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Lars and the Real Girl. We were absolutely clueless about this film when we put it into the DVD player yesterday afternoon. I can't tell you how much we enjoyed it! To quote, Botch, "it had everything you like about a good book." An endearing story with brilliant actors---the family gives it four thumbs and two paws up.
Wooo, I love a man in beads! What is it with me and these random mannequin pictures?!? We made it to Hong Kong yesterday. After our errands, we spent the day goofing off. We shopped for clothes, went to the book store, and had time to spare before catching the 6 o'clock ferry so we headed for Hollywood Rd, an excellent little street that has fine art galleries and antiques. I ended up with some great kitsch---mahjong tile bracelets, coins and old postcards for my Ch!na photo album cover. It was such a fun day, I didn't want to come home...except to see Rocker. Here's some faboo Linkoos from the bead bloggers. Enjoy! About.com Jewelry Making |
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| Art Bead Scene Is it time to get organized? Art Bead Scene has storage ideas to help you get organized. |
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| Jennifer Jangles Blog Jennifer shows two bright and fabulous projects featured in Simply Beads this month. |
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| Jewelry & Beading Glass bead curtains?? Come and see Denise Perreault's sun-catching masterpieces! |
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| Katie's Beading Blog Bead embroidery doesn't have to be hard! Check out Katie's embellished felt flower. It's just right for spring! |
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| Naughty Secretary Club Win a free copy of the spring issue of Make It Mine Magazine that includes painting projects by Jen’s younger sister Hope Perkins! |
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| Savvy Crafter It's a plane! No! It' a Felty Bird just in time to hang out on your spring jacket. |
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| Snap out of it , Jean! There's beading to be done! I had such a good time with Naomi Fujimoto that I wanted to repost our story of our trip to NYC! |
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| The Impatient Blogger Ornament Thursday returns with the theme of Sprout. Madge dips into her new stash of vintage French postcards to make a charming little collaged pendant with metal mesh accents. Art is sprouting all over blogland with the wonderful creations of the OT Gang. |
The felt flower brooch I just showed you reminded me of this little felty fella. Did I ever tell you I used to do art fairs before I started designing craft projects...before I moved to Ch!na, before before? I did. My booth was filled with mixed media jewelry and a lotta felty jewels towards the end. It was right about the time I submitted my Felted Jewelry book proposal. There are so many fun projects in my jewelry box stash from the past. After looking through it this morning, it is evidence that you never know where your art will take you, so you have to just fly with it.
The birdie is made entirely of wool with a bit of metal and seed beads mixed in. I started making these birds back in college, originally out of paper. Someday I'll show you. I think I must have sold 100 of them. Birds will always be loved by people---there's just something about their vulnerable yet strong little selves that we connect to.
This scarf has been worn practically everyday since I got it in Kathmandu back in November. I've worn a jean jacket ever since the second grade. Denim jacket obsession runs in the family. And I've opted to flip my collar up for the last couple of years. It's an 80's thing, a Euro thing, and an it looks better on me like that thing. Love Spring attire because you still have a reason to layer clothing! Do you feel the same? Grandpa, I know you put a lotta thought into layering your clothes ;-)
In other news, I only had "yellow" options of things to eat for lunch today!
I know I just posted about lunch, but this was very strange and it happens from time to time with different colors. Everything I thought about fixing for lunch was a shade of yellow. Eggs and wheat toast. Leftover cornbread and cream of chicken soup. Granola bars. Honey. Banana. Cheese. All yellow! I took it as a sign and looked up some color symbolism and the brain:
Yellow: energizes, relieves depression, improves memory, stimulates appetite
Well ok, then. There you have it. I know a lot of artists use colors for symbolism. Colors that suit my mood on that particular day are more the route I take, but it's something to consider in the future for sure.
Tonight is Girls Night Out and we are going to see Cats. I've never seen it, so looking forward to that. Tomorrow Botch and I are going to Hong Kong for the day to hang out and mail some things. I'll probably see you Sunday with some Links and Tales. ;-) Until then, Have a Great Weekend!
