It's Time To Join The Party!

Yes! It's time to join the party! And what party is that? Well, the Bead Soup Blog Party of course!!!! It's time to start blog hopping! I'm so excited! I can't wait to see what everyone else has made! Before I give you the link to take you to the Blog List, let me show you what I've made! On a previous post, I explained all about the Party & I also posted pictures of what I sent to my partner Leanne Loftus of http://firstimpressiondesign.blogspot.com/. and pictures of what she sent to me. Please go and check out her site to see what she made with the Bead Soup that I sent to her! She did an amazing job & I'm really thrilled because I sent her a few of my handmade polymer clay focals that I haven't  really shared with anyone! Here's a picture of the first necklace I made:

Button Clasp

Elliptical Illusion Links

Macramed Cabachon!

Right now I am doing my best to get these photos where I'd like them to be but, I'm getting no cooperation from Blogger!  Anyway, I then went on to make another necklace! I went to my "bible" for help with that one! It's called The Missing Link by Cindy Wimmer! Have y'all seen that book? I certainly recommend it to any jewelry designer. As a matter of fact, our guru, Lori Anderson has contributed 2 projects to the design section of the book! I decided to use the Elliptical Illusion Link to give the necklace a little bling! I really love the way this necklace turned out! 

Everytime I add a new picture, the other pictures keep jumping all around the page... AAAHHHH!!! I did make 2 pairs of earrings but I'm too scared to upload them! 

I've had alot of fun being involved with the BSBP & of course I want to thank Lori sooo much for making this whole thing happen for all of us even though she's been so sick! Please stop by again! I promise to have all of the tweaks tweaked by then! I'm looking forward to getting back to hopping!!! Wow, there's so many awesome designers out there in the world! Thank you! Have a good one!

Here Comes The Sun & I Say, It's Alright!

Hi everyone! The sun is shining & it's absolutely gorgeous outside here in Maryland!  I really can't tell you how happy that makes me!  This year winter has been way too long!  Ugh!  So today I'm listening to the Beatles Abby Road CD! I love the song "Here Comes The Sun"!  Here comes the sun & I say, it's alright!!!


Anyhow, this morning I decided to play catch up on my email! Oh, there's only about 2500 unread emails that I have been neglecting! I'm so happy that I did get to them today because I've got alot of information to share! Over at Lorelei's blog, Inside the Studio, http://lorelei1141.blogspot.com/, she's having a great book giveaway! The book is "Hand Crafted Wire Findings" by Denise Peck & Jane Dickerson. Get on over there & leave a comment!


Over at Love My Art Jewelry, Stacey L. Smith has written a very inspiring post & she also announced what was in store for the next Boot Camp! You really have to go & check it out!
Love My Art Jewelry: What is Next? Boot Camp: Fine Finishings !!!  I'm so excited because I'm always looking for tutorials, techniques & tips on jewelry design! I'm truly grateful to all of these lovely women designers for taking time out of there busy lives to write for Love My Art Jewelry and they all have there own websites and blogs as well! I'll tell ya, I've got alot to learn, particularly about time management!


And there's one more thing I wanted to remind y'all about. Don't forget about getting your daily dose of vitamin P! And what's vitamin P you say? Well, Pinterest of course! I know it's addicting! I know that there's sooo much awesomeness that you get overwhelmed because just one pin can have you on the computer for hours as it takes you to the source website or blog which will of course take you somewhere else, which will then lead you somewhere else & by that time you forgot what you started looking at in the first place? Whew! I have had times like that when I first got introduced to Pinterest! I could spend hours just soaking it all up! But, I have learned to limit my time on the site even though it's hard! Here's the link to my page, http://www.pinterest.com/leciaw63/, I've got awesome tutorials on my jewelry & polymer clay boards as well as my DIY, etc. Please check out the 8th Annual Bead Soup Blog Party Board to see all of the awesome soups that all of the other participants exchanged!

Most of all have fun! I hope that you have a great day! Create something awesome!  Lecia

Soups have arrived!!!

