Thursday, February 15, 2007

Jade & Coral Necklace, with instructionskaytee

More Beading Contests!Anne

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Tomorrow: Thrifty Boutique Jewelry Contest #14bonnindesigns

Disappointment Reigns SupremeWelcome to 2007 in which drastic household budget


Disappointment Reigns Supreme
Welcome to 2007 in which drastic household budget cuts have forced me to give up my dream of becoming the Shoe Queen of the World. Since I can still (for the time being) afford books, here s a review of my most recent reading material. Don t get too excited good stuff has been notoriously hard to find lately. I find that odd as usually December is a good time for books. Publishers plan all those hot, new releases to coincide with the Christmas gift-buying season. Sadly, that was not the case so I ve been scraping the bottom of the barrel and even (gasp!) been perusing some new authors. That s always a risk which too often leads to disappointment and the occasional hurling of a piece-of-crap book across the room.

Fortunately, Simon R. Green managed to drop a new Nightside novel in early January which provided a lone bright spot.
Hell to Pay
chronicles the continuing adventures of John Taylor in the Nightside that seedy underbelly of London that s not quite of this world. It s a relief to know that there will be more Nightside books in the wake of the Lilith War which all but destroyed that world in the previous book and led to rampant speculation that Green was done with this series.

Still, I was left with mixed feelings about this particular installment. While it was nice to take a break from the relentless action and rather-more-than-necessary violence of the last few books and see Taylor get back to being a detective, I found it a little obvious that his gift gets shut down thus forcing him to detect via the old-fashioned question-and-answer method. That is not Taylor s forte as is proved when he meanders around having conversations with all the likely suspects which end up leading him exactly nowhere. I found the identity of the kidnapper to be patently obvious from early on and yet Taylor never actually solves the mystery. The guilty party identifies himself/herself (which has to be one of my biggest pet peeves EVER why do authors do this? Sheer laziness?) in the threadbare ha ha I m so brilliant and evil and you ll never stop my nefarious plot BWAHAHAHA speech given by every villain of all time and used by authors to allow the hero of the story the time to thwart said villain s brilliant plan.

As always, the strength of these books is the endless imagination of Green when it comes to creating unusual characters, powers and situations. However, other than brief appearances by Dead Boy and Larry Oblivion, and a few brushes with minor new characters, this strength is not used to its best effect. Suzie Shooter doesn t even appear perhaps Green is saving a furthering of her relationship with Taylor for another book? Dead Boy s car gets more stage time than just about anyone else.

I would probably give this book a more negative review if I hadn t been so starved for anything even remotely decent to read. I hope future installments take the series back to its better self.


Sadly, the lack of good reading material caused me to fall even further off the path of good taste when, after reading reviews that hinted that this might not be as bad in the sex department as previous books had been, I broke a long-held resolution and picked up "Stroke of Midnight" , Laurell. K. Hamilton s latest Meredith Gentry novel.

I do agree with the reviews there is SLIGHTLY less obnoxious and graphic sex in this book. There is even an attempt at a plot (solving two mysterious murders). So, overall, this book represents a SLIGHT improvement, BUT, my fundamental issues with the series remain firmly in place. It is so incredibly frustrating to me that Hamilton has created this fantastic world and peopled it with such potentially interesting characters and yet she makes no use out of them. We get these tantalizing hints of their pasts and previous powers, but those never lead anywhere because oops! time for another gratuitous sex scene. And while the sex scenes are overly graphic and porno for my personal tastes, it s not the sex that bothers me so much. It s the constant interruption of the action and plot line that occurs because these characters can t take three damn steps down a hallway without having to stop and boink each other. Once again, the guilty party confesses (helped out by some extreme torture courtesy of the Queen of Air and Darkness...which leads one to wonder whether the confession is worth the blood...er...paper it s printed on) so what little detective work Meredith manages to fit in between orgasms is pointless.

Then, the book ends so suddenly that I was left wondering wha happen? After reading the on-line reviews of the next installment in the series, Mistral s Kiss , (now out in hardback), it becomes patently obvious that it was meant to be the last few chapters of Stroke of Midnight but either greediness (on the part of the editor/publisher) or laziness (on Hamilton s part) caused the hatchet job which split this book into two pieces neither of which can really stand on their own. Urggh. Well, it s my own fault for breaking my resolution not to buy any more of her crap, but hey, it was out in paperback and I was trying to be fair and hope that she d learned a little something and made some improvements. I really need to stop giving in to my nobler impulses.


Hmmm...this review is turning into something of a downer. Maybe it s just me because I ran into another disappointment...this time from one of my very favorite authors, Katherine Kurtz. For those of you not familiar with her, run, don t walk, and pick up her Deryni or Adept books. Both are some of my top reads of all time. Plus, the woman lives in and is personally renovating a castle in Ireland. It even comes complete with its own ghosts (according to her http://www.deryni.net website, anyway). How cool is that?