West African Peanut Soup and homemade granola bars. Last night it was just me and Rocker for dinner. I've been in a soup rut and hungry for granola bars. I went to buy drill bits and made a detour to Croissants de France to get a baguette. Somewhere in the middle I bought some Manuka honey at the New Zealand store. Which by the way, I indulged with a spoonful of that honey straight from the jar and had to grab the edge of the counter it was so good! Oh honey! Let me tell you, a perfect blend it was!
Now the price of a box of granola bars is going to set you back about 5 to 6 dollars here so I opted to make my own. I used this recipe---skipping the chocolate and basically using a random mixture of dried fruit, lots o' nuts, cinnamon and a dollop of the honey. "Why did I think granola bars were an ok healthy snack" ran through my brain as I dumped a can of sweetened condensed milk into the bowl. Oh well. They don't use ovens in these parts, so we have a toaster oven of which the top element is kaput...or nearly kaput. As a result the tops of the bars are a tad anemic looking, but taste just dandy. I opted for a more gooey granola so everything works out for a reason. ;-)
The Chicken-Peanut soup recipe is from my pal, Krissy's mama, Gale. A fusion of crunchy peanut butter, tomato paste, chicken broth and curry powder---it was awesome! And surprisingly easy to make with a one pot stop. Love a savvy soup almost as much as a savvy craft project.
Now I'm just wishing you were here to have lunch with us!
AND THE BLANK BAG TAGs WINNER IS: CYNTHIA~commenter #4! Yay Cynthia! Email me your address so I can mail these off Saturday when I go to Hong Kong!
Oh the rains, they have been a' pourin' the past couple of mornings---my favorite kind of start to the day. It washes away all the dust and goo on the plants and sidewalks here, clears the air for a couple of hours. The smell of coffee and the tap, tap, splat sounds on my studio windows...mmmm I am lost.
And with all the rain, brings blooms, thus this month's Ornament Thursday theme-Sprout! Ok, I added the exclamation point. Growing up in Indiana, most of us are ready for Spring about this time of year wondering if we will ever see daffodils or sprouts again. In fact, Grandpa called Easter Sunday morning and told me it had snowed back home. Try hiding brightly colored eggs on a blanket of white for the big egg hunt. Two times, we have been in Germany at the beginning of Spring. I remember the corner flower markets had beautiful pansies and tulips out front. The shops were full of wonderful decorations like paper mache eggs, grassy straw wreaths, pipe cleaner chics, and felty flowers. I can't help but think about those trips when spring rolls around. One of which was my first time traveling abroad-quite magical.
Here's a felty flower brooch that I whipped up to sprout out of this loud green jacket. I'm sorry to say the flower does not squirt water even though it looks playful enough. I used orange silk spread across the top of my red felt before I wet felted it to give it a swirly smooth texture (see the end of this post for a materials list). The jacket I've had for years, and I can't give it up---it's my favorite color. However, I gave it a face lift by shredding along some of the seams with a seam ripper. You can use a razor blade to kind of fray the areas a bit too. If you're looking to explore felted jewelry making, check out my book, Felted Jewelry. Let me know if you have questions about where to by wool and such also. I'm happy to help.
For this project you need:
Happy Spring! Happy Sprouting! And here are the rest of the Ornament Thursday Club Members!
