Ahhhhh, vacation...

It's finally here! 

Headed for the beautiful Oregon coast tomorrow

morning for some well deserved rest and relaxation. 

The boys are excited and cannot wait to build their sand castle "cities". 

My shop will be closed while I'm away...

Capturing Beauty

Abigail, my pitie, was chasing butterflies again this morning. 

You can't imagine how funny it is to watch this "ferocious" puppy frolic in the grass

after these delicate creatures ;)

Anyhoo, butterflies....

they inspire me! 

I whipped up some more tiles/pendants last night and applied some bright, eye-catching colors.

and the smaller one...

They have a slightly old, vintage feel to them (kinda how my body felt when I woke this morning).

Hope your day is full of beauty!

Success!

Wow, what a fun weekend!  Set my little booth up at the Bead Stampede in Sisters, Oregon amongst some really big guns....I felt a little out of place (not to mention tiny), being that it was my first show and all.  But I seem to have held my own.

I was the only poly clay artist there so explaining the process and techniques involved

in my work to every customer became a little tedious.  

 Book with LOTS of pictures showing some of the steps is definitely in order for the next show.

But I'll tell you, my favorite part of the show was meeting the other artists. 

They were so wonderful and so very helpful!

Now I'm home and can breath a little easier.  Time to work.  I have so many new ideas....

more to come!

Btw, that's my Mom in the corner there, without which this show would not have been possible. 

Thanks Momma!

Closing Shop

I'll be closing my Etsy shop tomorrow through the weekend.  Bead show starts Saturday and I'm taking all inventory with me.  Excited and nervous, but I'm sure it will be fun.

Wish me luck!!

Bottling time....

I woke up this morning with a smidgen of terror in my heart...

the show

is in

1 week!!

And of course, I'm nowhere near prepared. 

See, this is my first bead show and I really have no idea what to expect.  I've done the research, figured out my layout, written my lists, and now I am trying to bead like mad.  The hold up....

are they not gorgeous?!  My boys, my life. 

Summer time means camping, fishing, hiking, biking, laking, and any other outdoor activity you can think of.  I spend my days fulfilling their every desire.  So that leaves me a couple of hours at night before I go to bed, to bead.  Adding to that, sales have shot up along with more custom orders than I can keep up with, meaning my inventory is low; too low for a bead show (dang, nice rhyme)!

Hence the panic.

And now I will kick myself because it really sounds like I'm complaining.  I'm not.  My life is wonderful and I am so extremely fortunate.  I just need more time!! 

OK, one more, 'cuz I just can't help it!

It's a Faux Thing...

I have to admit, I never knew what that word meant until I dove deep into the polymer clay world. 

Fox, huh, oh pardon me, f a u x....I am such a DORK sometimes. 

Here's the wonderful thing about this medium...the ability to simulate so many different types of surfaces.  Probably the reason why I never get bored and why I am so often accused of having polymer clay ADD (yes, I'm all over the place and darn proud of it)!

So here's my latest experiment...

Ringing any bells yet?

It's suppose to look like ceramic.  I love these greens.

These were made from a mold of a fern collected on a recent hike.

Simulated ceramic or rather faux ceramic.

Polymer clay excites me way too much!

Bead Buddies

Do you have one....?

I have two. 

They sit or rather lay at the foot of my stool while I bead away in the evenings.

My Abby and Harley.

Pretty darn cute, huh?

New Addition

No, I'm not talking about the boy band that made my skin crawl in the 80's...

I figured out what to do with my successful tile transfers...keychains!

I have all sorts of fun images just waiting to be assembled.

More to come!

I was flipping through an addition of National Geographic and came across this photo of beach huts in Cape Town, South Africa.  I couldn't help but fall in love with the color contrast so....

My little beach hut house beads; aren't they cute?!

Just goes to show, inspiration can come from anything.

Opening Doors

My secret is out, I am no longer a closet jewelry maker.  I have created way too many pieces to keep them bundled up anymore so I opened ANOTHER etsy shop...the insanity! 

Here's what I did with one of my pressed flower beads

Earthy and organic; right up my alley

The shop still needs work, especially the pictures,

but if you get a chance stop on by.

http://www.earthtonesoriginals.etsy.com/

Transfer??

I purchased this transfer tutorial, http://www.etsy.com/listing/39908788/tutorial-1-how-to-transfer-images-to, about 2 months ago and thought I'd finally give it a shot this past weekend.  You see, I've tried this technique many, many times using tutorials from other artists only to hang my head in shame and disgust at the final out come.  I'll let you be the judge as to whether or not it worked this time....

The beginning of the transfer...

hmmm, looking pretty good so far...

Result after baking

Not bad for my first try and I owe it all to the lovely Lynda who came up with this wonderful tutorial (I now know I am not a transfer loser).

Tonight, more tiles, more images, and hopefully I'll remember to not use images with words...they kinda come out backwards...duh!

Inspiration

Where does it come from?  For me, it's all about color, I'm obsessed with it.  Constantly blown away by the variations that surround me.  Quite often, I'll receive a horrified look when I reach out to touch a piece of someone's shirt because the colors are so incredible...I can't help it, I have a problem. 

Mostly, my inspiration comes from nature

I adore purple...

Had to get a quick shot of these before

they found their way into my mouth :)

Hope your day is full of color!

Procrastination, fear?  I have been staring at this blank page for 2 months trying to figure out why the hay I can't get this baby started.  So, in celebration of spring finally poking its sweet little head up here in Central Oregon....I'm taking a deep breath and plunging in.  Welcome to the beginning!

Let's start with some spring beads....

My Monet's

Blue Skies

Oh, and shoot me a line, I'd love to hear from you!