A Present

I put together this little set a couple of weeks ago for a friend who was getting married.  We celebrated her bachelorette party the night before Hurricane Irene hit and it unfortunately disrupted the wedding plans a bit, but she managed to reschedule for the next week and have a beautiful wedding.  I'd wanted to put together something special for her so I created something based around some turquoise beads that I had gotten in the Old City in Jerusalem last summer.  I wish her and her new husband all the best for the future!

Where have I been keeping myself?

It's been a long while since I've worked on anything new when it comes to beadwork. 
Back in December while I was doing some cross training for the half marathon I ran in January I started to feel some sharp pain in my wrist when I would do a push up.  I figured I'd hurt the muscles a bit and if I just laid off it would be fine.  As I am sure you can imagine it really wasn't a hardship to not do any more pushups at the time.  For a couple of months everything seemed to be ok, but then the pain in my right wrist started to get worse.  After a couple of doctor's visits and an x-ray that revealed nothing the doctor decided it was tendonitis an sent me for physical therapy in April.  I've spent a long summer of PT and the wrist is now nearly all better (plus I have the best upper body strength I've had in years!).  I can't speak highly enough of how wonderful my therapy experience has been.  I didn't think it would really help or fix the problem, but though the process is slow, I haven't felt real pain in months.  It has meant that beading took a bit of a back seat as I was trying to avoid doing too much handwork. 

However, now that I am feeling better, I though I'd start by participating in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party.

A few weeks back I got this beautiful assortment of beads from bead party partner Tammy Powley.  I'm excited to show you next week what I've come up with!


In the meantime you can check out the other blog project I started - Disney Diversions!

New things in the Etsy Store!

Need a last minute Valentine's Gift? Check these out. Purchase here!

Ornament and a craft fair!

It has been a long time since I've updated with anything as most of my beading has had to be on hiatus due to the pressures of grad school, but I made this ornament the other day and wanted to share.  I'm hoping to put some more together as I'll be selling at the new Astoria Market this Sunday, December 12th.  Come by and check it out!

Sorcerer Mickey hat neclace

I love Disney World.  This comes as no surprise to everyone who knows me.  I just came back a week ago from a family trip there.  As I was feeling a little sad to no longer be on vacation I decided to finally do something with some of the Disney charms I picked up on a trip a few years ago.  Disney markets charm bracelets to little girls and several Disney stores both in Florida as well as the one that used to be here in Manhattan have a giant display of various charms.  I picked up a few with the intention of making something more fun than a charm bracelet.  This is a simple necklace using a sorcerer Mickey hat charm with blue stars on it. 

Another vase for a present

I made this vase in pink, white and silver for my grandmother in Israel to match her bedroom. I had to carry it in my hand luggage because I was afraid it might break, but luckily it made it safe and in one piece.

A summer gift

I've had the black and lavender beaded portion of this necklace done for months now but hadn't bothered to actually get around to finishing it until I went away to Israel and gave it as a present.  I also added earrings.  I like the combination of the lavender glass beads with the slightly darker purple seed beads and the interlocking hematite.