| Alexa Westerfield - a.k.a. Swelldesigner Now that's it's time for spring, ideas are "sprouting" all over the place. Alexa creates this eye-catching notebook to keep them in order. |
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| Art Bead Scene Some good karma is sprouting up at the Art Bead Scene with Heather's Lotus Flower Bracelet |
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| Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva The Brooklyn National Anthem sprouts every year when Cindy's in Spring mode. See what it inspired this year! |
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| Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie giggles and remembers a furry friend, brings back an old mold, and sprouts up a beaded LOLhammy ceramic ornament |
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| Helen Bradley and Michelle Zimmerman at http design It's spring and we're sprouting all sorts of wonderful art at http design. Michelle is toting her art to the market and Helen revisits a fun art school assignment for her inspiration. |
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| Humblebeads Humblebeads celebrates spring with a Berry Good bracelet inspired by some juicy disk beads. |
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| Jennifer Heynen of Jangles Jennifer has come up with a cute little necklace to remind you of spring. |
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| Katie's Beading Blog Create some spring flair of your own with this easy bead embroidery idea from Katie's book, Hip to Bead. |
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| Kriss Cramer - Spring Is In The Air Not much of a horticulturist? Me neither! But I love flowers and I enjoy growing these ones with some paper, paint, and rhinestones. |
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| Linda and Tea at Make It Mine magazine Tea decided to join the fun this month. Check out her quilt blocks and Linda's purse. |
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| Melissa J. Lee - Strands of Beads What do Korean playing cards have to do with a sprouting spring? Check out Melissa's blog to find out. |
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| Michelle McGee - S-P-R-O-U-T Michelle just can't stop creating in green! A little wooden birdhouse becomes a beautiful palace! |
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| Savvy Crafter Candie shares some happy spring memories with a cheerful felty flower idea! |
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| Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean tells a touching, poignant tale of some beads who help one another, and after a small amount of sturm and drang they get it together and help each other! In fact, they prettify whatever YOU choose! Go see! It's fun! |
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| Spring is Sprouting for Joolz by Lisa Even without a green thumb, Lisa managed to "grow" a garden of sorts this month. |
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| Sprouting Up with Beading Help Web Lynn Kvigne's used wire and a lentil bead to create a "sprouting" pendant for wire workers who want a bit of a challenge! http://beading.consumerhelpweb.com/blog/2008/03/ornament-thursday-sprout.html |
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| The Goddess ROCKS! Inspired by a river rock shaped like an ancient goddess statue, Hali paints, melts crayons and adds glitter to create a sparkley celebration of Spring. |
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| The Impatient Blogger How does your garden grow? With metal mesh, Czech glass beads and vintage French images all in a row! Margot just returned from Paris where she discovered a treasure trove of vintage paper. This scanned and sized postcard image fit the theme of sprout perfectly and the necklace was in search of a new home...add some teal metal mesh bows and accents and voila...a design sprouts forth! |
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| Vintage Girl Teams Up With Her Vintage Momma! What does a gal do when she finds herself far from her crafting supplies? Why, she raids her mom's basement and then puts dear old mama to work! Stop by and you'll see why mom's basement is fertile ground for things that sprout! |
Sister Diane, my favorite podcaster in the whole universe gave me the You Make My Day Award. It made my day, actually more than that. Gee whiz, that was so nice. And then on her Make It Mine review, she gave the wine charm project a shout out. Thank you, Sister! I'm passing the You Make My Day Award onto Melanie, Katie, Cynthia D, and Jennifer. Thank you for being so nice. P.S. If you haven't subscribed to Sister Diane's podcast, "CraftyPod"---go now. You don't have to have an ipod (I used to think you did to listen to podcasts). Check out her site for more "crafty goodness"....
I'm off to the international school to do "Career Day" and then later tonight the "College Fair". I can't help it, I just keep thinking of Talladega Nights where the dad comes in for "career day" and says he's a "volunteer fireman and an amateur tattoo artist. " And "you don't need to listen to your know it all teacher over here...." I won't finish, but if you know the movie, you know what I'm talking about. Cracking up here. Since when did I become old enough to talk to kids about a career in the arts?!?!? Apparently there will be a panel of us. Lord help us. I remember being that age thinking, "yes, I get to get out of class for this"....and that's about it. Talk soon... Ornament Thursday is this week with a theme of SPROUT!
++Edit:::If any of you read this post earlier I actually flaked out renamed this award somewhere in the middle of when I got it and typed the post. How does it happen?!?! I don't know.
Here are few more eggs I almost forgot to show you....again. I had these ready for last year and forgot. They are clippings from a retro magazine that my gram gave me about six or seven years ago I'd say. I have plans to try out the ribbon ones below. At this point, I'm not sure if I have enough patience to get a string of seed beads to stick to a round surface like the ones above. Glue recommendations anyone? May all your Easter baskets and eggs be filled with sweet crafty loot. And have a lovely day wherever you are....
About.com Jewelry Making
Are metal costs are going through the roof these days! How are you coping with the cost of metals when it comes to designing jewelry?
