October Means Awareness!

Shel's Awareness Ribbons

Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month I thought it was a good time to do a 'reminder campaign'. 

Please remember to get your mammo's, do your monthly self-check, and remind all your girlfriends, mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, cousins, neighbors, co-workers and any one else you can, to get checked out for breast cancer.

Helping to support breast cancer awareness through causes that are dear to your heart or volunteering in whatever ways you can to help bring awareness, funds for education and research in order to help save lives and eventually eliminate breast cancer is what it's all about!

Shel's Awareness Ribbons with Cultured Freshwater
Pearls Dangles and Silk Ribbon

Earlier this year many of you put in special custom order requests for these in various styles and with various colors of beads and/or pearls in order to support cancer awareness and other types of illnesses, diseases and causes and so in honor of October being
I'm offering my 'Shel Ribbons' for the entire month over in my Etsy Store starting at $39.00 and up with $5.00 of every sale going to support 

Shel's Awareness Ribbon Earrings
(This specific pair belongs to my sis - of course, right!? LOL!!)


Click here to go to my Etsy Store to see the various designs offered during October.

Shels Awareness Ribbon Pendants with Pearl Drops

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Awareness Baby!!

Cheers,

Shel's Awareness Ribbons - 2011

This or That Thursday!

It's This or That Thursday over at Deb Duty's Blog today - you should see all the fun photos!!



Today, I'm sharing our fountain that we put out in the front entrance to our house for "Prosperity" - it's working!!



Wishing you all a great Thursday!


Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Prosperity!
Cheers,


Bead Table Wednesday


Here's what's happening in my studio today,...

This bracelet (remember this from last week?) still isn't right! 

Unfinished Bracelets  - It's Driving Me NUTS!

 I've tried Sari Silk, bead drops/dangles, all kinds of stuff - nothing looks good to me.  Although, it does feel really good right now with all these silk ties on it - very smooth, cool, and soft - so that's nice, but we'll see where this goes!


And these,...oh boy!  Yes, these are those "Snake Skin" components that I won from Kristi Bowman over at Dreamsome Designs

Snake Skins and Pearls!!


Yep - I added glorious pearls (of course!) and wrapped them w/some vintage colored wired from Parawire/Vintaj - lovely color, huh?!  And then I added some custom earring wires with the wire as well.  Can't wait to get some real 'shots' of these earrings - they're very cool in person!


And last, but not least, it's these little devils giving me a hard time this week with the Very Vintage Fall Challenge over on Michelle Mach's blog.  I'm stumped!! 

A few components from the Very Vintage Fall Challenge Kit


So, these will be on my table, staring at me for the rest of the week until my muse shows up and tells me what to do!!

What's on your bead table this Wednesday?  Hop on over to the Flickr group and check out everyone's tables - they're pretty cool!!

Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Happy BTW!!
Cheers,

I'm Vintage Challenged,....Literally!!

Michelle Mach is having over on her blog
this fall is almost upon us and I’m basically stressing out!



Okay, Okay,...so I'm not really stressing out,...I’m 'twirling'.

(Those of you who physically know me just got a good visual, didn't you?!)

Any hoo, we don’t actually have to create something
‘vintage’ looking with our components, we can do anything; fall, hip, modern, trendy, rustic, boho,…you get the picture!

But I’ve decided, since it IS called the
that I’d make something completely out of my style element and do something “Very Vintage” as the Challenge title suggests.

"Vintaj" Brass, Co.  - Lovely Goodies!

So, I’ve been playing around with a few of these,….trying to put them with some of the things that came in my
and I think I need more inspiration. 






I need some real “vintage” items to actually hold, touch, smell (yes, there’s a vintage smell to jewelry – trust me!)

I’m going to be putting on some Beggie Adair music this week, sitting down and looking over Grandma Mate’s jewelry,
(yep, they gave that to the right little girl, don’t ya know!)
and seeing what these bits of inspiration can manage to
“Muse-Up” from me.

The “Big Reveal Date” is October 4th – Right Here
and of course,…right here!

So stay tuned and I’ll let you know how it goes. 
Wish me luck!!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love, and Twirling with Vintage Anticipation!
Cheers,

I Heart Macro - It's Sunday!!

Today is all about "Textures"

Cold ~ Hard ~ Pointy

Amethyst Crystals


Amethyst Crystals

Warm ~ Soft ~ Fuzzy

Fuzzy Coco Macro

Cool ~ Malleable ~ Bumpy

Bead Fun!


Hop on over to Studio Waterstone and see the great Macro Shots
everyone has posted over on Lori Plyler's Blog for

They're sure to WOW you! 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Great Macro Shots!

