Sleeping Wide Awake

More Fun Beads

Got even more cute beads to play around with! Maneki nekos, turtles, ladybugs, fishes, and sakura blossoms - oh my!

Bonsai!

Today I went to Las Cruces to deliver some jewelry orders to my local customers and I was met with a surprise:

It’s an artificial bonsai tree! And what makes this even cooler is the fact that the greenery of the tree will change colors depending on the moisture in the air. Isn’t that cool? One of my customers is this wonderful, sweet little old lady who always challenges me with her orders. Sometimes I’m scouring around for the right components to finish a bracelet for her, or sometimes she makes a request for something I don’t know how to do (or do very often) and so she pushes me out of complacency and challenges me to get better, and for that I love her. And today she gifted me with this sweet gift. :)

Now to find a nice place for it that the cats won’t knock down!

Got Some New…Hot…Ideas!

I found some pretty awesome beads to work with recently. I am especially excited to be working with these red chili beads:

I’ve got two different kinds of glass chili beads. One kind is lampwork and the green stems of the chili fold over backwards making a nice loop. The second kind are also glass, but are a bit thick and nice detail. The holes of the beads are bored on the sides though making them not so ideal for earrings. Maybe it’s a New Mexico thing, but I really can’t wait to get to working with these guys. I’ve got lots of ideas in my head right now for the chilies, I just can’t decide which ones I want to try first!

I also got some really cute animal beads that I can’t wait to do something with as well. Here’s a close up of them:

I’ve got a black cat, white seal, and lynx to work with. These also have the holes bored on the sides. Not sure how I’m gonna use them yet.

Nail Art: Silvery White Swirls on Blue Tips

I’m not really sure what inspired this design, except that I just wanted my nails to be half-painted in color with the rest clear. Tips of my nails were painted in blue nail polish (Midnight Blue from Sinful Colors) and boy did that make me realize how long my nails had grown! I traced the bottom edge of the blue-tips with a nail art pen (Sally Hansen in Pearly White) and drew a small swirl going up in one direction and then down in the opposite direction. I then traced the white lines with silver glitter nail polish (Beware from Pure Ice). Finally, I topped it all off with a couple of coats of a clear, quick dry, top coat.

Flowers & Stripes Nails

I meant to post photos of these last night and then I forgot. Oops. Well, even though I loved the design I had on my nails previously it got pretty chipped and messed the other day so I repainted my nails. These have a simple purple base (Boomerang from L.A. Colors) with white stripes. The middle fingers on each hand have a flower drawn on them and outlined in black. The left hand features a dandelion with fluff floating down and the right hand has a tulip with a petal falling off.

Rocket 99.5 Swag!

Went to the dentist today….on my birthday. Not fun. But on the way, my favorite radio station, the Rocket 99.5, was giving out some awesome prizes during Shannon’s Sack Lunch…..and amazingly, I was the lucky caller!

Today’s prize included Surrender the Fall’s album “Burn in the Spotlight”, a gift certificate to Caliche’s, a gift certificate for a Cake Pop Bouguet from the Green Door Bake Shop, and a gift certificate for the Las Cruces Taproom and Zeffiro Pizza.

Now that is an awesome birthday present. XD

The Beading Dragon - Now At Two Locations!

Yes, that’s right, I finally got my own Etsy shop set up! http://www.etsy.com/shop/ABeadingDragon

And of course, you can still find me on Storenvy as well: http://beadingdragon.storenvy.com

Storenvy has been giving me trouble uploading photos here lately, so most of the latest stuff is at my Etsy shop right now. Hopefully that issue will get resolved soon.

As you can see, I’ve been a busy, busy girl. ^____^

Water Marbling Take Three

This is my third attempt at using the water marbling technique on my nails, and this time I am satisfied with the results.