Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  Of course, with temperatures in the 30s and snow on the ground, it doesn't feel like Halloween.  Our town got about 5 inches of snow this week, and one of the neighboring towns got a foot.  Unheard of for October here.  Most of the local towns have postponed trick-or-treating until Saturday night, when the weather is supposed to be more cooperative.  I sat in my office today, watching the snow falling, thinking that it felt more like a time for Christmas carols than scary things.

I dressed for the occasion, though.  I wore this bracelet:

I made this netted bat bracelet a year or two ago from a pattern I found...somewhere (I can't remember where!).

I also wore these earrings, made with beads from Heirlooms in Glass:

My favorite accessory, however was these:

My "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" socks!

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!

 

 

Fall or winter?

Is it fall or winter?  That would be the question of the day.  There are some beautiful leaves still left on the trees, but we're under a blizzard warning!  In October!  So far we've only gotten a mixture of rain and snow, but that's supposed to change overnight.  We did get to leave work 3 hours early today, so I can't complain about that!  I don't care if we get 3 feet of snow--as long as the electricity doesn't go out.  I'm a wimp--I admit it.  I'm just not a roughing-it kind of girl.

I made this owl necklace the other night.  I've had the silver owl for a while now, but didn't know what to do with it.  I decided to pair it with some wood beads, with silver spacers and leaves thrown in to compliment the silver in the charm.

I'm so hoping for a snow day tomorrow.  That's one of the advantages of working for a college.  Snow days don't happen often, but there's always the possibility!
 

Christmas is coming

Two months from tomorrow is Christmas.  Yay!  I don't start my shopping until the day after Thanksgiving, but I am trying to make a few new jewelry pieces for the holidays.  It's hard to get out of the fall jewelry mode, but I made these earrings the other night:

I made these following a tutorial I saw the other day (I don't have the link handy).  It uses 20 gauge wire wrapped with 26 gauge.  My original plan was to use red crystals wrapped with green wire, but unfortunately I didn't have enough green wire.  These are still pretty cute, and very Christmas-y.

I have a packed schedule this evening, so it's not likely that I'll get anything new made.  Volleyball season is supposed to be over tomorrow night, so hopefully we'll get back to having a couple free evenings every now and then.

One week

I cannot believe it's been a week since I've blogged!  My goodness--where does time go?  I guess the obvious places--work, volleyball, more work, more volleyball, painting...  

Travis and I went to the Home Crafts Days Festival this weekend in a town near home.  It was nice.  I was a little disappointed that a vendor from last year wasn't there.  She made really pretty glass beads.  Other than that, and the fact that we were both worn out and sore from painting Hannah's room the day before, it was fun!  

I sold one of my favorite pairs of fall earrings a few weeks ago, so I had to whip up a new pair.

I like them, but thought they were pretty ordinary until I got several compliments on them at work today.  Made me like them even more!

The days are getting shorter and the nights longer here.  Takes some time to get used to the change.  It's only 7:30, but it feels like it should be at least 9 or so!  Still a lot to do before I can retire for the night...
 

Christmas is coming

I confess.  I don't have the number of days until Christmas counted.  I do, however, have the number of paychecks until then counted, and unfortunately it's only 2!  

I've been hung up on making fall themed jewelry for a while now, but it's about time to shift my focus to Christmas and winter themed pieces.  This is the first pair of earrings of the season:

Just a simple little pair of earrings, but it's a start.  I found some beautiful blue dagger beads last week that screamed "winter" to me, so I'm planning to pair them with white seed beads and crystals.  I just don't have the details of the design worked out yet.  I also have a beautiful glass pinecone charm I bought last year and never got around to using that I plan to use shortly.  

In the meantime, there are still a couple of fall pieces left in me!
 

