I so love making jewelry, but I do have to keep selling it in order to be able to keep making it,so the process is  a circle you see. The new website design should facilitate the circle.

Anyway, I’m rather wiped out after two shows in a row, working on the website in between the cracks of the shows, and taking care of “normal” P.D. life with Jim. He’s rocking along, over the virus, however, sticking close to home in all this sniffle inducing weather. We even had SNOW in Round Top last Friday! (And Texans that I know just do not get along with snow.)

So, I’m off for a break. Enjoy the new site, and look at the previous post for some info about the BEAD STAR honors I recently received.  And here’ s photo of something I’m working on for jury slides.

I’m one of 45 prize-winning jewelry designers in the second annual Bead Star challenge. You can preview the new issue online here. The magazine, Bead Star, is a beading publication comprised entirely of prize-winning designs selected by beaders, and it will hit newsstands nationwide December 8th.

“Bead Star is like American Idol for beaders,” says editor Jane Dickerson. “Each year the competition is even more exciting, and this year’s challenge garnered double the entries and twice as many votes as the inaugural competition in 2008. We were thrilled by the response and are already looking forward to next year’s challenge. Be on the lookout for the call for entries at BeadStar.com on December 16!”

The editors of Step by Step Beads and Beadwork magazines culled down the 2000 unique entries to 180 finalists—20 per category. From there, nearly 26,000 Beading Daily members voted online on their favorites in each category, which ultimately made it into this all-star publication.

Here’s the photo of my winning entry. If you want to make a necklace like it, the instructions are in the magazine, and you can purchase the lampwork beads from me here!
The necklace is titled “Aurora Borealis”, and the design was inspired by my memory of the night we sailed across the Gulf of Alaska under a dazzling display of northern lights pulsing over the icy cold waters of the Gulf.