A recent find.

Found this painting in Woodstock, IL. So far, I'm planning to leave it unframed. It's propped in my bookshelf.

Book Review: Hot Connections Jewelry.

In my hot little hands I have an advance copy of Hot Connections Jewelry: The Complete Sourcebook of Soldering Techniques by Jennifer Chin. (published by Crown Publishing/Potter Craft). I love the photos on the front of this book, especially the necklace.

I'm impressed by the level of detail in the book, from the explanation of metals and tools to choosing the right torch and flame to setting up your workspace. There are many projects in the book with detailed instructions.

I tried soldering last summer with mixed results. After reading the section on torches, I think the flame on my torch was too small for the thickness of the metal. I would like to give soldering another try one of these days, especially after looking through this book.

Mixed metals.

Lately I have been drawn to gold and silver together, which is unusual for me! I decided I wanted a pair of silver and gold earrings with a delicate feel and a flower. I looked through my stash and came up with these.

They go very will with my new necklace from Siren Jewels.

Now all I need is a bracelet!

Jewelry tree.

Saw this jewelry tree at Anthropologie and had to have it.

I like to display my jewelry rather than keep it all tucked away in a drawer.

Beaded flowers.

Sometimes I feel the need to simplify. I consolidated a lot of the beaded flowers I've made along with vintages ones I've collected into a pretty silver pitcher.

It's very cheery on my kitchen counter and it was nice to pack some vases away for another day.

Corinne's mosaic.

Another mosaic picture. This one was given to my aunt. I love the bowl in this one.

Tin flower earrings.

It seems like ages ago that I shared the tin flowers I cut out of a tin canister.

I finally made the smaller flowers into earrings.

I played around with adding beads to them, but in the end, I liked them better as simple flowers on an earwire.

Mom's mosaic.

For Christmas last year, I made mosaic pictures for several of my friends and family. This is the one I made for my mom. It was one of my favorites ... although, it was hard to part with all of them.

I wish I had remembered to take photos of them all before I gave them away!

What a difference a photo editor makes.

A while ago I was playing around with a photo of a bead tapestry I made years ago. It is one of my all-time favorite pieces of beadwork that I now have framed in my house. I only have one old photo of it without glass over it. The photo was dark and did not do the piece justice. My cousin is a photographer and earlier this year on her blog she recommended using Photoscape for editing photos. I've been using it and have been really happy with it, especially since it's free. I decided to try it out on the old photo of one of my favorite pieces of beadwork and I think it turned out great!

Here's the old photo for comparison.

This piece is done in peyote stitch and is made up of 3,021 delica beads. The pattern is from Sigrid Wynne-Evans Masterpieces for Beadwork.

This particular piece is an adaptation of John William Waterhouse's My Sweet Rose.