This is my "Under The Lake" bracelet that I finished yesterday and put on Etsy. I call it that because I was listening to an audio book by James Patterson called "Under The Lake" and it put all these wild patterns in my head. Before I finished the bracelet I had just attached 5 feet of fireline to it and decided I should vacuum my studio because my friends said they might drop by and I had some polymer clay on the floor from when I was claying. I didn't notice the fireline hanging down while I was vacuuming and all of a sudden I saw the bracelet go flying through the air and hit Booboo (the cat) who was sleeping in his bed next to where I do my beading. He let out a scream and went flying out the door. Next thing I know the bracelet disappeared. I stopped the vacuum cleaner, turned it over and pulled the brushes out, no bracelet. I took the bag out cut it open, no bracelet. I looked every where for that thing. I was dumfounded. Of course it was the last place I looked, it had fallen in the little garbage can next to my beading table and of course it only had 4 inches of thread left on it. My new words to live by are "BEADING AND VACUUMING DON'T GO TOGETHER. I think I should just give up vacuuming. My problem is that I have 6 vacuums, a Hoover Floor Mate, and two mops. Obsessive compulsive my husband calls it. The cat never did like vacuum cleaners now I know why.

If you are a Star Trek fan, go see the new one, it's awesome.

Live long and prosper and keep on beading and playing with clay.

Oh, and go to bleekreations.etsy.com

Last week I was looking at my new Beadwork magazine and a face jumped out at me. It was Marylou Holvenstot who has a beautiful bracelet in the magazine and the instructions on how to make it. I was stunned. Marylou and I bowled together a few years back in Illinois and we both worked for and retired from the same company. I haven't talked to her in at least 10 years. I contacted her through Etsy and found out she does incredible beading and also does drawings and sells her paper art on etsy. We have been emailing back and forth for a couple days now and I'm hoping to see her when I get back that way in July. She's given me some great tips to help me with my Etsy shop.

Marylou doesn't do polymer clay but she has lots of friends that give her beads to use for some of her items that she makes and sells on etsy. I decided she needed some of my things also. I was just finishing up with some clay that I had been working with. I tend to make Natasha beads from the ends of everything and try to get a few spirals out of it too. I sent her the set of beads in the lower left corner picture above. She hasn't seen them yet. The colors are pretty wild, most of her jewelry is low keyed and classy. I guess she could always string them with bells and hang them on the back porch. I wanted her to see some of the other things I had been doing lately so I spread my stuff out on the nearest thing I had which was a Shamwow (I Love Those Things). They are great for holding beads when you are sanding them. Anyway, here's my Shamwow with the latest things I've done. If you see a little "Julie Picarello" in there it's because I took a class from her in February. I love that girl. She's a great teacher. Thank you Julie.

If you get a chance, please visit time2cr8.etsy.com and see all the beautiful things Marylou has done and while you are there, check out bleekreations.etsy.com. I'm working at getting more into my shop but it's a slow process for me.

A friend of mine took a class from Lisa Pavelka and told us that Lisa had a saying "More is More, Less is a Bore". I loved that saying and I started covering this Brighton bracelet box and couldn't quit thinking about that saying. This is what I ended up with. I love it and will be doing more very soon. I polished it with 7 coats of Future. The first picture is after the Future and the second one is before the Future. It really changed the colors of the baked clay.

My friends tease me that I'm a shiny girl and most of my clay work is sparkly. I'm trying to tone it down but us Leos like shiny.

Polymer Clay Shoes - I LOVE SHOES

I love shoes and I love making polymer clay shoes both big and small. My friends all have a shoe. This one is my favorite because of the colors. It was done for a challenge at our clay guild's outing last September. I call this my Cinderella shoe. Still waiting for the handsome prince with the rich parents :0).