Here are the eggs I mentioned a couple of days ago. Throw some Styrofoam* egg forms, crepe paper, and glitter Mod Podge into the pot and you get....Eggalicious!
I like my crafty eggs over "easy"---Simply shred, tear, or cut the crepe paper, add a thin layer of glitter Mod Podge to the egg and start stickin'! Seal the crepe paper with Mod Podge as you go. Once the eggs are dry, you can leave them as is or embellish with sequins and beads strung on straight pins. The pink and orange egg has a cherry blossom paper cutting that I got here decoupaged on top.
And there you have it! This chic is off to get some din-din! Happy Easter everyone!
Ugh, I am craving a stroopwaffeln right now! Katie I know you are too! My Dutch friend, Coby got me hooked on them when I lived in Suzhou. Then when we were in Germany and Belgium the Spring before last and I bought a load of them for everybody I knew. Maybe I'm having association cravings or something weird like that? Earlier today I realized this will be the third year in a row that we miss out on Aunt Jane's pickled eggs at Easter. And just to add a log to the fire, today is my crazy cute nephew's fourth birthday and we are missing it. :-( That's it, I'm having a pitty party for myself. You're all invited, of course.
Living here, the holidays really sneak up on me. I'm still wondering where Valentines Day went, you know? But, I was determined not to miss Easter this year because I've been saving these little pink mirror bunny charms to make some special Spring bling. They are made of plastic and I hope the vendor here keeps making mirror charms like this because they are so cool....and multi-functional (ta-da! check your lipstick in the mirror on your charm). I used funky "Easter Grass Green" polka dot and leafy beads alongside crystals to create the bunny trail. A Beadalon bail holds the bunny to the trail. Ha, that rhymed!
I like to layer my jewels so I'm working a simple crocheted silk chain with more crystals and flower shaped sequins. If you crochet with beads, you'll love Clover's new mini-crochet hooks. Ergonomic handle on the hook. Thaaaaank you. Check out the Simply Beads Feb. issue for a project similar to this silk chain.
I'm almost finished cooking up some eggs for your blog breakfast tomorrow. See you on the bunny trail!
I'm home. My head is still spinning from the whirlwind tour, playing a long game of catch up today. It was such a fun week, I hate to see it come to an end, but I have so many exciting projects going on that it's ok. Right? Tonight we went to a fashion show/talent show at the international school. The kids designed their own clothes, bought the fabric at the market and took it to the tailors to be made---the outfits were amazing! This is a neat thing about living in Ch!na--you can design and have your clothes made from scratch. Then there were talents presented from violinists to rappers. It was all very colorful and well done. Oh, and they even had a band made up of several male teachers--who sang "just what I needed" by the Cars. Sigh. So dreamy. Come back tomorrow to see some egg-stra cute eggs...
About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy has discovered another outlet to sell your jewelry on-line. This is really a place for other crafters too.
Lots of pictures to show you about our adventure yesterday that started with snorkeling and ended at Magellan's shrine, but we have to get going to the airport. I'm always sad to leave after a fun time. Tomorrow another adventure starts at 6am---I'm going up to Suzhou to get some crafty supplies and goods with 4 other ladies from Norway. See you then....
Here are your Bead Blogger Links served sunny side up...and a little late. Something was "weird" with the internet back home late last week. Hope that's not the latest and greatest "blocked site." I'll just die! I took a picture of the book that's been on my work desk for awhile now because I wanted to share it with you. It's by my pal, Terry Taylor/Lark Books. There are some really fun ideas in here and I think you'll find that the projects are very versatile---make em' by yourself or with your kids (or dog in my case). Enjoy!