Cheers,

This or That Thursday!

Okay - so I'm playing along with "This or That Thursday" over on Deb Duty's Blog.

Her photograophy is amazing!!  (to say the least!)

My pic for the first This or That Thursday is,....you guessed it:  The Ocean!


San Onofre Beach - Camp Pendleton, California

Sorry, I just can't get enough and I have so many pictures I've taken that inspire me and just plain 'ol call me - I mean, who wouldn't want to be sitting here, right now,
looking at this view? 

San Clemente State Beach Park - California

I can just hear the waves crashing on the beach, smell the salty air and feel the warmth of the sun as it sets. 
t's my litte slice of heaven!

So, get an eye full of great pics and head on over after work to "This and That Thursday" and sit back, relax and be inspired, feel loved, be touched, in awe, or just plain entertained!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Beautiful Pictures of Life!

Cheers,

Hopping, Hopping, Hopping,...

Well, I'm still blog hopping this week,
trying to get to everyone who participated in
this past Saturday.


I've encountered so many wonderful blogs, made new friends, seen some of the most amazing jewelry designs ever
(I'm w/Lori - my hat's off to all the peeps working w/seed beads - you amaze me!!)
and I love all the various mediums people have utilized - simply amazing!!

I have even picked up a few "Great Finds" here and there
from some of the wonderful artists I've encountered.

Like these lovelies from Raida Disbrow over at
Havana Beads - Oh My! 

Havana Beads on Etsy

How lovely are these goodies?  
They arrived yesterday (Thank you Raida!!) and WOW!

"Love" - Ceramic Bead by Raida Disbrow of Havana Beads

Coolio, huh? I know,...I know!!
They're so SWEET!

So, what are some of your great finds from the

Do Share!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Cool Finds!!

Cheers,

Bead Table Wednesday

Okay - so 'everyone' (and I really mean literally almost everyone on the planet!)
participates in BTW - Bead Table Wednesday -  so I thought I'd
share with you what's on my bead table today.

So, here goes:

Earring Wire and Findings Orders to Fill
I love the "Bronze" earring wires - so Autumn like!

Here's a bunch of orders from my Shel's Jewelry Supplies Etsy Shop 
that I'm getting ready to pop into the tumbler. 
She's gonna be a busy tumbler today because
I don't mix my metals and these orders are only half finished!

Brass, Bronze, Copper - Yummy! 
Clasps and Earring Wirese Ready for the Tumbler!

Bead Table Wednesday - All Sorts of Stuff Today!

Then, there's these things over here on this table,....
a bracelet I keep taking various pieces of Sari Silk off of because
it's just not looking right at all.


There's all those goodies I won from Kristi Bowman with Dreamsome,......oh yeah, baby!!
I've been looking at those for a couple of weeks now,...nothing seems good enough for them.

Yet, anyway!

And yes, that's a skull bead on a bracelet you see sticking out way over to the upper left corner of the pic.  I do love skull beads,...although you've probably never seen them in any of my designs (unless you're a family member who's received some or seen my bead stash!)

And, there's the left over Bead Soup Mix from the big Bead Soup Blog Party
that happened this weekend.



What?!???

You didn't hear about it?

Just click on the button at the top of my blog here that says
"Bead Soup 2011" and go check it all out.
There's even links to everyone who participated - over 360 peeps - so you can check out all their lovely designs!

So, that's what's on my bead table today,...and for the rest of the week!

What's on yours? 

Head on over to the Flickr group and check out everyone else's BTW!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and BTW!

Cheers,

Lights, Camera,....Oops!

Ocean Blue by Michelle Buettner of MiShel Designs
Bead Soup Blog Party - Fall 2011

Okay - so, if you were blog hopping this weekend for the
and you made  it to my entry here, you may have read down far enough where
I told you that as I was taking the pics of my last "Bead Soup Creation"
that my camera went all hay-wire on me.

Well, I pulled out my old camera (which is now the 'family' camera) and got some shots yesterday of the necklace I created with the remainder of the beads my bead soup partner, Melissa, sent me.

I am still having trouble with the new camera - keeps reverting back to 'normal settings' even though I keep adjusting the iso, f-stop, white balance, etc. for my macro shots - so not sure what's up there, but thank goodness my old camera doesn't take half bad shots, cause the new one's taking stuff that's all fuzzy, grainy and sort of 'filtered' looking - weird! 

I'm sure it's something I've set it on to revert back to the original settings or whatever, but it should at least take the picture the way I want right after I set it, right? 
Nope,...that would be too easy to figure out then, wouldn't it?

