A deck in the making... if it stops raining!

After living in our newly built house for six years now we are finally doing some work in our yard and building a side deck on our house.

I am so excited that we will finally have somewhere nice to sit on a beautiful sunny day, a place to entertain friends not to mention a comfy have to relax with a cuppa and some peaceful beading!

We started working on the area 2 weeks ago and wouldn't you credit it...

...it has rained nearly every day since!

Here is our beautiful hard wood timber sitting in the rain.

On the weekend we were getting ready to concrete in our posts,
had 8 bags of concrete mix ready to go and it started pouring!

 As you can imagine bags of concrete mix and rain aren't a good combination unless you are actually ready to start concreting so it was a mad dash to get the bags back under cover before the bags literally turned into sloppy concrete!

Alan put down some weeding mat this afternoon just before it started raining...again.

As I type I can hear the rain - not only on our beautiful tin roof... but the pitter patter of rain drops on the weed mat that will soon be our hard wood deck!

♥

Autumn Fall in Spring Time...

The Artbeads Design Partner Blogging Program is kicking off again and this time the theme is 

~ Fall ~

It's actually Spring here in Australia 

but the theme couldn't have come at a better time as had actually been admiring these 

gorgeous copper leaves (below)!

I also found a gorgeous ceramic pendant (centre) and chose 

some ceramic beads to match (below).

Watch this space to see what I come up with!

♥

Speaking of books

You might have read my recent post about shopping carts and how long we leave items in them.

Well here are a few I've had in my shopping cart at the Book Depository for a few months and as I type the first three are hopefully making their way from the UK to me here in Australia! 

The last one I ended up ordering from the US as a friend was placing an order and with the dollar being so awesomely awesome right now I ordered that too!

I am so excited as I have had my eye on these books for some time now.

So here is what I bought.

This book is a complication of designs from previous issues of Bead & Button magazine. 

I took advantage of the ''Look Inside'' feature and there are some stunning designs, including the peyote links on the front cover, which I can't wait to tackle.

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I am soooo excited to be ordering this book. A few of my friends own this book and said it ''blew their mind'' when they received it! 

The beads on the front cover alone are enticing enough so I can't wait to flick through the pages of this one.

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I don't own Laura McCabe's previous book, Creating Crystal Jewelry, as I have never really worked with Swarovski crystals... until recently! 

But as I love beadweaving I thought this one would be right up my alley! 

No doubt I will come away with a lot of new skills from this one!

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Marcie of La Bella Joya recently invited me to take part in her Margie and Me challenge where she picks a colour palette from Margie Deeb's book and then creates a piece using those colours.

I absolutely cannot wait to take part... what a fantastic concept not to mention a great way to get me to use colour combinations I would not normally dare to use.

Thanks Marcie! My book has hit Australian shores so I should be receiving it on Tuesday!

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How is your beading book stash? Bought any good books lately?

♥

See... there is method to my madness!

I was in Borders on the weekend and came across this super cool Lego book.

It's a 2 book pack and contains The Lego Book and Standing Small.
It's a wonderful treasury of Lego kits and figures dating back to the late 1960's and includes a history of Lego... pure eye candy for any Lego lover.

Borders was selling it for $68.95 and even though I had a 30% off discount voucher I resisted the temptation to buy it.

Whilst looking to order some beading books online I found the same book selling for $49.00 which I thought was a fantastic price considering how much Borders was selling the book for.

As the item description for the online store didn't mention whether it was a 2 book set I sent them an email asking them to confirm the number of books before I ordered it... assuming it was much cheaper because it only contained one book.

Anyhoooo last night I was shopping at Target and found the same book... 2 books and all... for the bargain price of

$39.00

and that was their everyday price!

My hubby is always teasing me for shopping around before I commit to buying something but I think last night he realised there is method to my madness!

Now the only issue we have is trying to decide who gets to look at the books first .... mummy, daddy or Spencer...at least there are 2 books to fight over!

♥

Where are all the animals?

I have wanted to do a beaded cuff or collar for some time now and have always admired the style of Heidi Kummli and her use of plastic animals in her pieces.

I have been searching high and low for suitable plastic or rubber animals to use in my piece.

The plastic or rubber has to be of a quality high enough so that slicing them in half (to create a flat surface making them easier to attach to the felt) is easy enough but not too hard that it is impossible to cut them.

I also want the plastic to be of a high enough quality so the detail of the animal is great with no seams of plastic visible (well as little as humanly possible!). I have seen some animals and the details in their faces, such as their eyes, is not so great, which usually makes it easier to distinguish between an el cheapo animal to one that might cost a few $$ extra.

