August Reader's Challenge

RED is my Muse. Well, Red and Gram Parsons. Unfortunately, there is a limited amount of Gram Parsons to to had, while Red is endless. Every time I shop for beads, I buy a small stash of Red. I never have any ideas for them, no vision for how to use Red. I just like having them around. This new school year,(which coincidentally starts today)one of my many self-induced challenges is to use Red. A lot. So when Sally sent me the info for the Andrew Thornton August Reader's Challenge, I knew I had to climb on for this ride!
I opened the package and instantly saw two separate necklaces. The "Magic" needed to be fringe and a bit bohemian and reminiscent of the early days of my beading life. And ALL RED.
The Copper Sunburst Pendant made me squeal when I opened it~what an understated beauty! I collect Rocks and when I saw the pendant I knew I had to use a Rock as the backdrop. And I had the perfect Rock from my recent visit to Michigan. I added some of my own earthy size 15/0 seed beads to make the Red pop. These gorgeous lampwork beads and rich colored Swarovski were alternated with jasper rounds and freshwater pearls. I love blending Earthy and Elegant.
Long ago, my Mom told me that some quilters see Red as a neutral color. I may have to explore that theory this year. Next stop for Red?! Check back soon and see where I take the her.

Please take a few moments to see what the other participants did with their Red packages.

Jessica Nelson
Andrew Thornton
Leslie Todd
Holly Westfall
Alice Peterson
Cilla Watkins

Sally Russick
Beth Emery
Patty Gasparino
Jeannie Dukic
Norma Turvey
Rebecca Anderson

Darby Lohrding, Marian Howarth, and Kari Asbury will all have pieces featured on Andrew Thornton's blog

Simmering Soup

My beads arrived from Amy at Copper Diem~check em out!!! I am so excited to be paired up with Amy, who is witty and welcoming and very talented. The colors are Fantastic, aren't they?! I had an idea as soon as I spread out all the beads. Now let's see if I can implement it. Chances are it will become something completely different than what is in my head! More to say but I will save it for the September 17th Bead Soup Blog Hop. Hope to see you all then!

What about you---do most of your creations come out the way your mind sees them or as something totally different? These beads we work with have a mind of their own sometimes!

The Garden.

Our garden is not nearly as plentiful as last year. Our only consolation is that a farmer nearby and a local greenhouse both told me their gardens are a bust too. So I don't think it is something we did. Our cherry tomatoes are plentiful and ripe, but splitting. Our big tomatoes are big and plentiful, but green and don't seem to be in any hurry to turn red. Our lettuce was less than stellar. Our jalapenos and cherry peppers were eaten by a resident pigeon, who was in turn eaten by an owl. I was a bit startled to find a headless pigeon not too far from the shredded pepper plants that morning! Here is a picture of one pepper out of two that struggled to grow after that feeding frenzy.

The success stories were sugar snaps and beans, though they were not as abundant as usual. Our radishes were awesome-nice and spicy! And the cucumbers-they seem to know no end and no boundaries. I came home from Hot Yoga last night to find The Bird Man making bread and butter pickles! A first for us! We are hopeful that the onions and potatoes are doing well. We harvested the garlic. Can't wait to use that! This was our first time planting garlic. And the Butternut (LOVE that word. Butternut and Sugar Snap...great sounds and great visuals...and they make my mouth water)is plentiful!!! WOO HOO!!! We devoted a lot of the garden to butternut squash last year and harvested two. This year, we gave it a few square feet and it took over and there are so many baby and teenage butternuts on there already. Butternut Risotto is on the menu when the first one is ripe! Butternut Risotto and a bottle of Gewurztraminer. I can taste it now :-)



What is growing in your garden this summer?


p.s. i used the word "plentiful" 4 times!!! FOUR times. i need to dust off my old college thesaurus.

My First Bead Soup

I am participating in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party, with the Big Reveal on September 17th.
My partner is Amy of Copper Diem. Check out all her Beautiful Jewelry! I love her color choices and ease of transitioning from beads to wire. I admire people who can do that. There are a few items I have already made my favorites on her Etsy site.
I have First Time jitters!!! But I keep telling myself, as I do with every piece I have ever made "It's Just Beads."
Hope to see you all at the Hop!

Found Time to Bead!

Fate smiled on me and I found time yesterday to bead! My mental state has been restored.
I wanted to do something totally new to me and something I could finish in a day. I was really turned on by Mandy's Beads for Brains:365 washer project. Actually, I am turned on by all of Mandy's projects. She is doing a new beading technique every day for a year. How's that for commitment?!? Mandy got her info for the washer project from Tamara at Vanishing Pearl. Isn't her work gorgeous?!
Here is my attempt at washers. I love the flow and fun and endless possibilities. I am going to cluster some together next. See how that goes. I used copper washers that I bought almost a year ago for other jewelry ideas. Can't wait to try the rubber washers when I get my hands on them. Very fun! Very easy! Very much want to make MORE!!!