Links...
| About.com Thinking of diving into the Etsy pool? Then you may want to take some of this excellent advice first. |
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| Art Bead Scene Inspired ways to finish your designs - think of the claspossibilities! |
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| Jewelry & Beading Cyndi's stuck on V-pendants, and has decided to share another way to turn them into wonderful wearable necklaces! |
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| Naughty Secretary Club Think you have an amazing idea for a piece of laser cut acrylic or wood jewelry? Well Jen will be the judge of that, literally. Jen is the guest judge at the Ponoko 10 day jewelry challenge. Did we mention the $10,000 worth of prizes? |
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| PearlEsq. Check out where Robin's going to be this weekend and what comes back to you from the love of making jewelry. |
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| Savvy Crafter Candie shows a sweet little charm bracelet featuring, Tassels, Blossoms, and Beads, Oh Deer! |
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| Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! This lovely cover is a good example of teamwork. Teamwork has been on Jean's mind lot lately. Check out the necklace Jean made for Simply Beads Magazine with a little help from her friends Lisa Kan and Green Girl Studios. Friends are truly gifts. Jean feels lucky every time she thinks about her wonderful, amazing friends! |
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| The Impatient Beader (is going to Paris) Madge shows a jaunty little necklace she's sporting on her trip to the City of Lights. Yes, she's going to Paris and she's rubbing it in. Thanks a lot, Madge. |
Today we rented a car and driver from the hotel so we could go out exploring. This is a picture of school letting out for lunch-those are motorcycle taxis on the wall. We hit the local grocery for some bags of dried mango slices. Heaven. I think I bought enough to last me a lifetime. Botch also wanted some more Colgate 360 toothbrushes-we're both hooked on those at the moment. Have you tried them? Fabulous. We poked around the souvenir shop, bought some gifts and these:
Key chains-Smeechains, those are beads!!! BIG, lovely, honkin' BEADS! They are inlaid shell and what a score at around a dollar each! I love the stripey ball. Always bring a few beads home from your travels. You can use them in future jewelry projects and remind yourself of that wonderful trip to wherever.
I didn't take too many pictures today. Mostly from the car like this one. I'm mad at myself for not taking some pictures of the wonderfully painted "multi-cabs." Google it, I'm sure there are a million pictures of them....
WE MADE IT TO CEBU.
It seems like a lot of peeps are traveling right now or getting ready to go somewhere---another sign of spring, no doubt. In honor of your travels, I thought I'd share a fun luggage tag project that kids of all ages will enjoy making. Super easy=buy some plain stock luggage tags, give them a light sanding and coat with acrylic paint=cut out magazine pictures or color copied photos and MOD PODGE them to the tag=finish them off with a clear acrylic varnish=tie them to your bag with a funky ribbon or two. *Product testing has found that the monsters that live in the cargo hold of the plane love to chew and nibble handmade luggage tags. Advised to tie this to your carry-on.
I'm giving away TWO of the base tags for painting. Leave a comment and your email addy, so I can contact you if you win. Comments accepted through Sunday @ noon EST. Good Luck!
to the weekend. It was a fun one, too. Party for friends and family at the international school on Friday night. As we checked in, they gave us name tags and said we could write the ages of our children on it. Having no children, I later thought I should have wrote "37"---Butch (that's our little joke around here). Saturday was make stuff til' ya drop day. And this morning we went to our friends house to make banana pancakes. Lordy, lordy, I could've eaten forty of those things....but I didn't. It's going to be a short week because we're taking a red eye flight here this Tuesday night, to Cebu. Taking a small beach vacation---it's the first "beach" vacation for me and Butch. Ever. First one for either of us in 10 years?!?! We're looking forward to it. I'm also going to attempt to go snorkeling. I'm scared outta my skin at the idea, but. No buts. Have to. You see I'm not exactly a fish in the water. I can swim, I just don't love to swim. But, I know myself, I'll always wonder if I don't and I'm being blessed with the opportunity to have a try....so I'm gonna. Many firsts coming fast and my plan is to just hold on tight.
P.S. This is some fabric for a potential project. I loved the stylized bushes and carnival rides.
It's Friday! I still have so many Kathmandu pictures to share and this is one of them. There are lots of closet like shops lining the alleyways of the city. This lady was the greeter in front of a fabric shop. I have to say, sometimes I felt like I also needed a helmet walking down the streets of Kathmandu with all the crazy bikes and motorcycles. So fun.
