Going home

Opal is on her way home to her mom, so she can get the rest of her beady little self together!

I enjoyed the challenge of working with only pastel, opalescent seed and glass beads for her.

Safe journey, Opal!

Opal

is a doll that was created by Dian of AZ, and went on her journey during an ill-fated Round Robin, the last of the Beaded Art Dolls group before that group closed. It finally made its way back to me, and has been patiently waiting beads, along with Ann of OR's doll.

Now is the time, and here is a sneak peek of what is happening. Opal is a birthstone doll, to be done in opalescent colors, which opens an entire palette of soft greens, pinks, creams, blues, purples, oranges and yellows!

I am sure having fun, and hope to have Opal ready to travel back to her mom, for a bit of beading to be added by Dian, before she joins the ranks of the dolls living in Dian's AZ home!

A wonderful learning experience..

I went with a silversmith friend, Harleen Powers, to the Summer Solstice show in Greensboro, NC. We shared a booth, and while we both sold only one item apiece, the value of me finding out how much folks enjoyed my beaded art dolls was worth all the travel time, money and heat exhaustion! People actually came to the booth after being told by their friends that they needed to come see, and several gallery owners were interested in me bringing the dolls to their galleries.

Of course, it goes without saying that Harleen's silver, gold, copper and bronze creations were much drooled over, but the crowd, which happened to spend an awful lot on tattoos (from what we observed) just didn't have it in them to purchase one of a kind, real jewelry.

That's OK, there's always another show, and Harleen has her own gallery owners to satisy with new pieces before Fall.

But this whole thing got me re-inspired to finish Celebrate the Dance- a doll in honor of the Mardi Gras and Carnivale style celebrations world-wide, held under the same sun and same moon we all enjoy....I hope you like her as much as I do!

All done- what do you think?

The chunkiness of this stone with double triangle bail begged for something with more texture in the rope, so did a Turkish loop crochet, with 4mm flat jasper circles, 4mm dyed onyx rounds, 11° in two colors and some awesome glass beads that were the last packet left at my LBS. I wanted the glass beads to be on either side of the bail, so put the beaded toggle and loop on the side, where everyone says it is perfect! Glad it worked out that way.

What do YOU think?

Now, if only Take Me To Your Leader would get in step and tell me what to do next- sigh.

Still More- We Got the Bead!

Robin, of We Got the Bead, is a new supplier for me, but has already turned into a very nice online friend! She closed her store, so that her DH could get on with his soon-due project, and she can be home with her children when need be. I am so glad she decided to do online selling, as she has the nicest selection of Jeans thread, Japanese seed beads (15s, 11s, 8s and 6s!) in great colors and finishes, as well as a plethora of other tempting goodies, like these crinkly round wavy metal bits, that are just crying out to be used in a bracelet similar to those shown in the latest beady magazines!

Her prices, without or without a sale, are awesome, and her shipping is free over $40! Everything came nicely packed, easily undone and drooled over...especially those permanent finish 8s and 11s in gold! I wanted to have those particular beads to do a Paso Doble bracelet, as I don't want to make something and have the finish come off!

Robin also included two vials of seed beads as a gift; a sweet matte peach 11 and a transparent peach 15!

Enjoy the pics, click on them to make them full-size, then get thee hence to http://wegotthebead.com/ and see what treasures YOU can find! Tell her Aryd'ell sent ya!

Oh, and you get bead bucks!! A buck for every $10 you spend, with no stipulations except an expiration date! Now that is a great incentive!

I'm Ba-ack! Check out Beadwright goodies!

With our first grandbaby about to be born ( any time now!), getting my little Sweetie car back after a 3 month+ hunt for a part no longer made (but found by our most excellent mechanic, Rich), and a beady friend from FL visiting town ( and wanting to play!), I haven't gotten to my blog.

However, two really great reasons to get on today and show you pretties arrived in our mailbox; beads and bits from two really wonderful suppliers- Nicole Campanella ( http://beadwright.blogspot.com/ ), and you can link right to her artfire and etsy sites via her blog. Many of you may have been following the events with her brother, and his and his family's love for each other shines like the beacon we could all use in our lives! Still, Nicole got back home, found an order waiting from me, emailed me to say it would go out soon as the holiday mail would allow, and here it is today- the flat Egyptian cabs are wonderfully detailed, and the swirls of green in the turquoise glass just beg me to get out my bead emboidery bits and use them in a collar Nefretiti would be proud of! The 'tiny beads' are just that- really, REALLY tiny bugles- way cool, and in a color I will have lots of use for. The colored squares of backing are stiffer than I am used to, so am looking forward to giving them a try, and the colors are varied enough and dark enough that I don't have to even think about taking colored pencils to them before adding beads. Nicole also thoughtfully added three charms, again, in an Egyptian theme; dragonfly, beetle and hawk!

You rock, Nicole!

Now, everyone go shopping while I get the next post ready...and remember you can click on any pic to make it full-size.