Torn between two lovers...well, not really!

Living in two separate places is not something I would wish upon anyone.  It's tough.   I'm not in any one place long enough to get much beading done, but here's a few picks of a note pad cover I've been pecking away at while at the "country house"

I found this tube of bugles - wow.  Must be really old.  The cork broke when I went to take it off!

My handy scissors solved that dilemma.

And in the "city house", a post it note holder for my friend Cindy:

Oh well, trust me, its there - Rainy decided he should take a closer look and, well, apparently a catnap crept up on him! 

Back in the county, my bluejay friends love my peanut offerings!

Here is the Erie Canal that is literally across the street from our apartment. 

 An overflow tunnel creates a perfect little waterfall into the woods. 

There is a great walking path along the canal and I really enjoy it.   

And the bluejays always make me smile :)

Bead Happy and Often !

Please Help and Lend a "Hand"

Hello there! 

Last year I participated in a project to raise money for breast cancer which is organized by Jeanette Shanigan.   A lovely heart-working dedicated woman, to say the least. 

 

Jeanette collects donated squares which have been beaded using a certain theme/motif and then creates fantastic 'quilts' which are then auctioned off at the Bead & Button Show each year. 

The 2010 Breast Cancer Quilt(s) featured the turtle with the idea of "Remember the turtle; persistence, not speed, counts; a cure for breast cancer will be found."

 The 2010 project auction raised $2,865 ! ! 

If you'd like to see the finished quilts, here's the link:  http://shanigansbeadshenanigans.homestead.com/BCQuilts10.html

It was such a fun project, I want to do it again this year; won't you join me?  The theme this year is the Hand....hmmm, can't wait to get started on that!

For details on the project, please go to:  http://shanigansbeadshenanigans.homestead.com/GroundRulesBreastCancerDonationProject11.pdf

Joan's Cuff

Lucky for me that the stars aligned in such a way as to bestow upon me the perfect timing of my friend Joan's request for a bracelet to match her dress and an email from Artbeads.com with their latest challenge as part of their Blogging for Beaders program.

Artbeads asked me to create something using the Pantone 2010 Fall Colors   I'll be honest.  My immediate thought was ....?Uh.....What?  I didn't know what or who Pantone was.  I always knew there were "in" colors and "out" (as in outdated) colors, but I can't say I ever really knew who determined that. 

So I jumped over to the Pantone Report and found there were (are) 10 colors for this year.  I couldn't believe my luck!  5 of those colors would be perfect for Joan's dress bracelet!  YiPpEE!

Look at their dreamy names:

Golden Glow

Purple Orchid

Chocolate Truffle

Oyster Gray

Rose Dust

Don't they just describe Joan's dress perfectly????

Now, for the hard part.  Choosing from the HUGE selection carried by Artbeads.com!  Yikes.  I knew this was going to take a while.....

But the winners are: 

Swarovski Pearls in Mocca, Maroon and Mauve  ~ scrumptious colors!

Druk beads in Champagne Luster and Light Amethyst Luster ~ amazing luster on these!

Fire-polished faceted rounds in crystal twilight and dark bronze ~ very nice!

Toho 3mm Bugle in Raku Cabernet Iris ~ such a great color and super uniform in size!

Toho 11 seed beads in Marbled Rose Crystal and Marbled Periwinkle ~  I never knew that there were marbeled colored seeds!!  They are my new fav :)

Toho size 6 seed bead in Gilt-Lined Mauve ~ absolutely beautiful shade!

I found a perfect cabachon in my stash along with some other elements and here it is:

I edged the cuff in the 4mm Crystal Twilight Fire-Polished faceted rounds and I like the elegant touch.

I was having such a good time with this color palette, that I couldn't resist making a ring!

I think it makes a great set and matches the dress quite well!

OOPS!  After I took the pictures, I realized I wanted to put a row of size 15 seeds along the cabachon bezel!  Oh for heaven's sake!  But I was able to get them on even with the bracelet already finished:

And the best part......Joan loves it!

FTC Disclosure:  The elements listed above were provided to me free of charge from Artbeads.com in exchange for my review of the products.

Hi Friends!

My computer is STILL M.I.A.  My repair guy took it away on the 7th, told me I'd have it back on the 12th at the latest.  Still don't have it back!  Annoying to say the least.  So I have gotten Claire to set me up on her laptop so I can re-connect to you all.  I am zipping out the the door to work, so I don't have much time at the moment, but I am so excited to get back on-line and spend some time visiting everyone. 

Thank you all so much for the nice comments and emails !  I'm sorry I haven't had the opportunity to get back to you yet.  Between not having my computer and running back and forth between the 'city home' and 'county home', well, you know. . . not enough hours in the day :)

Hugs!