Day 204

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, Twitter can get you into trouble, but it can also be lots of fun. One of the beading gals I follow had a contest to find the least expensive crystals on her site. I tweeted in with .79 a strand, and won myself a choice of strands from the crystal section.

I decided on some light blue 10mm bicones because I thought they'd be a fun size to work with, and of course, I love the color. They arrived today and I really like them. I can't wait to figure out what to create.

Day 199

It's finished!!!

I managed to conceptualize, complete, and submit my beading project. I did end up having to make some last minute changes. I didn't account for the difference in weight with the silk ribbon and the spiral rope, so they didn't hang the way I had hoped. But I'm happy I made the change and pleased with the results.

It was very challenging to get a good picture, and I have some pretty great resources to utilize to get the right composition and coloring. But I haven't photographed much of my jewelry. I'll need to work on figuring that out better in the future.

Since the muse has not been revealed yet and it's sort of the heart of the contest, I'm using a picture of a portion of my completed project.

Day 198

I am just about finished with my project for The Beader's Muse contest. All I have left to do is assemble it, get pictures, and fill out the application. I think I'm going to make it. I just hope it all goes together how I'm thinking. I'm not comfortable with having to make last minute changes, but we'll see how it goes.

Day 188

One of the things I like to do while on vacation is try to pick up some beads. It's fun to check out new shops, and I like being able to make something with a little bit of meaning to it.

Tonight I was able to do some bead shopping. The store I found in Grand Rapids happened to be about two miles from where we're staying, so it seemed only natural for me to check it out.

I picked up these really fun turquoise and brown stones and some copper chain. The chain is part of a potential plan for a project I'm working on. I was able to try it out tonight and I think it's going to be perfect. If my plans change, then there is always room in my stash for some more copper.

Day 170

I'm pretty excited because today in the mail I received a fun package!

I entered a beading contest called Use the Muse and the kit showed up today. The challenge of the contest is to take a kit and use the components to make a piece of wearable art. The only real guideline is that you have to use the secret component and incorporate it into your design. When I read it was a Lillypilly piece, then I knew this was the contest for me.

I'm actually pretty nervous about it because there is not a lot of time to come up with a design and create it. The contest ends on July 18th, and with my hubby out of town for several weeks, it's going to be very hard for me to find time to do this, but I'm going to try. I've already started sketching out some ideas. It might end up being a fun piece just for me that I complete six years down the road. We'll see how it goes.