Off The Beaded Path

Happy Valentines Day!

2012-02-14T12:39:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day! I don't know about anyone else but my husband spolied me rotten. He got me a new Swarovski Pen in Aquamarine. The only picture I could find online to show you is in purple but at least you can see what i'm talking about....

I already have a pearl and clear one that I adore. So, the blue one is has now been added to the collection. He also got me two really pretty dresses. I had to have a new black dress because my friend Norlina invited me a ladies meeting and the theme of her table is breakfast at Tiffanys. She asked us to wear a black dress and now that I've lost weight I didn't have one. Sammy to the rescue.....with not one but 2 black dresses! I was quite proud of my sweetie!

I hope each of you have a fantastic Valentines Day!

Custom Orders and Designs

2012-02-13T12:26:00.000-08:00

I was on a roll blogging and then after January I seemed to fall off the wagon! I have had a busy February working on new designs and Custom Orders. The Blue Necklace is a new design that I have made using pearls and Montees. I loved the way the necklace turned out. I really wished that pictures did some jewelry justice.

The brown pearl necklace is my moms Valentines Day gift from my dad. I can go ahead an show you guys because my mom never reads my blog. I used bronze pearls, Light Colorado Topaz Montees and a pretty rainbow topaz seed bead. I also made simple earrings to match. My mom wears a lot of browns and khaki's so I think she will love this new set.

These final two pictures are of a custom order. The flower center comes out a book by Diane Fitzgerald. I am a big fan of her work and I loved how this flower turned out. The customer is going to give it as a gift and wanted the recipient to be able to wear it with jeans and all things blue. I think it will go great. I also made some simple peyote triangle earrings to match. I love it when I can make a customer happy and I know that they are going to give the piece to someone who will appreciate it.

I better be sure to take some beads home with me just in case because they are calling for snow/rain mix tomorrow. We haven't had a snow all winter so I'll believe it when I see it. My luck, if I didn't take anything home with me I'd be snowed in for days. I'm not going to tempt the weather! This girl will go home prepared!~

One Happy Girl!

2012-02-08T14:35:00.000-08:00

I love my youtube viewers and they are always asking me to do certain projects or asking how to convert certain designs to something else. One of my most viewed videos is one called the Pearl Montee Bracelet. I have had many requests over the past year to make it into a necklace. I finally got to sit down today and create. I used Cocoa Pearls, matte cream seed beads, and Pacific Opal Crystal Montees. I was so happy with the results.The colors made me want to run to the beach! My goal is to come up with two different necklace designs so that people can have their choice. I told my husband that I was going to have to take a loan out from the bank to purchase all the montees i needed for the shop. My etsy people are going to want montees even more once they see this design. I can hardly keep them in stock as it is. The video will be made this week and get put on in two weeks so if you are one of my youtube followers be sure to keep your eyes out for this one!

Super Bowl Sunday

2012-02-06T09:13:00.000-08:00

My friend Gina has been trying to get me to go with her to get our Concealed Handgun License. She has to travel a good distance to work everyday and she wants to feel safer. So, I finally gave in and she came over yesterday and my dad took us shooting so that we could try and get comfy with a gun. I really don't want a gun and I'm so afraid of them but I did pretty good. This was our target:

I went to the Sheriffs Department this morning and applied to get a gun so watch out world.....I might be a gun toatin bead store owner soon.

After an afternoon of shooting it was time to watch the super bowl. I pulled out all of my beads too! I started playing around and ended up making some earrings for the shop. I pulled out all my extras from my stash and came up with some really simple and fun designs.

New Earring In the Making

2012-02-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

There are two things that I really love....Hoop Earrings and Montees! I loved the earring challenge so much that I guess I decided to keep on with it. I started stitching a right angle weave pair of hoop earrings this afternoon. When I got them finished I still wasn't happy with them. Well what's the first thing that comes to my mind....montees! I ran to the rack and grabbed a couple of packs and history was made. I'm pretty sure that once I finish this pair I am going to make a larger pair. They are cute but they are not big enough for me. I wanted to go ahead and show you my work in progress. Hopefully I can show you the finished pair tomorrow.

New Peyote Tube Earring Design

2012-02-01T14:17:00.000-08:00

I have been working for a few weeks trying to design a peyote stitch tube bead that would have an awareness ribbon in it. I needed something that wouldn't be too big but you would still be able to see the ribbon and understand what it is. I finally came up with a design today that I was happy with. I did them in pink because Breast Cancer seems to be one that gets lots of attention. The great thing about the pattern is that you can do whatever color you want. A quick google search will tell you what color is associated with each cancer or disease. I plan on doing a quick tutorial in the next few weeks on our youtube channel on how to read a peyote stitch pattern and I plan on teaching how to make these tubes. I am going to go ahead and post the pattern for you guys. All I ask is that if you make the earrings please don't sell them for profit. If you don't give them away then any money you sell them for please donate it to a charity. I made this pattern for awareness and hopefully it will lift someone's day.

Earring Challenge Day 31

2012-01-31T13:38:00.000-08:00

Todays earrings were a free pattern that I found called Trinket Earrings. Deborah Roberti came up with the pattern and I think these earrings are super cute and delicate. If you have never tried one of Deborah's patterns then you are missing out! Deborah writes wonderful step by step patterns with pictures. They are super easy to follow and can be done by beginner to advanced beaders. You can get the free pattern here : http://www.bead-patterns.com/shop/shop.php?method=itemnumber&keywords=16711

Earring Challenge Day 30

2012-01-30T19:22:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone. My name is Kelly and I'm addicted to Clothes...So today Sammy and I did a little shopping and I came home with a lot of stuff. The whole point of going out today was we were going to do a little thrift store shopping and we were going to Old Navy. Well lets just say that I racked up and spent less than $100.00! I was one happy girl! Old Navy was starting to put out there short sleeve clothes and it was time to redeem Old Navy Cash.

This is one of my favorite purchases for the day! This is going to be a great spring dress!

All of the above was from Old Navy. All below is my thrift store finds. Below I got 3 Lane Bryant Button up shirts, a Lane Bryant Sweater, a long sleeved Old Navy Shirt and a brown Old Navy Jacket. I got it all for $29.00!!!!!

Once home it was time to go to work. Here is a shot of what my work table looks like today. We got these great new flowers in at the shop and I am busy trying to get some samples made to show people what they can make.

I think young girls are going to have a fit for these big flower rings!

Here is the start of a necklace I'm working on.

Earring Challenge Day 29

2012-01-29T06:20:00.000-08:00

I love Sundays. It is my favorite day of the week. I am blessed to live across the street from my mom and dad and our Family tradition is on Sunday mornings my dad fixes a huge breakfast and I go over to there house and we all eat as a family. We have been doing this as long as I can remember. Sunday is also my nap day. I don't get to take a nap any other day of the week. As soon as I get home from Church I pile up under the cover and say goodbye to the world for a few hours. It is wonderful! Sunday is also what I call my "free day." Since i'm on weight watchers i am constantly having to watch what goes in my mouth. On Sunday I set that all aside. I eat what I want, when I want. I normally eat my large breakfast and then Sunday night's we go out to eat somewhere we normally wouldn't during the week. Its a nice break from having to be so obsessive over food.

Tonight will be a little bit different though. Here in the states the Pro Bowl is on. My husband will be on the couch watching football for 4 hours. Guess I'll do some beading. :)

My earrings for today's challenge are fun and dangly. They are easy as pie to make. Each layer is on an eye pin. The bottom layer has 8 beads, the second layer has 4 beads, and the first top layer has 2 beads. Each layer is seperated by 5 links of tiny chain. It all comes together at the top with a jumpring and ear hook. These will be great to make for prom this year!

Earring Challenge Day 28

2012-01-28T19:32:00.000-08:00

Wow! I seriously cannot believe that there are only 3 days left of the earring challenge. It seems like 2012 just started and a month is already almost behind us. I have really enjoyed this month because Challenging myself to make a new pair of earrings everyday has been an adventure. It has forced me to try new ideas that I wouldn't otherwise have had the chance to do. I loved my green earrings so much the other day that I started trying to figure out how I could make more pairs without having the ear hoops I purchased from a store a few days ago. Well....I figured it out! I used some 1 1/4 inch bracelet memory wire and cut them into circles. I then whipped up these babies! I used 4mm Bermuda Blue bicones as well as size 11 transparent gray seed beads. Even though they are really easy and take no time at all to finish they are great because they are instant satisfaction! I can make a pair of these in 5 minutes and then run out the door for a busy day. I can't wait to wear these!

Earring Challenge Day 27

2012-01-27T17:20:00.001-08:00

Earring Challenge Day 26

2012-01-26T17:12:00.000-08:00

For todays challenge I wanted to make a pair of earrings that went wtih a certian top I had. A few weeks ago I purchased this green sweater. Before this purchase I have never owned anything in green! I don't know why it appealed to me but I thought it went great with my hair color. (Picture of shirt below) Problem with buying a color I have never owned is that I didn't have any earrings to wear with it.

I found the perfect thing for my earrings when I went to Ornamentea the other day. They had these earrings hoops that were made out of memory wire. They had a pair of earrings made up with them for a sample and I thought that they would be quick to make and would go great with my shirt. I purchased some Olivine and Lime crystals and in no time flat I had a wonderful pair of earrings that went great with my new green shirt.

I told Sammy that we had to take a picture so that people could see my earrings. Isn't he a sweetie?

Here they are again but you can't see them well. This picture was taken at the Confrence. The lady in the picture is Danielle Withrow. She is our Town Planner and has become a great friend over the past few years. It's always nice to go to the confrence but it sure is nice to come home!

Earring Challenge Day 25

2012-01-25T17:15:00.000-08:00

So today most of my morning was spent driving to Clayton NC. Because I am the Merchants Association President we have to go to the NC Main Street Confrence. Since I knew that I would be driving most of the morning I went ahead yesterday and made my earrings for todays challenge. I love to look at foreign beading books. I don't understand a word they say but I am great with diagrams. These earrings are from one of those books. I can't say that I like these earrings but it was fun to be able to try a new pattern.

