Treasure!!

As promised here's a picture of the vintage goodies that I recently received from A Grain of Sand's "Curiosities" bead hoarder club. 

This first box contained mostly plastic, chain, and brass stampings along with some copper clasps, seed beads, glass, a few crystals, and two bangles that my daughter made off with in less than sixty seconds.

Indigo and I had a blast sorting through all of this and making up little piles for her bead stash, my inventory, our craft box, plus a few things for the donation box.   

Look at these adorable Scottie dog stampings!  I managed to sneak them out of the pile before Indigo saw them.  I have no idea as to what I'll be doing with them; they're too big for me to wear as earrings, and I don't know anyone who owns Scotties, so I may find a way to drill a hole in one so that Indigo can make it into a necklace for herself.

 It's mid March and I'm already looking forward to my next club shipment.  I'm wondering if this first box was a random mix or given that it had so much plastic and metal,  if maybe this was a theme.  Either way, it can't come soon enough for me!

The Bead Challenge Goes On

I'm still hard at work on some gallery pieces for Margie's Deeb upcoming design book but I still took some time out for the Fusion Bead 30 Day Bead Challenge. 

Day 5.  Incorporate Chain Into a Jewelry Design:   I did and the two designs I came up with were so good that I decided to keep them under wraps as future Stringing magazine submissions.  Wish me luck!

Day 6.  Create Your Own Palette:  This is something I do all the time.  Two of my favorites methods are coloring and playing with paint chip samples. 

 

Day 7.  Use a Different Metal in Your Jewelry:  I'm not a metal purist; if I like it I'll use it, so I skipped this one.

As for Days 8-11, they'll have to wait until next month.  

In other news, I joined A Grain of Sand's bead hoarder's club, the 12 month plan, and received the first box last week.  I'll post some thoughts and pictures later on in the week.