Speaking of fun, yesterday a friend texted me, frustrated about somthing and she said "quick, tell me something funny." It was right when Butch and I were leaving for the gas station (which is only a convenient store that I call a gas station for old times sake) to get a diet coke. Just a second later, Butch (whose real name is Gary) scoops Rocker up under his arm as he tells him to "get on the bus." I bust out laughing at the thought of Gary being the bus and Rocker being on it. Sometimes the Chinese call him Jerry....and so do I.
FYI: Artgirlz just hopped on the myspace bus and they need some friends. As of now, they have me and Tom. I think I forgot to tell you I have a myspace page. Let's be friends over there too!
Here's a little bracelet I whipped up to match my Asian-esque shirt I wore at CHA. I've been saving the deer charm for months. Do you have little whimsies like that? You know you can't use it for just anything. I've got a barrel full of em'.
The chunky glass beads are part of Plaid's new Connect line, to be released this Spring/Summer, pink tassel is from Fire Mountain Gems (woo hoo! They come in a variety pack-more for the barrel), and the sparkly drops are from Beadalon. I threw in some little cherry blossom plastic beads to keep with the Spring pallet and Asia feel. It's ALMOST symmetrical. I had a bit of space left at the end and instead of re-doing the whole thing adding more doodly-dads, I strung another bead. Guilty. Shoulda woulda coulda, but I decided that it was a "sign" that the gap was equal to the bead's width. Seriously. I'm really having fun using all my Chinese and Asian beads. So many ideas, but I have to let the soup simmer-Regardless Vegetable, Chicken, or Bead.
"Simply Beadiful", you won the lucky charms! Yay! Send me an email with your address so I can mail them off. If you didn't win this time, keep watching---I've got more surprises up my sleeve. ;-)
candieATcandiecooper(DOT)com
Last weekend, our friends and us headed to the most crazy shopping experience alive--The Lohu Train Station here in Shenzhen. This place will make your head spin. "Missy, Missy, Missy!" they yell out to you as you walk down the halls by all the stores. Botch and I wondered around inside (you know if the place makes you nuts, it makes your husband a kagillion times nuts) and then outside for some fresh air. We made our way back into the wasp's nest to the jewelry market. I have to say he did quite well. We picked out these rings, bought some carved eggs and that was about it. You know how I love loud rings and these are so different than anything I have. I've had so many people say, "I don't think I could wear a ring like that" And I say, "yes you can, rock your style for Pete's sake!" Right? Life's too short, not to.
Rocker is smooshed up against my back here on the couch as I write this. Spring is here, but it's still a bit cold in our marble ice box of an apartment. Botch is out in factory land tonight trialling a mold, so it's just the Rock-man and me. I've got a conference call to make here in a half hour to my editor and the art director of my book. Did I tell you I started a second book? I'm so excited! More later...
The weekend flew by. I played around with some new beads. Made some soup. Soup sunday is alive and well--last night we ate it out of paper bowls because we are "so over" doing dishes...at least yesterday. Here's the links from the bead bloggers, sans mine. I always forget to post on the weeks of Ornament Thursday. Duh.
About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy has news about a unique jewelry design contest going on at a relatively new site for designers of all types.
Art Bead Scene
A Fit to Print Review that Sparkles!
Jewelry & Beading
Cyndi takes a little trip into macrame land in an attempt to find something new to do with a V pendant!
Katie's Beading Blog
The Triple Take projects for April are online for free download now! Read Katie's post for previews and links. And, don't forget to scroll back and visit this week's Ornament Thursday post.
Naughty Secretary Club
Shame on Jen for spreading Cyber Gossip!
PearlEsq.
Robin shares a fun technique with Ranger's new Adirondack Pigment Pens and Maya Road's new Sheer Sheets-it's sheerly colorific!
Snap out of it Jean! There's beading to be done!
Aardvark art glass repost: with my hand-made sterling 3 in 3 necklace, I teamed up with Cathy Lybarger, an amazing glass artist, as she experimented with painting on the insides of her hot glass beads, using enamel! This is now in my Links chain maille gallery on my site!
The Impatient Blogger
The Crafty Chica and The Impatient Beader share their craftastrophies in a no holds barred conversation. Yes, even the pros make crap sometimes. Leave your own True Craft Confessions in the comments!