I was looking foward to my trip to Clayton for one main reason....to go bead shopping! There is a great bead shop in Raleigh called Ornamentea that I have been wanting to go to for a long time but have just never gotten the oppertunity. Sammy and I found it without problem and lets just say that I added to my bead stash.....

One of the first things I found were these great memory wire hoops that you can make into earrings. I don't have anything green and I am wearing a green sweater tomorrow so I decided to get me some Olivine Crystals and Lime crystals to make a quick pair of earrings to wear tomorrow.

I don't normally buy earrings, since I can make them, but I found these and I thought that they were so cute! I am getting spring fever and I thought these would be great and would go with a lot of my new wardrobe.

I always have and always will be a sucker for seed beads! I found these colors and even though I'm pretty sure that I have one of them I decided to go ahead and get them just in case. Besides I needed some so that I could work up my earrings tonight.

Earring Challenge Day 24

2012-01-24T17:13:00.000-08:00

Today I helped one of my really sweet cutomers make the above pink bracelet. While she was working on the bracelet I made the earrings to match so that she would have a set. I love how the set turned out and the cutomers was super happy with it.

Earring Challenge Day 23

2012-01-23T18:36:00.000-08:00

Sometimes things don't work out the way I want them to! I love Right Angle Weave and I decided today that I wanted to come up with a new earring using the technique. I started out with size 11 seed beads and then did a row of siz 8 seed beads and then wanted to transistion to 3mm bicones. I have been so busy today getting things ready for the week that by the time I started working on the earrings all my creativity was fried! The earrings did not turn out the way I wanted them to but I went ahead and finished them anyways. I hope to work on them again soon and figure out a really neat pair of fan style earrings.

Sammy and I will be gone Wednesday, Thursday, and part of the day Friday so I have been busy today trying to get things worked on and finished since I will be missing work. Normally I take work with me but that's not going to happen this week. We are going to the NC Main Street Confrence in Clayton NC because Sammy and I are receiving an award from the State Main Street Association. I will be traveling all day Wednesday and then Thursday I will be in the confrence all day. Part of Friday will be spent traveling home and then off to work. My goal is to leave early enough Wednesday that I will have time to catch a bead shop or two on my way to Clayton since we don't have to be there until about 2 or 3. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Earring Challenge Day 22

2012-01-22T16:07:00.000-08:00

Back last summer I ordered these really neat crystal mixes for the shop that had crystal donuts in them. I sold some of the packs but all in all they were not a big hit. I clearanced the remaining packs out last week but kept 2 for myself. I sat down tonight and made these really cute earrings from my mix. I still have plenty of beads leftover so who knows what I will come up with next.

Earring Challenge Day 21

2012-01-21T11:59:00.001-08:00

Earring Challenge Day 20

2012-01-20T12:53:00.000-08:00

Day 20 Brings Earrings for a gift. I have a very special customer who is going to get these earrings. Crystal Golden Flare in Preciosa Crystals are her favorite color. She brought in a ring back before Christmas for me to repair that was made out of the same color beads. I repaired the ring this week and I decided to make her a pair of earrings to match. These are the picadilly earrings that I made a few days ago but I tweaked the pattern just a little bit so that I wouldn't have to use a tear drop on the bottom.

I am making the earrings for her because she was sweet enough to bring me some clothes a few days ago. She and I both were on Weight Watchers last year. She hit her goal in no time by losing 25lbs. I, having to lose a good bit more, am finally down to the size that she was before she started WW. She was sweet enough to bring me some of her shirts and jackets and is going to bring me some pants as soon as she can get to them. I love losing weight but I am constantly changing sizes. I have lost 78lbs so far and have dropped 10 pants sizes and 3 shirt sizes.

Earring Challenge Day 19

2012-01-19T09:30:00.000-08:00

A few weeks back Sammy and I went to the Beach for New Years. While I was there I visited my friend Heathers bead shop called Beach Beads. She had these really preety Lucite looking flower beads and I just fell in love with them! I came home and made a bracelet with them and had a few left over. We got some new shower part components in that I have been working with so I decided to use some of my left over flowers and stitch up a quick pair of earrings. Although there are a lot of beads on the earring it is very light weight. I have ordered some of the flowers for the shop and I can't wait for them to arrive!

Earring Challenge Day 18

2012-01-18T09:26:00.000-08:00

I've been really busy over the last few days trying to finish up a custom order and re-doing a necklace that a customer gave me. One of my favorite customers used to live in Estonia. She went back to visit family in the spring last year and purchased me a necklace that is made out of Baltic Amber. She gave it to me at Christmas and I loved the large center piece but the necklace was just a simple single strand of amber. Well I couldn't leave such a beautiful center piece go to waste so I re-did the necklace and made it into something that I would love to wear. This is what I ended up with and I can't wait for the spring and fall to wear it.

These are the earrings I made for the necklace. I wanted something very simple so that I could let the necklace be the main piece. I think I succeeded.

After I finished the re-do I was finally able to finish up a special order. The bracelet turned out really cute! The bottom layer took me no time at all but boy the top sure took a lot longer than expected! But thankfully it's done so now I can move onto my next project!

Earring Challenge Day 17

2012-01-17T14:34:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe that I finally made these earrings! My mother and father in law purchased this pattern for me during the 2010 Christmas season. I put it with all my other patterns and it just seemed to get further and further to the back. I sat in my floor at home last night and had tons of patterns laid out next to me. I tried to go through and find earring patterns so that I could work on them for the challenge. This pattern is by Picadilly and is called Tutorial #45 Alice. Its been so long that I wasn't even sure if she would still be on etsy but when I checked she was. You can find her etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/JewelryonPicadilly She had the pattern listed still for $4.00 plus she had a lot more. Although her pattern was good when I make another pair I am going to tweak it a little bit so that it's more my style. I have a good customer named Linda who I think I might make a pair of these for. She, like me, has been doing Weight Watchers and she met her goal so I think a pair of these would be just the thing to say "Way to go!"

I wanted to show you guys another piece that I just finished. Earlier in January I posted a picture of the same thing in different colors. The pattern is by Nikia Angel. I needed something to wear with all sorts of blue colors so I used Montana Satin and Black Diamond 2xAB crystals. I love the way this pendant turned out! I made it Saturday and I have already worn it three times.

Tomorrow I will post pictures of another piece that I have been working on. Stephanie from TX has got me working on a new bracelet for her. The base wasn't bad and took no time at all but the top of the bracelet is taking a little longer than expected. I will post my progress tomorrow.

Earring Challenge Day 16

2012-01-16T16:02:00.000-08:00

Todays earrings are a custom order for a customer going to a Marine Corps Ball in TX. Her dress is a really pretty deep purple color and she is going to wear a shaw that has specks of pink in it. The earrings I made for her are glass open squares in a Vitrail Color but they pull a lot of purple. I then added a 6mm Purple Velvet and a 4mm Vintage Rose over the square. They are really pretty and I hope she will like them. I love them but we'll see what she thinks.

Earring Challenge Day 15

2012-01-15T12:00:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe that the earring challenge is almost halfway over with. It has been fun because it has motivated me to work on something everyday. Running the shop, I tend to forget to have fun and the earring challenge has reminded me to do that. For todays earrings I found a neat pattern in a book Beaded Allure. I have had the book for awhile but I haven't had a chance to work on anything from it. I wanted to make these earrings because they look like little hearts to me. There is a bracelet to match and I think I would like to work in it at some point.

I used size 11 galvanized silver seed beads and 4mm Fuchsia pearls.

Earring Challenge Day 14

2012-01-14T22:00:00.000-08:00

Day 14 Wow! For Todays earrings I sort of cheated a little bit. Back before Christmas I was at JoAnn's shopping and was looking through the bead section. I was looking at the Swarovski's and found these components that had the one crystal with chain hanging from it. They were on sale so I decided to buy them. I put them up and had honestly forgotten about them. I was looking on my bead table last night and found the components. I added the ear hook and they were complete. I really like these chain earrings because they can really be dressed up or you would wear them with jeans and a t-shirt.

Earring Challenge Day 13

2012-01-13T07:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday the 13th! I wore a sweater yesterday that had a diamond shaped pattern. I needed earrings to go with it so I whipped up these cute earrings. These are size 11 delica's that i brick stitched into diamond shapes. At first I was going to make a few and connect them but when I connected them they were really stiff. As you can see I ended up taking them apart and hanging them off chain. I'm not sure if i'm happy with them yet. They may be one of those pairs that is a work in progress. I think I need to make a few more diamonds but right now I've got other projects i'm working on.

Earring Challenge Day 12

2012-01-12T09:39:00.000-08:00

One of my regular customers named Rita came in Tuesday and seen my pink earrings. I was shocked to find out that after all the things I have seen her make that she didn't know how to do Peyote Stitch. I sat her down right then and taught her to do not only peyote stitch but also to make the peyote stitch tubes. While teaching her I made another pair of the pink earrings. I am going to put one pair out for sale and then I'm going to give one pair to my mom so she will have some cute earrings to wear for Valentine's Day.

I guess I can say that these earrings are my official Day12 Earrings. These earrings are a continuation of a project that I started and didn't like how it looked. The original earrings were supposed to be just one ring of 4mm bicones but you know me...I can never leave anything alone. I added a center and an extra ring of 3mm's. I thought that they turned out really good. I can see one as a ring too! Gonna work on this pattern a little and see what other little things I can do to it.

I'm so happy today because the SUN IS OUT IN NC! It seems like it has been day's since we've seen the sun. I need to see the sun because if I don't I feel like I start to get depressed! Yesterday is rained all day and then about 4:30 a tornado hit in the lower part of the county. Injured a lot of people but thank God that nobody lost their lives.

