www.BeadSoupBlogParty.com

Soooo excited! I was just reminded by my friend Tracy Kruse from goldkissesart.blogspot.com/ about the 7th annual Bead Soup Blog Party! I do love a good party and I love it even more because it has to do with beads and jewelry and talking about beads and jewelry. I have been following it for years now, but have never signed up for it. Well, I signed up today. For those of you who have never heard of it, you sign up on the site http://www.prettythingsblog.com/ and you are paired with another beader and send each other a stash of beads through the mail. You must create a design using some of the beads, clasp and focal bead. You then take photos of what it is you have created and what it is you created it out of. It is so much fun to see all the creative minds busy at work and seeing what was sent and what was made from it. I will find out on Feb 3 who I am paired with. More to come.

Yes, I confess, I am a beadaholic! Sigh, I feel a little better now that I got that off my chest. The reason I confessed? I will be off to the Beadfest this Friday!! Beadfest, my dream come true. Where I am with "people like me". Where I can get ohhs and ahhs when I show my treasures around the lunch table to complete strangers and I will not feel bad for buying that extra 10 strands of beads I really did not need, but had to have because they are shiny. Beadfest, where everywhere you look there are jewelry things and deals and people making pretties and ohhhh, I do love it there! It is in Phila, so it is a little trek. But I take that hour ride to make a plan. With two packed floors, you need a general plan. Oh yeah! I am excited. Yahhoooooo More when I get back!

Well, it is winter here in lovely New Jersey and it seems it came in with a vengence! Snow the day before Halloween! I personally LOVE IT. Here is my ode to winter earrings. I keep singing "Ice cubes dangling from your ears" to the tune of Merry Christmas to You, by Nat King Cole whenever I look at them. =) teehee

Wow, tis the season!

Infinity means forever. On and on. No matter what, it keeps going. Such a mysterious and elegant symbol. What a statement of love or friendship. Friend, lover, son, daughter, fiance, husband, wife, mother, father, even a mathematician or math lover. No matter who is in your life, you can tell them they made an impact, no matter what happens in the future they have influenced your life forever. Isnt that what life is about, our relationships, the love and friendships we share or have shared.

Pursuit of Beadwork-Umoja Uaso Women's Group

Wonderful article in Beads & Button magazine by Wendy Ellsworth (August 2011, Issue 104) about the Samburu women of northern Kenya. They have an all women community of around 40 to 50 women with around 80 to 100 children, no men allowed. They call it Umoja Uaso Women's Group. They are all there fleeing different atrocities that patriarchal society has thought up. They find refuge in this little village and create. They all make amazing beaded jewelry as their primary source of income that allows them to live on their terms, not the men in their lives. Empowered women!! I always will support women who are active in their own destiny and do not wait to be handed things. What an amazing way adornment can change a way of thinking.
If you would like to know more about these amazing women they have their own site at
UmojaBeadedJewelry.com

Inspiration

I just love opening up a new jewelry magazine!! There is something so exciting for me. I don’t know what new ideas will inspire or what will stir something in me. It is like treasure hunting, finding a gem in the sand. Opening your mind and seeing the immense creativity that is out there, inspires me in with my humble training and studio to stretch myself and my way of thinking about jewelry. Magazines like Ornament, Art Jewelry and Belle Armoire Jewelry are just some of my favs. So I will take some time to expand on my favorite articles, or ones I found interesting. Maybe just a sentence I read or colors an artist used to express themselves may move me to write or create! I love to know about what moves artist to create or sparks their internal flame. So look for more to come!