Just Seeding Here

TigerTiger

2011-10-07T14:47:00.000-04:00

Finally finished this bracelet on the trip to and from PA. After a false start I now like the outcome. As with all the big bracelet projects it earns a name...Tigertiger.

The stone is bezelled with cream 11 and bronze 15 seed beads. The band is peyote in the cream 11's and the fringe is done with 15's. Several thousand beads later it is done!

Check out earlier posts for the "starts" on this one!

Ring Bling

2011-09-21T06:40:00.001-04:00

Women's Club Auction

This years contribution to the women's club auction.

The rings are made with 14mm Swarovski Rivolis. They are bezelled with Miyuki delicas and size 15/0 seed beads. The embellishments are Swarovski 4mm bicone crystals and seed beads. The bands are with the miyukis and seed beads. Each ring takes approximately 4 hours without any glitches.

Along with the two rings for Women's Club are several other rings with Rivolis and stones.

The topaz and jet rivoli rings on the right of this picture were made as Christmas gifts for the two sales ladies in the community where I live. It is a little early for Christmas gift giving but I gave them yesterday. It all started when the one asked to buy a ring she saw me making. "I do not sell the projects I make." I told her. However, I said that I would make her one for Christmas. I could not just give to one or the ladies.

As much as I enjoy making the Bling Rings, do you think I should start selling them?

Cab Bracelet Progress Report

2011-08-21T06:35:00.000-04:00

Fringe Is In!

After much thought, I have decided that my favorite "fancy" bracelet is the fringed one. So I have decided that for sure the Cab bracelet should become the Brown Frnged Bracelet. It really needs a name but that will no doubt happen as the hours pile up.

The cab is about an inch and a quarter in diameter. The 3/4 inch band is 12 beads wide. (#11's) The band is done in even number peyote stitch. The fringe is thirteen beads long.(#15's) There are three diagonal rows of fringe in each of four or five main colors (four for sure and I just may have to add a fifth color when I get done with four) that will alternate across the bracelet. There are approximately 8 fringes across in each of the three rows. It will be closed with a snap.

Two colors have been added so far.

I am guessing that it will take about 25 to 30 hours total not counting the first attempt that I scrapped as shown it a prior blog.

Wasting Time and Wishing I Were Shopping!

2011-08-11T12:26:00.000-04:00

Sitting here playing games on the computer and Harv is napping on the sofa. That is not what I wanted to do today.

Harv already biked for 3 hours / 30 miles around Victoria Gardens. I imagine the neighbors think he is stalking them as he does the same ride 5 days a week. He has a pattern that takes him around the community streets 3 or 4 times a day. He came home and did the floors. He dusted yesterday. Yes you heard right. He is the house cleaner. I am the cook and laundress and other chores as they arise.

We did not have any other obligations today so I decided that we should do something fun. I suggested the Outlet Malls in St. Augustine, the Pavillon Mall at Port Orange and the beach in Ponce. I Guess they did not attract Harv's attention as he did not answer and then laid down on the sofa and is softly snoring.

The other possiblity is that Harv is tired and done for the day, I cannot help it if he leaves for his biking at 5:15 in the morning to avoid the worse of the heat. I guess his day is about over when I am thinking of doing something.

Darn still did not get me out and I am sitting here wasting time. Why am I not beading? Lazy would be the best answer to that one. Oh forgot, Harv did offer to take us to get hair cuts; that is not a fun thing to do, right? I should have said yes, as I would not be sitting here doing nothing!

Peyote and Cab Bracelet

2011-08-07T08:25:00.000-04:00

Here I Go Again

The beginning of a new concept for the cab in the last blog. I am not certain but I think it may get fringe much like the Flamethrower Bracelet from a long time ago.

A closer look at the peyote stitch. I actually added 6 beads to the existing peyote bezel. On the second row of the bezel peyote I added between the beads so the band grew out of the bezel so to speak. The band then became a even numbered twelve bead band.

I continue to plan and re plan how I will finish the bracelet. I could make it a base band with embellishments to give it a freeform look. Or I could do another fringed band like I mentioned. The fringed would be more like the one I made for the Hospice Auction last year.

It would be narrower as it is 3/4 inch and the Flamethrower is 1 3/8 inch, much wider.

(FlameThrower)

I will have to let you see what I decide later.

Totally off the beading subject! Do you ever photograph your meals? Weird right? Well based on my FaceBook friends not as weird as I first thought. Others have posted meal pictures too. The other night I had made dinner salads for Harv and I with some grilled hot peppers for a little pizazz! Harv remarked that they were pretty as a picture and soooo!

Yes, they were good!

Finished Purple Project Today

2011-08-03T11:59:00.000-04:00

Yeah

This is the purple pendant necklace that started out as a ring. It is difficult to see how thick the stone and bezel area are but it measures 5/8 inch. Meanwhile do you notice how the beads of the necklace get a little larger toward the back? That was the mistake of replacing the 10's with 11's. The Purple beads are also 11's. The stitch, for those of you who do not follow me, is Russian Spiral. The loop is circle peyote. The toggle is a flat peyote that has been zippered together.

Now I have to think about getting busy on the multi-cab blue and ? necklace. Oh and then there is the Freeform Peyote bracelet in brown tones with a big cab that is getting torn apart and restarted. Hate to hear the rip rip sound. I bet I have 6 hours in it and aside from the bezelled cab it is all getting ripped!

Can you hear the sound?

What Keeps Me Busy

2011-07-31T11:47:00.000-04:00

Gazing out the Window

Views From My Backyard

This beautiful Sandhill Crane is part of a family of 3. He/She liked the looks of this plant in the neighbors backyard so was eating bugs from it and throwing dirt everywhere to get to them. The males and females look identical so I do not know if this is Dad or Mom but the baby does not have the red on the head yet.

Our Resident Alligator "Stick" lives in the pond behind our house. He is fascinating to watch. When he first arrived he was about a foot long. He is now about 4 feet but still young and cute...10 feet long he may not be so cute!

Great Blue Heron stopped by to do some fishing recently and Harv caught him with his mouth full! He had quit a time of eating his meal and I wonder if perhaps "Stick" did not get some of it!

View From the Front Porch

When we see a bright orange reflection in the livingroom coming from the front door window. We know it is time to grab the camera and head out to the front porch.

When I settle down and stop looking at the outdoors I do bead a little!

These two necklace projects should be much further along at this point but...

This pendant started as a purple polished stone that I had wanted as a ring. When it was finally bezelled it was like a ring on steroids. A pendant was born.

The necklace is Russian Spiral but with a bit of a twist...I ran out of the clear AB and when I replaced them I realized they had been 10s and I purchased 11s. I opened the starting side and added thread so that the larger look was on both sides and the pendant will hang on the smaller area. Will look like I planned it that way in the end.

Don't Tell!

I bought several blue cabs at the flea market recently and what was going to be a blue collar necklace may end up being a primary color collar! Sometimes I change boats in the middle of the river!

But it is fun!

Today we are volunteering at the Tour Center in our Community and so I need to go get ready!

BYE!

Where in the World Have I Been

2011-07-30T08:10:00.000-04:00

Here!

Lots has been happening in my world but... I have been lazy about writing.

I decided today that I was playing too many FB games and doing too little constuctively. So here I am.

Beading has taken a back burner at times but I continue to bead. Still doing my Russian Spiral bracelets, Freeform Peyote bracelets, and have done a few rings lately for the bling of it!

This nugget ring was fun and I made another is blue coral for Jessica. I bezelled a marquis cut topaz and made it into a ring also. The stone came from an old ring of my mothers that the setting was distroyed somehow.

Hope this means I am back to blogging again. See you soon!

Beading to Bead Making

2010-01-31T10:24:00.006-05:00

Ruffles and Lace---

I have discovered a new craft. Once a week, several of the crafters where I live get together and try our hand at making beads out of crafting clay. Some of the people in the group have quite a bit of experience, not me. I have been enjoying trying different types. Some are hand formed, some are made in a mold and some are a combination of each. Play with Clay we call ourselves!

Long Time NO SEE but not NO SEED

2009-11-08T19:03:00.008-05:00

As you may have ascertained from the title, I have been beading but not blogging. I started a project in September as we traveled to PA for our annual Doctor visits. It has been taking a while and I have started a few in between projects when I needed a break. (I will blog them later)

Let me start at the beginning. To explain the project I need to give a little background. I belong to a "Club" that is called the "Divas". I believe the best way to explain Divas is to say we are a little too young at heart to be Red Hatters. Although some of our members are also Red Hatters and love that too. Each month one of the members is Queen Diva and she is responsible for the activity. The Queen can decide if we are staying in the Clubhouse or venturing to another location. She is also responsible for a snack if we are not going out to lunch. If we go out for lunch the cost is not covered by the Queen. We wear pink clothes and pink boas and carry a pink and green decorated bag to tote our boas...they tend to get itchy and so we can put them away when necessary.

I volunteered to be Queen for December. I am dressing in a long large pink dress...Mrs. Diva Claus. Instead of the members bringing a gift for exchange I am supplying the gifts for each member. They must however buy their gift for $5 which I will donate to our Relay For Life Team. Each gift will be wrapped differently in different size boxes and bags. However, each will be a pink beaded bracelet created by me with a Diva charm. Each of the bracelets will be a little different with a different combination of pink beads. The beads are size 11's and 15's in different combinations. The Diva Charm is attached a little differently, too. At present I have 14 completed bracelets. I am about 1/3 finished with number 15. I have decided that I will continue to make the bracelets so new members, as they join, may purchase one. The price will always be donated to Cancer charities.

Bracelets in Progress-

A little closer look!

When the members arrive at the December meeting they will get a number. According to their number they will have the chance to select their gift. During the selection process if a member wants a gift already selected she may take it and the person she took from will select another from under the tree. Once everyone has selected their package we will open the gifts at the same time. Each bracelet is about the same. There is a slight difference in size. Once everyone has opened their gift we will have an opportunity to trade. Anyone wanting to trade will have to negotiate to trade with another Diva.

Already for Wrapping

I am hoping that it works like I have it envisioned.

All wrapped and ready to take to the Party!

I will let you know if they liked them and if it worked like I expected- or NOT!

Flamethrower Revisited...new additions.

2009-08-23T05:55:00.008-04:00

Well I have been so darn busy enjoying my new community that I have not paused for even a minute, in more than a month, to update this blog. Florida is truly a wonderful place to call home. However it does keep us busy.

The Flamethrower bracelet that I finished some time ago has generated much interest as it must appear to be of some kind of material that would be soft so people who venture a touch are somewhat surprised to feel the glass bead feel. The weight is also a bit of a surprise to me too.

The bracelet really needed a go-along touch and a necklace would have taken way to long to create and been overwhelming also. So the earrings have been a thought since the bracelet was completed. Exactly how to create them was the reason they did not get started before now. To be honest I was about over fringe for awhile! I had drawn up three different designs and none of them seemed to be what I really wanted. A few days ago I got the base color size 11's out and started to play with them. The base ended up being a rectangle of 19 rows by 10 beads a row of even peyote. The sterling silver earring wire was hung unto a corner at the red end so the earrings would hang on an angle and hopefully display the fringe colors to the best advantage.

The second earring base is not complete in this picture.

There are 7 more rows to be added in darker and darker reds.

The first earring has been completed and now to try it on. I am about half afraid to try it for fear I will not like it. Since I generally wear a moderate gold hoop, these are going to be over the top for me. If they do not hang right I know I will not wear them. Yes, I will be very disappointed! Wish me luck...

Done!

A Gift for Shari

2009-07-11T17:09:00.006-04:00

Some people you meet you like right away. It is especially easy when that person does kind things for others. The first kindness was a gift for Harv. The second was for our community. She makes it a point to make us smile and enjoy ourselves. And it is always a pleasure to see her with her parents, the love is obvious. This is Shari and Shari collects elephants. And Deb makes bracelets...as gifts for people that she admires...but never with an animal within!

And so I start and restart and restart yet again. Darn that part that sticks out on the back leg...pretend it is a kneecap and move on!

See there is a stick out place on the picture I was working from...however it was created as a crochet pattern and bead weaving is just a bit different.

Miss elephant is done...well as done as she is going to be...now what?

The indented area is because I shifted from the black 11 Delicas to a 15 round bead. It worked well as I did not want the back of the bracelet to be as wide. I tried other options and ripped ripped and ripped some more.

The closure is a black snap that I found at my Mothers last summer. Smaller than the ones on the Flamethrower bracelet but also vintage.

Viola! Finished! It is not the most perfect elephant, but it sure is a one of a kind gift. Thanks Shari for being such a neat person! (Oh I will leave it on your doorstep before I leave for Las Vegas!)

New and Different!

