Back from Bead and Button and Busy!

What an exhausting (but totally FUN) weekend! The Bead and Button show was just as much fun as it's been in years past. I have a whole new appreciation for lampwork beads (having spent the past year ogling them on Etsy), so I bought quite a few of them. In years past I've bought pounds of seed beads, but since I still have a lot of those in my collection I was focused this year more on finding some beads I could use as focals. They'll be appearing in my Etsy shop as time goes by...

You'll be happy to know that I managed to finish work on Gaia, the piece I created for Lisa Peters' booth at the Bead and Button show. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out, and it received some nice compliments at the show - both when displayed on the bust AND when Lisa's mom was wearing it!


Because of the treatment I used on the back of the cabochon, it's a very versatile piece that can be worn as a necklace (using the triple-strand necklace I created for it or something completely different), as a scarf holder (shown in the pictures with a fabric remnant I had on hand), or it could even be used as a brooch!

Having pretty much exhausted myself working on that piece (not because it was particularly difficult but because I waited too late to start and had to race to finish!), I decided I needed to create something simpler. I really enjoy making ndebele ropes (aka tubular herringbone), so I created Mira using turquoise silver-lined, zircon blue silver-lined, and galvanized silver delicas. The lampwork bead is one I picked up several years ago at a Bead and Button show, and it perfectly matches the colors in the rope!


Now that I'm back home I'm beadweaving like crazy. There are a few custom orders to be done (yay!), and I just can't resist the urge to create new pieces just for the fun of it.

If you visit my Etsy shop over the next week or two you're going to be noticing some changes. I've decided that I'm not going to be making stationery items any longer, so I'm not relisting them as they sell; and I'm not listing anything new. If you're a fan of the Captioned Critters or the Alice in Wonderland goodies, though, never fear! They're not going to disappear off the face of the earth. I'm in the process of working with another Etsy seller who will probably be taking them over and putting her own spin on them. More about that later...

:-)