Three in One

I am pleased to announce that three deadlines were successfully meeted and greeted this past weekend and I am now able to leave my bead cave for a few hours here and there, mostly for belly dance classes and troupe rehearsal.  I sent off a few submissions to Stringing magazine to be considered for the Winter 2011 issue, as well as a few submissions to Margie Deeb to be photographed for a call for entry for Lark Books' upcoming 500 Beaded Jewelry.  Wish me luck on that last one.  It's an international call and I know my pieces are going to be up against some tough competition.  One of those pieces is the black matte, bright green, and red necklace I was complaining....um...talking about on Facebook.  Black matte seed beads, black thread, and a highly reflective green cabochon.  Oh, my aching eyes!  Even if it doesn't make it in the book, I'm especially proud of that necklace.  Trust me, it's amazing and eventually, one way or another, you'll be able to see a picture of it.  The third deadline was some behind the scenes help that Margie asked if I could do for her for the upcoming Fall 2011 Pantone Color Report.  

And speaking of which; my 4th deadline is just that, the color report.  One of my chosen colors is "Ember Glow," a bright, juicy orange, which I will be pairing with "Cedar" and "Coffee Liquer." 

After my color report projects are finished I'm looking forward to having a little bit of time to bead just for me and to finishing up a few crochet projects that have been calling to me.  I need to have something fabulous to wear, clothing and jewelry wise, to a few uber terrific belly dance events coming up in the Fall.

So, for now I'll leave you with a picture of my color choices and some of the raw materials I'll be using.  I'll be posting some progress pictures in a few days.

Take A Deep Breath And Hit "Send"

 I've been a regular contributor to a variety of bead publications for the past 11 years, but I found myself to be a little bit nervous and a lot bit excited today when I sent off the electronic portion of my submissions for the Fall 2011 issue of Stringing magazine.  

I submitted 4 bracelets to be considered for the gallery portion of the magazine.  I had plans for making a few necklaces and some earrings, but those ideas fell by the wayside while I did battle with the Snot Monster.  

Motherhood has been the main focus over the past three years so my nervousness comes from feeling somewhat out of touch with the beading community.  On the one hand, I've never been much of a trend follower, but on the other hand, I do believe I need to at least be aware of what the current fashions are all the rage in Beadlandia. 

Wish me luck!  

In the meantime, you can see some of my recent work in the Spring 2011 issue of Margie Deeb's Color Report for Bead and Jewelry Designers.  And just for this color report, with each purchase, Margie is including a free PDF of instructions for my lovely, lovely Dolphino beaded beads, as seen in the picture above.

Now for a bit of belly dance news:

Three days of rehearsal while doing battle with the aforementioned Snot Monster has left me exhausted, but I've still been able to keep up with my 365 Days of Belly Dance challenge.  I'm currently at 89 days and 3,520 minutes of dancing.  

Sadly, with all these extra rehearsals I had to give up my tribal class, at least for now.  I may be able to return to class in mid-April after the Mujeres 3 show on April 9th.  Happily, I did sign up for 6 months of on-line classes with Ansuya and I'll be doing those at least once and possibly twice a week.