Ahhh, spring is finally upon us after a long winter.  I love every season Bend has to offer because they all seem so intense and everlasting.  Each new season ignites a need for change inside me and so we move on to my newest bead series...

Faux Porcelain.

 

Actually, they're not exactly new to me...they've been in the works for months now.

 

I just couldn't get them right and they were driving my looney.

And then one night....BAM...

I was lovestruck!

p.s. BAM also stands for Bad Ass Mom, which is what my boys call me :)

xxoo

Soup Time!

In my last post, I introduced you to my lovely partner, Ali McCarthy 

who sent me some beautiful soup just singing of spring!  

Before I show you what I did with all of that goodness, here's what I sent her...

My own polymer creations, a hand forged copper clasp and additional goodies

I've always adored lamp work, but don't work with it very often so I started off with a simple earring design to show off those cute little blue birds.

And then I moved on to a more detailed design feauturing some of my patina brass and copper...

 I threw in some Sari Silk to accent the beautiful blues of Ali's lamp work.

And saving the best for last, at least in my opinion, is a bracelet featuring both her gorgeous beads and copper clasp as focals...why concentrate on just one?!

I gave the copper a dark patina, which really helped its texture come through and even added one of my own poly beads for some contrast. 

So there you have it!  What fun it was to work with this bounty of mine.  Thanks so much Ali and, as always, thanks to the extraordinary Lori for hosting an amazing party.
I'm off to hop...enjoy the party!
 

Slight Delay...phew

 www.BeadSoupBlogParty.com

Our sweet, courageous friend, Lori, continues to battle her ailments so our reveal date has been postponed to May 10th.  I breath a sigh of relief, as I'm sure most of us do, because I suffer from procrastination.  

This gives me a perfect opportunity to introduce you to my partner, Ali from http://www.northwoodscreativestudio.blogspot.com/, who creates in multiple mediums, but I got the pleasure of receiving some of her beautiful, springy lamp-work beads....

I was so excited to work with these colors!!

And yes, I have finished my pieces, but now I have a little extra time to tweak and play.

See you all in a week!

xxoo

On the worktable

A new addiction of mine....

headpins

 highly textured on copper

grungy black & white

my favorite color combo so far

sea pod textures

The possibilities seem endless...

xxoo

So it's happening this year...

the dreaded 4 0.

HOW. DID. THAT. HAPPEN.

After much, MUCH thought, I figured I had two ways I could approach this.

Depression, bitterness, and self loathing

OR

take this bad bitch by the horns and seize it with everything I've got.

Really, first option sounds way too horrible so let's just go with option number 2.

Because, after all, I don't FEEL 40.  I really don't think I LOOK 40 

(those of you who disagree with me can just shut it).  

So let's DO THIS!

I signed up for a half-marathon.  Wait, What?! 13.1 miles?  You betcha.  Let's once and

 for all drop those extra pounds, regain the energy of my youth, and conquer a goal I've been 

thinking about most of my adult lifetime, but way to chicken to actually do. 

Second, face my fear of rejection.  And how do I do this?  On the business side of things, 

my goal is to contact every single local shop to see if they'd like to carry my jewelry.  

Second, I really don't want to spend the rest of my nights, alone, surrounded by the 

warm bodies of a hundred dogs...

 yes, I could easily become the "dog" lady.

 Let's get my big tush out there...meet people, preferably guys, and see what happens. 

Good lord, I can't believe I just typed those words (shudder).

And REMEMBER, this is going to be FUN!

 

I'll let you know how it goes.

XXOO

Heart Day

I've never been huge on this holiday.  I mean why do we need a reminder to love and cherish each other?!  Maybe it's the whole divorce thing...perhaps it tainted it just a tad?

 

BUT, in spite of my bah humbug attitude, I do celebrate with my two yummy little men and I owe that to my Mom.  As far back as I can remember, she would always have the table decorated beautifully for my brother and I when we woke up.  There would be special little sweets, beautifully wrapped tiny packages containing wonderful treasures, and then there were the cookies...oh the cookies...She made the most perfect, melt in your mouth, sugar cookies that ever existed and to this day, I have yet to be able to replicate them.

So I have carried on her tradition with my boys. And honestly, I really don't have any dilemma reminding them how I cherish every second we have together.

 

(last year)

And brace yourself...

I even allowed myself a little spirit and made a few items for the shop...

xxoo

Sunny Disposition

I'm focusing on what makes me happy right now and that means color when we're speaking bead language.  How I love to sit at my table and mix and mix until I find that sweet spot.  Seems my palette keeps coming back to yellows and blues at the moment.  Such a soft and sunny combination...

~ xxoo

Abscence

Here I sit, staring at this blank screen, not knowing what to write, but knowing my return is long overdue. 

 It is a new year after all and time to let the past slip away....

I lost my Mom unexpectedly just a few months ago and the world stopped, at least for me it did.  And man, how pissed I was that the rest of the world continued to move on as if nothing had happened. 

 How can that be, when the most important woman in my life was now gone??  

So the world stood still for me and and I focused more on family and reevaluated what was important to me, because that's what death does.  It makes you take a long, hard look in the mirror as your own mortality stares back at you.  So many things I learned on that day...I now never let my bad days get the better of me.  I tell the people around me how much they mean to me in words or through a simple touch.  

I miss her, of course I do.  I turned to her for everything.  I found myself trying to text her one night, even though a month had already passed.  I catch my breath, remembering she is gone...gone.  

BUT, 

she was in my dreams, for the first time, a couple of days ago.  

And in this dream I got that last hug I was so longing for and I told her how much I love her.  

So it's time,

I'm moving on...

Love you forever Mama...

Packing up shop and headed for the coast...

