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!

Color, Color, Color!!

 I've been writing so much about my belly dance practice lately that I'm feeling a bit guilty about neglecting the beady side of my blog.  So here it is, at long last, a bead related post about color. 

I love color!  Ever since I was a little girl I've been obsessed with color and the desire to "collect" it and I have my Grandmother to thank for my color fixation.  She used to crochet, embroider, tat, sew, and quilt so she always had bags of scrap fabrics, odd bits of yarn and embroidery threads, etc. for me to play with.

Her own love of color was reflected in the way she decorated her house.  After living with one particular color scheme for a few years she would redecorate every single room.  And I'm talking drastic changes!  She went from green, yellow, and tan to cream, peach, and turquoise; followed by a cream, gold, and pink phase that was patiently tolerated by my Grandfather; to somber and moody burgundy, navy, ivory, bronze, and dark brown after he died.  When her house burned down she rebuilt with a painted desert color scheme and recently she has moved on to red, black, gray, and white.  If people could be inanimate objects in another life I strongly suspect that she was a kaleidoscope.

I don't have my Grandmother's flair for interior design so I satisfy my color craving with beads, yarn, embroidery floss, nail polish, and my latest obsession......paper.  I  recently started an art journal and My!  Oh, my!  There's a whole new world of color available to me in the form on fancy journal papers, stickers, stamps, inks, markers, pencils, and about a bazillion other things I have yet to discover.

And what does this have to do with beads?  Art journaling with beads!!!  Just think of the possibilities!!!  

*watercolor image provided by FreeDigitalPhotos

Birthday Bead Booty

A few posts ago I promised I would show you a picture of my birthday bead booty.  With the exception of the Linda Roberts dichroic cabochon everything here was bought from local bead shops like D&I Beads and Beads Galore.  I decided to keep my shopping local this year to do what I can to help my local bead economy.

The faceted free form rhyolite slabs are more beautiful in person than what you see in the picture.  So at this point I have to apologize for my lousy photography skills and promise that I will be improving them in the new year.  To start with I'm going to either invest in or learn to make a light box.   

I'm thinking of using some of these curved glass tube beads with the Linda's cabochon, but with me you just never know!

Something Margie Deeb said in an interview had me rethinking some of my color report projects so it looks as if I'll be pulling a few all nighters in order to make her deadline.  In the meantime you can read the interview for yourself here.   

Links to Enjoy and Share

I'm absolutely loving all this lovely, gray, chilly weather we've been having, but it does make it hard to photograph anything since I rely on the sun coming through the big bay window in my kitchen.  I'm thinking I need to invest in a light box, either homemade or store bought, in the near future.  I bought some fabulous goodies for my birthday and I want to share them with you.

So, instead of sharing bead purchases with you today I thought I would share some of my favorite websites and blogs:

That Is Priceless:  Art's greatest masterpieces, made slightly funnier.
The Straight Dope: If you want to know why we drive on a parkway and park on a drive way, this website can answer that, and whole lot more, for you.
Mildly Creative:  Meet Ken, a mildly creative guy, a humble guy, with a fantastic sense of humor, and more creative ability than he gives himself credit for.
Kristina Nelson-Crayon Artist:  Ever wondered whether or not fine art could be created with good ol' Crayola Crayons?  Guess what?  It can!
Prophecy of the Flame:  "Every good book should take you to a brand new world....Enjoy the journey."  My cousin, Lynn Hardy, and the first two books in her own amazing journey. 

Happy Holidays hugs to all and to all a good life!

Just Like I Promised

Last week, when I told you about Pantone's Color of the Year "Honeysuckle," I promised I would post progress pictures of my final project for Spring 2011.

To start, I thought I would spark your interest by showing the colors I'm working with.
In the photo above you see Silver Cloud, Blue Curacao, Regatta, Peapod, and Lavender.  Nice, cool, refreshing, tropical, but a bit sleepy, in my opinion. 

So I decided to liven it up with Honeysuckle!  A little bit here and a little bit there has had a big impact on the bead embroidered pendant I'm making. 

I've got a super busy weekend ahead that includes brunch with my 92 year old Grandma and a trip to a few bead stores in the way of a belated birthday celebration for myself so I'll post progress pictures next week.

Until then, happy beading, and happy dancing.

P.S.  I'll also try to find some time to photograph and post my pending bead haul.

Hello & Welcome

Hello and Welcome to my Belly Dancing Bead Blog!

I'm new here so basically this is a test post.

Testing....1,2,3.

I'm a belly dancer and bead artist living in the Phoenix area. For more about me view my profile. It needs a bit of work and as time goes on I'll be adding more tidbits to it. And photos! I'll be adding photos, too. Maybe even a picture of myself or some of my bead work as my avatar. For right now the pic of my cat, Tia Sushi will have to do.

As time goes on I'll be posting about belly dancing events around the Phoenix area as well as photos, etc. of my current bead projects, and any other miscellaneous dance and bead related musings I might have. I'll try to keep to the subjects at hand and not ramble or rant too much.

I promise I won't tell you all the little details of my life , such as "Today I went to the grocery store and bought some bananas, then came home and cleaned my toilet." Unless, of course, I cleaned my toilet with the bananas. That might be blog worthy.

Thanks for stopping by.

Namaste, Happy Beading, & Happy Dancing!