August

A Day at the Beach

The beach glass and shells were collected over the years from beaches in California and New England. The sand is from Hawaii, carefully carried back by a dear friend especially for this ornament.

I love beach glass and all I’ve ever done with it is keep it in a jar. I don’t have the means to drill holes in glass and truly wasn’t interested in learning, just imagining the sound was enough to discourage me, tried beading a bezel, was successful but it was too slow. Next, remembered having fairly good luck working with wire when I made Beaded Goddesses several years ago. Although at the time I thought the wire seemed to have a mind of its own….like a Ouija Board, it seems like the spirits are moving it when in reality the slightest pressure is bringing about those wonderful results.

Playing with Wire and wrapping glass turned out to be lots of fun. These pieces are all done with practice wire. I’ve since bought sterling but have yet to try it. Had to get the ornament done first.

Hope you have enjoyed your time at the beach.

Cookie from Williams-Sonoma

Happy Easter

Eggs, they're not just for chickens anymore.

Spring

To Life, To Love, To Spring..... Gwen Suesse

My March BJP was a lot of fun to make. The ornament is covered with twigs and leaf buds, looks just like a tree at work.
Was thrilled when 3 birds dropped in to help celebrate the first day of Spring.



A close up of the birds...



Bird pattern is from BeeJang bead_tutorial@livejournal Took me a while to figure out the directions, it was well worth the time, they are adorable.

Caty Catz Birthday Party

The Catz family birthday party was a success. If you missed it, you can still catch it at:
http://www.mmcatz.blogspot.com/ March 14 post.

Letters California Style 2010

Barbara Close's "Textured Letters" class was wonderful.
I designed this R on Valentine's Day. The "sprinkles" are silver-lined clear beads.

Valentine KISS

A dear friend gave me the beautiful crystal heart and I wanted to showcase it for my February BJP ornament. After several unsuccessful starts and stops with designing the fringe to feature the heart, a little voice in my head said: Keep It Simple, Shel....hence the name Valentine KISS.

I promise the photos will get better, hopefully with the March project. In the meantime, I'm leaving for a Calligraphy Conference in California and our office is moving March 1. Have my idea for the March BJP but haven't started it yet. So many plans, so little time, something has to give, guess it will be sleep.

A Maine Coon's Mane

Thought it was time to show off my Maine Coon's winter Mane.

Cold Winter Days

Following in the footsteps of my beading sister (albeit 2 years later), decided the time had come to join Robin Atkins' Bead Journal Project. My goal is to make 12 ornaments.

Originally from the Northeast, it seemed appropriate to use snowflakes for January.

I beaded 19 snowflakes using Delica beads and Swarovski crystals. The ornament is beautiful hanging over my dining room table although it did not photograph well so I spread it out on a black velvet board.