Air and Sea

My feet may be on land but my heart is still at sea.  I'd settle for combing a beach.  Warm sun and the sound of the ocean dancing on the edge of the shore.  No beach, okay then I'll take the first signs of spring.  Flowers peeking through the mud, birds singing a melody of hope. Okay, well then I guess I'll be happy with grey skies, rainy afternoons and a good excuse to stay inside and play with my beads!

If you like what you see, mosey on over to the ol' bead corner, aka my etsy shop.  I don't know why I feel the need to talk like I'm in an old Western.  Texas must be getting to me.

Home so soon?

Bead Cruise 2010, you flew by way too fast. 

Dare I say, this was the best Bead Cruise yet!  I loved all the instructors.  They were so talented, generous and fun.  The ship was amazing.  Each port was beautiful.  We enjoyed beading, shopping, eating, laughing, laughing until we were crying.  There were celebrations, love you Sherry!  And adoration - congrats to the Design Contest winners!  We hardly slept, there was so much to do and see. 

But like the say on the islands, 'Leave only footprints, take only memories' - most of my memories were not caught on film.  I was surrounded by shutterbugs, so I will borrow from their photos and tell you more in the days to come.

The photos above: Coco Cay, St. Thomas, bead shop in St. Thomas.  Lunch, the market and the beautiful view all in St. Martin.

Get Your Humblebeads!

Just a friendly reminder that today is the last day to order from my Etsy shop.  All orders will ship out on Monday.  I plan on spending the rest of the week getting ready for the Bead Cruise and hanging out with my family!  My shop will reopen on the 25th.

Bead Cruise Progam

Oh, it's getting close! One of the last things on my to-do list each year before the cruise is finishing up the Bead Cruise program.  This is a mini-magazine with tips, trends and resources for jewelry makers.  This year I've added in quite a few new projects.  And best of all - I had the brilliant idea of offering it as a downloadable PDF after the cruise.  It will be for sale at the end of January! 

In the projects I used items from our sponsors.  Pictured above is a ceramic pendant from Every Heart Crafts and the face cab is from Earthenwood Studios.  Just two of the awesome artists, shops and manufactures who donated items for our gift bags. 

Okay, back to the grind for me!

Another Hint!

Here are two more clues to the next challenge on the Art Bead Scene.  The inspiration painting will be posted later on Monday, which is today.  I'm up late, working away.  Time is just flying by and I have way too many things to cram into the next 11 days.  So I've closed my website, no new orders until after the 25th.  Beads in stock can be found in my etsy shop or over at my good friends, http://www.bellomodo.com/. 

If you don't hear much from me over the next few days I'm buried under a pile of beads - send help and chocolate!

2010 Greetings!

I'm sorry I haven't been able to blog lately.  I fell the week before Christmas and messed up my shoulder.  Recovering has been slow and by the time I get my daily business done, my arm is screaming at me to stop.  Hence the shortage of blog goodies.

I had a wonderful 2009 and look forward to even more exciting times ahead. 

I have big news to share with you soon, very soon I promise!  I'm looking foward to setting sail on the 17th on the Bead Cruise and most of my energy is spent working on kits and other goodies for our participants.  The Art Bead Scene has been preparing our new challenges for 2010.  The beads above are a hint for this month's painting picked by me.  I have a few new limited edition beads made just for the challenge, they will be up soon.  That's my January in a nutshell.

I want to wish all my readers and friends the best and brightest for 2010.  I'm so thankful to be a part of this creative community, you have no idea!