Introducing Beti & my Bead Soup ingredients

My partner for Lori Anderson's 7th Bead Soup Blog Party is Beti of the Stringing Fool.  Beti not only makes jewelry, she's also paints.  I had a lot of fun coming up with ingredients for her soup.  I had four different soups cooking, until I decided on the final one.

Beti's Soup ready for shipping

I love dressing up packaging.  It is so easy to do.  If you want to see what I sent Beti to work with, head over to her blog.  Hint: the packaging does relate to the beads. :)

Now, for the ingredients Beti sent me:

This soup is a good challenge for me.  I usually work with bright colors, and not a lot of stone.  Come back on April 6th to see what I come up with!

Lucite & Clay Blog Hop Reveal

The Challenge

I was really torn when I signed up for this hop between receiving lucite or clay beads to work with.  I finally settled on lucite, because I thought it might pose a bit more of a challenge.  So, when I opened the package, I knew this was going to be interesting.  Orange and Red!?!?  I love color, don't get me wrong, but these are two that I usually don't work with.  Here's what I created:

Because the orange beads are so much smaller than the big red ones, I decided to circle them with seed beads.  The seed beads do have a rainbow finish, but I don't think you can see that from the pictures.

I think it came out to be a little elegant, do you agree?  It's choker length, which I usually don't make, but I think it works for the piece.  I reversed the pattern when I made the earrings, and circled the smaller red beads instead of the orange.

What do you think?


Please visit the other talented ladies on the Hop to see what they created!

Isolina Perez, Isolina Perez

Jennifer Reno, Musings of a Crafty Jenny  ***You Are Here*** 

Charlene Jacka, Clay Space 

Therese Frank, Therese's Treasures 

Kay Thomerson, Kayz Kreationz 

Ashleigh Kleinhans Becker, Sela Designs Jewelry 

Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs 

Alice McCarthy, Northwoods Creative Studio 

Rebecca Sirevaag, Becca's Place 

Toltec Jewels, Jewel School Friends 

Emma Todd, A Polymer Penchant 

Kathy Lindemer, Bay Moon Design 

Annia Failde, AnniamAe 

Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist - The Hostess (who is running a giveaway!)

Thanks & Almost Time for Soup!

I've been so overwhelmed with all the nice comments that were left on my last post.  Thank you to everyone who posted, and everyone who visited!  I'm now up to 490 views of my blog!  If you here to check out my post for the Memories and Thanks blog hop, click here.

I have a couple of fun blog hops coming up.  My first one is the Lucite and Clay Hop on February 2nd!  I'll give you a little tease of the goodies I was sent to work with, but you'll have to come back next Saturday to see what I created.

The second hop I'm doing is the Holiday Bling Blog Hop 3 hosted by the wonderfully talented Marlene Cupo and Shelley Graham Turner. This hop is unique because you and your partner get to decide the holiday theme of the finished item you want to swap.  You can choose from any holiday that takes place in February or March.  Now, if you think that limits you to Valentine's and St. Patrick's, check out this site for all of the quirky ones: Days of the Year.  The link will take you to March, but you can easily see the rest of the year by clicking on the top of the page. In March, there's Pig Day, Earmuffs Day, and Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day, just to name a few.  If you'd like to sign up, go visit Swaps by Marlene and Shelley for all the details.  Signs up end on the 27th or when they get 30 participants, so please check it out now if you're interested.

The third hop I'm participating in is the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party hosted by the awesome Lori Anderson.  This hop is the reason I started a blog in the first place!  I'm super excited to finally get to participate.  I could  explain to you how it works, but Lori did that already much better than I could on her blog.  If you want to know the details, visit Lori here.  She also had a great post about what you should include in your soup that you might what to check out.  Sign ups start this Friday and end on Sunday.  Last time, there were over 400 participants!

On a sales note, I haven't had my first sale on etsy yet, but I know it will happen!  I'm working on a couple of custom pieces right now for my best client.  I'll share some pictures of those after my hop on the 2nd.

Memories and Thanks Blog Hop

I'm going out of town, so I'm posting this a couple of days early to make sure it shows up. :)

I've had so many different ideas about who I was going to thank or a memory I wanted to share, so I might make this a monthly blog post.

