Adding Crystals to my life.

Recently I ordered some Swarovski crystals from Artbeads.com so that I could play with some new stuff and to try out some of the crystal that my LBS doesn't happen to carry. I made a small order and wanted to choose things that I could relatively quickly turn into finished pieces with the crystal and supplies I already have.

Artbeads.com has a pretty impressive collection of Swarovski Elements and keeping the order reasonable was pretty challenging since I wanted some of everything. One of the nice things is that they have free shipping on all orders in the USA or $1 to Canada. (More money to spend on crystals.)

The photo above is my order all wrapped up in purple tissue paper which I think I will have to use in a collage once my studio is up and running. The photo below is all of my goodies laid out. What did I order? 100 each of the 3 mm and 4 mm Crystal Heliotrope bi-cones, 12 mm rivolis in Crystal Copper and Crystal Vitrail Light, 14 mm rivolis in Amethyst, 10 mm rivoli buttons in Crystal Meridian Blue, 2 of the brand new Fish Pendants in Crystal Golden Shadow and 2 of the smaller 16 x 26 mm leaf pendants in Topaz.
So what do I think of all of my new pretties and what are they getting made into? The bi-cones were a no brainer for me since I had previously purchased that color. Crystal Heliotrope is a hard color to find so I was thrilled when I saw they had it. It looks sort of grey with flashes of purple and blue so it is perfect when you want something refined with a bit of fun. These and the buttons are going into some spiral rope jewelry. The buttons are a a neat blue with flashes of pink and orange and other colors depending on the light and make great clasps.

The rivolis are all going into wire wrapped rivoli earrings which is one of my newer classes that I am offering at Bead Boutique. All of the colors are gorgeous. I've worked with both Amethyst and Crystal Vitrail Light before, the crystal copper is a new color for me and I really impressed with how rich it looked. I have loved the leaf shaped pendant since they came out with it but only recently had purchased some in the clear crystal for some winter leaf earrings so I was really looking forward to the topaz ones since I knew they would make wonderful fall earrings. Last but far from least is the brand new fish pendant which is one of the new Fall/Winter shapes from Swarovski. They looked cool online but in person they are so much better. They have such depth and facets to really catch the light. I may have to try more of these in some of their other colors. Fish earrings here we come.
With my order I got a Share the Savings Card that I would like to share with anyone who would be interested in checking out Artbeads.com for themselves. Although I just purchased crystal this time they have lots of other goodies. With the code I am including you can get 10% off your order through the end of the year. The code is SCF10P-ARTBEADS-0424. Now to figure out what I want to get next? Maybe some seed beads for next years Bead Journal Project which starts in January? MMMM.........

Come back in a few days to see what I have done with all of these yummy crystals.

I Dream in Color

Actually the truth is I seldom dream in color or even in images but the title is meant to suggest the fact that the last couple of months I have been a bit obsessed with color as I contemplate all of the colors I want to use in the new home we are building. I am probably going completely overboard but since after years of living in houses where all of the walls were white or off white I want to be surrounded by color. The photos for this post are of the paint strips and some of the curtain fabric that we have chosen.
We have pretty much chosen the colors we are planning on using and have a mere 11 colors. I know I am sure people are going to wonder if I am insane. (3 of those are blues, 4 purples, a grey and the rest are gold to copper.) We have decided to go with Harmony paints by Sherwin Williams. It is a no VOC so hopefully it won't be hard on my head. Most of the walls will eventually be painted. Most of the trim and ceilings will be left white as a crisp contrast. We will be putting in our own hardwood floors in lots of the rooms. Doing it ourselves will allow us to use hardwood on more floors and use a couple of woods that the builder did not carry like Purple-heart and Bloodwood.
I have ordered most of the fabrics I want for the curtains for the main rooms in the house and our Master suite. In my first wave of curtain making I am doing 18 curtain panels (all lined, 2 interlined) and 6 Roman shades. It will take a while but I have a really good start on the 8 curtain panels for our bedroom. It is a gorgeous navy blue silk dupioni fabric. It is a lot nicer to work with than I thought it would be. I am including photos of the house from the lot until it is painted and decorated in my web gallery. It has been a lot of fun watching it come together and I think that our builders (Quality Built Homes) has been doing a good job so far.

Building a Home

Wayne and I have decided to take pictures as our new home develops so that anyone who wants to share in the journey can. We were having a hard time finding a house that had all of the things we needed and wanted so after looking and looking and trying to decide what we would be willing to compromise on we looked at some new construction and then looked at a couple of builders. Quality Built Homes had features that we liked and had a floor plan that with some modifications looked to be the closest to what we were looking for.
Some of the photos we are taking are going onto my web gallery. We try to get out to the house about once a week or so and it has been fun to see all the differences from one visit to the next. The first photo above is Wayne looking at one of the marker flags on the property. The next one is after they started digging for the basement.
Here the basement walls have been pored. The garage is closest to the camera. When I left for Iowa that was were we were in the construction. While I was gone Wayne took photos and put them on the gallery so that I could see them.
Here the first floor gets framed in. and while I was gone the second floor and roof went up and the windows started getting put in. The photo below is from my first visit once I got back. The shingles are on and most of the windows were in. When I visited on Monday all of the windows were in and a lot of the air handling systems were in although not all of them. We also had stairs to get between floors.
I am planning on keeping this going after we move into the house so we can document the hardwood floors that we are going to put in and all of the painting and other changes we are going to make to the house to make it our home. At this point a lot of my creative energy is going into making decisions for the house. Picking out colors (only 13 or so at last count), fabrics for curtains and Roman shades that I will make and other fun choices. I occasionally wake up from dreaming about house colors so it seems that I am definitely invested in this project. I hope that you will enjoy the ride with us.