Sadly, she writes with glacial slowness so a new offering from her is a rarity. I was quite thrilled to find out that her latest book came out during this dead period when there s not much else available.
Childe Morgan
is the sequel to In the King s Service and is a part of the Deryni series. Unfortunately, it s just not very good. Despite the title of the book, the plot (such as it is) focuses more on Alaric Morgan s mother, the Lady Alyce de Corwyn Morgan, than on Alaric himself (being that he is only 3 years old). And, there really isn t much plot to speak of, after all. There s a lot of knightings and meandering back and forth between various castles. The Camberian Council makes a couple of brief appearances and some major characters make their exits, but all in all, the book reads more like background to the Deryni series rather than something that can stand by itself in a novel. Plus, it was awfully short to justify it coming out in hardback. I understand there s a third installment in this part of the series that is planned for the future and I can only hope that it focuses on Alaric coming of age and the challenges he faces supporting King Brion in the early part of his reign. On the plus side, Kurtz s knowledge and use of medieval history, heraldry, and religion is spot-on as always and makes the world of Gwynedd come alive. Her magical rituals are also particularly well thought out and well written although they don t play a major part in this particular book.

Next, I picked up the latest offering from Mary Janice Davidson (author of the Betsy Taylor Undead series). And, in a continuing theme,
Sleeping With The Fishes
was another disappointment from an author whose work I usually enjoy. Fredrika Bimm is just a watered-down version of Betsy Taylor...with fins instead of fangs The male leads (whose names I can t even remember now...which should tell you something) are silly and one-dimensional. There was less than zero chemistry between either of them and Fredrika so that makes another area in which this book can t hold a candle to the Undead series. The humorous banter and strong friendships that make that series come alive are totally lacking in Fishes. I did like the cover art, though (she says in a lame attempt to come up with something positive to say).

Lastly, I have a gripe. Because of the dearth of good reading material right now, I practically mowed down a whole bunch of people to race to the bookstore when I saw that Tanya Huff had come out with another installment to her Valor series. Imagine my disgust when I actually picked up the book in the store and realized that it was nothing but a re-issue of the two previous books bound together under one cover. Now, don t get me wrong, both books are excellent and if you don t already have them, then I highly recommend adding Confederation of Valor to your collection. I just thought there ought to be a buyer beware notice somewhere to alert those of us who already have the earlier editions that buying this one would be redundant. At least I realized the problem before I actually paid for it and brought it home.

Well, that s all I ve got for now. I m getting over a cold, but am looking forward to a nice, relaxing, three-day weekend. I d like to hope that I could get some jewelry made and watch some football, but given the amount of chores around the house that need to be done, that s looking rather doubtful. I also have to do all the preparation for the kidlet s 4th birthday party next weekend. My baby is turning 4! Happy Birthday, Ry Ry!

Take care, everyone, and if I don t get to post again, have a good weekend!

KJ

Silver Parrot

SoMa Jewelry Collection Expands to Include Hammered Multiple Link ChainJohn

The latest finished piece- neckpieces modified fr...kaytee

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Garden Summer Series~jeanette design studio~


Garden Summer Series

~jeanette design studio~

Start 2007 with the right jewel onEditor

Wonderful beading pattern by Diana HiottCyndi L

Tomorrow: Thrifty Boutique Jewelry Contest #12bonnindesigns

Monday, February 12, 2007

Wire Heart Head Pin I’ve been playing around with wire


Wire Heart Head Pin
I’ve been playing around with wire lately in an effort to figure out ways to incorporate heart shapes into my jewelry. Thus, I came up with one of my latest designs, a Wire Heart Head Pin. I think it turned out pretty good. I still have some wire heart work to do, but this has a [...]

The October 1st Wedding ~~jeanette design studio~


The October 1st Wedding ~

~jeanette design studio~

Christmas Spirit on sale at Target!I did a lot of


Christmas Spirit on sale at Target!
I did a lot of reflecting about the Christmas Spirit last weekend. It s not something I ever really had to think about before I was always brimming over with it. The original Christmas Elf, that s me. No matter how much others (aka the X) bitched and groused and made general Scrooges of themselves, I refused to be daunted. Halls would be decked, carols would be sung and there would be drinking of wassail and much general merry-making.

