And the Winner is: Marina!

The winner of the faceted beads from the flickr demo is...Marina of Tomsk, Russia! Congratulations! I have never mailed anything to Russia before so now I can put another pin in a new spot on the "bead travel map!"
You may know Marina as Marya_Moreva on flickr. Go check out her exotic wire and polymer clay work!

400: Giveway Results tomorrow!

I hit 400 sales in the etsy shop this evening so it's time to draw the names for the "Frosted Facets" giveaway. I swiped the names of everyone who commented in the blog or on flickr. I'll take the names to work with me tomorrow and enlist one of my co-workers to be the picker.

In the meantime, look at my new favorite bead that I plan to keep all to myself!

Happy New Year: Lot of new stuff going on here!

I took advantage of my long holiday weekend to stay up all night making beads and watching netflix.* These, and their assorted family members, will be on etsy later tonight.

In other news, my upstairs remodeling project is in full swing. I will be in this house until I die or go to a nursing home so I'm spending the cats' inheritance on making it the way I want. My tiny 8'x8' "third bedroom" is becoming a walk-in closet and the bathroom is getting larger through elimination of the old closet from the tiny bedroom and the hallway linen closet.
The bathroom will be a classic black-and-white retro cottage style in keeping with the size and age of the house. Since the photos below were taken, the tile has been put down, the new lights are installed, and the cabinets are at Home Depot awaiting pickup. Yay!
Below: View from inside bath toward new closet. The floor is not really slanted ...I created a composite image so it's a bit warped.

Below: view from inside new closet toward bath

Other assorted improvements are going on as well...re-squaring the doorways and installing new doors in my age-slanted house, installing ceiling fan/lights in my bedroom and art "studio," replacing the broken-down microwave/range hood with a standard range hood and a counter microwave, and fixing the water problem in the backyard with an extension to the patio and new drain, followed by repair of the garage ceiling damaged by all the massive rainwater last year (the new drainage system will redirect the water and resolve the issue.)


*Best netflix choice watched: Exit through the Gift Shop. Very interesting. Also saw "True Grit" at the theater with friends and went to a new Indian restaurant after. We really liked both.. Hailee Steinfeld, 13 years old (!) at time of filming True Grit, is fantastic as the main character, Mattie Ross.

Beads: Frosted Facets Demo

I posted photos on Flickr to show how to make these beads. It's so easy! Try it!

Win these sample beads (and some other goodies)! Comment on this item, on the flickr demo page at the link above, and/or on your own blog (and send me a link), and I'll put your name in the hat. The drawing will happen when my shop hits 400 sales...it's not that far away so comment soon!

Beads: Frosted Facets

I took inspiration from Jibby and Juna's fragment carvings, and Beadworx's metallic powders, and Stillpoint Works' matte finish carvings, and these little pastel beads I had seen a while ago (that I finally found the link for) by Unaodd.
Thanks ladies!

beads: Sealpoint Wraps

Years ago my grandmother's neighbor had Coco, an old Siamese cat who sat on the bed and made an mean sound when you walked by. These are named after her (or actually, colored after her!)