Easy Earrings!

I sat down last night while Grayson was sleeping and made the current Bead Along Project. I couldn't believe how quick the earrings were to make! All I need to do is add my ear hooks and I'll be ready to wear them. I used Matte Metallic Gold and Met Gold Iris Tila Beads, Opaque Cream AB 11/0 Delicas, and Green Patina Bronze Size 15/0. I know the pattern calls to use a 10/0 Delica but I didn't have any at home and the 11/0's worked fine. So if you don't have any 10/0's, no worries.

Bead Along Submissions

Debbie Hinklin from Texas
(Project 1) marvelous mosaics earrings. Tilas- metallic malachite green iris. 11/0 delicas- opaque luster olive green. And my own silver 20g wire for ear hooks. (Project 2) St. Pete meets tila. Tilas- met. Malachite grn. Iris. 15/0 seeds-met. opaque. eggplant iris. 4mm bicones- amethyst AB. with a gold plated lobster claw clasp. (Project 3) Ring-a-ling 11/0 delicas- opaq luster rainbow midnight, 1.5 cubes- # 926 ? color name, 15/0 seeds- met. opaq eggplant iris. 3mm purple iris drops. What fun!!!

Caron Bailey

Tila Beads: Transparent Aqua AB & Met Varagated Blue Iris

10/0 Delica: Transparent Light Sea Foam

15/0 Seed Bead: Transparent Frosted Cobalt

My how quickly life changes!

So as many of you know, I gave birth to Grayson on August 22nd. Sammy and I waited 10 years before we decided that we were ready to have a baby. After having 13 total years to ourselves our lives totally changed overnight!  I'm not going to lie...the first 3 weeks were HORRIBLE!  Grayson hardly slept at night and I couldn't get much sleep during the day because we had so many people coming in and out of the house. I felt like a zombie for those first 2 or 3 weeks. Thankfully though the last week or so he has slept a little better and I feel like I can at least function a little bit. We are starting to get out and about a little bit and we are finally feeling like "real" parents. It amazes me how you can love someone so fiercely so quickly! He came into our lives and BAM! love.

I am still trying to figure out how to function on a daily basis. It seems like it is so hard to get ourselves up and ready to be on time to go somewhere. I got up 2 hours early this morning and was still 25 minutes late for church lol. I'm sure it will get easier over time but right now it's a challenge just to get out the door. I know many of you who are parents have been there and know what I'm talking about. You wouldn't think adding a 10 lb person would add so much time and car space.

All in all though we are happy and I look forward to getting back to work. Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Even though the first project for our bead along is not due until October someone has already sent in a picture. Here's the first pic. Great job Robin!

Robin Peterson
I used Robin's egg blue, green patina tila's, with Turquoise 11/O and Gold 15/0. An antiqued gold toggle to finish it off.

New Bead Along Books and FAQ

What is a bead along?     A Bead Along is simply a group of beaders from all over the world working on a designated project all at one time. Everyone works on a project on their own time, with their own color choices for a 2 week period of time.

How does a bead along work?  First of all, buy the chosen book   At the beginning of the Bead Along you will be given a list of projects to complete and the dates that each is to be completed. Once you have the first project done you email me a picture of the finished product along with a list of colors that you used. As pictures arrive I will post them here on the blog for all to see.

Why participate in the Bead Along?  The whole reason for doing a bead along is to learn new techniques. Beading isn't any fun if you never learn anything new! Doing a bead along pushes you to try new techniques or projects that you may, at any other time, might not choose to do.

What if I don't finish a project before a due date or life gets in the way?  No worries. There is no cost to do the bead along and no penalty if you don't get a project finished on time. If you don't get one finished or you finish late just email me pictures when your done.

Important Notes from Kelly:
1. All pictures are to be emailed to me at off_the_beaded_path@yahoo.com. You can email them to me at any time.

2. I CAN ONLY POST WHAT YOU SEND ME! If you don't send me your name or your color info I can't post it. I had someone get mad at me last time and tell me that I was prejudice because I didn't list her colors used. I had never met the person or even seen the person before. So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE understand that if you don't send it to me I can't put the info on the blog.

3. This is supposed to be a fun bead along so don't stress and just have fun learning. I will not be doing video tutorials on the projects because of the design infringement but I tried to pick projects that looked fun and easy but at the same time challenging for some.


Bead Along #1: Great Designs for Shaped Bead Work by Anna Elizabeth Draeger
I tried to pick out projects from this book that the materials wouldn't be hard to find. Some of the materials used in some of the projects were harder to find so that'l why I chose what I did.

Page 13-15  Marvelous Mosaics Earrings    Due Oct. 1st

Page 16-18  St Pete Meets Tila                     Due Oct. 15th

Page 48-50  Ring-a-ling                                Due Oct. 29th

Page 80-83  Dainty Daisies   (You can do either the necklace or bracelet)  Due Nov 12th

Bead Along #2:  A Beaded Romance by Kelly Wiese

Page 24-31  Victorian Circles (Necklace or Bracelet)   Due: January 8th 2014

Page 53-61  Fringed Bracelet                                      Due: January 22nd 2014

Page 97-106  Beadazzled (Necklace or Bracelet)          Due: February 4th 2014

Page 33-38  Picot Petals Ring                                      Due: February 18th 2014

Next Bead Along Book choice!

Ok everyone...  I need your help.....

I am working on getting the next Bead Along set up for October and November.  I have three books that I have chosen:

(1) Great Designs for Shaped Beads by Anna Draeger

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Designs-Shaped-Beads-Peanuts/dp/0871164957/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375479681&sr=8-2&keywords=anna+draeger

(2) A Beaded Romance by Kelly Wiese

http://www.amazon.com/Beaded-Romance-Beadweaving-Patterns-Projects/dp/144023213X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375479739&sr=8-1&keywords=beaded+romance

(3) Mastering Peyote Stitch by Melinda Barta

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Peyote-Stitch-Inspiring-Projects/dp/1596686332/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375479778&sr=8-1&keywords=mastering+peyote+stitch

Please leave a comment below letting me know which one you guys would like to do.

Project Runway.....LOVE

My one great vice is this world is the show Project Runway. I love that show! I love to see all the great designs that the designers come up with. It gives me such inspiration to see all the color choices and blockings that they use. I finally got caught up today and watched the first episode. I was blown away by the winner of this weeks challenge. The contestants had to use a parachute to make a garment out of. Here is a picture of this weeks winning design:



The designers name is Bradon and his work is amazing! The dress flowed so pretty and the colors used were amazing!

One of my favorite designers this year is:


He is deaf and uses an interpreter. Cool part is...He's from NC! Gotta support the local folks! His design this week was the pink dress above. It was sssssooooo pretty. I would actually wear the dress! I love the pink and black together. If you get a chance you should catch a couple of episodes it would be worth your time. You will get some great color ideas!

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