I'm so thankful for all of the wonderful beaders I've met on the internet.  It's so much fun to be able to get to know you all in different parts of the world.  When I first started this blog, one of my first followers was Tanya from Thailand.  I entered a contest on her blog called Free Beads for Blogging and won!  I was very excited to receive goodies from her.  If you'd like to read my original post, click here.  After that, Tanya and I became email buddies.  We exchanged bunny and cat stories, and vented about issues in each others life.  Then, how it sometimes happens, we both got busy and the emails stopped.  You know how you think that you really should contact someone, but it always seems to never happen?  Please, please contact them.  You never know when the time will come when you won't be able to do so.

As many of you reading this know, Tanya past away on the 2nd.

I've been holding aside the beads she sent me, because I wanted to make something really special with them. In our last email, Tanya called me 'angel girl.'  I don't know what else to say, this has been very difficult to write.  I made this for Tanya, and while it's not perfect, I think she would like it.

Angels for the True Angel

The green pearls, peach Swarovski, and the milk glass beads all came from what Tanya gave me.

I hope to remake this bracelet next week with some miyukis and get a better photo.

Thank you, Lori for hosting this hop!  Also, thank you Lena. :)

Crazy Busy!

I know, I'm a slacker with this.  I'm still getting used to the idea of sharing my thoughts with others.  It's a little weird sometimes for an introvert.  This will be a quick update though.  I plan on doing a longer one with pictures later in the week (for real, I mean it).  I had my first ever craft show a few weeks ago, and it went really well.  I'm planning on doing another one in the spring.  The more exciting news is that my etsy shop is finally open!!!  Now that I think of it, I might have to do separate posts for some of these.  ;) 

Until later in the week, here's the link to my shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/JenRenJewelry.  I would appreciate if you check it out.  If you have a shop too, I'm happy to add you to my circle.  I love promoting handmade!

Really, I mean it.  There will be updates.  If I don't, I'll let you throw snowballs at me or something.

Although, if you choose to throw the pink ones, I'll send you my address.  I promise I will throw them at myself. ;)

Quick Update

Outside of crafting, I have a job.  Now, while I love my job a lot, sometimes it gets in the way of what I would rather be doing.  I haven't had the chance to make much since my last update.  But, that is about to change.  I'm going to have a three day weekend this upcoming week, so I'm hoping to get a lot of stuff done.  I have my first solo craft show in November, a Lucite and Clay blog hop that reveals in February, and another blog hop that we haven't picked the reveal date for yet.   As you can tell, there will be many new blog posts soon. :)  I'm also thinking about doing another two hops and the details are below in case you are interested in joining me. 

I'll also give you a little preview of something new I've been working on.  Here's my first set of polymer clay beads:

I got the tutorial from Michaels website.  I loved the colors they used in the tutorial so much, I ended up using the same ones.  If you want to make your own, go here.  If you play along with me, send me a picture or blog about it, and I'll blog about you.  I haven't baked these yet.  I'm a little nervous to do so.  Anyone have any baking tips for me?

As promised, here are some fun blogs and giveaways to enter if you're interested:

1. Erin at Treasures Found :: Inspiration is Everywhere is hosting a Michaels Toast of the Town Blog Hop.  She created a versatile necklace design that Michaels has been showcasing this month in their October Jewelry Celebration.  She is giving away three different color palette sets of Michaels beads for you to create your own version of her design.  Even if you don't win, you can still participate in the hop.  Head over to Erin's blog for all the details, and come hop with me.

2.  Shelley Graham Turner and Marlene Cupo hosted a Holiday Bling Blog Hop on October 6th.  I really wanted to participant, but I knew work would get in the way.  So, I was thrilled to find out this morning that they are now hosting Holiday Bling Blog Hop 2.  You have until October 28th to sign up.

3. Skye at Creative Chaos has some really fun Halloween/Fall giveaways going on now.  Go visit her for all the details.  My favorite way to enter is to share a spooky or funny Halloween story that happened to you.  There are already some really great entries.  Be sure to check out the picture of the giant carved pumpkin while you're there.