So, here was my inspiration for the opalite beads and those cute little 'birdie links' Melissa sent me. 

Birdie on the Beach!


Anyone who knows me at all knows I LOVE the beach and I take a zillion pictures of it anytime we're there and there's always way more pics of the ocean than of us as a family while on vacation!


More Birdies on the Beach

This is "Ocean Blue" - A macrame necklace with waxed cotton cord, opalite links, one cute little birdie, a few glass beads that are supposed to resemble beach glass and some recycled Sari Silk ribbon tied on for a bit more texture and color.

Ocean Blue by Michelle Buettner of MiShel Designs
Bead Soup Blog Party - Fall 2011
Ocean Blue by Michelle Buettner

So, enjoy the beach shots, and wish me luck w/the new camera
and future shots this week as I try to figure out where I'm messing up.

California's Ocean Blue - March 2010

P.S. - We're not telling the hubby about the whole camera thingy yet as this was my birthday gift back in March,...and I can't find the receipt (and don't want to ask him!!)! 


Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Working Camera Karma!!
Cheers,

I Heart Macro - It's Sunday!!

This weekend has been a full one! 

"Big Reveal" Day (yesterday)
and you can go 'taste test' everyone's "Soup"
by clicking on my link in the pages above to

Bead Soup Blog Party - Fall 2011
"Bird in the Garden" - Michelle Buettner of MiShel Designs

"Romantic Rose" - Bead Soup Blog Party 2011
Michellle Buettner of MiShel Designs

Plus, it was my 17th Wedding Anniversary yesterday
and guess what my husband presented me with?!

A one-of-a-kind, Lori Plyler of Studio Waterstone
(Yes, our hostess for "I Heart Macro") red-leather clutch!
 
Recycled Red Leather Clutch by Lori Plyler of Studio Waterstone
It's beautiful!

And, today, it's "I Heart Macro" Sunday!

So enjoy some delicious "Eye Candy"
and have a wonderful Sunday!!

"Celebrate!"

Until Next Time,
Peace, Love, and Everything Up Close, Baby!!
Cheers,

It's Today,...It's Today!!

"Sneak Peak" of one of my Bead Soup Sets

Not only is today my 17th Wedding Anniversary, but it's the
BIG REVEAL for Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party

Woo Hoo!


It's finally time to go "Taste Testing" and "sample"
what every one has "cooked" up with their Bead Soup Mix!


So now, grab a cup of whatever it is you wish, and possibly some food too, 'cause this might take awhile, and go check out what everyone created!

(And leave positive comments for them on their blogs, too, K?)

I'm going to have a button up at the top of my blog
that will link to the list below for several weeks so this way you can come back
whenever you need to and finish up checking out everyone's "Soup"!






My Bead Soup Partner is Melissa Pynn - and we're #141 on this list - be sure to go see what Melissa created with the beads I sent her!

~ And here's what I created with what Melissa sent to me ~

Here's what she sent me!
Beautiful - aren't they?!


I created a couple of different sets with the gorgeous "ingredients"
that Melissa sent me - it was fun!

My sister told me that the picture I took above reminded her of a wedding cake!  LOL!
 
But that got me thinking "Romance", so I created something "Romantic" with the rose pendant, the heart clasp and some of those cute little faceted pink Czech glass beads. 
I threw in some recycled Sari silk ribbon, some faceted garnets and
some tiny vintage ceramic rounds ~ and, this is what those 'ingredients' became:

Romantic Rose Set with Heart Toggle
Romantic Rose Dangle Earrings
Romantic Rose Set - Bead Soup 2011- Michelle Buettner
Romantic Indeed!

Then, there's the silver bird connector Melissa sent me
and those yummy green leaf beads - I love those!!

I added some cool wood beads I had and hand-knotted them onto hemp cord
and this is what those "ingredients" mixed up into:

"Bird in the Rose Garden"
"Bird in the Rose Garden" Earrings

"Bird in the Rose Garden" Bead Soup Set


All the lovely little bird links and the beautiful opalite ovals
she sent me were screaming to be used.
I was inspired to put them w/blue sari silk and some other glass beads,
and this was one of my inspiration pictures!

And, here's what I came up with:
Ocean Blue by Michelle Buettner

'Ocean Blue' by Michelle Buettner





I hope you've enjoyed my "Cup-O-Soup" today!
And, I truly hope you enjoy the Bead Soup Blog Party this weekend!

Please Click to View the Bead Soup Blog Party Main Page

These are the partner pairs - click on each name below to go to their blogs.


