Chrismas Spirit

I finally put up my Christmas tree today. I don’t know why, but I just haven’t been ‘feeling’ it this year.Yesterday my son (24, but living at home) wanted to put out the gifts he had wrapped. When he asked where he should put them since we didn’t have a tree up, I felt pretty bad.

So, I guess guilt made me do it, but I’m really glad I did. I just kept it simple this year and didn’t put out everything, just the tree and a wreath. Well, I also got out the sweet little tree that my mom made for me, gosh, at least 20 years ago. She’s been gone for 12 years now….miss her . I believe I got my creativity from her. I KNOW I did. More about that in another post.

This was in our Church bulletin today…

What To Give?
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all men, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.
~~~Oren Arnold~~~

My Bead Soup Creations!

Hope you are having fun visiting everyone’s blog and checking out their jewelry.

This was really a challenge for me….I don’t work with beads very often…I’m more of a ‘found objects’ kind a gal!

My partner Lisa sent me lots of beautiful beads…. I bet I tried 20 different ways to use them all, but I just couldn’t make it work.  So I chose just a select few and I had much better luck.  The focal is a cute pewter dolphin jumping over a large crystal.  I added a gunmetal (black) filigree piece (from my stash) to the back of it.  I like mixing metals in my pieces…I also decided to use gunmetal chain.

I loved the turquoise crystal beads. The hammered pewter square finding were really nice but  I wanted to change them up a little, so I added a bead in the middle and surrounded the bead with seed beads.  Those tiny things are hard to handle, but I was determined to use at least o few of them!I added a little surprise to the back of the necklace…a dangle of ‘water drop’ beads hanging from the hammered pewter clasp.  It will look pretty hanging down your back.

I’ve shown you bits and pieces…..

Here is the whole necklace.

I really wanted to use the abalone shell I received, but I couldn’t make it work for the necklace.  So, I made some earrings using the abalone, blue crystals, ‘water drop’ beads and some brass filigree from my stash (another different metal).  I think they turned out very nice.

Thanks for stopping by.

If you get a chance, please stop by my Etsy Shop.  It’s a little bare right now, but I hope to be adding more items soon!

Sorry my photos aren’t better…. I working on trying to improve them…

Be sure to check out my partner’s shop.  Lisa did a lovely job with the goodies I sent to her.  See her work here.

How to See All the Bead Soups!

Everyone has been hard at work (& play) creating their Bead Soup jewelry. It’s gonna take a while to see them all….Here’s the link to see all the goodies that everyone has made out of their Bead Soup.
Check it out!

Bead Soup

I’ve been working on my Bead Soup ingredients.
I think I may make more than one piece!

Just a reminder to check out Lisa’s shop

15% off everything and she has beautiful things!

Shaking Things Up

I’m working on my blog’s appearance… I wasn’t really happy with the theme I had.

I like some things about this one….but, not the background picture and color. Now, I know you are saying… But, Monica, that’s all you see! I know, I know… What I really like about this theme is the way the titles of the blog are highlighted…looks like brush strokes, or torn paper.

I’ve got to work on a new picture for my background.

Then I’ll have to get my 24 year old son to help me set it up.

So, it’s a little WILD right now, but it will calm down in a few days (hopefully)

Stay tuned…

My Bead Soup From Lisa Lodge has arrived!!

Dolphin Focal

Yea!!  My soup is fabulous!

The focal is a dolphin jumping over a large crystal.  She included a beautiful Rhodium plated clasp and lots of beads and other components. There are Czech Firepolished beads, Czech teardrop beads, Abalone shell, Mother of Pearl round beads, Rhodium plated pewter links and Miyuki Seed Beeds.

Everything else!

I have never worked with seed beads, so that kinda scared me….they are so tiny!  But I feel confident that I can make something pretty.  As a matter of fact, I have already been playing around with them and came up with a couple of cool ideas.  I’m sure I will go through lots of ideas before I make a final decision!  It’s really going to be a fun challenge.

Jewelry Class today!

This morning I am taking a jewelry class with Diane Cook. She is teaching us to make her Etched and Layered Cuff. I am so excited!
I’ll tell you about it later.
I also need to post pictures of my Bead Soup….
Life has been getting in the way, but I’ll catch up this week-end….
Have a fun Saturday…I know I will…

BEAD SOUP BLOG PARTY!

I am so excited to be participating in my very first Bead Soup Party!
I’ve been wanting to do it for a while and finally decided that now was to time to do something kinda challenging.
Here’s how it works….you are paired up with a partner. You each make up a ‘soup’ of a vocal, clasp and some other beads. Then you send it to your partner and you each have to use at least the focal and clasp to make a piece of jewelry.

My partner is Lisa Lodge. She makes beautiful beaded jewelry (some are one of a kind) using pearls, Czech firepolished beads and a variety of stones.  Her shop is ’Pine Ridge Treasures’ on ZIBBET.  She is having a ‘Grand Opening’ Sale!  She is taking 15% off of her very reasonable prices.  Check it out… It’s really pretty… And be sure to visit her blog

We both mailed out our ‘bead soup’ to each other on Saturday, so we should get them sometime this week.  I can’t wait to see what she sends me!  She says it is very different than what I am used to working with, so it will be a challenge…

I’ll post a picture when I receive it.

FAMILY

I love this acronym for FAMILY….

Forget

About

Me

I

Love

You

Antique Rose Emporium

The Antique Rose Emporium in Independence is a wonderful place! Not only do they have tons of roses to choose from, they have all the other plants you want, too!  One of the things I love most about it, is that it is a lot like an arboretum.  They have lots of plants in the ground, so whenever you go, you can see what is in season.  It’s also very casually planted…some plants self-sow and others are perennials that come back every year.  Not a formal garden at all.  And they have some of the cutest whimsical stuff!

Colorful Bottle Tree

This is a cute little church where they have weddings sometimes.  You can see a cemetary in the foreground. But this isn’t just any cemetary…

Take a closer look….

Closer still and you will see what I mean!

I get a kick out of these ‘headstones’ every time we come here!

 There is always a ton of stuff blooming…

Today there were some beautiful poppies!

I love the Terracotta  Man.  He is too cute!

The bees were all over the poppies!  I think they were enjoying the beautiful sunshine…

Now….If you follow the yellow brick road (yes, there really is one here!) you will see…

The Tin Man! Right here in Texas…Looks like he stole Dorothy’s  bike….

And here is Dorothy’s cute little Toto!

We had such a wonderful day!