Hello Again!

It's shocking to think it's been 6 weeks since I last posted! Has it really been that long? 42 days? Yikes, that's a long time! Did you miss me? I certainly missed you.

Most of those 6 weeks I spent working on a contest entry. I know, that's a very long time to complete a single piece. I may have reached the end with only one, but I certainly designed far more than that. I went back and forth, tried new things, and threw out plenty of good ideas that just weren't perfect enough. What did I want? I'm not sure if even I knew. As usual, I was right up against the deadline. But I had to make SOMETHING. And finally I did. And I am really happy with it.

What!? No photos? Sorry, I can't show any just yet. But I will.


So what else did I do? As most of my creative time was spent dreaming up and throwing out contest designs, not to mention the actual making of the piece, I only got a few other things made.

A birthday bracelet for my awesome cousin.

A custom order dragon necklace.

Some new stamped beads with little butterflies.

And the first of my new favorite beads - a little "turquoise" pony with "coral" inlay.

I enjoyed a beautiful Luna moth in my window.

I thought about going riding. And then I thought about how hot it was and how much my horses would not appreciate me riding them and also how grumpy (and hot) I would get trying to ride a horse that did not want to be ridden. So I didn't.

I sorted through a jar of vintage buttons and found quite a few neat ones that you'll be seeing in new jewelry a little later.

I've been wanting to explore new color combinations, so I bought a book on color.

I went bead shopping on Etsy.

(Do you ever find when you have a project that must be finished, the ideas for other designs come so easily? All the ones that aren't at all right, but you'd really love to make them. That happened to me a lot.)

I thought about going riding again... still too hot? Yes. Definitely.

I celebrated the 4th of July with family and lots of good food. A firework show in town, more fireworks in the yard, and root beer floats.

I reorganized my work area.

On July 9th, two days before it was due, I submitted my design for the contest. Whew! Just in time!!

And now I'm happy to announce I'm back to work as usual! In the last couple days I finished shaping a batch of critter beads I had started back at the beginning of these 6 weeks, I started more turquoise horse beads, and made 3 1/2 necklaces, 2 bracelets, and 2 pairs of earrings. Woohoo!

The proof of all my work. What a mess! I'm wondering if there are as many wire trimmings as beads!

Happy Bead Table Wednesday!!! Boy, it's good to be back!

Be sure to check out what everyone's doing today - I know that's where I'm headed now... I've got a lot to catch up on...