I knew it before, but somehow it struck me another time today. If I get a little beading in my daily rountine and make something (even the most simple design) it provides me with instant happiness. I felt tired and mentally stuck those past weeks, and often could not motivate myself for the most simple things. So as promised, baby was cooperative today, took a nap at lunchtime, and in a half hour I made this bracelet.
Now look at this. It is red. It has a heart. This is so not me. Maybe it was because I was wearing red pants today (do you have days when you realize one colkor attracts your attention? I only realized it because these past months I dressed myself and the baby in the same color without realizing, and figured it out only when people asked me....)
I like it. It's cute and simple (it was a short nap, so I did not have a lot of time to go through my stash upstairs, but had to work with what was sitting down here closeby).
Then after I was so motivated I went to the home improvement store and picked up the Dremel Versaflame we ordered for my birthday (enameled beads, headpins, here I come). Strangely enough when a woman with a baby shows up the only thing that three (yes 3!) guys had to say: " oh, so you will make Creme Brulee tonight!" with a big smile that kind of went away when I said "No I need to melt some silver".
After that I went to the garden center and bought three cart loads of flower, then came home, cut the hedge, cleaned out the weeds in the veggie garden, and then bathed the baby.
Beading provides instant happiness and energy. And tomorrow I will meet with Stefanie and we will play a bit with our beads. Stay tuned for pictures.
The bead soup party will start this Saturday. For an entire week almost 100 designers that have joined the party will post their creations. That means over 10 blogs to visit every day. Isn't this fun?
Mine will be up on Monday June 21st (good that I have some days left, because I am still tweaking it).
So stay tuned for some beady fun.
You know by now that I have a new friend: Stefanie from Stefanie's Sammelsurium. She is also playing along in the Bead Soup Party, so we met on Tuesday to discuss our plans for the big reveal. None of us is done with our pieces right now, but we will do our best, both feeling challenged and wanting to create something really special. While Stefanie and I did some beady talk, her husband / boyfriend made a wonderful dinner that night - Chicken with a red wine, olive and tomato sauce - hmmmm - unfortunately my baby was at home with Nick, crying, so I felt a bit rushed to go back and help them out....
Stefanie made a ring for me that you can see in the (really not so good) picture above. I am not a big fan of the word, but she literally whipped it up in a half hour. The pictures really don't do it justice. I feels really warm on the hand when you wear it due to all this Sari ribbon. I think she should go and sell those - wouldn't you love to own one?
Thanks Stefanie, for the dinner, the evening, the ring and your wonderful company. To many more beady hours...
PS: by the way, her bead soup piece will be really cool I think - the beads she got from Marieke are really gorgeous, and paired with Stefanie's talent, we are waiting for a great piece to be revealed in less than two weeks.
This is my last post from the Netherlands where we spent our little vacation. Everybody left today, so it was kind of a sad day. Since I have been a kid, I always hated departure days after a school trip or a vacation. We spent the afternoon in the "subtropical swimming paradise" with the baby, which was not so subtropical and not so paradise, but it was fun for the baby. It cleared up afterwards, so we went for a walk later by the beach, and although it was really windy, it was nice.
Earlier in the day I made this bracelet. I love to make jewelry when I am on vacation, so the pieces will always remind me of the nice days spent. I am trying to make bigger things, so while this might still be really small to some of you, for me it is already quite big. And I love it. The question is just if I need to add a little charm on the chain. I am going back and forth with it. Any thought?
There will be no traditional ABS Carnival Blogger Post in June, due to a lot of us bloggers being busy with Bead and Button Show. The unfortunate ones that don't get to go have decided (under the lead of the talented Cindy Gimbrone) to fill the empty space by creating a tribute piece to Bead and Button show: a statement necklace. Now my statement contains neither a lot of beads nor a lot of buttons, but a lot of wire. For me, it is a true statement though. It is large. It is pink. It contains those wonderful etched lampwork beads from Mermaid Glass. 
I tried to get out of my comfort zone (everything I make is small and more delicate), thinking that I will probably never wear this. And guess what? I really love it. It hangs wonderfully around the neck and collarbone, plus it is a totally new shape for me.
Are you curious about more statements? Visit all the blogs below:
Cindy Dolezal Designs
Cindy Gimbrone
Intuitive Sparks by Christine Hansen
Island Girl's Insights
Janel Dudley
Jeannie's Blog
Jen Velasquez
Sharon's Jewelry Garden
Kate Clawson
Marcie Abney
Mary Harding
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ABS Carnival Bloggers,
Statement necklace
