Sunshine in Winter

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

When you live in New England February can feel like the longest month of the year. We decided to take a break and head down to the Florida Keys, and I tell you the morning we left we just couldn't get out of town fast enough.

My husband had booked a flight for 10am, but of course the airline re-booked us without notice to an earlier flight. That meant getting up and out the door with two teenagers by 5am. Anyone with teenagers knows just how difficult a task that is. The temperature was 3 degrees (fahrenheit, or -16 celsius) with a wind chill that pushed it to roughly 15 below. That meant having to lug heavy winter coats with us to Florida. Seriously? 

It was all well worth it. It rained the first 2 days, and I couldn't have cared less. I was in flip flops and capris and loving every minute. I can't say that I did much else but soak in the sun, walk a bit along the coast and do a little bird watching. It was perfect to just be.

Simple Boho

I like the simplicity of this boho bracelet. A piece for wearing every day with a favorite pair of jeans.

But sometimes the simple ones are the hardest. I struggled with this one at first as the beads were so uncooperative. They kept sliding back to the closure, and as much as I like the little buckle closure it just wasn't what I was going for. Then I realized that I could use a spacer to 'crimp' the beads and contain them to a focal area. Oh and that did it! I sent this piece on its way with my sister for one of her close friends back home. I hope she enjoys it.

Stone Cabochon Series :: #7

This cabochon set is the one where I hit the wall and was completely stumped as to why I just wasn't happy with the first version. 

Sometimes I will be beading along and just not feeling it. The beads don't look right, the color seems off or the way the final piece hangs is just off. That was the case with this one.

The original design I used a copper silk fabric. And while it looked lovely lying on the bead table, the second you put it on it was twisting this way and that. The balance and weight of the stones was just off vs. the delicate silk fabric. 

So I put the piece down to rethink it. And it just sat there for months on the bead table staring at me. I would pick it up and match it to another fabric. Nothing seemed to be working. And so I moved on to other projects as I circle around this one picking it up, and promptly putting it back down again. 

And then it hit me. Why wasn't I using chain? Of course that was what the problem was. I really like how these two stones came together. They are clearly not the same. One is a jadite looking agate (at least I assume it is an agate). The other has almost a Feldspar look to it with all the flecks. I have absolutely no idea what either stone is, but my friend Christine would tell me that when in doubt it probably is an agate!

The other change I made which might not be as obvious is that I pulled off the lower level of beads around the bezel. I realized once I switched out the neck strap that it was too 'bead heavy' for the cabochon. It just didn't need that extra layer. I find myself trying to simplify my beading these days. Not sure why, but just want a 'less is more' look.