Bead Soup Preview!

I have been paired up with someone fascinating and unknown to me before this fun experiment. Claire Maunsell. A woman of mystery and astounding talent! I am slowly unraveling the mystery as I travel through some of her blog posts and peruse her lovely Etsy shop. I have never seen work such as hers and find it wonderful and inventive! I love working with original pieces, and these will be no different.

I have honestly never worked with anything like this, but I am absolutely fascinated! Whatever comes from my hands will be like nothing else I have ever created! That makes it extra special! Perhaps I will discover a new side to my art! Maybe a new style will develop from the magical pieces she sent me! Perhaps I will fall flat on my face and not do them justice! I certainly hope it's not the latter. lol

All of Claire's art beads were created with Polymer Clay including the one of a kind toggle and pendant. I am in love with the pod beads, I am picturing a fun eclectic bracelet perhaps... I also see potential in the glass beads! How all things will be combined, no one knows. But perhaps you will be curious enough to follow this story and return for the final installment...

Thanks for joining me and please visit Claire and tell her I said hi!

Marie

ARTBEADS bracelet and earring set

I must say I have grown quite fond of these "Grace Lampwork Beads". The more I get the more I like them! There are so many to choose from so as long as she keeps making them, I will always have a special treat to look forward to!

This particular set of Grace beads are called Kaleras, I guess that must be the shape. I love the mix of purple and orange, I love that they vary from one bead to the other, and I love that you can get these in a few different  shapes too!

I can't wait to see what new Grace Beads Artbeads will bring in next...

These would look great with some co-ordinating Swarovski Crystals...


Hope to see you here again soon!

Marie

I received the products free of charge from Artbeads and I am honestly reviewing the products and have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received.

BTW and MissFicklemedia

 Another Edition of BTW Bead Table Wednesday!

I finally thought of it at the beginning of the day instead of the end of the day! lol So I thought I would just go ahead and post it and let you see what I have been up to!

I have been experimenting, throwing a little science into my life and around the studio! I have officially discovered that Miss Ficklemedia's awesome verdigris patina does NOT work well on Vintage keys! Honestly, I did not really believe it would, but I had to try it for myself! lol Oh well, it would have been cool. I do love the few little pieces I have managed to get it to work on. I still need to polish and protect, but I am still pondering doing a couple more pieces before I do that part. Fun! I can't wait to try them out in some new Jewelry!

Here is a messy Closeup of my work! lol I also tried some blue, I have others I want to try, but I started with the patinas that were the easiest. Now as long as I did everything correctly, according to Shannon's Incredible tutorial, they should keep their lovely patina and become small works of Art!

 So here is a broader view of my small disaster, I have so many thing running through my head at one time I sometimes create chaos just because I can not decide what to do first! Wire work, patinas, metal work, stamping, beading, my pendants and charms, more jewelry, handmade clasps, even more jewelry, shopping, blogging, networking, facebook, bnrs, I am forever thinking of the amazing things that I can do and always have a hard time deciding! I need to be more organized, but living in the moment sometimes helps me create some fabulous and fun pieces that are totally unexpected!


Thanks for stopping in again and I can't wait to read your lovely comments!

Marie

And Life Goes on...

Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes you are given trials and you must learn to adapt to a new way of life because of it. Sometimes life is overwhelming and sad. I choose to look at the positive side of things. I am still sad, but I adapt and I work harder and I pray. God gives us trials to make us stronger. He never gives us more than we can handle! Why does it feel so unfair when you try so hard to be a good person? Why does it happen even when you show gratitude everyday and still pay it forward? I don't have answers to these questions, but I push one and I will be a stronger person in the end.

I may shed a few tears and feel like there is nothing left to do, but somewhere in there I feel Hope! I feel a small glimmer of it hiding and trying to push it's way through. A small ray of sunlight on a dark, dark day. There is Hope! No matter how bleak things may be for a moment, no matter if things get even harder for a little while, you have Hope! You Will come out of it stronger and you will become humbled and more grateful for the good things in life. Never lose Hope!

As we struggle through our hard times, I pray that my cyber friends will show kindness and share my shops with their friends. This is the first time in our marriage that my Husband has been out of a job. There are no jobs out there right now, so we will be living on what I can bring in from my small and humble artistic talents. Perhaps you need a gift for someone or you are looking for original supplies, well perhaps I can help! I also have discount codes available if you become a fan on my Facebook page!

