Exchange Received and even more beads

I received this lovely exchange from Dawn in the Freebie Exchange at the SBEBB. It was my first exchange at that board, and I'm really happy with the results. Dawn stitched me a lovely little scissor fob, and sent me a great Britter Kitties chart and floss. Thanks Dawn!

I put all of the beads into the kiln last week, and thought the jumble of them was really cool. I think they look like candy. These are all of the beads that I've made in the last couple of weeks, including some new red beads and pink beads that haven't been on the blog before. Thanks for all of the great comments on the beads last go round - if you're interested in purchasing beads before they hit the Etsy store, just send me an email (caycay at shaw dot ca) and let me know. I'll give a bit of a price break to those who buy from me directly, as I don't have to go through the work of creating the listings.

New Bead Sets

I've been on a bit of a beat set kick the last couple of days - and these beads are the result. I'm hoping to restock and re-open my Etsy store later in the summer, and figured I need something to put in there!

I've been doing a bit of stitching lately too. I managed to get a bit of time in on Alhambra, but need to do some frogging, so it's not going well. I also need to get an exchange piece stitched this weekend for the monochromatic exchange at the Robin's nest. It looks like that might be the last exchange there, as Renee's decided that she's going to end the board.

Pyra Update and New Beads

I have finally got back into a bit of a groove after a couple of weeks off - it's been hot (at least for here) and I've been too busy. I've finished most of my volunteer obligations, and it's nice to be able to sit down and enjoy stitching for a while.

I put in a bit of work over the last few days on Pyra, which is stitched entirely in seedbeads. She's coming together really nicely, and I'm enjoying working on her.

I also managed to get to the glass studio yesterday and put in some time on the torch! It's been far too long. I was playing around with some solid colours that are really summery to me - reds, yellows and greens. I'm not sure that all of these beads were successful, but I still like most of them, and I think they'll find their way into a piece eventually. I also worked a little bit on a present for an exchange partner, so I'll reveal that when the exchange is completed!

And the blog candy winner is ...

Jill in CA! Congrats Jill - if you send me an email at caycay at shaw dot ca, I'll put them in the mail for you!

I actually stitched!

It's been a long time since I stitched, and actually got a few stitches in tonight. Of course, it was only half an hour, so I have next to nothing to show, but it still feels good to get the stitches in.

In other news, I got my first ever "out" in softball last night! I actually caught a pop-ed up foul getting the player out. Keep in mind that I've been playing soft ball regularly for the last 5 years (the last two years have been twice a week), so it's nice to get some indication that I might just be getting better.

I also did sign up for the jewelery course in the fall. Apparently there's just an interview that you have to qualify for the course. And there's no portfolio requirement. I could put together some work, but can't justify the cost of getting it professionally photographed for inclusion in a real portfolio, which is the real stumbling block. I'm suspecting that the interview is just to make sure that people understand the work requirements in the course, as it is a credit course at the college.

Blog candy closes tomorrow, so be sure and leave comments in the post below.

Blog Candy #6 - More Beads

I've been cleaning out the bead box again, and have one large lot of beads on offer for blog candy. To enter the drawing for the beads, leave a comment in this post by Friday night. I'll draw one winner from everyone who leaves a comment to send the beads to. There's enough beads here for a few charms or a couple of scissor fobs or something else, so I'd love to see what you dream up for these.

As with all of the other blog-candies, I'll draw from all of the comments equally, so it doesn't matter if you're a regular visitor or this is your first visit.

Blog Candy Tomorrow.....

I picked out the next offering of blog candy tonight - I'll start the official post and put up pictures tomorrow.

Stampede's Over....

The 2007 version of Stampede wrapped up last night, and it's strangely quiet here. I live next to the fair grounds, so I get the full on version of the fair. I get 10 (or maybe 11) days of fireworks, fair food, rodeo, concerts, parking hassles, non-sober people and all the rest of it. On the final Sunday, I always know I'm going to miss Stampede, but I'm glad it isn't on for any longer than 10 days.

Thanks for all of your great comment on the new beads and on the fireworks. Ipicked the colours for the new beads based on a shirt I had, so I can't really take credit for the colour combination. And I took about 50 pictures of the fireworks, and those were the best three, so I can't really take credit for good fireworks pictures either.

I'm thinking about taking a jewelery class in the fall, and toying with taking the credit version of the class. The calendar says I can sign up based on a previous degree or by discussion with a department head. I really don't want to put a portfolio together to take the class - it seems like a lot of work for very little benefit. I'm also signed up for my usual dance classes, and I'm trying to keep the number of activities I'm involved in down to a minimum, so I'll see how this all works out.

2007 Stampede - the fireworks

These pictures were taken off of my balcony. Someday, when I don't live here, I will miss this.

It's Stampede!

I know it's been quiet on the blog, but I've been Stampeding! Calgary's annual rodeo and fair (and the greatest outdoor show on earth) runs for 10 days starting with the first Friday in July. It's always a great time, but super busy. So far, I've caught the art buyers night, the preview of the grandstand show, the parade, a rock concert, a pub crawl, several volunteer shifts, the rodeo, the chuckwagons. I've also eaten way too much beef on a bun and too many hot dogs. And that was just the first 6 days!

I did manage to sneak in a few new beads (no stitching though)....

I know I probably shouldn't...

but I thought I would share the bracelet that was made from the beads I posted over the weekend. A couple of the beads had to come out of the grouping, otherwise it would be *way* too long. And the beads did get etched between the weekend and now - they're much less shiny. I'm pretty happy with the overall result.

More Beads....

I forgot to show off my door prize from the beads show a couple of weeks ago - it was a strand of off-centre glass beads (the top strand). Normally I don't buy or make that many of one bead, so it's a nice treat to have a whole bunch of beads to do something with. I've started making what I think is going to be the end product, which is the beads with some blue and green lampwork spacers of my own (the bottom strand). I'm not too sure how to put these all together - perhaps crocheted with some funky fibre. If you have suggestions, be sure and leave them for me in the comment section - I'd love to know what you think!

Happy Canada Day and Beads

It feels like forever since I've had new beads - but here is the haul from the weekend. It's supposed to be a long weekend for Canada Day, but it's our financial quarter-end next week, and we get Friday off for a local holiday, so I'll be working tomorrow to try and get everything done. I'll have a couple of days off the following week, so it's not entirely bad.

I was trying to match a shirt I have with a couple of the beads - it's a black western shirt with hot pink and gold oriental fabric for the trim. I'm not sure I was entirely successful, but at least now I know what some of the ideas look like, and I can try again. I also re-made a set I sold a while back - I think I might etch the beads, as I think they'll look better matte than as the shiny glass. The fourth set was me experimenting - a few beads to see what a new colour looked like (the white beads) and a few to see if I could get a raku colour to work. The raku is supposed to look like the oil-slicked pottery glaze, but mostly it just looks brown here.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!