A Day At Our Favorite Beach - Crystal Cove

The week of April 7-11 was Spring Break for my son.  Normally, we take a trip out to Palm Desert, but we are using our timeshare points for something else this year so we didn't go anywhere.  I worked part of the week and he went to the YMCA program, but I thought he should get SOME time off so I took a couple of vacation days so we could hang out together.  The early part of the week was really hot (90+ degrees) so I thought we'd go to the beach on our days off.  Of course, by then, the weather had started to shift a bit, but I thought we might still be able to get away with it.

Yeah, not so much.  It was nice in the morning, but we got a late start and by the time we got down there, the marine layer was moving in and it turned kind of cold.  We managed to have a few adventures anyway...a cold day at the beach is still better than any other day anywhere else!

 

 

See what I mean about the marine layer?  Still, I love the semi-deserted feel of the beach on days like this...far different from summer when you can barely find a patch of sand wide enough to put your chair down on.

 

 

 

There had been some kind of huge sand castle building contest earlier in the day at this beach.  Most of the pieces were gone by the time we got there, but there were a couple left that were so cool I had to take photos of them.  This is the Eiffel Tower.

 

 

 

And this is a pretty amazing replica of the Casino at Avalon Harbor on Catalina Island.

 

 

 

After a really brave attempt at boogie boarding, Ryan declared it much too cold to be in the water, so we decided to head for the tide pools to see what we could find.  It was low tide so a lot of the mussel beds were exposed.  I realized while looking at them how much they make me think of Sodalite and I figured there's a future jewelry design in that thought so I took this picture to make sure I would remember.  The three white/green things in the center of the photo are gooseneck barnacles.  Usually, we find a lot of starfish on the mussel beds, but there weren't any on this day...maybe too early/cold or something.

 

 

 

Tide pool with anemones and snails.  Didn't find any hermit crabs in this one, though. 

 

 

 

I was puzzled by this.  Huge anemone with an open mussel shell in its arms...now I ask you...since neither anemones nor mussels move around, how did it get this shell?  The shell was opened and the animal inside was gone so I can only assume the anemone ate it...except I didn't think they ate that type of thing.

 

 

 

Shell scavenging was pretty sparse, but we did find a few of these pink keyhole limpets.

 

 

 

More mussels and sea anemones.

 

 

 

One really giant anemone.

 

 

 

Ryan said I had to take a picture of this HUGE limpet.

 

 

 

This bird decided to brave the surf splashing on the rocks...

 

 

 

...while its buddies looked for yummy treats in the sand.

 

 

 

According to my detailed research (I Googled), these are Marbled Godwits...and for some reason I find that name really funny to say and now I can't stop saying it and laughing.  Marbled Godwit.  Marbled Godwit.  See?

 

 

 

Sandy fingers brought to you by Ryan.  He was so proud that he found a shell "just like Mommy."

 

 

 

Okay, we have been to this beach like a jillion times and for some reason, I never noticed these unusual, circular rock formations before.  Doesn't this look just like a manhole cover almost?

 

 

 

Here's a larger one that is not buried in the sand.  You can see how the swirling action of the water around the rock has carved this shape over time.

 

 

 

I know there's a specific name for these formations...I just can't remember what it is.

 

 

 

Hermit crabs!  We finally found a pool that had some!

 

 

I know this is a boring landscape photo, but I took it to show the typical colors of coastal cliffs.  People think California is all green and palm trees and stuff, but we are really more of a coastal desert.  It's only April and already most of the vegetation is gray or brown...just a few spots of green and they won't last too much longer.

 

 

 

I got super excited when I first noticed this guy at the top of the cliff...

 

 

 

I had to really play with the zoom on my camera to try to get a better shot so I could see if my suspicions were correct...

 

 

 

...and I think they are.  I think this may be a peregrine falcon.  Now I've been informed that it's more likely an Osprey.  Definitely some sort of raptor and not one of our regular red-tail hawks that I see all the time.

 

 

 

At last...the sun finally made a very brief appearance at the end of the day.

 

 

 

And really, that pose just says it all...warm or cold...we love the beach!

 

 

 

 

Here...enjoy some Marbled Godwits and the sounds of the surf!

