I C Y

Or

I See Why 

it's a mess out there.

Today we got a little sun shine. 

Not enough to melt the ice off though.

May everybody get their power restored soon.

Scenic Vacation Pics

Anna Ruby Falls, GA.

Wine tasting after our hike...

Yum!

Yeah I got published!

I'm in the Fall issue of 

Jewelry Stringing Magazine.

You can wear this 

necklace 3 different ways

As seen below.

If you like it the instructions on how

 I made this are in the magazine.

Thanks for looking.

Tea Party Journal Gifts

Made two of these journals exactly the same  

for two missionary sisters 

that we are having a special tea party for.

They are visiting from  Quito, Ecuador.

I think they will find them useful.

I enlarged the image from Lilly of the Valley 

and photo shopped the saying

"Always my Sister, Always my Friend."

Bead Gift

Recently I was gifted these diamond shapped beads fom my Mom.

I immediately thought of the the beads caps I had.

They worked together wonderfully don't you think?

Added a few glass pearls and Czech rondelles from my stash. 

Goodie Gift Bags

 Going to see Disney's Planes... 

Images from Googoole and Disney tm

...with 6 adorable little boys today.

We get free tickets once a year through our 

credit union. Four for each account holder. 

So I made these goodie bags up today 

for each of the the boys.

UPDATE:

Cute movie and the goodie gift bags were a hit ! 

Death, Death, and more Death

I've had my share this year of losses.

First my cat, then the sudden death my older brother 

and then my friend Cathy. 

Another friend lost his wife a month ago

and then just recently his grown daughter.

Yet another friend and Elder in my congregation

lost his mother to death recently.

Now another friend had to make the painful decission to 

take her husband off of life support.

And then Yesterday my girl friend, Johnnie, who 

I have know since I was 9 years old 

just lost her father.

Each loss is different and each one heart wreching.

Several years ago Johnnie's dad and my hubby, Chip

were in the hospital at the same time.

Chip to reattach his bicep muscle and 

her dad for quadruple bypass surgery.

 We helped each other then.

I hope I will be able to comfort her now.

Needless to say...

I needed to make alot of sympathy cards. 

Didn't have enough creative energy to 

make them all different. So I made them all the same.

Half of them are gone already.

The beautiful photo was taken my my niece Kelly.

Having to deal with the pain of death 

is not the way God intended things to be.

Thankfully under Christs Rule

1 Corinthians 15:26  will be fulfilled where it says..

"As the last enemy, death is to be brought to nothing." 

Dress Gift Tags

Simple and Sweet!

 No end to the fun we can have 

decorating these dress cut outs.

Haveing a gathering in the fall 

and thought I would use

 these as gift tags for the Martha Stewart cello bags.

Dangle link Bracelet

Design Pattern taken from Fire Mts. D715

I had to remove the bead caps they suggested using to 

help the dandle links to lay properly.

They tend to flip.

I chose to use silver instead of gold. 

And I did not to use the butterfly charms.

Instead used coordinating:

 faceted Czech, round & bicone moonstone, 

Chinese crystal, cherry quartz beads.

Tatting Gifts

That Artistic friend of mine, Deb Abel 

just gifted these to me today.

She has taken up tatting.

And is loving it.

Love the Book marker!

 And these embellishments 

would look great on a card!

Thanks so Much Deb!

White Zin bracelet

Pink opal, Dzi, and Rhodochrosite beads. 

Silver plated pewter bead caps with leaf design
and grape leaf toggle.

Reminded me of a nice glass of

White Zinfandel.

A Prayer Reguest

Seems my dear friend Kathy 

is loosing her battle with ovarian cancer.

The family has been told she may have 

only 24 hours to live.

So I ask for your prayers of comfort for her, 

for her family  and friends.
1 John 5:14

She is an Amazing lady and my has 

life is richer for knowing her.

Proverbs 10:22

Sadly Kathy passed away last night. 

Today I picked these flowersfor her husband, Jim

 from our yard. 

Purple was Kathy's favorite color.

 I took a photo of the arrangement

and quickly made this 

Sympathy card using the photo.

Flowers will fade but the card will not.

 Then Chip and I took it over to him.

This is the set I made Kathy before she

Started chemo and had her surgery.

She never took off the Ovarian Cancer band 

off that said "FIGHT."

And fight she did with grace and dignity.

I was told today that she'll be buried with it.

Which touched me deeply.

Thank You all for your thoughts and prayers.

New Necklace from 6th Bead Soup

My Partner from the 6th Bead Soup

was Sarah Goode.
(This was in the summer of last year)

And in the bonus soup she sent me 

were these  magenta leaves.

