Meet My Bead Soup Partner!

Over the weekend, Lori Anderson (Bead Soup Blog Party hostess with the mostess) sent out notification of our Bead Soup partners.

I want to take a moment to introduce my partner, Karen Mitchell of Over the Moon Designs. Like me, Karen makes mostly mixed media pieces and is open to a wide array of materials and colors. You can also find her on Twitter, Pintrest, and Google Plus.


Karen lives in Australia. As such, she is my first international partner! I am a little nervous about shipping internationally, but am also so very excited for the chance to break down that barrier of mine.

Now to just find the right beads to send her way! I'm hoping to get some shopping done today and tomorrow so I can get her beads in the mail soon. Thankfully we are in the third reveal (August 25th). I will  post a teaser picture when I get all the materials together. No worries! For now, why don't you head over to the links above and get acquainted with her yourself!?

Oh, and here's the newest addition to my shop!

Lock and Key Bracelet

Off to finish off the chores so I can get my booty to the bead store!

Menu Plan Monday Blahs

I'm having one of those days today where I don't want to leave the house and would much rather lounge in bed altogether. It's a combination of some sinus stuff I'm suffering with and the fact that I was prepared for a nasty rainy day. Tropical Storm Debby was supposed to be raining down on us. . .but I guess she decided to vacation in Florida instead. Either way, I'm not being very productive in the least.

In fact, I delayed grocery shopping for tomorrow as I didn't want to battle the rain today. Ah well, at least I have a menu done to guide my shopping trip. Of course, many of these recipes are layovers from last week. . .oh well.

Breakfasts: Cereal/Oatmeal/Grits, overnight quichiladas, oatmeal wheat pancakes, cinnamon rolls, eggs w/bacon & toast, muffins

Lunches: PB&J, leftovers, curried chicken salad, pizza quesidilas, soup w/grilled cheese, hot dogs, ham sandwiches

Dinners: 

Baked jalapeno fish and potatoes w/green beans

Chipotle, Beer, & Lime roasted pork tenderloin tacos w/corn

Shrimp & Veggie stir fry w/jasmine rice

Baked Parmesan spaghetti w/salad

Ranch-style chicken w/new potatoes & broccoli

Looks like the most ambitious thing I'm going today is making that fish for dinner! Anyway. . .there's plenty more Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Oh, and these new earrings are in the shop.

Leftover Sprigs Earrings

Here's hoping your Monday was MUCH more productive than mine!

Link-a-palooza: Motivation and Inspiration

I want to start with a huge THANK YOU for all your kinds words and interest in my Shabby Beads yesterday. I've had the ones listed made for a while but have been too nervous/chicken to actually list them. Your support means so very much!

Now for the nitty gritty

I've got a few interesting items to share.

• Back in March, Lori of Pretty Things shared a quick and neat tutorial on How to make a button clasp bracelet. Her bracelet turned out beautifully and I think the technique is pretty cool as well.
• Crafty Chica shared a great list on how to get motivated. I've really only skimmed the list, but definitely want to put some time and effort into her tips. She is an inspiring lady!
• LarkCrafts has a submission call out for a new book entitled Showcase 500 Necklaces. The deadline is August 1st, but they prefer you get your submissions in sooner. Read more on their Calls for Submissions page.
• Crafterminds has a inspiring list of 13 Awesome Blog Post Ideas. I definitely need to remember to turn to this when I'm feeling stuck. 
• If you need more blogging inspiration than that, don't forget that Lori Anderson has put out an e-book called Follow the Path: Ideas and Inspiration for the Creative Blogger. I just bought it myself and am trying to eke out the time to read it thoroughly. It's available on the sidebar of her blog, Pretty Things or click the link above.
• Finally one last list, Bluhm Studios shared a concise list of 23 Ways to Stay Creative.

I guess I've been looking for lots of motivation and inspiration lately. Here's hoping these lists and links help keep me moving forward as well as you!

As always, let me share shop news before I head out. I marked these three pieces on sale today. . .20% off!

Moonlit Shadows Necklace

Pulling Petals Necklace

Exclamation Earrings

Have a creative weekend!!

Introducing Shabby Beads

Hey y'all!
I've got just a couple of quick things to share today.