 

 

KJ

 

P.S.  I didn't get a photo of the best part of the day...there's a restaurant right on the sand called The Beachcomber Cafe and normally, it's packed and impossible to get into, but since it was a random Thursday with kinda crappy weather, they had some openings so we decided to eat dinner on their patio and watch the sunset.  Right after we sat down, there was suddenly a lot of shouting and excitement and the wait staff started ringing the ship's bell that hangs on the wall because...there was a WHALE swimming by right in front of the restaurant!  It surfaced multiple times and spouted and everything!  Now, we definitely have a whale season, but usually, you have to go out on a boat to see them.  In all my 44 years of living here, I have NEVER seen one right from the beach like this.  This whale was solo and was motoring northward all by itself.  It was so cool, but in my excitement and mad dash to run over to see it, I forgot to grab my camera LOL!  Still, Ryan and I got to see something totally amazing and once-in-a-lifetime!

Third Winner Announcement

NOTE:  All of the announced prize packages up to this point were mailed out over the weekend so watch your mailboxes if you were already chosen as a winner.  Now...on with the announcement...

I made it to 300 posts right around November/December, 2006.  In taking a look back at that time frame, I noticed a few things:

1.  Wow...I was really angry.  It's a simmering, under-the-surface kind of anger that is sort of covered over in humorous, sarcastic sauce, but it was definitely anger.  Considering I signed the final divorce papers and took back my maiden name around that time, I guess it was not surprising, but I'm glad to realize that I don't feel quite that level of pissed-offness any more.  I still have my moments, of course, but they are few and far between now.

2.  I was really, really hungry (which might have contributed to the anger LOL) because I chose to deal with the divorce and the job loss (in part) by going to the gym like I was training for the Olympics and totally starving myself.  On the upside, I lost 65 lbs. and I looked AMAZING the day I went in to sign the divorce papers, but on the down side, it was not a pace I was able to maintain once I got a new job and, later, when 100% of the childcare responsibilities fell on top of me.  Sadly, I eventually gained all the weight back and have had to realize that I can either manage work/single mom-hood OR my weight, but apparently not both at the same time.

3.  I was still using a flatbed scanner to take pictures of things and OMG...I am so embarrassed about those jewelry photos.  They suck SO BAD!  My photo skills are still rudimentary at best, but using the digital camera outside with a macro setting and natural lighting has definitely been an improvement.  If I could just figure out the magic key to making my photos fit in the little thumbnail windows on Etsy listings PROPERLY, I would be in 7th heaven.  And yes, I know, the entire rest of the world seems to be able to do this and I am a complete dumbass that I can't figure it out.

4.  My design and jewelry-making skills have (at least IMO) come a LONG way.  It's funny to look back at what I was making then and think how proud I was of it at the time and now I want to bury all those photos because everything looks like crap.

Okay, enough with the time machine.  Here's what the winner will receive:

 

 

A copy of "Metal Clay for Beaders" by Irina Miech.  This is an awesome, introductory level book on metal clay.

 

 

 

A strand of lampwork beads, a ceramic bee charm, a Jade Scott copper/resin teardrop pendant, brushed silver large-link chain, a pretty aqua/white/pink ceramic pendant and a pair of red/peach lampwork swirl beads.

 

 

 

A memory-keeper glass bottle (fun to fill with all kinds of sand, shells, glitter or trinkets and then wire-wrap to a necklace), a red patinated seahorse, two dark wood pendants and a ceramic rectangle pendant.

 

 

 

2 ceramic turquoise beads, 2 pewter fish charms, a large stone heart pendant, a vintage button, a mix of vintage Lucite beads, and a lampwork glass "sombrero" bead.

 

 

 

A mix of Czech glass leaves and beads and three pastel resin butterfly charms.

 

 

 

A full spool of black waxed linen cord.

 

 

 

A blue ceramic owl pendant and some golden urchin spine center drilled beads.

 

 

 

A package of large iridescent green ceramic beads and three different ribbons - a solid purple chiffon and two dyed silk.

And the winner is:  thecolorofdreams.  Congratulations and please contact me by email with your mailing address so I can get your package shipped off to you.

Next winner will be announced Wednesday, 4/23.

