Happy Summer!

To my friends,

I'm sorry to be away so long. I didn't mean to fall off the face of the earth, but I'm coming around again. I've needed time to deal with stressful changes that have been ongoing in our life this past year. Gratefully, this past week, we are making adjustments in our schedules with new employment. But I do want to thank my friends who have left comments and emails...each one meant more to me than you realize...XO! So, onward and upward. . .

As you know, I've been working on many projects (next post), but here are a few things I recently completed utilizing some pieces I received from Artbeads. This time the focus was to create a design with a "Summertime" theme. I was trying to go another route than Hill Tribe Silver this time, but my muse was telling me different.

I chose these gorgeous 5 x 4mm Deep Ocean Mix Picasso Roundelle Strands, and a Hill Tribe Silver Snail Shell Pendant, Bumble Bee Pendant and Sand Dollar Pendant.

I absolutely love Hill Tribe Silver, but I was totally amazed at the beauty of the Deep Ocean Mix Picasso Roundelle Beads. I've never used them before and they are so pretty! I took a close up so that you could see them better (pictures are clickable). I chose this shade because they are the colors of our ocean in the Pacific Northwest. If you haven't seen these beads either, do yourself a favor and order some!
The first piece I made reminds me of my flowers, the bees and the garden in summer. Despite their painful sting, bees are held in high regard for being wonderful pollinators and producers of honey. Did you know that it is estimated that one third of our food supply depends on insect pollination, most of which is accomplished by bees. They also remind me to *Just Be*!
I created this necklace using 5-7mm Brown Chinese Turquoise Rounds (also available from Artbeads), Hill Tribe Silver Stamped Roundelle Beads in two sizes, the Hill Tribe Silver Bumble Bee Pendant and two 18 x 18 mm Flower Pendants. The Bumble Bee/Flower Necklace is 18".


The following pieces I made because the beach is my most favorite place to go, especially in the summer. I love the sand, the surf, the fresh air, the smell, the wildlife and all of Mother Nature's gifts!

I can't help but mention how horrified, frustrated and heartbroken I feel for the devastation happening in the the Gulf of Mexico right now...what a tragedy!!! I'll be polite and stop there.
You can see that the Picasso beads have the same gorgeous colors as our ocean!

The first beach piece is a Sterling Silver Charm Bracelet with "Gifts from the Sea". I started with SS 140 Cable Chain (available at Artbeads), the Hill Tribe Snail Shell Pendant, the Sand Dollar Pendant, a Starfish Pendant, a Stamped Shell Pendant and a Puff Shell Pendant. I also added four, pale sea foam colored genuine sea glass that was found on the beach in the Olympic Peninsula Coast, in Washington. Mark drilled holes in them for me to use. I finished it with a SS Balloon Clasp.



The "Starfish" necklace was created with a gorgeous 48 x 48mm Hill Tribe Sterling Starfish, four strands of the beautiful Deep Ocean Mix Picasso Roundelle Beads, 3.5mm SS Hill Tribe Beads and finished with a 19 mm Hill Tribe Sterling Starfish Toggle and measures 18".



Thank you Artbeads! These summertime pieces have been fun to create! I hope you will consider creating something fun with the theme of summer too!

I have been busy with other beading projects, planting seeds and our garden. Although...all our plants are looking a little sad are in desperate need of some sunshine. We are all wishing the sun would get here and just stick around. Our rain stats and cool weather this Spring have gone down in the record books. We are all very tired of hearing "record" and "rainfall" on the news...it is June 22nd!

It is gloriously green in Oregon/Washington, but the gray days and rain have been unbelievable this spring. Since it is officially summer, I am hoping it begins to feel that way soon! We all could use some blue sky and sunshine.

Happy summertime to you...enjoy every minute of it! ~Lisa

Disclosure Statement: I have received the above items free of charge from Artbeads, and I am honestly reviewing the products and have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received.