Goodies from the Bead Show!

 This past weekend was the Intergalactic Bead Show in Cincinnati and since my birthday was this past Wednesday, well let's just say it was good timing for me. Birthday money spent. Well spent. 

That gorgeous starfish bead is made by Nikki Thornburg of Thornburg Bead Studio and of course I am keeping that one for myself. I bought a cute crab bead from her last year that I treasure!

 

This yummy stash is made by Jennifer Pottner of Rock Candy Beads. They're all such lovely pieces that I have no idea which one to use first...I will try not to hoard them. 

 

The components above were purchased at the Ad Adornments booth. I always spend most of my money at this particular booth. I bought most of these crosses there as well.

 

 

This last pic is a mixture of things but I do know that I am keeping that turquoise and silver pendant for myself and it will be hard to part with the labradorite links as well. 

What a fun birthday shopping day! 

 

 

Making it your own...

I've been making these sideways cross bracelets for a few months now using copper and brass sheets and I would love to make a silver one but I'm not going to shell out $300 for a 6X6 sheet of sterling silver right now so...what's a girl to do? Well, my mom purchased a sterling silver cross bracelet for herself (on QVC) around Christmas and I kept telling her that I would love to get my hands on it and hammer it and then patina it, etc. Well, she surprised me with one of my own the other day!

















To see my ^ Gypsy Faith bracelet click here. 

Here it is before...

 And then here it is after I decided to redo it to make it my own...

I hammered it and then dipped it in liver of sulphur, took some steel wool to it, added another sterling chain that I had patina-ted and then changed the clasp to a toggle clasp (MUCH easier to fasten yourself). I am really pleased with the way it turned out. I often shop for jewelry to redo or up-cycle to fit my style.  It can be a lot of fun!

My necklace made the cover!

 I was elated to find out that my necklace had made the cover of the January issue of Bead Trends magazine. I was inspired by looking through a Sundance catalog (always THE most inspiring catalog to look through!) so I sat down and made this necklace...

 

And here it is on the cover...

 

I "kind of" made the cover of another magazine back in 2010. It was the summer issue of Stringing and what made that really cool was that it was my husband's beads (Bubby & McGurk Beads) on that piece. Here it is highlighted in red...

And here is the actual piece...

Fingers crossed on making some more covers in the future....

Have a great day and leave me a comment and make my day ;)

My Gypsy Soul....

So...I don't know what it is with me lately (maybe turning the BIG 4-0?!?) but I have been wanting to change my "style" a bit (like I even have a style really...ha) but there has ALWAYS been a part of me, ever since I was a little girl begging my dad to play Rhiannon over and over in the car, that would like to dress a little "Stevie Nicks-ish", a little boho gypsy perhaps?  The jewelry that I have been making lately is reflecting that and unfortunately I want to keep it all for me..but that won't work..must sell jewelry to buy more beads and supplies, right?!?

The bracelet above started out with the intention of selling it, but I had a copper hand stamped piece on it and then I just knew I had to get out my metal stamps and make this one "mine". So the words "Gypsy Soul" came to mind. I just love it, it's so me!

I also made this necklace...I was inspired by something that one of the Junk Gypsies was wearing on an episode. I have been trying to find it online but to no avail. Btw, LOVE that show...so inspiring!

 

And I also made these earrings...now, I won't be wearing all 3 together (I guess I am not THAT gypsy) but earrings with the bracelet or necklace with the bracelet...that would work! 

 

Goodies from the Intergalactic Bead Show

This bead show had great timing...my birthday! It's not actually until the 17th but I had birthday $ to spend and so off I went! My husband went too, he is a lampwork artist and enjoys talking to all the lampworkers that have booths there.

 Okay, onto the important stuff...what I bought!

 

I was so excited when I saw the strands of Roman Glass, I had to buy one...after much consideration, I finally chose the strand for me. Those green beads are yellow turquoise, I just love them! The orange agate pendant is a bit different for me but when I saw it I just had to have it and I'm always a sucker for Chalcedony and Sari silk!

I bought these 4 pieces for myself...well I was spending birthday money so why not?

The top two are from Fire Goddess. Susan is a real sweetheart, and so is her husband.

Chain from AD Adornments, I always spend most of my money at this booth.

And a few more pieces from AD Adornments and a few other vendors.

I fell in love with these Amber beads (2nd and 3rd strands from the bottom) and the top 2 strands have a really cool texture. They are called Rudraksha.

I'm excited to try out the Vintaj patinas! Maybe that will be my next blog post...

Inspiration!

Last week I was inspired to do something a little different for me and I have my friend Susan to thank for that! She loved my husband's mushroom beads and wanted a necklace made using 3 of them. Here's a pic of some of the beads, check out his Facebook page if you are interested in purchasing a few for yourself.

She wanted something similar to a necklace she had seen in the Sundance catalog (love that catalog but VERY pricey pieces), here's a pic and a link to the necklace. The necklace shown is on a very short mannequin (it's actually 23" in length but appears much longer).

I played around with adding more beads but since the mushroom beads were small, the ones she chose were .5" they seemed lost with other beads. So, here is what I decided on and the good news? She LOVES it!

Somehow, I ended up at the Bead Show...

I wasn't going to...but...when Dean & I had to run up to Cincinnati Pool & Spa, I thought, we're SO close...why not? I'll be good and not overspend (yeah right) but actually I behaved myself. It probably helped that we were on a deadline because we had a showing of our house this afternoon so I didn't have a whole lot of time.

Wanna see the goods???

 

I spent most of my money at the  AD Adornments booth, which is nothing new. I could spend hours looking through everything there! I bought seven various chains this time and a couple of little trinkets. I bought hand dyed silk ribbons from Riverstone Bead Co.. He always has a nice variety and is priced reasonably as well.

 I bought peanut seed beads....several hanks! The Beadroom booth is always a favorite of mine and she had lots of peanut seed beads AND they were 20% off. I couldn't resist.

 

Last but not least...I bought these lovelies! I can't wait to use them.

My husband also had a great time talking to the various lampworkers there...like Susan Barnes from Fire Goddess and Nikki Thornburg from Thornburg Studio. Check out their websites...they're quite inspiring!