Pine Ridge Treasures " Ocean Blog Hop " is tomorrow.

Stay tuned for all the wonderful jewelry.  :)  

I'll have much more to post after the HOP!

Bead Soup Blog Hop 8 " REVEAL DAY"

Today is the day we have all been waiting for, the Bead Soup Blog Hop 8 Reveal Day.  It is with

great thanks that we recognize our " Hostess with the Mostest ", Lori Anderson who has worked tirelessly over the years in creating, organizing and hostessing these wonderful events.  She has even published a wonderful book on the creative process of Bead Soup and all it's trimings.  This year she put together this Blog Hop with the help of her husband and son as she has been wrestling with illness.  A great big Thank you too them both for helping Lori.

Due to the size of the Bead Soup 8, the list is " quite lengthly ", so the first link will be to Lori Anderson's blog for you to have access to all the blog participants.  Lori had a great idea for visiting so many blogs during this hop.  Paste the links to a word document and as you visit each blog, delete it off your list.  

8th Bead Soup Blog Party Participant Link List

Lori Anderson, Hostess www.PrettyThingsBlog.com

Please leave a comment to Lori and tell her how much you enjoyed viewing each participants treasures.

Now, let me introduce you to my Bead Soup Partner:  Chris Eisenberg

Chris Eisenberg http://www.wanderware.blogspot.com

Chris and I have become Facebook friends and I have enjoyed sharing her adventures as she traveled to the Carribean to become certified as a PADI Dive Instructor.  The warmth and love of her family has been wonderful to watch over the months and her incredible talent is so endearing, Hey, another Bead Embroiderer, what more could a person ask for?  We have so many things in common, The Bead Journal Project, Blog Hops with Lisa Lodge, a true compadre.    As she and her family live in the Pacific Northwest, she is close to my son stationed in Oak Harbor, WA and when I visit Mike this year I will make sure we get the opportunity to meet in person.

Here is my soup that I sent to Chris:

And here is the soup that I recieved from Chris.........

Imagine my surprise when my eyes saw the center focal from Zizzyzaza Bead and Embellishment by the artist Carol Risher of  Kokopelli.  I have a long and winding history with Kokopelli for sure.  Being Tribal, during pow-wow season I always wore Bear for Bear Clan but my best friend of thirty years always wore Kokopelli.  She passed away three years ago from Breast Cancer and my tribute to her is in my blog.  From the moment I laid eyes on the focal, inspiration flowed.  Leah had always been my strongest supporter as an artist.  Thank you Chris.  How perfect your selections were.  Of course there is Embroidery, organically so.  And girl, that chocolate from Seattle...... Goodness, I'll have to mail order more.  

And here is what I designed from Chris Soup..... and boy did it cook.

First piece is the Kokopelli focal piece which also incorporates the clasp she sent.

Another view:

And of course I just couldn't stop there.  All of the wonderful soup items were just calling to be used so I came up with another necklace with another lovely focal piece.

And playfully, it was the wrap bracelet time with some lovely organic colored leather I had just recieved.  A good testament to how one can play with leather cording at a moments notice.

That lovely leather button was in a goody bag from another Bead Soup participant, Deborah Apodaca. And then of course, how can one not have a lovely set of earrings to go with their wonderful necklaces.  I came across these love chandelier components in my stash that matched the heart focal and used the faceted 4mm crystals to make earrings to match.

There are two other " Ladies of the Evening "( yes, that is the name of our Bead Group and it is a long story ) participants in this Bead Soup so if you have a moment please visit:

Deborah Apodaca and Genny Smith

Gen Smith http://www.gennysworld.blogspot.com

Deborah Apodaca www.deborahapodacadesigns.blogspot.com

Chris it has been a pleasure to be your Soup partner and I hope I did your Soup justice. I cannot wait to see what your cooked up with mine.  

Leave all the participants comments, we love hearing your thoughts and critiques.

On the Bead Board 20th April 2014

Spending time working on Phase 1 of 3 for the Bead Soup Blog Party which is coming up in two weeks.
As you know I cannot post any photo's yet but my partner Chris Eisenberg and I are just posting away with each other.  I cannot wait to present on May 3rd and tell you a little about Chris.

I also have my Azurite/Malachite piece on the board:  The Cab I cut myself and this is an evolving work in
progress.

I also have our current " Yahoo Round Robin-Under the Sea " to finish up before the 1st.  I swear!  Work is
really interferring with beading.