Even last year with the horrific events of September and October dragging at me, I was determined to enjoy the holidays. I had a momentary blip on Christmas Eve when the kidlet arrived home to announce in front of my entire family that he d spent the evening with his dad and his dad s mistress. The kidlet didn t use those words, but it was obvious what was going on and since that was the first I knew for sure (although I d suspected) that there was another woman (oh, who am I kidding women), well, what a nice Christmas present for me. But, I buried it and soldiered on, more determined than ever to not let the holidays be ruined and I did a pretty good job of it. Support from my family and some extra-nice presents didn t hurt.

But this year, with the divorce being finalized in the last couple of weeks, I suddenly found myself totally lacking in any Christmas Spirit whatsoever. I didn t care about shopping. I didn t have any reason to bake anything. I made a half-hearted attempt to put some Christmas lights on the house but only because in my neighborhood you HAVE to participate in the whole lights thing or the neighborhood mafia makes sure you quietly disappear or so I ve heard. I kept wondering what was wrong with me and thinking well, things will change when I get closer to the holidays.

Then, I tried putting on some Christmas music to put myself in the mood and found myself crying and that s when I knew. The universe had finally won. The Christmas Spirit had finally been trampled, kicked, beaten and pounded out of me. It was just gone and I couldn t figure out how to get it back.

I cried more about that realization than I have about anything in a long time. Something about the knowledge that I d finally lost that last childlike spark of innocence was incredibly disheartening. I tried to put on a front. I went Christmas shopping. I bought cookie decorating paraphernalia and a gingerbread house kit for the kidlet. I even volunteered to host Christmas Day at my house because hey, no stress. I no longer cared.

Then, something started to happen. I went over to my parents house to wrap my presents and help them wrap theirs. On the way, I stopped at Target to pick up some extra boxes and other wapping supplies. While I was there I realized I should check out some Christmas decorations for the inside of the house to make things a little more festive since I was hosting the day. I found a small fake tree that came complete with lights (no assembly yay!) on sale for $20 and got that. Then I realized I needed extra stocking hangers for all the guests coming and I found a really cute little table runner to put on my buffet table. I knew I was going to put my evergreen garland across the mantle, but bought a string of lights and some gold bows to spiff it up a bit. Then I remembered all the holiday candles that I never use because I don t have bases for them so I picked up some different candle-holders and bases and a bag of cinnamon apple potpourri. Despite it being the last weekend before Christmas, I breezed through the checkout line and by the time I hit my car, I was feeling decidedly pepped up.

Then, I hit the bird store to pick up some extra treats for the parrot and some things for Santa to leave in his stocking. Yes, the parrot has his own Christmas stocking. Want to make something of it? YOU try explaining to a 3 year old why everyone except the bird got something from Santa! Of course, while I was there, I had to stop and play with all the baby birds including one incredibly sweet baby cockatiel who d had an accident and lost most of its upper beak. Despite that, it begged for me to pick it up and let me scratch its head and then it rode around on my shoulder while I did my shopping. It was awfully hard for me to leave that bird behind it reminded me so much of my sweet Jimmy-girl who passed away a year ago this Thanksgiving. Still, I felt really good by the time I left the store. I guess there s just something about unconditional love it s obviously an essential ingredient in Christmas Spirit.

And while I started out irritated at having to spend a day doing nothing but wrapping, I found myself starting to really enjoy playing with the pretty paper and ribbon. I thought about all the previous Christmases where I d helped my mom with the wrapping starting when I was about 12 or so and she first taught me how to wrap a package. Mom sat down at the table with me and wrapped a few things and we talked which we hardly ever do unless it s about babysitting or groceries or things I need my dad to help me with around the house. It was nice.

I spent the next morning putting up my new little tree and decorating the mantel with all the fun things I d bought and for once, I was really pleased with how things turned out. Usually when I plan a project like this, one string of lights burns out or I can t find what I want at the store or something gets dropped and broken, but none of that happened and everything looked even better than I had planned.

I even had enough time left over that I decided to replace the hand-painted Christmas shirts that I made for the kidlet and me to wear the last couple of years. Both of us had completely outgrown them his were too small and mine was WAY too big. A quick trip to Michael s for some shirts and then home to dig out my fabric paints and my patterns and I got three shirts done. Plus, I mostly finished the charm bracelet I m making for the kidlet s teacher s present.

I looked up from painting the last shirt and suddenly realized that my Christmas Spirit was back in full force. I couldn t wait for the kidlet to get home and see how I d transformed the house and help me finish decorating the tree. I ordered some classic Christmas movies for us to watch this weekend and picked up some cocoa and marshmallows to have tonight after we finish the tree. The Christmas music is all queued up in the CD player and I ve even got candles and the fireplace going.

I started crying again, but this time they were tears of joy because I realized that my Christmas Spirit was never lost at all. I just had to remember how to get to the special place where I keep it. Y'know, Target really DOES have EVERYTHING! And sometimes it's even on sale...

