Bead Soup Blog Party!

The reason I started this blog way back when was so that I could join the Bead Soup Blog Party that Lori does every year. I've participated twice and had a blast. 

The first time, I was paired with Shirley. She sent me a challenging focal that I struggled with, but ended up with something I ended up liking.

The second time, my partner was Terry.  I loved what I ended up making with the soup she sent me.

I wear this all the time - the garnet chips and the pendant make me so happy!

This year, I can't wait to see who I'm being paired with. I've already started gathering my soup ingredients for my partner.

Since the last time I was in a BSBP, Lori has started a Facebook group for beaders and it's a wonderful community. I feel like I've gotten to know some people, and that is going to make this one extra special!

I'm all signed up - are you?

Wait...HOW long has it been since I blogged?

About a week after my last post, I started a new job which kicked, and is still actively kicking my ass. It's been a tremendous learning experience and I love what I do. I am one of the people in the world who can say they love their job. I got into the mortgage business in 2004 when it was a really easy way to make a lot of money really fast. Here we are 9 years later, and the only people who are still in the business are the ones, like me, who love it. The people who were only in it for the money got out a long time ago.

Up until my birthday this past November, I was working about 65 hours a week and it was kicking my ass. My boyfriend and I then went to Vegas for Thanksgiving. Both of our families are out of state and rather than cook a huge meal for just the two of us, we decided to go have some fun and we had a blast! The day we were leaving to come back home, though, I started feeling a little sick. It was a LONG 6-hour drive to Phoenix from Vegas. We went to the emergency room and I was in the hospital for five days for abdominal issues.

Since then, we've been to the emergency room four times, I've had three CT scans, three ultrasounds, a colonoscopy and an endoscopy, along with about 10 million blood tests, and apparently there's nothing wrong with me. That's what the doctors say, at least. I'm still fighting the battles, and our friend Lori and I had an encouraging conversation about not giving up. You probably know that she deals with her own health problems and she encouraged me to just keep pushing until they figure out what's wrong and they figure out something they will do to help me.

On the jewelry front, I've made a ton of new stuff.  Back in October, a friend at work said her daughter was having a Quinceanera and asked me to make her jewelry. Then, it turned into her daughter, her, and her sister.  I was given color guidelines and that's about it.  Here's a sample of what I made:

Please forgive my terrible, awful, picture-taking skills. I am working on it, but seriously - I suck at taking pictures. My camera is terrible, which is one of the problems. And hello, black velvet shows every single speck of dust!!!!

I'll be back tomorrow with some more news, but it feels great to be back! Hopefully you can forgive my silence for the past year+.

Have a great week!

Wish List Monday

If you're still Bead Soup hopping, click here for my creation!

Oh, hi!

I could claim that I'm nursing a Bead Soup hangover, and that's why  haven't blogged, but it wouldn't be true. The truth is, I've only visited about 10 of the 362 blogs. Life has interfered with my normal blog visiting, jewelry making, and general leisure activities.

I've worked in the mortgage industry for 7 years. It's been a roller coaster ride - when I first got into it in 2004, it was a very different world. I have been laid off from six mortgage companies in the past 7 years - usually because the company was going out of business. Then I started working for The Very Big Bank. I thought to myself, "Finally! A company I can retire from someday. When I finish my degree in marketing, I can transfer within the company, and I never have to worry about them closing their doors." I was dedicated and loyal and worked my butt off.

Then things went south at the end of August, and have continued to spiral out of control. I won't get into the ugly details, because unless you work for my company in the mortgage business, it won't matter. This is my last week at my job - I was laid off/I quit. It all kind of happened at the same time - I quit about two days before I was scheduled to be laid off. So I'll finish out this week and start my new job a week from today.  I'm very happy about the new job - it's a promotion and it's quite a bit more money. Both good things. I'm sad, though, that things didn't work out at the current place. I'm sad to be leaving my friends (who have all either quit or been laid off already, anyway), and I'm disappointed at the way my company has conducted itself since the incident.

