My Cuff is Done !!!! Finally !!!! Sigh...

Well.... I have finally finished my first bead embroidered cuff... I took a class at San Gabriel Bead Co... using a gift certificate that my friend Donna gave me for Christmas... and for a 6 hour class all I had done at the end was the I attached the focal cabochon and one side of the fanning nibblets around it... That is because my cab was a good size and you are bezeling 2 beads at a time on that first round... I used a chrysocolla cab for my focal and on the sides, also pyrite cabs, turquoise, coral and lots of black beads all shapes and sizes... Anyways... In whatever time I had free (when I was in the mood) I worked diligently at this and it really was fun... I love how it turned out and it is nothing like what I originally planned... So for the future I will do earrings and a pendant (I already have the cabochon for that! ) But first I have some catching up to do... Donna wants me to change the length of her necklace and I need to restring some puka shells for her (since last May shhh)... And fix 2 broken bracelets...

Thanks for looking and comments are appreciated...

I just finished this bracelet for a friend... my BBF best beady friend Carol... http://beadsandbirds.blogspot.com/ and have to get that in the mail soon... :-) This pattern is designed by Christina of Good Quill Hunting http://www.goodquillhunting.com/ who is also my good beady friend... Anyway the bracelet is called Ice Bracelet and you can get it from her etsy shop where she also has the pattern I do believe..... http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6005454

Christina is my beading idol... She does the most exquisite work and is always encouraging me to try something new... So Thanks Christina !!!

Snow in my cactus ?!

This is what I woke up to the other day... snow (just a dusting really) on my back patio, the roofs of houses on the way taking Missy to school... It didn't last of course.... Then the next day... 70 degrees again.. What wierd weather we are having... I really feel for those who have lost power due to the storms and am praying for them.

Have a great day everyone...

Work in progress!!

I received a gift certificate for Christmas from my good friend Donna and decided to use it to take a class at my LBS San Gabriel Bead Co. The teacher was great!!! Linda Kavalsky from http://www.lbkartwear.com/ go check out her site... She showed us how to bezel the cab which takes forever doing 2 beads at a time... She showed us all the steps to complete the cuff and one lady got everyones email so we could share finished pics when done.... Linda does stunning work and had several cuffs there for us to look at or buy... which one lady did!

This is only the 2nd class I have taken and it was lots of fun.... there were 5 of us from several areas... Two lady beaders came from as far away as Lancaster... Which is a good 90 minute drive... One lady was a baby wrangler... that is the person that gets babies to act... she worked with Sunny from Lemony Snicket... wasn't that baby so cute... We also had a police officer and a graphic designer... great diversity in beaders... We all have one thing in common... we are bead-a-holics !!!

So what i actually finished in class was the cab and one side of the matte black nibblets... I dyed the Lacy's almost black... but the teacher said there is a product out there that is crazy felt that comes in colors... I used for my focal a really pretty chrysocolla almost square cab... and was going to use 4 small pyrite cabs as accents, but then turquoise and coral jumped in... Then more chrysocolla.. Of course I love using matte black it really makes colors "pop" !! All my cabs were from http://www.farrinoconnordesign.com/ they have fab cabs... Great staff especially Sue !!



This is about a week later... my kids are Mom!!! beading again... you need to take me here... all about them... LOL

I can hardly wait for my day to end at work so I can get home to my beading couch... and see what is going to appear on the cuff next...





This is as of Monday night... I love bead embroidery... So that is the latest and greatest...

Lots of ideas for future cuffs... I am looking for matte black bugles in 3 mm... and I have these fab white stone cabs (name is escaping me at the moment...) that I envision with a black wavy line going down the center... we will see.. I have so SO MANY CABS... so little time... LOL Thanks for looking and reading my blog !!

This is really amazing...

Watch this utube of Gary Craig doing EFt with this lady... go to www.emofree.com to see more...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3ln9haNsQg

Debi has been busy....

Made this for my BFF Claudia... Michelle Skobel's "Imperial Majesty" I added extra bead "charms" wire wrapped directly to the magnetic clasp to give her something to pull on...

This is the view that I left the office to see the other day... beautiful...

Zebra Zen

My 13 (almost 14) year old daughter spotted this zebra jasper focal bead when I forced her to go to Farrin O'Connor Design Studio one day before Christmas... She said "Mom this would be a great necklace, don't you think"... So I went back and got it and made this for her... They have these fab matte black beads that I LOVE!!! and I used chandelier earring findings for the bracelet... Missy's reaction " OMG!" Then "Mom, What happened to the X-Box 360?"

Since we are on a zebra kick I couldn't resist these from Michael's and so she got another set... necklace to follow soon...

New Years Second Week !!!

OK I can see that it is going to take more than just throwing pics on here so.... this is the ornament I made for my favorite Auntie (only Auntie)... I had found these blank canvases to try my hand at bead embroidery becuase Carol is making me jealous... This tree I found in my favorite bakery that I used to go to EVERY DAY in Pasadena... Emma's Boulangerie but now they moved and I have only been there once as they are not in the plaza where I do mail/banking etc... for work... : ( But probably better not to have those extra calories EVERY DAY... But I sure miss you Ruby...

Anyway.... these ornaments are some kind of hard satiny stuff that was really hard to sew through (just ignore that blood Auntie...) and I thought hey time to break into new ground or ornament... My mom told me Auntie was starting a new collection of gold and white ornaments... I made the little gold ornaments with my wire and round nose pliers... Anyway I think it turned out good. I'm sure she liked it... another one next year...