Not sure how much posting I ll do over the holidays I m on full-time Mom (not to mention Elf) duty until about January 10th, but a very Merry, Merry Christmas to all and I ll see you in 2007!

KJ

P.S. Here's the picture of the teacher's bracelet all finished. It was supposed to have more charms on it, but that shipment never arrived from the vendor so I had to improvise:


Silver Parrot

The mapAndrew


The map

Andrew

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Peggy Li Creations in Quick & Simple Magazineplcpeggy

Peggy Li Creations Interview at Omiruplcpeggy

KT Collectionbonnindesigns


KT Collection

bonnindesigns

Free Monthly NewsletterKatie Hacker

Saturday, February 10, 2007

The Happiness searchCyndi L

Could You Call Me Eclectic?First, "Hello" Hei, to all my


Could You Call Me Eclectic?
First, "Hello" Hei, to all my friends in Finland. I haven't made it to your beautiful country yet, but I'm planning to get there. I hope the winter is not too dreadful for you this year, and that you were spared the terrible winter storms that Germany and other parts of Europe are getting.
I have been busy this new year of 2007, mostly working on the site and on special commissions for people, but I do have some pieces that have not made it to the website yet, or that I've just managed to put on in the last day or so.
The first is a rainbow moonstone bracelet - three strands of blue flash that is so difficult to capture in a photograph - but this bracelet is flashy. The lampwork beads that are in the bracelet have a special glow to them that reminds me of the moonstone. This would make a great piece for a wedding member - or even a bride.


The next two pieces are rose quartz, a bracelet and a necklace made of rose quartz nuggets (thinking ahead to Valentine's Day - see the heart charm on the bracelet?). Some gemstones look really good in nugget form; rose quartz is one of those gemstones.

When I have "nice" gemstones - precious stones that are well-faceted and have a good colour, it is very hard for me to use them - I want to have my cake and eat it, too. I hoard them, but I finally made myself use these great sapphires. They have a great colour though they are not transparent and it was hard for me to let go of them and actually put them in a piece of jewelry. (I'm like Scrooge; I like to take them out, look at them and handle them, and then put them back knowing that I have them). I'm pleased with the way the bracelet turned out. The clasp is one I've had for quite a while. It has a faceted iolite of very good quality in the toggle; I decided to use it for the sapphire bracelet (iolite was referred to as the "water-sapphire" after all).

More moonstone - only this is peach moonstone with little sparkles of chatoyancy; I really like it and can't wait to order more. Of course, I love peach.
This is not a combination that you see a lot: lapis and tourmalinated quartz with a greenish hue, but I'm blaming the colours on the borosilicate lampwork beads from Irene Collier. Only these beads gave me the idea to put these two stones together, and it's one of those mixes that I personally find rather exotic, so, of course I like it. It should probably be listed on my Unique Gemstone Jewelry page, but I am listing it under Lapis Jewelry.

Chrysoprase is always good when I have some that is ever so slightly translucent like these little pebbles of chrysoprase. The lampwork beads by laffingull were just made for chrysoprase, so here they are!

Finally, just a little bridesmaid jewelry with blue freshwater pearls, but that wonderful Swarovski bead in the center is so beautiful that I decided to put the picture here.

I do have a couple of auctions on Ebay this week: go to Studio G Ebay store to get a great deal.
The rest of the jewelry will be or is already listed on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website.

handmade beaded jewelry The Jewelry Blog jewelry jewellery bracelet necklaces moonstone lapis Swarovski crystal pearls beads lampwork beads handmade jewelry joyer a armb nd bi uteria gemstones

clunygrey@yahoo.com (Cluny Grey)

Fine Silver Seahorse Pin Added to the Sea Cliff CollectionJohn

Careers in Fashion Speaking Gigplcpeggy

Friday, February 09, 2007

Bead Expo HighlightsKatie Hacker


Bead Expo Highlights

Katie Hacker

Shari's Updatebonnindesigns


Shari's Update

bonnindesigns

New York Fashion Week Coverage Fall 2007: Diane Von FurstenbergEditor

Vertebrae maille weaveBeading Help Web Editorial Team


Vertebrae maille weave

Beading Help Web Editorial Team

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Museum Shop Sales....kaytee

Design & RedesignKatie Hacker


Design & Redesign

Katie Hacker

Christmas Spirit on sale at Target!I did a lot of


Christmas Spirit on sale at Target!
I did a lot of reflecting about the Christmas Spirit last weekend. It s not something I ever really had to think about before I was always brimming over with it. The original Christmas Elf, that s me. No matter how much others (aka the X) bitched and groused and made general Scrooges of themselves, I refused to be daunted. Halls would be decked, carols would be sung and there would be drinking of wassail and much general merry-making.