The Passing of a Great Woman

On the 30th of August my Grandmother died and I have spent the last 2 weeks at home with my folks going to the funeral and helping as much as I could. Although she was 106 she didn't die of old age but complications of surgery for skin cancer on her face. In ways it is surprising to have her gone we all expected her to be around longer. She had told me she would see me when she was 110. The thing is I wouldn't have been a bit surprised if I had seen her when she was 110.

Grandma had a great love of reading non-fiction and loved her garden and birds. Born to a later generation I think she would have become a botanist or something else to utilize her love of learning and plants and knowledge.

She lived for her family which wasn't small and could never wait for the next grand, great grand or great-great grand baby to come along. Her room was always full of the photos and letters that we all sent her and she was always so excited when she could say that she had a grand daughter living in Japan, Hawaii or the less exciting places that we called home.

She was an amazing person and she will be missed by all of her family and friends.

Good-bye Grandma

Leola Throne

Leola Throne, age 106, of Battle Creek, Iowa, died Sunday, August 30, 2009, at Horn Memorial Hospital in Ida Grove, Iowa. Funeral services will be held 10:30 a.m. Thursday, September 3, 2009, at the First Presbyterian Church in Battle Creek, Iowa, under the direction of Christensen-Huffman Funeral Homes. The Reverend Kevin J. Freese will officiate, with burial to follow in Mount Hope Cemetery, Battle Creek, Iowa. Friends may call at Christensen-Huffman Funeral Home in Battle Creek on Wednesday from 4-8 p.m. Born August 7, 1903, in Lebanon, Missouri, Leola Throne was the daughter of Daniel and Lavicia (Mizer) Thomas. She spent her adult life in the Battle Creek area and married Henry Throne on April 4, 1921. They operated a farm north of Battle Creek, Iowa, where they raised their family of eight children. Henry died on January 30, 1949. Left with young children to raise, Leola bravely met the challenge. She was a loving and hard-working mother; her family always came first. Leola was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Battle Creek and a charter member of the Neighborly Neighbors Club. Over the years, Leola has enjoyed traveling to visit family members and participating in several large family reunions through her 106th birthday. In addition to her family, Leola's interest was always in gardening, nature, and working outdoors. She is survived by five children, Donnabelle (William) Strudwick of Muskegon, MI, Nolan (Sandra) Throne of Muskegon, MI, Eugene (Linda) Throne of Stockton, MO, Judith (Marlen) Pellersels of Sac City, and Barbara (Roger) Welte of Aiken, SC; two daughters-in-law, Carlene Gehrts of Sioux City and Betty Throne of Colorado Springs, CO; 19 grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; 26 great-grandchildren; five step-great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandsons. Other survivors include a sister, Alberta (Charles) Sherwood of Ehprata, WA; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband; three sons, Norman Throne at age 20 months, Richard Throne at age 69, and Ernest Throne at age 77; her parents; two brothers, Wilbur and William Thomas; and five sisters, Florene Thomas, Marie Thomas, Dorothy Weis, Doris Iwen, and Lora Williamson.

Trip to Boston and Bead Fest.

As usual lately I am behind myself. I need to get back into the swing of things and get back to blogging more regularly. Wayne and I had a great trip to Boston in the last half of July. Attending the Change of Command for the USS Constitution was a really neat experience even if it was a bit on the rainy side. In the afternoon we had a great time with all of Tim and Mary Ellen's family and friends at the local brewpub.

Wayne and I also spent some time going to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on Saturday. I had a really good time there and enjoyed seeing her eclectic collection of art.

We stayed at a nice hotel and had some good meals and spent some time just taking it easy. Over all it was a wonderful trip.

