Today's the day! I'm so excited to get to show you what I received. Christmas is my very favorite time of year, and I love ornaments, so I was thrilled when I saw Sally's post about her ornament swap.
I quickly signed up, and waited with anticipation to find out who Sally had chosen for my partner.
Well, if y'all heard a squeal, and wondered what it was...yep, it was me! Cause my partner is.......the awesome Karen Williams!!! Girl wonder, crafter extraordinaire. Queen of freeform. The face behind Skunk Hill Studios. Ms. Karen led me through my first experience with freeform with her fantastic book, Freeform Peyote Beading.
Now, Karen has the most wonderful eye for color and texture, so yes...the pressure was on! What to make? what to make? Well, I'm supposed to be showing you what I RECEIVED....so, you'll have to go see what I made over at Karen's blog.
Sally's instructions for this hop were pretty simple, email, talk about what you like, and let the designing begin.
Karen and I are pretty similar in our color loves, and we both love the old fashioned style Christmas.
A couple of years ago, I purchased a very unusual tree, just for me. It is made from iron, and rather reminds you of a Charlie Brown tree. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. And I knew exactly what it would hold. Very special-to-me beady ornaments! I have a couple from swaps from last year, and now I get to add Karen's to it! Want to see? Well, of course you do!

Isn't that just the most beautiful piece you've ever seen? I love blue, and stars, so yes, I'm a very happy girl.

Karen's attention to detail is something I strive for...sigh. Aren't all those little star sequins too cool??

I love bugles, but hate to work with them, so I'm very glad I have a piece that celebrates their beauty...and I didn't have to stitch it! :)

And it's signed! That makes it so very special for me.

I told you she is an amazing artist...yes, she made the card too! (Sorry, I actually took this pic sideways....please tilt your head to the right. There, see?)

And, and , and....it was wrapped in her own hand dyed paper! Yes, I do have all the packaging from her, because it's all this beautiful, and it's mine....not sharing, no, I'm not....

Now, go check out all the other goodies in the swap. And when you get to Karen's, cross your fingers that she doesn't have close ups, cause I can tell you, I do not stitch as well as she does!

Thank you so much for putting this together Sally!

Blessings, Shirley

List of Holiday Ornament Swappers

Sally Russick and Beth and Evie McCord
Erin Prais-Hintz and Melissa Trudinger
Karen Williams and Shirley Moore
Lori Finney and Alicia Marinache
D Lynne Bowland and Paula Kramer
Kim Bender Hora and Jenny Davies Reazor
Becky Pancake and Lori Anderson
Veralynne Malone and Therese Frank
Tanya Goodwin and Sandi Volpe
Jeanette Ryan and Rochelle Brisson

Patti Vanderbloemen and Susan Kennedy

This is one of my very favorite challenges! Hosted by the awesome Therese Frank, and Christine Altmiller, this challenge explores beadweaving stitches. Sparks your creativity, and helps you work on some stitches that maybe....you've avoided in the past?? Yep.
This challenge was just a bit different, in that we were asked to create something from a flat stitch, and a spiral stitch.
So, for flat stitch, we could choose brick, ladder, or square. Oh joy. None of these guys are on my top list of faves....
Ok, so what about the spiral? Those were Russian, Cellini, or African. Better, much better. I've made Russian and Cellini, and haven't tried African yet, so....cool. Now, back to that flat stitch...
I have done some flat brick, specifically the leaves in Kerrie Slade's English Rose pattern. Loved them!!! So let's just go see what we can find, cause of course, I needed to try something new, right?
I found this tute, and decided to try it. A friend had asked me to make a bracelet for her daughter, using some bicones that her daughter had been gifted. I thought this would make a perfect teen bracelet.

I love the color combo, and it is an eye-catching pattern.

However, my tiny bit of OCD kicks in, and that uneven edge really bothers me. :)

But it was totally fun to make, and I think if I made it with an even edge, I'd really love it, so I'm going to try that. I'll post pics and you can help me decide.

What I enjoyed was the opportunity to search out patterns that I may have otherwise overlooked.

I really thought I was going to try the African helix for my spiral stitch. I have Carol Cypher's book, Mastering Beadwork, and she explains that stitch very clearly. But I ran just a bit short on time, so I went with a stitch I knew I could do quickly....the Cellini spiral. I really love this stitch, and it's endless variations. However, I usually make a short tube of it, as I've found I don't love how it becomes stiff in a bangle or necklace. Now, I'm really not the best at decreasing smoothly, or transitioning from one stitch to another, so I was pleasantly surprised at how well I did this time.

The color combo started with the beautiful, soft yellow Twin beads by Preciosa. In the Cellini, you are building from smallest bead to largest. My smalls were size 15 Hyacinth AB, moving to an orange-red size 11, then to the lime size 8's, and finally the yellow twins, then back down again.

I love the vibrant color palette, perfect for summer. I transitioned the cellini to CRAW. I made one side of the CRAW, measured it to fit my wrist, and embellished it. That's when my daughter spied it. She's almost 13, and a tiny thing. These are some of her favorite colors, so she immediately asked if it was for her. Hmmm, now I had a dilemma. I had to make the other side the same length as the first...but that would be too big for her wrist, after adding the toggle.

Well, we discovered that using a small magnetic clasp would make the size work for her. It's just a bit loose, but she loves it. And I love that I get to see how well that clasp worked. Again, I would not have ever thought to use it, until circumstances pushed me there. Thanks Therese and Christine, for another great challenge!