it. I have to capture the beauty that I find no matter where that may be. 

Saturday was utterly dreary as it rained ALL DAY LONG. I barely got anything accomplished as I spent a good portion of the day on the couch. We had dinner out with a friend to get out of the house and enjoy something about the day. 

Here's some of the inspiration I found over the last two weeks. 

• Learn how to natural-dye fabrics with this tutorial at Cut Out + Keep. 
• I love to have old photos at hand for printing out for art journaling. The Graphics Fairy is good about keeping me in stock. These 9 Vintage Women Photos are perfect for so many uses. 
• Door 44 Studios shared a Pendant Wire Weaving Tutorial that's really pretty. 
• For Beaded and Wire-wrapped Jewelry Inspiration, head over to Nunn Designs. And, here's Part 2 of that series. 
• The Yellow Birdhouse has 19 Floral Hand Embroidery Patterns. 
• Take a look at these little ink sketches. They're full of details. 
• Learn to make a Polymer Clay Pendant with another Cut Out + Keep tutorial. 
• This Sea Foam Cuff at Halcraft includes a tutorial. 
• I am in awe at the details in these tiny Bonsai Treehouses. 
• Roben-Marie shares her tips for success for the 100 Day Project. 
• Here are a couple of Inspired Craft Books if you're looking to learn something new. 
• Cut Out + Keep has had quite a few new jewelry designs lately. Here's a caterpillar bracelet (the picture is misleading). Try making the Polymer Clay Daisy Earrings. And another pair of easy Polymer Clay Earrings. 
• These wood sculptures have me oohing and ahhing. I love them!
• Julie Balzer shared her 3 Best Organizing Tips for Art Supplies in a quick video. 
• Learn this easy technique for beaded backstitch in embroidery. 
• I'm so going to have to try this - Thread Wrap a Tassel without Glue, Knots, or a Needle. 
• So, I mentioned above that I need to learn to draw arms. This tutorial on How to Draw Cartoon People might help. 
• Check out the beauty of these assemblage Polymer Clay Canes. 
• I've long been considering ways to use old ceiling fan light fixtures since I always see so many of them in thrift stores. These light globe candleholders are definitely one cool option.
• Here are 11 DIY Felt Flowers. The description says they require no sewing, but a few of them do involve some stitching. 
• I really love the shape of this Crescent Moon Wreath from Epbot. 
• This Wood Burned Welcome Sign was made with something called a scorch marker. I may have to look into those a bit more.

And, that was it for the weeks for me. The sun is actually out today so we're going to tackle a few yard chores before the grass gets too high to mow. HA! I hope you're well and enjoying the spring weather. What creative activities have you been up to?

Bead Soup Swap & Create Reveal

It's been many years since there's been a Bead Soup Reveal. Several years ago, it was THE challenge of the year for bead and jewelry artists/bloggers. When Lori Anderson, the originator (and bead soup hostess with the mostest) became sick, the swap fell to the wayside. Now that she's more healthy, she's brought it back to life, and I couldn't be more excited. Partners were assigned and beads were swapped several months ago. I shared what I sent to and received from my partner, Robin Reed, in a post and video a couple of months back. Now, it's time to reveal what I made with all that soup!

Let me remind you quickly of the gloriousness that Robin bestowed upon me. 

So much awesome!

The rules of the swap are pretty clear: send at least one focal, one clasp, and some coordinating beads. Make something with at least the focal and clasp that was sent to you. You don't even have to include the focal and clasp in the same piece, just use them. You can make one piece or twenty. I made six.

Soon after going through the soup that Robin sent me, I sketched out an idea for the amethyst focal she included. It was unlike anything I've ever made before, and I wasn't sure I could make it work, but I had to try. It's always a learning experience. That's kinda the fun of the challenge - using pieces that you didn't select and making them work. And, y'all, this WORKED!

When I saw the trapezoidal shape of the stone pendant, I didn't think I could get it to fit in with my more romantic-boho style. I knew it needed some softening somehow, some ruffles. With a little copper wire and patience, I created a focal that fit me much better. Robin included amethyst beads and the copper toggle clasp in my soup so I included those with more copper wire and completed the necklace. With that, I could have been done with my makes for this challenge. But, I knew I wasn't. 

