Great Big Huge Bead Giveaway

Head over to Denise Yezbak Moore's blog for a fantastic bead giveaway opportunity. She is giving away a lot of gorgeous beads - please visit her blog for all the details on how to enter. The contest is ending soon, so don't miss this chance! Good luck to all entrants! My personal favorite - the turquoise beads!

Colorful Beads in Celebration of Summer

Lately, I've been really enjoying color, and forcing myself to use colors that I never wear or use in my beading. I am not a huge fan of green or orange, but in the last two weeks I have created two pieces that have a lot of green in them. I am particularly fond of the peacock earrings - I already loved turquoise, teal and purple, but adding that accent of lime green really adds something. I also enjoy mixing techniques and materials, and really enjoyed combining thread embroidery with bead embroidery and beadweaving. I think it gives my work a bit of a unique edge, and I hope to reintroduce my polymer clay cabs into the mix for hopefully even more interesting results. The peyote cuff is a more traditional piece but it incorporates green beads, which I have combined with gold in the past. Despite the fact that I don't fancy myself a lover of green, I do like it quite a bit when mixed with the bronzy metallic beads. Doing a long strip of simple peyote is good therapy as well - the repetitive nature is quite soothing and I did a lot of listening to my favorite NPR shows while making it. Now I just need to make myself create something wildly orange and I will be all set!