Blue Morning Expressions August 2011 Newsletter Polymer Clay

Volume 8 Issue 8, August 2011

 

What's New in August?

Counted Cross Stitch Patterns— We are happy to announce the grand opening of www.x-stitch-patterns.com—over 300 patterns are uploaded and ready to go. Prices are right around $2.50 per pattern and they are currently on sale for $1.88. At the moment, we will not be creating any more patterns, while we work on …….

The Seed Bead Pattern Store—patterns are being uploaded and we are a third of the way through the complete catalog. There is a freebie section and many of the tapestry patterns are under $2.50 as well. There are more freebies and patterns to upload, there are 250 more to go. You can find all these patterns at www.theseedbeadpatternstore.com

Puzzles and Games—new section www.bluemorningexpressions.com includes crossword puzzles, e-jigsaw puzzles, word search puzzles and other goodies are available for immediate download for your enjoyment.

They are free and fun, written and designed by me. E-jigsaw puzzle sample:

I have a lot more to upload, but have run out of time. I am trying very hard to get organized but it seems like a futile effort.As an example, I have over 50 more of these digital jigsaw puzzles to get ready for the website and then upload for you to download.

Crossword puzzles are next.

Polymer Clay Canes—These canes are available on www.bluemorningexpressions.com and along with some regular canes, these custom color canes are located in the cane section. I reorganized the cane section and split it up by type and color. That makes it much easier for everyone to find what they are looking for. I will be adding more geometric and kaleidoscope canes as soon as I unpack some of my tools.

Artfire—I have my complete stores on artfire.com—I loaded everything into it. You will find Blue Morning Expressions, X-Stitch-Patterns, The Seed BeadPattern Store, and Clipon Earrings Boutique. If you are interested, you can find me at http://www.artfire.com/users/bluemorningexpressions

As always, thank you for all your support and emails.

www.bluemorningexpressions.com

Until next month,

Julie & Blu

Mini Tutorial
To create rondelle dangle earrings, simply take the rondelle bead and using a eyepin, string a crystal, a spacer bead/bead cap, the rondelle bead, another spacer bead/bead cap and finish it off with another crystal.
Wire wrap your top and add color coordinated crystal wire wraps to the eye of the eyepin.
Attach the dangle to a leverback or a french wire and you are ready to add sparkle to any outfit you are wearing. Substitute a coin or a tab bead in place of a rondelle.
Here is a finished example.

Let me know if you have any questions,

or need any help.

One of a kind rondelles are available at

www.bluemorningexpresions.com

Have fun,

Julie and Blu

Let me know if you need any help with creating these earrings.
Julie and Blu

Fawn in Bozeman, Montana from Zazzle.com

Fawn in Bozeman, Montana from Zazzle.com

BluPrint Blue Morning Expressions Newsletter July 2011

 

Volume 8 Issue 7 July 2011

What's New in July?

Counted Cross Stitch Patterns— lots of busy work getting these together and ready to upload to www.x-stitch-patterns.com site. Many of the patterns were not done in color and were not complete and ready for download. These patterns are just about finished and ready for upload after the site is completely revamped. Currently, they are up on www.artfire.com/users/bluemorningexpressions and will be on their own site soon.

The Seed Bead Pattern Store—the same thing with the patterns on that site as well. Everything is in bits and pieces and they are the priorities to work on this summer.

Puzzles and Games—new section www.bluemorningexpressions.com includes cross word puzzles, e-jigsaw puzzles, word search puzzles and other goodies are available for immediate download for your enjoyment.

They are free and fun, written and designed by me.

E-jigsaw puzzle sample: 

 

Polymer Clay Canes—I am utilizing eBay for some deep discounts on my canes. I just drug three big boxes of individually wrapped canes all the way across the country and now I am anxious to start creating new ones, so I have to let these go. I don’t normally use eBay for anything, but I thought what the heck? I also put up a lot of my floral round beads.

These canes are also available on www.bluemorningexpressions.com and along with some regular canes, these custom color canes are located in the cane section. I reorganized the cane section and split it up by type and color. That makes it much easier for everyone to find what they are looking for. I will be adding more geometric and kaleidoscope canes as soon as I unpack some of my tools.

As always, thank you for all your support and emails.

www.bluemorningexpressions.com

Until next month,

Julie & Blu

New Products:

Necklace & Earring Sets— I finished 10 more sets of lampwork beads filled with Swarovski crystal bi-cones and delica seed beads. All have been added to www.bluemorningexpressions.com.

Word Search Puzzle

It seems like it took me forever to do this, but here is the first freebie word search puzzle on Blue Morning Expressions. I have a lot more, but I seem to be moving slower than usual :)

This word search puzzle is for Jewelry makers - it is titled Jewelry Basics 1.

Go to Blue Morning Expressions and get the puzzle.

Have fun, mark the page, I have a lot of other puzzles in the works, including jigsaw puzzles.

Hurray for the Red, White and Blu!