My shop will remain open, but orders will not ship until 8/26

  

xxoo

Boredom...it haunts me.  

Yes, I'm the type that can't sit around without the guilt of knowing there is something that needs to be done.

It's definitely a sickness and I know there are some of you out there who can relate...

don't look away, you know who you are.

So how does this relate to my polymer clay?  Well, I am always in search of ways to improve or tweak my look.  My "imprint" series makes me happy, but something was definitely missing.  They weren't as rustic as I would like them to be.  And then I came across Ginger Davis Allman of The Blue Bottle Tree.  She has this tutorial that intrigued me and perhaps might take me to the place I was seeking.  I purchased, read, and the light bulb came on.  There was one step in there that I was missing.  I won't divulge it here, you'll have to purchase her tutorial for that, but man did fireworks go off in my head.  

Here is what I have created so far...

I am digging the archaic, grunge look they hold and am 

extremely excited at the many possibilities that lie ahead.  

Boredom be gone!

Thanks so much Ginger for taking me a step further in my work.

XXOO

The BIG Purge

I have been playing with polymer for about 6 years now and I can definitely say my techniques have evolved.  For the better, I can't really say, but I do know there is more cohesion with my work and my previous tendency for ADD-like symptoms (with my beads) seems to be disappearing.  

So where does this leave us?  With a huge box of neglected, lonely, "older" beads...sad, very sad.

They want a home.  

And although my first thought was to place them in the trash, they look at me, stare at me, with hope.  

I've told you this before, when you are an artist, you get attached, and sometimes your work just may speak to you....not saying this is the case with me....

So the purge has begun.  You will find these lovelies up for sale in the next coming days at very low, low prices.  So have a heart; adopt a couple won't you?

xxoo

S A L E Time

20% off all regular priced beads (excluding shipping)

Just check out as you normally would and I'll refund the difference

Sale runs until the end of June

Cheers!

 “The tree which moves some to tears of joy 

is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. 

Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... 

and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, 

nature is imagination itself.”-William Blake

Trees inspire me, as does the natural world around me.  It seems I am truly at 

peace when surrounded by the movement and sounds of nature.

Some of my newest work...

Mother's Day

I LOVE this day.  It reminds me of why I was put on this earth 

and what my one true purpose has always been....

their happiness.

Enough said.

We spent the day together, enjoying the beautiful landscape we call home.

Smith Rock State Park

Huckleberry ice cream after a 6 mile hike

So on this beautiful day, I celebrate being a mother and all the joys and heartaches it brings, 

but what I really celebrate is them. 

Thanks to all of you for your warm, lovely thoughts and comments on my Bead Soup creations.  I'm still making the rounds on every blog...it's always a long journey for me, but I sure do enjoy it!

 

New beads in the shop today...

 

I love a bead with texture and couldn't resist 

springs soft blues with a pop of orange.

Bead Soup For Real!

I'm a little late posting this morning, so I apologize.  In my earlier post, I introduced you to my lovely Bead Soup partner, Keren Panthaki of VasDea.  She sent me some of the most gorgeous pieces of lampwork.  AND, they were some of my favorite colors to boot.  How does a gal get that lucky?!  

I created this bracelet first, wanting to use this amazing clasp as a focal, I designed around it...

I mean, look at that copper!  At first I thought the glass ring may be too delicate to really be functional, but Keren knows what she's doing...the thing is STRONG!  And look at those yummy colors....sigh...

 All the lampwork is from Keren; perfect complimentary pieces for this labor of love.

Bracelets, necklaces, they're harder for me to create for some reason so I moved on to what I love the most, earrings...

Fun and funky earthy yellow just needed some of my copper for a nice blend.  I wanted to bring out the small specks of blue so I patinaed the chain for a little pop.  They hang so beautifully.

I call them snails...you can call them what you like but I love the little things...had NO idea what I was going to do with them until the green czech beads came in the mail as a freebie...fate, I tell ya! 

Last, but not least, my absolute favorites.  Who doesn't love blue with copper....

I hammered out some copper for fun little dangle thingys and threw in some silver heishi spacers cuz I love to combine different metals. 

And there you have it!  Actually, I still have some more pieces in the works because Keren is such a generous supplier.  Thank you Keren for your wonderful gifts of love and for being my partner this time around.  And a BIG thank you to the wonderful Lori Anderson for, once again, enduring this HUGE undertaking.  I'm sure I speak for all of us when I wish you the very best in your path to recovery and pain management.  You are in my thoughts Miss Lori!

Oh, I forgot.  Here's what I sent Keren....

...off to see what she created :)

Bead Soup #7

Yes, I'm a tad late posting on this fun party which I adore so much, but man, life has been crazy hectic around here!  I know, blah, blah, blah....we all have busy lives Alison....get on with it!!

So without further adue, let me introduce you to my partner,

Keren Panthaki of VasDea!

She is a lampwork artist from the UK and wow, her work is yummy!  How incredibly lucky I was to receive such a talented artist as my partner.  Her usage of colors makes my heart sing.  And as much as I would love to show you what goodies I received, well, you'll just have to wait ;)

Until then, here's what I sent her way...

hehe, I've always enjoyed a good tease.

I have an online friend/customer who makes the loveliest jewelry.  

Her name is Rebecca Anderson.

The reason I bring her up is not only to introduce you to her creations and blog, but because I think it may be time for a little intervention...bead style intervention that is.

You see, she loves birds...

she orders quite frequently from me...

 

 

not that I mind...

 

her work is stunning and I love what she does with my wee littles...

but Rebecca, do you think you may have a problem?  No?  

Alrighty then, I'll back off and remain your faithful supplier ;)

Seriously though, please stop by her Etsy store for more of her beautiful creations, 

they will lift your spirits.