BTW and other goodies

Hi everyone! Enjoying your Wednesday? It's hot enough to cook an egg already outside. I wish I could say I'm spending the day beading, but we received an invitation to the pool, so I'm taking the kiddies and the sunscreen and venturing out. Have I mentioned how lily white we are? Well, the boys are not so bad. My oldest can tan with the best of them, and my Daniel will tan after he burns. But me and Gracie? Not so much. She got the redhead from my dad's side of the family. Came out as a beautiful auburn color in her hair. And we both have the lovely white girl skin with freckles. So exposure to the sun really only gives us more freckles, and red skin that will then peel, and then we have white skin with freckles. <sigh> Oh well, at least the water will be fun!
Now, on to the beads!!  I have been determined to work on new techniques this summer, and I have some awesome books to do it with too. Mastering Beadwork, Beading Across America, Diane Fitzgerald's Shaped Beadwork, and a few others. Not to mention all the patterns on the internet!
So let's see if you can guess what the technique is for the one I chose!

 There are lovely red lined topaz drops in the center.

 Bronze 11's outline the design.

A gorgeous matte size 8 called Raku blue/purple iris make up the pattern.  If I had to name this beauty, it would be Fire and Ashes.












So have you guessed it yet? Well, even you non-beadweavers have probably done this stitch. It's something that most little girls are taught. Yep, you're right.....daisy chain!
Actually, this is a double daisy chain. It's from Carol Cypher's Mastering Beadwork.  I know I'll be making it more, since my daughter immediately requested one for herself!

Now, here's the "other goodies" part of the post. I was lucky enough to win a giveaway from Lisa Crone over at A Bead A Day. It was for a Swaroski Montana blue pendant. I was drooling, I wanted it so bad. And that sweet lady didn't just send the pendant, she blessed me with an abundance of goodies! See??

Here's the beautiful pendant.

I tried hard to capture the sparkle.

 Check out the metal flowers and the blue/white beads!

This bead frame is so pretty, I've never worked with anything like it, so I'm very excited to use it.

So here's my question....so many of you have talked about the fun of using liver of sulphur and gilder's paste to alter the look of metal. Could I try either of those on the metal flowers? Wasn't sure because of the crystal in the center.

Thanks for the advice!

 So now go check out the other Bead Tables. Bead Table Wednesday Flicker group

Blessings, Shirley