Posting and jewelry creating will continue to be sporadic until my life evens out a bit. I've been on a huge roller coaster since the end of August and it's taking its toll. Please be patient with me and once my head is in a better place, I'll continue blog hopping for the Bead Soup Party. In the meantime, here are some Wish List Monday goodies - the ceramic edition:

I love this bracelet bar. The color, the design, the holes - everything.

I heart Gaea - don't you?  Her bundles are so amazing and this one just really tickles my fancy. Did you know that she hand-picks her bundles and no two are the same?

I must have this mug from Jangles! This is exactly what I need to drink my coffee out of every morning at my shiny new job!

This pendant and the ribbon just speak to me. The colors make me feel calmer and more peaceful.

That's it for this week's Wish List Monday. Go visit my friend Amy over at Copper Diem and see what everyone else is wishing for!

Bead Soup Blog Party!

It's the reveal of the Bead Soup Blog Party!

This party caught me off guard a little, I guess. I've known the reveal date all along, don't get me wrong. However, I procrastinated, as is my way. I didn't intentionally procrastinate, but the beads were refusing to speak to me!

Remember this?

That was my gorgeous bead soup from my partner, Terry.

I made three versions of this necklace before I came up with something un-hideous. I didn't take pictures of the first three because those versions were ICKY! I finally came up with something.

By the time I got home from work Friday night, the sun was pretty low in the sky so I had some issues with lighting.  That's a crystal AB Swarovski bicone on the left - it's a bit hard to see what it is.  The rest is made of garnet chips from my local bead store. I liked the garnet with the focal better than more neutral colors. I felt like it really let the focal shine.

So...I saw the amazing focal:

... and immediately thought "brass". So I dug out a simple Vintaj brass lobster clasp. The clasp I got from my partner:

... was way too gorgeous to hide at the back of my neck. And I couldn't figure out a way to feature it that didn't take attention away from the focal.

I worked it a couple different ways - I used several kinds of brass chain and made dangles out of the other beads:

...she included in the soup. It was ... blah. Boring. Everything was all along the same color palate and I didn't know how to introduce color without throwing everything off.  I also did an asymmetrical design that definitely did not work. It involved pearls which were screaming "WHITE!!!" and the focal did not like it.

Let me also just say that these colors were challenging for me. I work with "beachy" colors - blue, turquoise, green, etc. Neutrals aren't anything I'm used to working with. So I didn't know what went with what.

The rest is made of garnet chips from my local bead store. I liked the garnet with the focal better than more neutral colors. I felt like it really let the focal shine.

I knew the bracelet had to have the gorgeous clasp from Orrtec Designs as the centerpiece. So I went with the original idea I had for the necklace:

This is three different kinds of brass chain with dangles from the Chinese crystal beads in topaz.

The earrings go with the bracelet instead of the necklace:

I may change these to go with the garnet instead. I may change the bracelet too, quite frankly. I like the necklace, but I'm kind of "meh" about the other two pieces.

Remember these items?

I'm in love with these, but I wasn't able to make anything that did them justice. Naturally, I thought earrings. But I couldn't make them work. I made four or five pairs of earrings with them and I couldn't make anything that didn't make me want to run away screaming.

Remember these?

I've been lusting after all the silk fairy ribbon I see in other peoples' designs, but have never had any. I literally squealed when I saw it! I made a version of the necklace that had the ribbon incorporated but it just didn't look right. I felt like it was out of place somehow. The other problem is that I tried to do that nifty wire-wrapped thing with the ribbon. That's HARDER than it looks! I found this tutorial and tried to use it with ribbon. I've since come to the conclusion that in order for ME to do this, I need a third and possibly a fourth hand. That is going to take some time for me to learn.

I feel bad because I didn't use a TON of the materials Terry sent me. I tried, but they were soooooo gorgeous, I was scared!

