Well, not really, but it was fun. My dad took me fly fishing for the very first time yesterday. We drove a couple hours up into the mountains and enjoyed a calm, quiet, beautiful day. We didn't catch any fish, or even get a nibble for that matter (Dad said it was just too cold for them), but we enjoyed some road sodas and had a great time. It turns out I can cause my fishing line to knot up just as easily as I can beading thread. Sigh. All the same, I'm a definite fan of fly fishing and I hope Dad and I can go again soon.
It wasn't my intention for so many weeks to go by since the last time I blogged. Really, it wasn't. I went to CHA in Orlando and things have just been crazy since then. Starting this week though, I'm going to do my best to get back on track.
One of the projects that kept me busy over the last few weeks is pictured above. I received an assignment to make twenty necklaces based on the design for the Tranquility Necklace in the Free Projects section on the Soft Flex website. This necklace is always super popular at bead shows and it's a fun design to make, so this assignment was exactly the kind of thing that I like. I used a random assortment of Czech pressed-glass beads and Trios sets in four color combinations: Mystical, Renewal, Serenity, and Tranquility. So pretty.
I encourage you to check out the free project instructions for this design and make your very own. Or, make one for a new teacher when your little one(s) head back to school. At CHA, an elementary school teacher stopped by the booth and picked this necklace up, saying her students would love it if she wore something like this. It doesn't have a clasp and can be made in any length as the wire is flexible enough to stretch over your head. It's a great design for just about anyone and can have entirely different looks based on the colors of wire and the types of beads used. Check it out and have fun beading!
Only a few more days to enter the Soft Flex Company Flex Your Creativity Beading Contest. Use any of our Trios sets to make a design and send us a picture and you're entered to win. Well, there are a few more rules than that, but it is quite simple (and fun!) to enter. Learn more here. We can't wait to see what you make!
To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment.
Oh, boy, was she right. We've had so much rain this summer in Colorado that everything is gorgeous and green and lush - it's wonderful. So, I plan to spend a good portion of this weekend, as I have the past few weekends, on a deck in a gorgeous tree-filled yard with these two, Sophie and Cognac. They're as sweet as can be and don't mind at all if we supplement nature's refreshment with one that is brewed here in Fort Fun.
Check out what some of my crew were up to this week:
Remember these beads? Well, they've been sitting on my "new bead shelf" since they arrived, patiently waiting for inspiration to strike so that I can make something grand. Well, it just so happens that I had all of my spools of colored Soft Flex wire sitting near them and I was struck. Look at how amazingly well these colors match up with the beads? Citrine, red jasper, purple amethyst, peridot, and garnet, I heart you. Now, off to create!
When I'm at a bead show demoing in the booth, I often have a few minutes here and there of free time. It's time when I can take some wire and beads and just create - I love that time. At Bead and Button I had some gorgeous bronze pearls and a spool of Soft Flex Wire in peridot, so decided to play around with them. All but a few of the pearls fit well onto the .019 diameter wire and I tried my luck with the Knitting Spool. It would have taken one more strand of pearls to knit a length of wire long enough for a complete bracelet, but I didn't know that when I started knitting, so I ended up with a knitted cord just short of bracelet length.
After playing around with it for a few weeks, I finally made a finished piece using the knitted section as a focal point. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the Lucite beads that comprise the chain are a marbled blend of the bronze of the pearls and the green of the beading wire, and I love how it turned out. I'd like to oxidize the metal a little bit and then I think I'll like this new piece even more.
Remember Korto Momolu from Project Runway? Remember the amazing jewelry she created for her runway show? Well, according to Tom and Lorenzo (I love these guys!), Korto has a brand new line of jewelry available for sale. Her pieces are bright and bold and extremely inspiring. Check out TLo's post about it here and then go Korto's site to shop. Way to go Korto - you look amazing and so does your jewelry!
Laura and I went up to Red Rocks the other night - isn't is gorgeous?! We went to attend the Flim on the Rocks showing of The Princess Bride. Film on the Rocks is an awesome summer program put on by the Denver Film Society. It was the perfect night for Red Rocks, warm with a slight breeze and no rain.
The Princess Bride is a great movie and it's even more fun with an audience of 8000 people who cheer the good guys and boo the bad guys. Plus, there's beer, which makes it even better...
Well, to be exact, Kitting with Wire. This, my friends, is about 40 feet of Champagne Soft Flex Extreme Wire cut into 2 inch pieces. It's about one-fifth of all the wire I'll be cutting, counting, and bagging into one hundred class kits. When I make it through all six 50 foot spools, I'll have a total of 1800 two inch pieces of wire. Then I'll divide up and bag 600 jump rings and attach 200 ear wires to jump rings. Whew. So, if you're going to CHA at the end of the month and plan to attend the Champagne Dreams Earrings class, this kit is for you! Now, back to measuring and cutting...
Well, not really, but it was fun. My dad took me fly fishing for the very first time yesterday. We drove a couple hours up into the mountains and enjoyed a calm, quiet, beautiful day. We didn't catch any fish, or even get a nibble for that matter (Dad said it was just too cold for them), but we enjoyed some road sodas and had a great time. It turns out I can cause my fishing line to knot up just as easily as I can beading thread. Sigh. All the same, I'm a definite fan of fly fishing and I hope Dad and I can go again soon.
