Those Fishy, Bad, Bad Beads

Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by this week. I hope you are all enjoying the pollen warm weather.  I know I am! LOL

Let's just get down to it!  This week over at Every Inchie Monday the theme is Fish.  This one was kinda easy to design but not too easy to bead.  Why, you ask?  Well, glad you asked!!!  Those beautiful tiny seed beads that have enamored me my whole life many times need to be culled.  Culling is when you have to inspect the beads and take out all the ones that don't look right, are broken, or too small/big.  Usually when I bead my inchies I get 3-4 beads that need to be culled.  There have also been times when I missed a bead that needed to be culled and beaded with it.  I am usually the first (and many times only) one who notices.

But this time with this inchie in just 2 rows of beading I had this happen.

These are all the beads that I was unable to use when I was beading just 2 rows of the pattern.  There are only 19 beads in 2 rows!  ARG!  This is one of the frustrating things about beading.  I know beads are massed produced and sometimes there are mistakes made.  Lately the beads I use have needed to be culled more.  Which brings me to another conundrum, are beads being made in more mass production (causing more culling) because they are more in need or am I just hoarding so many that they need to keep up with my stash??  LOL   I really don't want to know the answer to that question!

Here, after all the culling, here is the finished product.

I used 3 colors of mostly good Delica beads ;).  I love this kinda fish.  So tropical and pretty.

I am also working on some competition pieces that I can not show yet.  But if you are interested in joining some fun competitions then check out Dry Gulch's monthly color challenge, Seed Beads and More's monthly beaded vessel challenge, Seedbeadsters, peyote triangle challenge, Beadwork Mentoring's Kaleidocycles challenge and of course EIM and 2x2x2

I would love to hear from all of you and thanks in advance for the great comments.Until next week, have a blessed and creative week!

Grandmother and her Oranges.

Hey everyone, I hope this finds you all well.  I am doing good.  My asthma is up a bit, the changing weather is not always my friend.  But I did get my beadwork done this week.  YAY!  I was not happy about missing that one week.

This week over at Every Inchie Monday the theme is Grandmother.  My first thought was the tree in Pocahontas, Grandmother Oak.  But that did not translate nicely into beads so I went with an abbreviated design that resembled an embroidered corner on a hankie.  Because, of course, all Grandmothers (or Mamaw,  as I will one day be called) have hankies to wipe babies noses. For this one I used 4 colors of Delicas.  I do like the white background beads and the metallic purple beads.

Also this week is 2x2x2 and the theme there is one that we have had before on EIM, Orange!  So first I will show you what I did for EIM back in 2014.

 Do you get it?  As a kid this was one of my favorite jokes.  For those who don't know it or get my odd sense of humor the joke goes like this.

Knock knock!
Whose there?
Banana!
Banana who?

Knock knock!
Whose there?
Banana!
Banana who?

Knock knock!
Whose there?
Orange!
Orange who?
Orange you glad I did not say banana??

So, yea, an orange GLAD!  LOL  I told you my humor is always a bit odd.

Well for this weeks twinchie I could not go the same route but what I did want to do was a whole citrus montage with a lemon, a lime and 2 orange slices.  This one is one I have waited for all year.  I just like how I used different colored and types of beads for the different colors of the fruit.

For this twinchie I used 9 colors of Delicas I love the transparent, matte and opaque look to each slice.  To make this pattern I had to do it in 3 parts.  First part was the Lime slice.

Then I had to make a lemon slice separately.

Then I made the orange slices last.

First I took the lime and copied it onto the lemon pattern.  Saved it.  Then copied the orange slices and pasted them on top of the lemon-lime slices.  Lastly I colored the middle white.  Parts of the lemon-lime slices are hidden by the more important orange slices.  I really love how it looks.  

Well, that is it for me this week.  I hope that you like what you see and maybe think about joining along with the fun in EIM and 2x2x2.  Trust me, the thrill you get from designing something for the simple joy of designing something is well worth it!  Have a blessed and creative week my friends.

In One Door with a Zodiac full of Peanuts

Hey everybody, First off I want to say Happy Easter. Jesus has risen!  Secondly, I am sorry I was not able to be here last week.  The addition was finished and we were so busy moving things around that I did not have any time for much else! This week however, I was able to get caught up and do this weeks challenges.

But first, lets get to last weeks.  Over at Every Inchie Monday the theme was Door.  My first thought was something like a door is the window to the soul.  LOL  I know that is not how the saying goes but that was what I thought about so I designed an open door, looking outside into clouds. This inchie has 4 colors of Delicas and I like the look of the clouds, don't you?

 

Also last week over at 2x2x2 the theme was Zodiac and I am not really big into the horoscope thing so I was out of my depth with this theme.  But I do love the birthstones, would love to have a bunch of them to make jewelry with.  So for me I made me and my kids and zodiac signs in their birthstone colors, with some added stripes on the opposing corners.  For this twinchie I also used 4 colors of Delicas.  Here is the finished product.  Below is the a screen grab of the pattern made from BeadTool4 the program that I use to design my patterns.  I sent this to 2x2x2 since I was not able to finish the pattern.  I just did not want to not turn something in, you know what I mean?

