Art Charm Exchange, Beads of Courage, and a Bowl of Beads

I haven't been able to torch in a while, but there comes a time, when beads need to be sent to Beads of Courage. 

I started cleaning out beads today.  I almost have a full bowl with a lot more to go!!!  I hope the kids like them!

Just a reminder, the Art Charm Swap is over.  I'll post my charms soon.  There will be a blog hop and an auction to raise funds for Beads of Courage on November 14.  Stay tuned for more details.

Now that it's November, it's time to start thinking of the holidays.  Thanksgiving is coming up soon.
I'm hosting the annual gathering this year.  It's always a wonderful time of year to get together, talk, and enjoy that bird! 

After Thanksgiving, of course, comes Christmas.  I want to scale back this year.  Everything will be casual, except, of course, Church.  That will be Midnight Mass.  I love being out in the cold at Midnight to attend Christmas Mass! 

Then, during December, we begin our ascent into spring.  The light of day becomes slightly longer as we move into January.  Of course, we will have a lot of snow, but, it's better to have the snow and see it glitter in the sun.  (I can't believe I said that!)  Dusk is my favorite part of day.  The blue of the early sunset reflects on the snow and I feel peaceful. 

For now, even though I think we should do it all year, we need to give thanks.  We are such a rich country.  We have so much that others don't have. 

Last year, at this time, I had a broken bone in my foot.  Actually, it wasn't a broken foot bone or a broken ankle bone, it was the connector bone between my ankle and foot.  I am very grateful that I don't have a broken bone this year!  That hurt!

Woooo Hoooo! Art Charm Blog Reveal and Auction for Beads of Courage! Thank you, Jennifer Cameron!

 I was so excited when the box of charms arrived!  I ripped open the box with my bare hands.  Jennifer Cameron hosts a charms exchange each year.  We make charms, exchange charms,  and Jennifer hosts an auction on Ebay for our charms!  The monies raised in this auction go to Beads of Courage!  Thank you, Jen! 

Here's the link for the auction.  It begins at 7 AM today.   CLICK HERE.
Each charm will sell for a flat rate of $20.  Remember, all the proceeds from this auction will go to Beads of Courage!!!!!  Again, thank you, Jennifer!

I'd like to show you the charms that I received.

 Are these nummy or what?

And, there's more!

I love these, too!!!!

Like WOW!!!

Aren't these great?

Now, you might want to see my charm.

Here it is!

Ta-da!!

I love the city!!

Now, since this is a blog hop.  Check out the rest of the people who made charms for this exchange and auction.

Da-List!

Jen Cameron: http://glassaddictions.com/blog/

Toltec Jewels: http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com

Vanessa Gilkes: http://culturezine.com/blog/

Caroline Dewison: http://blueberribeads.co.uk

LesleyWatt http://www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com

Susan Kennedy: http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com

Nancy Dale : http://www.nedbeads.blogspot.com

Alicia Marinache: http://www.allprettythings.ca

Cassi Paslick: http://cassisbeads.blogspot.com

Alenka Obid: http://www.pepita-handmade.blogspot.com

Renetha Stanziano: http://www.lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com

Shelley Graham Turner: http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com/

Monique Urquhart: http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com

Shai Williams: http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com

Lennis Carter: http://windbent.wordpress.com

Cheri Reed: http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com

Moriah Betterly: http://mlbetterly.blogspot.com

Perri Jackson: http://shaktipajdesigns.com/blog/

Mallory Hoffman: http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com

Ginger Bishop: http://lilmummylikes.blogspot.com

Jean Peter: http://jeanpdesigns.blogspot.com

Linda Florian: http://lilysofthevalleyjewelry.blogspot.com

Patricia Pulliam: http://rusticstudio.blogspot.com

Karin Grosset Grange: http://ginkgoetcoquelicot.blogspot.fr

Julie Bowen: http://blog.autochthonous-evolved.com

Susan Delaney: http://ladyflowersbysusan.wordpress.com

Emma Todd: http://www.apolymerpenchant.blogspot.com

Carolyn Chenault : http://carolynchenault.wordpress.com

Terri Del Signore: http://artisticaos.blogspot.com

Cory Tompkins: http://www.tealwaterdesigns.blogspot.com

Cheryl (Lee) Koopman: http://stregajewellry.wordpress.com

Lori Bowring Michaud: http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com

Andrea Glick: http://zenithjade.blogspot.com

Jacqueline Carlson: http://www.beadgypsy.blogspot.com

Michelle McCarthy: http://www.fireflydesignstudio.blogspot.com

Charlene Bausinger Jacka: http://clay-space.com/blog/

Kristi Bowman: http://dreamsomedesigns.blogspot.com

Bead Hoarding and Blog Hops

If you've never met Lori Anderson, you're in for a treat.  I have met her, and she is a delightful young woman, married and the mother of an even more delightful child named Zack.  She has a blog called Pretty Things.
Lori has helped to bring the beauty making jewelry and art beads to the attention of many designers in our country.  The problem is that once you are hooked on art beads, you tend to hoard, like me, and I blame Lori for this!!!  Not really, I was a bead hoarder long before I met Lori, truly I was!  So, when Lori decided to host a blog hop for those of us who have this hoarding problem, I signed up!  This is a good challenge, but, do I really have to use my beads? 

Well, Lori says to participate, you do.  So, I guess I'll show you what I have.

Whoops!!  I couldn't get a good picture of them, so I decided to show you a picture of Pixie.  She's closed her eyes because she sees beads, beads and more beads!

Anyway, this should be fun!  Do I really, really have to use my beads?
Sigh, I guess so.

See you on July 20th when we show off our creations.  Sigh!

