5 Things Make a Post*

1. Happy Halloween! I am dressed as a witch for our costume contest at work today and you should have seen the looks I got at the gas station this morning! If I can get someone else to take a picture, I'll post it here later.

*Edited to add photo:

Scary, right?

2. Is anyone else watching "Project Accessory"? Finally...a show for all of us wannabe professional jewelry designers!

3. Is it just me or is original Nyquil the worst tasting thing EVER? If it wasn't the only thing that lets me sleep when I have a cold, I'd never take it again because DAYAMMMM does it taste like sh*t.

4. I have had that "Moves Like Jagger" song stuck in my head for about a week now. It's a great song, but every time I hear it I have to wonder why anyone would hold up Mick Jagger's moves as "cool." To me he looks a lot like a chicken undergoing electro-shock therapy.

5. I'm feeling "resinable"! New artwork, new bezels in different shapes and colors. I did a lot of prep work over the weekend but am still waiting for some of the newer items I ordered to come in. Stay tuned!!

KJ

*short post idea shamelessly stolen from author Sharon Lee's blog.

Book Review: "Crossroads"

First off, thank you so much to everyone for the supportive comments last week. I'm sorry for all the emotional spewage, but I guess I had just reached my limit and couldn't contain things any more. Plus, I figured somewhere out there in Blog-land, there had to be someone (or several someones) who had some experience with these issues and could offer some advice. and I was right! Extra special thainks to those of you who took time to message me privately and share your experiences and insights. I no longer feel so totally alone and that's a HUGE gift!

Okay, enough of that. On to the book review.





This review is for "Crossroads" by Jeanne C. Stein. It's #8 in the Anna Strong Chronicles. Anna is a bounty hunter in San Diego by trade and a vampire as a result of an unfortunate run-in with a particular perp she chases down in Book 1. I'm a fan of the series overall (obviously, since I'm up to Book #8) because of the strong female lead character and because of the way the traditional "vampire" elements of the story are handled. Stein did some careful picking and choosing about which elements she kept and why they work and I think that gives the series some unique attributes that set it apart from all the rest of the vamp lore out there.

Unfortuantely, Book #8 is, for me, the weakest in the whole series.

I'm not sure if that's because the original plot line kind of came to a head in the last book and this is meant to be a "pause" before the action picks up again or if I just find a slower-paced book less interesting personally.

Some other elements that led me to be disappointed in it include a long road trip (hard to have much action when you're stuck in a car for two days), secondary characters that aren't around long enough to justify their existence in the first place and...skinwalkers.

It may just be a pet peeve of mine, but the skinwalker device has just been SOOOO overused. Perhaps it's not bothersome if you don't read a lot of fantasy/sci-fi (or Tony Hillerman!) and you haven't run across it before, but I could name 10 series without even trying that have already used it. I'm just over it.

The one thing I did like about this book is Anna making a conscious choice about whether to remain a vampire and, if she does, what kind of vampire she will be and what type of future she will fight for. It's an important step in her evolution as a heroine and, in my opinion, makes her more powerful as she goes forward on her own terms. It's possible the author was so focused on getting through this element of the overall story arc, that the specific storyline of the individual novel suffered around it.

Oh, and I didn't like that a supporting character that I'm rather fond of essentially gets written out.

If you like vampire stories and strong female heroines, I definitely recommend the series starting with Book 1. I wouldn't start with this installment. If you like the series enough to get all the way to this book, you'll probably want to read it as a means of keeping current with the storyline and bridging to the next book. This is definitely not the entry point to this particular "universe."

Next week, I'll be review "Ghost Story" by Jim Butcher. This book came out a while ago, but as this series ranks up near #1 on my all-time favorite list, I've been sort of hoarding it for a while. Being sick over the last couple of weeks was the perfect time to treat myself to it.

Stay tuned!

KJ

Blogus Interrupticus

Wow...the last two weeks since I posted just kinda flew by, right? And there was gonna be jewelry, too. Really, I swear there was.

But then, life happened.

And then sickness happened.

And I learned that life + sickness cancels out jewelry and writing and pretty much anything creative.

I'll just mention now that this may end up being a long-ish and possibly emotional post, so if you're not down with that...well, you were warned.

If you've been reading the blog a while, you know I've been dealing with teacher issues at my son's school since last year as well as facing ADD testing/diagnosis for him.

On the up side, after last year's total debacle, we seem to have a phenomenal teacher this year. She's creative, organized and engaged. She has been patient with me e-mailing her (probably a little too much) and, amazingly enough, she E-MAILS ME BACK!

The down side is that I had Ryan tested last Spring and the results came back showing positive correlation for the inattentive type of ADD. I'll be honest and say I've struggled with that knowledge ever since. It's not that I don't believe in the diagnosis, it's that I find it so difficult to accept that my sweet, wonderful, bright boy is going to have to struggle with this issue all the way through school and beyond.

And yeah, I'm also struggling with other people's reactions to hearing about it. If I have one more person tell me it's my fault for letting him watch too much TV, I may not be responsible for my actions.

Once I got over the news about it, the question became "okay, what do we do now?" I met with the principal at his school at the end of the year last year and got the school to agree that Ryan qualifies for what's called "504 status" which means he gets some special accommodations like getting to sit up front, getting extra time for homework, etc. I also laid down the law about how I expected a better teacher assignment for him this year.

