I always think that I'll be able to hit the ground running and just pick up life where I left it. I was only gone from October 9 through the 14th but ended up exhausted. I usually travel with my husband, but on this trip I went alone. Being that I was travelling alone I seemed to be on high alert all the time as I had to make all the decisions myself. It seemed especially tiring on the way back. I use oxygen 24/7 and managed to run out on the second leg of my trip. Those POC or portable oxygen concentrators are not the best at high altitudes using up battery power very quickly. I ran out on the second leg of the trip but pleasantly had been bumped up to lst class. I practiced deep breathing and enjoyed the pampering from a hot towel before dinner to a cheeseburger, brocolli cheese soup, caesar salad, Pepperidge Farm cookies, etc. Nice!

I visited my son Chris, his wife Linda, grandson Dan, granddaughter Emma and her husband Tim. I had a wonderful time. I ate as much shrimp as I could, shopped with Linda at craft stores, and had a ball watching football on Sunday as we belong to a family Fantasy Football Leaague.

I found a couple of polymer clay molds I've been wanting and Linda found a couple more when she was out and about shopping. She sent Chris a picture of the ones she found so I could make a decision on which ones I wanted. Don't you just love the new technology. Anyway......to make a long story short, Linda bought an Art Nouveau faces mold and a Renaissance Cross mold for me and I had purchased a Victorian faces mold and a Sculpey family time mold of figures.

I've been working on a beaded pin that is almost finished in turquoise, green, silver lined blue, and silver. I've tried to take pictures along the way (sort of) so show the process, but got so involved with it last night that I almost finished it without doing the required pictures. That is how it is with me and beading. I absolutely love it and get lost in it. Well...enough babbling for now. Check back in a couple of days and hopefully I have some useful information and hopefully some links for you to use. Beth
beaded@azcraftydiva.com
SEE LINK BELOW TO MY SHOP ON ETSY.COM
There (on www.etsy.com) I'm known as craftydivas.

Hi.. I am taking a short vacation to see my son and his family in Florida. I'll be back on October 15, 2008. Beth

www.etsy.com is a wonderful web site where crafters and artisons can set up a shop and sell their wares. It has an emphasis on hand made, but will let you list other things as long as they are a minmum of 20 or more years old. The web site is easy to use, easy upload of pictures and inexpensively priced at 20cents a item. I haven't sold anything yet so had been asking myself hmmmmmmmmmm I wonder if anyone has even looked at my page. Unable to find a link to what I wanted, I a posted a question in forums about page views. Got lots of posts from people discussing just that and was able to add views to my shop page. It's www.majaba.org. Couldn't be easier to get it started. Just added my shop name "CraftyDivas" and it was handled. I really like easy. So many things in life are hard, etsy so far is easy, but I digress. Back to Etsy. The items for sale run the gamet from jewelry to baby clothes, paintings to prints plus jewelry, knitted items and crochet. I just have jewelry and 1 painting on it now, but am trying to get some collections together for the Christmas Holidays.
www.azcraftydiva.com
beaded@azcraftydiva.com

I've kind of drifted from one type of beading to another. I've woven, strung and done wirework. It was enjoyable, but I lacked passion and creativity. Then one day I saw a "how to" in Fire Mountain Gems and Beads catalog on making an embroidered brooch. It was designed by Sherry Serafini exclusively for Fire Mountain Gems and Beads. This is my version of design idea 7445.
It wasn't difficult, I just took it step by step and viola.... a beautiful pin and I was hooked. I've found my passion and have made many embroidered jewelry pieces since. It seems I can't stop the ideas from coming.

So I have to thank Sherry Serafini for her lovely design and instructions and for starting me on a new path of creativity.

I have come across 2 books that opened my eyes to a multitude of stitches, methods and materials. The first is "Beading with Cabochons. Simple Techniques for Beautiful Jewelry" by Jamie Cloud Eakin. It is everything you'd ever want to know and more about beading with cabochons with step by step instructions. It is a good book to start with and once somewhat proficient go for "The Art of Bead Embroidery - Techniques, Design, and Inspiration" by Heidi Kummli and Sherry Serafini (yes the one and the same). Wonderful book. Great instructions. I keep a bookmark in the stitches section as I find I'm referring to that area often. Fantastic design ideas and inspiration in both books.

www.azcraftydiva.com
beaded@azcraftydiva.com

Welcome to my blog! I've started this in order to connect with jewelry crafters, artisans and beaders where ever you are. I've made beaded jewelry for years now and have been inspired by the different artists and their creations. Since this is my first blog and I evidently have no idea what I'm doing....I will not set in cement the direction of this blog. It will form as I go along and as the need arises.