Critter Makeovers

Lately I've been itching to change up some of my critter bead designs. I don't mean the gradual changes that naturally take place over time - those just sort of happen as I get more experienced. What I wanted to do was to take critter beads I already make and try making them in a new way - sort of a critter makeover.

I started with an elephant. The blue one above is how I've been making them for the past year or longer. He's tall and almost slender (for an elephant), and his feet are close together near the bottom bead hole. This style also allows me to give the elephants tasty treats (like grapefruit slices of murrini).

                                      

I think this style is very wearable because of its shape and the fact that it's flat on the backside. But I still wanted to change things up.

Here is my new elephant design. His face and ears are similar to the ones I usually make, but his body is more elephant-like. The challenge for me was to have enough room for a decent trunk (no stubby elephant trunks!) because his face is much closer to his feet. This fella's trunk would drag on the ground if he didn't hold it up and to the side. 

This is the side view - a much fuller elephant body. I know, most makeovers involve unveiling a thinner look, but this is an elephant for pete's sake. 

I'd been wanting to update my turtle beads for a looooong time. I've made them basically the same way since I started making turtles. They are very basic - a round bead (decorated with spots, frit, murrini, encased in clear or abstract designs) to which I add a face, feet and tail. I've always put my turtle face -  whether it is transparent like the one above or opaque - coming right out of the top of shell. I knew that wasn't exactly how turtles actually look, but it was easy and still looked like a turtle. But I've always wanted to take the extra time to make a more realistic-looking shell (as realistic as my beads get, that is), and I finally did recently.

I think what was holding me back was that a) I wasn't sure I could do it, and b) I didn't know if I could still have fun decorating a new kind of shell. So above is my new turtle shell debut. It took a lot longer to make than my usual turtles, but it was worth it. It was fun to try something new. I think I'll keep making them this way, but I'll still make my other version, too. 

 

Another new bead for me this week is an alligator big hole bead. I had gotten a request for this a while back and I turned it down because I didn't think I could do it. Turns out I could, and it was fun. :)

So what do you think? Should I stick with my tried-and-true critters or keep exploring new versions of them? Any other critters need a makeover?

Murrini Monday

It's Murrini Monday! So it's only fitting that I'd find murrini in my mailbox. :) I got two packs of Wild Hearts and one pack of Blizzard murrini. Look at all those colors! My critters will be so happy! Thank you Lori and Kim! I'm off to torch!

First Diaversary

One year ago today, our daughter Annie was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. So today is what is called her Diaversary. It's kind of a weird thing to celebrate - the anniversary of receiving a chronic illness diagnosis. But today we celebrated Annie, and the fact that she's been managing her diabetes so well over the past year. Annie has been testing her own blood sugar (8-10 times a day), administering her own insulin - first with a shot, then with an insulin pen, and now she is on an insulin pump. She's had the pump for 6 days now, and so far so good. So instead of about 7 shots a day, Annie does one pump site change (which is like an injection) every three days. 

We are so proud of Annie. This last year has been extremely challenging, but Annie has faced it head on and has handled it really well. She has come a long way since her diagnosis, which I blogged about here. So here's to more healthy years and many more advances for the treatment of Type 1 Diabetes. 

Diabetes Awareness Month

November is American Diabetes Awareness Month. It is also a special month to a host of other illnesses and causes, all very important, but I'll be focusing on diabetes. My daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes 10 months ago, so a cure is at the top of our wish list. 

This is the army of mini Dinobeadies for Diabetes that are on hand right now in my Dinos for Diabetes section. Each one is $10, and proceeds will go to the JDRF. 

**Also, during November, everyone who purchases a mini dino will be entered into a drawing for a FREE bead! It's my way of saying thank you for all the support these little dinos have gotten over the past few months. These mini dinos have already earned over $1000 for the cause! I'm hoping to add a lot to that total during November.

During November I'll photograph the mini dinos with some of the equipment that comes with being a diabetic.

 This little blue dino is staring down the opening of the lancing device. Hold that hole on your finger, and with one quick push of the button a tiny lancet pops out and pierces your skin. This is how diabetics get that much needed blood sample to test their blood sugar. 

Next that tiny drop of blood is put on a test strip that's been inserted in a blood glucose tester. The pink dino above will be sure to throw away her used test strips. She knows that as cool looking as they are, leaving them on the table or the counter is not the best idea.

After a few seconds, the tester reads the amount of sugar in the blood. This dino is in the safe range, at 108. Way to go! Normal is from 70 to 130.

If it's time to eat, then a diabetic has to put insulin into her body before her meal. The orange dino uses an insulin pen for injections. 

The purple dino has picked out a pen needle, which attaches to the insulin pen and is used for the injection, which can be in the stomach, leg or arm. 

The yellow dino is hanging out on some glucose tablets. These sugar tabs help a diabetic with low blood sugar get her numbers up quickly to the normal range. Diabetics should always carry glucose or other fast-acting sugar with them.

Thanks for checking out my new mini dinobeadies for diabetes and all of their equipment! They all hope to help raise money for a cure for Diabetes.

Turtle Tuesday ~ Turtle to the Rescue!

If you love turtles, you will love them even more after watching this video showing one turtle helping  another. We could learn a lot from turtles. :)

And here's my example of a helpful turtle. This one is transporting an octopus around ~ and he's even smiling while doing it. :)

In celebration of Turtle Tuesday, I've marked down the Turtle Taxi bead. It will be on sale for the rest of the day. There are still two other turtle beads in my shop that are on sale. You can find them in my Turtle section.

HAPPY TURTLE TUESDAY!

Murrini Monday - I can see it in your eyes

It's no secret that I love murrini. I especially love using perfect little slices of murrini for owl eyes. Certain pieces just jump out at me and beg to be turned into owl eyes. 

As soon as I saw the murrini slices I used in teh above bead (from Lori and Kim's Fun Dip blend), I knew they would make perfect owl eyes. But I think I could have shown them off much better than I did. I wish I hadn't used turquoise for the owl's chest feathers - see how it blends in to the blue on the bottom of the murrini? Not good, in my opinion. I should have used green as the chest feathers, or maybe pink. Then the murrini would stand out much better.

This owl has successful murrini eyes. Even thought there's a good deal of blue on the inner part of the murrini, it's bordered by silvered ivory, so the blue of the bead doesn't blend in with the blue on the murrini. The contrast works much better. 

I still have two more slices of that awesome murrini from the Fun Dip blend, so I will give it another go. This time I'll make it work. :)

Happy Murrini Monday!

Happy Catterday!

This is our living room. You're probably wondering why there is a teepee in our living room. It used to be in our basement for the kids to play in when they were little. It folds up nicely and doesn't take up a whole lot of room unless it's set up. Well, the kids don't use it a whole lot anymore, but Ernie and Bert love it! One of the kids set it up in the living room and the cats play in it all the time.

Ernie (the ginger cat) is obsessed with the teepee. He hides in it and springs out at anyone (dog, cat, person) walking by. I think he meditates in there, too.

If we can't find Ernie, he's usually in the teepee.

This is a classic teepee situation. Ernie "hiding" on the inside while Bert innocently walks by. But I think Bert is catching on. 

Happy Catterday!