Given that his grades and test scores are all okay (basically B's and scoring at or above grade level in almost everything), I wanted to see how he'd do with a better teacher this year in 3rd grade so that's where things left off at the end of last year.

Now we're almost two months into 3rd grade and I'm starting to see the damage that the crappy teacher from last year did. Ryan is struggling with staying on task in the classroom both from the amount of work and the amount of self-organization and self-direction that is required (neither of which did he have to keep up with last year). He continues to do well on his tests, but he is coming home with piles of incomplete classwork each night that we are having to do ON TOP OF the actual homework.

Now, I would like to say that I am super-mom and can manage a full day of work, pick up the kid, cook dinner, get him through all his classwork AND homework, get the kitchen cleaned up, get the toys picked up, get the shower done, and get through the bedtime routine all with a Donna Reid smile on my face.

And some nights, I can.

But most of the time, I arrive home from work already exhausted, wanting to only provide dinner that we picked up in a drive-thru. I am certainly not in the mood to repeat 3rd grade math and grammar exercises with patience and a smile. I used to be able to leave Ryan at the table working on his homework while I relaxed for a few minutes or got dinner started, but he's reached the level where his inattentiveness does not allow him to stay on task without me at his elbow prompting him to keep going. And I am starting to picture myself glued to his side to get ANYTHING done for the entire rest of his school career - obviously, that's just not practical nor is it good for his ongoing growth.

A new wrinkle is developing in that he is starting to get frustrated with the amount of work, how hard it is for him to push all the way through it and, frankly, how sick he is of me preaching at him about "getting it done." I don't blame him - I'm sick of me, too. But this frustration he has is starting to boil over in some attitude and defiance that he NEVER had before. He's ALWAYS been my super-cheerful, sweet kid. His most frequently uttered phrase (until recently) has been "Sure, Mom."

Obviously, what we've been doing up to this point is no longer working. I need help. So, I tried setting up appointments with the ADD specialists that his testing doctor referred us to. Guess what? NONE of them are in my health care network and my current plan has NO out of network option. So, I was just forced to switch to a plan that costs 3X as much for the whole next year so that I can get to some of these doctors.

Did I mention that Ryan's dad pays $0 child support and $0 towards his health care (or activities or anything else for that matter). Did I also mention that due to the economy there've been no (or drastically reduced) bonuses and no raises or promotions at my job for the last 3 years?

So, yeah, that was a painful decision, but obviously, I need to get him seen by the right people even if it means waving bye bye to the last of my savings.

In the meantime, I've been reading as many books and websites on ADD as I can get my hands on and I've learned a couple of things:

1. It's not my fault. It's genetic. And you only have to look at his dad to see where the gene came from. So, I could have let Ryan watch NO TV for the last 8 years and he'd still be this way.

2. The experts are all saying I have to at least try putting him on medication (probably Ritalin)

3. My logic center is persuaded that's the right next course of action, but my emotions (and certain family members) are torturing me over the idea of putting an 8-year-old on a brain-chemical-altering medication.

All that has led up to several weeks of not sleeping, eating crappy food, and multiple crying jags so I guess it shouldn't have been a surprise when I started to come down with a nasty cold in the middle of last week. I'm getting over it now, but still dealing with a nasty cough.

Fun, right?

You feel all uplifted and happy after reading this post, I'm sure. And I do normally try to keep it pretty upbeat around here, but y'know, sometimes the crap just hits the fan and I have to let it out or totally lose my mind (partial mind loss has already occurred, but I'm determined to hold onto the scraps that are left).

Happier times are ahead, I hope. I'm going to move forward with trying the medication with Ryan and hoping that helps both of us along with some counseling (mostly for me so I can learn to deal with the stress better).

That's it for today. I know I'm behind on book reviews and will try to get caught up. Look for one early next week.

KJ

Book Review: "Ghost Ship"

Thanks, everyone, for the comments yesterday. It's amazing how bead porn brings out the blog traffic *snicker*.

And now on to this week's book review:

I first stumbled across the Liaden Universe books quite by accident. I was on some other author's website (Anne McCaffrey's, I think?) and there was mention of these books. And then later, I saw a blip about them somewhere else and it just kept going like that with these maddening little hints about how fantastic this series was and how all the SF/F writers were raving about it, but I couldn't find the books in the bookstore.

Thank goodness for Amazon.com because once I got the first book in my hands, I could see what all the buzz was about and I wanted more, more, MORE! I gobbled up every book in the series until I got to the very last page of "I Dare" and went "what do you mean there's no MORE?"

Like a junkie hunting for her next fix I went on the internet, found the authors' website and blogs and discovered what a total mess the failing publishing industry had made of my opportunity to get more of these books. If you want the whole story, you can sleuth around like I did on the website, but basically a publisher went out of business before the newer books could be contracted for and/or published.

Whereupon the authors took a rather remarkable risk and decided to write the next book, "Fledgling", live (without a net) on the internet where the fans could read it for free (although donations via Paypal were graciously accepted). This turned out to be such a success that the next book, "Saltation", was done the same way. Finally, enough interest was garnered that Baen Books picked the series back up again, published "Fledgling" and "Saltation" and now, at long last, "Ghost Ship."