It seems that my main focus this month has been the Bead Soup Blog Party that is hosted by Lori Anderson on her Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/BeadSoupCafe/!  The whole premise of the party is that Lori (who by the way, has tirelessly put this thing together through a debilitating, painful illness that she has been suffering with for some time now! Cudos to Lori!) pairs up all 500+ of the party goers with a partner. The idea is for the 2 partners to get to know each other a little & then each partner gathers up what would be her "best" focal, clasp & beads, along with stringing material & findings (if you're so inclined), while keeping in mind what your partners style is so that you can send her the opposite or at least something different then what she would be used to working with & package it all up purty & mail it off to her! I so love this idea!!! And apparently so do alot of other people. Lori's Bead Soup Blog Party's have become rather a big deal in the beading community & I am soooo thrilled to be a part of!

My partner is Leanne Loftus of http://firstimpressiondesign.blogspot.com/! Leanne works for the school district in Central Pennsylvania as a Payroll/Human Resources Administrator.  She loves making jewelry & meeting others who love the same! She's a busy mother who makes sure that she makes the time for her creative outlets, jewelry design, knitting & scrapbooking. We didn't get a chance to talk too much but she's very prompt & generous as you can see in the soup that she sent me...

Psst! Don't tell Leanne but this is actually right up my alley! Gorgeous! I can smelling the broth simmering as we speak! And, here's the soup that I sent to Leanne:

All the fixins for a yummy soup!

I Made The List!

Yahoo!!! What's all the excitement about? Well, I did make the Bead Soup Blog Party list of participants!!! You can read all about the party  at http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.com/! My name is on the list of the first 490 participants!!! This thing is huge! It spans the globe! Lori Anderson & her husband have been working overtime organizing lists, notifying participants & I can't even imagine all of the things that need to be done to make this work! I am so thankful & I'm truly honored to be a part of  The 8th Annual Bead Soup Blog Party! I have some work to do as well! I wonder who I'll be partnered with? I have been gathering gorgeous beads & components that I haven't actually separated into individual soups yet but I can't wait to start playing! 

I've ordered some Swellegant Metal Coatings & Patinas & I'm eagerly awaiting their arrival! Ugh! I'm the most impatient person when it comes to waiting for something that I'm excited about! I've been wanting to try them for some time now & I finally took the plunge & bought them. Because I'm on such a tight budget I decided to make, or I should say try to make my own components (bead caps, etc.) that I would actually want to be some type of a precious metal, with polymer clay & these Swellegant Metal Coatings. As soon as they arrive, I'll get busy & I'll document the process. Who knows? Hopefully it's be a success!  So today, I think I'll leave you with this:
                                                                  

Numero Uno!

Happy Sunday!
It's another cold & somewhat dreary day here in Md.  I'm so over winter at this point but, IT'S not over so I'll just keep trudging along!  I'm super excited today for several reasons: 

a)This is my first post on my new blog!!! 
b)I've got some gorgeous new earrings to show you!!!
c)It's the sign up day for the 8th Annual Bead Soup Blog Party!!! This will be my first year participating in this event & I can't wait to get busy with it! 

I have to admit that I'm a little bit scared about this whole blogging thing! Me, a blogger? What if I don't have anything to talk about?  Although that's highly unlikely, I do hope that I have something to say that someone else wants to hear! Well, not hear really,  it's got to be interesting enough to make you want  to sit and spend some of your valuable time and read it! That's a big challenge! I certainly plan to do my best! 

As I said, this will be my first year participating in Lori Anderson's Annual Bead Soup Blog Party! I'm sure you've heard about it!  Please check out her Facebook Group,  https://www.facebook.com/groups/BeadSoupCafe/!   I am delighted!

I've been working on some new earring designs lately that will be available for purchase as soon as my shop is open. I'll be keeping you up-to-date with that.  Here's a preview:

Banded Agate Amethyst Rounds,Oxidized Copper

wire & chain 

Earrings

Have a GREAT day!

Lecia