Even last year with the horrific events of September and October dragging at me, I was determined to enjoy the holidays. I had a momentary blip on Christmas Eve when the kidlet arrived home to announce in front of my entire family that he d spent the evening with his dad and his dad s mistress. The kidlet didn t use those words, but it was obvious what was going on and since that was the first I knew for sure (although I d suspected) that there was another woman (oh, who am I kidding women), well, what a nice Christmas present for me. But, I buried it and soldiered on, more determined than ever to not let the holidays be ruined and I did a pretty good job of it. Support from my family and some extra-nice presents didn t hurt.

But this year, with the divorce being finalized in the last couple of weeks, I suddenly found myself totally lacking in any Christmas Spirit whatsoever. I didn t care about shopping. I didn t have any reason to bake anything. I made a half-hearted attempt to put some Christmas lights on the house but only because in my neighborhood you HAVE to participate in the whole lights thing or the neighborhood mafia makes sure you quietly disappear or so I ve heard. I kept wondering what was wrong with me and thinking well, things will change when I get closer to the holidays.

Then, I tried putting on some Christmas music to put myself in the mood and found myself crying and that s when I knew. The universe had finally won. The Christmas Spirit had finally been trampled, kicked, beaten and pounded out of me. It was just gone and I couldn t figure out how to get it back.

I cried more about that realization than I have about anything in a long time. Something about the knowledge that I d finally lost that last childlike spark of innocence was incredibly disheartening. I tried to put on a front. I went Christmas shopping. I bought cookie decorating paraphernalia and a gingerbread house kit for the kidlet. I even volunteered to host Christmas Day at my house because hey, no stress. I no longer cared.

Then, something started to happen. I went over to my parents house to wrap my presents and help them wrap theirs. On the way, I stopped at Target to pick up some extra boxes and other wapping supplies. While I was there I realized I should check out some Christmas decorations for the inside of the house to make things a little more festive since I was hosting the day. I found a small fake tree that came complete with lights (no assembly yay!) on sale for $20 and got that. Then I realized I needed extra stocking hangers for all the guests coming and I found a really cute little table runner to put on my buffet table. I knew I was going to put my evergreen garland across the mantle, but bought a string of lights and some gold bows to spiff it up a bit. Then I remembered all the holiday candles that I never use because I don t have bases for them so I picked up some different candle-holders and bases and a bag of cinnamon apple potpourri. Despite it being the last weekend before Christmas, I breezed through the checkout line and by the time I hit my car, I was feeling decidedly pepped up.

Then, I hit the bird store to pick up some extra treats for the parrot and some things for Santa to leave in his stocking. Yes, the parrot has his own Christmas stocking. Want to make something of it? YOU try explaining to a 3 year old why everyone except the bird got something from Santa! Of course, while I was there, I had to stop and play with all the baby birds including one incredibly sweet baby cockatiel who d had an accident and lost most of its upper beak. Despite that, it begged for me to pick it up and let me scratch its head and then it rode around on my shoulder while I did my shopping. It was awfully hard for me to leave that bird behind it reminded me so much of my sweet Jimmy-girl who passed away a year ago this Thanksgiving. Still, I felt really good by the time I left the store. I guess there s just something about unconditional love it s obviously an essential ingredient in Christmas Spirit.

And while I started out irritated at having to spend a day doing nothing but wrapping, I found myself starting to really enjoy playing with the pretty paper and ribbon. I thought about all the previous Christmases where I d helped my mom with the wrapping starting when I was about 12 or so and she first taught me how to wrap a package. Mom sat down at the table with me and wrapped a few things and we talked which we hardly ever do unless it s about babysitting or groceries or things I need my dad to help me with around the house. It was nice.

I spent the next morning putting up my new little tree and decorating the mantel with all the fun things I d bought and for once, I was really pleased with how things turned out. Usually when I plan a project like this, one string of lights burns out or I can t find what I want at the store or something gets dropped and broken, but none of that happened and everything looked even better than I had planned.

I even had enough time left over that I decided to replace the hand-painted Christmas shirts that I made for the kidlet and me to wear the last couple of years. Both of us had completely outgrown them his were too small and mine was WAY too big. A quick trip to Michael s for some shirts and then home to dig out my fabric paints and my patterns and I got three shirts done. Plus, I mostly finished the charm bracelet I m making for the kidlet s teacher s present.

I looked up from painting the last shirt and suddenly realized that my Christmas Spirit was back in full force. I couldn t wait for the kidlet to get home and see how I d transformed the house and help me finish decorating the tree. I ordered some classic Christmas movies for us to watch this weekend and picked up some cocoa and marshmallows to have tonight after we finish the tree. The Christmas music is all queued up in the CD player and I ve even got candles and the fireplace going.

