Beading on Vacation

 My husband had a conference in Orlando and since it was at a nice hotel and the weather was supposed to be sunny and warm, I accompanied him.  Of course, the weather was a bit cool and we only had one day of sun.  However, I saw my friend Kathie who drove up from Sarasota and we had a great lunch at a Lebanese restaurant and then went to a very funky bead store called Dear Prudence.  We got lots of ideas for bead projects there.  Above is a picture of one of the rugs in the hotel.  Although not my usual color palette, I liked the design.

I did do some beading on my snowflake challenge.  I almost finished the strap for the pendant and bail.  I think that perhaps I made the colors too subtle, so when I use the rest of the beads for another piece I will try to punch up the colors a bit.  This picture must have been taken before I started the strap.

Next year the conference is in Maui.  Tempting....

Snowflake Challenge

 I have been thinking about the challenge and what I want to make.  Yesterday I started getting some beads together to see what I like.  I have my bead box all set with my needles and scissors and other tools. 

I love this ceramic pendant.  I think it needs to be the focal point so I am looking at working with subtle colors.  I like the blue and brownish seed beads I chose, but not the white ones or the pearls.  One of my favorite straps is herringbone, but as I was falling asleep last night I had a flash of an idea about a bail, which may determine what I do next. 

Today is a good day to spend a few hours working on the challenge.  It's raining here and doesn't look very inviting to go out.  So the beads and I have a date!

Blog Hop and Challenge

I am participating in a Blog Hop and Secret Snowflake Challenge hosted by Michelle Mach.  I always love challenges, but the bead hop is new.  A certain number of kits were available for the challenge and Michelle will post the final project(s) with the blogs they are on, so you can go blog surfing and see what everyone has created.


I was attracted to the colors of these beads, all the shades of blue, a few white ones, plus the beautiful handmade beads.  What's nice about this challenge is that you can do anything you want!  You can make one project, several projects, not use all the beads, add any beads you want, make jewelry or not.  I have several ideas floating in my mind, we shall see where they go.