BTW - Bead Table Wednesday

Yeah for me! Finally I am able to get a BTW

posting done. This is what's on my table for this

week. It's getting close to Valentine's Day and I have

the "hearts" for it...plus a couple other goodies I love.

A couple of bead sets from Gaea, a very chic, shabby

heart from Menagerie Studios, Jade Scott heart, a

couple of pendants from Spirited Earth, and a couple

of other great pendants and beads. So now that I've

shown my work I 'd better get busy so I can do a

Show and Tell Friday....

Michele Gabriel Studios

I got some great beads from Michele's shop on

Etsy. I knew I was gonna be very happy with her

pendants and I was. The one thing that really struck

me when I opened the package was how much effort

she put into wrapping her beads. Cardstock folded to

make a cool envelope, sealed with a bit of her clay and

a very personalized note folded in the top. Impressive!

Can't wait to do something with her pieces.

Meet D.O.G.

The newest baby in our family. A little

chihuahua boy named D O G (pronounced

DeeOhGee). Shiny blue/black with a white

chest and the most beautiful dark eyes. I do

love puppies!

Bead Table Wednesday

Heather at HumbleBeads has a little flickr

group going: Bead Table Wednesday

Just so we can take pictures of what's on our

bead table for the week. A little inspiration for us,

a nudge to keep our creative juices flowing, an

incentive to use all those good art beads and

other goodies we've just been staring at lately.

Well, maybe not for you, but this is gonna get me

motivated. Something fun for the New Year.

Grab that camera and post your projects.

New Year Sunrise

New Year, new day January 2011

ABS Ornament Hop

In the spirit of the season, I joined the ABS Ornament Hop.
Its the first annual, and hopefully there will be many more,
because I thought this one was really fun! All we had to do
was make an ornament or two using art beads. How simple
is that?















The first ornament pictured uses two of Humblebeads

Winter series pendants. I added a nice Green Girl

Studios nest charm and some accent beads.



I love word pendants. So I chose to use a bead from

Diane Hawkey that I got at her open house in November.

I added one of her accent beads and used a dragonfly from

Vintaj, along with some of their accent beads.



My last ornament I just kept simple. A beautiful snowflake

pendant from The Classic Bead, a silk ribbon was all

it needed to fit right in with my other special ornaments.



Remember, this is a hop. Follow these links, there are a lot

of fun ornaments to be seen. Maybe you would like to

design some of your own. Start a tradition of handmade

Art Bead ornaments. Merry Christmas to all.

















Creative Impressions in Clay

Diva Designs

Elysian Studios - you are here!

Fab Fibers

For the Love of Beads

Humblebeads

Island Girl's Insights

Jangles

Jeannie's Blog

Lampwork Diva/Cindy Gimbrone

Mary Harding

Michelle Mach

Spirit Rattles

Wondrous Strange Designs

A Gift

Well it has been a while since I've blogged and believe me
when I say I was totally unprepared for what I found. 
Who changed my blogging world?  This is gonna take a little
getting used to.  So instead of jumping into the Bead and Button
show goodies I got last weekend, I am gonna start with a post about
a beautiful gift from my sister Beverly.  It arrived just a day before
I left for Wisconsin, I knew something was coming (Beverly almost
had to cut her tongue out so she wouldn't tell me!). 
I was thrilled when I opened the box and found this beautiful
pendant that she embroidered for me.  A beautiful ceramic cab
from Summers Studio Ceramics.  I love it!  And I just so happened
to get a pair of shell earrings from Nancy at Round Rabbit,
(who is having a SALE). Don't they match perfectly?  I thought so.
Love you Beverly!
I promise Bead and Button goodies tomorrow.  Cross my heart  ;^)

Happy Mother's day!

Butterfly

I've been spending a lot of time on facebook and not enough

time on here, but I haven't totally been doing nothing.

There have been so many beautiful embroidered pieces being

shown by various beaders. Jean Hutter can whip one out a

day I swear...I'm almost embarrassed to say this but I have

been working getting this far for two weeks. Tore it out

three times, and spent lots of time just looking at it.

I'm so anal when it comes to beading, abstract is hard for me.

But I'm on the right track now (not going abstract but...)

and this might get done by the weekend. The cabochon is from

my good friend and ceramic artist Melanie from Earthenwood Studio.

The tinier ones are also from Melanie, I've been saving them

for a while. Lots of greens and bronze beads, little bronze flowers.

