Monday, July 16, 2012

Soups have arrived!

It's Here!
Canadian leaf and all
 It's finally time to show you what Debbie and I sent each other.

What I received from Debbie:

the soup
the punch of color
Now what am I going to do with this?


The brilliance of a black and white soup is you can add almost any color as an accent.  But then there is the dilemma of should you keep it a classic beauty by only using black and white.  Well, I had it narrowed down to 2 ideas, but now a 3rd keeps creeping in.  We'll see on August 11th wont we.  

It will be a special treat because Debbie has already created a piece with this same soup that she'll reveal on the 11th when she shows you what she made with these...

what I sent:

the soup

the extras
the surprise


The pendant shows off my fledgling soldering skills, but best of all shows off 2 of Deb's fantastic photos.  Yep it's reversible!



Monday, July 9, 2012

Wow what an honor!

The Kreativ Blogger award -wow- what an honor.  It is like a big hug from someone I look up to.  I am so thrilled.  I was reading Therese's blog the other day and was so happy for her to win this award.  I thought to myself maybe in a few years I will have a following too.  "We'll wake up Darling!" because it took a day to be gobsmacked by a Facebook message from the amazing Marlene Cupo that read, "You have to go here NOW!"  At first I was thinking poor dear I hope everything is ok.  Yep, she's great and has won the award too & low and behold right in the middle of my banana this morning I had won a blog award.
Marelene is a truly wonderful lady and I can only hope to be such a dear, but I can already tell you I'll not age as gracefully.  Her blog, Amazing Designs by Marlene, is just that-amazing! She's works with polymer clay.  She's taught me so much in the short time we've known each other.  She is one of the few people to enjoy my work as she owns one of my pieces.  I even bought a bit of polymer clay myself thanks to her.  Sweetie, thank you.  You've really brought joy to my heart today.

Alright now to the hard part that has taken me all day to accomplish:

When you receive this award, there are a few rules:
1. Post a link to the person who awarded you-check
2. Share 7 well-thought out random things about yourself
3. Award to 10 other deserving bloggers and let them know

1. Yes, there can be trouble in paradise.  I have my son's cold, and can't seem to stay awake. 


2. Paradise is where I live on the sub-tropical Japanese island of Okinawa.


3. I was born in rural South Carolina where a respect for mother nature took hold and became a passion for hiking, gardening and so much more-that is surprisingly hard to explain. Oh and lighting...I love electrical storms! When I am safely tucked away inside that is.


4. I had never flown anywhere till I came here.  So not only did my son and I take our first flights together, but we almost went half way around the planet in 1 day.


5. I had a young girl who was recommended to me come to my house to cut my hair today.  She's a doll, and will be back Friday for my low lights.  I'm still processing the experience though.  Do I like my haircut? Was it cool or weird that she cut my hair in my home? etc...

6. I never know what time it is, and in the summer I hardly know what day it is.  I really like that about myself. 


7. I do not eat radioactive diapers despite my son's insistence that I do all afternoon long.


Here are my 10 deserving bloggers in alphabetical order.  Each one has found a way to capture my attention time and time again.  Several of which even inspire me.  Oh and there are a few more that I considered including, but I see they have already been awarded.

Amybeads Amy Serverino has one of my favorite blogs.  She's cheerful, talented and creates such a volume of work.  I barely begin with the last thing she's inspired me to try before there are 3 other incredible pieces to drool over.  Oh and her bead kit challenges are just that-an excellent challenge.

A little of this, a little of that Debbie Rasmussen is a multi-talented marvel.  She's a bit anxious about how her work will be received which I can totally relate to.  Despite that she just opened her first Etsy shop and I look forward to reading her experiences with that.


Crafting Rebellion The Rebel Crafter- I just love her quick easy crafts.  She was the first blog I ever followed after starting my own.  Her blog lovin' posts show me things I may have never seen without her. 


Crafty Soccer Mom Nicole Timm is the one who I always read for another dose of "why didn't I think of that."  She's creates anything and everything out of duct tape.  Her blog is a quick, fun read.


eighteen25 Jami-Jodi-Jen are a fun group of gals. I've been exposed to so many new ideas and products, and I only found there blog a few weeks ago.


Garden Path Beads Maria Grimes is a lampwork artist I've followed via email for years. Her creations are so cute, and her personal stories are a joy to read especially her travel posts. They have excellent photos. I own several of her pieces and have been eyeing a few more to add to my collection.


La Bella Joya Marcie Abney shares down to earth stories of her life and translates those stories into amazing works of bead embroidery. Sharing my life's adventures through any art form would be a dream come true.


