"Princess Chunk""

WOW-this is a big one! This 44-pound cat is in need of a loving home. The cat was found outside, without a collar, in Voorhees, New Jersey and is being cared for at the Camden County, New Jersey Animal Shelter.

In my "spare time" (lol) I am working on a new autumn project that may or may not develop into a new September class. I'm not sure which way the beads will lead me. It might very well turn into a cool class project! It is rather "disorderly" now (see Wed. quote) but I think I'll have some fun discovery along the way. Stay tuned...
Click the pic if you'd like a closer look at the color gradation.

"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries." ~A. A. Milne

Cindi, the owner of Bead Haven, has added a shopping cart to her web site! She is in the beginning stage of posting all kinds of beading goodies. Check it often-she even has FREE shipping on $25 or more.
www.beadhavenbeads.com

I'm a real fan of Jo Wood's Beaded Landscapes. This one is called Summer Color. She creates beautiful bead paintings on felted backgrounds. Just gorgeous!

This is my finished bead embroidered cuff with matching beaded gift bag. Click picture for more detail.

Tonight I had a Basic Stringing Class. So here is my demo bracelet that I strung composed of: large turquoise nuggets, silver disks, glass donut beads, a silver noodle bead, hammered silver rings, and some beaded beads! Click the pic to zooooooooom-in.

I finished this Freeform Embroidered Cuff today. It has size 15/0-8/0 Miyuki seed beads along with tiny metal disks and metal zipper teeth. My inspiration was the bronze cuff that was acid-etched by Cris Leonard...it has beautiful swirls etched in the cuff. It was my goal to have the bead embroidery reflect the spirals & swirls in the metal cuff. Click the pic for more detail.

Here are some embroidered buttons-buckles-beads-&-zipper that I'm working on...they will be parts of a new freeform embroidered piece to evolve this week. Click on the picture to see detail. (Sorry about the "camera glare" on Mona-my sister said that it looks like she has dog ears! LOL!)

Cool beads by Melissa Rediger: Sea of Glass.
Check out her link listed on the right.

Here is a sparkly Sidewinder bracelet I just finished for myself. Click on the picture to see more detail.
Oh, and if you didn't see Wednesday's post---make sure you scroll down to see an important message.

WARNING...I got this important message from my friend in St. Louis.

I hate it when people forward bogus warnings, but this one is real, and it's important...
If someone comes to your front door saying they are checking for ticks due to the warm weather and asks you to take your clothes off and dance around with your arms up, DO NOT DO IT!! THIS IS A SCAM!! They only want to see you naked.
(I wish I'd gotten this yesterday. I feel so stupid.)

Weekend...

Yummm....Swarovski Austrian Rivoli Shapes!!!

The above embroidered cuff photo was sent to me by Laurie. Her cuff has beautiful shades of gold, brown, gray, black, and a hint of blue. Click on the picture to get a closer look. It's beautiful Laurie!

"Throwing away ideas too soon is like opening a package of flower seeds and then throwing them away because they're not pretty."
...Arthur VanGundy

I finished the above "July Snowflake" this morning. It is the same snowflake as the June 25th post but made with size 8/0 Miyuki beads & Czech Firepolish beads. One big flake...

Wiggle Day...

The two Wiggle Room bracelets posted here were done at Bead Haven today by Lori (Red-white-blue) and Alice (Gold-teal). What a great job they did! Click the photo to zoom-in.Julie visited the store today and she brought in some Wiggle Room bracelets that she made. They are the top four in the above photo. What cool color combinations! The bottom two in the same photo are done by myself. Wendy also brought in some unique "Wiggle" bracelets and I forgot to take a picture. They were very neat!!

Happy

Independence

Day!

One of My Favorite Songs...

"Gold" by John Stewert... Hard to believe that he also wrote "Daydream Believer" and was earlier a member of the Kingston Trio. I love this song.

I just finished this Loop Crochet Bracelet. I used size 8 Miyuki beads-Chocolate Brown, Matte Metallic Patina Iris and you guessed it--Metallic Dark Bronze (#457). As many of you know, #457 is my personal favorite!

Legendary late-night host Jay Leno performed two special engagements at The Mirage in Las Vegas on June 25 & June 27 with proceeds going to The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation to assist the Iowa flood victims. Tickets were $90-$100 dollars each...Thank you Jay Leno.

I just received this via email from my friends Mike & Barb in Missouri. As my friend Mike said, "Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive."

Saint Theresa's Prayer
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

Look at Nancy's beautiful crochet loop bracelet from today's class at Bead Haven! Click on the picture to zoom-in on her cool bracelet!

