Wedding Flowers

I've been so busy lately (all fun stuff) that I think I've developed a little ADD. I have so much going on that my mind can't keep focused on any one thing. We have my son graduating from high school and headed to college, my daughter graduating from college, and also getting married. Wow! What summer this will be!

While my daughter was home for Christmas, we went to one of my favorite places and looked at their silk flowers. Ashley is wanting to use bright yellow and a turquoise blue. We found the perfect flowers. I went ahead a bought them, as they probably won't be around closer to the wedding. Now, what do I do with them? You see, I am not a very good floral person. Yes, I can make jewelry, and some other crafty things, but nothing to do with flowers. I got on line and researched how to make a wedding bouquet. This is what I came up with.

It needed something...babies breath! I went back, and couldn't find babies breath, but found some small white silk flowers that would work.




This is what I came up with. She is having a butterfly theme, which I will blog about at a later date. Ashley and I had found these cute realistic butterflies on clearance at our local craft store. Was not really sure what we were going to do with them, but they look really good in the bouquet. I also added some white ebeads in the bouquet too. Now all I need to do is wrap the stem part of the flowers. I had a friend show me how, but now I have to do it. Hmmm. Kinda scared, so I'll let it sit awhile. Heck I have plenty of time, right? Well, I do know it will be here before we know it, and I want this to be a DIY wedding, so, I do have a lot to do.




Now the next thing I needed to try to figure out was how to make a boutonniere. Again, I headed to the internet, and found several ways to make them. This is my finished product. Not too bad for someone who is clueless.




So, now I have to make several more boutonnieres. I've already made one "throw away" bouquet, I need to make one more (we are having two receptions).

The next thing is to figure out how I am going to make the centerpieces. I'm sure this is going to be much more difficult, so I will be headed to my friends house for some advise. She is really good at this kind of stuff (she was a floral arranger at one of our local craft stores, and did gorgeous work). Stay tuned to see what I come up with...

Bead Soup Blog Party Items I Mailed

As I mentioned a few days ago, I am participating in the Bead Soup Blog Party, hosted by Lori Anderson (http://lorianderson.blogspot.com/p/bead-soup-blog-party.html).

This is what you do at a Bead Soup Blog Party--First you sign up and Lori pairs you up with another jewelry maker. She tries to pair you up with someone who has a different genre than you do. My partner is Stacie Stamper (http://www.parkavenue-stacie.blogspot.com/). You then go through your stash (every jewelry has a stash). The only thing that you must do is send some sort of a center piece, a fancy clasp, and absolutely NO plastic or junk. You can send as much or as little as you like.

After you receive your items from your partner, then you create. On Saturday, 26 February, you need to have pictures of things things you received--before you create, and after you create--uploaded to your blog. You then blog about what you did. Then, on that date, you visit all the other "party goers" and see what they sent, received and made. Fun, don't ya think?


I had a really neat glass flower donut pendant that I've had for quite sometime, waiting for the perfect piece. I decided to work around this. I work a lot with hematite chips, beads, hearts and stars, so I sent her a bit of each of those. Since it looked as if I was going for the orange and black venue, I decided to send her some carnelian chips. She had mentioned that she hardly ever worked with seed beads, so I sent her some black glass ebeads and white glass ebeads. She also mentioned that she wanted to get into wire jewelry. I don't know if she will use any of the wire I sent, but I thought it was a little different and vintage, so I sent her some of the telephone wire my dad got years ago (late 1960's early 70's), when he was working for NASA at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They were redoing the phone wiring and throwing all the old stuff away. He asked if he could have some of it, and they told him take as much as you would like, and so he did. I've made a few pieces out it (see my facebook Treasures by Terry). One other thing I sent are some silver spacer beads.

I know Stacie received my package sometime last week, and I am expecting to get mine either today or Monday. As soon as I do, I will post them. Then, on 26 February, come back and visit to see what I created.

Pumpkin Pancakes

So, normally, I am not a big fan of pumpkin. Last November, I picked up a calendar at our local grocery store and started thumbing through the months. They had some really good looking recipes, one was Pumpkin Spiced Pancakes. They looked really good, and so I decided to try them.

