Raku Bones

I finally did some glass fusing a few days ago and here are the results... some gorgeous cabochons!

I absolutely love raku. I only ever had a really chunky raku frit but I recently got given some finer grade and it is soooo nice. 

Rather than sticking with the usual shaped cabs I make in round or oval I consciously stopped fusing these ones before they started to form to achieve this different look.

My little man thinks the first two look like dog bones!

Our own little Harry Potter

As you probably already know I have been a bit obsessed with Harry Potter lately - reading the books and watching the movies.

Well it appears Spencer loves Harry Potter too! A few days ago I found him in the bathroom trying on daddy's reading glasses. I caught him looking at himself in the mirror whispering "I look just like Harry Potter". When he realised I was watching him he said ''mummy I look just like Harry Potter but I don't have a scar"... until he insisted I draw one on his forehead.

So here he is... Spencer ''Harry Potter" White.

Keeping Calm on my Birthday

Well it's my birthday on Saturday 22 May...yep another year down... well another day really. 

I won't bore you with how old I will be turning but what I will share with you is this gorgeous pendant I received from my dear friend, Traci, who I met way back in 1990.

I was visiting the USA on a cultural exchange program and met Traci during my stay in San Diego and we have been friends ever since.

She makes the cutest handmade things - gorgeous clothes, beautiful home decorations not to mention her recent range of jewelry. Check out her gorgeous blog, Amazing Mae, with some of her sweet creations 

I have to say this pendant is pretty special to me - not only the message it holds, the beautiful photo of my hubby and gorgeous little man but also that it was made especially for me by my dear friend..

Thank you so much Traci. 

♥  I miss you  ♥

My Creative Space

 

Well as you can see my creative space this week (which I haven't even taken a photo of) has nothing to do with beading!

Yes I have been a naughty girl and have been focusing on reading my Harry Potter book instead of finishing off my competition piece which is due 15 June! Oops!

I have been taking my beading to work with the aim to bead on my lunch break but I have also been taking my Harry Potter book which I read whilst I eat my lunch and then...well... I just keep reading!

So I promise that next week I will have something bead related to show you instead of the cover of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince which I am about to start!

Kreativ Blogger Award

I'll be the first to admit I am always really touched to receive any type of blogger award. Not only does it mean that someone has been checking out my blog but that they have thought of me when considering who to share their award with.

On that note I am happy to announce that I have just received the Kreativ Blogger Award from one very creative blogger, Cindy from Artful Living on the Bluff.

Thank you so much!

Here are the rules for accepting this award:

1. Post the award on my blog.

2. Thank the person who gave it to me.

3. Link to the person who gave this to me.

4. Share a list of 7 things that you probably don't know about me.

5. Choose 7 great bloggers to give the award to.

6. Share a link to their blogs.

7. Leave a comment on their blog.

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So here are 7 things you probably don't know about me:

1. I LOVE SEX AND THE CITY

I love the show, I love the movie, I know I will love the next movie... I mean what's not to love... the shoes, the clothes... the men!

I won't admit how many times I have seen each episode of the series but let's just say even though I have them on DVD I still manage to watch an episode when it's on tv! I can't wait to spend an afternoon out with my girlfriend when we go to see the next movie...no men allowed!

2. MY GIRLFRIEND AND I ''DISCOVERED'' JOHNNY DEPP!

Back in the 80's I was spending the night at my friend's house. We had rented some movies to watch and on watching the first movie, Private Resort, were admiring this hot young actor. Our next movie, completely different to the first was Platoon. Whilst watching the film we saw our hot young actor's face flash before our eyes for just a few seconds. Could it be the same guy? YES it was.... and none other than Johnny Depp!

Now my friend and I had never heard of this Johnny Depp guy but soon became a wee bit infatuated with him writing "we ♥ Johnny Depp'' in our diaries. All the girls at school were asking us who he was - whether he was from another school as they didn't know who he was!

Of course he then made 21 Jump Street and by this time everyone loved him but my friend and I still have a giggle when we think that for nearly 6 months of high school Johnny Depp was our friend!!

