Thanks

Thanks to everyone who came out to Park Art yesterday.  What a gorgeous day!  No wind, no rain, warm day.  Ok, it was hot, but I would take that any day over wind and rain.  Of course I didn't take pictures of the event again.













I don't have anymore sales booked at this time.  If there was anything you have seen at previous sales that you would like, please contact me and I will see if I still have it or if I can remake it.  Check out my etsy shop in the side bar or at www.carelebeads.etsy.com .  I am going to try to put up more of the newer items I have made this year.

Have a great summer!

Park Art 2013

Park Art is coming up again this year.  As always, it will be held July 1 in Crescent Park in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.   It is hosted by the Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery.

The public library with the museum and art gallery attached to the side.

Park Art is full of beautiful creations.  You will find pottery, paintings, jewelry, woodworking and so much more.  And the setting is so pretty.  It is located in front of the public library and the booths are nestled in the park amongst the trees, bushes, and squirrels.

The entrance to Park Art.  It sure looks different that day!

There are activities for the children in the museum, which is attached to the library.  I know my kids have enjoyed these events.

Speaking of events, there are things happening across the bridge in the park and at the ampitheatre all day in honor of Canada Day

The ampitheatre in the park.

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If you are in the area, be sure to come down and enjoy the day.  At Park Art, there is truly something for everyone.

Ribbons and Bows

Something new that you will find on my table at craft shows is hair accessories. My girls have been helping me create cute headbands and hair clips. Here are a few we have made.

They are a lot of fun to make. I enjoy making them because the are instant as compared to my beads. I can pull out my ribbons and glue gun and within moments I can have a simple hair bow completed. By comparison, my beads have to sit over night just to cool down. There are many more steps between that and any finished product. Quite time consuming.

I also like to make them because I can get my girls to help. My youngest has had a couple mishaps with the glue gun but other than that they enjoy creating the bows as much as I do. They definitely have different creative ideas than I do, which is great. Who would want everything to be the same or just one style? This lets them have fun as well as make a little extra money.








One day they will be working on the torch too. Until then, this will have to do.

Cathedral Village Arts Festival 2013

On Wednesday I found that I will indeed be a part of this year's Cathedral Village Arts Festival. They opened an entire extra block this year due to increased demand. Imagine all the extra vendors they will have this year!

My sister has finally decided to set up a booth there as well. Check out her mylittlepaintings on facebook and on etsy. Like me, it seems a lot of her best work doesn't make it online so be sure to look for her at the festival if you get there.

I have recently thought up something new using drawer pulls I made years ago. Hopefully I can get some made for that show or at least one made to show you here what I am talking about. Until then I will say no more about it.

I am very happy to be going back to the Cathedral Arts Festival this year. I believe it will be my 6th or 7th year there. I absolutely love this show. There is so much to see. The only drawback is the time of year. Of course there has been sunny days (one or two) but the weather is not always cooperative. It has been so windy, I once saw someone's gazebo/sunshade lift up and knock them to the ground. That was the worst. It has also been bitterly cold. I think that was last year. But despite the crazy weather, people still show up. And I am glad they do. Without people, there would be no show.

The festival runs from May 20-25. The street faire is on May 25 and this is what I will be participating in.

The Cathedral Village Arts Festival will be held on May 25, 2013 in Regina, Saskatchewan on 13th Avenue from Angus Street to Montague Street. It runs from 10 am to 5 pm.

I hope to see you there!.

Etching Some Beads

I made some beads to etch recently. Like I usually do, I couldn't bring myself to etch some of them because I liked them the way they look now. So I made myself etch only some of the beads.

Here is my makeshift setup. Newspaper, rubber gloves, a cup of water with baking soda to neutralize the beads, beads, and acid for etching. (I like to use paper towel too but only had kleenex.)

The beads are strung on fishing line with plastic E-beads between to prevent large, unetched areas on the ends.

Here are the beads before etching - shiny. The one thing I really do like with etching is how certain transparent colors show up decorations that you otherwise couldn't see.

Putting the beads into the acid. Yes, I am too lazy to actually put the acid in something else so I just thread them into the bottle. Actually I do it this way to avoid more mess, spills, wreaking my glassware, etc.

I don't usually leave the beads in the acid long. The longer they are left, the more matte the finish becomes.

I let the beads sit in the water a minute or two. The water and baking soda neutralizes the acid and stops the etching process.

Once the beads are taken out, I let them dry for awhile. Then I cut the fishing line off and let the beads fully dry until I am ready to use them in my projects. These ones are all for earrings.

The last picture shows the beads after they sat for about half an hour. The white spots are baking soda that I need to wash off but you can see how the beads have changed from their shiny beginning. The purple half and half beads and the half green - half purple beads show up more once they are etched.

One more thing to mention is that you need good ventilation to use liquid acid. Make sure to read all of the precautions on the bottle before using it.

I would etch more beads, because I love the look, but like I said above, I have a hard time bringing myself to do it sometimes.

Thanks for reading!