Earring Challenge Day 11

2012-01-11T09:15:00.000-08:00

I am super proud of today's earrings! The first picture is of just basic earrings that I had to fix but the bottom 2 pictures are my favorites! I bought a pair of earrings last year from a bead store in Brevard NC called "A Better Bead and Crafts" that were exactly like these and I love them. Earlier this year I found the filigree componants to wire wrap but I haven't had time to sit and try them out. I am not a wire worker and I hate even the thought of working with wire but I was quite suprised at how easy these earrings were to make. I wire wrapped a crystal copper 14mm Rivoli into the components and LOVE them! Now I just have to get my butt in gear and make a few more pairs before I forget how to do it.

Earring Challenge Day 10

2012-01-10T13:04:00.000-08:00

I really wish I could get a better picture of the color of these beads because these earrings turned out sooooo cute! I jused Rose Alabaster for the center which is a solid light pink color and then I used Rose Water Opal for the all the bicones. RWO is a really pretty opal light pink color. These earrings are perfect for my pink color theme. I have had this pattern for years and it is one of my favorites. It is by Deborah Roberti. You can find this pattern and many more at www.aroundthebeadingtable.com

I have been a follower of her beadwork for the few years and her work never disappoints! She has been listing some really fun patterns for Tila Beads lately.

Earring Challenge Day 9

2012-01-09T11:20:00.000-08:00

For Day 9 I made these really cute earrings that I found the pattern for a few years ago in Australian Beading Magazine. The pattern was by Melissa Ingram. There were some mistakes in the pattern so it took a few mintues to figure out but once I figured out the problems they worked up really quick. The only problem with these is that they are all Swarovski Crystal. It even uses 2mm Swarovski's! With Prom coming up I Think I'll make a few pairs but I'll use size 11 or size 8 seed beads in place of the 2mm's. Cute huh?

Tough Decisions coming my way!

2012-01-09T07:32:00.000-08:00

I have some really tough decisions coming my way in the next few weeks. There are so many things going on in my head that it's hard to get it all out. Most of my decisions will concern my Bead Shop. Over the last year I have become increasingly unhappy at my shop. It's hard to pinpoint at what point it started and why but I have just been really unhappy. I guess one of the main reasons for my unhappiness is the fact that I have taken on way too much. I run the shop, do the books, make samples and jewelry for the shop, teach classes, get classes together, do video's for online, write patterns, and help customers on a day to day basis. I am at my shop everyday unless something comes up. I guess that after 8 years I have just hit the breaking point and I have realized that I can no longer do it all. I have hired someone to help me out two days a week and I thought that it would help me out a lot but it really hasn't. No I shouldn't say that....It may help me but right now my eyes are too clouded over with unhappiness to see if it helps.

At least once or twice a week I come home and just have a good cry because I don't know how much longer I can take it all. I decided a few weeks ago that for me to be happy I need to decide what I like best about my business and run with it. I have reflected a lot over the last few weeks and I have decided that the thing I love most about my business are my online videos. I love to teach people to bead. Not just people but people who really WANT TO LEARN to bead. I get emails everyday from people all over the world thanking me for my videos and telling me how much they enjoy them. I can't even get my locals to say thank you and there's people that I have never even met thanking me for helping them learn. Not all of my locals are like that but many don't even care enough to come in and take classes or even come in and purchase supplies for our videos that they watch online. My videos make me money because people who watch the video's tend to purchase supplies from my etsy store. I also list patterns that I write on etsy and they are great because they can be emailed right to the customer. I don't hardly have enough time to get patterns written right now and if I had a chance I could make good money with my patterns. I love to teach and I believe that's what I was put on this earth to do.

The store has been doing OK. I am still able to pay myself but the traffic seems to be less and less. My regulars who have been coming in for years are slowly getting busy with other things and I don't tend to see them as much. I have tried numerous things over the years to get new customers through the door and they have come in but not many stick with it over time. I have people who want me to teach them but they don't want to pay to learn. They want to bring in there own supplies and then get mad when I tell them that I will have to charge them a teaching fee. It's like a never ending battle with people. I sit all day with some customers and work with them only to have them spend $25.00. When I do this I loose out on time that I could be listing things on etsy or writing patterns, or making things for the store. Classes haven't been doing well anyways. I stress over getting classes ready and getting class schedules out only for no one to sign up or only 1 person sign up. I am out of idea's. I feel like i'm danged if i do and danged if i don't.

I have decided to make a few changes at the shop over the next few months to see if they make me happy. First of all, next month I am only going to schedule classes on Saturdays so that I have my week nights free to work on other things. If I don't feel like I'm getting done what I need to get done then I plan to change my store hours in the month of March. I am thinking of only opening Wednesday-Saturday. That way I have Sunday off and then Monday and Tuesday I can work on video's, writing patterns, or creating new projects. Then Wed-Sat I can spend getting things done at the shop.I may even get my Mother in Law to take over Wednesdays for me so that I can have another day to get work done from home. If by June I am still not happy I am thinking of closing my shop to the public and becoming an online seller. At least if I do this I can travel and teach classes elsewhere and not have to worry about missing a sale.

I don't know what the next few months hold for me but I just try to remember Proverbs 16:3 "Commit your plans to the lord and they will succeed." I read this quote out of a great new book that I am reading called Leaving by Karen Kingsbury. I went to the bible book store a few days ago and found this book and the cover looked interesting so i picked it up. I never get to read anymore so I decided to buy It and make the time to read it. It is quite refreshing to read a book that doesn't have a vampire romance or excessive cussing. If you get a chance I defently recommed this book. It's great so far!

Oh well enough with my ramblings. I just had so much in my head that I needed to get out.

Day 8 Earring Challenge

2012-01-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Sunday! While I was on my pink kick I went ahead and stitched up these cuties! These are a simple 2 needle technique with Montees and crystals.

Earring Challenge Day 7

2012-01-07T10:35:00.000-08:00

Day 7! Yea I can't believe that I've actually blogged for 7 days straight! For today's earrings I made pink Peyote Stitch Tubes. I like to make these little tubes because they are super easy to make and they are a great way to use up extra beads that you might have laying around. I used size 8 Matte Pink seed beads and 6mm Fuchsia bicones on the top and bottom. As I was making them I got to thinking about how cute it would be if I could make the tube just a little larger and add a pink ribbon design to it. I got on my beadtool software and started playing. I have came up with a pattern but I've got to test it to see how it turns out. If it turns out the way I want it to I will defiantly post the pattern here for you guys to see. I'm really hoping that it's what I have in mind!

Today is a beautiful day here in NC. It is 68 degrees which is not normal for us for this time of year. Everyone is out and about today and I don't blame them. As soon as I get off today I'm headed home to get out and walk. Last year I started doing Weight Watchers and lost 78lbs. I didn't exercise I just ate right. My goal for 2012 was to start exercising to get the next 60lbs off. So far, like my blogging, I'm sticking with it. I started on Tuesday walking/running a mile everyday and I have been doing an ab workout that I found an app for on my iphone. Lets just say that after 4 days it hurts to bend over or laugh. I was going to take a break on Saturday and Sunday to let my abs and legs rest but it's so pretty that maybe I'll just let them rest tomorrow. Its supposed to be back down in the 50's tomorrow.

Day 6 Earring Challenge

2012-01-06T10:23:00.000-08:00

With Valentines Day in view I decided that today I would start making some pink and red jewlery for the shop. I worked up these quick earrings that use 2 colors of 4mm bicones, 6mm rounds, and 6mm bicones. I used Rose 6mm Bicones, Clear AB 6mm Rounds, Rose Alabaster 4mm Bicones, and Ruby 4mm Bicones. These are super easy to make an stitch up quick with two needles.

Earring Challenge Day 5

2012-01-05T13:23:00.000-08:00

Today's Challenge Earrings are Valentine's Day Inspired. I know that Christmas was not even 2 weeks ago but Valentine's Day is in a few short weeks and as a beading retailer we have to be ready and have things made in advance for holidays. These hearts are some of my favorites. The pink hearts are rubber and the silver hearts are pewter. Today's earrings were simple but things got crazy at the shop yesterday and I didn't have much time to devote to coming up with a fabulous pair.

What I was busy with yesterday was teaching 2 ladies how to do St. Petersburg Stitch. It has been years since I sat down and did the stitch and I forgot how fun it is. I think I am going to do a video on it in a few weeks to post on our youtube page because there are so many possibilities with this stitch. This is a picture of the finished bracelet from yesterday and while it's pretty I wasn't satisfied with it because the crystals wouldn't sit perfectly. Next time I do this bracelet I think I'm gonna use bigger beads.

In March I will have been in business for 8 years. In 8 years I have never kept track of all the jewelry that I make. This year one of my resolutions is to take a picture of every single piece of jewelry that I make so that at the end of the year I can go back and count to see what all I made in a year. Just got to remember to carry with my camera with me all the time. :)

Earring Challenge Day 4

2012-01-04T09:08:00.000-08:00

So for Day 4 I used 4mm Black AB thunder polish rounds and made Pentagon Beaded Beads. I then just threaded them right onto a pair of sterling hoops. I have made a couple of sets of these beads that I have made and change them on the hoops and I love them. You can make a set for every color outfit that you have.

In other news...I was looking through the latest issue of US Weekly and I found this picture of Jennifer Hudson in a FABULOUS dress! I live all the crystals. I would love to have a dress like this!

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Location:W Trade St,Forest City,United States

Earring Challenge Day 3

2012-01-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

Well today is day 3 of the Beading Daily Earring Challenge and I came up some with pretties! These earrings were super simple to make and they can be made so many ways. I used 18ga wire and I cut two 4 inch pieces. I straightened each piece of wire with my nylon jaw pliers. I then used my ring mandrel and wrapped each piece of wire around the mandrel at the size 10 to give me the perfect shaped tear drop. Once I had the shape I then made a loop on each end of the wire. The key is to try your best and get the top loops to be the same size. You can then take a head pin and add your beads as desired. Make a loop at the top of the headpin and then use a jump ring to put it all together.