Since moving to Montana, I have lost track of the time of the year. There is a good chance that in the next day or so, we will have high elevation snowfalls again and the daily temperature is in the 50s- 60s. I do enjoy the weather, since I know back in Florida it is in the triple digits and my coastal community is looking at 90 plus, plus.



So, I forgot that the 4th of July was coming up, until I had a customer buy my Stars and Stripes Necklace and one of my 4th of July bracelets.



Both of those pieces featured the beautiful lampwork beads of Jacquie Maruri and were created with Swarovski, glass pearls, seed beads and my polymer clay star beads. I handstitched the entire necklace and each strand has been created out of fireline.



I have every intentions of doing the same with all the focal beads that I purchased from Jacquie and each necklace is labor intensive. I have two of these beaded necklaces left at the moment.



One is titled "Egyptian Sunset" and the other one is "Once in a Blu Moon". Jacquie provided the Blu Moon bead and the other was created by Adorned in Treasure.



I have been busy doing freelance writing the last month that I have neglected my bead making and jewelry design. I can't wait to get back to it!

BluPrint June 2011 Newsletter of Blue Morning Expressions

Volume 8 Issue 6 June 2011

What's New in June?

Montana—As you may know, we did make our trek from Florida to Montana for at least the next few months. We are trying out Montana and they are trying us out. Due to the delays in the shuttle launch, I missed the last Endeavor launch and actually got to see it on The Weather Channel in the breakfast lobby at a motel in Wyoming. Just not the same as watching it from my kitchen table, but am enjoying the new things that Montana has to offer. What a gorgeous state!

Blu got to see snow for the first time when we went up into the Hyalite Canyon area and trekked partway around the reservoir. There has been more snow and he wore us out and we all enjoyed the hike. It has only been a few days in the last month that the temperature has risen above60 degrees. This is quite a change for me, it was 96 degrees when I left Florida!

I have not unpacked my clay or my equipment, as we are in a small cabin and I have no room to just spread it all out. I unpack what I need when I need it and put it all away at the end of the day. Maybe I should have been doing that all along and my work station wouldn’t have gotten so cluttered and messy!

 

Polymer Clay Canes—I am utilizing eBay for some deep discounts on my canes. I just drug three big boxes of individually wrapped canes all the way across the country and now I am anxious to start creating new ones, so I have to let these go. I don’t normally use eBay for anything, but I thought what the heck? I also put up a lot of my floral round beads.

These canes are also available on www.bluemorningexpressions.com and along with some regular canes, these custom color canes are located in the cane section. I reorganized the cane section and split it up by type and color. That makes it much easier for everyone to find what they are looking for. I will be adding more geometric and kaleidoscope canes as soon as I unpack some of my tools.

As always, thank you for all your support and emails.

www.bluemorningexpressions.com

Until next month,

Julie & Blu

The Travelin’ Show

 

Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies and everyone go…..

Traveling with Blu was like having a toddler in the car. “Give me a drink”, “Wipe my face”, “I’m hungry”, “I have to go to the bathroom”, “Oops, I just threw up”.

We traded in the view of the space shuttle from the kitchen table, for the majestic mountains of the Rockies; specifically, the Gallatin Range. I live near places like Roaring Hell Creek now. I am fairly positive that it has that name for a reason.

Shuttle launch – July 4th

We spent four days on the road with only my beads, clay and some clothes packed. Oh, and my pc and laptop. I had my priorities in order. Everything was precisely packed in the back of my Blazer and Blu was allotted a 4x4 area to sit or lay down. Everything else was walling him in.

Could we get any happier?

He only had one incident, we took a turn too sharp in Atlanta and he became buried under stuffed animals and his dish. He farted.

Our travels took us up through all the areas that were so badly damaged by the tornado outbreak. It was very difficult to see all that damage and be helpless to do anything but pray for the folks in those areas.

The paths were obvious as they crossed the interstates and cut wide swatches through the trees along the road. The last place that we saw damage was in St. Louis and just seeing the rivers and streams all bursting forth gave you the sense of being so insignificant.

This is the Tennessee River – up and over it’s banks.

We had smooth traveling weather across the Midwest and up into Wyoming. We left intermittent rain behind us in Kansas City, Mo. and sailed the rest of the way into Montana where we were greeted to 50s and 60s and sunny skies.

Our summer rental was ready for us when we got here and I feel so blessed by the new surroundings.

We found a little one bedroom cabin on a pond with mountain views all around us and lots of wildlife. We were immediately greeted by the honking of the Canadian Geese, mallards, a local pheasant, 2 deer, a muskrat, a mating pair of robins and oodles of red wing blackbirds.

Canadian Geese

Yes, I traded in the antics of a pair of crazy rabbits that were using my back porch as a playground and a squirrel that insisted on burying all his nuts in my potted plants for a more rural environment, but I am looking forward to an inspiring summer.

Oh, the robin just decided where she was going to put her nest. Right outside my dining room window! Yay babies!

Enjoy the photos!

Julie and Blu