Oh and by the way...

I still ♥ Johnny Depp  and I still have that diary with our friends' comments
"WHO IS THIS JOHNNY DEPP GUY"...ohhhh too funny!

3. I USED TO PLAY NETBALL

Yep! Back in my primary and high school days I used to play competitive netball. My position was either Wing Attack or Wing Defence.

We never got to the finals but I always loved playing and my hubby reckons I still have ''netballer's knee''.. whatever that may be!

4. I AM ONLY JUST READING THE HARRY POTTER SERIES

Yeah I know... I have seen all of the movies but have never read the books but my 16 year old niece had been nagging me to read them saying "oh you must" so I am proud to say I am about 200 pages from finishing my 5th book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The aim is to have them all read by the time the next film is released so that I have managed to read a book before seeing the film. I can't help comparing the books to the films when I read them so I can't wait to read Deathly Hallows for a different take on the book.

5. I HATE BRUSSEL SPROUTS!

6. I ADORE SHOES AND HANDBAGS!

I won't admit to how many pairs of shoes are in my walk in robe but let's just say that the "nice'' ones are all boxed in those clear shoe boxes and labelled as to what's inside and I will admit that there are at least 30 of those boxes and equally as many handbags.

And that's all I am going to say about that...

7. MY FAVOURITE FLOWERS ARE FREESIAS

My grandmother used to have these growing wild in her garden. I adore their smell and their delicate touch and whenever I smell freesias I am immediately taken back to spending wonderful days at my grandparents house in the country.

Ohhhhh to be a child again and spend the hours of the day smelling the freesias...

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I follow so many wonderful blogs but here are the 7 that I have chosen to share the Kreativ Blogger Award with:

1. Traci of Amazing Mae who makes the most adorable handcrafted pieces and a wonderful friend of 20 years!

2. Cindy of CND Jewelry Tales who is one amazingly talented beader and a lovely lady to boot.

3. Helmitarha of Stories of the Secret Garden who makes the cutest little beaded keyrings I have ever seen.

4. Juls of Julsbeads who never fails to make me smile whenever I read her blog and who has been making some gorgeous lampwork beads!

5.Kelley of Kelley's Bead Studio who has been creating the most adorable egg beads which I can't wait to get my hot little hands on!

6. Bree of Beads by Bree who is a fellow glass fuser!

7. Belinda Saville who still manages to create amazing pieces with two little ones!

My Creative Space

Well once again I am a few days late but like I have said before better late than never. 

The main reason I hadn't posted photos of my Creative Space was ...well... I was still working on the same piece, Spring Love, that I had been working on for the last few weeks so didn't really want to bore you with the same old pictures! But as you will have seen by my last post that piece is well and truly done and dusted!

SO... I have now started a new piece! I am currently working on yet another competition piece. I'll give you a hint... the colours I have to use are Amparo Blue, Turquoise and Pink Champagne.

I am using a glass fused cab I made in my microwave kiln which was created from a cracked lampwork bead made by Sally from Happily Ever Artist.  She makes the most divine lampwork beads (and she has just released a tutorial based on her stunning lily beads) and I was lucky enough to receive some of her cracked beads in an experiment to see how they would fuse in my kiln.  As you can see it fused pretty darn nicely!

I am not completely sure of how this piece will come together but it will include St Petersburg and perhaps a few other surprises thrown in here and there!

Watch this space as this piece is due 15 June so I better get a mosey on!!


Be sure to check out Kootoyoo to see what other creative souls are up to this week.

Spring L♥ve

As a few of you may remember I was recently invited to be an Artbeads Design Partner. Since then I have been working on my The Beauty of Spring piece and am proud to be able to finally share it with you.

The gorgeous polymer clay heart cabochon was made by Julz which I beaded. I then tried my hand at making some peyote tube beads as well as some woven beads using Right Angle Weave. 