" FAE ", my Anne Hess " Garden Party Doll" has been completed

She is done.  Lovely little " Fae ".  Now she can play with her cousins " Ruby Red Lips " by Sarah Clark
Bromley and " Flora " by Deborah Apodaca.

Tada.......  I actually enjoyed working on her.  A totally different approach for our standard Round Robin forms and so much detail can be added.  Just think of the possibilities. But then, the credit needs to go to Anne Hess, teacher extraordinaire.  Her pattern and techniques were flawless and let to total creativity.
Each of our " Garden Dolls " are exquistily different and it is just awesome seeing them together.

As per my first post, yes ladies, those are all 15's.  Total glutton for punishment but look at that face.

Thank you Anne, what a lovely new technique and I can see that the " Ladies of the Evening " will be taking this alot further than originally thought!  Stop by and visit Anne: http://anniedolls.com/

Shibori Ribbon Blog Hop Challenge April 14, 2014

The Shibori Ribbon Blog Hop Challenge which is hosted by the lovely Tanya Goodwin who was my Bead Soup partner last year has arrived.  Tanya sent Shibori Ribbon samples to each of the participants below and today's is the reveal date.  

Here is the participant list:

Tanya 

Maryanne

Alenka

Monique

Carolyn

Mary

Catherine  ( you are here )

Christine

Sharyl

Therese

Just right click on each lady listed above and you can visit each website to view what can be done with Shibori.  Shibori ribbon was brought to popularity by Sherri Sarafini and now each Bead Embroiderer has been taking this specialized Silk ribbon new new heights.  Cuffs, handbags, neckpieces, a very versitile textile that just, " oozes bead embroidery ".  

My piece actually started at the Florida Jewelry Artist Retreat this past January when Anne Hess was presented, " Angels in Disguise " to our retreat group.  She demonstrated the use of Air Dry clay materials to develop face cabachons which we then use Metalic Rub ons and Pearl Ex pigments to highlight and add color to the air dryed cabachon.  Funny enough I had Tanya's Shirbori sample laid out on the project table next to the face cab and one of those " Wala Moments " occured.

This piece is currently a scarf pin but she has not stopped evolving and I see a handbag in her future......

  After visiting each participant leave us a note and tell us your thoughts.  

I would love to take a moment and thank Tanya for putting this Shibori Blog Hop together.  I had a blast!

Join us tomorrow......... Reveal of the Shirbori Blog Hop

Just a teaser of course but tomorrow is our reveal for the " Shibori Ribbon Blog Hop " designed and hosted by Tanya Goodwin of " A Work In Progress ", http://pixiloo.blogspot.com.

Stop by and take a look at what Tanya, Maryanne, Alenka, Carolyn, Mary, Christine, Sharyl, Therese and myself come up with based on the Shibori Ribbon cut sent by Tanya to each participant.

Just a reminder of the Shibori Ribbon.

A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That.........

I find it amazing at times at how fast our daily lives go by but how much I really do get accomplished..... so, with a Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That, filling in with the Shibori
Ribbon Blog Hop and Challenge as hosted by Tanya Goodwin and spending a delightful two days
in Anne Hess's Garden Party Doll Class I also had spent time taking Arlene Lazarro's Scrapbook Bracelet class at the Palm Beach Rock and Gem Club in West Palm Beach, FL.  This was the class that Deborah, Gen and Sarah was able to take where I had work commitments.  It was delightful,
 " Pounding on copper, annealing, pounding ", what a great stress reliever.

And now..... the final project:

The Ladies also began " Metal Impressions " with Joe David at the St. Lucie Rock and Gem Club.  Deborah Apodaca, Susan Barrett, Sarah Clark Bromely, Genny Smith..... well darn, half the Ladies of the Evening group.  They actually let me " Flame On", the first night with copper fittings and our second night was working with the Rolling Mill and making impressions on the metal.

Example: 

This was using 60 grit sandpaper.  What a lovely pattern.  I think this will be dog tags........

Then of couse I cannot forget our " Under the Sea Beading Round Robin ".  I completed my portion of a lovely little Seahorse that belongs to Ruth.

And since Suzanne Bang my hand off partner was going to be at the Anne Hess doll class, we were able to exchange by hand. 

I still have to post the lovely selection I recieved from my Bead Soup 8 partner Chris Eisenberg, but that will have its own post.