I heart Mondays and Halloween

OK, I know this is the third time I've posted this picture of my girl here, but I just realized she's got a big green heart and she is my favorite Halloween decoration...

Have a great Monday!

I heart Mondays

Here's what I made with the millefiori hearts from my friend:

It's a delicate necklace using all the hearts and just an accent of Czech glass along the chain. Just what I need this winter to remember summer flowers and friends!

I heart Mondays

Can you make a wrapped loop? Then you can make this necklace. Can't make a wrapped loop? Come see me on Sunday and I'll teach you how. Not near Milwaukee ... hmm ... we'll have to work something out.

This is one of my gift hearts. I needed to stretch away from my normal color comfort zone, but I've been wearing this all day and it makes me happy. Next week I'll show you what I made with the millefiore hearts.

I heart Mondays and my friends

We were lucky this summer to see our dear friends of 19 years when they stopped for a quick overnight visit during their family vacation to Wisconsin and Illinois. Although the visit was short, it was delightful (and intense as we tried to pack a year's worth of conversation into 48 hours). My friend was so nice to bring me a special hostess gift. What I love about this is that she went out of her way to stop at a bead shop (not her thing, she's a cook as you'll see here) and select each of these beads just for me. She even had the owner write down the names of the stones, lest she forget before she gave them to me.


Clockwise from left, we have fluorite, Czech glass, died magnesite, and millefioriI especially like the Czech glass, because it's drilled horizontally -- not that common with hearts. What will I make? What would you make?

I heart Mondays and my backyard

We've had a nice, long, lazy weekend and we've been spending our evenings in the back yard, enjoying the sunset, eating really good fresh food, and then enjoying the bonfire after dark. These end-of-summer days seem precious and I'm happy we've slowed down the pace a little and just kicked back. Happy Labor Day weekend.

I heart Mondays

When I was purchasing some last-minute must-have supplies at my local bead store, the salesperson stopped in the middle of ringing up my transaction and went to assist the UPS guy. Normally, this would be poor customer service, but it allowed me a few minutes to search through the bargain bin they keep near the register. I couldn't resist this purchase. I guess poor customer service really is more like a good sales technique!

I think this would look pretty on leather cord with maybe a double jump ring connection. But instead, I'm going to try my hand at bead stitching. I'm going to make one of Beth Stone's skinny ropes (as soon as I turn in my book), and see if I can stitch a bail as well. I'll post again when the project is finished.

And speaking of the book, my deadline is a week away. I finished my last round of step-by-step photography today. The workspace is getting worse, but I'm really happy with the projects. I can't wait to share more with you.

I heart Mondays

I had a little extra time to do some web surfing this weekend and it was fun to peek in on blogs I don't follow regularly to "catch up." Here's a darling heart cham made by Tammy Powley:

You can buy the charm at her Etsy Shop, and don't forget to check out her blog, either.

I heart Mondays

For today's post, I'm going to revisit this cute bracelet I made following directions from Australian Beading magazine:

The heart was a lot harder to make than I thought it would be. In fact, I made about five before I was happy enough with one for the bracelet. I couldn't part with the rejects, though -- they weren't good enough for the bracelet, but they were still appealing in a rustic sort of way.

I wasn't sure how this project would go, so I used German jewelry wire (silver-plated copper) instead of sterling silver to practice. I loved making the "garage-door" links. I was lazy with the jump rings, because I was eager to get the project done.

When I was finished, I loved the project, and wished I had made it in sterling. After a few days of wearing it, one of the connectors snapped. I am sure this is because the metal hardened too much as I was working with it and became brittle. (I have a tendency to get carried away with the hammering and texturing stage, plus the wire wrapping with a gauge this large -- 16? -- requires some wrasseling.) Then, it couldn't stand up to the action a bracelet gets during the course of a few days. So now, this sad little bracelet is in a pile on my work table. I can't bring myself to get rid of it until I recreate it in sterling.

Lessons learned? I'm really not a prototype person. If I'm going to make something, I should just go ahead and make it the right way, the first time. Pay more attention to the little details (jump rings) and have a lighter hand with the texturing.

Hmm. I have the urge to find some wire...

I heart Mondays - Elemental Adornments

Today I bring you the artwork of Christi Anderson of Elemental Adornments. While I adore her birdhouses and scrapbooks, I am quite enamored with her heart series. Please click through and view her gallery (I'm not comfortable with copying pictures from her website, and I haven't purchased a heart of my own (yet)). I've met Christi several times at Bead & Button. What I like the most about her art is the stories and symbolism incorporated into each piece. You're not just buying a pendant, you're buying a true reflection of the artist.

I heart Mondays

This time of year, gardening is on my mind. I love my flower beds, and am particularly fond of old fashioned, traditional blooms -- peonies, roses, iris, daylillies, bachelor's button, and bleeding heart to name a few.

May was so busy that my bleeding heart (I always thought that was such a sad name for a beautiful plant) came and went without me photographing it. But, I wanted to show you this instead: Debra Gabel's Bleeding Heart quilt pattern. I'm not sure if this link will work directly, but if you get to her site, click on patterns and then on florals. The bleeding heart quilt is the last choice.