KJ

We're All Ears - April Challenge

I am having so much fun with these monthly challenges from "Earrings Every Day!"  Kudos to those who started that blog and these challenges - they are perfect "bite-sized" morsels to participate in without being massively complicated or requiring copious amounts of time.  Perfect for li'l ol' time-challenged me!

So, here's the inspiration for this month:

 

 

Using a Pottery Barn catalog photo?  Genius!  I totally love this photo and am seriously depressed that my house does not look like this all the time.  I need magic Pottery Barn fairies to come and make everything look so good!

 

My second thought was that, although I really love the way everything looks in the photo, when it comes to jewelry, bright yellow & green is not a color combo that I have ever embraced.  I tend more toward blues/teals rather than outright green.  I wasn't even sure what my stash would have to offer in these colors.  Fortunately, I buy beads like Doomsday Preppers buy MREs so as I trolled through my stash, I actually came up with more than I thought I would.

 

And the next thing I knew, I was off on a yellow/green frenzy (because, really, who can make just ONE pair of earrings...they are like potato chips!):

 

  

 

 

I found these cute polymer clay beads that look like they were practically made just for this challenge!  These bright yellow Czech glass beads were leftover from another project and just begged to be included here.  I'm happy with the results, but the overall effect is more cute and less sophisticated than the inspiration photo.  It finally occurred to me that what this color scheme needs is more of the dark brown to ground it so I came up with this option:

 

  

 

 

Lime green jade rounds and carved citrine flowers against large rings of dark wood are much closer to the feel of the photo.  I'm picturing these worn with a long, 70's summer sun dress kind of outfit.  At this point, I was happier...but I still felt like something was missing...I just couldn't figure out what it was.  Then, I got an email from a color blog that I follow and whether this was planned or just a lucky coincidence, the weekly color scheme had similar shades of yellow and green...but also included some shades of royal and dark blue.  BAM!  That is what was missing...another color! 

 

I kept with the original theme by using sunny yellow Capiz shell disks, brass bird charms, and olive green Swarovski crystals and then I added in the new color with some polymer clay blue branch beads from Humblebeads and some bronze Mykonos ceramic spacers.  The use of the dark brown/bronze color helps tie everything together.  This worked so well that I decided to go for the ultimate in color addition:

 

 

 

I had these gold patinated rings from Miss Fickle Media and then I came across these gorgeous color-changing (remember Mood Rings?  These work sort of like that) bee beads that I bought at a Rings 'N Things trunk show several years ago.  When it's cold, they are sort of ivory colored with a dark brown patterned edge (similar to the china and placemat in the inspiration photo) and have hints of yellow and green in them...which I made show up for the photo by putting them in the frig for a few seconds (because they got warm from being handled and changed colors). 

 

 

 

Here they are starting to warm up just  a bit and you can see the colors starting to change.

 

 

 

And here they are after I held them tightly in my hand for a little while and brought out some lovely aqua and teal colors.  If you warm them even more, you start to get pinks and purples.  Amazingly, all of that works with these gold rings and the tiny olive Swaros I put at the top to keep the original color theme going.  If these beads had only had birds on them, it would have been a complete slam dunk!  But, I figure birds and bees go together so still pretty cool LOL!

 

Hope you enjoyed my April Earrings Every Day-inspired designs!  Here's a link to the rest of the blogs:  An InLinkz Link-up

 

 

KJ

On a Wing

I made these earrings more than a week ago, but I've been so busy with the set-up for the contest, the Bead Soup Blog hop and the Earrings Everyday monthly challenge that I only just now found time to photograph and post them:

You wouldn't think it would be that hard to get on pair of earrings onto the blog. 

I found these butterfly wing components on line about a month ago and swooned over them so much that I bought a bunch of them in different sizes and color combinations.  They are wood covered with paper and resin.

One of my struggles as a designer is the fact that I am attracted to anything that is bright or glittered or really embellished, which then doesn't leave much room for me putting an additional spin on it.  If I add too much to any of that...I get instant tacky.  But, if I don't add enough, then I didn't really create a design so much as slap a couple of beads together.

Hopefully, I walked that line successfully here by adding JUST enough.  I really wanted the wings to shine on their own and it seemed like black Mykonos ceramic disks and vintage German red glass rondelles would be just enough to echo the patterns and colors in the wings without taking them over the top.