I have been admiring the Schleich range and found a few listed on Ebay at a good price so I contacted the seller who has worked in the model industry for many years and he said that he would not even attempt to slice them in half as the plastic is way too hard.

In particular I am looking for the following animals

Polar bear
Squirrel

Wolf

Racoon

Monkey or Orangutan

Panda

Penguin

Rabbit

Fox

Does anyone know where you can find such animals?

They certainlly aren't readily available in Australia!

I would also love to invest in some Laura Mears porcelain animals too.... ahhh one day!

For now plastic it is!!

♥

A work in progress...

I have nearly finished one side of my Herringbone rope so thought I'd share a picture as I think it's going to be a good week or two before this piece is finished...

...especially now I have to fix the problem which arose following me dropping the cab!  Oops!

I am pretty happy with how this is progressing. 

So far I have used size 11/0 and size 8/0 seed beads as well as size 11/0 delica beads. 

I am thinking I might make some beaded beads to go between the pendant and the rope... what do you think?

♥

My Creative Space

The past few days I have been teaching myself Herringbone or Ndebele stitch as it is also known. This is a stitch I have wanted to learn for many years now but have always been fearful of.

I used a variety of instructions but really could not figure this stitch out until I found this great video tutorial at Beads East and then it all made sense. If you haven't tried Herringbone and would like to or have trouble picking up this stitch I highly recommend taking a look at this tutorial.

So here is the piece I have been working on. 

A gorgeous lampwork cabochon that I stitched up a while ago and two pieces of herringbone. I started the longer piece first and then decided that the ''stripes'' didn't really go with the cab so I created a little bead soup and have now started stitching with the mix.

Which do you think looks the nicest?

This morning as I was taking my pieces outside to photograph I dropped the cabochon...eek! 

Thankfully the glass cab didn't break but one of the delica beads in the top bezel row did which has now caused a bit of a problem with that row of beads ...as you may be able to see (the exposed thread on the bottom left hand corner of the cab) in the photo above.

I am now going to have to remove the entire row and restitch it which may be difficult as I have already backed the piece with ultrasuede. 

I suppose I could always add another layer of suede once I have added the row?

Nothing is Rosier than a Rosy Revolver Giveaway!!

Jess at Rosy Revolver is having a splendid giveaway in celebration of achieving 500 sales...

500 sales...
WOW!

And check out what is up for grabs! 

This gorgeous jasper and silver necklace.

Have I mentioned how much I love jasper? It has to be one of my favourite stones...mmmm jasper!

Be sure to drop by, say hello and enter this great giveaway.

Because if I don't win this beauty then it may as well be one of you!

♥

Mastering Herringbone / Ndebele

I recently posted this question on my local Beading Forum but unfortunately I have not received any replies so am interested to see what tips and advice

my fellow beading bloggers have to say in response to my questions regarding herringbone.

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I have just taught myself Herringbone stitch using a fantastic online video tutorial (using diagrams).

Instead of starting with flat Herringbone I jumped in at the deep end and started with tubular.

The pattern I have used is called a "basic 3 ladder stitch'' which I am currently stitching in size 11/0 seed beads using 4 colours.

My questions are:

* If I want a thicker rope do I simply use larger beads such as size 8/0 or do I just add more beads to the starting ring (which was made up of 6 beads).

* If I add extra beads will that mean the number of ladders will be increased (me thinks it will)?

* If I want to use a mixture of beads such as size 11/0 seed beads and delica beads do I have to use the beads in any specific order (i.e. a row of seed beads and then a row of delicas)

* Can I randomly replace one of the seed beads with another bead such as a hex bead or small bicone or will this alter the structure of the piece?

At the moment I have been creating strips of 4 colours but am not happy with the stripey effect so I think I might create a bead soup of the 4 colours and use that mix instead.

I started this piece using a different pattern which used delicas only but I found the piece was so fine it was just too fiddly to work with whilst learning the stitch.

I am currently using 00 Nymo to stitch the piece and think perhaps a thicker thread might help with the tension. I don't seem to be having any tension problems so far but the Nymo does feel a little thin.

I don't like Fireline so that isn't an option for me unless someone can twist my arm to give Fireline another try! I currently only have 1lb so am thinking this might be too fine.

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

♥

Earth's Touch Treasury

Here is another Treasury from me.

Earth's Touch

Anyone that knows me well enough knows that I have a thing for tones of brown and bronzes. ...anything that has a real earthy feel to it.

