Art Beads Winter Enchantment Design Partner Challenge - Copper Bangle

Found sometime for myself over the weekend and made a few new pieces. You know I had to make at least one bangle :) I used the beads I received from ArtBeads for the Design Partner Winter Enchantment challenge!!

I used 14 ga copper wire for the bangle
24 ga copper wire for the wrap wire
24 ga colored copper wire for the accent wrap
R-RQTZ-NUG11 - 5x11mm Irradiated Quartz Modulars *
TBRD6-288 - TOHO Bead Round 6/0 Colonial Grey-Line *
DRUKS-LS-TUR6 - Druk Bead 6mm Turquoise Luster *
R-WHAG-SQ12 - 12mm White Agate Square Bead Strand shipped *


This is a great dual purpose piece. The colors are a reminder of winter, but I see spring coming thru those colors as well.

What an awesome piece to make the season transition and be a daily wearer from December to April!!!

What did you do over the weekend?

*FTC compliance disclosure: the '*' items mentioned in this post credited to Art Beads were provided as a promotional gift as part of the Blogging for Beaders Program. These items are for review or design purposes.

Friday Funny

Art Beads Winter Enchantment Design Partner Challenge

Looks like winter doesn't ? That last snow right before spring - with new grass poking up thru the snow.

I had some fun this morning with the beads I received from Art Beads for the Winter Design Partner Challenge. I put all the beads in a bowl, with no direction, no rules, just let them lead me where they wanted to go.
This is what is in the bowl:

R-RQTZ-NUG11 - 5x11mm Irradiated Quartz Modulars *
TBRD6-288 - TOHO Bead Round 6/0 Colonial Grey-Line *
CR-RL137 - 5x4mm Opaline Picasso Roundel Bead Strand *
SW-BD173 - Stoneware Round Spacer - White Smooth *
DRUKS-LS-TUR6 - Druk Bead 6mm Turquoise Luster *
R-WHAG-SQ12 - 12mm White Agate Square Bead Strand shipped *
DRUKS-LS-LBL6 - Druk Bead 6mm Light Blue Luster *

I wanted something a bit more sophisticated. Something a bit dressier. I strung (is that a word?) three patterns and braided them together.


Then I took some inspiration from my friend Jana over at Bejeweled by Jana. She does wire crocheted jewely - Just beautiful!! I am such a huge fan of her work. I wanted to try and incorporate the wire into the design, as opposed to wire wrapping links. I secured the strands and wrapped the whole lot with a complimentary blue wire. It throws a nice contrast and texture to the look of the necklace.

And let me tell you- that glass toggle is just SEXY!
GTOG-023 - 20mm Bluino Boro Glass Toggle Clasp *

Jo says it reminds her of something you would wear to a gallery opening and then out for beers afterwards - I like her way of thinking :)
And of course I had to make earrings to go with them. I used 24 ga silver plated wire, and tried to make uniform wraps ( you can see on the right earring) The wire was just too thin. So on the left earring, I got more artsy (nice way to say sloppy) and it made a whole different look.



Can you see the difference in the wraps - which do you like better?

*FTC compliance disclosure: the '*' items mentioned in this post credited to Art Beads were provided as a promotional gift as part of the Blogging for Beaders Program. These items are for review or design purposes.

February is Amethyst!

February's birthstone is amethyst. You may be familiar with small amethyst pendants or rings but have you ever thought about the stone itself?

What if you are not into jewelry and you still want a piece of amethyst because it is a nice memento of you your birthday?

Amethyst is not just for jewelry!

You may want a sphere or a pocket stone or a beautiful amethyst formation -


From Galleries.com
"Amethyst is a varity of quartz and mined all over the world. Amethyst can occur as long prismatic crystals that have a six sided pyramid at either end or can form as druzes that are crystalline crusts that only show the pointed terminations. As a mineral specimen, amethyst is popular for its color and nice crystal shapes that produce a handsome, purple, sparkling cluster.

However, amethyst is not the same everywhere. Different localities can produce a unique amethyst to that particular region or even to that particular mine. Experts can often identify the source mine that a particular amethyst came from. The key to this is the specimen's color, shape of crystal, inclusions, associations and character of formation. "



Some examples -
North Carolina, USA -- Druzy clusters that have a bluish-violet tint.