Some of the other wings I bought have more subdued color schemes so I might be able to go a little wilder with them - we'll see.  In the meantime, I'm really lovin' these and am going to have to fight a battle with myself about putting them on Etsy or keeping them.

KJ

Second Winner Announcement

Hi everyone!  Welcome to the announcement of the second winner in my 1,000 blog post contest!  A bit of a warning that the history of posts 101-200 was not a great time period in my life so there will be some downer stuff here before I get to the actual announcement.  You were warned!

Checking the blog history, it looks like I hit post 200 in around December, 2005.  Considering that my entire life got turned completely upside down in October, 2005, I view that as a pretty decent accomplishment.  In the short span of time from October, 2005 to April, 2006, I lost my marriage, a baby, my job of more than 10 years, and very dearly beloved pet I'd had for many years. 

I found out I was 2+ months pregnant the day after my husband announced he was leaving.  24 hours after that, I was in the doctor's office being told that I was bleeding internally and had to have emergency surgery to end the pregnancy and save my life.  I lost a fallopian tube and pretty much any shot of ever having another child in the process, but considering that the doctors couldn't figure out how I hadn't already died from blood loss before I made it in, I have to count myself lucky that I'm still here.  My ex dropped off the divorce paper filings at my house the day I came home from the hospital.

At the time, I made a conscious decision not to blog about most of this...I think there are a few mentions here and there of "life not going so well" and probably some various versions of "men suck" because I couldn't totally keep a lid on things, but overall, I stuck to beads, book reviews and other positive stuff. 

A year later, in October, 2006, I think I did do one blog post sort of cataloging the whole series of events because I thought that I had enough perspective to look at things from a bit more distance and then I could put them behind me.  That was probably wishful thinking as I'm not sure you can ever totally put something like that behind you, but I am still here.  I survived (and believe me, there were days when I doubted I could keep going), and I am doing pretty well.  Being a single parent is tough and I know things would be easier if there was another person to share the load, but other than that, I'm pretty content.  And ultimately, as much as I hate to admit it, I grew a lot as a person during that time.  I'm more confident now and I'm much less inclined to take any crap from anyone than I used to be LOL.

Okay, that's enough of that.  Time for the fun stuff now.  Here's a look at what the second winner will receive:

 

 

The book is "One Big Beautiful Bead" by Sarah McConnell.  The main reason I bought this book originall (back in the dark ages when I first started beading) is that I was having trouble with tubular or oblong focal beads.  Don't panic if you are not a seed beader, there are some ideas that don't require seed bead stitching.  However, if you always wanted to try it, this book is a great jumping off point with some simple stitches that give great effects and can be adapted to bracelet length, too.

 

 

 

Two different kinds of vintage lace - I love that both of these have openings down the middle so you can weave ribbon, thread or beads through them.

 

 

 

Blackened/copper large link chain and woven metal "wheel" components.

 

 

 

A strand of blue and white lampwork glass beads, a lampwork glass heart, and a pair of polymer clay ovals.  The PC ovals have a lace texture design impressed into them - you just can't see it very well in the picture.

 

 

 

A small ceramic rose charm, a large turquoise ceramic button and two red ceramic angel wings.

 

 

 

A fun mix of Czech glass.

 

 

 

Three vintage German glass cabochons and some sunset fire crystal flatbacks (there's a larger quantity of these in the package - I just shook out a few for the photos).

 

 

 

A fun mix of frosted resin beads in different shapes and colors.

 

 

 

Large forest green ceramic beads (again, there's a whole bag of these - I just put a few out for the photos).

 

And the lucky winner is:  Amy!  Congratulations and please email me with your address!

 

Because this Friday is the April "Earrings Everyday" challenge reveal, I will do the next winner announcement post on Monday, 4/21.

 

KJ

Some Clarification

Okay, so, I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden there have been a ton of comments/entries posted about the contest after a fairly slow early response.  Technically, all of these new entries came in after the deadline which was midnight Pacific on 4/13/14.

However, I totally appreciate the responses...no matter how late they are and I think it is important to recognize people who took the time to stop by, leave a comment, re-post/FB/Twitter or whatever even if they were late.  I'd like to include them in the contest, but that seems a little unfair to those people who DID enter on time and upping the entry numbers lowers the odds of winning for that on-time group.

