I really shouldn't be eating this....

My husband likes to cook. It relaxes him. But our dietary preferences are on opposite ends of the spectrum -- he's trying to gain weight and I'd like to lose a few more. This morning, he prepared this for me: kiełbasa and scrambled eggs on english muffin, and yes, mayo! He had the same but count 3 eggs, 2 muffins and a load of the kielbasa but I will bet you that I will be the one to pay for this transgression and he will hardly gain anything from his calorie-load! Help!

More "Tourist" Photos!

More shots from the same day I did my photo safari at the National Building Museum. The shot above is part of the National Enforcement Officers Memorial. I liked how the shadows mirrored the curves of the archway that made part of this memorial.

The photo below is the interior of the National Building Museum. I think I took this shot from on the 3rd floor gallery. The whole album will be in my FB or flickr album. Enjoy!

A Day in DC

I thought I'd share this photo with you all. I made like a tourist in DC and spent one afternoon on a photo safari. This is one of my favorite shots. Hope you like it.

BeadJewelryShopgirl SALE

This is the first time I'm holding a sale since I first opened shop. I've been uploading pieces since yesterday into my etsy shop so please have a peek. A lot of these pieces have never been posted online. I've sold mainly through live craft shows as they've sold more quickly that way. BUT as my life and work schedule and pressure has intensified, I have not scheduled any shows but would still like to get my inventory moving. No sense in hoarding them, right? I need to share the love! So I hope you take advantage of my sale especially with the coming holidays. There's bound to be something special for someone special! Cheers!

Go to my etsy store (or click on the image above) to view items for sale under the category SALE SALE SALE. Have fun!

DC CRAFT MAFIA HOLIDAY HEIST

My DC Craft Mafia peeps and I spent a hardworking afternoon a few weeks ago going through applications for our annual holiday show, HOLIDAY HEIST. We have a smaller show this year due to our choice in venue and we could only take in about 30 artists. We would accepted more is we could but maybe next year.

Here's a peek at the array of talent we have for the show:

• A.W.E. Design
• Artmonger
• Bead Jewelry by Shopgirl (me!)
  
• Bee's Knees Studio
• beth pohlman jewelry
• Bette's Bags
• Block Party Press
• Creativ*Bee Designs
• Curls Studio
• DesignsbyErdenesuren
• EHL Creations
• Elisa Shere Jewelry
• Erica Burns Designs
  
• Fisticuffs
• Great Sock
• Herban Lifestyle
• Holland Cox
• Jaime Zollars
• Jerseymaids
• Jill Popwich Designs
• Lalas Pequenos
• Lana Kole
• Lollibomb Beauty
• Moonlight Bindery
• My UglyKitty
• Ninnycat Crochet
• Novelty Kitten
• Palace of Varied Industries
• Pear & Peacock
• Phil Barbato
• Polly Scoots
• River Rats Designs
• See Katie Sew
• SHN Handmade
• Space Moderne
• This Little Piggy
• Wild Hare Fiber Studio LLC
• Yinibini
• Yummy & Company

It promises to be an exciting show! So save the date: November 21, The Soundry.

Bead Art Originals - Item of the Week

I'm so proud to belong to a talented group of artists. I'm referring to my peeps from Bead Art Originals, a prolific group of beadweavers and bead artists who week after week create a vast array of art. Every week we feature special items with special offers. Don't miss out on this week's smorgasbord of delightful treasures! Click on the image above and it will take you to the BAO blog and view each special offer. Remember these are specials ever week so visit the blog for the latest surprises.

Locked Into Pattern Mode

My style has always been freeform. I was always the type who never stuck to patterns, who never followed instructions to the letter, always improvising to my own specifications. When I started beading, I worked on designs from my head, never drawing designs like other artists, just picked up my tools and worked away and improvised my work as I progressed. I guess it was basically because I was too impatient. I just wanted a finished piece in my hand! Here's a sample of what a freeform bracelet would look like.Well, it seems I've developed some patience. And stepped outside of my comfort zone. Now I'm working on patterns and even worst (?) I lay out my designs first! I would either drawn or design first on a beading software program before I'd pick up bead, needle and thread. It began with the triangle patterns I developed into pendants and blogged about a few months ago. Now I'm finally executing the different patterns I designed for bracelets. Here I gotta say my inspirations came from my beadweaving peeps SandFibers and Time2Cre8, two gracious and highly talented designers.

The black and white bracelet in the photo below is a zebra inspired pattern. I rarely do anything that is animal print inspired - but like I said, I've stepped outside of my comfort zone. The bracelet next to it is a set of swirls. Yes, just swirls. Something that's a bit mezmerizing to look at don't you think? And finally, the bracelet of vibrant blues, purples and greens reminds me of waves or chevrons but in an irregular pattern (hint of freeform there, don't you think?).

My Babies Have Found New Homes!

I spent yesterday with my DC Craft Mafia peeps, Erica Burns (Erica Burns Designs) and Mary Kearns (Herban LifeStyle) at the Handmade Mart in Downtown Silver Spring. The day started out with rain but the sun didn't let us down and it shone the rest of the day (I have the sun burn to prove it!). Everyone was out and about and buying tons of stuff! There was live music and lots of things to eat and a whole street of handmade goodies. The whole event was a success in my opinion. Silver Spring is such a diverse and lively community.
My collegemate, Clarisse, who I haven't seen in ages, even dropped by! Thanks, Cla, for your support! A couple of her officemates are planning to launch their own jewelry business specializing in pearls and I was glad to give them some advise.