I'm thinking green for spring. Of course the picture doesn't

do it justice, no sun today, but its not freezing outside either.

And the days are getting longer....

Katie's doing Avon's Walk for Breast Cancer

My good friend and fellow beader Katie Nelson
has committed herself to do this marathon walk for
breast cancer. She needs to raise a bit of money in
order to participate...$1800.oo to be exact. So she's
reaching out to all her friends and family to help her
come up with the money. I know first hand how hard
it is to raise funds. You have to be bold and go where
sometimes you might not want to. But in the end it is
so worth it and who knows? One day you might be in need
of the research finds to cure you of something.
Anyhow, bless her heart, here is what she has to say:
"This is a 2-day event in which I will have the opportunity
to walk up to 26.2 miles the first day and 13.1 the second.
Personally, I am shooting for the 1/2 marathon length
on both days since the walk is only 2 months away...
I am going to do as much as I can, but I have to be realistic,
too, since there's not a lot of training time..."
So to sweeten the giving she has put her necklace she made
from the Bead Soup Challenge up for auction.


Its a beauty! I've already bid on it, you can too.
Or just go to her blog and you can donate any sum
of money. I know times are tough all over and
money is probably a little funny (hahaha-NOT) at
your casa, but you can give up one little something
for a cause...maybe that $5.00 drink on a night out,
or $10.00 bill at Micky D's for a bad lunch you don't
really enjoy and probably didn't need.
Or, heaven forbid, give up one strand of beads and
put that money to a good cause. Love you guys!
Stop by Katie's and watch for her Walk coming up.

Three Cheers for the Bead Cruise Sponsors!

This post is dedicated to all the sponsors of
Bead Cruise 2010. This year their generosity
was unbelievable. Heather makes up these special
booklets that every person on the cruise gets. Its
packed full of ads, designs and instructions and its
just a treasure all on its own.

The Bead Cruise Book. And this coming soon for
purchase (as a download item). When its available I
would get one...really, its a great "book".

A glimpse of the inside.

You'll find all kinds of information inside too. A trend report.

Its a bead book all on its own. And yes, those earrings are mine.

Heather surprised me with these and I totally love them.

Glass Beads from Sue Beads, little sand dollar charms from

Every Heart Crafts. Design by Heather from Humblebeads.

A cloth gift bag from Ornamentea held a pendant from

Summers Studio Pottery, handmade glass beads made by Sue

and a pendant from Ellen Ray ( you can get them at Ornamentea).

A beautiful pendant from Off Center Productions,

Earthenwood Studios, and one from Marsha Neal Studios.

We have Jangles, Paloma Antiqua and a button from Terri

at Creative Impressions in Clay.

A huge sampling of beads from C Koop Beads. She has a

way with enamels. Lucky for me Bella Modo our on board

bead shop had lots of her items for sale too.

Seed beads from Foxden Designs, and Charlene's Bead shop.

Some crocheted beads and faceted rounds from Halstead Bead.

A beautiful shell pendant from Gaea, sand dollar from

Every Heart Crafts, and a pewter charm from Green Girl Studios.

There was this beautiful bird from Humblebeads.

This was ONE door prize. I also got a book by Kate McKinnon.

There are so many more sponsors to name. Rings and Things,

Soft Flex, Vintaj, Tierra Cast, Hint(Beth Hemmila), Mary Harding,

Sova Enterprises, Bead Trends, No Easy Beads (Beverly Herman),

Margie Deeb, Barb Switzer, Expedition D (Lynn Davis),

Tracy Stanley, International Gem and Jewelry Show,

Artbeads.com and me...2ndhandrose.

My humblest apologies if I forgot anyone. But you guys are

the greatest and I will make sure that I support you in every

way possible. You are so very special. Thanks!

Bead Cruise Part Two

First on shore adventure I went on was shopping in St. Thomas.

We left the boat and were herded like cattle onto these shuttle

bus/taxis. Of course they try to squeeze as many people on as

they can.

Beverly and our new international friend Hennie. She flew all

the way over from the Netherlands. Hennie was an absolute

sweetheart and we all were amazed at her designs. She made

some of the wildest necklaces.

Her fish one was made from fish found at a children's toy

store. Loved it!

So about half way to downtown the drivers pulls over to

the side of the road. I think he was dropping people off to

the beach, but it felt like if you didn't pay you were gonna

be left in the middle of nowhere. Joke on us, people got

out, he took our money and drove us on to town.