Uruguay -- crystals are dark to medium and form in druzy crusts that line the inside of volcanic vugs that have a gray or brown exterior. The crystals are usually colored throughout, unlike the Brazilian crystals, and form with a multicolored agate that often contains reds, yellows and oranges. Often amethyst- coated stalactites and other unusual formations occur inside these vugs.

Maraba, Brazil -- large crystals with unattractive surfaces that are of a pale to medium color and often carved or cut into slices.


Did you know - the ancient Greeks and Romans wore amethyst and made drinking vessels of it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication.

Stop by my site Just A Tish for more amethyst choices!

Remember I am donating 20% of all sales for the month of February to Dames for Danes!!!

Garnet Necklace - Commissioned Piece

Did a commission piece over the weekend. First piece off of my new workstation :) They wanted something for love, protection and clarity of thought and also something just a notch above conservative.



I wanted something light, something fun, that would work with a sundress, or with a t-shirt.


I chose garnet, citrine and agate and threw in mother of pearl for accent for the stone combination, which worked out perfectly for the beach pallet for summer 2011.

Garnet:Remove negativity, romantic love, passion, sensuality, intimacy, career success, selfconfidence, awareness, commitment, regeneration, order, insight.
Citrine:Success, intuition, comfort, creativity, physical energy, wealth, mental awakening, protection, good fortune / luck,
Agate: Protection, good luck, balance body/mind/spirit, perceptiveness, strength, inspiration, awaken talents.
Mother of Pearl: Mental clarity, intuition, sensitivity, imagination, adaptability, cooperation, psychic, protection of children, purify environment.

Beach Trends for Spring/Summer 2011


Here is James doing some leveling of the hutch. He still has a few more finishing touches, trimming, etc.



But I couldn't wait. I began to organize and get stuff up off of the floor, and empty containers on my shelves. It is still a work in progress, and most likely the way I work, will always be.


What did you do over the weekend?

Grant Writing for Artists

Alyson over at Art Biz Blog shares this book with her blog followers today.

It is on my list of things to own

Check out more here

Christmas in Feb!! New Work Table!

Remember back in Dec - I had vowed to give only hand made/local gifts for Christmas. Well my darling James followed suit. He was just running a bit behind.

He made me a new workstation!!!!





It isn't quite finished, but I couldn't wait!!!

More pics tomorrow!!!

Friday Funny

Art Beads Winter Enchantment Design Partner Challenge

More fun with the ArtBeads Design Partner group!

This challenge is Winter Enchantment.

Winter is a tuff one for me to relate to because it isn't something we really get. This year, however it wasn't hard to find winter inspiration with all of the snow the country has been getting. My daughter sent me regular updates about the snow they were getting, and plenty of pictures to my phone. Makes me appreciate North Carolina so much more!

I wanted something simple and sweet. An added touch to your wardrobe, that would be the final touch to set it off.




This is what I used:

TBRD6-288 - TOHO Bead Round 6/0 Colonial Grey-Line *
CR-RL137 - 5x4mm Opaline Picasso Roundel Bead Strand *
SW-BD173 - Stoneware Round Spacer - White Smooth *
DRUKS-LS-TUR6 - Druk Bead 6mm Turquoise Luster *
R-WHAG-SQ12 - 12mm White Agate Square Bead Strand shipped *
DRUKS-LS-LBL6 - Druk Bead 6mm Light Blue Luster *


If I was snowed in - making jewelry would help to stave off the cabin fever. What would you do if you were snowed in???

*FTC compliance disclosure: the '*' items mentioned in this post credited to Art Beads were provided as a promotional gift as part of the Blogging for Beaders Program. These items are for review or design purposes.

Friday Funny

I can't help myself -
Friday is the end of the week and should be fun.

I dub Fridays from now on FUNDAY!!!!

Gifts from Home - Pot Holders

I got the best surprise in my mailbox last nite, and I had to share.

A few weeks back I had been talking to my mom and made a comment about the pot holder she sent me for Christmas. The design was strips of Christmas fabric, sewn together, and then cut on a diagonal and bordered. My mom bought them from a friend of hers (I thought she made them)who had a booth at a local market to give for gifts. It was lovely.