Soooo...in the interest of fairness to everyone (or as close as I can figure it out anyway), here's what I've decided to do.  Those who entered on time will still be in the running for the original 10 prize packages that I offered.  Those who entered late will be put into a separate "pot" and I will pick one winner out of that group for an 11th prize.

I hope everyone is okay with that solution!

KJ

Soup is on Simmer

Thanks again to everyone who stopped by to comment and/or left a FB, Twitter or other message about my 1,000th blog post and big giveaway.  The second winner will be announced tomorrow.

In the meantime, I am way overdue posting about the soup ingredients I received from my partner as part of the 8th Bead Soup Blog Hop.  My partner is Jennifer and here's what she sent me:

There's a large ceramic focal, two small ceramic square beads that coordinate in color with the focal, wooden barrel beads, carved faux-cinnabar white disks, some small turquoise cube beads and a brass wire hook clasp.

 

Here's a closeup of the focal - it's got pretty shades of peach and slate blue although it does change color depending on what light it's under.  I brought it into the office to show a co-worker (who by sheer odd chance is ALSO participating in this blog hop) and the color was totally different!

And here's the funny part...those carved white disks?  I sent Jennifer the EXACT SAME BEADS!  And we exchanged almost no wants/likes/dislikes at all.  The only thing we both agreed on was that neither of us are seed beaders and so probably wouldn't use or need seed beads.  We were both totally open as far as color scheme and everything.  It's crazy.

Not only that, but those wooden barrell beads?  I already have a whole strand of them!  There must be some kind of great beader hive mind that we all tap into sometimes because I just find this so weird and such a strange coincidence!

Don't believe me?  Here's proof:

Here's a sampling of what I sent to Jennifer and you can see the white carved beads at the top and bottom of the photo!

I would say we weren't all that far off on color scheme either...both using cream and brown.  I sent her some brighter accents of orange and lime green and she sent me more subdued colors of peach and blue but still...how bizarre is this?!

I think my biggest challenge is going to be working with the focal I received.  It's beautiful, but the placement and small size of the hole have me a bit puzzled.  Normally, I would use a bead like this as part of a button/loop closure on a bracelet, but this bead is too large and heavy for that.  I can use wire or cord to form a bail and turn it into a pendant, but I don't want to cover up the colors of the bead or (if I use wire) scratch the surface of the glaze, so I've definitely got my thinking cap on about what to do here.

I've already determined that the coordinating ceramic square discs are probably too small to fit into the same piece with the large bead, but I think they will be perfect for earrings and I have an almost finished picture in my head of what those earrings are going to look like.  I need one more component which I'm not sure I have in my stash (hard to believe!) so I may have to get it elsewhere.

I love the little turquoise cubes and will definitely be using those as accent beads either in the earrings or in a separate piece.

That's where I'm at today...we'll see what comes out of the soup pot by reveal day.  If you want to check out some of my past soups, you can go here, here and here.

KJ

And the Winner Is...

This will be the first of 10 prizes, each in honor of 100 posts on my way to reaching 1,000.  I took a look back at the early days of my blog and counted up to see that I reached my 100th post in about March, 2005.  Looking back at what was going on, I was exploring the potential of selling jewelry at craft shows and was about to do my very first one so a lot of the blog entries had to do with creating new designs to sell, getting all the accoutrements for the booth, figuring out the credit card process and all kinds of other details involved with having a booth for the first time.  Sadly, I can't say that I had much success at that show (although I did have fun!) and I probably would have tried at least one more time, but my life was about to change in serious and drastic ways not too long after that...had I only known!

Before I announce the winner, let's see what she will receive:

 

 

A copy of "Resin Alchemy" by Susan Lenart Kazmer.

 

 

 

Clockwise from top:  Venetian glass disk bead, polymer clay wing pendant, small wood tile with bird, 2 patinated red brass filigree pieces, pink ceramic dangle, brown ceramic pendant and green ceramic pendant.

 

 

 

Clockwise from top: tiger ebony wood oblong pendant, orange, pink and white lucite flowers, tiger ebony wood puffy wood ring, burgundy chiffon ribbon, tiger ebony wood flat ring, another puffy ring, white and gold star ribbon, and glass "fire and ice" nugget beads.

