MaryLou's time2cre8

This is Bernard. Bernard Zebediah Caws is his full name, but I just call him B. Caws.

If you've visited my blog before you may have noticed that I have a silly sense of humor. Sometimes it shows up in my artwork, sometimes it shows up in my writing, and in rare instances it shows up in my beadweaving. This is one of those instances. Bernard was "born" when I realized that the little shape that resulted from trying to create a square using the same method used for making a triangle looks like little wings. The next step for me, naturally, was to add some silly legs and feet, a tiny little head, and a bright yellow beak. And Bernard was born. Just B. Caws.

Why am I writing about him here? Well, because he will be given as a gift to the person who purchases my Smilin' Jack beadwoven bracelet this week. That's my Bead Art Originals Item of the Week, just in time for Halloween. You can check out the other items of the week, from the other members, on the BAO Blog. Here's a picture of Smilin' Jack, so you can see just how adorable he is.

Even though I have several completed pieces waiting to be photographed, I've only managed to list a couple of them in my Etsy shop this week. I decided I wanted to create something in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and although I decided that awhile back it took me awhile to get around to making something. First I thought of making a special design, but I couldn't come up with anything I really liked. Then I decided to use my Faux Bois design and create it in two shades of pink. I think this turned out pretty cool! It's called Bébé Bois, which translates to Baby Wood (it's French - my high school French teacher would probably be appalled at just how little I remember of the language.

To truly honor National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I decided that I would donate 20% of the purchase price of this to the Susan B. Komen Foundation, in the purchaser's name.

The other bracelet I listed this week, Sexy Silver Stripe, is one I made after I found an old rhinestone button among my grandmother's button stash. This one's really simple, just black and silver, but I love the way it turned out. The vintage button really makes it special.

Before I finish this post, I have some people to thank. First, a big THANK YOU to Wenz27 (whose real name I don't know, unfortunately) for including my Piano Man cuff in her treasury that made it to Etsy's front page on October 26. Yay! I did a little exploring and found that she and I have at least two things in common... she's Dutch, and I have a Dutch last name (it's not my heritage, but hey, it's something!); and she has some knowledge of sign language, at least according to her blog, and I consider that my second language! :-)

Here's a picture of her gorgeous treasury, as it appeared on the front page.

She has all sorts of goodies in her Etsy shop, everything from clothes, to patches, to cards. It's obvious if you look in there that she has a great sense of humor, too. I love the title she gave to this cuff, the black/stitches/thingie. Appropriate from someone whose shop banner says, "The Screaming Needle." What a hoot.

And last, but certainly not least, is a big THANK YOU to Deanna, of youvegotmaille. She just featured my Obama cuff on her blog, and then we got to talking... She has some really cool chainmaille pieces in her Etsy shop, and she had some really cool beads and focals in her Etsy supplies shop, so we worked out a trade! I'm getting some cool stuff, and my Obama cuff is going to someone who I'm sure will enjoy wearing it. Yay, Deanna (and need I say it? GO, BARACK!)! It turns out that Deanna lives in a town that's really close to where I grew up. Part of that whole small world thing. :-)

And if you don't want to wear your political party on your arm, you can still show off your patriotism with some of Deanna's creations. Aren't these awesome? Here's the Patriot chainmaille bracelet:

and of course you need the matching chainmaille earrings...

That's all for now!