Something Seedy and Something Blue

Got your attention?   The something seedy, sorry to say, is just that seed bead necklace I made started in a class I took with my friend Kahena last week.  I finally finished....all 7 strands.....and put it together.  Kahena was right; it is an easy mindless task to do while watching TV.  This is what we received in the class, and all you need to make seed bead jewelry.  Well, not all you need.  You also need some monofilament thread.  We used fishing line.  You can get the thread in a craft store, but Kahena thinks the fishing line is stronger, and it certainly costs less.

The little plastic gizmo is called a Beadalon, and low tech as it is, it really does work.  You pour some seed beads inside the bowl (which is a separate piece and rests on a stand), and spin it while angling the hooked needle inside.  Once you get the feel for the right angle, the beads really do automatically slide onto the needle.  This is a picture from the box the Beadalon came in, showing it in action.  Though action is a poor choice of word.  It's really very boring, and best done either in front of the TV or in the company of friends.

I chose a combination of black and silver beads, and this is my finished project:

I'm thinking of some sort of pendant to hang from it, but that's for another day.

I've covered seedy, now on to blue.   Also probably not what you were thinking of.  Nothing sad or sexual, just the color blue.  I'm in a blue tag swap, and this is my contribution:

The background is music paper, gessoed and inked, then stamped with light blue pigment ink, embossed with clear, then inked again with darker blue, so the fern stamp pops more.  I used all my border punches and some Jenni Bowlin mini papers in blue for the top and bottom of the tag.  The cage and bird are cut from Tim Holtz's new Caged Bird die, the cage in dark blue cardstock, the bird in some patterned paper from my stash.

Don't know if it shows up in the photo, but I used some Sakura glaze pens to doodle over the cage, and (if you can see it) the little bit of sparkle on the bird is from a Sakura stardust pen (at least I think that's what it is called) in clear.