Purple

Here is the latest bracelet that I made. It's an amethyst cabochon. Can you tell I love purple???

Amethyst Cuff

This is the beginning of a cuff using an amethyst stone that my friend Ralph made for me. I am in love with the Swarovski sequins and will definitely need to find a supplier that will sell them in bulk.

Challenge Piece

I was challenged to work with 3 colors that I do not like to use, green, yellow and orange. This is what I came up with. It's a barrette with a green adventurine stone.

Willow Creek

Here is a sample of my next bracelet. The cabochon is Willow Creek Jasper, another one that I got from Curt!

Barrette

I have been in a beading frenzy lately. I don't know why, but I love it. Here is my latest using an agate cabochon that I have had but have never done anything with it.

Sneek Peak

Here is a peak at my latest project. It's going to be a barrette. I don't remember what kind of stone it is. It's some kind of agate.

April Bead Journal Page

I finished my April page this weekend. I don't have a name for it yet. If you have any suggestions please let me know.

Denim Cuff

Since I ran out of metal blanks on my last bracelet I decided to do this cuff using black denim. I really love the way it turned out. I didn't want to bead the whole thing because I wanted the denim to show. You can't see the clasp but it's a sterling S clasp.

Piute Cab Bracelet

I finished my bracelet yesterday and I love how it turned out.

Newest Cuff

Where I live the Piute Mountains are my back yard. I love taking walks with the grand ones and looking for rocks. The following cab is some petrified wood that we found on one of our hikes. I sent a portion of it to Curt and he made me some cabs out of it.

It's Finished

My cuff is finally finished. I really love the way it turned out.

New Cuff

While looking to find just the right material for my April page I'm busy working on a new cuff. The cab is opalized petrified wood that my good friend Curt gave me.

Tennesee Fire Fly

I lost a dear friend in January and this is the tribute bag that I did for her.

I Remember

Mom's red lipstick that she wore to church, certs that she always kept in her purse to keep us kids quiet in church and her braiding my hair everyday. She braided so tight my head would hurt for hours. But my strongest and best memory is of her humming. She would hum while she sewed, worked in her puzzle book or just sitting there doing nothing. I miss you Mom!!!

I Remember

I finally started my March Bead Journal Page. Here is a preview. I'll post a final picture when I get it done.

My Beaded Box

I finished my first ever box this past weekend. These little things are really fun to make. Now I'm starting on a square box.

I do need to practice on my tension so the sides don't cave in.

weather

It has been raining and the wind has been incredible all week long. It's either feast or famine here in California. I do love the rain though and we might get snow down to my level today so I'm crossing my fingers for a snow day tomorrow :) That means I don't have to get dressed and I can bead all day long :)

My Box

This is what I have been doing while waiting to order my beads for my March BJP. This is my first box from Julia Pretl's book. I think I am going to love making all kinds of boxes.

Heart to Heart

I got Julia Pretl's Little Bead Boxes book and wanted to try one so bad but hubby said I needed to finish what I was doing first so I had no choice but to finish February's page to my Bead Journal. It's called Heart to Heart. I know it looks crooked but that's just the way it is laying in the scanner. I'll use my camera later and get better pictures.

Julie Pretl's bead box book

My sister works at Barnes and Noble and I had her order Julie's book on beaded boxes. I'm meeting her for lunch tomorrow to pick it up and I can't wait to see it. I just need to resist the urge to stop what I'm doing and try one.

Start of February

I got a jump on February's page last night. I got the photo ironed on and the lace put on it. Not sure yet what I'm going to put on it.

Sometimes it's a curse

Sometimes the long drive to work can be a curse. My mind jumps all over the place and when it gets stuck on something it's a bear getting my mind off of it. Especially if it's a sad thought. But today the long drive was a blessing. On the good days I do my best designs and inspirations in my head. I realized that my bead journal is actually about my journey through Mom's life, not her journey. So I named January "I'm on My Way".

January BJP

I finally decided on a name for my journal quilt. It's called Life's Journey. I finished January yesterday and can't wait until I start next month's page.

I finished beading the page yesterday but I don't want to overload you all with numerous pictures so I'll post the final picture when I get it finished. Since I will be quilting each individual page instead of waiting until the whole thing is done I've been trying to come up with an idea on how to attach them all. I'm leaning towards doing a beaded edge like I did on my peacock purse. Then when I get the next page done I'll just weave the 2 edges together.

I'll post again when it's finished

I am almost finished with my first page. I love this new idea of quilting my pages. I'm not going to bind them until I figure out how I'm going to connect them.

They say every dark cloud has a silver lining. I didn't realize how true that was until yesterday. I had finished all the beading on my journal page and I needed to glue the thin cardboard piece to the back to make it sturdier and then glue the back material to it. I didn't have any my usual glue that I use on the ultra suede so I used a white glue that hubby had. The glue seeped through to the material and it warped the cardboard. It was a total disaster and the page is ruined. My daughter suggested that instead of a book I should make all my pages into a quilt. I really love this idea and I could kick myself for not thinking of it sooner. Now my insert will be quilt batting and there is no glue required :)

Bead Journal

Every year a group of beaders sign up to do a Bead Journal. The challenge is do to one page a month. I decided to sign up this year and mine is dedicated to my Mom that I lost last year (I can't believe I'm saying "last year" already). Here is the start of the first page. I'll be adding more progress pictures as I get them done.