 

 

 

Clockwise from upper right:  blue/green/silver fused dichroic glass cab, Swarovski flatback crystals, frosted purple glass rounds, silver plated padlock charms, and a strand of pink, lavender and clear lampwork glass beads.

 



And the lucky winner of this first prize package is:  Shaiha.  Congratulations, Shaiha!  Please contact me via email with your mailing address so I can get your package out to you.

Next winner will be announced on Wednesday, 4/16.  See you then!

KJ

REMINDER - $350-500 Free Bead Contest!

Just a reminder that there are only 2 days left to enter the bead and boom giveaway in honor of my 1,000th blog post.  I'll be giving away 10 prize packages of books and beads each worth at least $35-50.  Click here for all the details and a few photos of just a PORTION of what I'm giving away.

I've spent hours going through my stash over the last few days to pull even more great beads and books to add to the prizes including more art beads in poly clay, lampwork glass and ceramic as well as some awesome metal pieces, and some of my handcrafted resin pieces.

See you on Monday for the announcement of the first winner!

KJ

1,000th Post and HUGE Giveaway Announcement!

EDITED TO ADD:  Please check here for the latest developments.  I have updated the contest parameters to accommodate the late entries.

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This is going to be a long post in order to accomplish several things so bear with me!

First off, sorry for disappearing for so long.  I fell down the rabbit hole that is dental work and my severe phobia thereof.  Go ahead and judge as I freely admit that I am a big, ginormous baby with a completely irrational fear of having any work (no matter how minor) done on my teeth.

So, glad that's over and also Hi!  Hello!  Welcome to OHMYGODICAN'TBELIEVE it's my 1,000th blog post!  1,000!  That is a BIG number.  Did I really write all those words?  About beads and kids and books and vacations and life and stuff?  Who knew I had so much to say?!

My life has changed SO DRASTICALLY since I started this blogging thing back in July, 2004.  The husband is gone as is the job at Toshiba.  The kid is now ELEVEN years old!

As is typical for me, I didn't really have any grand plan other than "I'm launching my jewelry onto a website and ought to have a blog to go with it because blogging is the new black."  Although the original jewelry website (like most everything else I wrote about in that first entry) is now gone with the wind, I continued to value the blog as a place to express myself and connect with other artists.

I really do love the instant connection and I try to respond to every comment and visit the blogs of those who are kind enough to leave comments here.  I've never joined Twitter (am afraid of the time commitment and also that my life does not have the minute by minute excitement to keep it going because who cares that I spilled flour all over the floor while making pancakes or had to spend 10 minutes explaining to my son why leaving dirty underwear on the floor is like, SO GROSS!) and I am an indifferent (at best!) Facebooker, but other than the recent long hiatus, I've always stayed involved here on the blog.

So, to celebrate almost 10 years of wordiness and 1,000 posts, I thought I would do a special blog hop challenge based on an idea I've been percolating for the last few years.  Unfortunately, based on the recent survey I did, it doesn't seem like there would be enough participation to make it worthwhile right now so I think I'll keep that idea in my back pocket for future.  If things pick up around here, then maybe I'll do it later this year.

Instead, I just thought I'd do a huge, ginormous, freebie bead and book GIVEAWAY BONANZA!

(insert cheering, clapping, confetti and balloons falling from the ceiling here!)

As a thank you for participating in the recent survey and leaving a comment on the last post, a special, pre-contest prize goes to Cynthia.  Cynthia, please email me your address and I'll get your package out to you right away.

For the rest of the prizes, y'all are gonna haveta work a little bit LOL!

THE RULES:

To enter, leave a comment on this post.  Each comment = 1 entry.  Be sure your comment gives me some way to CONTACT YOU if it doesn't link to your blog or email address.

Want extra ways to win?  Blog, Facebook, Tweet or use the time-absorbing social media vehicle of your choice to mention the giveaway and then leave the link here in a comment or email it to me and I'll count those as additional entries.  So, if you leave 1 comment and it includes a link to show that you blogged or tweeted (or whatever'd) about the giveaway, that counts as 2 entries.

Of course, you're saying to yourselves "sounds good, but show me the money beads so I know if it's worth going to all this extraordinary effort."

Okay, I hear ya.

