Pity Party Day 1 - Bust Your Stash

(Click here is you are looking for this weekend's discount codes)

Today to avoid bead envy for those lucky sticks at Bead Fest, we are busting our bead stash!  My challenge for you is to dig in that bead stash and pull out something that hasn't seen the light of day for a while. If you have been to a big bead show, I challenge you to find something from a past bead show purchase.  You can share a photo and story about it.  Create something with it or give it away on your blog or Facebook page.

For my Bead Stash Bust I'm sharing my three most treasured beads from the Bead & Button show, tips on using those precious beads and then I totally went for bust and made something with a few beads I have collected over several bead shows.

First up - my treasures.  They include a lampwork bird from Kerri Fuhr.  A lampwork flower from Kim Fields. And my Anne Choi bead that reads, "Had we but world enough and time."  Each of these were from trades I did with the artists, which makes them even more special too me.  Because those artists found my work worthy of the exchange, it was an honor that I treasure.  One day I will break down and use them in a design, but that time hasn't arrived.  Do you have beads like that?

Daffodil Fields is a project from my book.

"Some beads are little works of art and could sit on a shelf to be admired as such.  The trouble is, it can be hard to feel like those art beads will be done justice in a jewelry design - there is a fear they will be swallowed up by a supporting cast of beads.  I feel that way about Anne Choi's beads - they are so amazing, it's hard to create a design that doesn't distract from their simple and understated beauty.  My goal for this design was to create a necklace that let the art bead tell the story.  Picking up on the color of daffodils that one would imagine in this silver rendition, I created a lush pendant of faceted citrine dangles.  Each part of the necklace is carefully considered to relate to and accent the art bead.  From the silver links in the geometric design to the oval link cable chain and subtle grey of the lampwork disk bead - each part speaks to the art bead without overpowering it."  - Jewelry Designs from Nature, Heather Powers

And now for the piece I whipped up to wear this weekend.  It features a copper pendant from my buddy Andrew Thornton that he gifted me one year.  A ceramic bead from Golem Studio that I picked up this year at Bead & Button, one of my willow disks beads and a tiny spacer from a Hager Studios that I picked up a small local bead show last year.  I combined some of my favorite leafy chain - a B & B find, with a delicate chain to finish the design. Stash busted, mission accomplished!

And now for the giveaway - I will pick one random comment for a $25 gift certificate to my website, www.humblebeads.com. If you "bust your stash" today and blog or share about it on the Creative Bead Chat Facebook group you'll be entered twice - be sure to let me know if you do that in the comments too.  I will give you until Sunday to bust your stash and will pick the winner Monday morning.