Toast of the Town Blog Hop

When Erin Prais-Hintz announced this blog hop,

I jumped in with both feet.

Erin designed a necklace for Michael's and named it

Toast of the Town!

I loved the necklace!

I decided to try it.

The only rule Erin had for this blog hop was that we should try to stay true to the spirit of the necklace she designed.

We didn't have to shop Michael's for our beads.

(I did!  te-he!)

We could use beads from our own stash.

All we needed to do was to follow the directions for the necklace Erin designed.

Oh. My. Goodness!

Follow the directions?

Okay, I did.

Here is my necklace, and I love it!!!

 When I went to Michael's I took Erin's directions with me.

I was determined to follow those directions to the letter.

Ooooooops, as you can see I didn't.

There was a 50% off sale, need I say more?

Anyway, by the time I was finished, I had chosen red, black, and white for my color palette.

The only mistake I made was in the toggle clasp I bought.

The Michael's where I shopped did not have the clasp that Erin used in her necklace, so I bought a different one.

 As I worked on my necklace, it became apparent that my beads would not fit through the toggle clasp, as I needed to do.

I had to use a bigger clasp.

 It doesn't appear to be that big, but it is!

By using this big clasp, I was able to fit my beads through the hole.

Whew!

I decided to twist the necklace and wear it as a choker.

I love the eclectic look of the necklace when I twisted the choker.

I will enjoy wearing this, especially with the holidaze coming on!

Thank you, Erin, for hosting this blog hop!!!

Now, here's a list of the other participants.

Tanya - A Work In Progress

Lee - Strega Jewellery

Elisabeth - Beads for Busy Gals
Molly - Crafting A Life in Indiana

Pam - Re-Maker

Beth - EB Bead & Metal Works

Emma - A Polymer Penchant

Michelada - Micheladas Musings

Penny - Copper Penny Designs

Kay - Kayz Kreationz  (Note: Kay had to go out of town. Do check back for her reveal!)

Mallory - For the Love of Beads

Sequintastic September Blog Hop

Today is the day!!

I'm very excited to show you my sequintastic creations!

But first,

since this is not my first attempt at using sequins,

I have to show you this.

I made this when I had cataract surgery earlier this year.

I looked at the ugly eye patches from the hospital,

so,

I made this!

Here's a picture of me wearing my sequined eye patch!

The doctor even took my picture wearing my eye patch out of the hospital.

So, you can see I do take a different approach to using sequins.

What do my sock covered feet have to do with sequins?

No sequins on the socks.

Well, they are covered up now.

Here's how they looked when it was warmer!

They looked great with my sandals!!

See, you can use sequins in so many places!!!

I also make shrines out of tin boxes.

I only used one star sequin on the inside of this shrine, 

but on the outside...

I used sequins to show the love of God for all of us!

I especially liked the angel sequins!

Here's a shrine I made to honor

the Mother of God.  

On the inside, I used on sequin, but

on the outside

I used butterfly sequins to honor 

Our Lady!

Now that you've seen how I've used sequins,

Check out these other bloggers and see how they've used their sequins.

Participants!!!!

Host: Sarah... http://saturdaysequins.com

Dita... http://alankarshilpa.blogspot.com

Ambra... http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com

Audrey... http://hotpinkquilts.blogspot.com

Stacy... http://iridalsattic.blogspot.co.uk

Karen W...  http://baublicious.blogspot.com

Lori...  http://www.prettythingsblog.com

Lisa... http://lisabinkley.typepad.com

Carmi... http://resincrafts.blogspot.com

Dawn Marie...  http://designsbydawnmarie.blogspot.com

Jeannie... http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog

Shirlee... http://www.shirleestuff.blogspot.com

Linda... http://www.lilysofthevalleyjewerly.blogspot.com

Corrine... http://www.sparkledaysstudio.com

Gutukas... http://atradimutakeliais.blogspot.com

Shannon... http://uptwnsh-fallingintothesky.blogspot.com

Mallory... http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com

Cyndi... http://www.beading-arts.com

Maneki... http://wildrosesandblackberries.blogspot.com

Maryanne... http://zingalasworkshop.blogspot.com

Ine... http://jewelsbyine.blogspot.com

Karen... http://www.overthemoon-design.com

Kepi... http://kepirasmussen.blogspot.com

Jennifer... http://jenniferstumpf.blogspot.com

Misty...  http://thejollyfatelf.blogspot.com

Dot... http://speediebeadie.blogspot.com

Hope... http://craftyhope.blogspot.com

Cynthia... http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com

Micheladas... http://www.micheladasmusings.blogspot.com

Shirley...  http://www.beadsandbread.blogspot.com

Karla... http://texaspepperjams.blogspot.com

Eleanor... http://eleanorpigman.blogspot.com

Therese... http://theresestreasures59.blogspot.com

Rita... http://www.toltecjewels.blogspot.com

Robyn... http://rcponders.wordpress.com

Stepha... http://skwds.blogspot.com

Sue... http://suebeads.blogspot.com

Cate... http://fulgorine.wordpress.com

Amy... http://Loraamyjames.com

Six Word Story Sunday - Bead Soup Blog Hopping

Six Word Story

Bead Soup
Blog Hopping
Again Today.

As you know,
usually 6 words just aren't enough for me!
Of course,
today is no exception.
I've enjoyed myself so much as I've hopped from blog to blog
seeing all of the gorgeous works of wearable art.
So, far,
I haven't seen one piece that I have disliked.
This is my blog soup entry.
I like it!
I'll be wearing it a lot.
So,
now,
it's back to
blog hopping.
There are 210 participants!
That's a lot of blogs to hop!