I Won! I Won! Look What I Won!

Yesterday I received some amazing news.  I won something in a giveaway!  I never ever win anything, so this news was somewhat shocking!  But the best part of winning is not that I won.  It's WHAT I won! 

This painting was created by Jean Hutter of Totally Twisted who had a giveaway on her blog,  I entered it with longing to be the winner but quickly squashed my hopeful yearnings as I didn't want to experience the disappointment of not winning again.   So you can imagine my delight at actually having won!  I can't wait for the painting to arrive so I can see it in person.

Jean is not only a painting genius, but a very talented beadweaver and jewelry designer.  You can see more of her creations in her Etsy shop.  Take a few minutes to go look - you won't be disappointed!

Did I Miss Valentine's Day?

I don't know how it happened, but I'm pretty sure February 14th passed me by and I didn't finish my Valentine piece or blog about it yet.  And yes, I'm feeling guilty!  So just to show I have good intentions and really am working on it, here's a little preview.

 
This will be part of the pendant for a beaded necklace which I hope to have finished soon and I will post pictured of the completed piece - hopefully before next Valentine's Day.

I am privileged to be a member of the Artbeads blogging team and for January we were given the theme of Valentine's Day.  "No problem," I said to myself and I ordered these beautiful ceramic hearts to use in a bead embroidered cuff.

 

I also ordered several types of beads that I thought would look good with the ceramic hearts - some cute mother of pearl hearts,  sterling silver roundels, 1.8mm square cut beads, and 4mm Druk cherry red beads. 

 

Artbeads has a great selection  of Valentine's Day components which you can find HERE.

I have no pictures to prove I actually started on the cuff, but I did.  I even made a special trip into San Diego to find some other beady goodness to go on the cuff.  I cut out the Lacy's stiff stuff and glued the components onto it with E6000 glue.  Then I started beading around the large heart and found it harder than I expected.  The heart bead is about 5mm thick and I was having a hard time getting the inner "cut out" part of the heart to look good.   After several attempts I decided my idea wasn't going to work and I had to come up with plan B which is working out much better.

I receive no compensation from Artbeads for blogging about their products.  I am delighted to be a part of their blogging group and hope they will forgive me for this late posting.

The Joy of Creating

I find that creating brings me such joy - a deep seated happiness that makes my heart sing and my spirit soar.  I greatly admire artists who express themselves through their work.  I enjoy seeing things of beauty - whether in nature created by God or in books and magazines, created by fellow artists.  I know what goes into the creating process and the feelings involved are not always pleasant.  Anxiety and fear can play a role as well as hope and love.  When the artist perseveres through all the emotions and the creation is finished, that's when the final joy of creating is experienced.

When I make my dichroic glass cabochons, I not only experience joy in the process of creating but also every time I open the kiln and see the results of my labors.  But it doesn't stop there.  I get another dose of joy when someone tells me they like my work.  And another when they actually purchase one of my cabs and use it in one of their own creations.  And it doesn't stop there because someone may actually purchase that new creation because they love it and share it with others who enjoy it as well.  That is a lot of experienced joy for which I'm very grateful!

Here is just one example of how it all works.  I created a dichroic glass cabochon I called Lava Bed.

Lorraine Hickton of Trinitydj on Etsy purchased the cab and created this wonderful necklace she named after her friend Nancy Dale.

I'm very thankful for all of this shared joy.  It's what keeps me going when I experience the momentary anxiety and fear that come with temporary disappointments.  I hope that viewing this beautiful creation will help spread the joy even more.