2009-06-13T20:42:00.004-04:00

Well this is a little different for me and has been sitting around waiting to be finished since forever. I did the Cellini Spiral months ago but did not want the whole bracelet in it.
http://www.tarnhelm.com/NeedForBeads/Cellini.htm However I was stumped about what I did want to do. I simply changed to my standby Russian Spiral. I used only the smaller two sized beads. The 11 and 15 and it made the bracelet more flexible. The bead at the end is a piece of turquoise that my sister in law gave me when her daughter made her a super necklace. The loop was a little large so I modified it to be arrow shaped and that seems to help. The first time I wear it I will know if I really did correct to too large opening.

I now only have one long time on deck project and it is with square Swarovski crystals and tiny gold beads that I am making into peyote rings to hold the open square crystals. I think it will have to be a gift as I would need one more crystal to make it large enough for my wrist.

It will have to be someone very special as it takes forever to make the darn rings.

Now for the fun stuff...My daughter Jessica and her kind husband Michael and baby boy Jay took me kayaking with them today. I absolutely had a ball. What a great couple to include the old lady and I am the one that make the baby cry...awe. How fortunate that they have 3 kayaks. I do recall that Michael mentioned that he needs to sell one of the kayaks...could that be a hint????

Pics and Tips for Russian Sprial Pattern!

2009-06-09T20:53:00.016-04:00

So You want to learn the simple weaving that makes Russian Spiral both easy and beautiful. I will try to help with a few pictures and some tips that I have gathered in the last year or so. These are the tips that help me. You will come up with some of your own as each of us have a little different technique of putting needle to beads to create this pattern.
(Click on the pictures for a closer look!)

First decide on the color and combination of sizes you wish to use. I would recommend that you start with two distinctively different colors as well as two different sizes. The smaller size should be the two beads in a group that calls for one large and two small repeated throughout the length of the bracelet or necklace. My selection here is larger lighter green and smaller darker. They are 11/0 for the large and 15/0 for the small. You may wish to start with an 8 for the large and 11 for the small if you think it will be easier for you to see where to insert the needle as well as a faster finish! (I always suggest that you use a good glass bead so the sizes are more likely uniform and the final product is worthy of the time you will spend.)

I am using 4# Fireline fishing line and I get mine at a sporting good store rather than a bead store as the product is the same and the price is about half! I start by threading a #10 or 12 needle. I use one light (11) and two dark green (15) beads three times on the thread.

I leave about a 10 inch to 12 inch tail of thread ( to attach my finding when I am finished) and tie a knot to form a circle. I run the needle through the next small bead to the knot and carefully pull the thread through. Careful not to tangle the thread as I have about 2 to 3 yards on the needle and it is single strand sewing/weaving.

We are ready to weave now. If you are right handed you will work from right to left or counterclockwise with the needle. If you are left handed you will work from left to right or clockwise. Place one large and two small beads on the needle and insert the needle in the first small bead beside the large to your left on the circle of nine beads.. It will take a little manipulating of the needle and bead to get it inserted. As you add the three beads each time you will insert the needle in the next small beside large working around the circle. After you work the first three groups you will have a spiral that is flat. Continue to do another round in the flat as that will help keep your place make certain you are working only in the outter most round and adding the three beads and inserting the needle into the first of the two small beads beside the larger working left.

I hold the work between my thumb and index finger to keep it flat as I draw the thread through carefully...tangles do happen and take some patience and two needles to get undone sometimes.

When I have a total of 27 beads added in a flat spiral, I am ready to tighten up the work and bring it into a tube of woven work. I hold the tail end of the thread around my little left hand finger and start to tighten up and draw the beads around to form the spiral tubular look. It takes a little work to align them so that there are three large as you look down on the third round of beads. I tend to squeeze them with my thumb and index and roll the beads back and forth to help align them...confused? It makes more sense when you are doing it than reading honest!

Notice the three large beads visible on the top round.

It makes for a finer product if you keep your work tight. I do the rolling of the beads as I apply pressure to the end of the thread to continually tighten up my work. As you bead this pattern it will get better each time until is it all very uniform and snug and lovely!

It is time for the boring part of continually adding the three beads and weaving them in as you build your bracelet.

Where did that end come from and why did I not photograph the process and the stages. Stupid that is why. I forgot and well what can I say? However I do both ends exactly the same so when I finish off the bracelet I will do the step by step of attaching the findings. (fasteners)

A quick comment about the SS Flamingo that is attached. We are the Flamingo House and thus my signature charm

When the bracelet reaches approximately 6 1/2 inches long I make my final round. The final round I do as one large and one small only three times. That is 6 instead of 9 beads for the final round. I snug the up tightly and insert the needle through a few more beads in the round and knot it securely.

.

Next step is the same as I did for the attached toggle. I start with a large bead, a small, a second large and a second small. Then I run the needle through a quarter inch of French Wire. (French wire is available in gold tones and silver tones in real or not metals. It is really a coil of thin metal that is a protection for the thread so the findings do not wear on it.)

I finally add the lope end of the finding in this case a heart shape in sterling silver, then I thread the needle through the small bead again. I add the second leg of the holding by adding another large bead, another small bead, and a final large bead...four beads each side of the leg if you count the shared small one right before the French Wire was added.

I knot this leg to the top of the bracelet on the opposite side from the first leg. I then run the needle through 4 or 5 small beads down the bracelet and knot again. I do that again so there are about 3 holding knots. I then run the thread a few more beads down and then trim off the thread and I am DONE!

Flamethrower Final Edition...I think!

2009-06-05T10:41:00.004-04:00

How long did I work on that bracelet and why did it take so darn long you ask? Well, it was a lot of beads to sew together. It probably took between 50 and 70 hours. And I do have a life you know...kind of!

The snaps were part of the "finds" from my parents house last summer. I am thinking that Mother used the other two on something years ago...the price was 10 cents for the pack!

Rain Rain Go Away - Enough Already

2009-05-20T13:16:00.002-04:00

I know, I know, we need the rain! I am so spoiled by the sunshine. When it is not here I complain.

The rain brought some welcomed guests to our pond. They had not been here in a long time.
I took the picture through the bedroom window as I did not want to disturb them.

The Wood Storks

In the last week we have had some other feathered visitors. We have been hearing them call "Bob White" for weeks and have seen a pair about a block from our house. I do not think this is the same pair we had seen but who can tell. They were busy eating near the back door.

Bob White Quail

Now these visitors kind of worried us. We checked each others pulses and they were fine. It was a hot day and both had a drink from the pond and a rest under the maple tree and then flew away. Not before he checked to see if she was interested in him. She said "No"!

Turkey Vultures

Did you think with all this bird watching I was not beading? Well you are partially right. I do lots when I go to Arts and Crafts at the Club on Tuesday mornings, but not so much at home or it would be done by now.

I did do a darling white Russian Spiral bracelet for a friend. That meant not working on the Flamethrower. (May rename it "Sunset" what do you think?)

The needle below shows a mistake that I found on Monday night. I am not sure if I will tear out and repair or forget it as it is almost impossible to find. One of fringes caught two others. I cannot tell if the thread caught around the two or if I actually ran the needle through beads.

What would you do????

Hope your day is a sunny one no matter what the weather!

Fringe Fringe and More Fringe!

2009-04-29T20:03:00.007-04:00

The fringe is going to take forever but it is growing on me! Each fringe has 13 size 15/0 beads. I am using two colors for each peyote base color.

As I begin the 5th color of fringe.

On to fringe color number six...orange.

This close up gives a little feel for how many fringe sections there are already. Worked on the orange at Arts and Crafts at the Club on Tuesday. It is almost time to start the next color.

Speaking of color...could I ever create something in beads to rival my favorite orchid in full bloom?

Double clicking on any picture should enlarge it. Enjoy.

Flamethrower and More

2009-04-14T21:38:00.004-04:00

The sun's flame in the sky is more beautiful than anything I can create.

However I continue to try!

Back to Bead Heaven - The Flamethrower

2009-04-12T09:57:00.003-04:00

For the longest time I have been envisioning a bracelet with colors ranging from bright yellow to crimson.

It is only the beginning and already I am seeing the end product...kind of.

This seems like a slow process. I did manage to take it along to Arts and Crafts to share with the other crafters that live in my new community.

This has been a long ordeal and I have just begun with the fringe. I have a few more colors in the 15/0's that I am using for the fringe. I am not certain how I will blend them all. I think it will definitely end up a Flamethrower!

Keep posted I will update as the colors change. (Does this sound like the ad for Bealls Outlet?) No time to work today...Happy Easter and I am off to cook and bake to try to dazzle the family.

House in Florida to Sell NOW!

2009-03-09T07:33:00.006-04:00

It seems like all we have done is move and clean out houses this past year. Now that we have moved to DeLand, we have to sell our house in Orange City. It is by far the most fun house I have ever lived in. I love this house.
It is a 1995 Jacobson manufactured home. It has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. There are more cupboards and built ins than anywhere I have ever lived. The closets are large with sliding doors. The master bedroom's are mirrored.
There are ceiling fans in all the rooms even in the kichenette/dinette area.(whoops not in the baths and kitchen only exhaust fans in them)
The whole front of the home is a Florida room but it is not a built on it is within the home itself. The home measures 26 feet wide by 56 feet long. We had a new shingled roof put on two years ago. There is a built on very large sun deck that is a screen room. There is also a car port and an attached shed/golf cart garage.

Yes I had the biggest flamingos.

Queen sized sleeper sofa that is new and is being sold with the house. It is in the dining room/library/den/computer room adjacent to the kitchen. Sofa stays with the house.

View from the sleeper sofa room to the living room/Florida room in the front. The sofa leather recliner coffee table and end table also stay with the home.

Guest room. Bed does not stay.

Masterbedroom. King bed does not stay.

View from the front room through the kitchen. Sky light in kitchen and master bath gives wonderful natural light. The refrigerator is a year and a half old, dishwasher is less than a year old and the stove is 3 and a half years old. The 4 bar stools also stay with the home.

The master bath has a jacuzzi garden tub and also a large walk in shower with seat.

The home is in the Country Village 55 + retirement community. It is a great community with wonderful people. There is an active HMO with many activities. The pool is heated and great. There is also a hot tub at the pool. There was a golf course at the community but now you have to drive about 4 miles to the closest course. The community is rental lots and it is well maintained and the yard work is supplied. Garbage is collected twice a week and the yard waste from any bushes or trees is picked up once a week. There are about 400 homes in the community. It is adjacent to a RV park. It is about half way between Daytona Beach and Orlando. About 35 minutes to the beach and 50 minutes to Disney.

I almost forgot to mention that there is a laundry room when you enter from the screened deck. It has oodles of cupboards and a washer and dryer that stay too. The airconditioner/heat pump is about 4 years old.

If you want to live in this house it will cost you $63,000 for the home plus lot rent only 342 a month. It is a super house. It makes you smile!

Russian Spiral Bracelet in Brown and Cream

2009-03-07T05:59:00.005-05:00

On my way to finishing a bracelet in Brown and Cream to match a necklace and earring combo I had made nearly a year ago. However it is a little different and I wondered how it would look together. Now I think it doesn't look quite like I wanted it to.

You tell me! It is a reverse. What you say? Well the necklace and earrings are made with Cream 11's and Brown 15's. The bracelet is the opposite. It is Cream 15's and Brown 11's. Hey it will be far enough away it will not clash completely I would say. It may draw attention as our eyes do pick out things like this, right? So it may be dramatic instead of a clash.

I will finish it and if it is not what I want to wear with the necklace, I will give it to Jessica. She wears a lot of browns lately and will need it. I can make it to fit me snugly as she has much smaller wrists than I.

Tomorrow I am going to the Bead Show (yeah!) It is the place I took my first and only lesson. I have been a Beader for a year now. Thank you Candy for going to the Bead Show with me a year ago today. Since then my daughter Jessica, also my dearest friend, has made her first beaded bracelet. She is going to be great. No bead weaving for her however. One in the family is enough I guess. She is going tomorrow and we are going to love it. Also to add to the fun, my Sister In Law, Candy and her daughter Amy are going. Does it get any better than that???

Jessica's First!

May I gripe a little? Again! I am still waiting for the furniture company to get back to me but they guarantee that I will be happy when my cork board is fixed. I sure hope so, as I really like the furniture style and do want to add two more dining room chairs and maybe another bookcase and bedside table! They do not know that of course. If I do not get results with them, a friend in Indiana is right by my side to see that American Signature Furniture gives me the service I deserve. Thank you Carol for offering your help...will let you know if I need you to do some research for me.

The next picture is for you. The Hawk is a visitor to the pond behind my house. "My Lake". He stopped by two days ago to welcome me. He was a morning visitor. I think he is a young Red Shoulder. There are several hawks in the community. There was a Bald Eagle I saw one time, so he may have just been passing through. Love Raptors!

