Murrini Monday - on Tuesday (because President's Day has me confused on what day it is)

I haven't been blogging about my love for murrini (not since October of last year!), but that doesn't mean my love has faded. It's still very much alive. I've been making a lot of custom dog beads, which, sadly, don't require murrini. But I've also been asked to make some mini murrini owls (above), and I happily obliged. In fact, I made extras, so some of these will soon be for sale.

This elephant has extremely good taste in murrini. I adore this heart! It's from Lori and Kim (as are the murrini on the owl beads) and the detail and colors just blow me away.

Here is the latest in COE 104 murrini from Lori and Kim - this blend is called pansy garden, and it's filled with pansies (omg the detail!) and other purple and yellow flowers (I spy daffodils and roses!) AND bees! The colors of this blend are wonderful and I believe I'll be owning some soon because it gives me hope that spring is actually around the corner. Find Lori and Kim's awesome murrini blends here.

Happy Murrini Monday to one and all!

Cats!

This time of year has me thinking about cats. Not that I don't think about cats at other times of the year, but just before the holidays I think about cats even more. We adopted our two cats, Ernie and Bert, three years ago at this time of year. I was the kitten scout. I was at the shelter nearly every day, petting cats and kittens. Once I'd chosen an orange kitten (after several interviews and cuddle sessions), I brought my husband to the shelter to meet him. Bob and the kitten took to each other right away, so while they were bonding I opened another kitten cage and took out a little black kitty. When we put both kitties on the floor, they started running around together and I think they might have fallen in love. Or maybe that was me. That's when Bob said "We could get two . . ." Um, ok! So we signed the papers and paid the adoption fee, but we weren't allowed to take the kitties home just yet. The orange kitten had an eye infection and that needed to clear up before they would release him. They put the two kitties together in the same cage and we went home and waited. And waited. I went to the shelter with our cat carrier, ready to take them home, but they still would not release them and I left with my empty cat carrier. I understood. But boy did I want to bring those kitties home! Finally, on Christmas Eve, the kittens were cleared to come home. We picked them up and put them in a wrapped box (you know, the kind they have on soap operas where the box top is wrapped separately so all you have to do is pull off the top) and presented the box to our kids. They were stunned. It was one of those awesome moments - we had kittens! Our kids had never had kittens before. The three cats we had had during their life were all grown, so they had never known the wonder of little kittens. It was so much fun! Ernie and Bert are now "cats," but we still call them "the kittens." They became best friends right away and they play and sleep together. They are wonderful. :)

So it's no wonder that I want to shop for cats this time of year. But we're at our limit now with these two fur balls, and that's ok. We love them. But in my cat-obsessed state I've been favoriting a lot of cat items on Etsy and I even made a holiday cat treasury. I can't seem to get cats off my mind. 

Then my glassy friend Lori of loribeads posted this glorious picture of the cat beads she's been making. Aren't they wonderful??? I love group shots of critter beads - and these kitties all get along so nicely, no hissing. :) I didn't see any cat beads in her shop yet, but that's what she's been up to, so hopefully they'll be sneaking in there soon. 

My glassy friend Nikki has a whole litter of kitty cats in her shop, nlcbeads. I own a couple of her cat beads and they are even better in person. Their itty bitty paw pads are my favorite little adorable detail. 

These little tipsy cats by Min of minfidler are a new obsession of mine. I just love the design and all the little details on each kitty cat. I own one of her upright cat beads that I just adore. She has both designs in her shop now, but I've noticed that the tipsy cats go fast! Find her cat beads here.

Another shop that's under the influence of cats is RCTees. Shop owner Toni just had her 8,000 sale! So you know there are happy customers all over the globe sporting her fabulous shirts. I'm one of them - I have two RC t-shirts and I love them. The fit is just right, and the graphics are outstanding. Not all the shirts and bags at RCTees are cat-related - there's something for everyone there. 

So if you're like me and are a little cat-obsessed at this time of year (or any time of year), check out  all the wonderful cat items from the shops I featured. Then head to your local shelter and pet some cats. Or if you can, try volunteering at a shelter. Two of my kids have been helping out as Junior Volunteers at Save-A-Pet. They were there last weekend and two kittens were adopted during their shift. So I'm guessing the new owner of those kittens might feel like me at this time of year in years to come - thinking about cats. :)

Murrini Monday - I can see it in your eyes

It's no secret that I love murrini. I especially love using perfect little slices of murrini for owl eyes. Certain pieces just jump out at me and beg to be turned into owl eyes. 

As soon as I saw the murrini slices I used in teh above bead (from Lori and Kim's Fun Dip blend), I knew they would make perfect owl eyes. But I think I could have shown them off much better than I did. I wish I hadn't used turquoise for the owl's chest feathers - see how it blends in to the blue on the bottom of the murrini? Not good, in my opinion. I should have used green as the chest feathers, or maybe pink. Then the murrini would stand out much better.

This owl has successful murrini eyes. Even thought there's a good deal of blue on the inner part of the murrini, it's bordered by silvered ivory, so the blue of the bead doesn't blend in with the blue on the murrini. The contrast works much better. 

I still have two more slices of that awesome murrini from the Fun Dip blend, so I will give it another go. This time I'll make it work. :)

Happy Murrini Monday!

Sneak Peek Tuesday ~ What a Hoot

With the holidays on the horizon, I want to have more "ready-to-wear" options for my customers. So I'll be making more earrings in the coming weeks. Earring pair beads are some of the hardest beads for me to make - unless they are mismatched earrings. But not everyone is into those, so I'm trying to make several pairs where the beads match. It usually takes a few tries to get a good match, but yesterday it took only three beads.