Now, let's get to this weeks kinda fun.  Over at EIM the theme this week is Peanuts.  We have been working off of the theme from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and I am not 100% familiar with the book. I did see the movie but I am sure that does not do the book justice.  But for me when I think of peanuts I always think of the cartoon, of course.  But the best part of the cartoon for me was not the kids, (I did not like Lucy or Peppermint Patty, or the adult voices for that matter!)  But I always loved Woodstock! He would never fly in a normal straight line.  He always did his own thing and did not ever care what others thought.  Gotta love that cute little bird!  For this inchie I used 3 colors of Delicas and I just adore this one.  Don't you?

 Also this week I was able to participate in Dry Gulch's Monthly challenge.  If you notice I now have a button on the right side of my blog for it.  You can click on it and follow it to the Facebook page that shows this months colors.  This piece took me about 2 weeks to complete since I could only work on it a few minutes a day.  This is a 10 strand 60" seed bead necklace in the 5 colors for this month, each section of five colors was separated by off white marble beads.  It can be twisted and worn tight, or left loose.  As a single necklace or doubled up and worn shorter.  It can also be worn as a bracelet. The inspiration for this came from Night from Ipanema by Fernando Dasilva.  Check this one out.

Well, that is it for me this week.  So please don't forget to fly on over to EIM, 2x2x2 and Dry Gulch to check out all the awesome works over there and have a blessed and creative week my friends.

No One Is An Island

Hiya everyone and thanks for stopping by.  This week I am a bit late on my blog, partly because I have been tired this week and also because the weather has not been kind to my internet connection.  There was rain, flooding and tornadoes here in Arkansas and the south.  God Bless Mother Nature and everyone in her tyrannical path.

This week is the last week for the SBAYC Challenge so if you want to win a $250 gift certificate then you need to get off your hiney and get to it!!!  Sadly I have just not had the energy or time to get the other 3 projects for the competition done.  So much work going on here with the addition and moving into the addition.

I am also working on 2 other competitions one of which is the Dry Gulch Monthly challenge and another one is for an amulet bag challenge on another facebook group.  I am almost done with the Dry Gulch one and have yet to start on the amulet bag one.

I am very glad that the time has changed.  For some reason the 2-3 weeks before a time change I am always tired and kinda lethargic.

I did get my inchie done and I LOVE it.  The theme this week over at Every Inchie Monday is Island and my first thought was of course England.  I lived there for a year and I wished so much that it has been longer.  My late husband was English and lived there his whole life until we moved back to the states.  So without further ado here is my Island Inchie. I used 3 colors of Delicas and I really love it. Don't you?

Well that is it for me this week.  I am going to go, rest and dream of doing more beadwork.  LOL  Don't forget that if you love what I am doing then follow the links and join in the fun!!  We wold love to have you.

Unicorns in Space!

Hiya everyone and thanks for stopping by, hope you are having a dry and great day.  It rained today and will rain until the end of the week!  Flash flood warnings and it all!  I have had some time to do some beadwork, YAY!  That is always a plus.

First off, over at Every Inchie Monday the theme this week is Spaceship.  I did just a stock idea on a spaceship.  I used 5 colors of Delicas on this one.

 Also this week over at 2x2x2 the theme is Unicorn.  I was really excited about this one.  When my daughter was a teenager she loved (and still does) unicorns.  So I decided to make one that she used to love, a catacorn.  Isn't she cute.  I really love her.  She uses 11 colors of Delicas.  Makes me want to have one, how about you?

 Also this week I can show you something that I made a few weeks ago and wanted to wait to show it to everyone.  Have you ever seen the show Impractical Jokers?  Well, I love it and kinda wanted to make something for the guys on the show.  So I made each one of the 4 guys on the show 2 small charms that mean something to them.

One of the guys on the show, "Murr", likes bow ties and is teased about looking like a ferret.  So that is what I made him.  Another guy, "Q" loves cats, especially his cat Benjamin, and he has called people "mustache".  There is a guy named Joe, he has an alter ego named Captain Fatbelly and has a Diamond shaped green and white emblem, he is also always looking for "Larry".  The last guy, Sal had a goldfish that he never could get rid of when it passed.  He also has an awesome Podcast with Q where he is a bit afraid of a honey bear named Nugget.  I know it is silly, but I am a fangirl and I am ok with that lol. Besides, these were so much fun to make.

Lastly, this week I finished another piece for the Sarcastic beads and yarn challenge.  Entitled Point Taken Pendant by Kim Rueth.  It was fun to make and I cant wait to wear it on a silver necklace that I have.  It uses green 11/0 seed beads and Czech mates 2 holed triangles.

That is it for me this week.  I hope that you all have a drier and blessed and creative rest of your week.  Also, dont forget to fly on over to EIM, 2x2x2 or SBAYC and check out or even join in all of the creative fun.

