Sloppy Studio Saturdays

I can't believe what I am about to show you........but because of this.......

and this..........

I get to expand to here..........

There is a bedroom next to my studio, that I spent the morning emptying so my dear husband could install an indestructible floor.  

Do you think that means that if hot, molten glass or fabric paint or sharp scissors drop on it that it will still look the same?

I guess we will see!!!

There is one place in my studio that is still neat and tidy........

My Blythe Doll shelf!

Looks like I wont be doing much work for the next few days, but hopefully soon I can post pictures of a neat and organized studio space.  I can't wait to SPREAD OUT!!

And guess what?......there is still another un-used bedroom upstairs for me to expand into....ssshhhhh!

Goodies Make Me Happy :)

I got goodies in the mail today!!!! YIPPIE!!!

Above is my order from ArtBeads that I need to make something with and blog about.  Incase you didn't notice my little button on the right of this post, I am a "Design Partner" of ArtBeads :)  So I will be blogging more about my creation soon.

The buttons, on the top right, are from a Facebook game I won with Interweave.  One of the editors was going to a flea market and asked what we would want from the flea market.  One thing I mentioned was buttons, my name was picked and she found me buttons!

On the bottom is my Bead Soup Party package from Janet. The quote on the card I totally agree with also..."Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be!"...so true!

 I LOVE everything inside........

Everything is from the awesome ceramic jewelry designer Gaea.  Go check out her website and blog.  She makes some really neat beads, pendants and spacers.  My mind is overflowing with ideas of what I will do with them.....thanks so much Janet!

Earlier this week I tried my hand at making headpins with a glass bead attached....and it worked!

Now I have another component, made by me, to incorporate into my jewelry pieces.

I also sent off a crocheted potholder for a potholder swap on Raverly.  The tag on the potholder says "trust your crazy ideas"  I think I have lived this my whole life, and certainly in this potholder swap.  I had never crocheted a potholder before and had never worked with cotton yarn, but joined the swap anyway! All I have ever crocheted are granny squares. 

I am pretty pleased with the result, and have already started more.

To be a functional potholder it had to be made from cotton yarn (acrylic would melt) and it had to be two sided.  So I basically had to make two potholders and join them together.

Here is the back......

Well, that's all for now....back into the studio to create....my head is overflowing with ideas!

While I Wait for the Kiln

The worst part about flame working is waiting for the beads to be annealed in the kiln!!!

So while I wait on those to make some new jewelry pieces I thought I'd show you some things I have made for swaps.

This wall hanging was done for an Embroidery Quilt Swap on the Quilting Bloggers website.

I hadn't done embroidery in years, so this took me a while, but once I got the embroidery done and started working on the borders, quilting and embellishing....I could not stop adding things.

I sure hope my partner likes it.  I would have shown this to you last week, but I forgot that this was a secret swap.  Plus my partner doesn't have a blog or a flickr account so I doubt she will see it.  I had no idea what direction to go in since I couldn't snoop around her blog or look at her favorites on flickr.

I also had to finish some African Flower blocks for a Raverly Swap I am in.  Each month I make 5 of these and send them off to the people who's month it is.  When my month comes around I will receive about 50 of these (I showed you my first one last week) to make something with.  I won't be able to decide what I will make until I have all my flowers!

I also had to show you my new garden friend!  This mama frog has decided to hang out by my orchids.

I wanted to re-pot some of the orchids yesterday, but did not want to risk this jumping on me.  I had already disturbed her but thankfully she sat right there....through the photo shoot and all!

Quilt Blogger's Festival

So many neat things go on in the blogging world!!

Recently Amy at Amy's Creative Side Blog hosted a Bloggers Quilt Festival.

At this blog you can see hundreds of quilts and their stories.  Loads of inspiration, so go check it out!

I looked through my quilts to find the one with the most interesting story and picked this one......

This quilt was in a special exhibit at the Sisters Oregon Outdoor Quilt show a few years back.  I sent several quilts, but have sold all but this one.  At this point I think this one is a keeper.

