How to Train your Dragon Marathon

 I just adore this series. 

So glad to hear there is another movie in the works.

I decided to have few young ladies over for a

 How to Train Your Dragon Marathon.

Complete with Popcorn of course, Trivia questions

Split them into two teams like in the second movie...

Hic-Legs and the Snot-Nuts.

And instead of Simon says we played Stoic Says.

Last girl standing wins.

Well, actually everybody won a prize... 

made by me.

Here's the thing...I wasn't sure how they were going to 

go over with them...Cool? ...not cool.?

Oh they were all polite and immediately put them on.

 Okay, that's good for the day and then

 into the bottom of the jewelry box when they get home.

Right?

I had resigned myself to be okay with that.

Not the case.

Much to my surprise it was the opposite.

I saw one of the girls wearing hers a few days later

when a bunch of friends met for a project we had to do..

Awe...so sweet.

Then I say this picture on Facebook 

of Taylor and her mom, Carrie, eating out somewhere

about a week later.

 Yep that's Taylor wearing the necklace.

Hard to put into words..it just makes my heart happy!

Wonderfully Blessed

A couple of months ago I found

 this fantastic bracelet on line. 

I'm not sure who the originator is

So If some one knows please let me know 

so I may give them credit.

Showed it to my Mom,

 who likes to do bead weaving. 

She has enough experience and talent

 to figure things out.

 She likes a good puzzle.

This is what she made with the beads I sent.

We went with the silver beads since I had the clasp. 

and black o rings and bugle beads

 since I had those too.

Looks great on and I love how it turned out.

Another great collaboration.

I also received a medium size USPS box full of

craft and bead goodies from her.

Then about a week later my Mom's friend Kay s

sent me some more bead goodness.

Thank You Both So Much!

I really do feel blessed!

Interhangeable!

This necklace was gifted to me from 

Deb Abel of It's All Good some time ago.

A real favorite of mine.

She is stinkin' fabulous at Soldering.

Maybe I shouldn't reveal this but she told me her secret

for her soldering to turn out so well is....

 Practice, Practice, Practice! (wink)

 I knew exactly what I wanted to do with this

 Soldered "T" pendant charm 

that Kerry made.... 

As an Interchangeable piece for this necklace.

The swivel lobster claw let's me 

flip it to either side.

Win Win!

So now I can wear either one to match what ever

 I happen to be wearing at the time.

Isn't that simply Wonderful!

Delightful Winnings!

In October I participated in the Art Bead Scene
Monthly Challenge.

 and  I was one of the randomly drawn winners.

Wa-Hoo!

They have various sponsors every month.

I won a $50.00 gift certificate from

Kerry of

Celtic Craft  Designs

who specializes in handmade glass creations.

Here are some of the sample of her work:

Half  Moon Glass Dish

Gotta check her out

http://www.celtcraftdesigns.com/

And here are all the items she sent me, 

which arrived in the mail today:

I can hardly wait to see what I will create with these!

Kerry is not only one uber talented lady

 but a great communicator and also very generous.

She sent me that Bee lamp work bead

 as a bonus for my patience.

So stinkin' cute

  I love it and all the Beads, Kerry! 

Thank You so Much!!!

Sweet Winnings!

Back in October I stumbled on a new blog

http://www.esfera.me/travel/

Who does interviews with bead artists from time to time.

Such as Gaea, Kylie Parry, Linda Newman to name a few.

Last month it was Vlad and Kremena 

from Golem Design Studio.

And these wonderful artists contribute to
 a giveaway.

I was beyond thrilled to learn I had won 

Octobers  giveaway for a $25 voucher.

I picked out a pendant and 3 sets of bead to 

go with beads I already have from Golem.

There is a little glaze glitch on the pendant but

 I think that may just be part of the process.

I can hardly wait to start making something with these.

When I do

 I will share it with you all that visit this blog.

A Special Thank You
 to
Esfera and Golem Design Studios!

Sunrise Surprise

On my Table for weeks... finally assembled it last night.

Fun lampwork beads my Mom sent me 

from Goody Beads, tangerine colored crystals and 

Swarovski fire opal bicones. 

Silver plated metal spacers and toggle.

And then added some misc coordinating 

beads for the dangles.

A gift for Maddie

I thought this would be a lovely gift for my niece, 

Madelyn. 

Who I hadn't seen in over 10 years. 

Life can sure can get in the way sometimes.

So I asked myself...

Will she like it? Is it her taste?

I really have no idea.

We (Chip and I) took her out for lunch and 

caught up on all the latest. 

Her new job, her new boyfriend...etc.

It was a really nice visit.

After opening her gift she immediately 

took off her earrings and put on the ones I made.

And then she tried on the necklace too.

She mentioned anything silver would be a good choice.

Hard to express how happy it made me.

How nice to be able to say

she has grown into a very 

lovely young lady.

Tat-ta-ri-fic!

Just got a really cool gift in the mail today!

I'm like...I didn't order anything?

What could it be?

My friend Deb (aka my personal "mad tatter")

tatted these cuffs for me!

I Love them!

I have a silk suit jacket that these will look great with.

She had sent me a photo earlier of a cuff

stacked with a multi-strand leather wrap

bracelet. I said it was cool.