The Hostess, Lori Anderson and her partner, Manuela Wutschke

1. Aimee Wheaton and Barbara York
2. Alice Craddick and Sandra Richardson
3. Alison Sachs and Amy Severino
4. Allison Scott and Cynthia Abner
5. Amanda Cargill Austin and Charlene Sevier
6. Amanda Davie and Patsy Evins
7. Amber Dawn and Kim Ballor
8. Ambra Gostoli and Christine Hansen
9. Amy Freelandand Christine Altmiller
10. Ana Krepel-Novak and Eleanor Snare



11. Andrea Morici and Hope Smitherman
12. Andrea Trank and Jayne Capps
13. Andrea Turini and Charlene Jacka
14. Angela May and Emanda Johnson
15. Anitra Gordy and Elizabeth Owens Dwy
16. Ann Rishell and Debbie Price
17. Ann Sherwood and Lynne Bowland
18. Anna Lear and Barbe Saint John
19. Anna Sabina­­­­ and Erin Siegel
19. Nan Emmett and Erin Siegel
20. Astrid Boyce and Birgitta Lejonklou


21. B.R. Kuhlman and Deanna Chase
22. Barbara Bechtel and Bryna Lumb
23. Barbara Blaszczyk and DaviniaDesign
24. Barbara Judy and Holly Westfall
25. Barbara Lewis and Cathie Carroll
26. Barrie Edwards and Lyn Foley
27. Becky Fairclough and Jana Tarhala
28. Bella Borgouise and Gillian Lehman
29. Beth and Evie McCord and Erin Prais-Hintz
30. Beth Bricker and Heather Pyle


31. Beth Emery and Cassie Donlen
32. Bobbie Rafferty and Cindy Cima Edwards
33. Candice McGinnis and Sally Anderson
34. Carol Bradley and Cece Cormier
35. Cathy Khoury and Molly Alexander
36. Carol Tannahill and Hilary Frye
37. Carrie Tahquechi and Cris Peacock
38. Cat Pruitt and Cindy Gimbrone
39. Charlene Gary and Doris Stumpf
40. Charlotte Pevny and Kate Gardenghi


41. Cherrie Fickand Cathie Carroll
41. Claire Maunsell and Cherrie Fick
42. Cheryl Roe and Jenny Vidberg
43. Chris White and Norma Turvey
44. Christa Murphyand Kathy Alderfer
45. Christie Murrow and Dana James
46. Christina Miles and Collette Collins
47. Christine Brandel and Elizabeth Woodford
48. Christine Damm and Cynthia Deis
49. Christine Hendrickson and Debbie Goering
50. Christine Stonefield and Dee Wingrove-Smith


51. Cilla Watkins and Johanna Rhodes
52. Cindy Wimmer and Riki Schumacher
53. CJ Baushka and Cory Celaya
54. Courtney Breul and Joanna Matuszczyk
55. Cristi Clothier and Kathleen Robinson Young
56. Cryss Thain and Serena Trent
57. Cynthia Tucker and Kitty Durmaj
58. Dana Johnson Jones and Eva Sherman
59. Davinia Algeri and Janet McDonald
60. Deci Worland and Lara Lutrick


61. Diana Ptaszynski and Kristy Abner
62. Diane Cook and Kerry Bogert
63. Diane Hawkey and Jen Judd Velasquez
64. Dorcas Midkiff and Jill Harris
65. Doris Radlicki and Heather Goldsmith
66. Dot Lewallen and Gaea Cannaday
67. Elisabeth Auld and Jennifer Justman
68. Erin Fickert-Rowland and Geanina Grigore
69. Erin Grant and Julie Jones
70. Eszter Czibulyas and Helena Fritz


71. Fiona Christie and Michelle Heim
72. Gail Zwang and Genea Crivello-Knable
73. Geneva Collins and Jana Haag
74. Gretchen Nation and Heidi Post
75. Heather DeSimone and Karin Slaton
76. Heather Marley and Terry Carter
77. Ingrid McCue and Jennifer Pride
78. Jackie Ryan and Nicole Keller
79. Janna Harttgen and Joanne Tinley
80. Jean Yates and Lori Anderson


81. Jelveh Jaferian and Jenny Davies-Reazor
82. Jenni Connolly and Jennifer Heynen
83. Jennifer Cameron and Kristi Bowman
84. Jennifer Geldard and Lisa Liddy
85. Jennifer VanBenschoten and Kim Hora
86. Jess Italia Lincoln and Lori Greenberg
87. Jill MacKay and Lori Bergmann
88. JJ Jacobs and Karen Tremblay
89. Joyce Becker and Kathy Welsh
90. Judy Glende and Karen Sinkowski