I started crying again, but this time they were tears of joy because I realized that my Christmas Spirit was never lost at all. I just had to remember how to get to the special place where I keep it. Y'know, Target really DOES have EVERYTHING! And sometimes it's even on sale...

Not sure how much posting I ll do over the holidays I m on full-time Mom (not to mention Elf) duty until about January 10th, but a very Merry, Merry Christmas to all and I ll see you in 2007!

KJ

P.S. Here's the picture of the teacher's bracelet all finished. It was supposed to have more charms on it, but that shipment never arrived from the vendor so I had to improvise:


Silver Parrot

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

TOO MANY BRACELETS!!! Pulsera, Br ar , Bracelete, Armb nd, Karperec....I run the


TOO MANY BRACELETS!!! Pulsera, Br ar , Bracelete, Armb nd, Karperec....
I run the risk of looking like a photo blog this week, but I was looking at some of the pictures of bracelets I'm adding to my Cluny Grey Jewelry website this week as well as my Ebay store and realized I had quite an eclectic group here. First, a bracelet made with muscovite - a stone I love because it sparkles. Next, a bracelet made of some better quality prehnite that I happened to find; what's interesting about this prehnite bracelet is that the wonderful lampwork beads by Robin really are more green and while they have a tinge of pink to them that is almost all that shows up when I photograph them. This is a wonderful bracelet!
Blue lace agate is always pretty, but when mixed with blue chalcedony, lampwork, and glory be! white opal Swarovski crystals! it is really special! This is a combination that I think that I'll be using again. The earrings do seem to glow, not just in the sunlight.
I'm starting to mix more Swarovski crystals with gemstones - something that I never used to do - or only rarely did, but I've decided that I really like the look. Great lampwork beads here; tanzanite Swarovski is just to die for, and these great amethyst faceted nuggets I got in Spain are wow!
Labradorite (picture taken in the sunlight) will probably always be one of my favorites. I wear labradorite earrings all the time because I like the surprising flash of blue coming through my long hair. And labradorite looks great with boro lampwork, too. Oddly enough, those little smooth square beads that look almost brown aren't; they are some of the flashiest labradorite I have, but I can never get all the labradorite to flash at once in one picture. But that's one of the great things about wearing labradorite - no matter which way you turn, there's always some stone flashing its chatoyancy.
I made the labradorite bracelet below with some of Robin's great beads that won't show up the green (pale) that they really are. I took labradorite that was more of a grey colour than the dark green that we generally expect labradorite to be - but grey labradorite with plenty of flash! I'm rather happy with the result.


A couple of these bracelets are up for auction on Ebay this week (or will be starting tomorrow and/or Wednesday; they'll start at half the price or even less that they will sell for normally so do your Christmas shopping early!
jewelry jewellery labradorite bracelets agate blue lace agate muscovite lampwork lampwork beads beads beadwork beading gemstones silver prehnite
jewelry making Swarovski crystals The Jewelry Blog Ebay earrings fashion weblogs accessories design handmade handcrafted jewelry unique jewelry rannerengas pulsera braccialetto

clunygrey@yahoo.com (Cluny Grey)

Quartz Crystal, Ocean Jasper and lampwork chokerStephanie Distler artist

Close up of "Dreaming of Spring"Cyndi L

A busy bee......gathers no moss. Or maybe it's a rolling


A busy bee...
...gathers no moss. Or maybe it's a rolling stone smashes bees out of its way? Whatever.

Insert all the usual excuses for me being a busy, busy, busy girl (apologies to those who thought I was a bee. I'm not).

I did manage to get some beading done over the three day weekend (chores? what chores?) so here are some pics:



This is another of Jeff Welsh's fabulous boro glass pendants. I never thought I'd be designing necklaces around a shark motif, but he just does such a great job with the shapes - so lifelike - that I couldn't resist. I put together a bunch of strands of seed beads, crystals and pearls to pick up the colors in the pendant and then added Bali silver cones and an "S" clasp. I call this piece "Brenneke Beach" after my most memorable encounter with a shark. It involved an 18' tiger shark who, after perusing the "surfer appetizer" menu at Brenneke Beach on Kauai, decided he'd rather have sea turtle. This turned out to be fortunate for me and the rest of the surfers in the water at the time considering that all of us were blissfully unaware of our uninvited guest until one of the island tour helicopters that was flying overhead spotted the shark swimming around our ankles and dipped down to try to warn us of the potential of impending, toothy doom. Sadly, we thought they were just being friendly and giving the tourists aboard a chance to wave to the surfers. So, all we did was politely wave back. Then the lifeguards hopped on their jetskis and came out to tell us what was really going on. I have no memory of how I actually made it to shore - only that it took me about a nanosecond to get there. Then, we all went up on the cliff overlooking the beach to take a look at the shark, which was still circling in the water. A HUGE, impressive site. 18' is only an estimate from one of the locals - it's quite possible the shark was larger than that.