Day 2 of the Earring Challenge

2012-01-02T18:30:00.000-08:00

I opened up the current issue of Bead and Button Magazine and I was so happy to find a pattern for a new beaded bead! The pattern can be found on page 34 and is by Laura Landrum. The beaded beads are so pretty and work up really quickly. They have 12mm Bugl Beads that help make up the structure of the piece. As you can see the beads make beautiful earrings as well as a bracelet or necklace. The only thing that I did differently from the pattern is that I went through the beads again once I was finished with the piece so that it made it a little more sturdy. If you get a chance be sure to try the pattern because it's super simple and there are endless color possibilities!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T21:42:00.000-08:00

It seems impossible that today is the first day of 2012! I had a great time in 2011. Nothing just out of this world exciting happened for me but all in all it was a great year. I love it when a new year starts because everyone seems to have this great feeling of hope and new beginnings. I have several resolutions but I won't go into detail about them right now. What I do want to show you though is my first pair of earrings for 2012. Beading Daily has an earring challenge starting today and I have decided to participate. Since we are still at the beach I went to the local bead shop and found these really pretty mermaid pewter charms. I topped them off with an 8mm Swarovski crystal in Indicolite. They are simple but every time I wear them I will think of New Years at the beach.

Oh and by the way...Sammy took his polar plunge in a chilly 48 degree weather last night while Gina and I did all we could do to stand up straight we were laughing so hard. Why the laughter? Well I forgot to mention that he took the plunge while wearing Gonzo (muppet babies) footie PJ's!

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Location:N Ocean Blvd,Myrtle Beach,United States

Goodbye 2011!

2011-12-31T18:36:00.001-08:00

Wow! It is so hard to believe that in a few short hours 2011 will be a thing of the past and 2012 will be here. Me, my husband, and my best friend Gina decided to spend New Years at the beach this year. We could not have asked for more perfect weather! It was 70 degrees today! It felt so great and I actually got hot in my sweater. We did some shopping, went to watch New Years Eve, went to eat at The Mellow Mushroom as well as PF Changs, and we hit the 2 bead shops that are here at the beach. We had a great time today and the night is still young. My husband says that he is going to jump into the Ocean at midnight. He wants us to jump in too but I told him that he was crazy! I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the next 2 hours hold in store for us! I hope that each of you have a safe and Happy New Year. I start my earring challenge tomorrow so you guys will hopefully be seeing a months worth of earrings over the first few weeks of the new year!

New PDF pattern done and listed!

2011-12-30T09:31:00.000-08:00

As previously stated in an older post beaded beads have been my obsession over the last year. I finally got the step by step pattern finished and the instructional DVD made. I love these beads because you can use them on earrings and in your beaded jewelry designs. As you can see from the picture, I have started making a whole necklace with the beaded beads. Who knows if I will ever get it finished but it is looking good so far! You can purchase the Pattern and DVD at

http://www.etsy.com/listing/89426692/pentagon-beaded-bead-dvd-pattern

What I love about Christmas Break!

2011-12-29T09:22:00.000-08:00

One of the things I love most about Christmas is the fact that my sister in law is home from College. The picture above was taken at Thanksgiving and is of my husband Sammy and his sister Sarah. Sarah goes to Appalachian in Boone NC and even though it's only 2 hours away it feels like she is worlds away. She was in the 3rd grade when I met Sammy and it's so hard to believe that she is now a sophmore in College. I love it when she's home on break because even though we don't get to see her alot when she's here it's nice to know that I can go 1/2 mile up the road and see her or hang out. I am going to enjoy the next week or so because then she's off to college until sometime around April.

First Kit from Christmas finished!

2011-12-28T12:07:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year my Mother and Fater in law purchased and gave me a beautiful kit from Nikia Angel. I love Nikia's work and have been a fan for about 3 years now. Three years ago I went to the Bead and Button show to work for the Preciosa company and discovered Nikia's work. I was hooked at first look and am ashamed to say how much I really spent at her booth. I could have fed a small army with the money I spent on kits. It was money well spent though because I learned how to make some beautiful pieces from her kits. A majority of her work is all crystals and you know how much I love a little bling! I sat down Christmas night and started working on it because I thought that it wouldn't take too long to whip up. I ended up having to stop and so this morning I was late for work trying to get it finished. I was super happy with the results and I can't wait to make another.

Check out Nikia's etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Nikia

Earring a day Challenge

2011-12-27T08:42:00.000-08:00

Have you checked out Beading Daily lately? If not then you are missing out on a great challenge that they are starting at the beginning of the year. Starting in January they are going to do an earring a day challenge for one month. I was reading it and I think i'm going to join in. I love to make earrings. With my hair being short I have the oppertunity to really showcase my earrings so this challenge seemed fun. Beading Daily has quite a few free earring patterns that you can download to get you started. If you get a chance check it out and bead along with me!

You can find the challenge and the patterns here:

http://www.beadingdaily.com/content/Bead-Along.aspx

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T14:54:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! What a blessed day it has been! Our Christmas's are always crazy but I wouldn't have it any other way. My day started at 5am when it was time to wake up and open gifts with my husband. I tried to get him to open them last night but he has never done that and he didn't want to start this year. My husband spoiled me by surprising me with quite a few beading patterns and not one but two beautiful rings. He got me a beautiful infinity ring with black diamonds in it and then he surprised me with a Swarovski ring that looks like a buckle. It sparkles like nothing I have ever seen before.

After we finished we had to be at my parents house by 6:30 to eat breakfast and open gifts. My parents surprised me with a krueig coffee maker. That baby is going to the shop!

From my parents house we travel to Sammys Parents home so that we can watch his younger sister open gifts. This is the first year since i have been in the family that we have not had to get there at 5 or 6 in the morning to see his sister open gifts. She is a sophomore in college now and likes to sleep late so we didn't have to be there until 8am! His parents surprised me with more beading patterns and a flat nose Lindstrom plier. Last year that got me the round nose and cutter Linstrom plier so this year they finished up my collection. If you have never used these pliers then you are missing out because they are FANTASTIC. I went to the Bead and Button show 2 years ago and all the teachers were using them. I immediately wanted a pair but was too cheap to buy them myself. Now that I have them I wouldn't use anything else!

Once we finished up at the Dale house then it was off to church. Christmas was super special this year considering that we actually got to go to church and celebrate Christ's birth.

After service we traveled to my moms twin brothers house to have Christmas with moms side of the family. My favorite tradition about Christmas with moms family is that my Aunt Carolyn always buys us towels for Christmas. I always look foward to these towels because if your like me this is an item that I don't want to purchase. I want to spend my money on other things.

Leaving Uncle Rays house we then travel 20 miles to Sammys grandmothers house to celebrate with his side of the family. It's always nice going to her house because she always has a fire going in the fire place and it's so nice and cozy.

Our final stop for the day is to my Grandmothers house to celebrate with my dads side of the family. All in all it's a really long day with lots of stops but one day all of those stops will be gone and I will miss them greatly. I try to enjoy every minute of them now and hope for them again next year. Sammy and I both have been so blessed to still have 2 grandmothers and our parents. God has truly blessed us and that is the greatest gift!

I hope that each of you have had a blessed and great Christmas no matter how you have spent it. Over the next few weeks you will get to see some of the new goodies I am going to make with all my new patterns. First though I am going to take a few days and go to the Beach to rest for New Years. So excited to see what 2012 is going to hold for me.

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Pentagon Beaded Beads

2011-12-22T11:15:00.000-08:00

In 2011 I got on a Beaded Bead Kick. I love beaded beads and I have made tons of them this year! I think it is just simply amazing how you can take beads and stitch them together to make a totally different looking bead. My current obsession are these Pentagon Beaded Beads. I am planning a class on them for January and I couldn't just have a few beads to display...oh no! I am working on a necklace of all beaded pentagon beads. Here's a little sample of some blue beads that I am working on.

4 Days until Christmas!

2011-12-21T04:55:00.001-08:00

I cannot believe that there are only 4 days left until Christmas! All year long I look forward to the holiday and then....bam it's here and gone in no time! I actually got my shopping finished the weekend before Thanksgiving and it's a good thing because we have been slammed at the store with custom orders. I love to watch guys come into the store and try to order something for their wives or girl friends. It is commical! They come in and have no clue what they want or what size it needs to be. Heck half of them don't even know their wives taste in jewelry. We just do the best we can and hope their their other half will be as excited.

While doing all of this I have had to come home at night and finish up Christmas gifts for people on my list. I have gotten them all finished and am hoping that after Christmas I can get back to other projects that I already have started. Meanwhile I plan to enjoy the next 4 days, soak up the holiday, and then celebrate 2012 while on the beach!

I thought you guys would get a kick out of this picture! Darlene, our Polymer Clay teacher, made this huge flower back in the summer and I tried to tell her that it would make a fantastic hair piece!

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Busy Busy Busy

2011-12-12T19:05:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have been absent lately. I have been sooooooooo busy getting gifts ready for my family and getting special orders done for customers. Everything in my life has had to take a back seat the past few weeks until I get the Christmas rush over. I have taken the time to watch my favorite show though....Project Accesory. This past week was one of my favorite episodes. The cuff listed above was absolutely FABULOUS! I want to make one of these....just not as wide. I think after the first of the year I would like to purchase some sew on stones and play with some new designs.

Fun and Easy Holiday Jewelry

2011-11-30T06:04:00.000-08:00

Every year around this time I am busy preparing for our Annual Christmas Open House and Sale. Our sale is always the first Saturday in December so that we can help customers save some money on supplies for making gifts. Along with the sale I always try to have lots of fun samples in the store of jewelry that can be made for the holidays or adapted for year round wear. These are some pieces that I made yesterday to put on display.

This first pair of earrings are made using a very simple cross weave technique. It is very similar to the base on the Pearl Montee Bracelet that we have on our youtube channel. I used 11/0 Galvanized Gold Seed Beads as well as 4 & 6mm Metallic Red and Green Beads.