All that was a really long-winded way of saying that while this is a great book, I don't recommend you start here. There are a few different potential entry points into the Liaden Universe:

1. "Local Custom" is my preferred entry point. I think it does the best job of setting up the family lines that are followed in the later books. This is also the best entry point for those who like a little more love story in their books

2. "Crystal Soldier" would be the entry point for those who like to REALLY start at the beginning of things i.e. the complete back story behind the origin of Clan Korval, the Tree, etc. However, in my personal opinion, this book and its sequel, "Crystal Dragon", are much richer and, frankly, make more sense, if you've already read all the later books. But that's just me...your mileage may vary.

3. Finally, I've heard that a lot of people start the series with "Agent of Change" which is the beginning of the plotline that ultimately takes the reader up through the book I just finished, "Ghost Ship." This would be the best entry point for those who want their books to tilt more towards the action/thriller end of things. There's still romance...it just happens on the run.

Now that you know a bit more about the series, its history, etc., on to "Ghost Ship" itself. It has all the normal hallmarks of a Liaden Universe book: romance, action, humor, spaceships, magic, etc. And, after sticking with her through three books (and the years it took to get them from internet to actual publication), it's great to see Theo kind of grow up and come into her own as a pilot and as a member of Clan Korval. Not that she doesn't have problems...I mean how would you like it if a sentient (and potentially deadly) spaceship was following you around the galaxy like a stray puppy?

Meanwhile, back on planet Surebleak, Clan Korval and its new delm (leaders) are trying to get themselves sorted out after the events at the end of "I Dare."

If the book has one flaw, it's that it has SO many plotlines to tie up from the old series and launch for the books going forward that it gets a little bit snippy and short-handed in places. In fact, I know I would have been much more confused by some of the goings-on had I not been keeping up with the short stories (out-takes) that fill in some of the missing bits. Still, I enjoyed it more than both of its predecessors and besides, another hallmark of these books is that the authors really make you WORK for it as a reader. I've often had to go back and re-read certain bits or entire books before I finally figured out "oh, THAT's how that worked."

Truthfully, I can't say anything bad about this book or the whole series. The worst book Lee & Miller have written is still LIGHT YEARS better than just about anything else. You can't go wrong with this series...wherever you start to pick up the storyline.

Next week's review will be "Crossroads" by Jeanne C. Stein.

KJ

Weekend Update and "Lite" Bead Porn

There was supposed to be some jewelry posted here. Really, there was.

Then the weekend happened. Which, correct me if I'm wrong, is SUPPOSED to be when you get to do your hobbies and relax and stuff, right?

It's not supposed to involve a Saturday filled with swimming lessons, dropping the car off for an oil change, delivering lunch to Grandma's house, picking up stuff at the Cub Scout store that we HAD to have for this week's meeting, checking the bird store to see if they had Nutriberries back in stock yet (no...and the parrot is threatening to go on strike any minute now until he gets his favorite treat back!), picking the car up after the oil change and taking Grandma out to dinner.

Nor is Sunday supposed to involve a migraine headache which could only be assuaged with copious amounts of pills, darkness, and (eventually...after partially subsiding for a while) a marathon of Season 2 of the "Vampire Diaries."

Hence no jewelry.

And I thought it would be weird to do two book review posts in a row (especially since no one seems to like them anyway) so, when all else fails, you get porn :-) It's "lite", though, because, as you may or may not have heard, there's a recession on.





These lovely floral bead caps snipped from vintage tins are from Donna Millard. Mostly she makes gorgeous-but-out-of-my-price-range lampwork, however, she has started to sprinkle a few of these into her listings.





Perfect for fall chestnut chain from my favorite color chameleon: Miss Fickle Media. Unlike most of bead porn, this chain has actually already made it into a design which you can check out here.





And since I can never get enough "fickle", I grabbed this ember red clasp, too.





Then it was off to marathon-buy some lovely enamel pieces like these cute birds.





And their darker, more mysterious cousins.





And some hearts I thought would be great for Valentine's Day designs.





So I got more than one color. These are all from Gardanne.





I'm not normally a fan of the "house" shape or theme, but I do love me some madras plaid (yes, the 80's and "The Preppie Handbook" scarred me for life) so I had to pick up this darling polymer clay pendant from Menagerie Studio.





Barbara Bechtel over at Floridity is doing some amazing new designs with this distressed watercolor finish - I love the brighter colors and thought these would make darling earrings!





And, of course, my obsession with anything ocean-related goes on. Every time Heather at Humble Beads posts any of these urchin-themed pieces, I go nuts.





Spirited Earth has quickly become one of my favorite sources for ceramic focals. Sometimes ceramics can be really huge and a little overwhelming to work with so I like it when there are some more "petite" offerings available like this cute little flower.





This green and brown forest moth pendant is also from Spirited Earth. It's an unusual color combination for me, but I am trying to push myself past my "tried and true" colors this year both in my purchases and in my designs.





I just had a necklace published in "Creative Jewelry" featuring one of these copper raku seashells from Star Spirit Studio. The one in the magazine has more blue/gold/pink tones in it while these are more true copper, but they are all great pieces and I love working with the raku and all the different colors you can find in it.





I think the true test of a lampwork bead is when it looks so yummy you have to remind yourself that it is NOT candy and that no, you are not allowed to eat it. These pretty, enamel-dappled disks from Flame Crazy definitely pass that test.





And then I saw these on the same site and was reminded of Monet's paintings, my personal fave, so they had to come home with me, too.





Okay, so these would never remind you of candy, but isn't the finish on them so unusual and FANTASTIC? They really look more like rocks from the desert than lampwork. I found them at Outwest.

