Thank You! 

This is a thank you to two special people in my life. First my sister Ann, but the thing is she went to a bead and gem show with her daughter in North Carolina. I am in Michigan but she should have flown me down to go with them! Well since she couldn't do that she was such a sweetheart to get me this gift. A bag full of goodies!

Hmmm will anything go with my new bracelet bar???

Red always works for me.

I actually really like the garnets' darkness.

 My second thank you goes to my friend Nicole who treated me to a day in Ann Arbor. Of course I had to go to The Bead Gallery and with a sale on lamp work beads I grabbed this one and with those beads from Sis,...Yum!

I feel so blessed to have such wonderful loving people in my life! Again Thank You!

I Did It!

I have a new appreciation for people who build web sites. It took a very, very, very..... long time to make my new header but I am happy. I still have some tweaking to do but at least now it isn't hoovering over me. 

Maybe I can actually get back to making beads again!

For The Birds!

 

This month Terri G. from Blooming Ideas decided to make this month's Art Bead Scene's challenge a personal one between her and I . Not a competition challenge but

something to share between ourselves. We chose not to use the art as the inspiration but use the color palette. I couldn't motivate myself to make jewelry, probably because my work area is such a mess and since it is a personal challenge I made beads. This ugly bead actually fit the palette perfectly but I just couldn't make it happen. I made it when Terri, Simone, and I took a glass bead making class in Swartz Creek a couple years back. Oh well another day.

 

 

I was immediately attracted to the red, What's really neat is that my husband came come with a 2 volume set of bird books, National Geographic's, The Book Of Birds" 1937, yay it's old.

The birds I chose were the Red Wing Black Birds. We have them every year at the end of our driveway because of the cat tails.

 

So here's my pieces, 2 bracelet bars, polymer clay.

A tube-y pendant.

 

Coin beads

Some nutty looking things 

 

Nature Is Amazing!

Last month at Art Bead Scene the jewelry and bead making challenge was inspired by the painting, "Still Life With Shells" By Balthasar Van der Ast in 1640

I thought it was lovely and was inspired by the black and white shell.

This month we were given some shells from a friend and there that beauty was! I was amazed at how big these shells actually were. Also the shell was actually a bittersweet chocolate brown. I need to re-do my bead!

No matter what I do it never matches the beauty created from the greatest artist of all time - Jehovah God! I am inspired everyday!

Welcome to Judy's garden!

I want to show you all Judy's garden. Judy and myself with her sister Nancy and another friend Debbie get together once a month to tour each others gardens. This may seem like a lot but remember each month has its own blooming performances. We call ourselves The Garden Girls. Judy and her husband Larry have spent years cultivating and decorating their property and it shows. So I want to show you!

Here she is, Master Gardener herself, Judy!!!

This is usually where we start our tour, her back porch. She has made us start around 5 or 5:30 so we can watch the sunrise. She usually has a blankie for everyone and coffee and it is worth the effort.

 She does this to Depression plates. It's an abomination but what a beautiful way to display these beauties. She should have given me the red one, I'm just sayin.....red is my favorite color!

This is the handy-work of Larry. I absolutely LOVE this. It looks like an urn but it is a lamp upside down. I don't know how he does it. I think she should give this to me too!

  Judy takes satellite dishes and mosaics them with stained glass. How beautiful. They also help provide shade to some ares of her garden.

Tikki hut in back. More satellite dishes.

Dudley Do-Right and Nell

 Still at the back of the house 

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 Larry made this gate door out of old tools.

 Another plate that should have been mine.

 Can't help but take pictures.

This is actually an indoor ceiling lamp that Larry made to light up at night.

 Bowling balls.

 The fence between neighbors.

 Tikki time!

 

Larry's barn.

  Front porch area

 

 

 Tour is done!

Ha ha, I made everyone pretend to be walking and talking