This pair is made just like the first pair but I used Galvanized Silver Seed Beads and changed up where the colors were at.

This third pair is a sample that I found on Firemountaingems.com and I worked my magic and made them the way I liked them. These are made using lots of tiny chain, 3mm red and green glass rounds, and silver plated basket bead caps.

This pair was a sample that I found on fusionbeads.com. I thought that they were so cute. I used 24ga wire and added 4mm round beads. Then used 4mm Siam Swarovski's to dangle in the center.

These are my version of Christmas Bulb Earrings.....which I love because they sparkle and dangle so pretty!

This necklace is a version of a necklace that is in the current issue of Stringing Magazine.

I started making these bracelets last year and they flew off the shelves! This is a snowman bracelet. Each snowman is seperated by one 4mm Bicone. This bracelet is great because it can be worn all of december and January.

And finally this bracelet is made using some new Acrylic Beads we got in last week. I put one 6mm round on a head pin and made a loop. I made enough of these that 6 would go inbetween each bead. I liked how it turned out and I loved the red color.

I hope this gives you some ideas of fun jewelry that you can wear this holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T07:27:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! Today is the day in America where we stuff ourselves with Turkey and take the time to be thankful for all the things God has given us. Today I am most thankful for my Family, Friends, my wonderful husband, and above all Jesus Christ. Please take a moment today and let the people you love KNOW that you are thankful for them.

Do you have someone in your life who is your biggest fan? Well that person in my life is my moms sister....my aunt Carolyn. She has always been proud of me and she is super supportive of my beading talent. Every time I see her I try and have her something special made. I will see her today and since I have been making Trillium flowers I figured that I would make her one in red and green. It turned out really cute but I wish I would have had some silver lined emerald here at the house for the back of the flower. Anyways heres how it turned out....

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Step by Step Beads

2011-11-23T13:13:00.000-08:00

Wanna know what magazine I really miss...Step by Step Beads. That was the best magazine and they had some of the neatest projects. To my suprise I got a magazine shipment in this week and when I opened the box it was Volume 2 of Step by Step Beads. Let me tell you....it does not disappoint. I love Step by Step Beads because it has some pretty quick stitching projects and it is easy for beginner beaders to understand. If you get a chance be sure and pick up a copy of this issue because it is fantastic! I made the pictured earrings in no time.

Busy Busy Busy

2011-11-22T17:45:00.001-08:00

No progress on the Trillium necklace this week so far. This time of year brings lots of custom orders for my shop. Here are two pieces that go with a large order that a customer is coming to pick up tomorrow. The first picture is of a Rose Rivoli Ring. I love to make these because they are super quick to make and no one ring ever looks the same. The color choices change the look of the ring dramatically.

The second picture is a pair of my new favorite earrings. The rings are actually supposed to be a necklace that was on the cover of Super Bead work earlier in the year. I made myself a pair in cream and gold and wear them with everything. One of my volunteers loved them so much that I ended up making her a pair. When my customer came in and said that they needed a really unique pair of earrings as a gift these came to mind. I used black delicas and 15/0 seed beads as well as 3mm white pearls. They turned out really pretty so I think that after the holidays I might have to make myself a pair.

Hopefully I can get back to the trillium flowers tomorrow. I have got my voice back and am finally starting to feel better.

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Day 5 Trillium Necklace - Another one bites the dust~

2011-11-17T09:07:00.000-08:00

Another one bites the dust!

Day 3 & 4

2011-11-16T19:14:00.001-08:00

Well after a fun day on Monday someone decided to give me a cold on Tuesday. Not sure who that person was but I sure wish that didn't like sharing! Anyways, I started the next flowering Tuesday night and finished it up tonight. I decided to make the center biggest flower so that I could get it out of the way. The flower turned out really pretty! It is made using Matte Turquoise and Lime Green delicas. Now I just have to decide what colors to do the background. I'm thinking that pink will defently make an appearance. Below the first picture is a picture so you can see the size difference of the medium and large flower.

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Mummies

2011-11-14T17:57:00.000-08:00

So today Sammy and I had to spend the day in Charlotte. Sammy had to go to Court for a hearing early and I thought that since we were in Charlotte we might as well make a day of it....and boy what a day! I read last week in the Charlotte Observer that the Discovery Place Museum was getting a new exhibit....Mummies of the World. So, after the hearing we headed on over to the exhibit and let me tell you...it was amazing! There are 150 mummies and artifacts on display and it is simply a sight to behold. I think the thing that amazed me the most was that they had Jewelry on display that Egyptians had made to put on Children that had died. They said these were talismans to help the children in the afterlife. What blew my mind was the detail in these pieces and how thousands of years ago they could make such beautiful pieces. They even had a necklace on display that was made of glass beads. They had a beautiful look of gold stone and there were other yellow and brown colors of beads.

The whole exhibit was something that I will never forget. And, after all these years, I finally know why the Egyptians used Scarabs! They used to put a scarab over a persons heart between the layers of wrap to protect the heart and make sure no one stole the heart. Pretty crazy huh?

If you live anywhere remotely near Charlotte then you need to plan a trip to see the exhibit before it leaves in April. Kids and adults will love it!

Its back to the grind tomorrow!

Day 2 Trillium Necklace Progress

2011-11-12T09:45:00.000-08:00

Well at the end of day 2 I got the back of the first flower finished and got it attached to the flower. Only 4 flowers left to go!

Day 1 Trillium Flower Necklace

2011-11-12T08:49:00.000-08:00

I have a slight problem....I am a procrastinator when it comes to making something that I know will take me FOREVER to make! I have a customer from TX that has been ordering jewelry from me this year and her latest request is one that I have been procrastinating on. Diane Fitzgerald wrote a great book last year called Shaped Bead Work and it has a pattern in it called the Trillium Flower. Stephanie requested a necklace made out of the Trillium Flowers. The necklace is going to be FABULOUS and when I finish it I will feel like I have accomplished something great but construction is another story.

I sat down Thursday night and decided that I needed to discipline myself and each work day I was going to start sitting down and working on the pieces for 1 hour. I started yesterday and I got 1 flower constructed. I still have to make the back triangle for the flower and then this component will be finished and then there will only be 4 more to make. Here is what I got done:

Episode 2 of Project Accessory

2011-11-10T06:24:00.000-08:00

Ok so I finally got to watch Episode 2 of Project Accessory and I am just facinated with that show. To say that I love watching it is an understatement. This week contestants got to go to the Swarovski Store in NYC and pick out a piece of jewelry that inspired them. How hard would it be to pick only 1 piece?

The contestants were sorting through bins of Swarovski and it was just the greatest thing to watch. Once they left the Swarovski store they then had to go back to the work room and create a shoe and another accessory to go with the jewelry piece they picked out. This was my favorite piece for the show:

This Swarovski Cuff was amazing! I can't say that I would wear one that big but boy does it sparkle! As they say...it's not the size...it's the sparkle. I wonder what this weeks episode will hold tonight?

Sunday's are the best!

2011-10-30T18:44:00.001-07:00

At my house Sunday is our favorite day of the week! Sammy and I work such long hours through the week that we look forward to Sunday's because it is our day of rest. Here is a list of why I love Sunday:
1. My daddy, who lives next door to me, fixes breakfast every Sunday morning. He fixes my favorites and this is the only day of the week where I eat a big breakfast.
2. Sunday is the day my family goes to the church house. I teach Sunday School for the 5-7 year olds and I love it. I don't have any kids of my own so it's a great way to be able to stay connected with the kids at church.
3. In my eyes Sunday's were made for naps! I take a nap almost every Sunday!
4. I have been on the Weight Watchers plan since January and Sunday is what I call my free day. I eat the Weight Watcher way all week and then on Sunday I take the day off and eat whatever I want. So normally we go out to eat at my favorite restaurant on Sundays.
5. Football.....need I say more?

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My new favorite show!!!!

2011-10-28T08:34:00.000-07:00

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-accessory

Ok so I have a new favorite show. Lifetime presented a new show last night called Project Accessory and let me tell you....It was AWESOME! If you love purses, shoes, jewelry, etc you will love this show. I think that this show is going to be great for the beading business because the jewelry they made last night was Fabulous! If you haven't watched it yet you need to head over to the link above and watch the premiere episode. I got lots of great ideas for new jewelry last night. Here is my favorite look from last night:

Sometimes things just don't work out!

2011-09-06T08:07:00.000-07:00

When new magazines and books come out I ooh and ahh over each of the patterns and I try to get the time to work on them. I finish most all the projects I start. Every once in awhile though I find pattern that I think I am just going to love and then once I start it the project looks nothing like the picture. This happened to me this weekend. There was a beautiful necklace pattern in the new Bead and Button Magazine that I thought I would just love! I pulled the beads and started on the "large medallion" first. The large medallion was not large by any means! I then thought I would continue so I made one of the smaller medallions. Well guess what......I hated it! Thus my pretty necklace has now became a pendant! Sometimes things just don't work out the way you think they should. I'm sure that somewhere out there someone will make the necklace and they will think it is the prettiest thing they have ever made or seen but to me.....it was a thorn in my flesh!

What you can make out of $25.00 in beads!

2011-08-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

I have been busy today getting Fall Inspired Jewelry made for the store. I got 4 strands of beads that totaled less than $25.00. I wanted to see how many pieces of jewelry you could make on a limited budget. Well here's what I came up with....I made 2 necklaces, 3 bracelets, 3 wire wrapped rings, 3 pairs of earrings and still had beads left over! Once made and priced, if I sell all the pieces, it will total $125.00. Pretty good huh? Below is a picture of the beads I had leftover. I can still make a few more pieces but I was sick of working with those color of beads.

Here is a picture of the earrings I made.

The Rings

Rockin Red Velet Pancakes

2011-07-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

Here is a new recipe that I found in the Hungry Girl cookbook and I had to share because it is decadent!