I'm still hoping to get a book review and (maybe?) some jewelry up later this week...even though the craziness continues with Cub Scouts tonight (all the Bear Scouts are now considered old enough to be presented with their official pocket knives and start learning to whittle with them this evening...which I'm not sure I'm totally 100% okay with because I'm afraid the walls of the house might start sporting carved designs a la petroglyphs pretty soon), then Back to School night on Thursday, then orthodontist and swimming again on Saturday. AAAGGHHHH!

And yeah, I know, everyone with kids is this busier (or, gak!, even busier), but it's the having to do every single solitary bit of it all by myself with never a break or anyone to split the duty with after working a full day at the office AND getting the kid through his homework (plus the leftover classwork that didn't get done because of his ADD) that is wearing me out. I'm sure the migraine is partially from stress and not enough down time.

It's becoming clear to me that I have got to figure out a way to inject some balance into my life, but how to do that with a full-time job (which I'm stuck with due to being the sole breadwinner and provider of insurance) is beyond me. If anyone has a great inside stock top or surefire lotto numbers they want to pass on, I'll be standing by with my trusty pencil to take notes.

KJ

Book Review: "Phoenix Rising"

There will be a brief jewelry hiatus (but for those still doin' the Bead Soup Thang, here's the link) in order to bring you this week's book review (warning - there ARE some spoilers!):





"Phoenix Rising" by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris. The first in an upcoming series, "Phoenix" details the start of the adventures of Agents Books & Braun from the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences. It's sort of like the X-Files meets Steampunk.

Things I liked:

The cover art is brilliant. In fact, that's what drew me to the book even though I usually have a strict "don't get suckered by the artwork" policy on trying new authors. Still, you have to admit, pretty awesome looking.

The concept is great. I like the Steampunk genre anyway and it makes sense that of course there would be a "Ministry" keeping tabs on the more unusual goings-on in and around London and the rest of the world.

The book opens with a bang. Literally. Seems Agent Braun likes her some dy-no-mite. Great action in the opening pages really helps grab the reader, thought, and I'm always in favor of it. I really don't want to read 3 chapters of "set-up" thanks ever so.

Things that were so-so:

I could've done without the pun names of Books and Braun. And the fact that he's the mild-mannered archivist and she's the hell-on-wheels field agent...felt like I'd seen or read that before.

And while I get that it's an alternate universe, I thought Agent Braun's behavior and dress for a woman in that period...well, she would've been mobbed or lynched...or mobbed and then lynched. Sorry, I just couldn't stretch myself that far.

After the grab-bang opening, I still got stuck with chapters of set up (some of which will not come to fruition until future books which I find annoying).

Things I didn't like:

Since many of the elements of the mystery (the murders, the insanity of Agent Braun's former partner, etc.) happen before the events of this book, there's a sense of distance from them which doesn't allow the reader to have as much of a personal connection with the Agents and their search for the truth as one would have liked. Yes, yes, bad people doing bad things should be stopped. Agreed. But I want to CARE about why this is personal to these two agents.

The orgy scene was gratuitous. We already know these people are crazy bad. An orgy is the least of what they've done so I don't see why it was needed. AND, I didn't buy that one Agent was able to skip out on the orgy entirely and the other was able to just sort of dance around the periphery and then leave early when they are both supposed to be undercover as bad guys themselves. A passionate scene between Books and Braun would have been MUCH more interesting.

The corset thing is just stupid. There is not a woman in the world, much less one with a sizeable chest, who can do physically demanding activities in a corset (bullet-proof or not) without there being significant boob flashage. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's the second (or maybe third?) law of thermodynamics: strapless tops + running and jumping and carriage chases = everybody look at my BOOBS!

Which brings me back to the whole mobbed-then-lynched thing.

So, I know it sounds like I hated the book, but I didn't. I actually liked quite a bit about it, but felt that it had some rough edges that needed polishing. Given that it's a new series with relatively new authors, I will probably check out the next book to see if things improve.

In the meantime, if you think you might be interested in Steampunk as a genre, I can HIGHLY recommend Gail Carriger's "Parasol Protectorate" novels. The first in the series is "Soulless."

Next week, I'll be reviewing "Ghost Ship" by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Stay tuned.

KJ

Kelp Forest Necklace

I thought maybe an entire week of Bead Soup is enough for now, but if you're still hopping, here's the link to my post (or you can just scroll down - it's the next post).

For those who already stopped by (and especially if you left a comment and/or became a follower): THANK YOU! I really, really appreciate the feedback and I read each and every single comment. I tried to respond to as many as I could via e-mail, but not all of them come through that way so I'm sure I missed some people.

Since I ended my soup-creating phase with projects based around a lavender color scheme, I had all kinds of beads still sitting on my work surface that were close, but not quite right, for the soup projects so I decided to make something with them.





This is my "Kelp Forest" necklace as it encompasses all the green and brown tones of California giant kelp (especially as viewed underwater).





I started with this amazing ceramic lavender starfish focal from Yolanda's Clay...which, if you look closely, actually has some green tones reflected in the glaze...especially near the top.





I added some gorgeous Czech glass faceted rondelles that are lavender and blue with streaks of green and brown. Next are these really cool brown shell dangles that are actually shoe buttons from ladies shoes from the late 1800's. I got a whole bag of them years ago (like 2004-ish?) at the L.A. Gift show and I've been holding on to them ever since waiting for the right project to use them in. Then there are some green stick pearls and ebony wood slices.