He was sitting about 15 feet from my dining room window. Carol and I both like Hawks. I bet she would love to watch the pond with me for a day. There was a Wood Stork there most of yesterday. Hope he has no baby to drop here. There was a Great Egret and a Snowy Egret that visited several times...hey maybe they were not the same ones. Who would know? There are several ducks that are here then gone, too. There is a Belted (?) Kingfisher that is neat to watch. He perches for a long time in a tree and then swoops done into the water.

The Wood Stork.
He is pretty flying, showing off his black wings. However, he has the ugliest of heads. It looks like a vultures. No feathers!

Off to start my day, tomorrow it will be almost 8:00 AM instead of 7!

No More Excuses!

2009-03-02T11:14:00.005-05:00

Well friends, I am back. Although I do not have a new creation ready to brag about, I do have a place to work prepared.

Just let me take a minute to tell you how the fates have been working against me... A month ago as I returned from Las Vegas, the furniture for our new home was delivered. I had a bedroom suite from American Signature and decided to look at the local (Daytona Beach) store to see what I liked there. I ordered a load of furniture from them! Helping the economy in my own way I guess.

The most important part of that order was a Deb work area. I had a great computer desk at the other house and lots of storage in the way of cupboards and built ins. Not so with our new home. So I needed a place for my beads and computer and perhaps a place to work on my beading that did not include the dining room table. Voila!

It was the perfect piece of furniture to accommodate my favorite things.

When it was delivered we noticed a bad scratch in the cork board on the hutch part of the desk combo. A tech arrived the same day(to fix another problem) and he took the cork board back to add a piece of cork on top of the cork that was damaged and would have it back in no time. Okay. I loaded the base but allowed the top to remain empty as I awaited the cork part being re-attached . After two deliveries, both that included a promise that the cork board would be ready and re-attached, I still did not have the cork in place. I was furious by now as it is 3 weeks time. I had to leave the deliveries to Harv so I did not go wacko on the guys delivering. They were not the ones that should have returned the cork. The Tech arrived after the second delivery and me going crazy on the store manager. Well at least explaining my frustration and disappointment in a less than calm manner. The tech arrives with the original board with a shabby attachment of cork. He was smart enough to bring along a second board and then started to reattach it...of course the holes in the back did not match up and now I have a partially attached board and I cannot hang my projects on the cork YET!

I warned the guy to have them send two men and a boy to reattach this one. I was loading the top, I had waited long enough. I gave them until this morning and now my beads have a place to call their own and I am back ready to bead. Yet the work station is not complete! I am way disappointed in the company. I made a huge order and they have been here 4 extra times because there were "issues".

I am still waiting for two items that will be available May 8th. Yes you heard me right. I had to order the day I did to assure that I would get all parts and then once the delivery was scheduled some 3 weeks later, some things were no longer available.

Projects waiting for completion

Drawers with just the right items in place.

You know that they will be rearranged more than once before I am happy with where everything is located!

Completed projects waiting to be hung!

And soon I will be bragging about a new item. No more excuses!

No more, honest!

Moved In and Relaxing

2009-02-19T09:51:00.005-05:00

Side View

Moved in at last. This may have been the longest move in history...well maybe not. It just seemed like a long time. We had such a busy January and February planned before we bought the house that it prevented us from moving in as soon as we would normally have done.

January found us entertaining Harv's brother and his wife as they Snow Birded south toward their final perch near Orlando. We had a great visit and enjoyed their company. It was a great way to update us on their family's activities.

Shortly after they left, I had to fly to Harrisburg where Kim and Betsy met me and I then used Kim's PT cruiser to drive to Reading, PA and a wonderful judging assignment for the Lenape Bulldog Club Speciality.

Home for a week and then it was off to Las Vegas for our winter trip. We had had a great winning trip this summer and hoped to do that again. However we had a great time, but lost our collective a_ _ gambling. Oh well it was fun and lots of great food. Harv got to watch his Steelers win a historical 6th Super Bowl. We were at the Hilton for a autograph signing of a football on Friday followed by the party to watch the game. A great time.

Home the sixth of Feb. to start the final stages of moving in. We finally completed the move on the 17th of February. A big thank you goes out to my Sister in Law and Brother and our Son in Law for all the help on the final move in day. It was two small U Hauls worth.

Now I can get things organized here and start beading. No more excuses right.

I do have a wonderful work area for me two hobbies...beading and computer. The "L" shaped desk has a hutch top on the long side that will hold the beads in the many drawers. There is a cork board that I can use to display my projects. I am loving the comfortable space as I write.

Promise to post an on topic blog shortly!

Hugs to all.

The Florida Keys

2009-01-07T20:14:00.008-05:00

When it comes to beauty, the Florida Keys rank right up there. Several members of our family spent the end of the year and New Years Eve in Islamarado Key. We were there from the 27th of December until Jan 3. It was a week of wonder. Wonder if I will wake up in time to photograph the sunrise, wonder what time I would start to lay in the sun, wonder what was for dinner! It was really a fun week.

Saturdays the 27th and Jan 3rd. were pretty much days of travel. There were 4 vehicles in our party, three pulling trailers with boats or kayaks. Harv and I have a car that cannot tow anything. We were the end of the line in case there was any trouble so we could stop quickly and help. Upon arriving at Breezy Palms our residence for the week, the boats had to be put into the water and tied up. In the dark, with wind, it was not an easy feat and I am glad I was not a part of it. We unloaded our car and gave unwanted advice and suggestions!

This was our first trip to visit the Keys and we woke the next day to a pleasant surprise. The ocean front motel was in a beautiful location about mile marker 80. It supplied a view of the ocean to rival any. The wind continued until mid day Monday so the 28th was not a good day to put in the kayaks or go out in the boats. Most of the group got some sun or swam in the pool or just rested. I believe I was sunning about 8:30 AM.

On Monday we had planned to take a trip to Key West. My daughter, Jessica, drove a car with her Mother and Sister-in-law and baby Jay. My son Bryan drove the other car with his wife Stacy and Harv and me and our Granddaughter Jayda. Jay, Mike and Jacob stayed behind and fished on the ocean. We took the Conch Train ride to get a feel for what was on Key West. At $29 per adult it was worth it, but I question the appeal for a gratuity on the engine. Oh well it was a great trip and our driver/guide was very informative. It was a wonderful overview and gave us a chance to decide how we wanted to spend the rest of the time there. We broke into small groups and did our own thing for about 2 hours and then departed before the festivities at sunset in Mallory Square were we had parked. The cruise ship that we had been on Nov. of '07 was in dock.

Each morning Jessica and any who were up early, met to photograph the sunrise. Four of the 7 days I managed to make it.

I mention that we had three cars pulling boats coming down. Bryan and Stacy pulled the kayaks. And I am so delighted they did. The kayaks which Jessica and Michael own were for me I know. I enjoyed kayaking with several family memebers. I loved the solo runs with Jessica and with Bryan the most. What a great way to share the beauty, with your children. I think this whole trip was a fishing trip, but for those who do not fish it was great too!

Did I mention that when the air was calm so was the water? This is the Atlantic Ocean within the protection of the Reef. So clear.

Each morning was beautiful and different at sunrise. A wonderful way to start the day.

At the end of the day we are together, my best friend and me..

The Year That Was!!

2008-12-21T05:24:00.007-05:00

As 2008 draws to a close, it seems like a good time to reflect on where that year has gone. A great time to think about the changes that have occurred.

January we did our winter trip to Las Vegas. It was a fun time as usual. Ate too much lost too much money and had a ball. We love Vegas.

February marked the arrival of the Deibles for our first extended winter in Florida together. Since we had bought the house here they would visit for short times once or twice a year. However they bought their own place. They bought bicycles too and fit into the community as if they had been here for years. How wonderful to enjoy time together. We do a lot together. The Sanibel Island trip and Tarpon Springs was terrific. They found better shells than we did though.

March was a sad month for us all as we traveled together to visit our Father, Duke, in his final hours. I guess we should not be sad at all as he had a beautiful life. He filled his time in a positive way and created beauty. He demanded lots of the people he loved but in equal parts to the demands he made on himself. He was a truly talented and diverse individual. Before the end of March, we waved goodby to Gordie and Candy. March is our anniversary. 32 years! I almost forgot I started beading in the early part of March and that was what got me blogging to begin with.

April is my birthday month. I turned 62. Did I say that out loud? I mean 27. Hey I have to admit my age long enough to apply for Social Security right? Wow that is a milestone.

May is beautiful and hot in Florida. We love it. Such fun times spent with our Florida children. We sure do enjoy them.

June brought the Deibles back for a short visit. It seemed to extend to the time when we were heading north for the Summer. Our trip North included a quick visit with great friends in western NC mountains. They live near Franklin. The travels take us far enough west that we do not visit Bryan and Stacy in Charlotte this trip. On to PA for 3 months. Upon arriving in PA, Harv got the yard work in order and I did some inside cleaning (YUK). We then started cleaning out my Dad's attic and closets. It was only fair to his wife to remove the many things that were of no consequence to her and were only taking up space. To say that my dad was a pack rat that did not want to discard anything is putting it mildly.

July I put a For Sale sign in the window. As the economy was what is was, we thought it would take us 4 or 5 years if we ever sold the house. Or should I say until my Brother would sell our house. We need him to sell anything we are selling, as we are not good at it. However Gordie is the best salesman I have ever known.

August was a time for garage sales...ours. Work work work. We then went to Vegas again. The annual summer trip. We brought some of our money home that we had left in January.

September saw us starting to pack up for an early return to Fl. We decided to leave the Garage sale items on the tables in the garage for next summer. We removed the For Sale sign as there had been only two couples who had looked at the house and they did not return. By the 12th of September, we had the Saturn filled to capacity and were headed down the road to FL. We stopped and visited two days with Bryan and Stacy in Charlotte. Stacy and I surprised Kelly my neice at her work. It is always fun to see Kelly. A week after returning back home in Florida, we got a call that someone wanted to see the house...in PA. Hey Gordie want to show the house??

Well the rest is history so to speak. The house sold and we had to fly up in early October to empty it. That was accomplished in record time and soon we were on the road with a U HAUL full. Thanks again Gordie and Candy. Two days later after a brief drop off of items to Bryan and Stacy in NC. Forgot to drop half of them, duh.

November was a colder than normal time in FL but sure was warmer than PA for the most part. We did our normal things, Harv exercise and me shop. Well I also had Jessica and family over for a few meals and coffee. We did the Flea Market/Farm Market on Wednesdays and everything was back to normal. Thanksgiving was at the Carters' in Ocala...wow do we enjoy them.

December has been a bit of a whirlwind. We shopped for our cards. I know that is not Christmas shopping, but it is what we do. Money always fits. I do continue to shop nevertheless. We just do not buy gifts for others. I love to shop. On a trip a little over two weeks ago I suggested to Harv that we stop by an adult community near-by that offers homes of block and land you own...tada.

Yes we bought it! And now we have another house to sell!

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year too.

We are off to the Keys with the Carters', both families, as well as Stacy and Bryan.

See you after the New Year!

What are Friends For?

2008-12-04T10:28:00.005-05:00

They are there when you need them. And you are there when they need you.
I appreciate my reader friends who are supportive and suggestive. FIREWIRE is the answer. I have been using it for several months. I just bought my first crystal. I have been using the smoke color for awhile as it was all that my local Walmart had. I was introduced to Firewire on the Beaddreamz Yahoo Group. It is fishing line and although I have seen it in 50 yard spools at bead shops for $10 it is $13.99 at Bass Pro Shops as well as at Walmart for 125 yards. A bargain as bead weaving thread goes nevertheless and the best I have found for both strength and knoting. Thank you readers for the suggestion although I was using it but more for the others who also read this blog. I had not thought to mention that I no longer us NYMO.

I have been away from reading that group recently as I have been way busy??? Doing what??? who knows? Just do not seem to be beading as much as I want or following Beadreamz as much as I would like.

Jessica's Repaired Bracelet

The broken bracelet that was Jessica's first is now completed. It is done with all new Japanese beads...no more Chinese. It is still made similar with three tones of blue. The pattern is my favorite Russian Spiral. The darkest blue beads are randomly added and it was the way I made the first so I did that again. I like the randomness of the placement and it just seems right. I have never done this with any other bracelet and yet I love it. I really need to do this more often as it really does make it a one of a kind gift.

Beading Catastrophe

2008-11-30T09:05:00.007-05:00

It was my second time for one of my works to fall apart or lose beads. It was funny as I do not expect my work to fall apart. To say I was shocked says nothing for how my daughter Jessica felt when she was showing me how loose her bracelet was and it seemed to disintegrate before our eyes. It was the very first bracelet I had made for anyone except myself. However we must remember I have only been beading since March of 2008. In that short time we would not expect this to happen.