I also got to stock up on my favorite sugar scrub supplied by Herban Lifestyle. Mary worked on a new formula which I tried this morning and it's just luxurious! And the scent is so energizing - my favorite is Lemon Souffle. I highly recommend it!

Lastly, it's always greatly satisfying to see people pick up my jewelry and wear them. Below are some of the pieces that I said goodbye to yesterday. It was interesting that a lot of my blue and green pieces sold. Looks like those were the colors of the day. Also most of everyone were buying earrings. So blue, green and earrings were the favorites of the day. Enjoy them ladies!

BeadJewelryShopgirl in Handmade Mart!

This is a short post to remind everyone about my show this weekend. I will be with my DC Craft Mafia peeps in Handmade Mart this Sunday, May 31st in Downtown Silver Spring. Find us in Tent #58 (close to CakeLove's store. Yummy!)

The Handmade Mart in Downtown Silver Spring will bring together more than 50 independent artisans and crafters for a one-day show and sale of handmade goods. With hands-on workshops and demos, as well as live entertainment all day long on the music stage, the Handmade Mart promises fun for folks of all ages!

See you there!

All in a Day's Work!

I had a busy and rewarding day yesterday. I got to make 4 necklaces and 2 earrings. I had a bit of a slow start with a new design - did 3 false starts before I finally got the hang of it - then did a quick trip to the local bead store for some emergency supplies and back to beading again. This is a short post cause I need to get back to work! Hope you are all having a lovely weekend!

Oh Happy Days!

Sun is out finally out, it's a three day weekend and I'm beading like mad again! I have a show to prepare for and trying to remember all the thousand details to get ready for one. Number one on checklist is make more jewelry! So as I prepare for the beading marathon, let me show you some lovelies that I already do have on hand.

The pendant shown on the left will definitely be hard to part with. I hope no one will want it!

We move on from the art deco look to modern and minimalist with these beaded triangle earrings on long kidney ear hooks! What fun!

Finally, I hope to run into purple-lovers who I'm hoping won't be able to resist this bracelet and earrings set!

I almost forgot! I'll be at the Handmade Mart on May 31st, Sunday in Downtown Silver Spring. See ya!

From the drawing board to reality

Beading is great therapy. It certainly helps me to de-stress from work. But life took a turn and the stress became personal as my husband was diagnosed with cancer. The energies got shifted to him and beads became trivial. But beading still helped to keep my sanity. What do you do when you don't have access to a computer, can't really bring your beading stuff with you and had hours of dead time in the hospital where you really couldn't concentrate but needed to occupy your mind? I turned to coloring triangles. Pages and pages of triangles, I had a box of my son's coloring pencils in my bag, a template of a triangle and I would ease my mind into a mindless mental state and just color those little blocks. Some people looked at me like I was crazy (I still am!). Half the time, the results would be nice, the other half just gibberish. Funny how the mind can go into hypermode and idle at the same time. Mind and No Mind, kind of a thing?Now we are in remission (yay!) and life getting back to somewhat normal - depending on your definition of normal. I took the drawings and started to render these triangle pendants. It's been satisfying to bring these colorings to life. You know what they say about finding some light in life's dark moments. I think about my state of mind then when my purpose was just to color each tiny block. And now the satisfaction I have in finally taking these drawings and creating something tangible, real. And, hopefully, give enjoyment to the person who decides they like the pendants enough to wear them.

Silver Triangle and Onyx Earrings

I tend to take the earrings I make for granted. Probably because I make earrings when I need a mental break. Well, I've done a lot of earrings in the past year (yeah! needed that many mental breaks!). They've all been in hiding in my box of earrings begging to be photoed and shown off to the world after staying in the dark for too long. So I'm going to start introducing them here and in my etsy store one by one. It's their coming out party!

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!

It is indeed a time of renewal. I'm finally relaunching my jewelry shop, BeadJewelryShopgirl, with a SALE! Don't miss this wonderful event my artists friends and I are offering! Great value for the buck for items from talented artists! Click on the image above and see the list of shops offering these great deals.

BAO Welcomes Spring Sale!

I have exciting news! Bead Art Originals is celebrating Easter and welcoming spring with a SALE! Not just a sale, but you'll also have chances to win free giveaways! Starting Sunday, April 12, 15 BAO artists will be participating in this extravaganza. I'm in the process of adding more jewelry to my store, too!

The fun begins Sunday! Watch for it! I'll send you more details on Sunday ;)

Welcome back!

As some of you may know, I've taken a hiatus from my beading to attend to "stuff." But I think I can finally start getting back in the groove of things, little by little and I'm getting some help with inspiration. Last Saturday, I spent the afternoon with my DC Craft Mafia peeps - Novelty Kitten, Erica Burns, Polly Scoots and NinnyCat and a new peep called Tweet. Well, Tweet spent Sunday with me and gave me some pointers on photography, of course, after a cup of java.After product shots, she proceeded to inspect the house and was immediately mesmerized with my son's origami - tried to get in to the dog's house and went eye to eye with an eagle!

She got too cozy with Kwan Yin but the old fisherman just wouldn't have it! I had to rescue her from that one but no harm done.Oh well, I'll try to keep her out of trouble so drop in next time to see what she'll be up to. Ciao!

Spring is near....yah, right!

Well, I think I need to come out of hibernation. It looks like with no new posts since September, my blog has just been begging for attention. I just recently got a new camera for my birthday. Nothing fancy but it's still an upgrade from my last camera. My hubs got me a Nikon P80 and I've been playing around with it getting acquainted with the features. It's been fun and just this morning I took a shot as the snow was blowing and actually got the snowflakes in detail!