Here are Cookie's and Sheliah's beautiful "Buttons & Beads" bracelets from a class earlier in the month. They did such a great job and their buttons were so unique and creatively placed in the composition of the bracelets! Click on the photo to zoom-in and get a closer look at the buttons and the stunning workmanship. These are two very talented ladies! (Thanks Cindi for the photo.)

"There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life--happiness, freedom, and peace of mind--are always attained by giving them to someone else."

...General Peyton C. March

Snowflakes in June... This is a beaded snowflake I recently made using different seed bead finishes (size 11/0-Miyuki) and 4 mm Austrian crystals. (Thanks for the photo, Cindi.)

The sun sets over Coralville Lake. Water level in the Coralville Reservoir finally fell below the spillway yesterday, Mon. June 23.

Thank You...

Volunteer Bret Loes, a teacher from Washington D.C., takes a break from gutting the basement of St. Wenceslaus Church (my home parish) in Cedar Rapids. After seeing the effects of the flood, Bret felt compelled to help, so he drove to Iowa and started volunteering.

Here are some beautiful creations started today in two different classes at Bead Haven. The one directly above (golds/greens) is Mary's from the "Freeform Stringing" class. What a stunning beginning to a beautiful necklace!

The other bracelets (top 2 photos) are in various beginnings from the "Santa Fe Sunset" class. Joy's bracelet features blue-purple-cream-brown. Tami's creation has shades of brown & khaki. Kellie's bracelet has purple-yellow-cobalt blue. The gals did such a wonderful job and aren't the color combinations great! Click on these pictures to zoom-in for a closer look.

This is a new sample made with Miyuki seed beads size 11, 8, and 6!

Tonight I taught a bead embroidery class. Laurie and Cindi are doing a fantastic job on their cuffs! ...The stiffened felt base is first embroidered. When finished, the black base will be trimmed and a brass cuff blank will be sandwiched between the embroidered base and Ultra suede. Then a beaded edging is added, attaching the base and suede. Pictured is an embroidered base from a previous project.

Here are some of my mother's beautiful buttons...miniature pieces of art evolving into a bracelet. Click on the photo to zoom-in on detail.

The above is a "Sidewinder" bracelet that my friend Peggy taught me earlier this month. She was visiting the area from Texas. The picture does not do it justice-it's a real stunner! It has over 120 Swarovski bicone crystals!

This is an earlier aerial image of downtown Cedar Rapids...Friday or Saturday?...I don't really know, the days have blurred together. Hopefully, this is a site that we will never see again. (As a point of reference-the red roof in the right hand corner is the National Czech & Slovak Museum.) A sincere thank you to those who have emailed or called to see how I am doing-I live approx 4 miles from the downtown area so I am okay--but so, so many people are hurting.

A search and rescue dog rests in the back of a National Guard truck as strike teams assemble in Southwest Cedar Rapids on Sunday, June 15, 2008. Ten teams searched flood damaged homes throughout Sunday and will continue Monday to ensure homes are safe for residents to return and gather belongings.

A storm that moved through Eastern Iowa Saturday, June 14, 2008 passes over Burlington Street in Iowa City near the bridge over the Iowa River. The storm, which brought with it heavy rain, hail, and possibly a tornado in West Branch, could affect the predicted crest of the Iowa River later this week.

Floodwater inundates a farmstead along Highway 13 near the Cedar River.
Within the city of Cedar Rapids it is now estimated that 438 blocks are under water and over 24,000 people have been evacuated.

Above- Cedar Rapids City Hall early Friday, June 13, 2008, in Cedar Rapids.

Above-the First Avenue NW Dairy Queen photographed early Friday, June 13, 2008, in southeast Cedar Rapids.Volunteers form a human chain to carry sandbags for the effort of protecting Mercy Medical Center from the rising flood waters early Friday, June 13, 2008, in southeast Cedar Rapids. The hospital along with a care facility was evacuated...

Downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Part of Mays Island, which is home for City Hall and the Linn County Courthouse, is underwater as flood waters continue to rise in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Thursday June 12, 2008. Heavy rains continue to pound large portions of Iowa. The faint lines that you see are the railings of the Cedar Rapids bridges that are submerged. The only remaining and passable bridge is I 380 that you see in the background.

Most of the CRANDIC railroad bridge over the Cedar River next to the Eighth Street bridge has collapsed in downtown Cedar Rapids on the morning of Thursday, June 12, 2008.

Here, St. Wenceslaus is surrounded by floodwaters.

Mt. Vernon firefighter Dan Gines pauses after launching a boat to recover a Cedar Rapids resident trapped on a rooftop in Cedar Rapids on Thursday evening, June 12, 2008.