I made all my first bracelets with NYMO. I like Nymo alot, but at the beginning I did not condition the NYMO because I simply did not know I should. Because it was not conditioned, it tended to look fuzzy or frayed the longer I worked with it. I would say that it was weakened for sure. Again I did not know much about anything then. I really do not know much yet and I expect in 10 years there will still be lots for me to learn. I try to learn and listen to others and yet I imagine there will always be broken works to be repaired. What Jessica does not know is that I will not use the same beads as they were the Chinese beads I started with and now I do not buy Chinese beads at all.

I do not know if it was fact, but I was told recently that all Chinese beads have a high lead level??? At the DeLand Fall Art Festival I met a women with the most incredible Bead Work I had ever seen. It was out there as the best I have seen in person. How could I not ask for a card. I just listened to everything the woman said and gazed at her work and then walked away. Some of what the women told me was that she had written many articles in the past and that most of her work and ways she does things are copyrighted. How could I not find out her name? I did ask where she was from and I remember it was South East Florida somewhere. Hope that I see her again.

She did say that she beads without patterns and ad libs most of her work. When I say it was beautiful and neat and I wanted it, I am not exaggerating.

Welcome To My World! Carol's Challenge

2008-11-15T08:15:00.010-05:00

Carol 's Challenge was intriguing and today I attempted to follow through with it. However, it is a day that Blogspot does not want to upload my pictures, again! This is a issue I originally blamed on Vista operating system but now I am more inclined to blame the blog owners. Hey we have to blame someone it could not be something I may do wrong.

Where I live in Orange City, Florida

The Challenge was simply to photograph your world to let those who may read your blog know what you see and even perhaps do in the day. Those of you who read my blog because of the seed beading know what I do when I can and have seen my work. That is what led me to Carols blog and her challenge. http://beadsandbirds.blogspot.com/ She too is a beader. An interesting lady with many dimensions.

A brown anole; there are so many of these, I love the green anoles best.

Some kind of woodpecker working on the bamboo stand a couple of blocks from my house.

The fruits (?) of a palm in my neighborhood.

A naval orange tree. The fruit should be sweet with our cold weather! Brrr

My favorite live oak as you enter my community. Love the old south look it gives.

Sandhill Cranes are everywhere and I love them, I call them my chickens.

The night before the challenge 7:55PM

The Shuttle on the 14th as seen from in front of my house.

The shuttle as it climbs into the darkness. Breathtaking each time we see it!

Thanks for visiting my world!

Quickie

2008-11-10T09:12:00.004-05:00

Oh, so you were expecting another story!

Because I got the pictures to load I thought I would do a quick blog nothing to do with the Beading. Just to see if I could get some other pictures to load. How about the Baby Jay's first birthday!!??

Blog ya latter! It worked again.

A Whale Tale opps Tail!

2008-11-08T09:30:00.005-05:00

Just when you where preparing for a great story...oh well.

The best of the story is that this is one more of my unfinished works that now is a finished work. I just finished as a matter of fact. I decided to document it before doing anything else today or it would be put on hold for a day or two. You know how busy retirement can get!!

It is Jay's birthday celebration today and so even the pool is out for today. That is busy right?

I just tried to load the pictures that should accompany this blog and sure enough they would not load. It is acting like it did a few days ago. The awful truth is that I thought I had made an adjustment on my computer that again allowed me to download as before. Well folks that is wrong, there has been no change to the security settings in the time from when I could upload again and now, when it is not working. Cuss word, that stinks! Now I am back to square one. I think it is the Blogspots problem and not mine after all. So the truth of the matter is I have no control over this dysfunction and I hate to not be in control. Those who know me best, agree!

A few details about the Whale Tail necklace since I can not use pictures today. I bought the glass tail at Deland Craft Fair in September. It was a neat hand crafted piece in colors that seem to speak of the sea.

The pendent beading was done in Peyote with size 15/0 beads and zippered. The loop that attached the tail was added to the zippered tube. The beads are an iris collection that are as varied in blues and greens as the sea also. They have some purple and golden colors to add to the drama.

When I started the necklace I found that using the standard Russian Spiral stitch was going to make a much too large diameter to fit within my pendent. (Did I do this necklace backwards or what?) I decided I would try with all size 15/0 beads and again it was too big. Well that stymied me for a time. Invention time I guess. I varied the stitch in size 15's to make a diameter that would work. I used the Iris mixture and a clear blue also in size 15/0 but I only used 6 beads per round. What? you say. I started the pattern or a new pattern not a standard Russian Spiral one. I started with an iris then a clear blue three times and knotted into a circle. I then added an iris a clear onto the thread and stitched them into the next clear around the circle moving counterclockwise. It made a tube of beads that look very much like Russian Spiral but may be another stitch altogether by another name. If you do know of another name for what I did please let me know so I can name it correctly. Until that time it will be called six bead Russian Spiral variation

Jade for Jayda

2008-11-06T19:58:00.010-05:00

This is a Peyote bracelet with a heart shaped cab that I made the bezel for and started before I left PA.(the first time in Sept) It is done in jade colored size 11 rounds and brown size 15 rounds. The whole bracelet is a little drab as both are matte finished beads.

The jade is shiny, but not the best example of jade I have ever seen. What distinquished it at all is it is from a necklace my Mother had and I removed the heart from silver backing and made the bezel. I had Jayda, my youngest granddaughter, in mind. Being named Jayda just seems to mark her as needing the piece of jade, right? She is really too young to appreciate the time I have taken to make it for her or that it is a small piece of her Great Grammy.

The toggle is really a vintage button that is about the same color as the brown beads.

The loop is really two loops. The end one is the final one that Jayda will grow into. The green loop is the temp one for now. It doesn't look too bad having the two size possibilities. I can use the brown loop and I have large wrists. She may never grow into it and I will have to make other arrangements later. For now, if she evens wears it, it will do in the green loop.

I am finally trying to finish everything I have started. I have a gold and square crystal bracelet to finish and a whale tail pendent necklace in the works and that will complete all the started projects. I also have to repair the red Freeform Peyote bracelet that had a major break. I will get to all these. On the work station is the Whale tail necklace. The pendent part has been done for some time. However, the necklace was about 4 inches long for a long time also. I have worked on it and it is a little over 10 inches now. Today I put over an inch on before I saw an error. Jessica wanted me to ignore it and go onward. When you spend all the hours to complete a necklace you do not want a known mistake in it. It is bad enough to complete a project only to find an unknown mistake in the early stages. I cannot ignore a mistake so I ripped and ripped but now it is ready to go forward again. When it is done I will Blog about it. Then it is the "unusual" crystal bracelet on deck.

Have a great night. Now that I am able to get pictures to attach again, I think I will try to add some of the Russian Spiral bracelets pictures I had been trying to add to the last blog. Check it out and see if I was successful!!

Russian Spiral Pattern

2008-11-03T06:50:00.004-05:00

There are more hits on my blog entitled The Versatile Russian Spiral than any other I have done. Based on that I have been trying to decide what if anything I should do to address that. I did not do a tutorial on the Russian Spiral in the other blog but I think it is time to add a location for those who are trying to learn and have stopped by.

The pdf file below is wonderful for learning the pattern.
http://www.beadpatterncentral.com/russianspiral.pdf

There are a few suggestions that I have learned by trial and error. The first is that I do three added loops of beads before I tighten my thread to allow the beads to come together in a stack. I roll the beads back and worth as I put even tension on the thread. How you hold the beads and thread seems to be a struggle at first and then you fall into a pattern that is easiest for you. I find that it helps to wrap the thread around my left little finger to keep the thread tense while I add the next three beads. If you are right handed you will be working in a counterclockwise direction. If you are left handed just do the pattern in a clockwise direction. I do find that if I pinch the beads together that the bead that the thread will enter...the one directly after the larger bead seems to pop up a little allowing the needle to enter it easier. I also find that if helps to make sure that you always have only 3 large beads at the top of the spiral or bead stack. (no more and no less). I think it helps if you use say a larger size of beads when learning than you may wish to use later on. Size 6 for larger and 8 for smaller. I prefer the smaller 11 for large and 15 for small. I have also done the same size bead but with distinctly different colors so it is still possible to tell which bead the needle enters. Same color and same size beads are not a recommendation for this pattern. I am sure there are those who do this, but it is not me. Make it easy on your self when you learn. If you need a few inches to learn and then tear out that is okay. I have many false starts when learning a new stitch. I just cut and start over I do not tear out I save it for latter often. I also use a long enough thread so I do not need to add thread on a bracelet. That is about 3 yards. I leave a tail on the start side of 8 to 12 inches. That will be the one side of a clasp.

A little bit about adding thread...knots. Any good bead magazine will tell how to tie knots and the different kind to use. I use a a variety of these and still sometimes get a mess. What you ask is a mess...a knot that will not pull through so I have a loop. Where the heck did that come from?
Also I have pulled a knot tight only to have my thread (strong as it is) break at the knot. Now before I mentioned that I usually use thread long enough for the whole project when it is a bracelet. Imagine now where that darn knot must be. You got it. The bracelet is complete and I am finishing off at the clasp. The only thing I do here is curse and undo the bracelet back far enough to tie on a thread and then finish again and hope I have no more knot problems.
Adding on a thread can be tricky also...again we are doing a know or series of knots. I find that if I put the two ends of the thread together and make a loop near my work and then pass both ends through and then start knotting and snugging all three free ends. I can secure a tight knot with very little size that will hide within a bead. I leave a long enough tail on the ends so I can weave them through my work later and tie at least 2 more knots within the finished work. I try to have 3 knots total for every end. No wonder I get into knot dilemmas.

When I finish off a bracelet I use French wire and a toggle on many of my bracelets. When I am very ambitious I make the loop and toggle. That is another blog. If I buy the toggle and ring, I buy the best I can afford. When you use the best beads, the best thread, and the best findings you feel like it was worth all the time to make. Do not make a cheap material bracelet and invest your valuable time.

Back to the French wire and how I use it. I cut 2, 1/4 inch length of the wire. When I reach about 6 to 6 1/2 inches of lengh I stop and end the bracelet. I add a large and small bead twice and then the French wire which is hollow and threads well. I then add the clasp end and take the needle back through the last small bead. If you are working in larger beads you will need to substitute a 15/0 bead for the last small one so the French wire does not go within the last bead and you can snug it up into a protective loop over the thread that is around the clasp. The clasp will not wear on the thread then. That is the real purpose of the French wire. There are other findings for this purpose. I do not know how to use them. I have only used French wire. Remember I am a novice at this, too.

Good luck and comment and leave an email if you have another question.

I've Been Tagged

2008-10-31T10:51:00.003-04:00

I have been tagged. What does that mean you say. Well essentially it means that someone somewhere would like to know a little more about you. When you blog it is usually for yourself or for family or close friends. You would assume that all your readers would know you well. Maybe even too well.

The longer you blog the more you realize that new friends are reading you and even people you do not know have stopped by.

For those who do not know me well read on. For those who do, it is your day off!

1. I had taught Health and Physical Education for 34 years before my retirement and loved it very much. However I did not ever get to attend a special activity during school hours for my own children. If I had it to do over I would have taken a day off to share those times with my four children. Today I am babysitting for Jay my youngest grandchild so Jessica can spend time with Jayda at her Halloween activities at school.

2. I just lost 32 lbs. and I am feeling good about that. In fact, it may even be a little more than that as my original weigh-in was at my brothers...we are competitive so a bet/diet works best. Especially for me! "What?" you say does that mean. It means that my brother is going to be owing me big bucks come February 10th! At least if means that if he does not lose the 30 lbs. We have had these bets before and then we soon gain back the weight. The hard part this time is that every other month until July if the weight is not still off at the additional weigh-ins, you have lost the bet! No way!

3. I am looking forward to being a Florida resident, but will miss the special people from my life in PA. We have had some very happy years there and met some fantastic people. We still plan to spend time in the summer in PA, but it is never going to be quit the same. Now the next problem will be finding a rental that is furnished in the area near where we lived in Reynoldsville.

4. I love my seedbeading. Since it is a new to me hobby, I am really anxious to learn lots and lots! I have given away so many bracelets since learning in March of this year. I love to always have a gift available that is personal. I really try to match the bead colors and styles to the person. I love that me grandchildren like my handiwork too. The bead project done with beads my Mother had bought before her death in '82 will always standout as a project done with my Mother. If I had not discovered the art of seedbeading I would never have enjoyed that experience. I guess it confirms my theory that all things happen for a greater good.

5. I am verbose. Guess that comes with the territory. I write too much, talk too much, and tell too many details. My friends in college use to say, " Ask Deb what time it is and she will tell you how to build a watch". That had not changed. I am liking this tagging thing, but I do not know 7 people that I can tag. My daughter and Carol who tagged me are the only ones I know of who blog. I know that both of them have already been tagged so I will not do that to them again. I will just have to do my 7 items about me and that will have to do.