Rockin Red Velvet Pancakes
Entire Recipe makes 2 Pancakes with Glaze - 273 Calories, 3g Fat, 46g Carbs, 7.5g fiber, 17.5g Protein

Ingredients:
Icing: 2 tablespoons Fat Free Cool Whip Thawed
          1 Tablesppon Fat Free Cream Cheese - room temp
          1 No calorie sweetener packet
Pancakes:
          One 25 Calorie Packet of Hot Cocoa Mix
          1 tablespoon sweetened cocoa powder
          1 teaspoon mini chocolate chips
          1/3 cup whole wheat flower
          1/2 teaspoon baking powder
         3 drops red flood coloring
         2 no calorie sweetener packets
         dash of salt
        1/4 c. fat free liquid eggs substitute
        1 tablespoon vanilla soymilk

In a small bowl combine all icing ingredients and mix until smooth. Set aside.

In a tall glass combine cocoa mix, cocoa powder, and 1/2 teaspoon chocolate chips. Add 1/4c. very hot water and stil until ingredients have dissolved. Set aside.

In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, sweetener and salt. Add cocoa mixture , egg substitute, and soy milk. Mix thoroughly. add food coloring and mix well. Stir in remaining chocolate chips.

Cook 2 pancakes

Microwave icing until warm, spread over pancakes.

Fabric Flower Crazy!

2011-06-24T09:19:00.000-07:00

Ok so a few months ago I bought a great tutorial from aSundayGirl on Etsy.com on how to make fun fabric flowers. Since then I have become fabric flower crazy! I started out making just a few and made necklaces out of them. I priced them and put four out for sale. The day I put them out I sold three of them! I have been busy since then trying to get more flowers made so that I can made more necklaces. I have my assembly worked out pretty good. I take one afternoon and cut out all my circles, iron them, and then pin them together. Then I put all my pinned pieces in a bag and while we are at the ballgames. Then once all flowers are made then I take one day and put all of them together for necklaces, pendants, or hair clips. I love these flowers!

Ring

2011-06-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

A lot of my favorite blogs are doing 365 Blogs where you blog about a certain topic for a full year. One of the blogs is a blog about rings. The lady is making a ring for everyday of the year. Those of you who know me know that I am obsessed with rigns. I love them with a passion. In my opinion a girl can never have enough rings. In honor of her blog I wanted to show you a pic of my favorite ring. I used an 18mm Rivoli and peyote encased it then embellished it with 3 and 4mm bicones. This is a statement ring and I wear it all the time!

Nutella...where have you been all my life?

2011-06-17T18:23:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that in 30 years I have never tasted Nutella! Real Housewives of NJ star Carolyn Manzo posted a Nutella pizza recipe on her blog today. It looked pretty darn good so I went to the grocery store tonight and purchased the ingredients. I made the pizza for a dessert tonight and let me tell you....this pizza was amazing and....I discovered that I love Nutella! To see the recipe check out carolyns blog at http://www.carolinemanzo.com/blog/

Enjoy!

New Projects I'm working on

2011-06-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

Last week when my grandmother was in the hospital I started working on a few projects. These cute pink and green earrings were originally a bracelet pattern that I found in the April/May 2010 BeadWork Magazine. I started on the component for the bracelet and when I got it finished it just didn't phase me. There was no pizazz in my eyes! So I started doing a little bit of embellishment and was much happier with the results. I still think that I may go back and add a few tweaks in the next pair I do but I was happy with the way these turned out.

I also started working on a kit that I purchased from Nikia Angel two years ago at Bead and Button called Guivevere. The necklace had these cute triangle components that you were supposed to make and connect together to make a necklace. When I got a few of the components finished I realized that she didn't give me enough of a certain bead to finish the necklace. I started working trying to figure out something I could make with the components. What I ended up with was the earring on the right. After I got it finished I didn't like it. I didn't know if it was the colors from the kit or the shape of the earring. Thus, I went to work on the second one yesterday (the one on the left) and I was much happier! Both are cute but the oblong shape suited my fancy. I am going to get busy in the next few days writing a pattern for the earrings.

I have had a few emails lately about people, patterns, and copy rights. A lot of people have been coming to me and asking "When you make something and you change a few things about the pattern when can you call it your design?" I really wish I had an answer for you but its a really bad gray area! My friend Pauline told me that her silversmithing teacher told them that if you change 20% of the pattern then it can be considered something that you came up with. My feelings are that if you make something from someone Else's pattern and you want to make it yours then it needs to look completely different from theirs. When someone looks at the two pieces side by side yours should not look exactly the same or the same with just a few simple changes. Take the earrings above for example. The original components are triangle shapes. If I were to make a triangle component and put it next to the earring on the right then you could see the shape and see that the earring is simply two of the components sewn together with a few embellishments. If I made one and put it against the earring on the left then you would have a harder time seeing the triangle. Even though I have made a piece completely different from Nikias design I will still contact her and ask her blessing I guess you would say to write the pattern. This is just common courtesy to the original designer.

When I do my videos online I try to do projects that I have come up with or that are free patterns that can be found anywhere. If I want to teach a pattern that I have found of someone Else's then I will contact the designer for permission. Some say yes and are glad to. In that case I always give credit to the designer and always put on the video where people can find there projects or designs. On the other hand, if the designer says no then I put the pattern to rest. I never want to do anything that would jeopardize my videos or the beading world. I don't however need to get permission to do videos or certain techniques such as Peyote Stitch. The reason being is that this is simply a technique and trying to give credit to the person who came up with Peyote Stitch is impossible. It is the same with other projects such as some rings that I do. They have been around for so long and have been adapted so many times that it would be hard for me to give credit to a designer because trying to find that information would be like me trying to find a dinosaur. Some things just aren't going to happen.

These are simply my feelings on copyright and if you have any other comments or suggestions please be sure to leave them!

Finished!

2011-06-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

I finally got the bracelet finished today! I was a happy girl. Now onto the next project!

Can't believe I'm finally getting to this!

2011-06-13T18:25:00.000-07:00

Like most beaders I like to hoard my beads and in my case I like to hoard kits. I have went to the Bead and Button show for the last two years and have had an absolute blast! This year I decided not to go and in hindsight it was a good decision as my grandmother had a stroke the day I would have been set to leave. Anyways, I was feeling down and out about not going this year so I decided to look at my kit stash. The last two years I have bought tons of kits at the show. I don't even want to know how much money I have put into these kits! I looked through and pulled out this great kit that I purchased from the Wire Lace Company. It is called the Flight of Fancy bracelet. I started on it and have been working on it on and off this week while visiting my grandmother. This is what I have done thus far and I only have about 2 steps left to finish and I will be done. I had the length made and then I had to re-adjust it since I have lost so much weight. I can't wait to get this kit finished so I can wear the bracelet! Alas the kit will have to wait until tomorrow night or Wednesday night before it gets finished because I have to get some glue from the shop to finish the last step. I will post pics of the final piece as soon as I finish.

As I said above, I was totally bummed out that I didn't get to go to the Bead and Button Show this year. It did give me time, however, to set a few goals for myself before the next show. First, I am going to get my directions written better for a ring that I came up with and I am going to submit it teach at next years show.

Secondly, I am going to work this coming year to get published in a major beading magazine. Last year I was published in Bead Trends and the sheer excitment of looking in a magazine and seeing my name above a project was far more than I could stand. To push myself though I need to come up with new goodies and work to get published. I am no longer contest just being Kelly the store owner. I want to be Kelly the store owner and published designer! Its all a matter of getting the right thing in the right persons hands and thats exactly what I'm going to work on doing!

New project coming soon!

2011-05-01T04:28:00.001-07:00

Wow! I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged. I am going to start back up this week with a new tutorial tomorrow on a great pair of simple and fun earrings. Plus we have a great new ring video that we will post on our YouTube site later this week!

Great 2011 Jewelry Article

2011-01-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

I was surfing the web for 2011 jewelry trends today and I found this great article at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5648034/jewelry_design_ideas_for_spring_2011_pg2.html?cat=46
I wanted to share the article with you because if your a jewelry designer then this is a great article for you.

Every season some things change and some things stay the same. Defining what aspects of your collection to continue and which to renew and refresh is the daily challenge of professional jewelry designers. Below you will find key inside tips for success in creating a fabulous jewelry collection for spring 2011.

Let's look at the top fashion jewelry trends for Spring 2011 and break it down. The subtle differences in color are important to capture for your designs to look and feel updated. Color palettes that will be strong for spring are Black/white, blue/green, brown/coral, white on white. So not earth shattering news here. However, by using indigo blue and Kelly green, adding bright orange to coral, and mixing white with burnished metals, and black with artisan textures, you will find these basic color palettes to look brand new. Tip: Best selling color fashion jewelry is usually a rich mix of tones, finishes, and textures. Vary your hues, and mix transparent, opaque, metallic, and matte beads into your Designs.
Don't underestimate the beauty of brown this season. I believe the strongest way to include a brown story into spring 2011 jewelry is to maximize the 'animal' patterns trend. Use faux tortoise shell, printed animal patterns under clear or transparent colored epoxy, animal printed ribbons, or metal pierced with crocodile and zebra open work. Tip: When working with animal print patterns use soft geometric shapes to display them.Simple discs and orbital earrings are always very strong selling silhouettes to include in your selection.

Slick and bright color is hot for spring 20111 fashion jewelry. Use epoxy and enameling to achieve a high gloss finish on metals. Use hombre colors across a surface for a very chic 'butterfly wing' look. Epoxy

is a great way to add a lot of bold color without a lot of expense. While cuffs are a hot look, and multiple bangles look great on the runway, it is comfort and style that wins at the register. If you are targeting a higher end consumer, then be sure to maximize the boldness at the wrist. However, for mid-tier to missy customers I suggest creating a wonderful collection of color, metal, charms, pearls, and textures that create a layered wrist that is comfortable as well as dramatic. Earrings for Spring will have movement, lightness, and color. Multiple parts linking together to make larger looks without a lot of extra weight. Tip: Earrings are business drivers, so identify your best sellers and update them in very subtle ways. This way you have a few 'sure things' mixed with your new ideas.

