Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone!  Today I'm wearing this bracelet:

I stitched this a couple of years ago, using a pattern I found on Beadaholique.

Hope everyone enjoys the little trick or treaters!

Twitter

I'm finally on Twitter!  You can find me at mustardbead.  Now I just need to figure out how to use it and all the things I can do with it!  Be patient--I'm too young to be this technologically challenged!

Sparkly necklace

Yesterday I attended a conference for work, and I couldn't help but notice the necklace the lady across from me was wearing.  I'm sure you've seen similar ones--it's a strand of rhinestones attached to a chain so that you can control the length.  I started thinking about how I could use a sparkly necklace (what girl couldn't).  I had some beads that aren't rhinestones, but still catch the light beautifully, so I decided to make my own version.  

It's hard to see the sparkle in the picture, but it turned out well.  I whipped it up in the car while Katie was in gymnastics.  I managed to throw seed beads all over the front floor, but I suppose a few beads never hurt anything!

I found out today that I was randomly chosen to participate in Lorelei Eurto's book challenge.  Yay!  I'm so excited!  You can read more about the challenge here:  

http://lorelei1141.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-new-reader-challenge-book.html

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Acorn pendants

I finished several of my acorn pendants this weekend, and I love how they turned out.  I did learn something, though.  The caps have to be quite small to fit a regular sized bead.  A lot of the caps I gathered were pretty big, but luckily I had a few beads large enough to work.  Here's the finished product.

These are now listed in my etsy shop.  

Friday randoms

Just some random thoughts for this Friday...

* My bead embroidery piece is nearly finished.  I worked on it last night in the car, while Katie was in gymnastics.  The light gave out before I could finish, though, since the days are getting shorter.

* My new Elaine Ray beads from Ornamentea came last week, and I have yet to photograph them--much less do anything with them.

* I think I may have to give up my beloved Sunday afternoon naps.  There just aren't enough hours in the day to do what I'd like to get done.

* It's starting to get cool enough to think about dragging out the fall/winter clothes.  It's a big job, though, and one I think I can put off a bit longer.

* We're having another craft festival in the area tomorrow.  Someday I may participate.  For now, I just enjoy going.

* This is a picture Travis took last weekend of the girls and me at the lake.  I think Hannah can now say she's taller than me.

Have a great weekend!

Acorns

I did something Saturday that I don't do a whole lot of--I went to a local lake.  I'm not very outdoorsy, and I can't swim, so we only go there once or twice a year.  I wanted to look for acorn caps, and I knew I'd find a lot since there are so many trees around the lake.  My goal is to make acorn pendants, using the caps (which I will seal) and beads.  I've seen this done before, and think they're absolutely adorable.  This is a small part of my loot.

I wound up with several different sizes--from quite large to very small.  Hopefully I have beads to fit several of them.  

Today is my birthday, or as I've been calling it, my first annual 39th birthday.  Yep--it's my last year in my 30s.  I have to say I've enjoyed my 30s, and hope the last year of them will be extra special!

New necklace

A couple of weeks ago, I made two necklaces to submit to the Spring issue of Stringing magazine.  I was asked to send one in for further consideration.  This is the other.

It's funny because this is the necklace I really struggled with.  The one they asked me to send in was a last minute idea, and I put it together quickly before bed one night.  Maybe the spur-of-the-moment ideas are the best!

Projects underway

I mentioned the other day I had the itch to try bead embroidery, so I gave it a shot the other day.  I haven't finished, of course, but this is the progress I've made so far.

The cabochon has pretty shades of pink, brown and olive green in it, so I'm using those colors.  Obviously it's not perfect, but I'm hoping it will turn out well in the end.  If not, it is my first try, after all!

I'm also working on a tennis bracelet pattern I found.  The pattern calls for 4mm crystals, but I love the colors of these 6mm crystals I have, so I thought I'd use those and adjust the number of seed beads used.  I'm not so sure about this.  I'm not satisfied with it, so I'm seriously considering taking it apart and using 4mm crystals after all.  

So, those are the projects I currently have going.  I'm also starting to really think about Christmas projects now, too.