Bead of the Week

This particular set is a new technique I tried and I have to say that I really like this set. I am pretty fond of blue and these just turned out really well. I will be making more of these in a variety of colors I believe. If you think of an interesting color combination that you would like to see these in please feel free to leave a comment.

And for those of you who are curious, I will be posting an update on my progress with the new food plan and how the weight loss/fitness thing is going.

Orange and Yellow Summer Flower Handmade Lampwork Bead

I have been working on my floral and encasing skills. I am quite happy with some of my most recent results. The florals can be quite challenging as they are a multi layer bead. The first layer is the base color or the background if you will. Then comes the vine or stem layer, usually a twisty of whatever combination you think will compliment the flowers. This is encased in a layer of clear. On top of that layer of clear go the flowers. Most flowers are also multi layer for depth. You base petal color, then usually a transparent on top of that for depth. This is melted in and then the centers are plunged, (many times with a contrasting color for the center of the flower). A dot of clear over the center if you want a bubble. Then of course you have another layer of clear to finish it off. This is the simple version, I have seen floral beads that have four to six layers of clear and are complete works of art! I am happy with my progress so far lol!

A New Design

I have been spending a lot of time on the lampwork beads. Totally love doing this, and am very happy with my progress. So anyway, the jewelry had been kind of on the back burner for a bit, I made a pair of earring here and a quick bracelet there but nothing too strenuous. One day I really just felt the need to do something a bit more complicated and involved. So I sat down and made this. I am very happy with the way it turned out and plan on doing more of these with a variety of stones and lampwork, with both copper and sterling silver wire. Would love any comments on the design. I am also just starting a beaded cabochon, which is something on my list of things that I wanted to learn. Can't wait to see how it turns out lol.

Glad To Be Back

Well I have been gone for a bit, I do appreciate your patience! I had been having problems with severe fatigue for quite some time now and its generally worse in the winter time so I was pretty much too tired to do much of anything but go to work and make it through the day. I am happy to say that we seem to have found the problem and the course of action is working. (no drugs lol). I also had gained back most of the weight I had lost simply due to being too tired to do anything. I am back on track with that again and now have the energy to actually exercise on a daily basis. I am very grateful to have found an eating plan that is working for me. No more starvation diets. The weight won't come off overnight but after the first 18 days I am feeling much better, never hungry and am beginning to feel stronger and more flexible physically. And without that walking through mud feeling plaguing my days, I might actually be able to accomplish all that I hope to accomplish. So I am going to post fairly regularly how the whole weight loss thing is going, (don't worry, it will probably be about once a month lol).

I started on 03/24/2010

Weight 197.4
% of body fat 49.32
fat weight 97.12
lean body mass 99.5

I am currently in a size 16.

My goal is to lose between 50 and 60 pounds and to get to size 12 comfortably. Mostly though, I want to be healthy, to have the energy and the strength to do whatever I want to do for the day without dragging all the time.

Bonus would be enjoying shopping for clothes (not too much lol since that might break the budget but at least not dread it). A little more self esteem and confidence would be welcome also.

So anyway, I will be back to posting about my jewelry, my beads, other peoples stuff and my life in general on a fairly regular basis I hope. Talk to you soon!