Meet my BSBP Partner!

I am so excited to be a part of Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party this year!  I have participated twice and really enjoyed it.  I almost did't this year but at the last minute decided to join the Party!  I am glad I did and am looking forward to working with my partner.  We have some things in common! 

My partner is Lori Callahan of Dancing Wire and Beads... check out some of her creations from her Etsy shop.

I love the wire work and the colors of this bracelet.  Lori also does seed bead work that is beautiful!

I have been mulling over what kind of soup to send her.  She is multi-talented and has some awesome pictures of macrame work on her Facebook page.

I need to get something interesting together for her that is for sure!  It is going to be fun! 

Czech Glass, Found Objects and a Little Bit of Polymer

I am a collector of "found objects"...so you know what that means!  I have a bunch of junk-stuff-treasures.  I cannot pass up perusing the thrift store or hardware store for my collection and I tell everyone to save their grandmas button box for me.  My treasure box is full!

I have also been overly attracted to czech glass beads lately... so I have  been working on using up my stash of  beads and found objects.

The button is from the winnings of a drawing from a button swap by Michelle Mach last year.  The key looking charm is a lamp finial from the hardware store.  The czech glass beads are from an Etsy shop Mountain Shadow Design.  I have also included some small green polymer clay beads that I made with green and translucent clay.

 I love making polymer beads but have started making smaller pieces to work with all of my other treasures.  I will share more of those soon.

I also made these earrings to go with this necklace. 

These are made from copper head pins, czech glass beads and some pearls from a "treasure find" from an old piece of jewelry.  I love repurposing old and beautiful things.  There is always a story behind buttons and jewelry that have been worn by someone many years ago.  Something to think about anyway.

Enjoy the summer sunshine and warm days!

Wedding Bells are Ringing

In less than a month my youngest child and only son will be getting married.  We are delighted and excited about the celebration of their new life together.  Taylor and his new wife Adrienne will also be moving accross the country after the wedding as he will be stationed in San Diego, California.  So this is a bittersweet time for us because he will also be deployed one if not two times before he is finished with his committment to the Navy.  We are proud of him and thankful to be part of a great country that has been served by many fine young men and women in our Armed Forces!

I have volunteered to make the jewelry for the bride and the bridesmaids.  It has been fun picking out beads and findings.  Her colors are aqua and red.  The girls are wearing aqua dresses with red shoes and will carry red Gerbera Daisies.  I have a sample of the fabric for the dresses but nothing to match the red in the shoes or the flowers.  I decided to get a mix of reds so that it should work no matter what the shoes and flower colors turn out to be.

Can I say that I was not a great wire wrapper before I volunteered for this project?!  I talked to a friend who does wire wrapping well and watched her work on a few beads.  I realized that the most important thing I needed were the right tools.  I invested in a great set of Lindstrom jewelers tools from Fire Mountain Gems.

I also used sterling silver chain and findings.  So my journey with wire wrapping was now on a new playing field!  What a difference in how easy it was to wire wrap using sterling silver and using great tools!

So here are pictures of the bracelet and earrings that I am making for the wedding!

My muscles were actually sore after I spent the better part of the day wire wrapping these beads for 4 sets of earrings!  I will say that I am much more confident in my wire wrapping abilities now! 

What do you think of the need for quality tools?