Double Sided Bracelet

La Duet - a double sided bracelet, fabric pieces surrounded by a bead soup

The Last of My Bead Soup Collection

Bead Soup Collection

These colorful mixes were introduced at the 2005 Bead & Button Show and since that time have been used by people all over the world in bead weaving projects, for colorful embellishments in quilts, scarfs, mixed media projects, felting designs... even as bursts of color set in bowls around the house!

They are now discontinued (very time consuming and costly to create), and the few that are left are for sale on my website

 

Thank you!

 Bag of Color #23

 Bag of Color #24

 Bag of Color #25

Thank you for the amazing response to the last few Bags of Color - per many requests, I've added more!

Color Inspiration - Cornflower

I love these giant cousins of the Bachelor Button with their center glow of pink flowing to forked petals of bluish purple.

What's not to love about purple and green? And expanding it into the pink tones provides added lusciousness!

Bead Soup Collection

A rainbow of color marches across my studio
Thousands of boxes of beads
Waiting to be labeled
And shipped all over the world

Brewing Color

Thousands of beads
Hundred of pretty little boxes
Mixing bead soups and playing with color

Making Bead Soups

New colorways brewing!

Thank you

for all of your e-mails and wonderful praise of my book. Your words fill my heart!

And those of you who took the time to comment on Amazon - how can I thank you enough for telling me (and the whole world!) that you are drawing inspiration from my work? Your words mean so much more than you could ever know!

Thank you, thank you, thank you dear readers - you make me feel all warm and tingly inside!

And for all of you who pre-ordered from my website - and therefore entered your name to win a package full of color...


I have had so much fun filling a cute box with bead soups and fiber bundles and I wish I could send all of you a big present full of beads and fibers and color... however, I had to pick one. So I mixed all of your names together and drew...

Lisa Choplo
Congratulations Lisa!!

Recipe for a Give-Away!

Color is brewing in my studio and the scent of 'Give-Away' is wafting through the air!

Here is a recipe for COLOR from my house to yours (read on for Give-Away details!):

Pour beads into large pot and stir. As the fire burns and cauldron bubbles... the new Seed Bead Medley line is up and running - a perfect complement to the projects in my upcoming book: BEADED COLORWAYS (but more on that, and how to enter to win a really cool Color Package, coming soon!).

Samples from Seed Bead Medley
[Harvest, Tropical Punch, Velvet Cloak, Antique Copper, Mossy Rock, Red Clay, Silver Sand, Tropical Surf, Golden Raspberry]

Add a dash of spice and new colorways simmer in my Bead Soup Collection.

New soups shown in Mossy Rock and Spring Rain

Stir in even more color and bring to a boil. My new Fiber Bouquets will be ready to enjoy in time for Wander with Flair at Studio Beads (wouldn't they also be fun with fabric and photos in Wander Through Photos at Beads by Blanche?!). How could I stop at beads? These fiber bundles include 15 - 20 strands of delectable color, hand mixed to coordinate with, yes of course, my Bead Soup Collection.

Fiber Bouquet shown in Harvest

You are invited over for a taste of color (I may even put you to work stirring!). Simply...

Enter a comment
and one special reader will win a COLOR package

(1 each from the Bead Soup Collection, Seed Bead Medley and Fiber Bouquets)

Sample shown in:
Cardamom Fiber Bouquet and Bead Soup Collection, Copper Penny Seed Bead Medley

Serve and enjoy with a beadweaving project (Instructions now available on-line).

The drawing will be next Sunday, November 1 - hope to see you!

Eye For Color Give-Away

Working with color drives so many of us creative souls! Drawing inspiration from all around, gushing over the plethora of photos, paintings, collage, fiber and bead work across the blogosphere – we launch into our own creations excited by the infinite array of possible color combinations.

With color in mind and in honor of Zoya Gutina who is graciously featuring me in her current newsletter, I am offering a free give-a-way… or two!

To enter to win a signed copy of Eye For Color*, here is what you need to do…
-Tell me what your favorite color combination is (I’m sure you have many, but what is your favorite today, right now?)

And for a chance to win a bead soup from my Bead Soup Collection…

- visit mylovelybeads.com then come back and tell me what my color inspiration was for the necklace in the 6th photo.

I am off to the Art & Soul Retreat in Hampton, VA and will miss all of you over the next few days! Have a lovely, creative, inspiring week and I will catch up with you when I return. By the way take a peek at Curious Girl who has dubbed the 3rd week in May to be color week!

Oh, and the Give Away winners will be chosen at random on May 6 when I return...

Bead Soup brewing

...in my kitchen, dining room, living room, studio and every available horizontal surface in our house! Above is a sneak peek at the new soups I'm packing up for the Art & Soul and Bead & Button shows. (You can see more of my Bead Soup Collection on my website)

Lots and lots of soup to ship out to Virginia tomorrow. Hope to see you at Vendor Night!

Last weekend a gaggle of my fabulous girlfriends came by to help assemble more Eye For Color books. We set up a 'sweat shop' on the main floor and pumped out books over 2 days amongst lots of stories, laughs, wine, corn chowder and Sherri's famous double chocolate brownies. Thank you Anne Ryan, Jacki von Allmen, Jackie Maclin, Sherri Lynn, Joie Moring, Susan Leonhardt, Brandon Gilbert and especially my dear, sweet hubby - Jerry!