Monday

It's Monday.  No matter how hard I try to hold onto the weekend, Monday always shows up too soon.  I had a very nice birthday yesterday.  I had a lazy day Saturday, making jewelry while Travis and the girls cleaned the house.  That evening, he grilled steak and the girls made a cake for me.  Delicious!  A girl could get used to this!  I squeezed in a nice nap yesterday, and then stayed up way too late reading last night!  

This is a necklace I made Saturday with a pendant I got a few months ago from a local teen, McKenna Blevins.  She was taking a pottery class, and made some beautiful pendants.

When the class ended she and her mother had some owl pendants waiting to be finished.  I need to find out if they were ever able to finish those and if they'd be willing to part with a few.  

I also made these earrings to go with the necklace, because you can't have a necklace or a bracelet without a pair of earrings to match!

I'm loving this weather.  The temperature is perfect, the sun is shining, and the leaves on the trees are amazing!  I hope it's just as beautiful where you are!
 

 

Birthday Eve

Tomorrow is my birthday, so I'm having a lazy, do what I wanna do kind of day.  I slept late, made a few jewelry pieces, and now I can smell my birthday cake baking--courtesy of Katie.  

I finally got around to photographing the pieces made with the large porcelain beads from Fire Mountain:

These are now in  my etsy shop, along with a few other new pieces.

You know, I really wish I could just make the jewelry and have someone else photograph and list the pieces.  It's not my favorite part--it seems too much like work!

It's a gorgeous fall day here, so I think I'll head out and enjoy it!

 

Finished piece

Monday evening I finished the necklace I blogged about in my last entry.

I absolutely love it!  For some reason the lighting wasn't quite right, and the seed beads appear a little darker than they actually are.  I finished off the ends with chain, and wore it with a mustard colored sweater yesterday.  I got so many compliments on it.  The necklace was much easier to make than it appears.

Yesterday we had no internet or phones at work so we wound up leaving a couple of hours early.  I probably should have started beading immediately, but it was such a dreary day--the perfect day to nap with the dog.  It didn't help that Ralph (my Bichon Frise) gave me the "are we going to go lie down" look.  Needless to say, he won and I got a nice nap in.  I did do some beading when I woke up, and will have pics to post tomorrow or Friday.  


 

Bead table

I've been working on this piece for the past couple of nights:

It's a spiral rope chain made with brown seed beads, accented with green, purple and gold fringe beads.  I plan to make it approximately 12 inches long, hang a large silver leaf pendant from it, and finish off the ends with chain.  I'm getting close--it's about 8 inches long at the moment.  

I received my order from Fire Mountain yesterday.  The porcelain moon and star beads I ordered (and planned to make earrings out of) were a whole lot bigger than I thought they'd be!  I know, I know...I should have paid more attention to the size, but they looked so small on the screen!  LOL!

Forget earrings--these will make a necklace!  I think I'll string them on some black waxed linen cord, and accent them with metal beads. 

Tomorrow is shopping day with the girls.  Katie wants to spend her birthday money on "Paris" things for her room.  Should be fun!

Accepted

Yesterday I found out that another one of my necklaces, the Birds Nest necklace, has been accepted for publication in the March 2013 issue of Bead Trends!  Yay!  I had wondered if it would feel as good to be accepted the second time as it did the first, and I have to say it does!  This is the necklace:

Now I need to get it packed up and mailed off.  Then, I'll see it again in the spring! 

New beads

I received a gift certificate from Fire Mountain Gems & Beads for having my necklace published in Bead Trends, so I decided to do a little shopping yesterday.  This is what I wound up with.

I love the star shape of these dark gray porcelain beads.  They'll look cute paired with these:

Continuing with the porcelain theme, I bought these:

I liked the facets and color on the cubes.  I like to use wood beads in some of my designs, so I picked up these:

And, finally, I bought three different sizes of these:

Stacked together, they make really cute Christmas trees.  I'm thinking Christmas tree earrings for little gifts?

I can't wait for them to come in!  I'm not very patient when it comes to waiting on beads to arrive!