I guess that wasn't really a quick update. ;)

Sometimes, you just have to get out of town

A few weeks ago, I took a day trip to Charlotte, NC.  I try to visit there a couple of times a year because they have some stores that we don't have here in Columbia.  Besides shopping, they also have some great museums. The Mint Museum Randolph has two exhibits I was interested in seeing: Fashionable Silhouettes (three centuries of fashion history) and  And The Bead Goes On (fashion featuring 20th and 21st century beadwork embroidery).  While I couldn't take pictures of either one of those exhibits, I thought I would share with you some of the ones that I was able to.

Here's a few from the Art of the Ancient Americas collection:


Jaguar Effigy Bottle with Bridge Spout
Peru, 400-200 B.C.

I love the various patterns on the front legs and torso, and the design on its' face. 



Jadeite and Greenstone Necklace
Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, or Honduras  250-850 CE

I couldn't not take a picture of jewelry. ;)  I like all of the different shapes of stone here, it's given me some ideas for my own pieces.

Horse Stirrup

I didn't take a picture of the place card with this, so I don't know anything about it.  I guess I was just distracted by the fact that it's a stirrup with a cat.  I don't see how this would have been practical at all, but it's neat.

Here's are two from the special exhibition, Threads of Identity: Contemporary Maya Textiles:


Perraje
Jacaltek, 20th Century



The flowers and birds remind me of the Scandinavian Folk Art I've been looking at lately.



Wedding Cinta
Awakatek, 20th Century

I like all of the colors, shapes, and patterns.

This one is from the Performance Masks of Mexico Exhibit:


Coyote or Wolf Mask
Guerrero, 20th Century

 It's a wolf, that's why I like it. ;)



The next ones are from the various ceramic and pottery exhibits:



Pottery with black and white slip paint
Carrie Chino Charlie
Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico 1979

I like the pattern on this.  In a way, it's so simple, but it's not.



Agateware Teapots and Cream Jug
leadglazed earthenware
Whieldon (attr.)
Staffordshire, England 1740-1750

  

The glaze on these are amazing!   Here's a closer look at one of the teapots:

Han Vase
Benjamin Wade Owen
North Carolina, 1937

I love the interaction between the teal and magenta.

Owl Jug
Staffordshire, England 17th Century

How cute is that?

Finally, I can't go to a museum without taking pictures of crowns:

I forgot to take a picture of the place card again.  I'm fairly certain that this was in the Ancient Americas exhibit.



Ritual Crown
Yoruba Peoples
Nigeria, 20th Century

I can't even imagine the hours and amount of patience it took for the artist to cover a crown with seed beads. 

My goodies from the gift shop:

I adore hand-blown glass Christmas ornaments.  The larger one might get displayed somewhere in my house year round if I can find a stand for it.

Of course, I had to stop by a bead shop to get my fix.  I had been going to The Bead Lady, which is about 20 minutes outside Charlotte in Concord.  It's a great store, but I didn't think I had the time to go to Concord and see the museum.  So, I stayed in Charlotte and checked out a 'new to me' store Beadlush.  I had been stalking them on their etsy site, mainly because of the raspberry and blue edelweiss beads.  I have teal and black ones already, and wanted to add to my collection.  This store is so amazing!  They have such a wide selection of glass, gemstones, chain, swarovski, and vintage lucite!  I think I circled around the entire store ten times until I felt like I had seen everything.  The staff is wonderful and so friendly!  Here are the goodies I got:

Finally, I can't leave you all without sharing some giveaways I've found!  Head over to Pretty Things for a chance to win one of four books published by Lark!  I really hope I get Sabine Lippert's Beaded Fantasies -- 30 Romantic Projects.  I've been eyeing that one on Amazon for a while.  This giveaway ends on Tuesday, but I think Lori will be doing another one because she has more books to giveaway.  If you're not following her blog, you should!  She is a great writer.

The Art Bead Scene Blog does a giveaway every Saturday with a featured artist.  This week, it is the amazing Heather Powers of Humblebeads.  If you haven't seen her work before, get ready to be blown away.  She is giving away one of her Oak Leaf Pendants.  I actually just order two pendants from her yesterday.  :)

Thanks for reading!  I hope some of the pictures I posted have inspired you to create.  If they have, I would love to hear about it in the comments section.  :)