And yes, tiger sharks are one of the species known to eat people. When there aren't any handy sea turtles...

One of my "chores" for the weekend (I say "chores" in quotes because it's actually fun which is sort of the opposite of a chore) was to cull through my beading magazines and get rid of the backlog. I do this by tearing out any projects I think look interesting and putting them into 3-ring binders for later use. Then, I toss what's left of the magazine. That keeps all my potential projects organized (no wasting time flipping through a zillion magazines saying "I know that project was in that issue with that thing on the front sometime in 2006") plus it cuts down significantly on the storage space requirements.

I got all fired up with great ideas while I was doing this and picked one project to start. Unfortunately, it required 24 6mm crystal bicones in one color to complete it. Now, with a bead stash the size of mine, you'd think that I have EVERY FREAKIN' POSSIBLE BEAD under the sun. You'd especially think I have a large amount of something so basic as a 6mm bicone crystal.

You'd be wrong.

Oh, I have crystals galore. I have 6mm crystals. I even have 6mm bicone crystals.

But do I have 24 6mm bicone crystals in the same color?

No.

Do I have 12 each 6mm crystals in two colors that could even remotely coordinate with each other?

No.

CRAP!

So, now I'm faced with a dilemma. Break my less than 1 month old resolution to limit my beading purchases to only replacement of standard supplies (i.e. thread, jump rings, head pins, etc.) OR give up on this project.

Guess which option I chose?

HAH!

Wrong!

It was a trick question.

I did both.

Turns out my favorite crystal supplier was having a terrific sale so I stocked up on 6mm bicone crystals at quite a discount. Hey, they're basics so I didn't TOTALLY break my resolution.

While waiting for them to arrive in the mail, I moved on to a different project which, miracle of miracles, I turned out to have all the right materials for. Okay, okay so I substituted 8 lb. test Power Pro for the 6 lb. test Fireline, but that's not something that will make a difference. Here are the results:



These turned out to be so easy and so much fun that I've now churned out a bunch of them. I'll be posting more pics later in the week, but here's the second one I did:



I spent the rest of the weekend and most of last week working on a major project at work and preparing to pull off the 4-year-old birthday party of the century (pizza, a Spiderman bouncy house and chocolate cake with chocolate filling) where a good time was had by all and Ryan and I spent an hour and a half jumping in the house by ourselves after the party was over. My neighbors have now had visual proof that I am crazy. I think some of them may have even acquired videotaped evidence of it. It will probably show up on YouTube soon.

Ryan's favorite gift? So far it's the "Bug Vacuum." For those who want to know, it does exactly what the name implies. It has 3 speeds of "suckage" (for small, medium and large bugs I suppose). You place the nozzle over the desired bug and squeeze the trigger and the hapless little fellow is immediately sucked into a canister. You then flip a lever to seal off the canister and remove it from the vacuum. The top of the canister is a magnifying glass so you can now view your sucked bug at SUPER EXTREME CLOSE-UP RANGE. We haven't tried it with a real bug yet, but the vacuum comes with a fake "practice bug" and Ryan has now spent hours vacuuming that thing up all over the house. Now if I could only get him to use the real vacuum on the carpets, it would be great.

By the way, despite the toy's claim that this process will not be harmful to any actual, living bugs, I have my doubts. The fake bug is already looking a little the worse for wear...

Anyway, after all that, I woke up Sunday morning to find that I am coming down with yet another cold. Everyone in my family has been bouncing some virus or other around between us since New Year's. We are like some giant viral pinball machine.

This past Sunday night was the long-awaited premiere of "The Dresden Files" on the Sci-Fi channel. I was so looking forward to this, but have to say that the initial episode was a bit disappointing. I will give it a few more chances in the hopes that it improves. I'm such a fan of the books that I have to wonder if that has colored my judgment of the show. I wonder if someone not acquainted with the novels would have a different take on the TV version...

I can at least say that it is not as bad as what they did to "Battlestar Galactica".

That's it for now. I'll try to post more bracelet pictures later in the week.

KJ

Silver Parrot

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Elegant ~ Funky ~ Chic: Briolette Cluster Drop EarringsThe title


Elegant ~ Funky ~ Chic: Briolette Cluster Drop Earrings





The title says it all... everyday glam with freshwater pearls & Swarovski crystals. Black diamond has geniune garnets.

jeanettedesignstudio@gmail.com (~jeanette design studio~)

vocabulary definitions resignation: the moment you realize your favorite dress


vocabulary definitions
resignation: the moment you realize your favorite dress just doesn’t go with the rest of your collection and needs to be chucked. colorblindness: the state of mind where you’ve been poring over color groups for so long they all start looking equally sucky. night vision: when you come up with the most brilliant solution to Question X [...]