I sent my quilts by FedEx from Abaco, Bahamas for the show, and U.S. Customs held them up because they weren't sure what material I had used as batting.  So the quilts got there the day of the exhibit!!!!

Then when the quilts were delivered at the Stitchin' Post quilt shop  FedEx handed them a massive bill for duty, even thought the quilts were returning to the Bahamas!  In the end everything was cleared up, but boy the stress at the time!

The year before I sent one quilt for display and everything went smoothly, but five quilts from a foreign country raised some eye brows!

Go check out all the quilters that have posted stories!!  There are over 550!!

What a Great Week!

I love it when my week ends with receiving swap goodies in the mail!

I received my Mini Coin Swap from Terrie......

I was going to crop Trooper's nose out, but I thought it was cute!  He is head of quality control around here....the quilt passed :)  LOVE this little quilt!  Tiny "coins" of pretty printed fabrics make up the stacks of coins and the quilting on the border with varigated thread is incredible.

Below is the coin quilt mini that I sent to Terrie,  She received it so I can blog about it now.

"Scattered Paint Chips"

Then I got my first African Flower crochet block, from the African Flower Swap on Raverly......

....and with it was sent some recipe cards, a stitch marker and gorgeous purple ribbon.  I didn't think it was my month to receive the crochet blocks yet, so I was very surprised!

Can you tell how addicted to these swaps I have become?

I also sent off some quilts this week, and can only show you sneak peeks until my partners receive them.

This one above is for the Anything Goes Mini Swap on flickr.

And the one below is for the Black and White + One Color, Not Square Mini

I was also very excited this week when I was featured on Delphi Glass' facebook page because of this necklace.....

I submitted this necklace for a competition they are having called Ring of Fire, and they featured it on the page!! I was over the moon!  Please go and vote for me on their site :)  Just click on the "Ring of Fire" tab at the top right of their home page screen and it will take you to the voting page......I'd really appreciate it!

Have a great weekend!  

And the WInner is........

Congrats to Amy (During Quiet Time Blog) for winning the Island Birds Journal and the Copper Pendant in yesterday's giveaway!  The winner was chosen by random number generator, and the lucky number was 6 for the 6th post.
Amy, email me your address please :)

Thank you all for participating and for all your kind comments!  I will be doing more giveaways now that I got the first one under my belt, so stay tuned!

Here is a picture of the entire journal cover for those of you who weren't so lucky this time....

Also wanted to show you two new pieces that I put up on Etsy.

The first is "Bahama Sunburst"

It is about 19 inches long and is made up of a Jangles pendant and spacer bar, bezeled sea glass, my lampworked beads, silver wire components, sterling silver findings and gun metal chain.

The second one is Owl Love.....

I was so excited the other day when I made that "love" charm.  I embroidered the letters and the heart then sandwiched it in between glass and soldered it closed!  Very pleased with myself to be able to combine two of my passions like that!

This necklace also has a Jangles owl bead, my lampworked bead, gun metal chain, sterling silver findings and silk ribbon.  It is about 22 inches long.

Lorelei had a ribbon tutorial on her blog the other day.  You can find her blog in my list of "blogs you should check out" over on the right.  I had seen this done before and never tried it.  It makes a very comfortable necklace.  I forgot I had the necklace on!  I always wear my pieces for an hour or so to make sure they are comfortable, hang right etc...

Have a great day!

50th Blog Post Giveaway

Hard to believe I have had 50 blog posts.  When I started it was pretty painful sometimes to come up with something to say, so it would go weeks between posts.  Now I am more comfortable with it and have met a whole community of new friends thru blogging.

I know, you're thinking...blah, blah, blah....get on with the giveaway :)....but before I do I want to tell you about another blog giveaway.

My friend Heather, at alamodefabric, is having a giveaway as well.  So go check out her blog also.  She is giving away a set of fabric hexagons and a gift certificate to the Sew Deerly Loved etsy store.