I think the two middle owls will work well as earrings. The little guy on the right is a good match size-wise, but his eyes are a little crazy. The larger owl on the left is a new design I'm working on - adding a little heart to one side.

So watch for the little blue and raku owls to be hanging out on sterling silver ear wires in my Etsy shop. The larger owl will likely be listed as a focal bead.

Saturday is Catterday!

Today I'm introducing a new feature - Saturday is Caturday! But I probably should spell it Catterday, or it could be read as "cat turd day" and that's just not what this will be about. I hope. What it will be about is cats! We have two cats - Ernie and Bert. We still call them "the kittens" and they are almost 3 years old. But we got them when we had an older cat, so they were and still are the kittens. They still act like kittens anyway. So on Catterdays I'll post an adorable picture of one or both of our cats or I'll post some cat bead pictures. This being the very first Catterday, I've got both! Bonus! 

Here we have Ernie (the ginger) and Bert sitting on the kitchen table watching a little bird on the back patio. I'm no cat mind-reader, but I can guess that they're thinking mmmmmmm. 

 Here is Bert, again on the table, demonstrating that he can sit in the weirdest positions and still act like he's comfortable. He looks like he has elbows. 

And looky here! Cat beads! I put a group of my cat beads together (they all behaved for the picture, but you don't want to know what went down afterward. Lots of hissing). I've been experimenting a lot with cat bead design and I'm still trying to figure out my cat style. The two kitties on the left in the picture are standing, and notice they both have those classic cat "cheeks." The two on the right are a little more artsy(?) - just the cat face and body and tail - no cheeks or even feet. They can't go anywhere or even mew. They've even been mistaken for owls (with tails). Poor things. The kitty in the middle is sitting and seems to have it all - the cat cheeks and all four legs. 

What style of cat do you like best? Cheeks or no cheeks? Do you like the little spots on the orange cat's cheeks? 

Thanks for your input! 

Happy Catterday!

Sneak Peek Tuesday

Now that I'm back to blogging (ok, two days in a row now), I've decided to make Tuesdays Sneak Peek Tuesdays. I'll post a picture or two of beads I've made but haven't yet listed. This week I have some mini beads (my favorites to make!) that I plan on turning into earrings. There are three Halloween beads, so those will be a pair-and-a-spare listing; and two little matching turtles.

Be sure to come back every Tuesday for your sneak peek of things to come in my Etsy shop. 

Thanks!

Murrini Monday!!!

That's right, Murrini Mondays are back! And for that matter, I'm back, too. I can't believe the last time I blogged was in July. So now that the school year is underway and I'm kid-free much of the time, I plan to be more regular - about blogging! So let's dive right in and I'll show you some of the awesome murrini I've been using.

This turtle features four slices of Lori and Kim murrini, all encased in clear. I'm not much into symmetry or making everything match, so I used four different slices of murrini, a twistie and some frit to decorate the shell before encasing it. I love the random color surprises.

Here's a newer style of owl bead I like to call patchwork. Before adding the eyes and other features, I cover the owl's chest will all sorts of random murrini - my collection of rosebud101 murrini works great!  Doesn't it have a patchwork look to it?

I've been making miniature dinosaur beads to benefit the JDRF (Dinobeadies for Diabetes), and they are perfect for showing off one slice of murrini (on each side!). These two brightly colored dinos are wearing murrini from FlamingEck - love them!

Thanks for coming back to visit on Murrini Mondays! I'll have new murrini to show off next week, and new posts in between. Have a great week!

Hooter GIVEAWAY!

I'm giving away this petite blue fritty owl. 

Here are the rules:

1. Share this post on Facebook. I'll post it first on my Maybeads page, then all you have to do is share it.

2. Come back here and leave a comment saying you shared it. Also - be sure to leave your contact information so I can find you if you win. 

Easy as pie. 

Thanks for entering! I'll draw a name on Thursday night.

Art Imitates Art Imitates Art

I've said it before, I'm inspired by stuffed animals. I've often used my daughters' favorite plush toys as inspiration for my beads. Now I've used a recent Etsy purchase (for my daughter's upcoming birthday) as the model for my first lemur bead. When I first laid eyes on the huge eyes of Leonardo the Lemur on Raven's Craft Creations Facebook page, I knew I had to get it for my daughter. She is an Etsy fanatic and always asks for "Etsy money" for her birthday so she can pick something out. She has a thing for koalas and chickens (she adds them to my favorites a lot), but I just know this lemur will find a prominent place in her stuffed animal pile. 

The lemur arrived recently and it is sooooo cute! Raven, of Raven's Craft Creations on Etsy is so talented with amigurumi animals! Once I saw it, I knew I wanted to turn it into a bead. The eyes may be what caught my attention, but the long ring tail is my favorite part. It bends! 

Here is my glassy version of Leonardo the Lemur. He was very fun to make! You can get your own Leonardo the amigurumi Lemur here. But that's not all Raven makes - baby beanies, dinosaur hats and totes are also available. But the amigurumi animals are my favorites. :)

Here are Raven's latest little critter creations ~ octo-squeedles. They come in just about any color combination you can think up, and they are so flippin' cute! Raven actually modeled these little octopus toys after another glass artist's creations:

At Everything Squeedle, proceeds from every purchase of these adorable Squeedle beads go toward funding research for Type 1 diabetes, a cause I am personally behind. See the little red spot on the far left leg? That's to show he's tested his blood sugar (something diabetics have to do about 10 times a day) to make sure he's in the safe range - good Squeedle! These are charming and unique little creatures that I'm sure bring comfort to kids with Type 1. 

Once again, it all comes full circle. :)