When I started working on my Chain Link Earring Tutorial series, I spied a chain link that I knew would be fun to test out a resin technique on. And, I had saved the tissue papers that Robin used to wrap my soup (because, of course I did). I combined those two bits along with one of the freshwater pearls Robin provided to make a sweet pair of earrings.

And, because it's been my jam recently, I recorded the process of how these Tissue Paper and Resin Earrings were created. 

After that, I kept looking through my bead soup for more inspiration but struggled. I really wanted to make something that combined these two elements.

That brass piece that Robin altered is so gorgeous. And, those pistachio-colored freshwater pearls were the first thing I opened, and they just sing to me. I know these two elements can be combined, but I absolutely cannot seem to figure it out. . . yet. I did try to combine these with some of the Indian glass beads, but the long necklace I tried to make immediately became too heavy.

I kept coming back to the soup for several days looking for more ways to use some of the elements Robin blessed me with. Eventually, the brass hammered "pages" spoke to me. 

I altered one of them (she sent me three) by attaching an internal snap ring (from the hardware store) with rivets so that I could hang some of the smaller Indian glass beads from it. A medium-sized glass bead hangs from the brass page itself. And, larger glass beads were combined with small brass spacer beads and darkened steel wire (to match the snap ring) to create a chain. Something about the colors of the glass and the mixed metals give this necklace a very Moroccan feel to me. 

While I was sorting through the Indian glass beads to find the smaller beads for the dangles, I happened upon a few of them that actually matched (previous searches through them yielded no matches - isn't that weird?) So, I decided to create a few pairs of earrings with them. First, I hammered and aged several of the copper washers Robin sent. Then I combined them with the glass beads and copper wire.

The results are stunning.

You can almost see it in this picture, but I made spiral headpins with copper wire for this pair.

Since I had one more pair of matching beads that I wanted to use, I dipped into my stash of pre-cut and prepared tin pairs to create this last contribution.

And, that's everything I've made (so far) with the soup Robin sent me. Make sure to head over to her Facebook Page - Artistry: Handcrafted Bead Designs to see what she created with the Bead Soup I sent her. As well, if you're interested in these types of challenges, make sure to join Bead Soup Cafe on Facebook so you can be aware of future events. And now, here's the list of participants. Many of these link to the pages where they'll be revealing their makes. You can also visit Lori's blog where she has the complete, updated list of participants (I'll be updating it as I hop.)

Lori Anderson, hostess

Anastasia Urbanski

Andrea Garvens

Ann Snyder Rishell

Bee Kuhlman

Becky Pancake

Birgit Klughardt

Bobbie Rafferty

Bridget Torres

Candida Castleberry

Christina Hickman

Divya N

Donna Hoblit

Dorit Woldenga

Elaine Robitaille

Elisabeth Auld

Ginger Bishop

Heather Canepa

Hope Smitherman (you're HERE)

Inge von Roos

Jackie Locantore

Jayne Capps

Jenny Kyrlach

Jennifer Reeb

Jill Bradley

Joan Williams

Jodie Marshall

Joyce Becker

Kate Dufour

Kathleen Breeding

Kathy Lindemer

Katie Nielson-Nunez

Katrina Baslow

Kelly Hosford Patterson

Kim Hutchinson

Lisa Baxa

Lisa Long

Lorelei Eurto

Lucy Clasen

Marianna Wehner

Melissa Trudinger

Monica Dockery

Natalie Ettinger

Natalie Moton

Pamela Traub

Raquel Rosario

Robin Reed

Rochelle Brisson

Sarah Beardslee

Shaiha Williams

Susan Kelly

Terri Gauthier

Terry Jeanette Carter

Valerie Norton

Enjoy hopping through the list. I know I will!

Peek at My Week (March 21-27)

 We've made it through another week! Here's hoping yours was a good one. Here's a peek at mine.