6. For over 20 years I showed Bulldogs. We bred them and loved them and I did the exhibiting of them at shows almost every weekend in the spring, summer and early fall. Because of where we lived, I did not enter winter shows as the weather was too unperdictable to travel the distances required to get to the shows. Some of the winter shows I did not attend were in Cleveland at the I-X center in mid December. This year I am judging Bulldogs and French Bulldogs at the Friday show. It seems funny to think I am flying from Fl to judge at a show that I felt was too likely to include snow. I am flying into Cleveland on the 11th of December. What is wrong with that picture?

7. The final thing I would like to share is how fortunate I feel to have found such a wonderful husband, Harv. We have been together for nearly 34 years. We each had two children by former marriages. We adopted each others children about 2 months after we were married. It has been so many years, sometimes I refer to the 4 kids I had. Opps I forget that I really did not had all four. In fact when asked which I did have I usually say, "Ah, I do not remember for sure. I know I had a boy and a girl. I just cannot seem to remember which ones." If you have gotten to the end of all this (Harvey, Bryan, Kim and Jessica) you will then know I love you all very much! Oh and Harv is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I have had some great things happen.

Thank you Carol for reading my blog and now you know a little more about me. I hope I do not get tagged again as I do not think I could come up with anything more to write about me.

Florida Resident-SeedBeader!

2008-10-26T06:03:00.005-04:00

Well I do not know if I could really consider myself a seedbeader as I have not put needle and thread to bead for about 3 weeks.

The prospect of selling the house in PA and the subsequent sale and move have pretty much occupied the last three weeks and then some. It has been a bit of a whirlwind. We were only back in FL about a week and got a call that people were interested in looking at the house. This is the home in which we raised our 4 children and spent 33 happy years. We had taken the For Sale sign down a week before we returned to Florida on September 12.

Well my brother said sure he would show the house and the rest is history.

The next problem was getting back to PA and clearing out the years of accumulation. Could we do it is 9 days after arrival? Sure! (I think)

On October 13th we flew to DuBois via Cleveland. Amy had Candy's car at the airport for us. Thank you thank you! We started on Tuesday October 14th to clear everything out. We arrived in Florida in a U Haul on Wednesday October 22nd. As of this writing everything we could not part with is stuffed somewhere in our home in Florida.

The clue to the fast job was giving and throwing away everything that did not scream take me to Florida. The exceptions were the things that we had wanted to bring to Jessica and Bryan. Bryan's items were dropped in Charlotte except for the afghan and magazine rack I forgot to unload there. They are stored here and will find their way to Bryan and Stacy ASAP. The things for Jessica are now cluttering their home. Hey, what can I say?

This morning early, I started cleaning and organizing one area that I stuffed. I figure if I do a closet or drawer or cupboard a day it should not take too long to get the place back to near normal.

Jessica remarked last night that the Bulldog picture of "Mousse" did not seem to go in my Flamingo house. It is a part of our history that we could not say goodbye to. Our PA home was decorated in Bulldogs.

It spoke of the wonderful years we enjoyed showing and raising our Bulldogs. We met the greatest people and shared the best laughs and tears together. This is a part of Harv and my life that needs to be remembered forever. The only part we share in Bulldogs today, is when I am asked to judge them at a Dog Show.

Seeing the Rainbow on our way, seemed to promise more happy years as

Florida Residents!

Projects and Yada Yada

2008-10-07T15:43:00.004-04:00

Oh my, do I have my work cut out for me or what. We made reservations last evening for a quick trip to PA to pack up the house and rent a U-Haul and end an amazing era. I guess we will soon be exclusive residents in Florida who vacation in PA for a time in the summer. Provided we can find a furnished rental during the summer in the Greater Reynoldsville area. LOL

I am working on some projects that will have to go on hiatus for a couple weeks as we finish up the move.

While in PA this summer I found a necklace that was my Mothers with a jade shaped heart. I removed the jade and have begun a bracelet with the jade made into a cab.

Then there is the bracelet I started in PA with the Swarorski crystal squares and gold seeds. I had to get more of the gold beads and have done that but...

Oh and I am wanting to learn the berlini ? stitch as I love the spiral it makes so I actually bought some big, for me, size 8 beads.

There is the glass whale tail I bought at the DeLand craft fair. It is waiting for its necklace as it is a lovely pendant now.

Wonder if I could just take a few beads and a work on at least one at night. No I better not. I will be exhausted at night...blog you soon.

Double Spiral Finished!

2008-09-29T14:57:00.009-04:00

Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday we arrived in FL. It has been over two weeks and I have beaded so little. I miss it when I do not do it. I did work on a black bracelet for my Grandson. I showed it in the last blog. It was the Russian Spiral with the bugles. It came out okay, but it just fits Jacob. Guess I will have to think of another for him for Christmas.

I started this while I was still in PA and it is a pattern that I downloaded. I talked about it in the September 8th blog before leaving PA.

http://www.bead-patterns.com/tmp/44357434/14385. Please check it out, I linked to the pattern. It is easy and I love it. Designed by Jann M. Christiansen.

The design is hers, but the bead selection and size is mine. I used two 15/0's for the two spiral colors and an amber 11/0 for the center core. I continued with three core beads and then one of the bronze 15's and about 1/4 inch of French Wire and the clasp. I went through all those parts with the thread and then back through the 15 and several of the cores and then tied a knot. I continued down through several more cores and tied another knot. Then I continued down several more cores before cutting the thread. It is a little difficult making the knot in the center of the bracelet. I messed with it for some time. It works but does take extra patience getting between the 15's to tie the knots at the core beads.

The Versatile Russian Spiral Stitch

2008-09-19T20:59:00.005-04:00

All done with Russian Spiral

I have a great friend that I gave a bracelet to while I was in Las Vegas. She does not have much time right now but she sure would like to learn the Russian Spiral stitch and how to make similar bracelets. I tried to find a tutorial for her and found one with a combination of 11/0 and bugle beads. I did not find one with the pattern that I know with 11/0and 15/0 beads. I guess I am going to have to try to make a pattern that a novice could learn.

I can do so much with the Russian Spiral pattern and have varied the projects I have done in several ways. The obvious is just by using different colors of beads. I love the combination possibilities. Sometimes I use the same colors in different size bead. Sometimes I use contrasting colors. Sometimes I use colors I did not even think would go together. Sometimes I stopped after about 3 rounds and ripped quick before anyone could see the mess! The great part is that the variations are endless and only limited by your imagination.

I have also used a variety of sizes of beads. I have used all size 11/0 beads just making sure that the colors are different enough to see where to insert the needle. I have also used all size 15/0 beads. Again it is essential that the colors contrast enough to locate the bead that much be stitched through. I have not used many different sizes of beads as I do not own many sizes. However I know that you can do the pattern with any variety of sizes as long as they are not too many size differences. An 8 and a 11 would work but I would not try a 6 or 8 with a 15. I would try an 8 and 6 together though as I am certain they would work well. However, I did do a practice piece that was larger beads with small and I added another of the small ( 3 instead of 2). For all I know that could be another pattern. Remember I am a Newbie at this with less than a year of beading.

Above is an example picture in which I used shiny and matte black beads of the same size (11/0) and also the same matte beads with a shiny bugle. I have not worked with bugles and the ones I used I acquired in a "mess"of beads and I have no idea what size they are or even how they are sized.
Another way of varying the Russian Spiral pattern is by enlarging a portion of the bracelet. This is accomplished by doubling the number of beads in a round. Instead of 1 larger and 2 smaller three times around, you do 6 of the combinations. After doing the double for 4 or so rounds you skip every other and are back at the original 3 combinations per round. I was told that you can continue to add combinations to form flowers but I have not tried that. I am not sure how often one would increase the combinations.
One of these days I will try and design something with that in mind...

Home!

2008-09-17T19:59:00.003-04:00

Yes this is home to me!... I love my house in FL!
I wrote this blog yesterday. At least it is similar. I forgot most of what I said. The darn thing did not save and when I posted it, it was not there. Throughout the time I was writing, it said not saving, but it acted like it was so did I believe it? Of course not. However I should have been a believer as it was gone.
I was so bummed I simply let it alone.
We had a great trip South. The first day, it rained until we were on the road for about 5 hours. The construction on the Interstate was not fun, but hey I was crocheting and the time flew. It takes 3 hours at least to get out of PA and on Friday it took about 3 and a half hours to get into WV. In Virginia we got gas at 351.9. We made up for it. By the time we got to Bryan's in Charlotte the gas panic had started because of IKE the hurricane. We did get gas there. The gas panic was in full swing by Sunday. We paid 499.9 in GA.
We had a great visit with Bryan and Stacy and got to deliver the Grammy bead earrings to Stacy. I also got to see Kelly at work and delivered her Grammy bead bracelet. She seemed pleased to see us. We did kind of surprise her. I loved giving her the bracelet and felt my Mother smiling down on the moment.
We continued our trip to Fl on Sunday and it was a delightful trip. The sun came out when we reached FL. I guess Fl was as happy to see us as we were to arrive. On Sunday evening Jessica had us for a wonderful spaghetti dinner and oh how we enjoyed it. We also loved seeing the whole FL family. The kids had all grown and were so darling. Jacob and Jayda had made us a welcome home sign. So sweet of them! I was able to deliver the last of the Grammy bead bracelets to Jessica and Jayda. Mother would have loved being with Jessica and her family. She adored Jessica and wow would she have loved Michael and the children. Her love for children was one of her greatest charms, but Jessica's children would have been her greatest love. Indeed!! (Her favorite term)
I have been trying to make a bracelet for Jacob in black and I am going to have to confer with him, as I am not happy with the three false starts I have had. Help me Jacob.
Speaking of Help! Bryan was able to track down the mouse hide and seek problem in no time. It was the one built in mouse driver that functions on that little Dell eraser type thing. He eliminated the use of it and immediately we were back to normal. As we always add a Mouse, we did not need the built in ones. Thank you again, Bryan.

Off To Florida We Go.

2008-09-11T09:39:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow I am starting home. Yes, Florida is home in my heart. PA is my original home state, but I miss my Florida Family bunches, thats home.
We are planning a stop to see our youngest son and his wife in Charlotte. We may be able to see our neice there too. I have a Grammy Beads bracelet for her. For my daughter-in-law I have a pair of Grammy Beads earrings.
We are anxious to see the changes at Bryan and Stacy's home. It is such a beautiful house but the additions should make it a beautiful home!
I have been working on the Double Trouble bracelet and it is about 5 inches long. I just added a length of thread to it and then put it away to be completed in FL. I really love the pattern and hope to make other projects in it.

Time to finish all the packing and then take the Digital box and Modem back to the cable company. I will not be at my computer for a few days and I sure hope that Bryan can do something with his Dad's computer. It is having Mouse issues...the mouse runs across the screen as though it were a real mouse and then it hides in a corner. The built in mouse pad responds the same. I did all I knew how to do and it did not fix it.
Brrrryannn Help!

A Quick Beading Fix

2008-09-08T14:56:00.005-04:00

I am suppose to be packing and doing the last minute things that happen before heading back to Fl for the next 8 or 9 months. Indeed!

However a person has to do what a person has to do. If it means beading a little and even time out for a new beading pattern what can it hurt. First I had to finish Jayne's birthday present. It is a blue on light blue Russian Sprial and with the required silver Flamingo Charm! I put the charm on differently and I am not sure it is what I should have done. Too late now.

I do not know what made me go to the free pattern site today.

I felt the urge big and had to do it. It is called "Double Trouble" and is a double spiral rope chain.
http://www.bead-patterns.com/tmp/44357434/14385.pdf
© 2008 Jann M. Christiansen. I did it with 11/0 core beads with large centers for the many passes of the thread. I did the two colors in 15/0's so it is going to take a bit of time to complete. The core is an amber bead and the two outside colors are clear with gold centers and bronze with gold. I love the effect and could not visualize how the spiral would happen, it sure does.

Okay, okay, I am getting busy right now...

We Survived 12 Days in Vegas

2008-09-05T10:46:00.007-04:00

What happens in Vegas does not have to stay in Vegas, right? What a great time we had. We started out losing and losing and losing. We started our trip on a invite to Caesars Palace for a 27 inch HD TV. The 27" was free, but if you wanted the 32" behind door number 2 you had to play X amount of dollars more. Well who likes a challenge better than Harv and I? So play, play, play. Sure enough we got the most expensive 32" TV we will ever buy. Hey, it was fun trying to win. Just imagine for a minute that we won, won, won, instead of lose, lose, lose and sure enough it would have been a bargain, right? Right! The Suite we got was great and the jacuzzi was heavenly. At least, we had a wonderful room.

