March 25, 2017

Bead Soup Blog Party Reveal - Bead Hoarders Edition


It's finally here!  I've been dying to show you this piece for some time now and had to keep it a big secret until today!  The lovely Lori McDaniel Anderson is once again hosting a Bead Soup blog party and this time it's the Hoarders Edition (which is pretty appropriate for me).  I was paired up with Amy Severino who sent me a beautiful fused glass pendant (by Jody Peterson) she'd been hoarding along with a pretty selection of beads:


Amy said she'd had this pendant in her stash for almost seven years and had looked at it hundreds of times with grand intentions but the piece just never made it to her beading table.  She said she was a little sad to part with it, but she's a big fan of Lori's swaps and hops so in the spirit of the party she sent it.  I'm sure hoping she likes what I did with her treasure.  


I'm really not sure why the pendant read "spring flower" to me - maybe it was the sparks of pink and green in the glass.  You know macrame is my thing, but to be a little daring I tried a sort of 3-D flower, then attached it to a ring to hold the pendant.  It seemed to be missing something, so I added some macrame leaves (with the sparkly little beads down the centers) and presto!


This necklace is definitely out of my comfort zone, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  Many thanks to Amy for the pendant and inspiration and to Lori for hosting these inspirational hops that bring so many artists together.  Here's a peek at what I sent to Amy:


Amy's blog is at Amybeads - I can't wait to see what she did with the cute little Marla James owl I sent to her.  I've loved this little guy for ages but just haven't ever found the right project for him.

I hope you'll join me to see what everyone else has made.  Lori will have the list of participants up here.  Happy hopping!!


March 10, 2017

Catching Up


You might be wondering what in the world would put a smile like that on my face.  So, here's the story:  my husband, Mark, retired after 30 years with the Nebraska State Patrol!  


That's him on the right looking pretty sober for some reason.  We had a big party in his honor and the Lt. Colonel came out to present him with this shadow box.  It contains mementos from his career including some of his badges from over the years, patches from his time on the SWAT team and license plates with his badge number on them.  The citation in the center outlines the commendations he was awarded over the years.  Also included are trading cards for each of his three K-9 partners from his time in the Police Service Dog Division.  He's had a great career and has always loved being a trooper so I think for him leaving was a bit bittersweet.  

Which brings us back to that smile on my face... in a show of solidarity, I retired on the same day Mark did!  Okay, so technically I retired almost 8 years ago (the post office was so eager to get rid of me they offered an early out LOL), but since I immediately went back to work, I don't really count that one.  This time I intend to stay retired.  I am excited to be able to spend more time on my micro macrame, traveling and teaching.  I already have some classes lined up around the Midwest (Omaha, Denver and Kansas City) - if you missed it, you can find those details here.  And hopefully that's only the beginning.

I have lots more to tell you - an upcoming blog hop, a whole bunch of bracelets I've finished, etc., but that will all have to wait for a day or two because Carter is on his way out and it's well known that I drop everything for my grandson.  I will leave you with a couple random photos.  The first is the chocolate torte I made for my daughter, Megan's birthday.  She turned 21 and I wanted to do something special for her, so it's a chocolate torte with raspberry filling and semisweet chocolate ganache decorated with toasted almonds and fresh raspberries.  Yes, it tasted as good as it looks!


The next picture is my family.  Mark and I are on the left, with our kids and Carter, then my parents and my brother and his family.  We don't get to spend nearly enough time together, so this photo means a lot to me.


And lastly, since this blog is supposed to be about micro macrame jewelry, my latest bracelet:


More soon!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...