The colours I chose for the beads reminded me of tulips in the spring time and just their names are reminiscent of Spring and are from the Toho range: Pink Lined Pink, Ceylon Coral Pink, Light Jonquil Lined Aqua and Orange Lined Light Topaz. I also added some cute little Czech glass flat flower crystals as well as some Czech 4mm beads.

To finish the piece I used a gorgeous Swarovski 14mm crystal AB faceted button as the clasp... sooo shimmery and sparkly.

Spring has sprung... well at least Autumn has here in Australia!

♥

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Disclosure: I am a reviewer of Artbeads.com products and a participant of its blogging program. I received all the components free of charge. This post reflects my honest opinion and Artbeads.com is not compensating me for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received and reviewed.

♥ Mmmm caramel slice ♥

I don't make this slice very often but my hubby has been nagging me to make it for months. 

The reason I don't make it often? 

Because it tastes soooo damn good!

You can never stop at just one piece. 

Enjoying the finer things in life

Sunset in our own backyard

8 May 2010

Bead Soup Party

I am excited to announce that I have just signed up for my first 

Bead Soup Party.

Lori Anderson of Pretty Things is hosting this fantastic event. 

Participants are allocated a partner. To this partner we must send a focal, a special clasp and some coordinating beads. They then make a piece for themselves to keep from what we have sent them. Easy!

I have been partnered with Dale of Flights of Fancy who does metalsmithing, wirework and works with unusual found objects and materials so I can't wait to see what interesting things he sends me!

Be sure to drop by Pretty Things to check out the Party! A staggering total of 96 bloggers have signed up so we are in for one rather large

P A R T Y !!!

I'm a winner of a Use the Muse Category

I cannot describe the excitement I am feeling right now after discovering that my piece, Treasures of the North Sea, won a category in the Use the Muse competition.

I got to work this morning, opened the Use the Muse site for the ''big reveal'' and to look at the gallery of entries and winners. I was admiring all of the amazing winners and to my surprise there was my piece... OMG!!!

Winner of the Wonderfully Whimsical Award

My workmates were so excited asking me what I had won and I said ''you know I don't even know I am just so excited...oh my god".

I am not sure who judged my piece as a winner but I do note that Marcia DeCoster judged the beadweaving category so all I can say is that if she did judge my piece I think I just might wet my pants!!

This has been a bit of a wake up call for me as far as my creativity and beading are concerned. I, like most people, am always doubting my abilities and always comparing myself and the standard of my work to other beaders.

My hubby kept saying to me that he thought my piece was amazing saying ''you know Karyn I think you are in with a good chance... I love your piece and I think it is really different"... I would say "aww thank you" but then explain to him that this was a big competition and the other entries would be amazing and my little piece would not compare to the talent of other beaders and that I really was entering to just take part in such an exciting competition.

So I guess what I am trying to say through all of this babble is that perhaps I should stop doubting myself so much and listen to my husband more... but please don't tell him I said that... it will go to his head!!

Be sure to check out the site to see all of the magnificent entries by clicking here.

Fashion Colorworks Beading Contest

Well after much debate I think I have finally figured out my designs for the

Fashion Colorworks 2010 Beading Contest.

I was originally only going to go for the Dried Herb, Eucalyptus and Aurora (they sound very Australian don't they!) colour combination but I think I might be adventurous and try all three selections...if I have time.

The other colour combinations on offer are Amparo Blue, Turquoise and Pink Champagne as well asTomato Puree, Fusion Coral and Violet.

I ordered all of my gorgeous little seed beads yesterday so hopefully they will arrive tomorrow so I can play over the weekend.

I am also still working on my beaded beads for my Artbeads Design Partner piece which I really need to finish too...

I tell you there are just not enough hours in the day. If this silly thing called '''work'' didn't keep getting in the way I would get a lot more done!

Butterflies and Ammonite

Today was the Queensland Labour Day public holiday so rather than sitting around the house we packed a picnic basket and headed to Southbank to visit the Queensland Museum. 

On display at the Museum was The Butterfly Man of Kuranda. OMG what an utterly incredibly beautiful exhibition.  

