Hello Again!

It's shocking to think it's been 6 weeks since I last posted! Has it really been that long? 42 days? Yikes, that's a long time! Did you miss me? I certainly missed you.

Most of those 6 weeks I spent working on a contest entry. I know, that's a very long time to complete a single piece. I may have reached the end with only one, but I certainly designed far more than that. I went back and forth, tried new things, and threw out plenty of good ideas that just weren't perfect enough. What did I want? I'm not sure if even I knew. As usual, I was right up against the deadline. But I had to make SOMETHING. And finally I did. And I am really happy with it.

What!? No photos? Sorry, I can't show any just yet. But I will.


So what else did I do? As most of my creative time was spent dreaming up and throwing out contest designs, not to mention the actual making of the piece, I only got a few other things made.

A birthday bracelet for my awesome cousin.

A custom order dragon necklace.

Some new stamped beads with little butterflies.

And the first of my new favorite beads - a little "turquoise" pony with "coral" inlay.

I enjoyed a beautiful Luna moth in my window.

I thought about going riding. And then I thought about how hot it was and how much my horses would not appreciate me riding them and also how grumpy (and hot) I would get trying to ride a horse that did not want to be ridden. So I didn't.

I sorted through a jar of vintage buttons and found quite a few neat ones that you'll be seeing in new jewelry a little later.

I've been wanting to explore new color combinations, so I bought a book on color.

I went bead shopping on Etsy.

(Do you ever find when you have a project that must be finished, the ideas for other designs come so easily? All the ones that aren't at all right, but you'd really love to make them. That happened to me a lot.)

I thought about going riding again... still too hot? Yes. Definitely.

I celebrated the 4th of July with family and lots of good food. A firework show in town, more fireworks in the yard, and root beer floats.

I reorganized my work area.

On July 9th, two days before it was due, I submitted my design for the contest. Whew! Just in time!!

And now I'm happy to announce I'm back to work as usual! In the last couple days I finished shaping a batch of critter beads I had started back at the beginning of these 6 weeks, I started more turquoise horse beads, and made 3 1/2 necklaces, 2 bracelets, and 2 pairs of earrings. Woohoo!

The proof of all my work. What a mess! I'm wondering if there are as many wire trimmings as beads!

Happy Bead Table Wednesday!!! Boy, it's good to be back!

Be sure to check out what everyone's doing today - I know that's where I'm headed now... I've got a lot to catch up on...

Bead Table Wednesday - Little Critter Edition

Here they all are! And just in time for Bead Table Wednesday!

 I have 71 critters total - this photo just shows one of each kind.

An orangey-yellow tabby cat

 A turtle

 A bunny

A brown owl

 A raccoon (these are one of my favorites of the new species)

A red fox

 A gray tabby cat

 A squirrel

And a calico kitty

(See more close-ups in yesterday's post.)

They're all listed in my shop now, with more on the way.

Happy Bead Table Wednesday!

Go here to see what's happening on everyone's bead table today.

Critters - A Sneak Peek

The critters are finished!! I planned to get them all listed in my shop today, but the camera batteries had another idea - they totally died! And the backup batteries I thought I'd charged (I'm sure I did!) didn't have a charge at all. So no critter listings for today. But I do have a sneak peek for you. Enjoy!

 A fawn.

 A bluebird.

A hedgehog.

And a skunk.

 A big huge thanks to my sister Bethanne for taking these. Having a photographer/sister is an awesome thing - every Etsy shop owner should have one! She saves me sooo much time, which means more beads and more jewelry!

With no listings to make, I had more time on my hands this evening and I decided to try out Craft Cult's treasury widget. What a great tool!

Here's a beautiful treasury by Julie of mermaidencreations. She did such an excellent job and I'm so excited to have it named after my Heart of the Forest necklace. Thank you Julie!

And here are a few of my favorites. How fun to be featured alongside such gorgeous art!

Crystalline dewdrops by BrootPhoto

Beautiful spring-green earrings by stregata

And a sweet little mushroom by NatureMandalas

... Well, hopefully the camera batteries will be in a better mood tomorrow and I'll have more critters to show you and some listings in my shop...