More wood slices and these brown ceramic donut rings that I found at Michael's. I added a lavender Swarovski pearl to the center to keep the color scheme going.





The clasp is sterling silver wire hammered into an "S" hook and ring.





Put it all together and you have a little starfish hiding in a giant kelp forest.





'Bye li'l starfish!

In other news, congratulations to my favorite martial artist...Ryan...for achieving his red belt in Tae Kwon Do on Friday night. At 8 years old, he's only 2 ranks away from black belt! My kiddo practiced his heart out for weeks to get ready and did a great job - even broke a board doing an Il Bo Chunjin Back Kick (spelling on that is probably not right as I don't speak Korean LOL) Way to go, Ryan!!

Hope everyone had a good weekend! Why does Monday have to come so FAST?!

KJ

Soup's On!

First off, I lift my glass to all of you intrepid blog hoppers out there! There are a lot of blogs to visit and if you took the time to come by mine - welcome! I'm sincerely honored that you're here and I hope you'll enjoy the soup I made and maybe even leave a comment or come back by in the future!

Just as a refresher, here are the soup ingredients provided by my partner, Judy Riley of Three Red Beads:





The focal is one of Judy's hand-made paper beads. This presented an immediate challenge as I have never worked with a paper bead before and I wasn't sure what style would best set it off or how much handling it would stand up to.

The other ingredients are Czech glass flowers and drops, freshwater pearls, faceted white jade and a Bali silver toggle clasp. Even though this color combination is not one that I would have ever put together myself, I absolutely loved it! Didn't exactly know what I was going to DO with it, but I loved it.

My process normally begins with the focal bead. I usually try to pull colors from it to select my accent beads and/or inform the idea of the design. In this case, the accent beads are already there for me, but the color scheme really screamed copper instead of silver to my brain. So, my first decision was that the clasp would form part of a separate design.

Next thing I noticed was that the paper used on the focal bead seems to have flowers imprinted on it. Put that together with the glass flowers and the fact that the green drops look like tiny leaves...I think I'm looking at a floral garland type of design. I also decided that the focal was a little small to anchor a necklace so...a bracelet it is!





I used 20 gauge copper wire and made large wrapped loops. Before closing each loop, I strung a few of the green drops directly on the wire and then also strung on some dangles I'd made out of the flowers and then closed the loops.





Here's a closeup of the focal bead. I added some Greek ceramic spacers in copper and some copper daisy spacers from my stash.





I quickly discovered that the lavender freshwater pearls did not have holes large enough to accommodate the wire I was using, but I really wanted to keep the lavender color in so I added lavender Czech glass flowers from my stash.





One of the best things in this soup mix are these faceted white jade beads. I never would have thought to use them, but they absolutely glow next to these other colors.





This copper toggle came from my stash.





And here's another overall veiw of the bracelet.





I had enough beads left to make some matching earrings.

Since I still had the silver toggle clasp, most of the green drops and all of the freshwater pearls left, I knew I needed to make more soup. I really wanted it to concentrate on those pearls and when I received my latest order from Lisa Boucher's Etsy shop and this lavender and yellow sunflower pendant was in it...





...well, they were meant to go together.

Except this design called for brass so the silver toggle still had to sit out.

I started with the pendant and some large-link brass chain and I kept picturing a chain-link fence in an overgrown field of flowers and berries with the plants twining through and around the fence links.





Other than the lavender pearls, everything else in this design came from my stash.





Here's a closeup of the amazing focal and you can see how I started weaving the pearls through the chain links using the illusion cord.





I decided to use up the lavender flowers that I still had on my table from the bracelet and then I added in dyed yellow wood round beads, vintage glass leaves, some lapis lazuli rondelles and olive green Swarovski crystals. Yes, up close with the camera eye view, you can see the illusion cord, but I've used this technique before and when the design is worn, that cord just disappears like...well, like an illusion ;-)





I was so excited with the way this design came out that I knew it needed a very special closure. A simple brass hook wasn't going to cut it and none of my brass toggles were the right size or style (note to self: you need better brass toggles!) and then I happened to look over and see some ribbon spilling out of the top of my "to be put away pile" and voila!

Y'know, people always ask me when I buy a certain bead or supply "what are you going to do with that?" And I never have the answer because I don't really have a specific design in mind for the most part. I put it into my stash where it waits for the right moment to come out and make magic. I mean, really, who would have ever thought that I would use olive green ribbon trimmed in lavender edging, right? But look, the right design came along and I think it works wonderfully. My little matchy-matchy heart is singing for joy LOL!





Matching earrings, of course! Olive green glass pearls, lapis rondelles, vintage glass leaves and some more of the lavender Czech flowers. I used brass leverback earring wires for the tops.

At this point, I still had some leftover lavender pearls AND that clasp. Obviously, whatever the design is, it's going to have to be purple and silver to start with...hmmm...didn't I just buy some pretty purple ceramic beads at the Costa Mesa Gem Faire a few weeks ago...???

Why, yes, I believe I did. Good for me!

Then I searched through my stash for some lampwork to mix with them and despite having a MASSIVE collection of it, I couldn't find a set that worked with what I wanted to do (obviously, I need more lampwork...which is really hard to believe) but I did come across some large grey ceramic beads that went perfectly and then I mixed in a few crystals and it was starting to come together, but I felt like it was still missing that magic something...

