Sue Beads

Here's a photo of the seasons beads, all together! Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter - I really like this series - I will put them up for sale at some point, but for now, I like looking at them and feeling them. I think my favorite is the blue one, but I really like them all! Now for some recent purchases. I bought this kitty charm from Beth at Hint - you may know that I had two kitties for years (17 and 15) and I just miss them so much! Sometimes I even think they are still around; out of the corner of my eye, I think, what's Tom doing there? Or Booty would love this sunshine coming in the door! They really add so much to our lives, so I had to get this charm. I purchased these Sugar Skull charms from Melanie at Earthenwood Studios . I know, it's not the season for them, but she was having a sale, and it's better than buying shoes, right??? Finally, I purchased this beautiful clay connector from Dot at Winchell Clayworks - she has some beautiful things in her shop - ...

Just eye candy today - we spent some time today at a People to People Student Ambassador meeting today for my son - he is going to France and England this summer. Then the engineer and son came up, and we had pizza, and built a fire and watched Mummy 3 - very funny! Tomorrow I'll have a more substantial post, after church, brunch, laundry, etc.!

Seasons - Winter - Focal Bead by Sue of SueBeads Here's the winter focal - it's clear with some very light murrini and violet, pink and silvered ivory swirled on the ends! I like it!

Seasons - Fall - Focal Bead by Sue of SueBeads Seasons - Spring - Focal Bead by Sue of SueBeads Seasons - Summer - Focal Bead by Sue of SueBeads I am having a great time making focals lately. I can just sit at the torch, pick some color combinations, and concentrate on the focal. Each one takes about 15 minutes or so to make. It's great to be absorbed in something like that! Here is a cool set I made - Seasons - Winter was made today and I'll post it tomorrow!

I am having lots of fun making focals! I had a bead order to do today, and made some more focals but have to take pictures of them. In the meantime, I listed these two focals in the SueBeads etsy store today! Take a look!

This is my boy getting his e-dan certificate this morning! Now he's a second degree black belt! 11 years old! (Too bad my new camera made the photo blurry!!!)

I listed some more beads in the SueBeads etsy store - those focals went fast! I'm happy! I made more yesterday; I have to photo and process them and I can list more later or tomorrow! These beads today make me happy - I hope they make you happy too! By the way, my good friend Jill is on her way to Haiti - she's an emergency planner and is going to put her skills to good use! I'll be hoping she stays safe and would like to ask all my blogland friends to keep her in their thoughts, as well! Thank you!

I finally learned how to crop and watermark my own photos, so the engineer gets a break! I just processed a bunch of photos, and among them are these two focals I just listed in the SueBeads etsy store! I really like the focals I've been making - kind of getting me out of my rut! I'll probably list some more beads tomorrow, but right now, I want to go clean the 8 focals I made today!

I'm on a focal-creating blitz these past few days! I have a lot of fun when I have time to sit down and just make focals! I love these ones - I love the tube focals! I made five more yesterday and eight today - I just need to process the photos, then I'll list them in the etsy store. In the meantime, if you like these ones, you can find them for sale in the SueBeads etsy store !

My kids both recently had their band concerts - my son plays the clarinet and my daughter plays the bass saxophone and the alto saxophone. They are both first chair in their respective instruments! I am so proud of them. Here are some photos from their concerts. The first one is my cute son - he's right in front! The second one is my daughter - since they tend to put the big instruments further back, I need to point out that she is the blondie. You can catch a glimpse of the giant baritone sax on the far right of the photo! In other news, I had fun making some focals yesterday and today - I'm more thrilled with the ones today (although you never know until they actually come out of the kiln) but hopefully I'll have some up for sale tomorrow. The engineer was evacuated out of his building today because of a bomb threat - second week of school. I don't know what's up with these college students these days - this never happened when I was in college. Only on pl...

I just listed some new beads in the etsy store , most notably the two you see above! The Trio is made from ivory and silver plum, and etched. The tab focal is made from light turquoise and raku! Remember, turquoise is the color of the year!!! Tonight, my daughter has her Upper School Orchestra Concert. In addition to the alto saxophone, the band director bought a baritone saxophone for her to play - it must weigh as much as she does! I hope to get a good photo of her playing it tonight - they tend to put those large instruments in the back, so hopefully I can get one! I'll post it tomorrow! Also, Nancy from Round Rabbit Extra sent me my bead soup package and I received it today. I will take a photo and post that tomorrow too! She does such nice work!

I listed a new focal bead in the SueBeads etsy store . I have seen that Pantone picked turquoise as the color of the year, and I was happy! I love this color. Turquoise etches so well, and reacts with other glasses which makes it very fun to use! I like this tube shape too - you can use it as a pendant, a horizontal focal or in a bracelet!

The sale item of the day today is Hearts - which you can find in the SueBeads etsy store . At 15% off, (were $27, now $22.95) they are a great deal to make a cute valentine bracelet!