Go check out that etsy store as well.  Lots of cool fabrics, Japanese fabrics, MunkiMunki fabrics.

All of these giveaways were inspired by the sewmamasew blog!  You will find lots of other giveaways on that blog also.  And yes I am a day late chiming in but I was waiting for my 50th post!

So here is my giveaway.......

A quilted journal cover for a composition book.  I named this "island birds"

Also thought I'd throw this in as well......

It is a copper and sterling silver pendant that I made......."let your heart soar"

So to enter the giveaway you have to post a comment here, under this post, not on facebook, and I will announce the winner tomorrow.  

I will use a computerized random generator to choose the winner......so it is all totally random!

Good luck and thanks for reading and following my blog :)

Bead Soup Party Sneak Peek

Hello!

Hope everyone had a super weekend.  Just a quick post to show a sneak peek of some jewelry components that I sent to my Bead Soup Party partner.

Bead Soup Party is an online party between jewelry artists.  After you sign up you are assigned a partner.  You send your partner a focal/pendant, a toggle and some beads; you are sent the same and you both make a piece of jewelry with your partners goodies.

I don't want to spoil the surprise for my partner, Janet, but she should be receiving this package by the end of the week at the latest, then I can reveal what I sent her.

The week of June 19th everyone will reveal what they have made with what they were sent.  You can check out the flickr group here to see that.

Lori over at the Pretty Things blog organizes the Bead Soup Party and is a great jewelry artist herself, so check out her blog while you are internet surfing.

I'll be back in a few days to reveal some more necklaces, and my next post will be my 50th post!!! Hard to believe!  So maybe on my next post there will be a little giveaway to thank you guys that read my blog.

Have a great week!

Birthday Celebrations!

I went over to Hope Town, a cay a few miles off the mainland of Abaco, to celebrate my good friend Janie's birthday.  Her birthday is not until next week, but today was a good day for everyone to get together.

This card above is a funny card she got.  Inside it said "Happy Birthday, your margarita will be ready shortly"!!!

I don't have to go far to find an animal to drag home........

This little fresh water turtle wasn't being cared for so he was delivered to me in a bucket.  Poor thing was so hungry that he ate half of my sandwich!!!.....not quite but he ate ALOT.

Look at the beautiful cake....too pretty to cut!!! Made by my other friend Kent, and boy was it ever YUMMY!!!  Carrot cake with cream cheese icing......mmmmmmmm!

I have gotten some work finished this week.......

This is called "Sea Glass Love".  It is a mixture of bezeled sea glass, my lampworked pieces, bezeled coral, silver chain and sterling silver wire work.

Those swirled wire links I learned to do from the book "Totally Twisted" by Kerry Bogert.

Anyone that does jewelry needs to check out this book and Kerry's blog.  Very inspirational work!

Have a great weekend!

Some New T'ings

I have been fiddling around with some new stuff these past few days.  Needed a break for my imagination.

First I had to do some potholders for the Potholder Pass in Flickr, and I had this idea in my head to do the free form letters on them.  This was the outcome, and now I wish I had a set for me!

"Live Love Laugh"

One of my, many, favorite sayings!

I have also been itching to try some new things at the torch.  So I took some time this morning to try out a frog:

I thought it was okay for my first attempt.  Here is his back:

And I had tried a hollow bead a few weeks ago, couldn't get it to work, but I am not one to let that discourage me, so I tried again:

It is not the perfect bead shape....BUT it is HOLLOW!!  I know some flame working pros are probably thinking "I can't believe she is posting these ugly beads", but since I either figure things out in my head or read a book, I am pretty proud of myself.

Also attempted a heart....this needs work:

Not sure what design that is on the front.....just a blob of color!

Thought I'd try a white on white color combo also, which should look cool with some bezeled sea glass pieces:

So, in a nutshell, that is what I did today.  Now they all need to sit in the kiln and be annealed......tomorrow maybe :)

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there!!!