So, I let it simmer on my bead design board for a few days and then I went through my carefully hoarded (because the prices have gone C-R-A-Z-Y) sterling silver stash and found the perfect pendant.





This design takes me back to my designing roots when I was all about the Bali silver mixed with crystals and, usually, lampwork.





However, I think this gorgeous shell pendant and the shimmering ceramic beads give it a different feeling. Plus, I love how the ceramic can look so earthy in my earlier sunflower piece and so upscale and glamorous in this necklace. What a versatile material to work with!





And yes, those marbled purple/lavender/grey beads ARE ceramic. Oh, and I did find a way to finish up using the rest of those lavender pearls from the original soup mix!





Here's a better closeup view of the side of the necklace. That lovely purple crystal color is "Cyclamen."





And finally...I did get that clasp worked in! The only thing I'm really missing is that I was out of sterling silver crimp covers so I'll have to add those later, but I didn't want to be late with my soup just because I'm waiting for that order to come in ;-)





Here's a final look at the whole piece. Yes, it's simple and straightforward in design, but I like to think this approach allows the beauty of each individual bead and component to really stand out.

That's it - hope you enjoyed my three different flavors of soup. As you can see, my style is a bit all over the place but that's because I let the beads take charge and tell me how they want to be used.

Thanks for stopping by and if you're continuing on in the hop, here's the list:

The Hostess, Lori Anderson and her partner Manuela Wutschke

1. Aimee Wheaton and Barbara York

2. Alice Craddick and Sandra Richardson

3. Alison Sachs and Amy Severino

4. Allison Scott and Cynthia Abner

5. Amanda Cargill Austin and Charlene Sevier

6. Amanda Davie and Patsy Evins

7.Amber Dawn and Kim Ballor

8. Ambra Gostoli and Christine Hansen

9.Amy Freeland and Christine Altmiller

10. Ana Krepel-Novak and Eleanor Snare

11. Andrea Morici and Hope Smitherman

12. Andrea Trank and Jayne Capps

13. Andrea Turini and Charlene Jacka

14. Angela May and Emanda Johnson

15. Anitra Gordy and Elizabeth Owens Dwy

16. Ann Rishell and Debbie Price

17. Ann Sherwood and Lynne Bowland

18. Anna Lear and Barbe Saint John

19. Anna Sabina and Erin Siegel

20. Nan Emmett and Erin Siegel

21. Astrid Boyce and Birgitta Lejonklou

22. B.R. Kuhlman and Deanna Chase

23. Barbara Bechtel and Bryna Lumb

24. Barbara Blaszczyk and Davinia Design

25. Barbara Judy and Holly Westfall

26. Barbara Lewis and Cathie Carroll

27. Barrie Edwards and Lyn Foley

28. Becky Fairclough and Jana Tarhala

29. Bella Borgouise and Gillian Lehman

30. Beth and Evie McCord and Erin Prais-Hintz

31. Beth Bricker and Heather Pyle

32. Beth Emery and Cassie Donlen

33. Bobbie Rafferty and Cindy Cima Edwards

34. Candice McGinnis and Sally Anderson

35. Carol Bradley and Cece Cormier

36. Cathy Khoury and Molly Alexander

37. Carol Tannahill and Hilary Frye

38. Carrie Tahquechi and Cris Peacock

39. Cat Pruitt and Cindy Gimbrone

40. Charlene Gary and Doris Stumpf

41. Charlotte Pevny and Kate Gardenghi

42. Cherrie Fick and Cathie Carroll

43. Claire Maunsell and Cherrie Fick

44. Cheryl Roe> and Jenny Vidberg

45. Chris White and Norma Turvey

46. Christa Murphy and Kathy Alderfer

47. Christie Murrow and Dana James

48. Christina Miles and Collette Collins

49. Christine Brandel and Elizabeth Woodford

50. Christine Damm and Cynthia Deis

51. Christine Hendrickson and Debbie Goering

52. Christine Stonefield and Dee Wingrove-Smith

53. Cilla Watkins and Johanna Rhodes

54. Cindy Wimmer and Riki Schumacher

55. CJ Baushka and Cory Celaya

56. Courtney Breul and Joanna Matuszczyk

57. Cristi Clothier and Kathleen Robinson Young

58. Cryss Thain and Serena Trent

59. Cynthia Tucker and Kitty Durmaj

60. Dana Johnson Jones and Eva Sherman

61. Davinia Algeri and Janet McDonald

62. Deci Worland and Lara Lutrick

63. Diana Ptaszynski andKristy Abner

64. Diane Cook and Kerry Bogert

65. Diane Hawkey and Jen Judd Velasquez

66. Dorcas Midkiff and Jill Harris

67. Doris Radlicki and Heather Goldsmith

68. Dot Lewallen and Gaea Cannaday

69. Elisabeth Auld and Jennifer Justman

70. Erin Fickert-Rowland and Geanina Grigore

71. Erin Grant and Julie Jones

72. Eszter Czibulyas and Helena Fritz

73. Fiona Christie and Michelle Heim

74. Gail Zwang and Genea Crivello-Knable

75. Geneva Collins and Jana Haag

76. Gretchen Nation and Heidi Post

77. Heather DeSimone and Karin Slaton

78. Heather Marley and Terry Carter

79. Ingrid McCue and Jennifer Pride

80. Jackie Ryan and Nicole Keller

81. Janna Harttgen and Joanne Tinley

82. Jean Yates and Lori Anderson

83. Jelveh Jaferian and Jenny Davies-Reazor

84. Jenni Connolly and Jennifer Heynen

85. Jennifer Cameron and Kristi Bowman

86. Jennifer Geldard and Lisa Liddy

87. Jennifer VanBenschoten and Kim Hora

88. Jess Italia Lincoln and Lori Greenberg

89. Jill MacKay and Lori Bergmann

90. JJ Jacobs and Karen Tremblay

91. Joyce Becker and Kathy Welsh

92. Judy Glende and Karen Sinkowski

93. Judy Riley and Kelly Morgan

94. JuLee Wolfe and Julie Bean

95. Julianna Cannon and Julianna Kis

96. Julie Nordine and Lesley Watt

97. K. Hutchinson and Shea Zukowski

98. Karen Firnberg and Karyn Bonfiglio

99. Karen Williams and Kimberly Roberts

100. Karen Zanco and Polly Barker

101. Kari Carrigan and Laura Twiford

102. Karin von Hoeren and Laura Blanck

103. Kate Richbourg and Lorelei Eurto

104. Kathleen Lange Klik and Maria Clark

105. Kathy Engstrom and Keri Lee Sereika

106. Kay Thomerson and Loretta Carstensen

107. Kelley Fogle and Laurel Bielec

108. Kelly Ramstack and Sally Anderson

109. Kim Stevens and Tiffany Long

110. Kristi Harrison and Mandy Williamson

111. Kristi Kyle and Lana Kinney

112. Kristina Johansson and Sue Hodgkinson

113. Kym Hunter and Laura Sanger

114. Laura Zeiner and Susan Kennedy

115. Laurel Steven and Mary McGraw

116. Laurie Hanna and Lisa Boucher

117. Lesley Weir and Liz DeLuca

118. Linda Djokic and Tracey Weiser

119. Linda Inhelder and Pam Brisse

120. Linda Landig and Lori Dorrington

121. Linda Murphy and Lisa Hamilton

122. Line Labrecque and Marianne Baxter

123. Lisa Lodge and Monica Johnson

124. Lois Moon and Melissa Muir

125. Lola Surwillo and Therese Frank

126. Lori Bowring Michaud and Marci Brooks

127. Lupe Meter and Norma Agron

128. Maggie Towne and Marge Beebe

129. Malin de Koning and Susie Hibdon

130. Mallory Hoffman and Shirley Moore

131. Marcie Abney and Patty Miller

132. Marcy Lamberson and Melissa Clarke

133. Margot Potter and Suzann Sladcik Wilson

134. Maria Grimes and Wendy Blum

135. Maria Horvath and Melinda Orr

136. Maria Rosa Sharrow and Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp

137. Marian Hertzog and Melissa Mesara

138. Marianna Boylan and Sandi Lee James

139. Marina Dobrynina and Michaela Pabeschitz

140. Marsha Neal and Miri Agassi

141. Mary Ellen Parker and Melissa Meman

142. Mary Elliott and Tamara Soper

143. Mary Hicks and Laurel Steven

144. Melissa Pynn and Michelle Buettner

145. Michelle Hardy and Niki Meiners

146. Michelle Mach and Moira McEvoy

147. Missy Rappaport and Mags Sarri

148. Molly Alexander and Poranna

149. Mylene Hillam and Nicole Rennell

150. Nadezhda Parfyonova and Stacey Curry

151. Nan Emmett and Nancy Peterson

152. Nancy Boylan and Natalie McKenna

153. Natalie Monkivitch and Niky Sayers

154. Natasha Lutes and Pam Ferrari

155. Noemi Baena and Penny Ilagan

156. Pamela Petry and Rebecca Sirevaag

157. Pat Haight and Shannon Hicks

158. Patty Gasparino and Vonna Maslanka

159. Penny Neville and Sandi Volpe

160. Pepita Bos and Wendy Chamberlain

161. Raida Disbrow and Rebecca Watkins

162. Rebecca Anderson and Sabrina Staub

163. Regina Santerre and Rose Binoya

164. Rhea Freitag and Tari Kahrs

165. Rochelle Brisson and Teri Baskett

166. Sally Russick and Tracy Bell

167. Sandra McGriff and Shay Williams

168. Sandra Wolberg and Sara Hardin

169. Sarah Elder and Salla Small

170. Saskia Kaffenberger and Sharon Gardner

171. Sharon Palac and Shannon Chomanczuk

172. Shay Stone and Suzette Bentley

173. Shiraz Biggie and Tammy Powley

174. Staci Smith and Tracy Stillman

175. Stacie Stamper and Tracy Martin

176. Stefanie Teufel and Vicky Taylor

177. Stephanie Dixon and Stephanie LaRosa

178. Stephanie Haussler and Valerie Norton

179. Suzanne Tate and Terri Wlaschin

180. Sweet Freedom Designs and Tammy Jones

181. Tania Spivey and Tari Sasser

182. Tara Plote and Terry Matuszyk

183. Terri Gauthier and Deana Hager

184. Theresa Fosdick and Tracey Nanstad

Somebody Please Tell Them Who I Iz

Wow...never would have thought I'd be quoting Nicki Minaj lyrics in a blog post title. I am soooo au courant. Of course I also never thought I'd be saying "I iz" at any point in my lifetime, but I'm just quoting Nicki so the bad grammar is really her fault.