Fast forward a couple of months, and this morning, I finally decided to make them. They were very yummy, so I would like to share the recipe. I changed it a bit because it called for ground cloves, and I did not have any. Also the recipe was messed up a bit, as in the ingredients it called for reduced fat milk, and in the directions it mentions buttermilk. I used fat free. I eventually want to try it with buttermilk, as that sounds really good.

Pumpkin Pancakes

1 cup flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tbls brown sugar
1 cup fat free milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tbls conola oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
1 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In anothe rbowl, combine milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vanilla. Combine dry mix with pumpkin mix and stir until it has very few lumps. Ladle batter onto a non-stick griddle. Once small bubbles appear, flip pancake.

These were really good, I hope you all enjoy!

I Really do NOT Like the Dentist!

So the other day, I headed for my semi annual dental appointment. I have always been really good about brushing and keeping my teeth clean. I am one of those that brushes just about every time I eat anything. I've been really good about flossing, that is, until I was in the hospital last year, and got out of the habit. That was four months ago. I have been flossing every now and then, but not everyday like I use to.

So, why is it that I am the one that always gets the cavities? No one in my family takes better care of their teeth than I do. Heck, my dad said he didn't even own a toothbrush til he was 18. I really hope he is exaggerating, but I do know that no one, yes no one ever flossed while I was growing up. Did anyone ever have any cavities? Just me...and I had my share of them. In fact I had everyone's share. I don't get it.

Today, I had to go back to get a cavity filled. I was told it was because I did not floss...ya, for four months..?I don't think so. Like I said, I know a lot of people who NEVER floss, and their teeth are cavity free. I guess I have to look at it this way...this is one of my trials in life. I guess it could be worse...

Metal Stamp Giveaway

So, I was able to get my beads for the Bead Soup Blog Party out yesterday. Stacie should be getting her beads by Monday. Lori (Anderson), the host of the party just sent an email reminding us about a great give away...metal stamps. I've been thinking about branching out a bit and trying my hand at metal stamping. I asked my sister, Tammy Powley who is an author of several jewelry how to books and has an about.com site on jewelry making. She said she has tried it, but just does not have a very steady hand for it. I am curious if I have a steady enough hand. Part of me says, "no way," because I have carpel tunnel. BUT!!! I do some intricate painting--Christmas ornaments--and actually have done a pretty good job, so, maybe I do have a steady enough hand. Only one way to find out is to go buy some metal stamps, but I'm just too cheap to do so. I really hope I win these, as I have some cool ideas for metal stamp jewelry, if my hands are steady enough.

http://lorianderson.blogspot.com/2011/01/metal-stamp-giveaway.html

Bead Soup Blog Party

So, I did it! I signed up for the Bead Soup Blog Party, and I am sooooo excited about it. I got my first email from my bead soup party partner. Her name is Stacie, and she is from North Carolina...one of my fav states (we lived there for 5 years, and when we moved away, I was boo hooing all the way to our new home).

So after Stacie introduced herself to me, I knew exactly what I wanted to send. I have it all bundled up and ready to go. I'm just waiting for the next step...her address so I can send them off. Later I will post a picture of what I am sending, and what I have received from Stacie. Then comes the fun part...creating! On the reveal date...no sooner...I will post what I made with the fun stuff I will receive.

There are about 210 fellow jewelry makers who are involved in the Bead Soup Blog Party, so it will be interesting to see what everyone gets and does with their new stash. So, stay tuned...

Class at the Sterlington Library

So, yesterday, Judy and I got together one last time to do last minute planning for our jewelry class at our local library. Judy is a really nice lady I recently met through jewelry making. She works at the library, and was excited to meet me. The library has been wanting to do some type of class in the jewelry area. We met months ago, and have been meeting about every month and putting ideas together. We have decided to have a class on "How to Get Started." If there is interest, then we will do a how to class. Yesterday I found out that two more of our local library branches want us to come and present our class. We are both excited to do so.

Our first class will be held at the Sterlington Library starting at 12:30 on January 20. You will learn about the tools you need, different types of beads, string, wire, and forms of jewelry making. You will also learn what a bead board is and how to use one. We have several books to displayed...mostly my sister's books including her newest...The Complete Photo Guide to Jewelry Making: More than 700 Large Format Color Photos by Tammy Powley.
You can check her book out on Amazon.com

Butterflies

My daughter has been into butterflies lately, so every time I see a pretty one, I get it. I saw this crystal butterfly pendant at Michael's several months ago, and since it was marked way down, I got it. I've hung onto it for awhile, and finally, the other day, strung it up on some mother of pearl and blue crystal.