We move to Main Street Station from Caesars and the fun began. This was more like it. I could not do anything on my favorite machines in the front. However there were some old triple play machines and they must have remembered me. I had a great amount of luck on them and that started to dim the TV fiasco. I continued my good luck for the three days at MSS and we were getting triple points to sweeten the pot even more. MSS gives cash back so that ultimately triples the amount I was earning in cash back. Couple that with the offer we came to Main Street Station on; suite, gold card (free food at any restaurant owned by the property), $100 free play and the mentioned 3X points. Things were getting better. Should I mention the Double Hot Fudge Sundae Harv surprised me with as a carry-out at Midnight!

View from Main Street Station looking Northeast.

From MSS it was out to Henderson, NV to Sunset Station. Sunset is a neat casino with lots of stained glass and a great buffet. Who can resist. I have not had much luck there in the past, but hey it has such good food I need to try every trip!

This was a much better than average time spent at Sunset and I continued my winning ways. I should explain a little about luck and winning and losing as it applies to my Vegas experiences.

"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity". I prepare by practicing correct Video Poker Play via two different Video Poker Tutors softwares. Winning is when a Jackpot happens. Losing is the time I play waiting for the Jackpot. When I have a better than average time of winning in relationship to time of losing, I Smile!

Smiled at Main Street Station, smiled at Sunset Station.

On to the LV Hilton. This property is located at the end of the Monorail track and about two blocks off The Strip. It sits behind and half way between Wynn and Sahara Casinos on The Strip. We were invited to an anniversary celebration at Hilton. I did not win any of the drawings, but it is always fun being eligible. I won a cruise from Hilton some years ago so I have won there. I continued to win at the machines and thus a Smile for Hilton, too. We also won a limited edition Godard statue called "Sitting on Sevens". It is one of 2500 and cute. The TSA worker at the airport was a little put off by its shape in our carry on.

View from the Hilton - I guess they had a heavy equipment convention.

Final Casino on our Itinerary was Silverton. Silverton is a locals casino at the extreme southern end of the city. It is west of I-15 at Blue Diamond Blvd. If you have ever been to the Outlet Mall on the South Strip, Silverton is south of it at the next major intersection. It has a Bass Pro Shop on one side and a Casino Hotel on the other. It is completing an expansion that we look forward to on our next visit.

Silverton Mermaid bar - Jellyfish aquarium.

Silverton was trying to act like Caesars (making me a loser), but to be fair, I only played there one day and thus I believe having a little longer could have made me smile at Silverton, too, right? Next time! I will give them a longer time to make me smile. They did give me some free play and some free food and like all our visited casinos free rooms.

Yes, for a very big change we came back Winners! What a great and fun trip, and winning, too. It doesn't get any better than that.

Vacation - Las Vegas

2008-08-19T08:47:00.002-04:00

I am suppose to be doing laundry and starting to pack!
I wanted to share the calendar so you can keep track of our trip.
Just like being there, right?

I will be without my computer this trip. The last time many of the free access to Internet sites were pay for. The trip before there were several casinos that had areas where there was free wireless service. I was surprised that they still had service, but were asking about $10 a day.
When we stay at Harrah's owned property, we have Diamond status that allows us to go to a lounge where there are free drinks, snacks, and computers. I can check email and that is about it.
We are suppose to be getting a TV at Caesars. It is to be shipped to our home. If it is to arrive in FL before us, I think it will have to be shipped to Jessica's address and wait for us to arrive.
Oh, just a comment on my newest bead project. It is a bracelet with Swaroski crystal squares about 1/2 inch. They are open in the center. I am linking them with 15/0 gold glass beads. The link is 6 beads wide in Peyote and about a two inch length. I am zipping the Peyote to form the ring. I have two crystals put together and working on the second Peyote ring. I would like it if the crystals would stay on an angle rather than just a side so I will have some work to do here. I will not finish before returning from Las Vegas in early September. Of course then it will be a 10 day mad house of packing for Florida and our visit on the way with Stacy and Bryan.
Wish me luck, cross your fingers, and anything else that may help me come back with as much money as I leave with. See I did not say so I win...staying even would be just fine, right!?

Grammy Beads Final Edition!

2008-08-17T17:50:00.005-04:00

Today is the day. Today I finish the Grammy's Beads Project!

The Black and White are already with Candy, my sister-in-law. The Red are mine. The White and Silver are for Betsy. The Yellow and Bronze are for Wendy. Last, but not least, the Yellow and Blue are for Stacy. This has been a true labor of love. I only hope that Mother knows the joy the beads have given me in the gifts I have been able to give to the family members.

Today I was also able to deliver Amy's bracelet. It is the shiny Green and Green. I am so glad she liked it. I will send the White Bracelet and White earrings to Kim and Betsy as I will not see them before we leave for Florida. I will have to send the two Yellow bracelets and the Yellow earrings to Hannah and Madison and Wendy. I do not expect to be able to see them before we leave.

I will deliver the Red Bracelet and the Yellow and Blue earrings to Kelly and Stacy respectively. We are planning a couple day visit with Stacy and Bryan in Charlotte and will see Kelly there, too.

The final delivery will be the other Red bracelet to Jessica and the other Green bracelet to Jayda, when we get home to Florida.

What fun this has been. I hope that the beads will always be a reminder to each of us who owns them to be just a little bit like the Beautiful Lady who originally bought them, my Mother.

The Rest of the Story

2008-08-13T13:25:00.004-04:00

Mother would have loved this story. She had such a keen sense of humor and would have gotten such a laugh when I ran out of beads on the second green bracelet. The first was made with 15/0's and I had planned to do the same with the second one. When there was about an inch and a half to finish, I had run out of beads on my work pad and started looking for the vial of green. I sure did find it...empty. I am not certain why but there were less beads in the green vial and thus I could not complete the bracelet. I cut it up and then separated all the beads and started again with another size 11 bead in a green. It took three starts and a bit of chagrin when I thought it still would be too short but fortunately it worked and is now complete. The black and white is with Heather. The rest will be with their respective granddaughter or great granddaughter in a short time.

Heathers Bracelet

The final chapter will be the earrings...wish me luck. The wires are ordered and should be in soon. I am leaving for Vegas in a week so perhaps the earrings will have to wait. For sure they will.

I just remembered that I would be seeing a dear friend from California while I am in Las Vegas. She will need a bracelet with a flamingo on it!

Where Oh Where???

2008-08-12T07:57:00.006-04:00

Well I really have been busy working on the bracelets. Although they are not going as fast as I thought they would. I did give the first one to Heather. It was the black and white. She is Grammy's youngest granddaughter. I was trying to do the math and I cannot figure out if she was born the April before Mother died. She would have been one day less than a month old then when Mother died. I could tell she was touched by the story and the bracelet.
Speaking of being touched. I told a little about the Grammy Beads on a Yahoo Group I belong to called Beaddreamz. The response from the lovely ladies associated with this group was amazing. It gave me many other viewpoints and made me very happy I started this project and especially blogged about it. They commented mostly on the Group forum. However, some of the members commented at the bottom of the blog itself.
I have 4 bracelets done and the other 4 underway.

(Click on the picture for a better look!)
I ordered Sterling Silver lever backed earring wires today so I can attempt to make earrings for the additional 5 that I wanted to have a Grammy Beads item.
The next decision is how to make the earrings. I could try making a bead with beads. Or I could try to make a flower with the beads. I saw a pattern in a Bead and Button magazine where there were hoops made with beads using about 3 or four different sizes. You may or may not know, that would be a challenge for me as I own basically two sizes of beads. There are 15/0 and 11/0. There are six packages of triangles that Jessica bought for me...maybe they would work. There are also several odd large beads, that I bought, that are vintage and would not probably be enough of any given color to match.
You now get the gist of the next hurdle. I have never made a pair of earrings before. So the work begins. You do know that I probably do not want any two pair alike, right?
The bracelets will be white and rainbow clear, white and black (Heathers), red and same color transparent red, red and orange lined red, lime green and lime green, lime green and transparent rainbow purple, yellow and tortoise shell brown, and yellow and transparent blue. The first named color is the Grammy Beads the second color is the smaller bead I had.

The "Grammy Beads"

2008-08-05T10:08:00.000-04:00

This promises to be a rather long story.

On May 9, 1982 my Mother, Esther Gordon Deible, died. It was a very sad time in my life. It so happened that the 9th was Mothers' Day. To know my mother was to know the ultimate in motherhood. She was the champion of her two children, me and my brother. She would never have allowed herself to die on such a momentous day. Somehow I have reconciled that God picked the perfect mother to take. Was I the perfect daughter? No.

Very shortly after her death, my father wanted me to get her clothes out of the house. Although he did not say so I am certain they were painful to see.

My Mother was perhaps the most beautifully dressed lady of her time in our small town. She loved fancy clothes and dressed to the nines for her bridge club every month.

Many of her clothes were embellished in some way or another. Her wedding dress was a beautiful pink with a floral design in seed beads. I did not realize that until recently when I was cleaning out my parents house after my Dad's death. (If you read an earlier post on the cleaning of the attic you remember!) I ran across a picture of her wedding day without the corsage on her dress and sure enough there was the seed bead embroidery. Over the years I remember needlepoint pockets added to dresses. My mother had the dresses made and she had made the needle point. She was very accomplished in knitting and needlepoint. She also bought several sweaters and dresses that had intricate bead embroidery on them. When my sister-in-law and I are shopping and see "fancy clothes" we always comment on how Mother would have loved them.

Okay what about the "grammy beads"?

To all 7 of my Mothers grandchildren she was Grammy. That was like taking Mother to the second power. She adored all her grandchildren. My daughter chronicled grammy in her blog as well as my Father when he died in March. March 6th and March 7th. http://jessicamae3.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html

The Beads! What about the darn beads?

Right the beads. Well after cleaning the attic at my Fathers and removing all the trash and treasures, his wife, Phyllis asked when I was going to do the closets? And drawers? You see when Dad married her he did not want change so aside from my Mothers clothes and jewelry everything else was more or less exactly as it had been in 1982.

I started on the closets and drawers a few days after completing the attic and again it was a treasure of family history. There were thousands of slides from 1955 onward. There were linens with stains and broken items, so much of the work included throwing away over 50 years of trash. In the drawers there were lots of pictures and also old old should have been thrown away years ago clothing.

In a drawer in my brothers room there was a small manila envelope and within were 6 glass vials. Two of the vials were empty...in the other 4 were seed beads.

I do not remember my Mother ever embroidering with them so I do not know what happened to the beads from the two empty vials. In the four were red, lime green, yellow, and white beads. They are old and not as uniformed as I use. However they are about to become bracelets for all of Grammys living female relatives. That would be my Sister-in-law, me, my three daughter-in-laws and two daughters, my three nieces, and my three granddaughters. That is 13 of us. To make the beads go that far I am doing my favorite Russian Spiral and adding some 15/0 beads to the 11 or 10's that I found of Mothers.

Beginning of the "Grammy Bracelets". There will have to be a minor adjustment. I think now that the Grammy Beads will not "stretch" to make more than 8 or nine bracelets. I fear that it will limit those who will ultimately get one. Time will tell.

I am going to give the first one tomorrow. I decided it was time to release this draft to my blog. Smile!

Thanks Mother, I guess you knew that someday I would be a seed bead addict.

Red Hot Hot Hot!!!

2008-08-05T08:27:00.000-04:00

Red Hot is what I think when I see my new Freeform Peyote Bracelet. It is finished!

I was not happy with the look of the center as it was very harsh looking. Well I strung some of the shinny delicas and then twisted them around the coral. I felt just fine about it then. It was a simple solution. I wish I had a better close up photograph to show some of the details.

I just may have a better close up of any of my pictures after Wed. Well maybe it will take some time. I am getting a new camera on Wednesday, but it will take some time for me to read the book and learn what I can. However I am cheating a little. It is a camera like my daughter Jessica's, so I look forward to her teaching me everything she knows about her camera as soon as we get back to Florida!

Seeing Red Update

2008-08-03T13:04:00.000-04:00

No not finished yet. However it is definitely progressing. I still do not feel like it has enough happening on the one end. The other side is feeling more complete. What do you think??

I See RED

2008-08-01T20:42:00.000-04:00

Oh yes you have guessed it. Something in Red is taking shape. I started a Red Freeform Peyote bracelet. It is in the early stages. There is no stone or cab in this one. I have just started doing some embellishing. Time to share!

It is in 5 shades of red. The center is red coral. At least that is what I think it is. I got it in a bag of vintage beads a couple of months ago. I want to add some more of it but not sure yet where or if it is enough. Lots of work left to be done. I love the Reds, hope you do too!

Check back in a day or so and see if I got it finished...I am really at it often.

So Blue and Bronze too!

