Suburban Girl Design Team

I was so excited when I found out that I had been chosen for Diana Ptaszynski's (Suburban Girl) Design Team.   After discovering Diana's beads, pendants and charms on etsy, we became friends on facebook.  We actually met one another (along with some other amazing Bead Babes) at the Berks Bead Bazaar in Reading, PA.  I must say that Diana is a hoot!  She is one very energetic and vibrant woman but also has a soft side to her as well.  She is a sweetheart and a good friend.  Another funny thing is that Diana is married to Colin Mellars and I am married to Colin Miller.  And yes, the "Colins" met in Reading and sat in the lobby while the Bead Babes shopped...such good sports.

After I received the "spring" bead from Diana I realized I already bought this bead from her a while ago and I could just simply hook them on some ear wires, making a pair of earrings - but I wouldn't do that - not even on April Fool's Day.  Diana also included a very pretty lamp work bead made by Jan Onipenco.

The beads arrived in this sweet little bag and this is what they looked like!  Very pretty!

When I saw Diana's bead it reminded me of spring time.  The flowers are popping up all over the neighborhood and color is plentiful.  Jan's bead carries hues of purple, blue and gold which added to the flash of flowers scrolling through my head.  I remember buying some lucite flowers and thought I would make a little "garden" surrounding Diana's bead.

First, I connected Jan's bead to Diana's and that was going to be the focal pendant.  I attached it to some chain and got my fingers ready to do some serious wire wrapping.

After careful placement of each and every flower, I added a few leaves to the "garden."  I really like how the lucite flowers are in the background and your eye still gets drawn to the focal pendant.  Wrapping around the back are two strands of soft colored leather and I finished it with more lucite flowers dangling from both sides of the leather.

The garden starting to grow!

Added the leather and clasp...

Viola!!

A close up of the lucite flowers.

The final creation....

Please take a look at the other members of the design team and their creations...

 Diana Ptaszynski http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com/

Jenny Davies-Reazor http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog

Kristen Stevens http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com/

Jan Onipenco http://moltenmayhem.typepad.com/

Marla James http://marlasmudmoments.blogspot.com/

Sandra Basara Miller http://www.sandra5461.blogspot.com/   <--- You are here!

Michelle Buettner http://misheldesigns.blogspot.com/

A special thanks to Diana and Jan for providing the beads...and a huge thank you to Diana for allowing me to take part in this!

It's Friday!!!

It is Friday morning and I'm actually at home today.  I've been fighting a migraine all week and decided it was time to take a day and get myself feeling better.

I'm so excited to be a part of Suburban Girl's Design Team.  We have one of Diane's ceramic pendant and a lamp work bead from Jan Onepenco.  We received our beads a few weeks ago and our designs are due on Sunday, April 1, 2012...no joke!  :)

I cannot wait to share my design with all of you on Sunday.

The sun is shining brightly here on the east coast today...hope it's shining wherever you are!

Tuesday evening

It is Tuesday evening and I feel like I spent most of the time trying to fix the commenting section on this blog.  It looks like it is working now but time will tell.  My eyes are heavy right now as I just finished grading two sections of quizzes.  There are other things I wanted to do tonight but it seems like school work always takes more time than I anticipate. 

 I received some new beads this week and I'm looking forward to working with them.  I will post some pictures when I use them in some new jewelry.  My wonderful husband spent the evening dissecting our washing machine.  It decided not to work over the past weekend so he is taking it apart so it could be put out for the trash.  We bought a new one last evening ... that is the good news.  The bad news is that we have to wait about two weeks to get the new one.  But I think it will be worth the few trips we will be making to the laundromat.

It is getting late and 5:30 a.m. comes quickly.  I hope everyone had a good day and I hope I get to my work table tomorrow.  Have a good night.

Bead Soup is Finished!

Sorry to be a day late, but my Bead Soup is finished!  Here are the beads that I was sent by Krafty Max.

A selection of black and pink beads and a nice butterfly clasp.

Here is what I created.

I decided to make a necklace using the three strand butterfly clasp.  Honestly, most of the beads were used up making this piece.

Next up was a cute pair of earrings...

And finally, a necklace featuring the focal bead I received and the remainder of the pink and black beads.

I hope you enjoyed viewing my creations.  This was my first time participating in Bead Soup.  I appreciate the time and effort Lori has put into this.

Please take a look at the other participants' creations at Lori's blog.  

www.prettythingsblog.com

The beads that I received...

My Bead Soup partner is Krafty Max.  Here is a photo of the beads she sent me.

My Bead Soup...

...is still simmering.  I will blog about it very shortly.  Sorry for the delay ~ a little bit too much going on right now in my life.