A while back (October) I went to San Diego, and I showed you beads from one of the bead shops I visited. This is the next set - from The Black Bead right down by the beach in San Diego. It was in a funky neighborhood on Newport Avenue. These beads are (in order) Russian Amazonite, Blue Opal, and Imperial Turquoise. I really like the turquoise - can't wait to use it! The beads in that store were pretty expensive, which is why I only got these three strands. But they are all pretty!

Whew! I had a migraine all day yesterday and basically got very little done. Today I feel better, just the migraine hangover. I feel like I was punched in the eyes, and am tired. Little headache left over, but I must soldier on! Too much to do! I just listed some valentiney beads in my SueBeads etsy store ! I don't know how many people make valentiney jewelry, but it's cute for a little pick-me-up!

I found this beautiful recycled sari silk braided yarn and bought a skein, to use in jewelry designs. Of course, there's way too much so I decided to sell some in my SueBeads etsy shop . It's $1 a foot - cut in 3 foot sections - do you think this is a fair price, and a good length to offer? You can get a larger piece if you want - just let me know! To cut down on shipping costs, I am shipping the yarn in small baggies in regular envelopes. I hope you like it!

I'll have some new beads in the etsy store tomorrow - I am kind of caught up in the Haiti disaster - and my other job - and the engineer is hopefully going to process my pics tonight. I have to say, it feels so trivial to be telling you about beads when the people in Haiti don't even have water. I guess life has to go on - an existential viewpoint, for sure, but a universal truth, as well. Please see my beads in my etsy store and watch for some new ones tomorrow!

The most urgent thing relief organizations need right now is money to help the people in Haiti. You can donate through the White House here to make sure your money is going to the right place, and not to scammers.

I made some heart beads, they are in the etsy SueBeads store right now! I'll be making some more tomorrow, this way (which is good for bracelets) and oriented the other way, which are good for earrings!

I am in a rut - a bead rut. I am just not feeling the beadmaking vibes, muse, whatever you want to call it. I do have two orders I will be making tomorrow, but otherwise, I haven't really been making any beads. It's been pretty cold here, for one thing. This is the most snow we've had in years - about 12 inches on the ground, all coming in the past 10 days. There was no school on Friday. It's funny, because even though there's no school, people manage to make it up to the slopes to snowboard or ski (my daughter being one of them!). There are some nice beads in my SueBeads etsy store ready for you to purchase, to make your next jewelry design. I've been doing a lot of cleaning out lately, but maybe I'll get the beading feeling back in the next few days! And, thank you all for the very nice comments about my recent publications!!!!

I stole Melissa Lee's verbiage - I just thought I'd share some info on a few publications in which you can find my work this winter! The first one is the AGLF 2010 Calendar (Artisan and Glasswork Legal Fund) which you can find here in Betsy's etsy store ! This calendar is a fund raiser to help pay for the legal fees that will arise in the lawsuit against the Wacko from Waco who is slandering many lampwork and other artisans! You can get yours for $20 - it's a great deal! My beads appear in the months of February and November! This next one is the Winter Issue of Stringing Magazine . I have a bracelet, Monet's Garden, in the bracelet section. You can buy the beads to make the bracelet here on my WEB SITE ! The December 2009 Bead Trends Magazine is the first Bead Trends in which I appear - when I received my advanced copy, I was really blown away! It's such a class magazine, and they take absolutely beautiful photos of the jewelry! You can buy it here ! ...

Join Lori's Bead Soup Party ! I did!

Recently, Erin Prais-Hintz of Treasures Found (Tesori Trovati) hosted a series of challenges. The one I entered was to use items from the hardware store to make jewelry. Below are the earrings I made with some lock washers used as jump rings. Not fantastic, but cute - I liked them but commented that I would never win with this entry - there were some really amazing entries. To my surprise, I was randomly chosen as the winner! I received Erin's package last week, and this is what I found when I opened the envelope. Isn't her packaging wonderful? I love how she had ribbon made with her logo on it, and the sticker on the matching box is just fantastic, as well. Her business card is so classy and earthy - it's really a work of art all by itself! These earrings were the prize that Erin contributed. They are made with some nuts and springs, as well as sushi roll felt beads. They are very cute! Very original! Kerry Bogert, of KABS Concepts , also contributed a prize to ...

Tang Baby , on etsy, occasionally makes these great felted wool beads. I bought two test tubes full of some beautiful colors - why? I have no idea! I liked them, so I bought them! Now I'll have to make a mixed media something out of them! I did something really exciting last night - I moved all my beading materials off the floor of my bedroom onto/into a desk that my parents gave me! They had a computer desk they weren't going to use anymore, and now it is in my spare bedroom and is going to serve as my beading table! YAY! The kids said, "there's a big empty space in your bedroom - what was there before?" ALL my beading stuff, in boxes and bags. Can't wait to be able to use things and be able to see them too!