Main street was full of all kinds of jewelry stores. If you

wanted diamonds you were at the right island. There were

camera stores, ( I got a nice new one at a good price), and

lots of liquor stores. But we got directions to the island's

only bead store. You just turned down an alley (that in any

big city in the state I would avoid) and you found all these

little shops.

And yes we found the bead store. We Americans are so

spoiled. There was mostly Venetian glass and few odd beads.

We have so much more variety to choose from, so lucky!

Tomorrow a tribute to the sponsors of the 2010 cruise. They

really rock!

Bead Cruise 2010

On my list of Bead Cruises, BC 2010 has to be the number
one best cruise ever. Heather has totally got the planning
part down. This years group might have been just a bit
smaller than previous years, but it didn't lack in anything.
The ladies were absolutely the funniest and sweetest yet.
Our teachers were very talented, and just as much fun to
be around outside of the classrooms. Our days were filled
with beading, hanging out with the other cruisers and in the
evening we were shopping with Bella Modo...who I must say
has the biggest line of Swarvoski crystals, Vintaj brass and
anything else you could have wanted. Pam and Belinda were
so very sweet, and Belinda was the most knowledgeable
person I've ever seen when it comes to Swarvoski.
Unbelievable!

Our second stop on the cruise. St. Thomas Island.

A view of our ship from across the bay.

Next stop was St. Maarten. There's a French side and a

Dutch side of the island. Anywhere you wanted to be still

had beautiful beaches and clear blue water. Warm sunny

days and gentle breezes. There is nothing wrong with

wanting to live on an island.

Tomorrow I will post some more about the Cruise.

I have lots of pictures and things to talk about.

New Addiction?

Okay, I don't think that's gonna happen, I am more
addicted to buying beads than getting tats. But today I
went and got my second tattoo in 35 years. The name
of the shop is called New Addiction, its by the college
in Kalamazoo. Nice place, good people and Jeret did a
fine job. Good thing I didn't find something bigger to
get done. About half way through I was asking myself
what was I thinking...Geary had warned me that it was
gonna hurt. But only once did I say out loud "ouch!" So
there it is, in all its red and angry glory. Pink dogwood
flowers, they look kind of bright and red, but there is
more white that will come out later. Its climbing up the
right side of my calf. And I do have an idea for another one,
but I think its gonna be a bit smaller...ouch!

Begin the Beguine...or Starting Again

Begin the Beguine is a 1982 Spanish film about a man who
returns to his homeland after many years. Its original Spanish
title is Volver a empezar, which means Starting Again;
the English language title refers to the song "Begin the Beguine"
by Cole Porter.

Starting again....
Well that's me in a nutshell. Where did this last month go?
I feel like such a slacker, but I know I've been busy doing
things, they just didn't include blogging. I really blame it on
FaceBook. It seems I do spend way to much time hanging out
there. Shame on me...

So I'm just gonna pick up and carry on like today is the first day.
Last month one of my favorite bead artists, Kristie Roeder of
Artisan Clay was having a contest/sale anticipating her 300th
sale on Etsy. Kristie was giving away all kinds of neat things...
for every piece you bought you got a copper raku piece for free.
For the 300th sale (that was me)there was a surprise and
for the one who spent the most money (me..lol. But I didn't
spend that much) there was another.
And then she packaged everything up and stuck a beautiful
button on top. Well, I made out like a bandit and it felt like
Christmas at my house when I was opening everything up.
Thanks Kristie! I love it all!

My purchases above. See the beautiful button in the center?
I got one of her grab bags with tons of beads in it.

Kristie's beautiful copper beads. There were two donuts, but
one went home to New Orleans with Beverly. I'm sure she'll
do something fantastic with it. She said she'd whip me up
something using the heart...I better get the beads together
soon, maybe I can wear it on the Bead Cruise? Huh? Bev?


This was part of the give away. A surprise for me, and this
is a beautiful necklace. I love wearing it!

Another great part of the give away for being the 300th
customer. This is HUGE...when Krisitie said she was giving
a box away, I thought "ok, what a cute little trinket box this
will be". It is so kewl! 6 x 6 inches and I love it!
So Kristie, my apologies for taking so long. And a great big
THANKS for all the great gifts. I love the copper beads so
much I think I am gonna horde them for a while.

I'm having a sale!

There's a sale going on in my Etsy shop. 20% off on

everything. I think its time to put in something a little

more seasonal, don't you? Summer's gone and Christmas

is right around the corner. For goodness sake! Where does

the time go?