Mariposas Schatzkiste Matina Nagele was my first bead soup partner and since our pairing my skills have grown so much.  Her guidance and tutorials have changed the way I view patterns.  I can now see ways to adapt the pattern which I understand to be the gateway to designing. Not to mention opening the August B&B to see her design on a full page gave me the "Hey I know her" thrill all afternoon.


Releases by Rufydoof Karyn White is the creator of Beading Babes and it's this bi-monthly challenge that started on her blog and had now exploded on Facebook that brings me to the beading table on days I don't feel like beading. 


Tree Wing Studio Rebekah Payne is a real sweetheart.  You've heard the expression "there is just something about [her] I like" well that is so true of Rebekah.  Her polymer clay artwork brings a smile to my face.  I always eagerly click her posts to see the next marvelous thing she's created. 

I'm glad to have this opportunity to share some of my favorite bloggers with you. 
Maybe you'll find a new blog to enjoy.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Finally Finished Something-YEAH ME!

I have been in a rut.  Actually I've been avoiding my bead table so I grab a few things and go somewhere else to work.  It's been good to finish some things I've piled up the supplies for, but never finished or at times even started.  
First I'll show you my summer anklet and the other bits and evolved while I sat there mesmorized by my first episode of Fairly Legal.  (Yep, I have Japanese cable so I'm a little behind the times.)

Anyway, here's the pieces made with my husband's beach finds that are "round & already have a hole.  So you could do something with that, right?"
This picture shows a bracelet, anklet & pair of earrings.  I only used Hubby's "round things", waxed cord, a pair of earring findings, 10 jumprings, 4 glass drops, a pair of scissors and a pair of pliers.  I love projects that don't require a ton of supplies.  The time consuming part of this project was digging out all the beachy bits that didn't wash out of the spirals

Next are the trees of life.  The smallest (center) I made in a class with
the fantastic Tammy Marsh of Lady Eireland about a month ago.
The others I created with my sample and a tiny scrap of paper's worth of notes.  The purple one was made on a day when I was really sad and upset despite knowing I was surrounded by love.  It was inspired by the tree Robin Williams' wife painted in What Dreams May Come.
The last (below) was just an effort to create something not my style which are always the first things my friends are drawn to when they go through my collection to chose a gift.
Not too shabby for my 2nd wire wrapping project ever.  Yep I've wire wrapped a pair of earrings and these.  Definately a skill I will continue to develop.

Last was finally finishing off a kumihimo braid.






It's not perfect, but it's done and that is good enough.  






Friday, July 6, 2012

Stash Share

Today I found CJ's blog 4 His Glory Creations.

She's decided not only to show us her stash, but share a bit with the 2 lucky people.

Though I'd be thrilled to win I wanted to share the photos of her stash.
It was like the HGTV Dream House special in blog form. 

I really enjoyed her reading her blog as well.

So check out CJ's blog.

Giveaway at Beads of Clay


I ran across this giveaway on facebook and thought I'd share.

We were asked to why we love Beads of Clay.  Since this was my first visit to the blog, and becuase I read the words without seeing the capitalization I wanted to share my response.  Beads of clay can look new and old at the same time.  I love glass beads more than anything, but they either look new or old. Clay can appear to be both simultaniously.  I love that!

Anyway, check out Beads of Clay Blog to enter to win the beads above by July 11th.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Field Trip

we have arrived
Shisha-open mouth scares away evil spirits
big bubbles
clay baking in the intense Oki sun
giant kaleidoscope
fibers for traditional Yomitan weavings
beautiful small vessels
Okinawan butterfly is the largest species I've ever seen.
better size comparison, but shot through netting...sorry
they have a gold chrysalis
Goya-famous Okinawa vegetable
tree house outside "Nature School"
lunch break...
Stilts...well done lil man
I'm going back to try my hand at lampwork!
Feel free to explore their website if you'd like:

Sorry to be short.  It's a busy busy day, but wanted to share my trip with ya'll.  
It's been so long since I shared my island paradise.


Thursday, June 28, 2012

Cleanin' Up

So today I yet again found plenty of things to do to avoid cleaning my work space.  I did a ton of dishes, laundry, etc, worked out, shuttled my lil man to and from culture and swim lessons, read aloud for a bit and cleaned the sand out of our last batch of treasures. Of course I did a bit more, but that's all I can remember at the moment.
I can't tell you why we bring half of this stuff home, but I know at the time it is very important to one of the three of us.  This time my husband liked the little round things.  I know I couldn't possibly ever use all the white and brown sea glass I have, but they happily bring it to me and I happily collect not only the glass but their smiles of self-satisfaction.

Here a few of my favorites from this batch:
I love this color!
Looks like a honeycomb doesn't it?
Can you see the house and tree in the black one?


Well, off to bed. Tomorrow I'm going on a field trip.