Silver tone fashion jewelry looks to be a very strong selling category for spring, summer, and even on into fall. The rising cost of sterling silver will most likely influence consumers to purchase the 'look' of silver at more affordable retail prices. Historically the best all metal fashion jewelry is polished and very simple. What I am seeing for this season is a subtle hint of interesting details. Fine beading, engraved pattern, woven wire, and imagery are very good ways to define this category. In general 'critters' are popping up everywhere. Bees, birds, snakes, and butterflies are the most predominant images to emerge for spring.
The last important detail is to make sure that everything you design is authentic. Your designs should reflect your personal style, and stay true to the vision you have in your mind. Your passion for a particular look will be evident and that is what makes your collection unique. The way you speak about your jewelry, present your jewelry, and wear your jewelry, are the best way to sell your jewelry. In an industry with so much available authenticity is the key to success.

More Snow

2011-01-10T07:08:00.000-08:00

Woke up this morning to more snow. Believe me when I say that I am not complaining at all! Growing up we maybe got snow once a year. For the past 2 years we have gotten more snow than usual for where we live. We took our dogs out for a walk this morning and I couldn't help but get ticked at lilly our beagle because she was digging like crazy. Oscar, our wennie dog, could care less and wanted to go back into the house. With all this snow, I will be busy at my work table today. I am trying to get the February Class Schedule finished so maybe since i'm stuck indoors today I will put a good dent in it. If you live in my area, I hope you enjoy the snow today. If not have a blessed day.

Busy first week of 2011

2011-01-07T05:38:00.000-08:00

7 days into the new year already? Gosh it seems like time is flying! I had a great break at Christmas and New Years but this first week of the year has been really busy. There is a show coming up at the Visual Arts Guild that I am trying to get jewelry made for. We sold a ton of jewelry at Christmas so on top of trying to get things made for this show I need to be working on Jewelry for the store too! But as they say, if theres not feast theres famine.

On another note, I started Weight Watchers on Tuesday. Not because it was the first of the year but because I need to do something about my weight for my health and it just seemed like the right time. I would say the hardest part so far has been giving up my sodas. I hate to even admit this but I was drinking 6 to 8 Coke's a day. And now on the Weight Watchers plan 8oz of Coke is 3 points so needless to say, i only allow myself to have one 8oz can of coke a day now. I miss the taste of coke but most of all right now I miss the caffeine. My body is screaming at me for some good caffeine and sugar. I just feel really blah this week so it has made getting my work done much harder. I am on day 4 though so hopefully my withdraws won't last too much longer and I can get back to business as usual.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T11:13:00.000-08:00

I spent most of the afternoon trying to change the look of my blog. I though new year new look! It is amazing that 2010 has already been and is gone. I had a great time in 2010. I threw a few suprise parties, made new friends, and made tons of great beaded projects. It is my hope that 2011 will be as good as 2010.

At the beginning of the year it is customary that people set up a list of Resolutions. Well this year I am going to post a few goals that I would like to accomplish because if you set a goal, it makes it easier to keep the eye on the ball. Plus, if i post it on here then I will be accountable to all who read this.

First, I would like to grow my online presence. Meaning that I would like to keep up with the blog more adding great projects for everyone to try, and make more great videos to be uploaded on youtube.com.

Second, I would like to be able to do more craft shows and get my store name out a little more. This may come as a challenge though as I read today that by 2012 they are expecting gas to be up to $5.00 a gallon. That is so hard to believe because when I first started driving gas was .99 a gallon. Inflation sucks!

And thirdly, I would like to strenghten my marriage to my husband. The past few years have been a test for us and we have withstood the storm but I would like to grow my love for him and remember that he is my life partner and that I need to quite looking to others to find my happiness and I need to find it in him.

I hope that 2011 brings each of you lots of love, laughter, joy, money, and lots of great beading projects.

New Favorite Recipe - Lasagna

2010-11-12T05:02:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share with you one of my most favorite recipes right now. It is crockpot Lasagna. It is super easy to fix and is delish!

You will need:
1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1 box of lasagna noodles, uncooked
8 oz. of sour cream
8 oz. of ricotta cheese
1 c. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 egg
1/3 cup water

Add spaghetti sauce to cooked ground beef. Put lasagna noodles, uncooked into bottom of crockpot. Mix together egg, Ricotta cheese, and sour cream. Layer on top of noodles. Next layer with ground beef mixture. Sprinkle cheese over top. Repeat layers. Pour water around edges. Cook on high for about 1 hour and then turn down to low until ready to eat.

I promise you that you will love this recipe!

November 11th & 12th

2010-11-12T04:57:00.000-08:00

November 11th - I am thankful for all the men and women who served so that we might be free. Happy Veterans Day!

November 12th - I am thankful that I was able to know my uncle, Trevor Dalton. He passed away with cancer a year ago today and I have thought about him often. May he RIP!

November 9th & 10th

2010-11-10T05:02:00.000-08:00

November 9th - Today I am thankful for the area in the state where I live. We live in a wonderful place where it is only a short drive to the mountains or the beach and we have all 4 seasons!

November 10th - Today I am thankful for hair color!

This week:

2010-11-08T05:40:00.000-08:00

Have you gotten used to the new time change yet? I haven't! I was up at 6:30 this morning and then I was ready to call somebody by 7:30 and realized that it was way to early. I am normally not even out of the bed to see 7:00am!

While we are all getting ready for the new change, there is a lot going on this week at the shop. On Tuesday from 6:00-8:00 I will be teaching the Easy Rivoli Filigree Earring class. This is a great beginners class and is great for anyone wanting to get started in Filigree. This class is $12.00 and includes all of your supplies.

On Thursday from 6:00-8:00 I will be teaching the Wire Wrapped Ring Class. This class is $28.00 and includes all of your supplies. This is a basic beginners ring class.

And finally on Saturday Pauline will be teaching the Treasure Bracelet Class. This is a fantastic new technique class! It is a lot of fun and you can make a unique and eclectic bracelet in no time at all. This class is $10.00 plus the cost of your kit.

November 7th & 8th

2010-11-08T05:21:00.000-08:00

November 7th - I am thankful for the extra hour of sleep that I got last night.

November 8th - I am thankful for the life that God has given me.

I was looking on itunes this week and they had the Sound of Music Soundtrack. One of my favorite songs on the soundtrack is Edelweiss. I started doing research and found that Edelweiss is actually is a neat looking flower. Check it out!

November 6th

2010-11-06T05:46:00.001-07:00

Today I am thankful for a warm coat. We have had the coldest morning I think we have had so far this season and it is COLD! I am also thankful for a car that has heat!

November 5th

2010-11-05T05:23:00.000-07:00

Today i am thankful for sunrises!

November 4th

2010-11-04T19:28:00.000-07:00

I am so thankful that on this day each year I get to go with my dad to do something that he really enjoys....going to the Sign and Graphics Show in Charlotte. This is an industry show that we go to each year to see what is the newest hottest things in signs and printwear. Its always a good time because we always see the neatest things. This year the big thing was right up my ally....bling. Bling was everywhere in the form of softwear that you created templates with and then used rhinestones to fill in the template and put on apparel. I bought some wonderful Christmas Bling to put on shirts so we will see how it goes.

November 3rd

2010-11-03T04:46:00.000-07:00

Today's thankful thing ties in with yesterdays. I am so thankful that we have the privilege to make change happen. The peoples voices were heard yesterday and now we have 3 new County Commissioners who I think will do a fantastic job and the best part is NO MORE NANCY P!

November 2nd

2010-11-02T13:58:00.000-07:00

I am thankful today that I have the freedom and right to go out and vote. I went first thing this morning and voted and it was wonderful. I have reminded people all day to go out and vote because it could mean or loss or win for some folks. If you havn't voted yet the poles are open until 7:30 so get in the car and go!

30 Days of thanks!

2010-11-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

November 1st - I am ever so thankful for two Christan Parents, Kay and Mike Dalton, who taught me the importance of faith and church and giving me the best growing up experience that they could possibly give me. Thank you mom and dad!

Happy November!

2010-11-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that it is already November 1st? This year has flown by! It is 8 weeks until Christmas and we all are going to be busy busy. Knowing this, I took Jesus and Joyce Meyers advice and I took yesterday and rested and only did things that I enjoyed that I didn't get to do the rest of the week. I went to church then came home, put my jammies on, read, took a nap, watched a little TV, and then Sammy and I went and visited his grandmother and aunt. It was quite refreshing and I didn't go to my bead table not even once! But today is a new day and I am ready to get back to it! I am working on trying to get the order done for the week and I hope to get a new video done for the website this week. This week's video is going to be on spiral stitch. Once this weeks video is posted then i am going to take two weeks off from the technique series and do a video on flat celini and a video on an oval ring that I did a few years ago. So be sure and be on the look out for these great videos!

We have two great classes coming up this week. If you haven't seen Novembers Bead Class schedule yet you need to check it out at http://www.offthebeadedpathbeadstore.com/ . We have lots of great classes for this month and all the classes are easy projects that would make great gifts. On Tuesday of this week I am going to be teaching Time Capsule Earrings from 6-8. This class is $15.00 and includes all of your supplies.

On Saturday November 6th I will be teaching the Sparkly Beaded Bead Bracelet from 10-1. The cost of this class is $25.00 and includes all of your supplies. This is a great class but a little more advanced so you will want to make sure that you have stitching experience before taking this class.

We got in the new Bead and Button Magazine this week. It is an amazing issue that has some wonderful projects in it. It has an awesome Christmas Ornament Pattern in it that would make a fantastic gift. We only have a few copies left so be sure and stop in to get your issue today. While your there be sure to check out our new Ceramic Christmas Beads that are so great this year! I hope each of you have a great week.