These beaded butterflies were fun to do, and pretty easy too. In a couple of weeks a friend of mine and I will be hosting a bead/jewelry class at our local library. We don't plan to teach a how to class as of yet. The class will be the basics...what you need to get started, etc. If we have enough interest in actually learning something, I might just teach them how to make these butterflies. You might wonder what you can do with these, well, you can use them as pendants or glue them onto a hair clip or hair band. You can put them onto floral wire and put them in your indoor plants. There are actually a number of things you can do with these...just use your imagination.

Glass Beads

I came across some really pretty glass beads. It is amazing how beautiful glass beads can be. I've made several long necklaces using pearl glass beads interspersed with a few crystal beads. If you just glance at the beads you think they are the real thing.




Another necklace I recently put together, is made of colored glass beads and a mother of pearl flower pendant. I love this necklace because I love bright colors.

Treasures by Terry/facebook

Over the holidays, I made quite a bit of jewelry, especially necklaces. It seems around these neck of the woods, the shorter necklaces (about 16" for the average person) made of ebeads with a small charm are very popular. Living in Louisiana, the fleur de lis is very popular, especially if the beads are gold and black--Saints colors. One other thing I can not keep in stock are LSU necklaces--yellow and purple with sterling tiger paw charm. We also have a number of high schools who have a cat--panthers, lions and tigers--as their mascot, so I whipped up necklaces using their school colors too. Since I am a BYU alumni and my daughter is there going to school, I also made some BYU cougar necklaces.

Check out my Treasures by Terry facebook to see some of these and other jewelry. While you are there, "like" my page, then I can see who all is visiting me there...

Treasures by Terry

One last post for the day...I hope you check out my Treasures by Terry facebook, and "like" it. A lot of my latest jewelry is on there, and if you love jewelry as much as I do, I'm sure you will enjoy what you see.

My Sister's Latest Book is Out

My sister's (Tammy Powley) latest book just came out and I am so excited about it. The Complete Photo Guide to Jewelry Making has so many nice pictures, ideas and instructions. One of the things I like about this book, is that is has such a variety, from bead stringing, wire work, chain making, fiber, etc, just about everything you can imagine is in this book. I also love the more than 700 color photographs. I know you can get this book from Amazon, but if you are like me, you might want to look at it in person first. I've seen a lot of her other books at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, and Books A Million. By the way, when you go take a look see at the book turn to page 295 and you will see some of my crochet pieces.

Amazon.com: The Complete Photo Guide to Jewelry Making: More than 700 Large Format Color Photos (978

www.amazon.com

Bead Soup Blog Party

OK, so today, my sister sent me some info about this Bead Soup Blog Party. It's an internet party where you send out beads to someone and you get beads from someone and make something with it. You post the before and after on to your blog. Pretty cool, don't ya think? I think I may just do it.

It's Been Too Long!

It's been too long since I last even got on to my blog. Sorry. I have been so busy with getting ready for all the Holidays. We spent Thanksgiving in Tennessee with in laws. Had a grrrreat time! Christmas was spent at our house. We had all the kids and my parents, and my daughter's boyfriend. It was a lot of fun. Now that everyone is gone, it is quiet. Most mom's would say hooray, but not me. I love having everyone here.

In October, I started making a ton of jewelry and sold quite a bit of it. I was able to save enough for a trip to Utah to visit my daughter who will soon be graduating from BYU. I look forward to spending some time with her and seeing her dance and visiting some of her classes. I'm sure it will bring back a lot of good memories, as she is majoring in the same thing I did, at the same school. There are still of few of my old teachers around, and some of the instructors were actually students when I was there.

In addition to making a bunch of jewelry, I was also able to take some photography classes, and take some pictures of some of my close friends and their families. Soon, I think I will be ready to start charging for some of my work. I love taking pictures, and starting a new business with my photography would be a wonderful thing for me, because I enjoy it so. I would also like to combine my photography business with my jewelry somehow.

Well, hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year...I know we did :D