First, apparently I've had a brain fart all week and forgot to mention that you have until midnight tonight to vote on the Silk Color Palettes over at the Marsha Neal Studio Blog. Mine's listed there, but no pressure to vote for me. There are definitely some really beautiful choices.

Secondly, I finally broke down and listed some of my Shabby Beads in the Etsy shop. Eek!! I had a friend ask if I made any beads. That was the simple kick in the pants I needed to get those beads up. Here's a sampling of them.

Turquoise, gray, and hot pink tubes

Light green, yellow, and red saucers

Violet, pink, and yellow rounds

I'd love to hear what you think of this addition to the shop.
Thanks!!

Happy Mail

I was so excited about getting some happy mail yesterday, I just need to share it with you.

Sweden and Canada?? International for the win.

First, I opened the package from Sweden. It was from Birgitta Lejonklou. During the Button Swap Blog Hop, she held a button givaway of her own. I happened to be the lucky winner. Just look what she sent!!

So much loveliness!

The other package was from Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp of SkyeJewels. She's up in Canada. I've been wanting to order some of her lovely pendants for quite a while and finally broke down. She'll put hole(s) in the pendants anywhere you want if you just let her know.

Aren't these DARLING!?

Those holes are EXACTLY how I wanted them. Of course, if you'd rather leave the pendants unmarred, she'll let them be too.

Since I brought up the subject of giveaways, don't forget that Friday's post was full of them!!
As well, Raida of Havana Beads is giving away this adorable ceramic birdie set.

You just need to leave her comment to be entered!

Speaking of adorable, I re-listed this sweet necklace today.

Jewelry Box Necklace

And I'm hoping to get some photography done this afternoon. I've got a pile of newly crafted pieces that are screaming for their close-ups. What have you got planned today?

Monday's Meal Plan, now with NEW recipes!

This weekend I got to help a friend move. I know that always sounds like some kind of punishment, but I was so excited about having her move back 'home' that I didn't even care. Now I'm sore as all get out and swear that moving someone should be part of a fitness routine. But, it was totally worth it. Besides, I got to count it as my exercise for the weekend!

I ended up so sore yesterday that we barely left the house. Instead, I organized my saved recipes from blogs and Pintrest to try to give us some variety in the menu. I know. . .living life to the fullest huh? Anyway, here's what I came up with for this week.

Breakfasts: Cereal/oatmeal, bagels, overnight quichiladaes, oatmeal wheat pancakes, muffins, eggs w/bacon & toast

Lunches: Chicken & cheddar paninis, curried chicken salad, bean burritos, tuna noodles, soup w/grilled cheese, leftovers, sliced chicken sandwiches

Dinners: 

Chicken & veggie stir fry/fried rice

Salisbury steak w/mashed potatoes & peas

Dijon chicken linguini (wheat pasta) w/salad

Baked jalapeno fish and potatoes w/green beans

Scalloped ham and cauliflower w/salad

I mentioned the other week that I would share the link to my Foreman grill panini tutorial on Snapguide. Clicking that link will take you to it.

As well, I got the scalloped ham and cauliflower recipe from a friend. I don't think she'll mind if I share it here. I might be halving this one. . maybe.

Scalloped Ham and Cauliflower (low-carb)
2 lb bags of cauliflower, drained thawed and chopped
8 oz grated cheddar cheese
1 cup heavy cream
2 eggs, beaten
1 pound of ham cubes
salt and pepper to taste
Beat eggs and add to cream. Mix in cheese and cauliflower, add ham cubes and bake at 375 degrees for 45 mins.

Sounds easy and yummy!!

There's more Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Before I head out, there's new necklace in the shop.

Bright Flora Necklace

As well, there's even a few MORE sale items!!

I appreciate you taking the time to pop in. Have a happy day!!

I Heart Macro: Margarita Friday

At the end of each work week, Pat and I have a bit of a tradition. We're not sure when we started it or how long we'll keep it up, but each Friday is affectionately referred to as Margarita Friday.

Each week I look forward to

Salt-rimmed margaritas

Crispy tortilla chips

Savory salsa

And, of course the amazing company of my husband! (not pictured)

There's more I Heart Macro Sunday at Studio Waterstone.

(Please excuse the fact that there are really iPhone photos. I wanted to see what I could make it do!)

