New Bag of Color!

Bag of Color #13 includes large handfuls of gems and tubes of seed beads that can be used separately or mixed together to make a Wander with Color necklace, a Cornucopia of Gems neckpiece (full Cornucopia kit included) as well as some earrings or a bracelet to match!

My Inspiration:

Lilacs are blooming everywhere in my garden, their heady scent spilling into neighboring gardens and along a path at the side of our property.

For my latest Bag of Color I drew inspiration from one of my new lilac bushes (1 of 8 varieties I bought at the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens in Woodland, WA on my way home from a Portland Bead Society meeting last year) called 'President Grevy'. It's blossoms start out violet and turn a lovely blue-violet as they open. This photo was taken when some of the older blossoms had started to fade, their edges tinged with copper.

How can I resist falling back on the yummy combo of purples and greens? My new Bag of Color stirs in some blue-violet with a dash of copper for a stunning palette that jazzes up an already lovely mix!

Color in our Blog Hop - and Give Aways

Cornucopia of Gems Instructions here

Playing with color - what better way to spend the day?
And oh, so in love with that lovely expanded complementary of Spring Green and a vast array of Purples...

Nature gives us so much inspiration:

And we have the tools:

Color Wheel and Template from EYE FOR COLOR

Learn how to enhance your own lovely palettes with DIP INTO COLOR (above is an excerpt) and you can win a copy!!

Details on the GIVE AWAY here!

The best part is, you can also head over to these lovely artists and comment on their posts to win GIVE AWAYS from their blogs:

Valerie Hebert @ Val's Art Studio Blog here
Jeannette Cook @ Beady Eyed Women here
Carol Dean Sharp @ Sand Fibers here
Marcia DeCoster @ MadDesigns here
Cynthia Deis @ Shiny Little Things here
Lori Anderson @ Pretty Things here

p.s. There will be a winner for each day I post up through December 14, so comment each day for a chance to win!

p.p.s. The winners will be announced on December 15!

2011 Autumn Retreat

Wander with Color
October 12-13

Wanderlust Bracelet

October 14

A Day at the Beach
October 16-17am

Queen of Unfinished Projects
October 17pm-18

Cornucopia of Gems
October 19

Felt series Day 1 - Felt Basics
October 21

Felt Series Day 2 - Scarves and Ruffles
October 22

Felted Ropes, Cords and Beads
October 23

Stringy Thingy
October 26

Wearable Art workshop retreat on beautiful Whidbey Island near Seattle, Washington. Get your creative juices flowing and join us for a week, or a day, filled with beads, felt, color, wine and food.

Registration opens on-line on Wednesday, May 25 at 10:30 pct.

Adorn Me! in Houston

Packing boxes of soups, fibers and books for this exciting new show put on by Art Unraveled diva Linda Young.


I hope you join me for the following classes:

Eye For Color
Tuesday evening, March 2 6:30-9:30

Wander with Flair

Wednesday, March 3 9:00-4:30

Cornucopia of Gems
Thursday, March 4 9:00-4:30

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!