Recieved by me - Package One - Bead Soup Blog Party

Johana at Art Incendi really spoiled me - a lovely bunch of spring pretties just at the bleakest point in winter.  Yummy grape enamelled beads, a ceramic birdie, some lampwork buttons, a sweet little bird charm, a winged bracelet blank, a bright word bead and a selection of glass flowers!  So spoiled.

Johana selected beads with her favourite theme - birds, wings and flowers.  I've got lots of ideas to play around with this lot!

Pantone Swap Reveal

I've had this prepped up forever, but it never managed to find it's way to the blog until now.  I joined a Pantone swap through one of the Facebook groups I belong in.  The idea was to take inspiration from Pantone's fall colours, and swap with someone else from the group.  It was a very relaxed exchange - you could decide on the number of beads, and whether you wanted to exchange beads for all of the colours, or just a few.  My partner, Maryse, from Luxembourg, and I decided on 3 sets of beads to exchange.  Maryse is also a lampworker, and she had a different style to mine, so I was excited to see what I would receive.

I sent:

- "Ultramarine green" beads with "Olympian blue" highlights
- "French roast" beads with "Olympian blue" and white dots
- "Bright chartreuse" and "Rhapsody" rounds with "Titanium" spacers

 I also sent a set of large holed beads to represent all of the colours in the line-up - French roast, Titanium, Ultramarine green, Bright chartreuse, Olympian blue, Rhapsody, Pink flambe, Rose smoke, Tangerine tango and Honey gold.

 Maryse sent me back a very sweet set of beads in Titanium, Olympian blue and Pink flambe.

 Which got turned into a very awesome set of earrings!

I really enjoyed this exchange, and hope there's one for the Spring / Summer 2013 colours!

Earring Exchange Reveal

It's been grey and blustery this January, and so it's always appreciated when good mail packages turn up.  I'd participated in the Earring exchange over at Lampwork Etc., and the package finally showed up this week.  I know the organizer was trying her best to get everything out before Christmas, but that time of year is especially busy for mail, and the delay meant that I could have something to look forward to in January.

For the exchange, each participant could make up to five pairs of earrings, and would receive the same back.  Because the exchange was on a lampwork board, most participants made their beads, but the exchange was also open to those who wanted to wirework or chose some other form of handmade components. I received back five lovely pairs, and can't wait to match them up with outfits!  My favourite pair are the red and green discs - I love mis-matched earrings, and the maker did a great job of keeping her discs thin and even - not easy when dealing with molten glass.

Popping in.....

Just wanted to remind everyone that the Christmas Ornament Exchange is on again at the Teresa Wentzler BB. I know a lot of people migrated from the board when the board stopped having a general discussion topic, but the exchange is back and still going strong.

The ornaments I sent and received for the last few years can be seen here.

I guess I better start stitching!

TW Ornament #3

This is my Winter/Non Christian ornament for the TW Ornament exchange. The ornament is a net of Swarovski Crystals surrounding a larger (no-hole) crystal. The pictures on this one don't do it justice, as it really sparkles!

Another TW Ornament Received

This is the border from one of the "Celtic Inspirations" designs from Teresa Wentzler. Needless to say, I took some artistic license with this - it was originally blackwork, and was intended to be the border of a larger border. I flipped the design to make the ornament into a square and changed the colours to white and silver. I was worried that I wouldn't finish this ornament in time, but everything worked out, and it's now safely in it's new owners hand.

This is my last ornament from the TWBB ornament exchange, from Anu. She was kind enough to include a chocolate treat for me as well.

Ornament received - TW Ornament Exchange

I think I'd shown a picture of the stitching before, but I wanted to share the finishing on this ornament. I used the finishing instructions from Monique (my mark designs), that she's posted on her blog.

TW Ornament Exchange

These two lovely ornaments are from Heather (Hlott) and Jo (puffthelacedragon). I've always received fantastic ornaments from this exchange, and this year is no exception.

This is the first of my TW Christmas ornament exchanges to arrive - it's from Sara (RXLady) and she was kind enough to include some hot chocolate and floss along with the ornament.

Last Ornament Exchange Was Received

The last of my ornaments made it - I was getting a bit worried that it had been swallowed up by the post office somewhere along the way. It was for the TWBB ornament exchange, and I liked that the outside batting puffed up so nicely.

One more ornament made it....

This ornament went to Terry as part of the TWBB ornament exchange. Terry's organized the exchange for the last 6 (or more!) years, so I put an extra cell-phone charm in the package for her. I think this almost closes out my exchanges for the Christmas season - only one more to be received!

One more ornament to share

I received this from Paula in the TWBB ornament exchange this year. It's the corner fo TW's nativity, and I think the ornament is gorgeous!

More Ornaments...

I received the fantastic cube ornament from Anu on the TWBB exchange, and received word that my celtic TW ornament was received as part of the same exchange. I love stitching ornies, and now have a tree full of them after participating in the exchanges for the past 7 years.

I still do stitch.... one exchange received

This exchange was sent as part of the SBEBB Christmas Ornament Exchange to Terry. I stitched this ornament a couple of years ago as a gift for someone who stitched an unfinished square on an RR for me, and it's been one of my favorites ever since.

ETA: It's a design from "The Workbasket" from the 2002 JCS Ornament Issue.

Biscornu Exchange

Dani hosted a biscornu exchange over at the Needle and Thread BB. My partner and I managed to time our biscornus so that they arrived on the same day, so here are both biscornu's to share.

I received a lovely Victoria Sampler biscornu from Katherine (StitchinKat) and sent her a biscornu from Indigo Rose. It's actually based on the "Peace" ornament featured in the JCS Ornament issue of several years ago. I used the button that I made out of glass to match the Dinky Dyes thread.

Exchange Received

Julianne, from the SBEBB let me know she received her "Freebie" exchange this week. The heart was a freebie from the gift of stitching, and the bracelet and fob were made to match.

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.

Mystery Exchange for Angi

I made this little needlecase for Angi as part of the mystery exchange at the Robin's Nest board. Since it was a mystery exchange, I decided that I could stretch the needlework category to include seedbeads stitched in a peyote stitch pattern. This is a similar technique to the "Pyra" bag I have been working on. The Japanese Kanji on the front of the case means "forever", which I thought was appropriate, considering that most of us would like to think that our needlework will continue forever.

The pattern is from the "Beaded Favors" book by Jennie Might which I picked up a couple of years ago when I was at Shipwreck Beads in Washington State. I've been meaning to make something out of the patterns for a while, so I'm glad that this exchange came along and I could use one of the patterns.

The blog candy contest in the post below is still open until tomorrow night, so I'll draw names then...

Another exchange received!

I received this gorgeous pin-keep from Svenja as part of the Mystery Exchange at the Robin's nest. I love the design that she chose for it, and the sparkly extras were a big bonus too!