Some people tell me I am crazy to choose something as ''bland and boring as brown'' with so many other glorious colours to choose as my favourite but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

 For me there is something comforting in their warmth that makes me want to snuggle up for an afternoon snooze!

Check out my treasury here!

I absolutely adore the wooden earings by TribalStyle and wouldn't mind one of those funky leather cuffs by Mano Bello but have to admit I am not sure I'd be brave enough to wear it...can I pull off style like that?!

And of course who can go past Kelley's Beads' gorgeous Seashell on Ivory lampwork beads not to mention Marcie from LaBellaJoya with her beautiful Seeds and Stones cuff.

Do you have a favourite color tone?

♥

Chain-ges

You might recall I was recently working on a piece which I had unpicked several times...ok about seven or eight times before I was ''happy''.

Well here is the finished piece!

The style of this piece is something a little different and new from me as I have never really used chain as the necklace for one of my beaded cabochons.

I usually create a beaded necklace or use a simple, pretty organza ribbon but I really do love the look of the chain with the metallic cubes.  

The polymer clay cabochon is by Rachele of Rachele's Originals and the piece has been stitched with delicas, size 6/0 and 11/0 seed beads as well as cube beads.

I originally had a peyote link coming off either side of the cabochon but for some reason I could not get the piece to balance nicely so I finally opted for just the one link hanging the piece from the centre.

What do you think?

I think I might be using chain in my pieces more often!

♥

How full is your shopping cart?

When you are shopping online and you see something that takes your fancy do you instantly add it to your shopping cart ''for later''?

How long do you leave the items in your cart before purchasing them?

Do you get a reminder from the online store that you still have items in your cart?

I have to admit I am guilty of having many online shopping carts full of all sorts of goodies.

Some items I will buy immediately upon seeing them, other items I can easily let sit there for a few weeks before either buying them or deleting from the cart.

Do I have a fear of spending the money?

Or do I actually realise that I don't need all of these items.

I think for me it's a bit of both.

I feel that buying beads, supplies and books is a bit of a guilty pleasure.

I used to have a passion for fashion with my guilty pleasure being shoes and handbags!

Since having a child I don't seem to spend as much money on fashion items for myself and much to my horror actually head for the kids section before the handbags and shoes... I guess it is official... I am a MUM!!

These days my if I am treatng myself then my hard earned dollars tend to go towards anything related to beading.... of course after paying the bills, paying the dreaded mortgage and buying groceries!

I have a wishlist of books I have wanted for a few months now and finally ordered one of them...

The Beader's Color Palette by Margie Deeb... hooray!

I also have a wishlist of items on Etsy including lampwork beads, cabochons, beads not to mention a few dozen tutorials I'd love to buy!

So how about you?

Are you an impulse buyer or do you like to sit on your items for a few weeks?

I 'd love to hear about your shopping habits.

Either way I do love shopping ... but doesn't every girl?

♥

My new business cards

I have just ordered some funky new business cards.

Ok so I know I don't actually SELL any of my pieces unless someone takes a liking to something and asks to buy it...but I thought I'd order some cards to include with any pieces I might part with in a blog giveaway or if I might pass them on as a surprise to someone!

Anyhooo here is what I ordered.

I have to say I felt a little indulgant describing myself as an
Artist and Designer.

One of my fellow beaders said I should have described myself as "Award Winning Designer and Artist'' seems my pieces have won a few competitions lately, including the Use the Muse competition, but I felt Artist and Designer was enough!

As you can see the first card includes a photo of one of my pieces, Fingal Frolics, which recently came 2nd in the Royal Queensland Show.

The next is a simple but vibrant design. I love the richness of the bright pink against the black.

And check out this cute matching tote bag!

At least if I do ever decide to start selling my creations I will be prepared on the marketing front!!

What do you think?

♥

Tranquil Turquoise

I have decided to join the world of Etsy Treasury.

I have found some lovelies through looking the many Etsy Treasuries people have posted on their blogs Treasuries so I thought I'd create one of my own.

So here is my first Treasury

Tranquil Turquoise

Visit Etsy and click HERE to see my Treasury

In the mean time above is a tiny sneak peek of a few of the 

turquoise treasures I found.

A few might even look a little familiar to you!
♥

Singingwoods Giveaway

Janet at Singingwoods is having her very first GIVEAWAY and what an awesome one it is.

Here is a sneak peak of what is up for grabs but there are lots of other lovelies including lampwork and ceramic beads as well as a surprise focal!

Be sure to drop by and enter this super giveaway and whilst you are there check out the adorable fairy houses!

♥