Death

2010-10-24T15:35:00.000-07:00

This week has been a hard week for some of us in the beading community. Jo Harrison who owned Horsefeathers in SC passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Thursday. It's hard to put into words how much Jo meant to me. Jo was not only a friend but she was my mentor. The lord put our paths together only for a few months but I will always cherish those few months! I clicked with Jo and our relationship was easy. I was able to talk to her about things that I couldn't talk about with anyone else. We were both in the same business so we talked a lot about that and we found ways to solve problems with our stores. At the shop everyone always comes to me with their beading questions and problems and it was nice to finally have someone that I could go and ask and talk to. My sense of loss is undescrible but I will always cherish the lessons I learned from Jo. She taught me not only how to run my business better but she taught me how to work with wire and be confident at it. The last project we worked on together was a beautiful wire ring where we made prongs and set a stone in it. She taught me how to properly do the prongs and how to measure for them. I had asked her to teach the class for me in November at the store and she was looking forward to it. I am going to practice the ring some more and teach a class on it at a later date. I will not teach it half as good as she could but I want the world to learn this last wonderful technique that my dear friend taught me. I am coping with Jo's death the best way I know how....by beading. I am working on a project idea that will be my memorial to her. This project will probably take me weeks or months to finish and it will never be ask good as I want it to be but I hope this will help me to say goodbye. I will be posting pictures on here as I progress so that you can see this wonderful piece that I will put up at the shop as a memorial to her so that I can tell the world about what a wonderful friend I had!

Weekly Newsletter

2010-10-16T07:58:00.000-07:00

Well hopefully by the time you read this I am feeling much better! Friday I ended up having to go to the Dr because i was feeling really lousy. Well guess what? I was out minding my own business and the strep bug viciously attacked me and now I am beading and beating it off! Sammy was sweet enough to run the shop for me Saturday so I could re-coup. This gave me time to rest and work on the class schedule so hopefully I will have the November Class Schedule out the middle of next week.

You don't have to wait until November though because we have some AWESOME classes coming up this week. On Thursday from 6-8 I will be teaching the Scroll Earring Class. The class is $24.00 and includes all of your supplies. You don't have to be a wire expert to take this class. These earrings are super easy to make and will make someone a great gift for the holidays!

On Saturday Kassie will be back teaching another wonderful class...the Nothing But Net Bracelet. This class is from 10-1 and is $40.00 with all supplies included. This class is a great class to learn net stitch. Students will have the option of using 3mm pearls or 3mm bicones in their bracelet. This is a super easy stitch to learn and works up fast. There are only a few spots left in each class so you better sign up soon to get a spot. Give us a call at 828-245-0306 to get signed up or go to our website and sign up at http://www.offthebeadedpathbeadstore.com/

If you look below on the previous post you will see that this week's video has been posted. In this video I teach you how to make an easy and fun snowflake using seed beads and crystals. There won't be a video this week as my throat and voice are still re-couping but hopefully there will be a new one next week. If you know someone who doesn't have a computer but you think that they would like the video's then we have just the solution. DVD's are now available at the shop for each video that we have done in the past 4 weeks. DVD's are $6.00 with $3.00 from every sale going to a charity. We haven't decided which charity we are going to give the money to yet so if you have a suggestion, please post a comment and let me know.

I hope that each of you have a fabulous week!

Crystal Snowflake Video

2010-10-16T07:47:00.000-07:00

Halloween!

2010-10-13T17:38:00.000-07:00

So, this is my new costume for Halloween this year. I have never really gotten into halloween but with town wide Trick-or-Treat I thought that it would be fun to dress up. LOVE IT!

11 Days gone already?

2010-10-11T17:25:00.000-07:00

Its so hard to believe that we are already 11 days into October! So much goes on this time of year and the days just seem to fly by. We have 2 great classes coming up this week. On Thursday I will be teaching the stone wall earrings from 6-8. This is a great class for beginner to advanced beaders. This class is $24.00 and includes all of your supplies.

On Saturday Amy will be teaching beginners Viking Knit from 10-1. This class is $45.00 and includes all supplies. Even if you have never touched wire this is a great class to get started with.

To sign up for either of these classes just give us a call at 828-245-0306 or sign up online at www.offthebeadedpathbeadstore.com

The donations have started rolling in for the Cancer Awareness Earring Drive but we can never have too many. Please, if you can, take a moment to make a pair of earrings and drop them off at the shop so that we can donate them to the Rutherford and Cleveland County Look Good Feel Good Programs!

ATTENTION!!! Now that I have your attention you may want to mark your calenders for October 30th! We are going to have a "Leaky Cauldron" Sale. We will have a Black Cauldron set up at the register that will be leaking savings to our customers. There will be no discount lower than 15% off. There will be lots of 20, 25, 30, 40 and one 50% off purchase vouchers to use on that day. This will be a great time to get a head start on your Christmas Shopping! This discount voucher is good for anything in the store except for pre-made jewelry and classes! Besides, the leaky cauldron may leak out a free class or to, you just never know!

Also, some other important dates that you may want to remember:
Oct 30th Leaky Cauldron Sale
November 25th-28th Store will be closed for Thanksgiving
December 4th will be our annual Holiday Sale
December 24th we will be closing at 3:00pm
December 25th and 26th we will be closed for Christmas
January 1st we will be closed for the new years holiday

If you look at the last post you will see that I posted our last video. This week's video is going to be on a wonderful snowflake. As soon as Sammy gets it posted I will be posting it here. If you would like to get a notice of our video's as soon as they become available then become a fan on youtube.com.
http://www.youtube.com/user/offthebeadedpath Go to this link and subscribe to our channel. If you don't have an account you can register for a free one and every time we upload a new video you will get an email notice.

I hope each of you have a fantastic week!

Lacy Spiky Bracelet Part 2 (Net Stitch)

2010-10-10T04:27:00.000-07:00

Lacy Spiky Bracelet (Net Stitch)

2010-10-10T04:26:00.000-07:00

This week's Newsletter

2010-10-04T07:40:00.000-07:00

We have a wonderful class coming up on Saturday! From 10-1 I will be teaching the Colossal Crystal Necklace. This class is great for anyone! Someone told me the other day that they would have no where to wear the necklace but they forgot that they were talking to the girl who wear's her crystals with t-shirts! This necklace literally can be worn anywhere! Wear it with a classy outfit, wear it with a v neck t-shirt and jeans or make it longer so that you can wear it over a tutleneck for the fall and winter. Students will have numerous color choices. This class is $45.00 and includes all of your supplies.

New Swarovski Colors have arrived!

2010-10-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

New Swarovski Colors have arrived! I am so excited. They are sunflower and silver night. They are bananas! We also received in a new shape of bead called a helio. They are smashing and make great earrings. Stop by the store to see the new colors in person.

Dutch Spiral Bracelet Part 3

2010-09-29T06:55:00.002-07:00

Part 3

Dutch Spiral Bracelet Part 2

2010-09-29T06:55:00.001-07:00

Part 2

Dutch Spiral Bracelet Part 1

2010-09-29T06:55:00.000-07:00

Part 1 of the Dutch Spiral Bracelet
Here is this week's free video. This is a wonderful dutch spiral bracelet from found in the book "Mastering Beadwork" by Carol Cyper. You will love this bracelet and you will not believe how increadibly easy it is! Also, it is super fast.

Last Week of September Already?

2010-09-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that September is already leaving us and that October is on it's way? It seems like September just started! The end of September brings Christmas all too close. Have you started thinking about your gift list and what you are going to make for people? NO? Well you better get started because with our busy lives time will fly and it will be the week before Christmas before you know it.

We have some wonderful classes coming up this month to get your mind started in that direction. We have two fabulous classes coming up this week. On Friday night from 5:30-9:00 Amy will be teaching the Fall Foliage Earring Class. This class is awesome! Amy will be teaching students how to metal stamp copper with design stamps, how to dome and patina their pieces, how to punch holes in their metal, and finally how to add fun embellishments to make these earrings dazzle. This is a great class for anyone who wants to try their hand at Metal Stamping. Each student will leave with their own design stamp and more copper blanks will be available for purchase because we know that you will want to make more! This class is $36.00 and includes all of your supplies.

The Second great class for this week is the Diamond Windows Bracelet on Saturday from 10-1. This class is $30.00 and includes all of your supplies. This project is so much fun because the bracelet can be made into a ring or earrings or even a necklace. It has tons of possibilities! This class is great for beginner to advanced beaders. Students will need to arrive 15 minutes early to pick out their colors.

Did you see last weeks technique video on the website? If not, then you need to check it out. Last week I taught how to do Peyote Stitch. Sammy is busy trying to get this week's video uploaded. This week I am teaching how to make a fantastic dutch spiral bracelet that uses size 11 seed beads, size 8 seed beads, and 4mm bicone crystals. This bracelet takes no time at all to make and it would make a wonderful gift. Be sure to check back later on in the week and I will try and have it ready for you to watch.

I hope that each of you have a fantastic week!

Breast Cancer Awareness Earring Drive

2010-09-20T13:47:00.000-07:00

Weekly Newsletter

2010-09-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

We have an amazing week coming up at the Bead Shop this week. On Tuesday from 6-8 I will be teaching the Peyote Stitch Bangle Class. This class costs $20.00 and includes all of your supplies. This class is really fun because it teaches you how to do tubular peyote stitch while making bangles that will be great for those fall out fits. This class is great for beginner to advanced beaders!

On Friday we will be having our Wire Ring Workshop from 5:30-9:00. This workshop is $45.00 and includes all your supplies. In this class students will be learning how to make 2 different types of wire rings. The first is the pharoah ring and the second is a textured spiral ring. Students who take this class will have a blast!

And finally on Saturday Kassie will be at the store teaching the Vertigo Earring Class. This class is great for beginner to advanced beaders!

To sign up for any of these classes you can sign up on our website at www.offthebeadedpathbeadstore.com or give us a call at 828-245-0306 and we will get you signed up.

If you get a chance, check out the October Class Schedule! Sammy has the schedule now up and ready for sign ups. I am really excited about Octobers Classes because we have some amazing one's!