Blogging for Beads

Not sure how many of you lurking beaders are aware of this, but Artbeads Beading Supplies has a blogging for beads program.

This is my first experience with the program, so we'll see how this works. From what I gather, just for signing up, they will send me this gorgeous pendant (pictured above). (There is a selection of different products for bloggers.) In return, I have to do something with it and blog about what I end up creating, and/or do a product review. I wanted to buy a bunch of these copper enameled pendantS anyway, so this almost seems too good to be true. Hey, I'll let you know how it turns out! :)

One more week!

Some of you may recall that my neurotic dog broke her leg almost two months ago. After weekly trips to the vet, skin infections, and sedation for weekly bandage changes, we are on the home stretch! Last night was her last bandage change. The vet staff even decorated her cast for her to celebrate. We had to crate her and keep her out of the house to prevent further injury due to jumping on furniture (she loves the couch) or the stairs (needed to go potty). I miss having my poor fur baby girl in the house.

Threader Earrings... Totally Bling!

Here are the earrings I made for the gala... oh my goodness, it was a couple of weeks ago already. Where does the time go? Anyway, these are Swarovski crystal briolettes and bicones on 3 inch sterling threaders. They are pretty heavy, but definitely eye catching. I wore my hair down, and have the stereotypical Asian hair, so I wanted something a little bigger, which would stand out a bit.

I'm so blue!

Yes, yes, we love to eat in this family, and we have massive sweet tooths... or do we have sweet teeth? Well, whatever. My son eats blueberry Eggo waffles every morning for breakfast. The only suitable substitute? Blueberry pancakes... :)

Not surprisingly, this was his idea.

So now we have blueberries to go with the strawberries and pineapples. Yum! I think it's time to raid the refrigerator for a snacky-snack!

Bead Show Find... Juju Beadz!

Although I'm unemployed and money for extra things like beads is tight, I could NOT pass up this cute little turtle. He was handmade by a local woman who makes each of her adorable creations by hand. She gives each little critter over two hours of her undivided attention, and it shows! Kim uses Etsy, has her own website, and sells at a local bead store which I'll have to make a point to visit more often.

Anyway, I love this little guy so much that I haven't decided whether or not to give him away or keep him for myself!

More German Lucite

Red is my all time favorite color. It's celebratory and vivid, and reminds me of all things happy and exciting. So, when I started looking through the different colors of vintage lucite flowers, I had to pick up these red ones! They are sweet, aren't they?

Bead Show find... Vintage German Lucite!

This past weekend, I dragged my kids to the Bead Show at Ward Center. Many of the booths had strands and strands of the same beads. I did find several different, interesting items, though, including this vintage German Lucite and vintage Swarovski in a discontinued shape. Since they're vintage, they did cost more per piece than many of the other beads at the show... but the colors are so vivid and the frosted flowers are translucent... it's a really interesting combination.

Hina Matsuri and more barrettes

Girls' Day (or Hina Matsuri) was on Tuesday. Here are the obligatory pictures of the baby in her chan chan ko (a vest that resembles a kimono) with a doll which was a gift from her great-grandparents... and a Hello Kitty in a kimono from Mom.

And then the obligatory pictures of the braided ribbon barrette made as Girls' Day gifts... one for a 2 year old who gave us a huge bag of awesome hand me downs, and one for a 3 year old whose parents often babysit.

Once I finish the 22 barrette custom order, I'll be adding braided ribbon barrettes to the Etsy store. :) Fun times!

Blast from the Past

Don't ask me why, but Myra and I were chit chatting a few weeks back and decided to make some braided ribbon barrettes... well actually, she needs spirit gifts for her daughter's cheer team and we brain- stormed the idea of the old school ribbon barrettes we used to like when we were kids. Since I have a little more time on my hands than she does, I went shopping for ribbon. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find 1/8" satin ribbon in red, white, and blue? You would think it would be easy, right? Well, it wasn't. So I bought what was available, and wouldn't you know it, the sheer sparkle satin ribbon has a much more contemporary look to it. So then I got carried away (of course) and got hand dyed silk ribbons... and silk flowers... and flat back crystals...

Hopefully the rain stops soon so I can get some decent pictures, but here are some shots of the barrettes I've been making for the past two days. :) The red/white/blue ones with the white flower is for Myra's spirit gift project, the other one is fuschia and turquoise with silk cherry blossoms, made as a thank you gift for a little girl who just gave the baby a bunch of cute hand me downs.

Which reminds me, today is Girls' Day. (In Japan, it's the Doll Festival.) So have a happy Girls' Day, eat some mochi, and be nice to the girls! :)

They Grow So Fast...

It's been crazy around here... but the baby got her first tooth this past Thursday and decided to start pulling up to standing on everything she could grab- including the dog's ears, brother's T-shirt, well, you get the picture. :)

In other news, I did manage to get a pair of threader earrings and a crystal drop necklace done in time to wear to the fundraiser. Um, I liked them, but was seriously over-blinged. I keep forgetting this is Hawaii and the crowd at this particular school is a little older. (They seem to like a lot of pave style jewelry. Ugh.) The food was incredible, though, and I got a couple of cosmopolitans at the martini bar, so it was a fun evening.

I'm definitely keeping the earrings, but will probably pull the necklace apart since I can't think of an occasion when I'd wear it again. Plus, it was my first attempt at using a Thing-A-Ma-Jig. (Ever wonder how people make those perfect squiggles and loops with wire? There's a tool for it!) Not to worry, I'll post some pictures. It's nothing like what I stock in my Etsy shop, but I love those earrings!