The Equator at Ecuador

Hey everyone, I hope this finds you all well.  This weekend has been nice and warm.  I am enjoying it.  But rain is looming in the distance.  I am really tired of the rain.  But then I catch myself complaining and realize that I am lucky that I am not in the East dealing with the multiple Nor'Easters in a row. 

This week over at Every Inchie Monday the theme is Ecuador.  I knew that Ecuador was near the equator but I did not know that it actually cuts through the country!  So very interesting that you can go for a walk and go from one hemisphere to the next!  Or stand on both at the same time!!!

Not me but I sure wish I was there!

 What fun!  But for me this week, I decided to have the equator cutting through the flag of  Ecuador.  I also used more sparkly colors of the flag than the original.  I just kinda wanted to step outside of the box.  Hope you like it.

That is it for me this week.  I am hoping to get more time to bead this coming week.  One can hope!  Anyways, don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the other road trips that everyone else is taking.  Have a blessed and creative week!

World Tour On!

Hey everyone, just a quick post this week.  Over at Every Inchie Monday the theme this week is Russia.  This is one of the great things about this years inchies being all countries.  I get to travel and not leave the comfort (and warmth) of my living room.  Especially when it is the frigid Russia.

I would love to go and see the Saint Basil's Cathedral.  But maybe only during the warmth of summer!  The colors are beautiful, the architectural details are amazing and both make me happy!  One day I hope to be able to visit, but until then I can just look at dream of the beauty.

This is my interpretation of the Cathedral.  I hope you like it.  This is my take on one of the conical spires.  I really love it!

That is it for me this week.  Short and sweet.  I have been so tired.  The time change always seems to do that to me.  I am loving the longer days though and the warming weather!  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the other great Russian inchies.  Have a blessed and creative week my friends.

Let's Go To The Beach!

Hey everyone, I hope that this finds you all well.  I just found out today that I have bronchitis!  ARG!  I just want to get healthy and STAY healthy!  Anyways, between coughing fits I got 2 inchies done.  A past one that I had not gotten to and the current one for this week. 

This week over at Every Inchie Monday the world tour lands in lovely Samoa.  I have never been but I would love to see myself in a hut on the beach!  Since it will only ever happen in my dreams I decided to give me a visual to dream about. 

This is my hut on the beach.  Which I wish I was at right this minute.  I also got the last missed inchie done as well.  Zimbabwe.

For Zimbabwe I really wanted to do Victoria Falls, but I just could not get it translated into beads.  So I settled for the flag.  I love the bold colors and lines on it.  Green stands for agriculture and rural areas of Zimbabwe.  Yellow stand for the gold that is in the lands.  Red is for the blood shed during the 2 Chimurenga War.  Black is for the heritage of Zimbabwe.  There is also a white triangle symbolizes peace.  There is a yellow bird who is the national symbol of Zimbabwe that stands in front of a red star that is for the countries aspirations.  So much meaning in just those colors.

Well, that is it for me this week.  I am going to get my coughy butt to bed and hope to feel better.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the other great designs from the awesome designers.  Have a blessed and creative week.

It Has Been A Week (Or Two)!!

Hey everybody, sorry that I missed posting last week.  There was a lot going on last weekend.  So I got a question for everyone,  more like a riddle, what do you get when you mix 10 lbs of sugar, 5 lbs of flour, 1 lb of coffee, a bowl of water and a 10 month old German Shepard?.......... you get TIRED, because after 4 hours of cleaning I got extremely TIRED!

Well, that was how I spent a nice portion of last weekend.  This weekend, however, I got to spend time with my beads!  No "baking" allowed this weekend.  HAHA.

I got caught up with my temperature necklace, here is the picture of February.

I did also get some of the past inchies from Every Inchie Monday that I missed done as well.  I only have one more left, but I was too tired to do the last one.

Here is India.  I like how the Om came out.

I got Vietnam done as well.  I do like how the colors came out on this one.

I missed last week because of the "baking" incident and so many other things going on at the house but I really liked my idea for Turkey.  I decided to make a Fez.  I have seen so many people (on TV shows from travel shows) that wear them, from Whirling Dervishes to regular men and women.  They were even banned in Turkey for a time!

This pic is a bit blurry but you can see the matte and opaque colors showing the difference between the top and the sides.  I like how it came out.

This week over at EIM the theme is Australia.  I could have gone with so many things but the one thing that has always sticks out to me is the Sydney Opera House, I really love architectural lines of the Opera House and have always wanted to do it in beads!  So here was my chance.  It was a lot easier said than done!  You sorta have to use your imagination on this one.  LOL  I used the "precast shells" from the roof as the inspiration for this one.

I have a few more things to show off but there was already a lot this post so next week!  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the great Australian tour inchies over there and have a blessed and creative week my friends.

Let's Drive to Cuba!

Hey everyone, I hope that all of you are doing well.  I am well. I was able to do a bit of catch up and got some of the inchies that I missed done.  But let's dive into our Inchie World Tour.  This week over at Every Inchie Monday we are landing or driving to Cuba.

