Beady Slogans

I was cleaning up my bead site bookmarks, and I found this fun list of slogans for beadlovers. Enjoy !

Beadweaving Beauties

I just listed a necklace that needed to get out and stretch a bit after resting in the jewelry inventory box for a few months. It got picked up for a new treasury by binkaminka called "Bead Therapy". It's full of exquisite beadweaving and I'm very honored that my necklace was included. I'm still bummed out that I can't seem to get a screenshot of the the full treasury image, so apologies go out to the other artists whose photos are cut off at the lower edge. And thank you, binkaminka, for selecting my necklace ! Here is a gorgeous necklace from her shop:

Holiday Message

Holiday Message, originally uploaded by ambrosianbeads.

This little Christmas tree was something I made over 10 years ago, before I got into beadweaving. I guess beading was already creeping into my soul ! I posted this photo on Flickr as a thank you for all the creativity I see on a daily basis through my Flickr friends' uploads. I'll also use it to wish all my blogging friends a Happy Holiday !

Brick Stitch Violin

Years ago when I first started beadweaving, my brother encouraged me to make some violin themed jewelry to sell at our family's violin shop. At the time, I was learning peyote stitch and didn't yet know how to do odd-count peyote (still haven't tried it, but I found some good tutorials recently). Plus, I hadn't learned brick stitch yet. The violin shape eluded me. Well, my brother got me started thinking about it again, and I decided to try it in brick stitch, and "viola" (ha, ha, I mean, "voila"-so funny when people write "viola" instead, that's the instrument I play !), and it looks halfway decent ! The size is an inch and a half, a little large (and obnoxious) for earrings, but made a nice, tiny pendant. I won't be wearing it however...every year, I get enough violin themed jewelry, ornaments and mugs to line a thrift store (where it ends up after the student quits !) BTW, I made the pattern with BeadTool 2.0 (need to upgrade, but it works pretty well).

Herringbone Necklace Needs Help !

I've been wanting to try the necklace design that uses herringbone stitch and a range of bead sizes. What I can't figure out is how to keep it from curving too steeply. It won't fit around the neck with this much curve, and it starts to curl when you try to straighten out the edge. I started over four times with different sizes and gave up after awhile, choosing just to add some brick stitch to the sides and a thin necklace chain. Any help will be welcome :P

Check out this Phishing Scheme

I received this message today through Flickr and thought it was hilarious. There were lots of links to click on to "approve or reject" their request, so of course, I didn't click on anything. Here's the first part of the message:

"We at NowPublic are working on coverage of the top 10 worst fashion trends of 2008, and we are putting together a collection of photos. We came across your amazing photo on Flickr and it would be a great addition to our story. We would very much appreciate its use, with proper credit to you of course."

The funny part is that is says they are working on coverage of the top 10 WORST fashion trends of 2008. Now why would any sane person want to have their photo included in the WORST fashion trends. And I don't even know to which photo they are referring ???!!!

..because I'm smart enough...

I was checking out the Talent Database profile of a very talented beadweaver Three Fates Design and decided to take a look at all my "acknowledgements." I realized that I am doing pretty well to get all these compliments and wanted to share the words that others have said about my work. I'm glad I've been able to get my beadwork out there and get such great feedback from other talented artists. Here are some of the comments on my Talent Database profile:

"And work is fantastic as always. :-)"
"excellent work and compositions in your portfolio. Keep up the great talent."
"Stunning work!!! And blue freeform bracelet is a masterpiece!!!!"
"Your beadwork is truly amazing. You have the most unique, interesting and beautiful pieces."
"I admire your work"
"WOW! I bow down and stand in awe...I do a bit of beadweaving, but nothing even approaching your work. Most beautiful!"
"I'm so glad to see you on here and to watch your beautiful beadwork from home! :)"
"Beautiful free form beading."
"I love your triangle twister bracelet.... it's so funky and different... LOVE it!"
"This is not just bead work, this BEAD WORK. Your creations are gorgeous."
"You have some of the most unusual and beautiful pieces."
"Stunning designs. I'm so impressed and in awe when I see designs like yours, you have such strong skills with intricate seed bead work!"
"I find your work amazing. Love the freeform look."
"Lovely work. I wish I had the patience for seed bead work sometimes ... especially when I see beautiful work like yours."
"The Russian Leaf pieces are great"
"Beautiful knitted necklaces, love the pink beads."
"I am such an admirer of your free-form beadweaving! It amazes what you can create with a needle, some thread, and those fabulous seed beads