Oh these were fun to make… Not to mention I got a new lens for my camera to play with on our trip to Sunriver. Woohoo!

Requests are keeping me on track with my YOJ (Year of Jewelry) quest! Thanks! I have a few new ideas which I might try this week… Things are quiet around here for the holiday, no plans other than relaxing! Hopefully I will get a little of that accomplished. School gets out around here June 18th and I am feeling the end of the year push to cram everything in… Sigh… Oh well, soon it will be lazy days of sleeping in… or not. My kids get up at 6am EVERY day. It makes getting to school on time easy, but sometimes I wished we could all be a little more lazy about getting out of bed… the grass is always greener I guess.

I’m still in love with my smallbeads… Isn’t that message bead too cute as well? That was a suggestion and I’m so happy that I got it! I’ve got some fun ideas in the works… I’ve kinda gotten in the habit of making beads late in the day and with this heat that does not work very well. I’m gonna have to adjust my schedule for summer!

Oh I am a bit obsessed with super round beads these days. You can see in the photo above just how round my beads have gotten! First is a bead that I used to consider large, not totally round of course, but a good sized bead. Well the very round beads just keep growing and growing… eek! The only problem of course is that the larger beads do take more time which makes them a bit more expensive, but worth it I think! I mean what a stunning bracelet you would have. Even DH who isn’t impressed by much these days has been “wowed” by these beads so I hope the pics do them justice tomorrow! Oh yeah, below is an interchangeable pendant finding that I need to dig out and add to the store. It is perfect for wearing some of the MONSTER beads I have coming up… they are not all round, but they are big ol’ encased beauties!!

Here are a few pics from my necklace class with Stephanie. Seeing all of her work up close and personal is just so inspiring! I really enjoyed making the necklace and I already have a few ideas for my next one.

Just wanted to pop back in and share the bracelet that I made in my class yesterday. It was lots of fun! I’ll be back tomorrow morning with beads!! Check back if you have a minute.

I’ll have new beads in my online store dudamart.com tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. my time so stop back to shop if you have a minute!! I wanted to point out that some of the beads are smaller than I’ve made in awhile, they measure about 8mm by 10mm. (Although the larger beads are huge, they measure about 13mm by 16mm… hmmm…) Here is a necklace that I made using some of mine…

I ususally wear the pendant on a silver omega and I layer the other necklace with it and it has gotten MANY compliments! I am really enjoying playing with the smaller beads and I find they work great in many designs so I hope you like them too! Anyway, I love the whoppers too… but you know me, always gotta be doing a little bit of everything. I just wanted the size to be clear because sometimes it is very hard to tell from a photo. The auctions say the beads are small, in fact I call them SMALLBEADS… so it seems like it should be obvious… As always email with any questions!!

Whew! The days are just zipping by! Camp, library, swimming, corn on the cob… Just what you think might be part of a summer day. Today I snuck out to Art and the Vinyard which is a local celebration where lots of artisans come to sell their wares. I of course had to snap up a couple of items. I was quite impressed by the wire wrapping skills on the cab. Then the the quote on the silver pendant simply made me smile so I had to grab it. Apparently the quote is from Goethe. I bought it because it made me think, if I just hold my ground with my kids, the additional troops will arrive shortly! Heehee… I only wish! Anyway, the Mart update this week is very small. I’ll try to have more next week… but summer is just more mellow around here and I’m sort of enjoying using a bit of my time to try out the boro and other new ideas. I hope that you are also able to enjoy some lazy summer days!!

Sorry… I thought I might have a few items to list today, but I guess not… Got carried away with hanging out with my family!! Heehee! I made these fun earrings for my mom and I LOVE them. I am going to try and make a few for later in the week, in case you want some fun summer sparkle for your wardrobe. Alrighty, off to take my mom to the airport…

My mom has arrived. Woohoo! Needless to say I will be doing lots of slacking while she is here which means that I won’t have many beads next Tuesday. I’ll be spending the her whole visit making beads for her! HA! Mom’s gotta have some perks right?! I do have another earring set to show. I am really having lots of fun making earrings these days. I hope to add some to the Mart as well so stay tuned. I really love the ivory and pink combination. Okay, dinner calls, enjoy what is left of your Friday!