Creative Highlights from 2012

I thought it would be fun to review some of my favorite projects from 2012. Looking over my blog posts from the last year, I'm happy to say it was fun and creative!

I was honored again to be selected for the Women In Glass issue of The Flow for one of my eye beads featuring the silvered glass eye murrini of  my friend Janel Dudley

I also won a photo contest sponsored by Archipeligo Botanicals to support breast cancer with this photo of my sister:

The bestie, her sister, a family friend and I planned our niece's wedding. I had a lot of fun making props for the photo booth and pulling off a most elegant wedding! Beading this ballerina (still in progress in this pic) for the candy table was most rewarding:

 

Which leads me to the most sentimental bead of the year:

That heart was made from the champagne bottle used to toast the nuptials. I framed it for the bride and groom with a story for them. The whole post is here.

Speaking of sentiment, I made a record number of Memorial beads... far more than shared here. For some of my customers, the memories are too fresh and painful so I don't even ask if I may share. Others...something magical just happens and I feel so blessed to have been a part of that grief process. (I have one of those to share.... but, you'll have to wait til next year!) While this work takes a lot out of me emotionally.... I'm SUCH a sensitive redhead... it is the MOST rewarding.

I found several color combinations that I simply adore this year. The Rio Party series was just plain fun and I had to make a necklace for myself:

My other favorite is from the Uptown Girl series... I just love the red and black with a little sparkle:

 

But my all time favorite bead of 2012 is this bent bead made in Kim Neely's Ether colors:

It was a challenging and creative year and I'm hoping that 2013 is  even more so and hopefully a little more profitable!

Happy New Year to all of you!

Memory Bead - The Wedding Gift

I've written at length about my love of making Memorial Beads. But another similar type of bead I love to make is what I call a Memory Bead. It's a way to capture a memory.

These can vary depending on the occasion. I've made hollow beads and filled them with sand from a beach to celebrate a proposal. When I went to visit my niece last year in Nevada, I was stunned at the powder like quality of the sand on the lake by her house.  Because that sand was so fine, I melted into glass and made her a bead out of it.

With her recent marriage, the good memories continue. This is the gift I made the honeymooning couple:

Forgive the bad photos... it's POURING here and that's the best shot I could get on this gray day!
It's a silver shadow box style frame containing a heart made from the champagne bottle I found on their table while cleaning up after the wedding. Behind the heart is a story I wrote for them. Here's a closer view:

It reads:

David & Athena

February 17, 2012

Made from the champagne bottle used to toast your nuptials, this heart symbolizes your journey together...

Formed from two distinct beads and shaped into one heart, just as your love has turned the two of you into one...

...Air bubbles were carefully placed inside the heart. Some consider this a flaw... but they are there to remind you that no marriage is perfect and that sometimes... you just need to breathe and work through whatever is troubling you. 

On the front of the bead is a spiral. This is the symbol of the circle of life. In some cultures, this means "home." No matter where life takes you, follow your heart and it will lead you home. 

Life is a journey - one you have chosen to share with each other. Life will lift you up and it can beat you down. But love is a shelter in any storm.

Treasure One Another.

----------------------------------------------

Photoshop Tutorial for the how to geeks: 

• Photograph the bead. Measure it as well. 
• In Photoshop, create a new workspace the size of your project...mine is  4 x 6. 
• Paste the bead pic in and using the rulers size it down to actual size. 
• Fill background layer with white.
• Type your memory story on top of the bead layer, using the bead pic as a guide to create a void in your type. 
• Hide the bead layer and change your printer settings to a greeting card weight paper before printing.