Frederick Dodd at the sensible age of 37 left Charters Towers, Queensland, with a wife and three children, suddenly quit a successful banking career to devote his life to the study of insects. Dodd spent 42 years collecting insects until his death at Kuranda in 1937. He supplied tens of thousands of perfect specimens to great museums of the world and to wealthy private collectors of the Victorian era.

The exhibition showcased some exquisite butterflies, moths and stunning beetles. Yes I know stunning and beetle are not normally two words you see alongside one another but his exhibit, The Grand Parade (below), which displayed Christmas beetles, flower Chafers and Stag Beetles was truly amazing.

If you live in Queensland and are able to get to the museum then I can't recommend it highly enough. They have even published a small book which outlines the history of the Butterfly Man as well as photos of all of the  amazing butterflies and insects in the exhibit. 

Click here if you'd like to read more about the exhibit which is on display until 12 July 2010.

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Whenever I visit the museum I always check out their gem displays. They have some amazing pieces on display with my favourite being the ginormous (yes that is a word) chunks of malachite.

Well today I treated myself to two gorgeous pieces of ammonite. 

My pieces are sliced tulear ammonite from Madagascar which were labelled 135 M.Y.O. Now my hubby reckons that means they are 135 million years old but to me that just seems unbelievable... I mean how could I be holding something that old in my hands. So I did a bit of searching on good old Google and yep it turns out my little old, with old being the operative word, piece of ammonite could be 135 millions years old. 

In case you don't know what ammonite is I found this useful little piece of information on the 

Western Australian Museum website.

AMMONITES

Ammonites existed in the Mesozoic Era (248-65 MYO). They had hard shells of a chalky mineral named aragonite and are known for their complex suture lines (the stripes and patterns on their surface ).

They had a squid-like head and a curved shell, and swam by jet propulsion.

I plan on doing some bead embroidery with one of my pieces so watch this space for my 135 M.Y.O. piece!

Trying not to overlook the small things in life...

My Creative Space

I can't believe it has been a week since I last wrote about my creative space.

Well I've continued making peyote beads but as my range of delica colours is a little on the boring side limited I thought I'd see how they would look using size 11 seed beads.

I have to admit the delicas do create such a neat, well structured result that suits my OCD to a tea but I have to say the seed beads really do add extra dimension and well... basically make the bead a little more interesting. 

So because I am entitled to change my mind I have decided to ditch the delica beads and am sticking with the seed beads (of course I can always use the others at a later date). 

And because I figure if I am entitled to change my  mind once then I am certainly entitled to change my mind twice so I have now chosen a different focal bead as I felt the one I was using, which was a flat lampwork bead, was too.... well ... just too flat alongside the beaded beads.

Yesterday I also had a go at making my very first woven beads - or beaded beads as some like to call them. These are created using Right Angle Weave and are straight out of The Art & Elegance of Beadweaving.. page 42 to be precise! 

A friend of mine had used these beads in a necklace she had made and I have to admit they looked a little difficult to me but WOW they are sooooo easy and I can now make one in under 5 minutes...yep 5 minutes per bead... you can't beat that!!

I only have to make another 6-8 woven beads and I should be ready to start stringing the beads ...assuming I don't take advantage of the entitlement of being able to change my mind... again!

Don't forget to visit Kootoyoo's blog to see what other creative souls are up to this week!

Well done boys!

What a fantastic game. 

I won't bore you with too many details but basically Newcastle came out and scored two tries to lead 12-0 and looked pretty strong and this stage. 

From nowhere Brisbane scored 4 tries within 20 minutes to lead 22-12 at half time.

I have to admit that at that stage I had this awful feeling that the Broncos were going to come out strong in the second half but I couldn't have been any more wrong. My boys came out and scored 3 tries to win the game 

30-22

Ahhh there is nothing better than beating the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium other than 20 or so Newcastle fans chanting "NEWCASTLE NEWCASTLE" whilst leaving the stadium.

Well done boys ... you did me proud!