Not Gonna Throw in the Towel

Hiya everyone.  I am so happy; HAPPY I TELL YOU to be finally healthish.  I am 95% better than I was last week. Man O man!  I was having trouble thinking, talking (yes I even had issues with talking, hard to believe but true!) staying awake, and concentrating on ANYTHING!  But I am finally getting better.  I was so excited because the addition is also FINALLY FINALLY coming together.  This has been 2 years in the making!  We are 95% done.  We only have getting the AC/heat done.  If you could see me right now you would see me doing a happy dance all over the place.

Between sweeping, dusting, moving things, and painting I was able to do some beadwork first off is for Every Inchie Monday whose theme this week is Towel.  For this one I thought about those beautiful embroidered towels that people like to display in bathrooms never meaning to be used.  My Mom had some of those.  You can not imagine how hard it always was for me to not use them.  Lets just say that I NEVER did, ;) LOL Just don't tell her.  My inchie this week is a towel on a towel bar.

For this inchie I used 4 colors of delicas.  I do love the little heart on the towel.  I still say though if I saw this in your bathroom then I would still use it, BWAHHH!

Also this week I entered 3 pieces in a competition over at Sarcastic Beads and Yarn bead challenge.  The winner in this challenge will get a $250 package of beads!  OH MY GOSH!!!!  Second Runner up will get a $50 gift certificate as well.  I am hoping to make a few more pieces for this competition.  I urge you to check it out and enter.  It is a great competition, run by a great lady.  Check out my pieces.

The first 2 are a pattern called Double Tile Bangle by Chloe Menage .  For these 2 patterns I used 2 colors of CzechMates Quadratiles and 3 colors of CzechMates Tiles.  

This is the second pattern I worked on called Winter Flower Pendant by Nichole Starman.  It uses a whole bunch of different types of beads and like the title says it is a pendant that I turned into a bracelet.  The top picture is the bottom of the pattern showing off the beads that I inserted to hold he shape of the flower.  The bottom picture is what it looks like from the top. I alternated the "leaves" of the flowers for effect.  This pattern has 11/0's, 15/0's 3mm fire polish beads and 2 different colors of Chechmates triangles.  I then added the peachy 12mm beads inside of the flower for shape.  Then closed it with a magnetic clasp.

Also this week over at All About Beadweaving, a Facebook group, they have announced an Amulet bag challenge and I have many ideas running through my head at this moment.  I can not wait to get started on it.  But until then I will just have to keep working on the Sarcastic Beads challenge and just being happy that I am feeling better.  LOL

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to fly on over to check out EIM.  Also don't forget to check out the 2x2x2 bi-monthly challenge, it is so much fun and, like EIM it is a great way to stretch your creative muscle.

Also check out the Sarcastic Beads and Yarn Beads Challenge and All About Beadweaving for the amulet bag challenge.  Join in, I don't think you will be disappointed and who knows you might win!  (BTW, if you do win can I hit you up for some new beads?)

That is it for me this week, don't forget to follow the links to check out the other challenges and artwork that so many amazing artists are doing.  Have a blessed and creative week my friends, and go out and enjoy this leap year day!

Earth Leap

Hiya everyone, I hope this finds you well.  I am still struggling with being sick.  My son had pink eye and a chest cold and I of course got the chest cold, ( I was almost finished with my last chest cold when I got his).  We are both on meds but he is all better and I am still working on it!  ARG!

Enough of that!  This week over at Every Inchie Monday the theme is Earth.  At the time that I designed this I was making alot of Kawaii themed designs.  So that spilled over into my inchie design for this week.  I wonder if I could do an entire year of Kawaii themed inchies.  Well I just gotta tell myself "don't think about it"  or I will start all over.  LOL  OCD and all.

Anyways, here is my inchie, I really like her, she is cute. I used 4 colors of delicas and beaded her backwards, but I am really the only one who can tell that so it only bugs the crap outta me lol.  By that I mean the thread should be coming out of the left side of the inchie and it isn't so it is beaded backwards on the ribbon of inchies.

Also this week over at 2x2x2 the theme is Leap and I had to think really hard on what I wanted to do, everything I tried did not look good.  Then I remembered that I had been wanting to bead some of those beautiful tree frogs.  Why not have one leaping over another.  A true leap frog if you will.  This one was so much fun to make.  I used 8 colors of Delicas.  I really love the colors in it, what do you think?

Also, this last week a friend announced a competition on her blog and facebook page to celebrate her 10,000th viewer to her blog!!  Congrats for sure Becca!  I am going to work on projects for the competition and if you are interested join it the prizes are awesome. A $250 gift package from Potomac Bead Company and some extras added in from The Wild Bead & Boutique.  For 2nd place there is a $50 gift certificate from Bello Modo I can not wait to feel a bit beter before I can start on this one!

Also there is the Dry Gulch February challenge that has only 1 week left.  You could win a $50 or $25 gift card.  So I gotta get of my cold haze and work on this as well.

So there is alot going on in this blog this week, but if you want to have some fun and maybe win some cool prizes, join along in Beccas Challenge or Dry Gulch Challenge or both!  Also don't forget the sheer fun and enjoyment of doing inchies and twinchies.  Once you start they are so much fun and kinda addictive lol.  I would love it if you joined in and checked any of these out.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving me a quick little comment I love them so much.  Take care and have a blessed and creative week everyone.