I had tried to make my own pot holders and was not happy with the outcome, they were thin and didn't really protect my hand from the heat. I asked my mom how she makes hers so thick. She explained you use a heavy cotton fabric for the outside, and can use either quilt batting or (this is brilliant) cut an old towel to use as the batting and you can recycle! In passing my mom said, "I'll send you some" I said - nah, just wait til I am home in April and we can make some while I am there. Craft time with my mom :)

So as I was saying - last nite I got a package. In the package I got this note (she always includes a note) :

My Dear Tish,
Well here's some new pot holders. The lady I know in Du Quoin came down and brought me some. So sending you 2 of hers. The other 4 me and your dad made. You know when I get in there sewing he wants to also. So you got a bugs bunny pot holder! He had that patch for yrs. So he siad could I put that on one? I said yes. So there it is! He made the whole thing! So anyway enjoy and if you ned more just holler.
Love you much,
Mom and Pop

Here is what she sent -

These first two are from her friend. A busy piece of fabric and she sewed around the design to quilt it.


Appliqued a heart onto fabric and then used her machine on a 'pattern' setting to sew the pattern onto the pot holder.


Mom used a small pillow print fabric and sewed around the design for the quilted look.
Sewed strips of spring fabric together, and then cut it on the diagonal


And my bugs bunny patch one that my dad made ;)

If you have a machine, and you can sew a straight stitch - you can make pot holders. They are awesome little "Thinking about you" gifts or wonderful house warming presents.

This Bead Soup Thing

I have been seeing several posts around about "Bead Soup".

The idea in a nutshell -

People sign up
People send beads
People make cool stuffs!!!

Don't know all the ins and outs, but I wanna play!!

Anyone game????

More Copper Bangles!

Been trying to beef up my inventory for the trunk show tomorrow. I prolly have enuff pieces, but it is that last minute jitters that is taking over.


Snowflake obsidian and Swarovski

Dyed magnesite, onyx and seed beads




Blue lace agate, coral, freshwater pearl and swarovski -



Amazonite, fresh water pearl, green quartz




Copper and seed beads

Been working on my photography as well - what do you think? Are these pictures better than previous ones?

I have a ton of nervous energy - maybe I need to focus that on my house!!!!

Dames for Danes

Dames for Danes is an all volunteer non-profit rescue for Great Danes, located in TN. I recently found out about them when my cousin posted pictures on Facebook of the "Midnight Six".

Six danes were pulled from a breeder in the Memphis. They were neglegted and used for breeding only. One full grown female was only 70 lbs.




From Fox17

A half-dozen neglected Great Danes were rescued from starvation Tuesday and one of them is still fighting for her life.

Bella is a 2-year old Great Dane in bad shape. She's 70 lbs. underweight and suffers from heart worms. But she hasn't given up hope.

“I see hopeful eyes.,” said Carolyn York, vice president of Dames for Danes. “I see a fighter. I’m just real hopeful. You know I see a girl that wants to live that wants nothing but companionship and love.”

Bella is one of six neglected and emaciated Great Danes found in Jackson Tuesday. Lexie and Midnight Shadow are already doing much better but Bella still has a long way to go.

"Bella's the worst,” said Dr. Jason Benner, veterinarian at the Village Veterinary Hospital. “She has the lowest body condition score, she's the most emaciated, everyone else at least has more muscle mass and everything too."

Dames for Danes is an animal rescue organization that specializes in helping these gentle giants. York said this is the worst case of neglect she has ever seen.

“This is a sad, sad case,” York said. “There's a chance she may not make it.”

There are thousands of similar cases of neglected and abused animals all over Middle Tennessee every year.

But just because an animal is expected to recover doesn't mean its guaranteed a good home. Which is why organizations like the Nashville Humane Association are hard at work.

”We've handled hoarding situations, puppy mill situations, neglect and cruelty that have been released by owners,” said Mary Pat Boatfield, executive director of the humane association.

Boatfield said even though everyone loves puppies, older and abused dogs like Bella also make great companions.

“If you just really want to rescue and help an animal that needs special training, special care, special attention, the older dogs work very well,” Boatfield said.

Dames for Danes is hoping to find all six rescued Great Danes a new home. York says Bella may be hurt but she's not broken.

“Most animals are known for their unconditional love,” York said. You know, you see dogs that come in from abuse cases all the time and they still love their human. They may have been starved to death but they just want human companionship. They just want somebody to love them.”



I saw this and my heart broke. I wanted to help, but am 7 hours away, what can I do?
I know!

For the month of February, I am donating 20% of all sales to the Dames to help with the costs of fostering and caring for these gentle giants.

Spread the word and the love. How cool is it to know, that when you are buying jewelry for yourself, you are also giving to these neglected animals, and giving them hope.


How can you not love a dane!?!? My Rosie girl
Yes, she plays with firewood......