With the Bead Soup Blog Hop coming up TOMORROW (woo hoo!), I thought I'd pull together a few highlights from my blog over the years in case anyone who visits wants to learn a little bit more about what goes on here. Y'know...in case they decide they might want to come back again sometime.

Sooo...here are a few oldies but goodies:

I like books (maybe even almost more than beads...shhh...don't tell anyone) and I used to write weekly book reviews here on the blog like this one. Then I stopped doing them for a while, but have recently gotten back into it so here's a link to the latest one.

My hatred of the grocery store is legendary. My mom is now doing some of my shopping along with hers each week so I don't have to go as often. It's really safer for everyone this way.

Of course, I love to make jewelry (duh) and since my style tends to be all over the place, I thought I'd share this post that shows the two extreme ends of the spectrum I live on. Both pieces eventually sold and the first one was published in a magazine prior to its sale.

I'm on a (seemingly) neverending quest to organize my beads. This process started out brilliantly, but has since been compromised by an upstairs flood (and the resulting year-long chaos of putting everything back together) as well as what I can only call rampant bead buying/hoarding. One day I will appear on one of those TV shows and when the door of the house opens, instead of junk and cats pouring out, parrots will fly out and beads will spill all over the ground.

The result of all this bead buying is that I do a lot of bead porn posts. Not as many this year as in the past because it really was getting out of hand, but I still do the occasional one so I don't fall out of practice. Plus, it's my way of giving back to all the great artists whose beads and components inspire me - they totally deserve the free publicity.

But don't think I can't admit that I'm a beadaholic. Because I totally can. I'm even in a 12 step program.

Once nice thing about revisiting old posts is that I remembered how much fun this blog challenge was and I've been inspired to host another one. I figure everyone will need time to recover from the Bead Soup process so I'll wait a bit longer, but watch for an announcement in the near future! I've got a cool idea for the inspiration AND I've been saving up a whole bag of beady goodies for a YEAR as the prize. And if you've seen my porn posts or remember back to the 9 lb. box of beads I gave away a few years ago...you KNOW this prize is gonna be AMAZING.

And last, but not least, over there on the right you'll find the links to both of my Etsy stores: Silver Parrot has all my handmade jewelry for sale and Be Resinable contains my handmade resin beads and pendants.

So, welcome to the blog! Stroll around, grab a snack, make yourself comfortable and come back any time!!

Bead Soup post goes up at 1 AM!!

KJ

It's ALMOST Soup Time!

And here's a teaser photo of what I'll be revealing in the Bead Soup Blog Hop:




Meet me back here at 1:00 AM on 09/17/11 for some delicious soup. I'll be serving three different varieties along with some "extras."

Can't wait!

KJ

Book Review: "Three Days to Dead"

After the book from my last review turned out to be such a disappointment, I was really nervous about this next one. Not only is this a new author for me (and I have a track record of not doing well with branching out into new authors), but the subject matter had some similarities as far as the whole “revived from the dead” idea was concerned. In fact, I probably would have passed this book up were it not for the comment blurb on the cover from Patricia Briggs who is one of my all-time favorite authors.

The good news is that while the “semi-zombie” idea didn’t work for me before (just too gross and depressing), it definitely worked better here. I think the difference had to do with how the re-animation was handled. In “Working Stiff”, the main character really is dead and her body will immediately decay if she doesn’t get her daily shot of nanites. In “Three Days to Dead”, Evangeline Stone dies but her spirit is transferred to a different body which, yes, is also dead, but is completely healed through magic. There’s no ongoing decay process and no need for daily booster shots.

Of course, there is still a catch – the new body will go back to being 100% dead in three days. So Evangeline has only that long to figure out not only how she ended up dead in the first place, but also who called her back, what they want and why she ended up in the body of Chalice Frost, a recent suicide victim, instead of being called back into her own body.

There area a number of good things about this book. There's almost non-stop action from the first few pages on so I was immediately sucked in. In addition, while the typical cast of vampires, werewolves, and fae are there, they are all given new and unusual twists which helps keep this book from feeling too formulaic. Also enjoyable was the seemingly doomed romance.

Having said that…there are a few rookie mistakes in the novel: the name Chalice Frost is a prime example. I mean, Chalice Frost? Really? I much preferred the character’s original name of Evangeline Stone. Also, I didn’t buy that the new body would be much use in a fight – it was healthy, but didn’t have the training or muscle memory that the old one did. Not to mention that the character had to adjust to a whole new center of gravity, etc. But the biggest issue I had was that there were a couple of plot manipulations that were a little too heavy-handed and obvious.

Overall, however, it was an enjoyable read and I will definitely be checking out the next book in the series. One plus with this is that the subsequent books are already out so if you like this one, there’s no annoying wait time for the next.

That’s it for this week. Check out my next book review candidate over on the right side bar: “Phoenix Rising.” If you like Steampunk (it’s not just for jewelry!), then this one’s for you!

See you on the 17th for Bead Soup!

KJ

P.S. Just in case anyone was wondering...I look EXACTLY like that chick on the cover of the book. EXACTLY. Because fighting otherworldly bad guys SHOULD be done in a cropped tank and skin tight jeans. Makes TOTAL sense.