I don't like asking for help. I don't like to look needy or desperate. I am humbling myself before you to take care of my family! Nothing in this world is more important than they are! I will do everything in my power to make sure they are well taken care of. I am not looking for a handout, but maybe more of a hand up!

I will be updating my supply shop in the next couple of days. I have over 100 charms and pendants that I started working on, on Saturday and half of them are done. Keep an eye out for those! There are some truly stunning pieces!
Have a great day and remember to never lose hope!

Marie

Beads for Fun!!!

I am no Susan Kennedy, or Laurie Green Whitney. I am no Lisa Anderson or Amanda Austin! I am just me, and I am teaching myself to make beads! I started about a year and a half ago and I LOVE it! It is challenging and fun! I am looking forward to being good enough to have beads that all turn out the same size! I have no idea how to make them that consistent so my beads are "for Fun!" My Jewelry designs are more organic and earthy anyways, so if I really need beads that are the same size, I will go to one of my beady friends and get them there!! I do like them to be the same for earrings ;)

 I finally bought Raku Frit! I love it! I love the colours and the way it varies depending on where in the flame you melt it! {Thanks Susan for the tips!!} I had fun trying new things last week and I get to do it again tomorrow!

I even made some fun hearts! I know a couple of them are a little buggered up, but I am sure that my budding Jewelry Designer daughter will LOVE to play with those! She is only 10, seems like a good place to send them! lol

I like to call them twisted hearts! lol It is fun to watch the colours swirl into each other when you twist them a little! I have a few people who actually really loved this one! Yay!!

This one I made with my own Silvered Ivory Stringers!! I was lucky enough to come across some tutorials for Radiant Mind on Etsy, and they are amazing!! They have helped me so much! That is where I learned the Silvered Ivory technique and also how to make better swirled beads and better encasing too!

I of course have to do Something with these beads!! So for some nice simple designs I thought why not string a few of the larger beads right onto the chain!
I like the way they turned out! I think it is a great necklace for someone who does not really go for the large bulky pieces I love to make!

I even made that Frit mix myself! One of the better ones I have made! Not everything turns out as well as you would like when you are learning on your own! lol

Love trying new things! I can't wait for the day that I can have my own set up at home! Only time will tell since I have to find a way to work with my insurance company and I need to save up enough money for all the equipment!! lol

Thanks for visiting!

Marie

Pretty Things Giveaway!!

Lori Anderson from Pretty things is having an amazing giveaway!! I don't normally post giveaways on my blog, but I really want these so I just had to post this one! :)

I have been wanting alphabet stamps for awhile, but with everything else I want to buy, it's hard to convince myself to spend the money for a GOOD quality set like this one!
So here is your chance to win...

To enter: {YOU NEED TO DO THIS ON LORI'S BLOG}

1.  Post about this giveaway on your blog (don't forget to link!)

2. Extra points -- one for Twitter, one for Facebook.

3. Comment that you did these things, and the links to them.

I know, hoops to jump, but guys -- these stamps are WORTH IT!

$70 of fun for FREE!

Winner will be announced on Tuesday, January 25th, 

sometime after 12:00 noon EST

GOOD LUCK!

 

Don't miss your chance to win this!

Marie

Join BTW and Humblebeads!!

So I thought I would try joining the fun for once, I just hope I can keep up with it!! lol 

 So here is my messy bead table. I have a ton of stuff to put away and sort, I also need to clean the floor, since that is where I have been working!! lol I would love to edit the photos the way Heather did, but I have no iPod and no software for it. So what you see is what you get! You may recognize a couple of things on my table, I would love to hear back in the comments section and see what you do recognize!!


Thanks for watching!!
Marie

Happy New Year!!

Sorry I have not posted in so long, sometimes life gets in the way! I am hoping to be able to do it more now with the New Year! So first off, new pieces!!

A new Skye Jewels piece with a pretty Fleur De Lis!!

 A new Menagerie piece with a so sweet little butterfly!

And another Menagerie piece with a sweet little heart and a Vintaj dangle, one of the pieces from my latest order!!

 This fun necklace has a little of everything, but my sea/beach inspired pieces are doing so well I will be making them regularly!!

Like this fun Turtle necklace! I normally try to stay away from Micheals but I was given a GC for Christmas so why not!! Fell in love with this beauty!!

So, short and sweet today! Wishing you a happy and prosperous NEW YEAR!!

Marie