My mom told me not to buy her anything for mother's day, but she knows I don't listen all that well, or she should know that!!  I got her a gift certificate to one of the local plant stores, and then I made her these......

So I listened halfway.........guess I gave gotten better since my teenage years!

She loves to cook, so I thought these potholders would be perfect.  She is also more of a traditional quilter (okay she's VERY traditional) and she would never make these curvy pieced potholders for herself.  They are made from Bahama Hand Prints fabrics.

As well as trying to finish orders I have been trying to build up some jewelry stock and get some components together for several jewelry swaps I am involved in.  One of them is Bead Soup Party (the button is over to the right of this page).  In this party I send a focal, a special clasp and an assortment of coordinating beads to another jewelry artist, I get the same in return and we both make something from that mix, adding our own special touches.

Here are some of the pieces I am considering for some of my swaps.......

I will of course add some of my flame worked beads to that mix as well, and maybe a copper & silver, riveted pendant.....i don't know....too many ideas in my head!

The sea glass to the right of the picture, which I have not done anything with yet, I am trying to decide what to do with it.  When i was going thru my sea glass these ended up on the table together and I just loved the combo.  Here is a closer look......

Love these together, but cannot decide how to combine them.

Anyone have any ideas?

One of my other swaps for the summer is a Pincushion Swap and my pincushion was used for the swap tab!! I was honored and so excited!

You can sign up for this swap until the end of May, just click on the link on the right of my blog.  Or just follow the swap and see all the cool pincushions that are created!  It starts in June and runs thru the summer.  As you can see my swap addiction is worse than ever....I need help!

Have a great Mother's Day!

Hectic Week with a Good Ending!

Had one of those weeks where I was working, working, working and still I am not close to finishing items for orders.  I hate when I have done so much work and don't have much to show for it.

I can show you these silk painted pillows that I finished last week for an order.

The silk panel is handpainted, and machine quilted.  Then the batik borders are added, and the piping and the zipper finishes it off.

At least I had a nice surprise to end a weary week........

It is my Urban Home Goods Swap package from my secret partner!!! eeeeekkkkk.....an apron, a tea towel with an embroidered owl, a bookmark, and frog shaped tea strainer, a sweet card and these precious felt hearts.

It is a secret until you get the package!  These great items came from Jennifer.  Her blog is here.  Go check it out, she does some neat fabric work and also does silversmithing.....we have quite a bit in common!

I will be saving that apron to wear at my next show.  I am too messy when i cook to wear that beauty for cooking!  I love aprons.  They give you extra pockets for little items you may need when working a show.

Above is a close-up of the tea towel, bookmark, felt hearts, notecard and the froggy tea strainer.

Great little surprise to end a hectic week! 

My Weekend of Gardening and Quilting

Spent this weekend in the garden.  I love the weather we have right now....warm but not too hot with a nice breeze.  I was also very excited that my bottle brush tree finally bloomed.

I think this is my favorite tree.  It is so pretty when it is blooming.

Also cleaned out the turtle ponds.  Whenever we do this the dogs are very curious about the turtles.  Trixi got nipped in the nose by one this time, so she's not so curious anymore!

But Salty here has no fear!

I let some of the turtles have a run in the grass.  Whoever came up with the idea that these creatures are slow....was very wrong!  This one below is my large female.  She is about five times bigger than the little one in the above picture.  I couldn't hold her in one hand and take a picture with the other!......well I could if I wanted to get nipped myself, but after Trixi yelped and jumped back about four feet, I figured it hurts!

I also finished up my Urban Home Goods Swap this weekend and will be mailing it out tomorrow.

I made a journal cover and a set of coasters.  Hope my partner likes them!

Just a quick post since I just came from the studio trying to finish up some jewelry orders.  I have usually been asleep for an hour by now, so that is why there are a lot of pictures and not much writing in this post!

Good night for now.  Will be back in a few days with some new creations :)