2008-07-31T09:00:00.000-04:00

A little different even for me. I know everything is different. Everything is a first time attempt. With the exception of my Russian Spiral bracelets and the variations on them I guess everything is a one of a kind. Even the bracelets are, too, if you count that there are no two the same colors of beads.

I am not a color blue lover but the last necklace and this necklace are both blue. However this one is very very blue!

It all started with a stone for a cab that I did with the idea of doing another Freeform Peyote bracelet. I did the cab and started the bracelet and both my brother and my husband said that the stone was too large/heavy for a bracelet. I had to agree with them. So the one side was easy to continue and the other side got some extra thread added and it grew to necklace lenth too. I wanted to do Peyote but did not know where I was going with it. I had four rows done and it just seemed wide enough. Now what?

I decided to add a little fringe. I added a length of 11 beads and a tiny stop bead to make each fringe. I did each fringe in the colors that made the necklace. That made 7 of each of the four colors of blue on each side. I really thought I was going to do more.

It said done.

So I added a silver clasp. I am wearing it as I write. I really liked it and it feels good.
I do a bezel for the stones and they are not the easiest thing to do as I do not use a backing. I guess you could wear it backwards and it would not look much different. Back is below
Oh, yes I almost forgot...bronze.

My neice Amy was making an order for beads did I need anything? Ah, well, what do you think? I ordered some great items and two bronze colored beads one 15/0 and one 11/0. Just asking to be a Russian Spiral bracelet. I did the increases much like the first bracelet I learned to make when I took my orginal and only class.

It is a variation on a design by Jenny of Mad Chiwawa Designs. The kit I did first, is on the following page. http://www.madchiwawadesigns.com/kits.htm

Fish Tale Concluded!

2008-07-24T14:11:00.000-04:00

Well it is finished. I am happy with it, but the clasp could have been a tiny bit smaller or the loop a little larger. It takes a minute to fasten but it will loosen up right?

The camera did not portray the color really accurately. It is gold, terra cotta, and cornflower blue. It appears more turquoise. It is not.

I combined some neat elements for a change. Just doing a necklace is kind of a change in itself.

Thanks for looking.

Patience in Fishing!

2008-07-23T08:58:00.000-04:00

Did I thank Amy for the delightful little Koi? No! Sorry, thank you Amy. It has taken about 25 hours or more and the project is far from done. Admittedly there were starts and stops and restarts and stops adding to the total hours of work. Then, of course, there are the rip outs. So where am I now? Good question.

The ring part is done. I think! Well as done as it can be until I tie it in with the back part and the closure. I am still thinking of the way to make the closure/toggle. I think I can make a toggle in tubular peyote, if I remember how. That way I can use the three bead colors and spiral them (Maybe) to match the African Helix part some.

What did I say? Yes, the back half of the necklace is African Helix and then somehow it is going to have a ring at the one end that will link with the completed front ringed section. The other side of the African Helix will have the toggle that will close the whole thing...I think. I still have about 3 more inches of the African Helix to finish. When I do it in size 15's it is slow. Look at what I have and see what you think?

Gone Fishing!!

2008-07-20T19:03:00.000-04:00

No don't get excited. I cannot hurt a fish. I can bead around one though. My niece, Amy, gave me another fish. This one is not glass beads, but is a metal fish pendent. It has been asking for a necklace to hang from for over two weeks.
Since finishing my Freeform bracelet, I have been as busy as a cat covering dodo. We had a huge garage sale with all the dishes, glassware, trash and treasures from our house as well as my Dad's attic.

I had about three false starts on the right necklace and I am not certain how this one will develop. I am happy with the colors now and also the circles. It is done in 15/0 beads so could take a while. When I work with the 15's I tend to get tired eyes and have to take breaks more frequently. Or is it really laziness. Not sure but whatever is the cause I will not be finishing it tomorrow. The picture gives an idea what it is going to look like. I think!
I need to think of making earrings to match??? Maybe the fish is just too big for me to wear as earrings. I could just hang a fish from each of my hoops I always wear and be done with it.

Did I tell you that Jessica sent me a necklace...no not a gift. She did not like the way it was made but liked the beads. I added a few seed beads and a better clasp and well you darn better like it because it had a typical project for Jessica history. I made it three times. This is the final product!
Have a great evening...back to Fishing!

"The Hours Before Dawn"

2008-07-14T21:32:00.000-04:00

No I am not writing poetry. That is what I am calling my newest Freeform Peyote bracelet. It is finally finished. I sure did puncture my thumb and fingers many times. I have been wanting to do it for a while and now I am glad to say it is as finished as it will be. I never know exactly when I am done but Harv kept telling me it was done. Think I will do a pictorial of the process. Ready or not! I did the cabs first. The third one is not finished in this pic.
It is started liner. There are about 3 rows of peyote done.
Starting to do the bridges. It is taking on its own personality.

I worked two days on a part that I ripped out and replaced with the three wrapped together strands with the Lava bead within.

Starting to embellish the bracelet. This is the fun part.

Ready to Wear!

Good Night!

Gift Time

2008-07-11T07:32:00.000-04:00

Wow How Could I Forget?
This weekend is my oldest grandson's graduation party. Yea I know how could a young lady like me have a grandson age 19??? Well that is a story for another time but nevertheless I do.
We have been in Florida for 9 months and then since arriving back in PA we had the fun of unloading my father's house of its treasures. Yes, I have had a few minutes to bead true. How could I forget that I was planning on making bracelets for my daughter-in-law, Wendy and my two granddaughters, Hannah and Madison?
Fortunately I remembered on Wednesday evening and not this morning.

Quickly I started by picking out the colors I wanted to use. Since they were all to be in Russian Spiral, I needed an 11/0 size bead and a 15/0 size bead of colors that would look well together. The colors in the photo do not do the bracelets credit. IMO. The one that appears blue is really lavender. It has light purple 11 beads in a matt finish and lavender/pink/blue translucent rainbow 15 beads. The pink one is with clear pink centered 11's and AB clear 15's. However the 4 # fireline that I used to make the bracelets showed throw the AB clears and made them appear silver and it is such an attractive look. Pink and silver. Now there is a new lesson. As much as I always tried not to have the thread show, in this instance it enhanced the whole bracelet. The white and brown is really pearl size 11's and cranberry translucents in 15. I love the bracelet but I did not have a toggle in gold and so I put a gold screw closure and it is not real easy to put on. Good thing there are alot of people in their family.
I did not like the clasp on the one for Wendy and so I tore it apart and put a different clasp on and added a shell...now where did that idea come from??
The peyote freeform is still forming! I worked two days on a bridge that went too far. It got too wide and too domineering and looked like another bracelet was growing like a tumor on the original one. Do you get the idea I hated what was happening? You are right. It took me a long time to tear it out and make a gentle bridge with a neat lava bead within. I am feeling much better. I am about to get back to work on it. It has been resting a couple of days after the ugly bridge fiasco as I finished my gifts.

Got to run and make coffee. I really need it today. All day. My brother and I started a new challenge...30 pounds and keep it off. There is big money involved and that is my best motivator!

Slowly But Surely the Bracelet Evolves

2008-07-07T19:51:00.000-04:00

Get Ready Get Set---Bead! No, not exactly quick like a race. Seed beading is anything but fast, usually, and when it is a "freeform" it seems to crawl. Maybe it crawls because I do something and it does not look like I expected, so I take it out. It is just alot of stitches ,too.
This is where it is and there is lots of beading before it tells me it is done. Yes, I know. Somehow it seems as if you bead and bead and then all of a sudden it looks done, finally. That is when it is finished. Not alot of planning. However I am certain that there are beaders who make plan on "freeform", but I am not one of them. I pick out the color and sizes of beads I may use and then it just kind of happens.
Now you know my secrets.
Going to rest it for this evening...it was not going where I wanted it to.
Tomorrow.

Freeform Peyote Challange

2008-07-02T20:27:00.001-04:00

I have started a Freeform bracelet that has been organizing in my mind for a month or so. It is a part of a Peyote Freeform Challange from a Group called Beaddreamz. I like black, gray, silver, and crystal together and so that is the beginning concept. I gathered the beads I have available in those colors as well as the two cabs I bought in a lovely bead store in Altamonte Springs, Fl and a stone I bought at a stone store in the mountains of West North Carolina. The first thing I did was make bezels for the three loose pieces. It required scads of time. Next I made piles of the beads that are to be part of the bracelet. Not all assembled will actually end up as part of the bracelet. I have begun the bracelet itself now.

It will take weeks before this one will end. The neat thing about Freeform is it begins to take on a life of its own and develops in ways you could never have anticipated at the start of the bracelet. I look forward to this project and will bring you up to date as I continue the work on it.
Spent another 2 hours at my Dad's house taking out treasures and trash. What a garage sale I am going to have.

Off Topic- Attic

2008-06-30T19:53:00.000-04:00

I have been doing very little beading recently and so I thought to show what I have been doing.

The picture does not seem to want to load so I will try to add it later. However I can still whine about all the hours I have spent filling a 10 cubic yard dumpster. The majority of the items were from my Fathers attic but the rest was from the closets and drawers and hutch in the house. I am certain I could fill another 4 cubic yard dumpster, too.
Harv has helped during most of the work and that means all the up and down steps. It is hard to believe how much has been stored and ignored for over 50 years. So much of what is there is photos and I am giving most of them to Jessica to scrapbook with or ignore or to pitch. She is the historian for the family so it is just her job, right? I wish I could easily send down lots of things...I still may. She better clean her closets as I can fill them for her.
That is only fair when she did that tag me thing. Right?
My parents have scads of pictures that no one is going to be able to identify. Identify all the people on the back of photos, so your kids know whether to discard them or hang on to them. Gee, I hope I start to take my own advise. I have always been good at telling others what to do. No, I do not listen to myself or anyone else for that matter.
I am selling some items online. My Ebay seller name is vegasnut.
That tells volumes about me too. We will be making our semiannual visit August 21 through September 2. Love Las Vegas. Especially when I win.

Darn we just realized we had forgotten our oldest grandson's birthday on the 28th. Happy Birthday Brandon.

Hugs to all!

I Have Been Tagged!

2008-06-28T21:28:00.000-04:00

Name 5 Things I do for myself:

1.Read Novels daily.

2. Seed Bead almost daily.

3. Go to lunch with family and friends.

4. Surf the Net often.

5. Gambling

Name 5 kind things I do for others.(friends, children and partner)

1. Communicate with my children.

2. Blog.

3. Listen to their problems.

4. Make dinner.

5. Tell them I love them, or is that for me?

Name 5 kind things I have done for strangers.

1. Told a clerk when she gave me change for $50. when I had paid with $20.

2. Discovered a student was being abused and turn it in. She claims I saved her life.

3. I made a bracelet for someone my daughter writes to in her wedding colors.

4. Tell strangers when I admire their clothing, jewelry or hair style choices.

5. I guess I am pretty selfish as I cannot think of a 5th good deed.

Name 5 hobbies I have.

1. Seed Beading

2. Ebay buying and selling

3. Reading

4. Photography ( with an over the hill camera)

5 Crocheting

Tag you are it...everyone who reads my blog and writes one of their own. Leave me a comment when you have finished yours so I can read it!

The Verdict -Toggle!

2008-06-26T20:21:00.000-04:00

The toggle instead of the pearl or the button won and a friend, Barb suggested it. However Jessica's suggestion of the pearl was a close second...it would have taken an hour or more less time. I also made it two sizes...Jessica may let me borrow it at times.

Decisions Decisions

2008-06-24T21:56:00.000-04:00

Well I am working on something new, for me...how strange it is all new to me. My niece gave me a watch face. Did I utter sometime recently, "I do not want to do watches?" I did not but I had to try something and it did/did not work. You be the judge. I am now deciding what to use to fasten the darn thing so the weight of the watch does not pull the strap too badly. Let me know which to use the button with several blue beads clustered at the four button holes...or the pale green pearl from old earrings of my mothers? With a couple of loops attached within the strap and not at the end? What do you think?

Have been working in my Dad's attic for a week and it should be cleaned out tomorrow finally. I nearly filled a 10 cubic yard dumpster. With a lot of help from Harv, did I fail to mention that. He is the best. Not too much time for beading. I have washed all the dishes and other none chipped or broken items and plan to put most in a garage sale in the near future. Only a few things for me or the kids...we all have too much of our own things. Hope you ask if you need something kids. If you happen to read this.

Summer tomorrow!

2008-06-20T08:06:00.000-04:00

Could 4th of July be far behind? Finished a Red, White and Blue bracelet to show in a group I belong to. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/seedbeadersters/messages I love seeing all the projects others do and submit to the photo section. I keep plugging along.