Link-a-palooza: Mostly Giveaways and BSBP reminder

I was all kinds of lazy yesterday and just wanted to read through my jewelry friends' blogs. That's exactly all I did too!

In my huge pile of blogs, I stumbled on quite a few giveaways and whatnot.
I do love me a good giveaway. In fact, I just received a package of goodies I WON from a recent giveaway. When Genea and Staci Louise had their Curious Design Challenge (an Alice in Wonderland-themed challenge), both each had their own giveaway. I was lucky enough to win Genea's pack of Alice inspired goodies. Here are some phone pictures of my package. The ones on Genea's blog are MUCH better though. (I was too excited)

The pretty packaging always gets me!

Genea's hand stamped notecard

The GOODIES!!

Now that I've got your moth watering for free-stuff, how about some of those Giveaway links?

**First up, Marsha Neal is hosting another Silk Color Palette Challenge and is having a giveaway of a set of ten silk strands.

There's loads more info on her blog post. In addition, you can even make your own silk color palette for a chance to win. Here's the one I've made and will be linking up. I've got a thing for rainbows and bright colors. This Palette covers the rainbow, plus a white, brown, and black. The necessities, you know! I've named it Full Spectrum (aka ROY-G-BIV plus some).

Full Spectrum (aka Roy-G-Biv plus some)

**Cindy at Sweet Bead Studio shows off some of her items from Easy Wire 2012 and is even giving away a pair of earrings from it.

**Jenni of Jenni's beads has a great collection of handmade components that she is giving away. it's some really beautiful pieces!

**ArtBeads' Blog for Beaders is giving away a Nunn Designs prize package. You just have to complete a short survey on what you would do with the supplies.

**Mary Harding has the cutest ceramic asparagus pendant that she's giving away. Leave a comment about what YOUR favorite vegetable is to be entered!

**Lastly, this isn't a giveaway so much as a reminder that sign-ups for the Bead Soup Blog Party are now open. You only have this weekend to sign up. Hop on the party train! Do it, do it. . .
 no peer pressure or anything ;)

I also placed four items in the shop on SALE this morning. So if you're up for clicking ANOTHER link, you can check out my On Sale section of the CraftyHope shop.

There's another storm heading in now and the thunder's booming so I better get off this computer. I hope y'all have a GREAT weekend!!

BTW: Earrings, Kumihimo, and Buttons

Yikes, how did it get to be Wednesday already?

Oh right, I remember. I took a Kumihimo class with a friend of mine at my favorite local bead store on Monday and that fun lasted almost all day. Then, I spent yesterday trying to catch up. So here I am today all primed and ready for Bead Table Wednesday!

It rained ALL weekend here, meaning we were stuck in side ALL weekend. The gloomy weather did very little for my motivation, but when we had to unplug all the TVs and computers for fear of lightening strikes, I decided it might be best to get in the craft room and create. With low motivation on my side, earrings seemed like the perfect choice.

Completed earrings just need ear wires added

I've even got a few more beads set aside to make into earrings as well.

You can see the six other pairs of beads that want to be earrings.

As I said, on Monday I took the Kumihimo class. Actually, the class was supposed to be something else, but since it was just my friend and I talking it, the shop owner (who is good friends with MY FRIEND) persuaded us to try Kumihimo. Oh my goodness, look what I made!

My completed kumihimo bracelet

Of course, when I got home I had to make MORE

These are just glimpses of the three patterns I've made. They're still incomplete as I have finished the ends yet.

Perhaps it wasn't just the class that has me trying to catch up. . . .there's something to ponder.

Lastly, yesterday afternoon we visited with my mother-in-law and she mentioned that she was donating a bunch of arts and craft supplies, mostly quilting supplies. She asked if I was interested in any of it. At first I told her no, but then I realized that there might be some buttons. So I asked. Before long, she had pulled out this large tin.

Buttons, button cards, beads, fasteners. . .OH MY!

I still haven't sorted through it. Dang Kumihimo pulling my attention away from the BUTTONS!!

There's more Bead Table Wednesday in the Flickr Group.

Before I head out, here's a heads up that I've got a few more items in the On Sale section of my CraftyHope Etsy Shop.
That's it for me. I've got plenty on my plate to work on. Here's hoping you enjoy your day!