91. Judy Riley and Kelly Morgan
92. JuLee Wolfe and Julie Bean
93. Julianna Cannon and Julianna Kis
94. Julie Nordine and Lesley Watt
95. K. Hutchinson and Shea Zukowski
96. Karen Firnberg and Karyn Bonfiglio
97. Karen Williams and Kimberly Roberts
98. Karen Zanco and Polly Barker
99. Kari Carrigan and Laura Twiford
100. Karin von Hoeren and Laura Blanck


101. Kate Richbourg and Lorelei Eurto
102. Kathleen Lange Klik and Maria Clark
103. Kathy Engstrom and Keri Lee Sereika
104. Kay Thomerson and Loretta Carstensen
105. Kelley Fogle and Laurel Bielec
106. Kelly Ramstack and Sally Anderson
107. Kim Stevens and Tiffany Long
108. Kristi Harrison and Mandy Williamson
109. Kristi Kyle and Lana Kinney
110. Kristina Johansson and Sue Hodgkinson


111. Kym Hunter and Laura Sanger
112. Laura Zeiner and Susan Kennedy
113. Laurel Stevenand Mary McGraw
114. Laurie Hanna and Lisa Boucher
115. Lesley Weir and Liz DeLuca
116. Linda Djokic and Tracey Weiser
117. Linda Inhelder and Pam Brisse
118. Linda Landig and Lori Dorrington
119. Linda Murphy and Lisa Hamilton
119. Line Labrecque and Marianne Baxter
120. Lisa Lodge and Monica Johnson


121. Lois Moon and Melissa Muir
122. Lola Surwillo and Therese Frank
123. Lori Bowring Michaud and Marci Brooks
124. Lupe Meter and Norma Agron
125. Maggie Towne and Marge Beebe
126. Malin de Koning and Susie Hibdon
127. Mallory Hoffman and Shirley Moore
128. Marcie Abney and Patty Miller
129. Marcy Lamberson and Melissa Clarke
130. Margot Potter and Suzann Sladcik Wilson


131. Maria Grimes and Wendy Blum
132. Maria Horvath and Melinda Orr
133. Maria Rosa Sharrow and Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp
134. Marian Hertzog and Melissa Mesara
135. Marianna Boylan and Sandi Lee James
136. Marina Dobrynina and Michaela Pabeschitz
137. Marsha Neal and Miri Agassi
138. Mary Ellen Parker and Melissa Meman
139. Mary Elliott and Tamara Soper
140. Mary Hicks and Laurel Steven


141. Melissa Pynn and Michelle Buettner
142. Michelle Hardy and Niki Meiners
143. Michelle Mach and Moira McEvoy
144. Missy Rappaportand Mags Sarri
145. Molly Alexander and Poranna
146. Mylene Hillam and Nicole Rennell
147. Nadezhda Parfyonova and Stacey Curry
148. Nan Emmett and Nancy Peterson
149. Nancy Boylan and Natalie McKenna
150. Natalie Monkivitch and Niky Sayers


151. Natasha Lutes and Pam Ferrari
152. Noemi Baena and Penny Ilagan
153. Pamela Petry and Rebecca Sirevaag
154. Pat Haightand MaryShannon Hicks
155. Patty Gasparino and Vonna Maslanka
156. Penny Neville and Sandi Volpe
157. Pepita Bos and Wendy Chamberlain
158. Raida Disbrow and Rebecca Watkins
159. Rebecca Anderson and Sabrina Staub
160. Regina Santerre and Rose Binoya


161. Rhea Freitag and Tari Kahrs
162. Rochelle Brisson and Teri Baskett
163. Sally Russick and Tracy Bell
164. Sandra McGriff and Shay Williams
165. Sandra Wolberg and Sara Hardin
166. Sarah Elder and Salla Small
167. Saskia Kaffenberger and Sharon Gardner
168. Sharon Palac and Shannon Chomanczuk
169. Shay Stone and Suzette Bentley
170. Shiraz Biggie and Tammy Powley


171. Staci Smithand Tracy Stillman
172. Stacie Stamper and Tracy Martin
173. Stefanie Teufel and Vicky Taylor
174. Stephanie Dixon and Stephanie LaRosa
175. Stephanie Haussler and Valerie Norton
176. Suzanne Tate and Terri Wlaschin
177. Sweet Freedom Designs and Tammy Jones
178. Tania Spivey and Tari Sasser
179. Tara Plote and Terry Matuszyk
180. Terri Gauthier and Deana Hager
181. Theresa Fosdick and Tracey Nanstad



  

Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and A Lovely Cup of Bead Soup!
Cheers,
~Shel~