On Monday I got back from a wonderful long weekend up in Philly attending Bead Fest. I took 6 classes and over achiever that I am finished all of my projects before I came home. I had good teachers and enjoyed every class. I found it interesting the difference I felt in my energy between the wire classes and the stitching/seed bead classes. Stitching is much more zen like for me and I could just relax into doing it, I have to think more for the wire and so although still fun it isn't as calming for me.
On Thursday during the day I took this class with Stephanie Everett. We made a necklet that has the clasp in the front that you can hang different pendents on. I managed to get two pendents made although I made them with my style and techniques instead of hers since I already know how to make wire wrapped cabs. Stephanie is a good teacher, I had taken a chain maille class with her last year.
Thursday night I took the Herringbone Hoops class below with Cristina Amador I managed to get 2 pairs of earrings done in the 3 hour class and love how fun and easy these are to make. I picked up the herringbone wrap really quickly. This was Cristina's first class in English and she did really well. The room was a bit darker but we all managed.
Friday I got to start working on this stunning bracelet (below) It is called Davida's Dream and is by Amy Katz. The piece as you can see is gorgeous and her instructions were well written, always a plus. She was a lot of as a teacher. She ended up with 6 of us in her class that were teachers so she was impressed at how well we did. Even those who were slower were more what she was used to for average. I got my piece at least 3/4 finished in class and finished it up on Saturday night while I was waiting for Dave and Renee to come home from their anniversary trip. I stayed at their house and although we didn't get to spend a lot of time together Dave made a wonderful supper Sunday night and we talked and they got to see the color samples that I have so far for the house.
On Saturday during the day I took Three Wire Wrapped Earrings class with Debora Mauser. This was a fun class and I got to try several new things with wire. My favorite are the dangle earrings on the right. I really enjoyed playing with not quite matching earrings and trying and mixing different techniques and metals in one pair of earrings.
Saturday night I took a just for fun class. Crystal Elements with Leslee Frumin was that a fun class. I know have these 4 little pieces to play with. I think the beads would be ultra cool on a simple chain necklace or bracelet. They were really quick to work up and look wicked cool.
Sunday I took my last and most elaborate class. It was Wire Wrapped Copper Collar with Lamp work Bead with Sally Stevens. Her daughter Shannon does the lamp worked beads. I wanted my piece to be asymmetrical and really liked how it turned out. I like the combination of lamp work beads with the metal and how all of the different textures work together in this piece. I had sore thumbs once I was done with this one. I am enjoying watching the copper start to slowly patina before my eyes, each day it is a little different. Who needs liver of sulfur when nature will do it just fine.
I didn't have a lot of time for shopping on this trip which is just as well since I had no trouble spending my money in the time I did have. I only ended up with a couple of seed beads, but didn't need anything specific in seed beads so stuck to what I did need. What a great time.

Trip to Boston

July hasn't calmed down yet but we got through our appointment at the Design Center for the house so most of our choices with the builder should be done. Now we just get to watch them build our new home.

I am hoping things will start to settle down some. I got some work done this last weekend including a bit more work on my Sacred Tree BJP May block. I still have more work to do on it but it is no longer stalled which is nice.

The other project I worked on recently is the watercolor above. We are sailing off (OK really we are flying) to go to Boston to go to the Change of Command for the USS Constitution (Named after the Constitution of the United States of America by President George Washington, she is the oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat in the world.) We have a friend who will be taking over as the Commanding Officer for this beautiful vessel. I wanted to give him a piece of art work as a gift for this wonderful day. Wayne an I are both looking forward for the chance to take this trip and hope to just chill out a bit.

I am planning on taking my BJP pages so that I can work on them while we are traveling. Really just hoping that I don't forget anything important.

New Temporary Home

I must say that June and early July were entirely too hectic and that I have been unable to do any thing creative in far far too long. Things should start settling down a little bit now so maybe I will find some time to create and just be.

After looking at 60+ houses in the local area and none really speaking to us (some would have worked but none seemed just right) Wayne and I decided to have a house built. Hopefully they will get back to us with a projected date and get started on it soon. So many of the houses required more give than we wanted to the spaces we wanted. I must admit lack of a good studio space knocked quite a few out of the running. Wayne understands though so when we could find a good house we decided to build. The good news is that we have similar tastes and visions for the house. The builder (Quality Built Homes) is a semi-custom so there are some things we might have done that we won't be able to but we will be changing some things as soon as we close on the house.

I am so looking forward to being able to decorate however I want and not be worried about changing it all back to boring white or beige in a couple of years. I am thinking bold colors. Wayne suggested purpleheart hardwood floors for my studio which I think would be really cool. We will probably adding hardwood to most of the main spaces. Still deciding on what kind(s) we want.

June was spent looking at houses, talking to the builder and getting ready for a move. Wayne spent some time ripping the engine out of the older Integra and since the movers wouldn't take it without him draining all of the fluids we moved it with us. Good thing he got that handy engine hoist.

It was challenging trying to make sure I had what I needed for 6 months of being creative. We moved pretty much all of my beads and any other project I thought I would want to work on the next several months. I also brought my sewing machine so that I can get a head start on sewing curtains if I want to. I saw some beautiful dupioni silk that would look great so may order some if I can make up my mind on colors for the rooms. The only room I am pretty set on is the dining room. That is going to be two shades of blue with silver/grey accents. Nope I am so not going subtle. I can always repaint if I don't like it in a couple of years. I want to go spend some time at Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore and look at what they have in colors and types of paint.

Now that we have moved into our new temporary home things should settle down and I should be able to spend a bit of time creating. I still have a bit of organizing to do but after that I am planning on just going a bit crazy working on creating. I am still only part way through my May BJP page and would really like to spend some time on that and working on other projects that I have fallen behind on.