While we snapped in color wheels, the gang of kids made a camp outside complete with fishing poles hanging off of the play system, and tents made from old blue tarps. Looked a bit like 'tent city' in our backyard...

Morgan and Brandon convinced Jerry to build a bonfire in the firepit, we roasted hot dogs and s'mores and the boys camped outside under the stars (yep - it turned to rain in the middle of the night!).

I'm Humbled and Inspired

Sunrise in Gig Harbor, Washington (off my parent's deck!) 11/08

I am humbled by all of your comments and inspired by the art that you create. Thank you for making me feel so warm and fuzzy! When I posted my ‘give away’ I was expecting a total of 5 to 10 comments - more on the lines of: “I want beads, I want beads. Pick me, pick me!” (and that from my editor, Tonia who already has a begillion of my soups - thanks for the giggle Tonia!) and have been overwhelmed and carried away by such a huge response and all of your kind words both on my blog and via e-mail from my web site – some comments brought tears to my eyes, others made me laugh.

We all need affirmation from time to time, don’t we? So this post is about all of you – take a moment to click on the other people who commented or are following my blog and see what they are up to. You will be amazed. And inspired as I am by the creativity and talent out there in the world!

For instance, 'Dance of a Painted Lady' has inspired me this week - to focus on shape. Take a peek at Kendalee's photographic mosaics and notice her repetitive use of diamonds from the leaded glass in the church window to the tree branches and broken rocks at the base of the wall.

Hmmm, shape - pretty novel for a color girl! So I went for a walk yesterday (with my dear friend Joie) armed with my new camera. Then came home, cropped madly and took a baby step towards learning Kendalee's art form – what a blast! Here is what I came up with:

'A walk in Fremont' 3/5/09

Speaking of Kendalee - she posted a question to herself yesterday:

"I've been wondering recently about whether I'm naturally more inclined to radiate or to reflect"

She mused:
"Not everyone is designed to be the source of powerful illumination, lighting the way clearly for themselves and those who are drawn to their radiance. But reflecting is a good way to spread light too, isn't it? Perhaps with a softer, subtler glow, which sometimes has to be looked for more carefully to be noticed, but is still beautiful and inspirational in its own way."

I think we all reflect and radiate – we may just not realize it. We influence and are influenced by each person we come in contact with – sometimes in obvious ways as from a teacher, a parent, a big, sparkling personality; and at other times in ways that are so subtle it’s hard to put a finger on what we have taken away from our experience with another, but we know we are a better person for it.

I think about how many times someone has sparked my flame, or made me feel good, or contributed to my growth as an artist, a person a mother. But do I tell them? Most of the time – no. It doesn’t occur to me to do so. I become focused on my own life and projects and forget how important it is to let others know their radiance. Good thoughts, good words from others help release the flame in each of us. So thank you – I have grown this week under the glow of your words.

And now I encourage you to click on at least 5 names amongst my special readers and followers and list of blogs I follow - if they have a website or blog take a peek at their work. While you are feasting your eyes, being inspired and feeling renewed, leave some wonderful comments along the way. You will light up their day and help the artist in each to glow and radiate.

Now that I’ve made you read to the bottom (hee hee) to find out who won the bead soup 'give away', may I have a drum roll please?...

My son randomly chose a number ("But why? Mom") and the winner is Linda Stokes! Since she is also a 'follower' of my blog – she gets to choose 2 bead soups from my bead soup collection. Linda, please contact me to tell me which soups you would like and your address!

I wish I could send out soups to all of you in thanks for how wonderful you have made me feel. So...

... stay tuned, I’ll do it again!

A special thank you to Cyndi Lavin who did a wonderful Artist Profile of me in Jewelry & Beading this week!

And I've been given some homework! Lisa Reese has asked me to discuss 'texture' and how it pertains to color, color selections and it's use in my design work and bead soups. I will do so in future as well as more discussions of color and how to use color wheels.

'Lost in Green and Copper' 3/5/09

Now I'm hooked on making photo mosaics. These are (mostly) from my walk yesterday. No, there weren’t any beads on the sidewalk – I cheated just a little!

Oh, and Joie Moring refined the grids in my mosaics using Photoshop - you're simply 'mauve-olous' my friend!

Student Work - Featuring Jacqueline Talarico

Wanderlust Neckpiece by Jacqueline Talarico made with 'Sandy Beach' from my Bead Soup Collection

Beachcomber necklace by Jacqueline Talarico made with 'Coral Beach' from my Bead Soup Collection

Cornucopia of Gems by Jacqueline Talarico entitled 'Bohemian Fall Necklace'

Cornucopia of Gems by Jacqueline Talarico entitled 'Windswept'

Jacquie and I have developed a wonderful friendship reuniting each year at the Bead and Button Show. She is a talented artist and philanthropist, a joy to have in class, and always game for marathon walks all over Milwaukee!

Jacque is very prolific in her beadwork and sells her pieces on her Etsy store: JTbeadsmith with 100% of the money she makes going to the Michael J. Fox foundation to help fund research on Parkinson's Disease. Amazing!