I mentioned this the other day, but creativity has been elusive for me lately. There's a lot of upheaval in my world right now and my creativity is suffering. I'm still in love with these materials and am still planning to create with them. I need more time, but I'll get there.

This post is CRAZY LONG so I'm going to stop babbling now!  Please, please, please continue the blog hop. I can't wait to see what my partner creates with her soup!

To continue the hop, go visit Lori and see what everyone else made!

Sneaky Peeky

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know there's a party tomorrow. Right?

I finished my pieces last night about 2:00 am and took pictures tonight when I got home from work in a waning sunlight.

I finally made something I don't think it hideously ugly. Yay me. 

Here's a sneaky peek

Be sure to come back this weekend to see the whole thing! (And if you don't make it here until the following week or month, that's okay too. Because, yeah, it's a big list.)

Oh, the Humanity

Hi, my name is Tara. I make ugly jewelry with beautiful beads.

The Bead Soup Blog Party is coming up. The reveal is on Saturday! The soup Terry sent me is stunning!

The beads have been sitting on my bead mat since I got them. I have been pushing them around, putting other beads next to them, stringing them in different patterns, taking them off again. I made a necklace last night and it was SO UGLY! I tore it apart and did something different. UGLY!

UGH!

I've had some health problems and there are things going on at work that are getting ugly fast. I'm sure I'm just distracted and not really in a creative place. 

I will have it finished to show you on Saturday for the big reveal! The question is - how many times will I have redone it?

Wish List Monday

Welcome to another edition of Wish List Monday! What am I wishing for?

First up, these headpins. Now, make no mistake - I would snap every single one of them within minutes of owning, which is probably why I'll never buy them, but aren't they just stunning?

This painting makes me feel restful and peaceful - something that has been lacking lately...

The name of this pendant is "Sledding Hill". How cute is that?! It reminds me of going sledding with my cousins out at my grandma's campground in Minnesota. This evokes soooo many memories for me.

Last, and most importantly, I wish I were in Maine visiting with my nephews. It was just a month ago that we were there, and I would give anything to be able to fly across the country and give them each another squeeze!


Now go visit Amy and see what everyone else is wishing for!

I Remember

It's taken me the whole day to write this post, and I'm no further than I was earlier this morning. I am going to just post the video instead. Ten years ago, I was driving home from work, still in shock, and heard this song on the radio. I had to pull over because I was crying so hard. God bless the USA.

I Heart Macro

This picture is a bit dated, actually. I took is a few months ago when the oranges were growing like crazy around here. This is actually at my aunt and uncle's house, taken probably back in February.

 If it looks yummy, juicy, delicious - it's because it was!

 

Kumquat

Head over to Studio Waterstone to see what everyone else is taking pictures of!

My Kit Is On Its Way!

I love Lima Beads. I love getting jewelry magazines because I can find so many new suppliers that way. The ads in Stringing, Bead Style, etc. are just as interesting to me as the jewelry. I found Lima Beads in one of those ads where they mentioned their Big Green Bead Machine. They have a great selection of Vintaj, which I love, and a huge variety of gemstones. I also love that they have art beads by a lot of my favorite artists - Missficklemeda, Gaea, Earthenwood, Jangles, etc.

I also admire Lorelei and Shannon. A lot. They make stunning jewelry. I hope to someday be able to make jewelry as beautiful as theirs. So when they partnered with Lima Beads for a challenge and I saw the kit, I had to join in!

Look at those colors! I feel calm when I see these colors. At peace. The materials they've chosen are absolutely luxurious.

So basically...you buy the kit from Lima Beads and make something. Or multiple somethings. There will be a blog hop on October 8.

I've been looking for ways to fine tune my skills, push myself creatively, and get comfortable with materials I don't normally work with. That's why I love the Bead Soup Blog Party so much. I have no idea what my partner will send me and it pushes me to be creative.

Go get your kit! Isn't it pretty???