I never really knew much about Cuba since the US had an embargo on Cuba since the late 50's.  All I could tell you about Cuba is that they have cigars that everyone seems to want but could not have.  After the embargo was lifted a few years ago I found out that Cuba loves its 1950's cars! 

I just adore the colors of the cars.  Are those colors original? I dunno but they just make me happy, not to mention the shapes of those cars from that time are so beautiful.  So I decided to go with that as the theme of my inchie. 

  I was only able to fit in the front of the car but I am happy with it.  Purple isn't my favorite color but the color of those purple oldies is so pretty!  I hope I did it justice!  Check out all the other inchies at EIM.

Speaking of doing justice, I got a few of the missed inchies done.  I like the finished piece better than the screen grab of the pattern.

This is The Netherlands, pink tulips in front and a windmill in the back.

The USA, land of the Free and home of the Brave!

France, the French flag with a silhouette of the Eiffel Tower in the front. 

That is it for me this week, but before I go I would like to say that I am saddened by yet another school shooting.  This time in Florida.  I am sending all of them my prayers.  It is past time that we start thinking of our children and their safe future instead of political parties, stuffed pockets and alignments.   This isn't a political issue, it's a safe future issue. 

Have a blessed, safe and creative week my friends.

WooooooooooHooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

Hey everyone!  I AM BACK, BABY!  I am off of restriction and able to bead again!  Which means now I have to catch up on my inchies; but not this week.  This week I worked on my Temperature necklace from the Facebook Group Seed Beads And More.  I got all of January done. 

If you don't know what a temperature necklace is that is ok.  I did not either until the beginning of the year when Anita, the Moderator of Seed Beads and More brought it up to the group.  The necklace is similar to a temperature scarf that knitters do.  Stitching yarn; beads in my case; into strips of color that represent the daily high and low temperature.  I decided to use the herringbone stitch and do 2 rows for the low and 2 for the high.  I will separate each month with a hand painted bead and edge each month with a row of white. 

Now, onto Every Inchie Monday.  I missed posting 2 weeks in a row, so here is the catch up.  January 29th was Vietnam.  With so much history that the country has I went with my gut...err belly.  Vietnam is known for Pho, a soup that is made up of beef stock, spices, noodles and sliced beef or chicken (and sometimes egg).  Yum!  I have never had Pho but I could use a hot bowl of it right now! 

I also missed Zimbabwe.  This one was super hard for me to find something to bead about.  I was going to do Victoria Falls.  But you know how hard it is to bead a water fall?  Yea, that is why I did not do it!  LOL  So instead I did the flag of Zimbabwe. 

Now on to this weeks inchie.  The world tour stops in Romania. Which is kinda cool since my inchie is a gold 10.  Commemorating Nadia Comaneci's first 10 in Gymnastics. Nice that it coincides with the Olympics. 

That is it for me this week!  I am so happy to be back!  I will work on the inchies I missed and will post them as I get them done.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the latest stop on the inchie world tour!

2018 Has Come In Like A Roaring Lion

Hello everyone and happy 2018 to you and yours!  I hope that you have all had a great year so far.  Mine has been testing for sure.  Many of you know that I was to have carpal tunnel surgery on the 2nd.  It went well, and for that I am so happy.  It is great to be free from the constant numbing, tingling pain.

Ten days after the surgery I got the flu.  YAY ME!  I ended up having to miss work and sit at home sick as a dog. I am on the mend now.  Not 100% but getting there.  But for now I am missing my beads.  I don't know when I will be able to start up but I am missing those small colorful glass beauties.

Every Inchie Monday is continuing on!!  YAY!  This year every theme is a country! There is some doozies on the list as well.  So I am again hoping to put my unique spin on the themes.  Since I cant yet bead I have decided to post screen shots of the patterns and will bead them up later on.  Not as satisfying as beadwork but as close as I can get right now.

 The first country that we visit is the Netherlands!  All I know about the Netherlands is there are A LOT of windmills and A LOT of tulips.  So that is what I designed.

Second country on our inchie road trip is the good 'ol USA.  Home of the free and the brave.  With so many things to design I was kinda overwhelmed, and decided to show off just that; the free and the brave!

Third stop on this inchie road trip is France.  I was going to say that I have never been there, but I have!!!  I forgot that when we came back from England that we had a lay over at Charles De Gaulle airport.  So, well, yea I have never really been to France LOL.  This is a bit of a cheat.  I used the pattern that I did as an honor piece for France after a terrorist attack. But this is what I think of when I think of France.

The current stop this week is in India.  I love all the ornate decorativeness that I see about India.  You know the Bollywood/Historical aspect of jewelry, clothing, fabric patterns etc.  All of that just makes my brain tingle!  I love it all.  But, how to add all that beauty and adornment into a beaded inch.  Well, I kinda went down to basics.  

Did you know that almost 80% of India practice Hinduism.  So that got me to thinking about the Om symbol and it's importance to those who worship Hinduism.  Om represents the unmanifest and manifest aspects of God.  Such a cool thing for a symbol to have such deep meaning.  

That is it for me this week/month.  Hopefully next week I will be able to bead again!  Until then don't forget to fly on over to EIM and see all the great places that everyone has been going to.