THE PRIZES:

I've put together a pile of wonderful beading books (most read only once or twice so they are in pristine condition) as well as 10 BAGS of beads and accoutrements including:  lampwork, ceramic, polymer clay, wood, crystal, stone, shell, resin, lucite, vintage plastic, Czech glass, metal, chain, ribbons and fibers.  Each prize will consist of a hand-selected assortment of some of each category plus a book (until the books run out).

All of the beads, etc. are either pulled from my own extensive collection (not due to any defects - usually because they are multiples of something I already have, they were extra "freebies" from an Etsy purchase, or because my style has moved in a different direction).

But, as the saying goes, a photo is worth a thousand words, so here are few to whet your appetite:

 

This is the first pile of books.  I'll be adding a few more, but had to get the photos done over the weekend.  Also, don't be discouraged if you are not a seed beader - it is not my main focus, either, but I can tell you that I learned something of value to incorporate into my own work from every single one of these books:  an interesting or unusual use of a finding, a new way of thinking about construction possibilities, a different use for a particular material, etc.  This is a great way to open up possibilities for your creativity.

 

 

When I couldn't even get all of the BAGS into one shot, I quickly realized there was no way I was going to get a shot of ALL of the individual beads...not if I wanted to get this contest up and running any time this year.  This is 5 bags of beads - front bags have ceramics and stone.

 

 

 

Two more bags - poly clay and ribbons/fibers in one and lampwork in the other.

 

 

 

Two more bags - lucite, resin and vintage plastic on the left and more lampwork on the right.

 

 

And now, here's a little taste from each bag:

 

 

 

 

Multiple strands of lampwork glass

 

 

 

A very small portion of the available ceramics - filler beads in the background and two gorgeous pieces by Round Rabbit and Tracee Dock in the foreground

 

 

 

A little bit of what's in the wood and stone bag

 

 

 

More wood pieces - these are from Marie at Skye Jewels

 

 

 

Probably one of the best selections that I'm giving away are cabochons in stone, fused glass, shell and vintage crystal.  I went sort of cab-crazy a few years back when I was really into bead embroidery, but sadly I no longer have as much time to put into complicated pieces and my eyesight is really becoming an issue so I think this is a good area to cut back in. These are just a few pieces as examples.  I know that not everyone is into cabs because you mostly need seed bead, embroidery, or wire-working skills to work with them so if you are not into cabs be sure to mention that in your comment and I will not include any in your prize if you win.  On the other hand, if you are SUPER INTO cabs, mention that also and if you are a winner, I'll make your prize package up to include more cabs and less other stuff.

 

 

 

More lampwork samples.  The set on the right in greens/bronzes is from Blue Seraphim.

 

 

 

This is some of the metal, pearl, crystal and chain bag.  The pearls are high quality glass pearls, the gold/pearl chain is vintage, and the metal filigree piece has been patinated and coated with resin.

 

  

 

Here's a small sample of some of the ribbons and fibers.  I had to keep these in the bag because the wind was blowing a bit while I was taking photos.  In the upper right corner, you can see one of the polymer clay beads peeking out, too.

 

I hope the photos of just a small bit of what I plan to give out were enough to whet your appetite.  Each prize package will contain some of everything (unless you specifically request otherwise in your comment).

 

THE TIMING:

 

I plan to do 10 prize packages - I figure one prize for each 100 blog posts is a nice round number.  I will leave this post up for a couple of days and then move it to a link at the upper right of the nav bar on the blog so people can keep entering/commenting right up until the first prize is announced which will be NEXT MONDAY, 4/14/14. 

 

After that, I'll announce a winner every other day until all the packages have been awarded.

 

A quick recap:

1. 10 prize packages including a combination of beady goodness and a book (until the books run out)
2. 1 comment = 1 entry
3. Blog link, facebook, tweet, etc. = 1 additional entry
4. Include email, blog address or some way of contacting you in your comment
5. Winners selected randomly
6. First winner announce Monday, 4/14/14
7. Additional winners every other day after that until prizes are gone.

If I forgot anything or you don't understand something, feel free to email me or leave your question in the comments and I'll get back to you.

 

Have fun, good luck and thank you so much for 1,000 posts' worth of fun, beads, jewelry, and friendship.

 

KJ