Bead Soup is BACK - meet my partner

It's been quite a few years since Lori Anderson hosted the Bead Soup Blog Party as she was dealing with some of her own health issues. She's since created Bead Soup Cafe on Facebook and opened up sign-ups for a swap a few weeks ago. It should come as no surprise that I jumped at the opportunity! As most people no longer blog, it's not called the Bead Soup Blog Hop anymore. Instead, she's rebranded it as the Bead Soup Swap & Create. The partner list rolled out about a week ago, and I'd like to introduce you to my partner, Robin Reed, a jewelry designer in Indiana. You can see her designs on her Facebook Page, Artistry: Handcrafted Bead Designs. 

Most of her jewelry is created from stone and glass beads.

As well, she also has some gorgeous metal pieces.

So, do you want to know what I sent her?

Well. . .I can't show you yet. She hasn't received it. But, I can give you a teaser of what's in the mail.

I CAN tell you that there's at least one focal, clasp, and coordinating beads. Those are the rules of the swap in any case.

Don't fret, we should be receiving our packages soon and I can reveal all, including what she sent me! Then, we'll both have to get to making something. The reveal date for that is April 3rd. Stay tuned!

Meet My Bead Soup Partner!

Over the weekend, Lori Anderson (Bead Soup Blog Party hostess with the mostess) sent out notification of our Bead Soup partners.

I want to take a moment to introduce my partner, Karen Mitchell of Over the Moon Designs. Like me, Karen makes mostly mixed media pieces and is open to a wide array of materials and colors. You can also find her on Twitter, Pintrest, and Google Plus.


Karen lives in Australia. As such, she is my first international partner! I am a little nervous about shipping internationally, but am also so very excited for the chance to break down that barrier of mine.

Now to just find the right beads to send her way! I'm hoping to get some shopping done today and tomorrow so I can get her beads in the mail soon. Thankfully we are in the third reveal (August 25th). I will  post a teaser picture when I get all the materials together. No worries! For now, why don't you head over to the links above and get acquainted with her yourself!?

Oh, and here's the newest addition to my shop!

Lock and Key Bracelet

Off to finish off the chores so I can get my booty to the bead store!

Breaking out the Bullet Post and a Meal Plan

I'm sure y'all are plenty tired of pictures from my vacation. Here's just one more (for now) of what my view was most days there.

Ahhhhhh!

After a week of Spring Breaking it, I've got tons to catch back up on online, business-related, and around the house. There's all kinds of tidbits to share so this will be a bit of a scattered post. (Caution, lots of exclamation points ahead.)

~ First a funny. Pat put the location of the house we rented for the week in the GPS as "Spring Break 2012." So when we arrived there she said, "Now arriving at your destination; Spring Break 2012." It was awesome! (I'm easily amused.)
~ Before leaving for the week, I submitted my Hunger Games Necklace post to a few sites and the kind jewelry editor over at Craft Gossip actually featured it as Jewelry Inspired by The Hunger Games!! Woot!

~ While at the beach, I had some time to catch up on my blog reading (somewhat) and discovered that I had won the Art Bead Scene weekly giveaway of some Gaea beads. Hurray!
~ Jenna over at Honey Bijou named me as one of her March 2012 Hive Five. I'm on the list with some pretty impressive individuals and am blown away by this honor! Thanks so much Jenna!!

~ The Button Swap partner list has been announced and my partner is none other than the amazing Brenda Salzano of the Salzanos blog and Salzanos Etsy shop. Now to figure out what to send an awesome artist that she doesn't already have! Any ideas?
~ GIVEAWAY ALERT!! Davinia at Deez News is giving away some of the beads she picked up on her recent trip to Bali. Entering is as simple as leaving a comment on her blog!

~ Even though we're all still recovering from Sally's Colors of Spring Blog Hop, she's already announced another one; The One Color Crayon Challenge. She's only accepting 60 participants in this blog hop and sign ups are open until the 5th. Hop on board!

~ To top it all off, today's Menu Plan Monday! Here's my plan.

Breakfasts: Cereal/oatmeal, breakfast burritos, whole wheat waffles, peanut butter toast, potato bacon casserole

Lunches: ham sandwiches, pizza (from freezer), pesto chicken panini, pizza quesidillas, leftovers, soup w/grilled cheese

Dinners: 

Chicken Marsala w/broccoli & pasta

Turkey cutlets w/mushroom rice & mashed sweet potatoes

Shrimp and rice pea bowl

Gouda stovetop mac-n-cheese w/mixed veggies

As always, there's more Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

~Before leaving on vacation, I failed to mention these new earrings in the shop.

Beach Weather Earrings

~ I recognize another month has come and gone. I'm hoping to organize a monthly goals roundup post in the next little while (that could be hours or days, we'll see!) so stay tuned for that excitement! ;)

Sorry to be all bullets, but I've got a ton of unpacking to do and you should smell these dirty clothes after being damp all week (the beach will ensure you stay damp all week, we're not nasty or anything.) So, I'm off for now. Here's hoping you are enjoying your Monday!

Chinook Designs Blog Partner Reveal

Remember a couple weeks back when I threw a bunch of bullet points your way about my mail and giveaways  and general beady. . .stuff?

No? Well, let me remind you.

I mentioned in that long list that I had been selected by Mellisa of Chinook Designs to be a Blog Partner for the month and get to use one of her fabulous ceramic pieces to make a design.

Now, when I say fabulous, I really do mean fabulous!

If you've been around here any length of time, you KNOW I adore the color blue and you should be familiar with my obsession with buttons. So this little gem really made my day! (Thanks Mellisa)

Of course, since I liked it so much I couldn't imagine how to 'better' it with a design. So, I pondered it for a while. As I played around with the ceramic button, it felt so light and delicate and fragile, but it held up to my handling of it (and that's impressive for Miss Clutzy right here. I'd use my two thumbs to point at myself, but I'd probably just poke my boob.)

ANYWAY, back to the design. 

It was obvious that the button was a FOCAL piece, but it needed just a little sumpin, sumpin.

At last, I decided to try something new. (click on image for larger pic)

I added fiber. Basically, it's just bits of ribbon, lace, and fuzzy yarns; but I don't usually work with those materials in my designs.

With heavy gauge black annealed steel wire (coated and sealed with Renaissance Wax); I made a large loop, wrapped it, weaved it through the button's holes, and then wire wrapped the top. The fibers are simply tied onto the loop. (I will probably add a little fabric glue to make sure the knots are secure.)

For the chain of the necklace, a small gauge black annealed wire (also sealed) was used to wire wrap coordinating beads in violet, pink, black, cream, and light blue. The wire was wrapped so it formed a bit of a bead cap on either end of the beads.

A hook and figure eight eye clasp was made with some super heavy duty annealed wire and attached to the chain.

I really had a lot of fun creating with this pendant. It definitely allowed me stretch to my imagination (and you gotta love that!) I want to thank Mellisa for selecting me to be a blog partner this month and I only hope that I did her beautiful pendant the justice it deserves.

Check out Mellisa's blog, her Etsy shop, and how to become a blog partner!

As well, check out the other Blog Partners for the Month
Linda: Linda's Bead Blog and Meanderings
Patty: My Life Under the Bus

Cilla:  Tell Your Girlfriends Jewelry