Finally Friday and Some Links

I awoke this morning with a rather bland outlook on the day. It's supposed to rain for the next week and the sun is being rather modest as it hides behind the clouds. Lack of sunshine always puts me in a subdued mood. Nevertheless, I pushed forward with my morning. Not long after logging into the computer did I remember that Shannon at For My Sweet Daughter had offered up a beautiful palette for Finally Friday. Her palettes come from Design Seeds and are full of all kinds of eye-opening and kick-you-in-the-pants inspiration.

Just take a look at this week's palette!

It's called Beaded Brights and can be found at Design Seeds.

Sure enough, one look at this palette and I was waking up to these brights. The hardest part for me was that pinky, peachy, coraly color below the blue. I had NO beads in that shade. I did find some buttons that came close though.

This was the closest I could get to the colors in the palette.

As I looked at my collection of beads and buttons in the above teacup, they seemed so very sweet, not to mention how tiny the beads were. So I knew I wanted to make just a sweet little bracelet.

I used gold-tone wire to give it that classic look.

Shannon's palette prompt was a great motivator for me this morning. Thank you Shannon!!


While I'm here, I finally decided on a name for my Link dump posts. Introducing. . . .

Yup! Link-a-palooza.

I'm still working on my goal to get in a publication and found that I saved a bunch of helpful links on the subject.

• Lorelei offered up a few tips as well as links to popular beading magazines' submission guidelines.
• Heather at Humblebeads wrote a similar blog post with tips and links. She also has a link to Lorelei's post and one from the illustrious Lori Anderson of Pretty Things.
• Lastly, Cyndi at Beading Arts offered up her own (longer) list of links to magazine submission guidelines.

Now I just need to eke out some time to click through all those helpful links!

Since those links are all business and no fun, let me add a tutorial to this list.

•  Malin at Beading by Malin de Koning posted a great tutorial on how to make a paper box. I've made similar ones but they're always been too tall and not wide enough. This short, wide one is perfect. Thanks Malin!!

Lastly, here's a new and a sale item in the shop.

Blue Penny Bracelet

Garden Enchantment Necklace - SALE

So that's all the news for this Friday. Now I'm off to see what other trouble I can get myself into! What are your plans for the weekend?

How to Make Dyed and Stamped Buttons via Snapguide

Just checking in with a few quick things.

First, a few weeks ago I saw another crafter's blog mention an App called Snapguide. (I'm sorry I don't remember who it was. oops!)  It's basically an app that assists you with tutorial making and sharing. I went ahead and downloaded the app then, but hadn't really touched it until yesterday. As I prepared paninis for lunch, I quickly took the pictures with my phone. (There's also an option for video.) While I ate, I added supplies and directions to the photos. It took NO TIME to post that tutorial on Snapguide. (I'll share that one on Monday with my meal plan.)

Anyway, I've been wanting to put more tutorials on here so I made another guide today on How to Make Dyed and Stamped Buttons.

Again, it was really easy.

You can follow the link above to see my tutorial (guide) and get an idea of how Snapguide works.

While I really would rather have some better pictures and all the steps listed here on the blog, I know I'll continue to use Snapguide to find other guides as well as to make some of my own from time to time. In any case, I just HAD to recommend this neat tool.

OH! And it's rather social as well. Other members can "like" your guide as well as leave comments. It's a great confidence boost when someone LIKES your guide!

Not only did I make a tutorial, I also listed some new earrings in the shop. (These are some of my most FAVORITE earrings ever!!)

Happy Flower Earrings

So I'd love to know if you're a Snapguide member or if you know any other tricks to making tutorials easier. As well, what do you think of mine?

BTW: Inspiration Hit

After all the whining I did yesterday about my lack of inspiration and being overwhelmed, this is what my craft desk looked like at the end of the day yesterday.

Yes, I got my butt in the craft room and got it in gear. My trick? I reached into this bucket of "homeless beads", pulled out a strand, and told myself that I HAD to make something with them.

I not only made something with them (the necklace) I also got a pair of earrings and a bracelet made.

How's that for a creative funk lifted?

There's more craft desk goodness in the Bead Table Wednesday Flickr Group.

Bead Table Wednesday

Oh, and I re-listed this lovely necklace.

Secret Garden Necklace

Now, I'm off to see what other kind of trouble I can get into! Have a great Hump Day!