I have to admit that the majority of Sunday was spent on yard work. Spring is here and everything is starting to get out of control. After that, I didn't have much time or energy for my 100 Day Project, so I xinished up this little bracelet for my Honey Do List Reveal. 

Monday was kinda weird. I took my 17-year-old niece to get her first Covid vaccine. It was done as a drive-through in the Mobile Civic Center. It was odd to  drive through the same space where we have our Mardi Gras Balls. As we waited a few minutes to see if she had any reaction, I looked up in the stands to see Bernie up there. I was tickled and even got a prize for noticing him! 

After her shot and some lunch, I headed back home to get work done. Of course, I wasn't feeling it. All I really accomplished was making some Wonky Bits from the course I just took from @Willa.Wanders on Instagram. 

Tuesday was a rough day for the weather in Alabama. We didn't get much of the storms but watched the radar and alerts all day long. The rain finally settled in over our area overnight. 

Since I knew it was going to rain for several days, I tried to make sure I made a point of spending a little time outside. That was also partly because I was restless all day. The azaleas are out of control at the moment. To give scale to the size of some of our bushes, I quickly took this photo of Zoe in front of the ones next to our driveway. I'm still not sure you can tell how massive they are. 

It indeed rained on and off all day on Wednesday, and I didn't leave the house. Instead, I stayed busy with a few business-relaed tasks like making more beaded bookmarks and mixed media thank you cards that are included with my online orders. 

I also dove back into my Bead Soup to make a few more things for the reveal this Saturday. 

There was more work with the above beads on Thursday. But, I also made som time to explore the property since the rain had stopped. 

I was giddy to discover this tiny snail chopping away on a rotting log.

As well, I spotted these little roses that didn't bloom last year. (I think we had cut them back not realizing what they were.)

As the bamboo shoots are popping up, it's my routine to walk the property to kick them down before they get too big. On Friday, while searching for them in an area I haven't recently tread, I spied these blooms. 

I think they're some kind of pear. The funny thing is that they're blooming off a branch that is bent, broken, and mangled. To me, they're pretty little miracles. 

I worked a bit more on the last few pieces for my Bead Soup, altering some copper washers that my partner, Robin sent me. 

From there, I turned to my art journal since I haven't touched one in about a week. This page was an utter disaster until I remembered the wonky bits I recently made. It fixed the whole thing. I'll likely have a video on the process for this one before too long. 

Saturday was a mixed bag. Pat had a gig out of town so I was on my own. I woke early with him then did some yardwork before chatting on the phone with a friend I haven't talked to in a few months. From there, I decided to do a little eco-dying to see if the azaleas and wisteria would color my papers. (It seems that the wisteria leaves did great but neither of the blooms added much color to the pages - just FYI.) And, that pretty much ended my week. 

Here's some inspiration for your week ahead:

• I've mentioned it several times that I don't really do wreaths, but I can always appreciate the beauty of them. This Inexpensive Rag Wreath piques my interest because of its simplicity. 
• Can you believe that Easter is next weekend? GAH! I saw this Fabric Easter Egg Pattern and thought it was super cute. . . maybe next year! Also, this Easter Egg Banner is awful sweet. I can see hanging it across my TV stand. 
• I mentioned last week that I'm going to try to learn to knit, maybe even crochet. So this Crocheted Chain Link Necklace definitely caught my attention. 
• Oh my goodness. You really need to see the beauty of these floating embroidered pieces. They're gorgeous. 
• Anything rainbow-related always calls out to me. I'm taken with this woven rainbow card. I just want to pet it!
• Here are Five Favorite Creative Tips for your creative process. 
• I'm always on the lookout for images to use in my art, and The Graphics Fairy often delivers just that. This week, she shared some Old Kid Photos that are really great. 
• This little Woven Embroidery Hoop looks like a project I could actually do. I might too, I have all the supplies. 
• How about some jewelry-making? lol. These Marbled Clay Statement Earrings are made with polymer clay. 
• Finally, here are 52 Quotes about Journaling to inspire your creativity. 

And, that was my week. I'm looking forward to the week ahead and Easter with the family. I hope your week is full of all kinds of lovely surprises and signs of Spring.