So what's in your garden?

I heart Mondays

I love to take jewelry making classes. Actually, I love to take all kinds of classes. I think learning from someone else, and having to follow their directions, opens your mind and helps you bring new ideas to your original work. Several years ago, I took a class at the Bead & Button show with Louise Duhamel. We made this great bracelet (I added the heart dangle to cover an "oops" of mine -- I made the bracelet a little too big, so I had to take up some wire with an extra loop. If I were to make another, I think I'd repeat my mistake, since I like the solution so much).


Bead & Button is less than a month away. There are still spaces left in many classes. Go here to find out more about the show, and let me know if you're coming to Milwaukee!

This year I'm so excited to be taking a workshop with Kim St. Jean. I'm looking forward to learning about soldering, and to expand my metalworking skills.

I heart Mondays

I can always recognize a lilac tree by its heart shaped leaves.

We're lucky to have several varieties on our property and they could be quite old.

Although most of you are well into Spring, we've only just begun around here. The daffodils are still out, and we're just beginning to get tulips. The leaves are just beginning to leaf.

When we lived in Rochester, N.Y., the Highlad Park Lilac Festival was always a favorite outing, especially because it coincided with our wedding anniversary. If you're anywhere near the area, make a special trip to Highland Park. With or without the festival, the lilacs put on a tremendous show of their own.

I heart Mondays

I don't have a jewelry box. I have jewelry boxes. In fact my dresser is covered with my box collection. I have a large box (an antique portable writing desk) that holds earrings, a rectangular wooden box for necklaces, a nifty square box for bracelets, a leather-covered box for "sparkly" jewelry, another wooden box for odds and ends, and then I have these little boxes. One, from my grandmother, houses a lapel pin from my grandfather. One is filled with safety pins. One has a few baby teeth that the tooth fairy left behind. One was given to me by my father when I was about 10 years old. The heart-shaped Christmas cat was a gift from my cousin, and the heart-shaped button box was a nursery-school masterpiece that I still use and love.

This eclectic system works for me. I can always find what I want, and pieces remain fairly tangle-free. How do you store your jewelry?

I heart Mondays

Here's the heart for today...

This bead is made by Unicorne Beads and is borosilicate glass with dichroic. I'll be using it in a project in my next book.

Hope you had a fun weekend. I had a great time in Naperville. It was wonderful to talk to so many enthusiastic beaders!

I heart Mondays

This is a simple necklace of pearls and silver. It features a beautiful Hill Tribes silver heart pendant. Hill Tribes silver is hand crafted in Thailand by the tribes that literally live in the hills, the most common being named Karen. That explains my preference for these beautiful components. They are made from fine silver, which is more pure than sterling. For more Hill Tribes silver components, click here.

I heart Mondays

Thanks to Lorelei and Stacy for the encouragement (and subtle pressure), I have two necklaces to show using last week's heart charms. The Tory Burch necklace got me thinking about cord, but I decided that these charms should stand on their own, after all. Here's my first creation:

and a close up of the knotting detail:

The second one uses candy-colored Czech glass beads, Swarovski crystal accents, and is as plain and as sweet as can be. Although it was snowing when I made it, it made me think of Spring.

I heart Mondays

I've been sorting through my bead stash for a few reasons. First, it never hurts to take a look at what you've got, because depending on your mood, you'll see things in a different way. Second, the Bead & Button show is only a few months away, and I realize I haven't used much of what I bought last year yet! Third, it's easy to forget about things, like these charms, when they're tucked away safely. I'm a firm believer in letting your mind wander with an idea for a while until inspiration strikes -- but that's hard to do when you can't remember what you've got to work with. I clearly have a "thing" for heart charms. The hollow heart could be a bead frame. It's from Hip Chick Beads. The hands are from Art Girlz. The rest of the charms are from Wynwoods Gallery & Bead Studio.

What will I do with them? Each of these is cute enough to be on its own on a simple cord or tiny beaded strand. There's always the charm bracelet option. Hmmm... as I write this I'm reminded of a necklace I saw in Oprah by Tory Burch. Maybe these charms should stay together, after all.

I heart Mondays

Here's what Meredith made me for my birthday last year. It's the perfect way to say "I love you," when you're too cool to actually say "I love you."

I heart Mondays

Here's a simple little project for you, made of hearts. It's a great embellishment for cards. All you need is a heart-shaped punch and two shades of paper. If you don't have punch, you can trace a pattern on cardboard. I use my heart-shaped cookie cutters for crafts more than cookies!

Punch four hearts in one color and four in a second color. Attach the first color at the points with the edges overlapping slightly. Repeat with the second color. Glue the two circles together so the curved edges are slightly out of alignment. To finish, use a mini punch to make a four-heart center, and top with a rhinestone. Voila.

I heart Mondays (and Tuesdays)

Here's the post I intended for yesterday. This beautiful necklace and earring set were a gift from my CHA friend Gail Ritchey. I just love them. And, I'm even more excited that Gail has a polymer clay book project underway -- look for the release next year.

My photo doesn't show Gail's excellent color blending. My all-time favorite shade of blue is swirled with veins of true silver, making the simple ear wires a perfect accent. Thanks, Gail :)