African Helix in size 15/0 beads with a blue bead and stars as button and a loop of red and white wrapped in blue beads. It is for me. I have been busy with gifts and this has been on the back burner. The stars were gift beads from my Niece and Sister-in-law, Amy and Candy. Thank you both. They gave me some other beads that are going to find themselves in projects soon.
I am in the process of cleaning out my Father's attic. He died in March and the attic has been waiting for 50 years to be organized. I really think that he refused to allow anyone to discard anything in that time. "Just put it in the attic, someone may need it." Wrong!
Need to fortify myself with some coffee, look at my beads, and then head back to the ATTIC!

Good Morning!

2008-06-18T07:03:00.000-04:00

Well it is a good morning. I finished an easy Russian Spiral bracelet this morning. On top of finishing it, I had no problems at all with it. I remark on that as it is not always the case. Truth is I always seem to encounter some glitch with every project. I think, however, the ones that I have made for Jessica seem to have the most serious and numerous problems.

This particular bracelet is for Mary. A belated birthday present. We usually go out for lunch for each others birthdays and that is it. I was in Fl for hers and forgot the day completely. Rotten friend that I am it was forever until I did remember and sent an email good wish to her. This is just a "little something" to show I wanted to remember the day...

We will still go to lunch to celebrate our birthdays. We have a kayak day planned for next week and I am certain we will plan the lunch date then! Mary lives on a delightful lake and owns two kayaks. I love to join her for a kayak adventure.

Time for coffee!

Accidents Happen--Lesson Number ???

2008-06-15T19:30:00.000-04:00

Someone must have told. Jessica knew that I was making a bracelet with the darn triangular beads she bought me. Well I thought she bought for me. Now that I think about it, she got them for me to make something for her. She is such a good daughter that she did not even tell me what to make. Hope she likes it!

Now for the rest of the story. I decided to make a toggle for the closure. I started by trying to make a zippered peyote toggle with both the blue and triangular beads. That is not something that was going to work for me. Maybe if I knew more I would have known what to do. The different size and shape was going to make the toggle a freeform mess that would not have looked like a toggle. So I decided to try something else. I did a tubular peyote with the round beads and accented the ends with the triangular. It was so darn cute, I attached it to the end of the bracelet. It was about a half inch from finished, so I could make adjustments for the length before it was finished. It would have had a loop of beads and be a beautiful creation. Well the toggle could not have been cuter or more perfect. I was finishing off all the loose threads and there was one on the toggle that I snipped when it was all knotted. I was using these great scissors that cut fireline so well.
I learned lesson number ??? do not cut too close to the toggle as you could accidentally cut a thread you do not want to cut. Hm mm. I cut and looked and wondered why the work looked loose at one point. I put a needle under the thread in question and it was cut. I did not cry...wanted to. I scrapped the toggle. New problems surfaced immediately. I had knotted several threads in the last inch or so of the bracelet. I had to cut off all that and then take off enough beads to keep about 3 inches of the original bracelet. I now had enough loose thread to add a new length of thread. I worked the bracelet from each end and added a sterling clasp and that is what you just saw in the pictures above.
Being self taught in most of what I do leaves lots of room for improvement. However each project I do, I learn a little something new. Most importantly I love every bit of it. Below is a quick pic of the bezels I made today for a freeform in blacks, gray, and crystal seeds I cannot wait to get started on.
Tomorrow I promise to do the laundry and weed some before playing beads!

Seed Bead Heaven

2008-06-13T16:20:00.000-04:00

Shh! Tell no one. I am beading before I have the PA house in order. I am unable to stop myself, so I have started a bracelet. I do not know if it will ultimately be a gift or one I keep for me.

Do not tell Jessica that the triangular beads were haunting me. I simply had to try them in a Russian Spiral bracelet. It is really her fault that I have not gotten everything done in the house before I got a beading project started. In fact I would not own a triangular bead as I was resisting buying them as I needed to use what I owned and did not want to try anything new for awhile. I did not even like the looks of them...until I tried them this morning. It is all I can do not to sit down and finish this bracelet and start another. Then find triangular in as many colors as possible. Darn.

Hope you are doing something, right now, that you enjoy as much as I enjoy beading!

Beading Backburner

2008-06-07T11:58:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to talk a minute. We are getting organized to head back to PA for a few months. It is not something I am looking forward to, but need to take care of the property there and maybe list it For Sale. Want it???

Getting ready to leave here, as well as trying to plan what I need for PA and for our August two week trip to Vegas, is turning into a chore. I take things out of the closet and then put them back. We are leaving on Tuesday and heading for a casino in NC and then to visit Dick and Nancy Paul in the NC mountains. They are dear friends from our Dog Showing days. We met them nearly 30 years ago. Time flies!

Plan on arriving in PA about Thursday. We have doctor and dentist appointments in PA as our Drs. are there still.

I will be without computer connections until a week or so from when we leave. This may be the last post until about the 17th of June.

I have packed my beading supplies. I do not want to be distracted when I have so darn much to do to pack and clean to get ready for the trip. I cannot bead while riding in the car although I have thought about it. I have concluded that maybe I will have to revert back to crocheting while traveling. I do not bead crochet yet...I say yet as I am sure it is a matter of time. I would like to master patterns of beading before trying to combine it with crocheting...

Time to go to the pool and Harv is complaining because he thought I was diligently working inside while he worked outside. He does not consider this meaningful work. I should not have told him I was having fun.

Thread the Needle!

2008-06-05T07:54:00.000-04:00

This is an article that I just read and wanted to share. The Comments on this blog are as informative as the blog itself. http://tinyurl.com/5gkwsv

My first bracelets. The top one is from the kit I bought from Jenny and she taught me how to do it. The pink/silver and red/black are my designs. They are all done in Russian Spiral.

The pink is with the same pattern doubled twice for the bead. The Red was made for a friend. It has my first attempt at a zippered peyote slide.

Primitive beginnings.

Today is a birthday party for my granddaughter Jayda at my house. I need to give my house a little attention.

Just a Little Something

2008-06-02T22:49:00.000-04:00

I love giving gifts. What a great compulsion that allows you to do what you have to do and then gift it to friends and relatives. They can hardly say NO as it is just a little something. They can always regift it, right?

The bracelet is a African Helix in shiny 11/0 black and white Toho beads. The findings are silver plated French Wire and Sterling Heart and Toggle. The Sterling Flamingo is a signature that enhances several of my pieces. Thanks to Jessicamae3 for that helpful suggestion. I used Fireline 8# as the thread. I like using the fireline as it snugs up a little better on this pattern. I like the feel of an African Helix done with NYMO better, but it is much harder to work with. Snugging so much seems to separate and weaken the fibers of the NYMO.

Off to read.

Cheap Beads Rant

2008-06-01T07:23:00.000-04:00

Did I mention to avoid cheap beads? Oh yes, indeed! I started a project and realized that I was into a container of beads that I purchased on my initial bead buying adventure. Did I know anything? No? Do I still know anything? Well perhaps a few things. Miyukis Delicas ToHos Czechs and Chinese Beads and probably many more I have yet to learn about. Do not use Chinese made beads if you can avoid them. Some areas you have slim pickens, I know.

When it comes to seed beads there are so many in a container in a store you cannot visually see the uniformity or lack there of until you start to use them. Wow. Back to my project I started last night. A black and white African Helix bracelet for my niece, Kelly. Good thing there are thousands of beads in the container as I have to pick each bead and the majority are a mess. They are so pretty, black and shiney. Yes, they are Made in China beads. I am going to pick out the good ones and then throw the rest away when I finish this bracelet. Or maybe I will cut the inch off, discard the whole darn thing and go buy a Miyuki black bead and start over.

The idea of starting a new bracelet makes me hesitate. Starting an African Helix is a little cumbersome. Trying to hold the starting ring of beads in place, thread the five beads on the Fireline and then fishing the needle through between the correct beads and snugging it up seems to take 3 hands no matter how experienced you may be. Do not lose heart it you are just learning this pattern. It takes a little concentration to get started. The pattern though is simple and besides you only have to run the Fireline through the beads once.

A note on Fireline. I learned about it on a Yahoo Group called Seedbeaders 101. It is not a real talkie type of Group but within the archives there is lots to learn. Fireline is a fishing line and it comes in pound (lb.) of test strength. There is 40 lb. down to 4 lb. and probably many more. I bought 8 lb. as it was the lowest I could find at the local WalMart. It has worked well even with 15/0 beads. However a pattern that would require many passes through the beads would not work with 8 lb. I am in search of 4 lb. and figure when I return to PA, where the fishermen are after tiny trout instead of FL big fish, I will find the lower pound Fireline.

French Wire, Thread Heaven, NYMO, Fireline and Beewax

I started beading with NYMO which comes in alphabetical sizes. "A" being the smallest and "D" much stronger, larger. There is probably larger than "D" but I have not seen it. It is a Nylon blend. It does best with a "Thread Heaven" Bees Wax thread protector/conditioner. The nylon is several strands and it will separate and catch on dry hands. The protector will help. I did read somewhere not to use Thread Heaven if you use the Thread doubled instead of single in a project. I have not done anything on a doubled thread so what do I know.

Wow. I sure sound like a know it all when I reread this. I am a beginner! Off to Bead!

You Only Have One Chance to Make a First Impression

2008-05-30T08:36:00.000-04:00

You never know when you are going to be called upon to make a good first impression. However, it would help if someone would give a heads up and say, " Today many people, you do not know, will read what you have to say." Especially if said person sets you up!

I loved the comments regardless of how they were generated and welcome all. From now on though, I will be more mindful that someone just may be reading all this.

Much of what I have learned so far in seed beading has been self taught. I will try to pass along any hints I have read or learned by trial and error. Many errors, many trials!

I needed to download three different free instructions from the Internet when I attempted to learn the African Helix pattern. The lesson I learned was that different people explain the same thing in different ways and some are way easier to understand and interrupt than others. The free instructions and pattern at http://www.bead-patterns.com/ were extremely helpful. On the left side of the site is a Free choice. There are numerous pages and I waded through all several times and have copied many of the lovely patterns. There are tutorials on several different patterns and by more than one designer. A video tutorial is at this site http://www.auntiesbeads.com/Category.aspx?ID=9cac5bca-d677-4ff6-ad2b-72558e3751dc

What I will add to all this is I do the pattern "upside down" from all that I have read. I use a dowel as apposed to a pencil although a pencil does work. I have a few different sized dowels, 3/8 and 5/16 seem to work with most of my 11/0 or 15/0 bead choices. Instead of working my pattern downward with the beads on the bottom of the work, I turn the work and have the thread at the top after I do the first 16 beads and tie a knot. I load the 5 beads and allow them to fall down the thread to the dowel and hold them above the work and then insert my needle from bottom to top while holding the beads in place with my left thumb. As I snug up the thread, I allow the string to go in to the correct place by controlling it with my left thumbnail. I am leaving out all the pattern instructions and attempting to give a hint here. It works well for me. My first African Helix was a necklace, then a bracelet to match, and earring sleeves.

I hope to include a picture of necklaces today and with them is the dark and lime green African Helix first attempt. Also in the picture is the first necklace I ever tried. It is a cream and brown in Russian Spiral with a slide also in Russian Spiral doubled. I do not know if that is a pattern as I made it up as I wanted to add something to the rather plain necklace. The Flower necklace I got the pattern from the site mentioned above. It is done with seeds, crystals and pearls. I did not use the freshwater pearls recommended...cheap round ones I had on hand instead.

A note on Cheap Beads...try to avoid them, as they only make your work look cheap. It costs a little more for good beads, but the work will reflect the the difference. It takes way too much time to seed bead to have the work cheapened.

Wow can I run on...got to get busy my son Bryan is coming tomorrow.

The Beginners Beginnings

2008-05-29T11:55:00.000-04:00

I have the bloggiest of daughters http://jessicamae3.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=2 and http://limesncoconut.blogspot.com/ who was relentless about me blogging. Is it misery loves company or does she indeed think I have something to say?
Wow. I have lived my whole life waiting for my children to think I have something important to say. So based on the assumption that at least one of the four want to hear from me, I begin.

As an introduction, I am a happily married, retired, mother of four children and seven grandchildren. I am very proud of all of them and tend to brag. I have always had a "project" or two going. I macramed, raised and trained Bulldogs for show, crocheted, and taught health and physical education. I am now a judge for Bulldogs and French Bulldogs in AKC shows. I am also a recent (March 08) Seedbeader. I have found a passion, or is it just another of my compulsions?

I took a class at the Volusia County Fair Grounds at a Down the Street Bead Show early in March of this year. I bought a kit from Jenny of http://www.madchiwawadesigns.com/and then paid a little extra and spent about 3 hours learning. I had never beaded before, but had a seedbead book I had owned for a year. I learned Russian Spiral from Jenny and have been trying to learn more and more via the Internet ever since.

I will try to learn how to add pictures and other things that may be of interest.

Bye for now...duty calls!