Happy New Year! And Pogo....kaytee

Rings N Things Holiday ClosingsBeading Help Web Editorial Team


Rings N Things Holiday Closings

Beading Help Web Editorial Team

Monday, February 05, 2007

Website Problems -Actively Being Worked OnStephanie

From The MailboxLaura K

Amethyst, Aquamarine, and Coral, Coral, CoralFirst, halloo to the jewelrymakers


Amethyst, Aquamarine, and Coral, Coral, Coral

First, halloo to the jewelrymakers in Estonia; thanks for looking in on my blog.
The first bracelet is made of chunky, and I do mean chunky nuggets of amethyst and aquamarine. The aquamarine nuggets are rather rough cut, but it only adds to their charm. They were sold to me as aquamarine (I bought them directly from a reputable dealer in China), but I really think that they are probably aquamarine quartz. Anyway, I am crazy about this chunky nugget bracelet, and it looks like a million bucks. It's listed on a new page of the website called Unusual Jewelry Of course, I can't take credit for the lampwork beads; they are the work of master lampworker James Derrick Reeves.I worked with coral as a diversion (I usually do coral for the summer)but got carried away with the blue coral that I had and mixing it with other items. This blue coral necklace I mixed with some great mother of pearl flat beads I have; the flat mother of pearl has a blue tint and a gorgeous nacre; I was quite pleased with the way that it turned out. All three coral necklaces are on the Coral Necklaces page, and pricing is coming soon. But check out my ebay auctions since I think I may put one up for auction, and if I do, it will start at a much lower bid price than it will be on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website.
I've been lucky lately in finding good faceted nuggets and these fire agate nuggets are just one example. Babylonian Tiger is fire agate mixed with some quite good lapis lazuli and sunstone. This is on auction on Ebay at a lower beginning bid than the website price.Finally, I like these earwires so much that I included them in the blog today. The little faceted squares at the bottom are a peach-pink moonstone. You can find those on the Moonstone Jewelry page on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website.

handmade beaded jewelry The Jewelry Blog jewelry jewellery bracelets necklace fashion beads wearable art lapis fire agate moonstone earrings accessories mother of pearl aquamarine amethyst

clunygrey@yahoo.com (Cluny Grey)

Have you been reading the Journals?Anne

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Sterling silver jewelry - great for every style!Spring is almost


Sterling silver jewelry - great for every style!
Spring is almost here and you know what that means? Shopping! Yes that's right, shopping. Every girl needs a new outfit or two to bring her out of the dredges of winter and what better than sterling silver jewelry to go with those new purchases!

Professional or casual, day or night a little elegant sparkle with the right piece of sterling silver jewelry is going to make your wardrobe pop! Don't be surprised if you start getting bombarded with questions about your fabulous new sterling silver earrings.

One of the many great things about sterling silver jewelry is that it goes with everything and everyone. With so many personal styles out there how can it be so versatile? Simple. Sterling silver jewelry can be refined, classy, elegant, funky, pretty, bold, punky and daring. Need we say more?

Take a look at what Jive Jewelry has to offer:

So whatever your individual style may be, it's sure to be easily expressed with sterling silver jewelry!
Ashlynn

Scarves... LOTS of scarves...kaytee

Three New Items Added to Web SpecialsStephanie

Museum Shop Sales....kaytee

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Luscious Handbag find of the Day: LockheartEditor

Rings N Things Holiday ClosingsBeading Help Web Editorial Team


Rings N Things Holiday Closings

Beading Help Web Editorial Team

The Sonoma CollectionJohn S. Brana


The Sonoma Collection

John S. Brana

Boro lampwork beads combined with my larger SS hoo...Stephanie Distler

Friday, February 02, 2007

Peggy Li Creations on "Medium" episode "Mother's Little Helper"plcpeggy

ATTN: any US military vets/spouses of vetskaytee

Amy has the necklaceCyndi L

Janna Connerbonnindesigns


Janna Conner

bonnindesigns

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Back in the SaddleKatie Hacker


Back in the Saddle

Katie Hacker

i love sample sales The Bargain Queen’s post on sample


i love sample sales
The Bargain Queen’s post on sample sales prompted me to write a post of my own on the subject, from a designer’s point of view. In fact, Her Royal Majesty emailed me and Kathleen, asking if her post had any glaring errors. I didn’t find any, but was in general amused by how shoppers view [...]

KT Collectionbonnindesigns


KT Collection

bonnindesigns

Kara Janx Gets MarriedLaura K