I had no idea she had made these.

Sneaky girl.

I still buzzing over these!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Faux Pandora Bracelet Fun

 One Baby Girl inspired

And one Teacher themed

Bead Score at Yard Sale!

What a great find! 

Former bead store Owners (now retired) 

had a Garage sale.

Selling typical yard sale items along with 

inventory that was

left over from their beads store. 

Jasper beads and pendant, 

smokey quarts, smokey crystals...

 were some of the finds that went into 

making this necklace.

I also enjoyed trying some more 

wire working techniques.

I Hit the Mother Load

Wow! I sure did hit the mother load! 

I received all of these lovely bracelets 

in the mail today from my Mom.

She made them all just for me.

I love them and I love being spoiled.

Thank You so much Mom!

Still hopping with the bead soup 

here is my post

http://terrisbloomingideas.blogspot.com/2014/05/8th-annual-bead-soup-reveal.html

Long Distance Collaboration

About the same time I sent my bead soup 

I also sent out beads to my Mom.

She likes to do what I don't. 

And she is quite good at it!

Here are just some of the beauties 

she has made for me recently.

I send her the beads  and clasp and 

she makes them up for me. 

I have to say this pattern is wonderful 

and these bracelets feel like liquid silk on.

We are now working on this one with

 the recent batch of beads I sent.

I'm leaning toward the the 9 cube formation

 as apposed to the block of 12.

Either way I like the earthy look this has.

Oh and the long distant part is that she lives in 

Florida while I'm living here in Michigan.

Thank Goodness for Skype.

And for a very talented Mom!

Bead Gift

Recently I was gifted these diamond shapped beads fom my Mom.

I immediately thought of the the beads caps I had.

They worked together wonderfully don't you think?

Added a few glass pearls and Czech rondelles from my stash. 

Gifts for Sarah

Good News !

My friend Kim's daughter, Sarah

recently gave birth to a healthy baby Boy.

These are some of the gifts I made for Sarah. 

Tried to match the farm themed bedding

 she selected for the nursery. 

And I made Kim 

a Grandma Brag bracelet.

 She can switch out the picture of her daughter 

with baby to be to a new photo of the baby.

A Big Thank You!

To my Mom for the  A-ma-zing 

package she recently sent me.

Four beautiful handmade bracelets.

A few I have to finish putting the clasps 

on to be sure they were the right size.

And lots and lots of beading supplies.

 Which I will share as I create pieces with them!
Here is a pair of earrings I made with the
black moon shaped glass beads.

A Big Thanks Again Mom 

for all the goodies!

It is sure to test my creativity

 and keep my busy!

Lavender Sachet

Yesterday, I received my parcel from

Caroline, who lives in the UK. 

We did a lavender sachet swap.

Inside was this lovely card (We love our cats)

and this package....

All wrapped up with a tag 

and on it....printed info about lavender.
Very classy.
And here is the sachet that she made for me...

We both dyed our own fabric and then stamped on 

what ever image we wanted. I had requested the shell.
Since I had seen it on her blog.

And then we could embellish it anyway we wanted.

She has hand stitched some of the outline of the 

nautilus and accented it with seed beads.

on both sides.

 Caroline posses a talent I have not wanted to acquire.

That of Crochet. But after doing this project I wish 

I had that in my talent bag to draw on when needed.

After sewing up my little sachet for Caroline, I was reduced to 

gluing on my trims...pretty enough...

 but not like this.

She hand crocheted the edges, then wove in a teal ribbon.

Simply Gorgeous!

The smell is just divine and I just love it!!!

Thank You So Much!!!

Thank You Kay!

Two.... count 'em two boxes of Beads!

From Kay and my Mom.

First box came last week from my Mom and Kay

and then

Kay sent me another box of yummy goodness

this week!

Way way Too much to show!

 I figure the best thing will be to mention the use of them

in any of the jewelry I make using them.
So here is the first item I made. A bracelet using the
ceramic red poppy beads, Czech glass beads
and magnetic closer.
The rest were items from my bead stash.
Thanks So Much Kay and Mom!!!

A Lovely Match

A big Thank You to my Mom for making

 these two bracelets especially for me.

They are a spot on match and look fantastic

with one of my favorite Chico skirts.

They dress up any jean out fit too. 

Simply beautiful and easy to wear!

You did a great job Mom.

I just love them!

Ovarian Cancer Gift

I'll be gifting this bracelet and earrings 

to my friend Kathy

 who is battling stage 4 ovarian cancer.

One of those things when you go to the hospital 

for one thing and 

they discover something else.

She is an upbeat lady and very positive.

Realistic too.

I hope the bracelet isn't too over the top 

for her taste.

I have a feeling she will really love the earring though.

(Based on a pair she wears all the time.)

Life is Like

A box of chocolates... 

And you really never know what you are going to get.

Recently gifted to me was this sweet box by Deb.

She thought it would be perfect for the 

Chocolate themed bracelet that I made. 

I think she is right. Don't you?

Thank You!

I'm using this post to share in the Pink Saturday.
Which I haven't done in awhile.
It will be fun to visit the other"pinkies"!
Thanks for stopping by.