Autumn surprises and The Bead Shop

Wednesday I took the morning and drove to have my yearly
mammogram. It was a very cool and rainy day, but just enough
sun to brighten the colors a little. So I took some autumn shots
to share.

The beautiful red oak tree in front of our house. The maples
are holding on as long as they can, already in three days they
are turning yellow and falling off. I remember one fall sitting
in my living room looking at a tree in our front y ard
and the very last leaf that was on it let go and fluttered softly
to the ground. I could almost hear its sad sigh....
ok, that's a little deep even for me...lol.

Our country roads.

My neighbors beautiful burning bush. It has to be as big

as a mini van. And even more red when the sun shines on

it. Ours are being ravaged by the deer who love the tender

little nubs at the end.

Dried soy bean fields ready to be harvested and colored woods.

So while I was in Kazoo, I thought I would look around at

a couple of shops (Michael's, Barnes and Nobles).

I drove past this bead store that I have been to a couple of

times, but I must say that it just wasn't stocked with much

that I was interested in, everything was crowded, and it was

way too dark inside. So in passing by I noticed that there

was more light and it looked different. So I went around the

block and stopped. Imagine my surprise when I walked in.

Someone had been cleaning the place up. There was a wall

of chains! Great displays of glass beads! Strands of stones.

Lots of metal charms, wood and bone. If you have a tax

I.D. you can get a discount of 10% off.

ANTIQUE COPPER! And at a reasonable price too. Look

at those little leaves.

Brass and bright copper chain, Czech glass.

More glass that was just beautiful. Little glass lentils, and

wooden beads. There was bone, ceramic and I could just

go on and on.

Up close of my favorite glass beads. I was like a kid in a

candy store. So if you get to Kalamazoo and need to buy

beads, stop by Cindy's shop, The Bead Store on Westnedge.

You won't be disappointed that's for sure. Her daughter

is there to help and she's a sweetie!

Dreaming of Bead Cruise 2010

Well the weather has definitely taken a turn to the cooler side.
The leaves are turning, mums are everywhere, and I have my
load of pumpkins bought for decorating outside. I noticed the
days are getting shorter. So with all that happening, I've been
daydreaming about Bead Cruise 2010. This will be my fourth
one and all I can say is they have gotten better every time.
Heather puts in a lot of time and effort to make this an experience
to be remembered. I'm sharing some more of my pictures from
2009.

Blue skies and sunny days in Belize.




Warm sands and turquoise waters in Costa Maya. Oh yes,
and Mojitos too!



Chance to make lots of new friends and meet great teachers.



Great food. I love sushi and this was the best I've ever had.

AbFab (Absolutely Fabulous) bead finds

Absolutely Fabulous....that's one of my favorite shows on
BBC, actually they have quite a few good ones that I like to
watch. But what does that have to do with bead finds you say?
Absolutely nothing...lol! I'm just wandering around in my
mind on a cloudy Saturday morning.
Last weekend was a fun day all by myself, doing a little
shopping, running to Grand Rapids to a Rings and Things show.
My favorite thing to do in the Spring and Fall. Lucky us we
get to see them twice a year around here. So I made a list and
off I went. But before R & T I stopped at Hobby Lobby, just
to look around, and guess what I found while I was there?
Vintaj! They are carrying Vintaj now. How lucky for the people
who see it being used in everything, now they can go and buy
a piece or two for themselves and not have to break the bank.
I was excited...there is enough selection that if I need something
in a hurry I can get it there. Thanks Vintaj, its good to see
something made in the States hanging on the wall.

I didn't buy a lot of beads at Rings and Things, I made a
vow to use up most of what I have and that could run into
years...but there were a few items I couldn't live without and
one or two I should have gotten more of.

Kyanite, peridot, garnet, carnelian, onyx, petrified wood
and a yummy strand of faceted mixed rutilated quartz.

I got strands of copper, silver and these cute owl heads of
sterling too.

One last thing to tell you, I found that Jade Scott, an
artist and designer was having a three day sale in her Etsy
shop, everything is 50% off and boy howdy after I got this
piece for myself I had to go and get another one. She makes
the coolest pendants, but her jewelry is wonderful too.
Better hurry if you want something sales ends tomorrow and
things are going fast.
Ok, the very last thing...here's Rubee begging...
"Come ON Mom, you said we would go for a walk!" My little
girl is so sweet.