They have that rubberized feel to them.

Did I want to make earrings?

A bracelet?

Use one here and two there?

In the end they all were used for this necklace.

As it happened I had a few of the same 

color in some coin shell beads.

I also have several shell necklaces that needed 

some more pizzazz!

I think this touch of magenta did the trick.

Thanks Sarah

..it's a soup that keeps on giving!

Bead Soup Reveal #3

Thank You Pamela

for a really fun and challenging

 bead soup mix...

with it I was able to create the following...

Now, let's break it down a bit...

I used the focal and toggle I was sent.

Adding beads from my stash.
I like the word beads because it says
"Appreciate"
And I truly appreciate what you sent me.

My Bead Soup commitment is now completed.

You can stop here if you wish and move on with the hop.

Or check out what else I did with Pamela's soup mix...

I made this bracelet with the wood beads.

Rubbed them with golden gilders paste
 for a little more metallic sheen.

The clear AB beads were used in this necklace.

Along with pink crackle beads and a focal 

I was gifted by my Mom.  

We can call this one Pink Bubbly.

[Good for a  "Pink Saturday" post too!]

This stretch bracelet was made after 

I created the set below.

I used  the hematite beads and a left over Verdi bead.

Added a few antique brass beads 

to help tie it in....

with this necklace and matching earrings. 

I was able to use the  painted metal dough nut,

 gold tone rose beads,and Verdi ceramic beads

(which was a spot on match to the ones I had in my stash).

Added African brass beads, filigree medallion

 and antique gold tone chain.

 I'll call this next one, Serendipity.
I had just taken advantage of a sale
and purchased these the minty lampwork
beads and leaves.
 A challenging color for me but the price was right.
Then to my surprise in my bead soup mix...a stretch bracelet
....minty pearl chips.
A perfect match!
Could I have taken apart the stretch
bracelet and gotten more creative?
Yeah.
But it works for me the way it is with
the small addition of the set of leaves.
and a pair of earring to match.

Here are a few last minute items I put together.

So what's left from my soup....not much.
I gobbled it right up!
 A few more of these Bi-cone beads
 and the Jade flower beads are all that is left.

I'm so glad I started on my soup straight away.
Or it may have been that I had nothing to show you.
Much like others I have visited, the unexpected happens.
For me it was the death of my beloved Iko kitty,
and then a week later the sudden death of my older brother.
My creativity was zapped. Didn't want to do anything.
But my inner voice said, "Let your Yes mean Yes."
And
Thankfully, I am not without hope.
Though my heart is aching....
 I'm moving forward.
I dedicate these creations to them.

(Being in the last reveal was a help too.)

A Special Thanks to Lori Anderson. 
Our lovely hostess.
Another great blog hop.
She is amazing and soldiers on despite her illness.

Why not check out what the other participants did.
Just hop on over to Lori's blog for a complete
list of each of the reveals.
#1, #2, & #3

Here is the link to the 3rd reveal
http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.com/

Thanks for Lookin'

Beads Soup Blog Party is on!

I won't be posting until the third reveal date. 

I plan to visit as many as possible. 

Here is a link to the list of the those in 

the first reveal

http://www.prettythingsblog.com/2013/03/the-7th-bead-soup-blog-party-first.html

the 2nd reveal

http://www.prettythingsblog.com/2013/04/the-7th-bead-soup-blog-party-second.html

UPDATE 4/2/2013

From Lori our hostess

Due to completely unforeseen circumstances (well, maybe not unforeseen, but I am not able to conquer this latest bout of illness very well) I would like to please (OH pretty please) postpone the 2nd and 3rd reveal by a week. That means if you are set to post this weekend, you post on the 13th and if you are in the 3rd reveal, you post on the 20th.

Update from Lori 4/17/2013

Once again -- I'm very sorry.  This blog party is the one thing I think I bring to the beading world, so to postpone it not once, but twice -- well.  I wouldn't unless I had to, and I am so very sorry I have to.

Let's hope Lori feels better real soon! 

So it looks like my reveal date will now be on the 20th,  
27th

Hope you come back then. 

And visit the other ladies to see what 

they created with their soups.

Sweet Kitty Bracelet

Sold the first one.

Used up what I had on hand for this one.

Gifts for Sarah

Good News !

My friend Kim's daughter, Sarah

recently gave birth to a healthy baby Boy.

These are some of the gifts I made for Sarah. 

Tried to match the farm themed bedding

 she selected for the nursery. 

And I made Kim 

a Grandma Brag bracelet.

 She can switch out the picture of her daughter 

with baby to be to a new photo of the baby.