The Sisterhood of the Traveling Beads

Okay, so I'm gonna try again for a shot at the Sisterhood of the Traveling Beads!  The box has so far traveled to Vermont, Utah, Texas, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Virginia, and I would love to have this box sent back to New York so I can have a crack at it!

The box was conceived by bead artist Heather Powers, who cleaned off her work table one day and came up with the idea of sending this box of beads on a trip around the country to see how long she could keep it going. 

I've watched the box travel all around the country through Facebook and the blogs of the other artists.

If you want a crack at the box, you can leave a comment on the blog post of the current holder of the box, Cindy Wimmer of Sweet Bead Studio.

Wish me luck!

The Tree is Up!

Colden had a massive meltdown around lunchtime and was totally uninterested in anything like food.  He kept crying about "putting up my Christmas Tree", and we finally gave in, stopped trying to clean the house in preparation for putting up the Christmas tree, and just put up the Christmas tree...

I think it's the biggest tree we've ever had since we moved in together back in - yikes! - 2000.  And Colden had so much fun decorating it with us this year - and then knocking down the candy garland, and shaking the branches so he could see the ornaments bobbing about precariously...  Tom even took the little piece he had to nip off the top and stuck it in a vase so that Colden could have a "Christmas tree" right in his bedroom!  Too funny!

Another Big Giveaway from SandFibers!

Oooo, check it out - Carol Dean is having another big giveaway to celebrate her (well-deserved) 2,000th sale on Etsy!

 

It's so easy - just leave a comment on the blog post, and she'll pick someone at random using her trusty random number generator to win a $100 gift certificate!  Do you have any idea how many beading patterns that will get you?!  A lot.  Believe me.

Or maybe you'd rather have a custom-made peyote stitch cuff?  Carol's workmanship is truly incredible.  Her color sense is impeccable, and her stitching is immaculate.  

I was the lucky recipient of a lovely herringbone lariat of hers a few months ago, made with some satiny Delica beads, and it's a piece I wear as often as I can because it's just so well-made and so easy to throw on with pretty much anything.

What have you got to lose?  Leave a comment on her blog!  And while you're at it, post it on Facebook and Twitter it, and you'll get two more chances to win!  Oh, yeah, and you can blog about it, too, just like I'm doing!  ;-)

A Strange and Wonderful Day...

The Universe seems to be pointing me in a very distinct direction today.  I don't want to spill all the beans, but it seems like things might just be happening for a reason...

And on that note, in my blog post from earlier today, I mentioned something about a new project, and here it is: The Messy Beaders' Club! 

That photo I posted on Facebook of my messy bead table really hit a nerve - it seems that hobbyists and professionals alike all have issues with messy work areas! 

My favorite comment on the photo came from Jill Wiseman of Tapestry Beads.  She wrote, "Oh, Jen, this makes me love you." 

And the idea for the blog and the Facebook page came from Diane Hyde of Designer's Findings, who coined the name "The Messy Beaders' Club" and gave me the idea to start a blog about messiness, organization and creativity.

So, there it is.  Check out the blog at the link above, and submit a picture of your messy beading space so you can be featured on the blog!

Embrace the chaos!

Friday Again?! Already?!

I have no idea where the days are going lately... They just seem to slip right by me without any warning. All I know is that I wake up (usually sandwiched between Tom and Colden with Moose sprawled out on our toes) and get breakfast for me and Colden, and then BOOM! It's bedtime! Where do those hours GO?!

So, the first thing I want to share are these AMAZING beaded beads, called Blooming Beads, designed by my buddy Carol Dean Sharpe of Sand Fibers. She originally designed these for a birthday project for another beader, and then lucky for us, she decided to write up the directions. You can purchase the tutorial for these through her Etsy shop by clicking on the picture. She's got "Volume One" in the title of the tutorial, which makes me think - dear God, there are going to be MORE variations on these?!

They are so much fun to make - once you get the basic idea, they go fast. I found myself sitting at the dining room table one evening while Colden was sick, exhausted and really craving sleep, but I had my Blooming Bead on my work tray and I kept telling myself, "Just one more petal...just one more petal..." I had to force myself to put them away for a few days while I get through this last show tomorrow at Keene Central School and then get caught up on the other beading that I need to get done!














And this is what my work table in the living room looks like these days. Am I in project overload? Definitely. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. I posted this pic on Facebook yesterday, much to the delight of my beading friends, and one of them gave me an idea which I will bring to fruition this afternoon after I get my work done... Stay tuned!