and the winner is . . .

Here are the beads that I chose for the drawing . . .

I cut up all the names of anyone who enclosed or sent instructions 

on how they made their beads . . .

Then I folded the names and

put them in a hat . . .

closed my eyes . . . 

and pulled out Linda Garcia's name!!!

* Congratulations, Linda! *

You will find your 10 extra beads, hand made by me,

enclosed with your swap beads.

Thanks so much for participating in so many of my swaps . . .

I believe this is swap #15 for you over the years.

A well deserved win, I'd say!

All of you who are in the swap, I will keep you posted here and let you know when everything is exchanged & sent! 

Thanks for your wonderful & enthusiastic participation. 

: ) 

Lenna Young Andrews: bead swap : ^ )

yup. I also participated in this swap! I know most of you have probably already seen some of my rolled beads that I originally made for the call for this swap, but a few days ago I made some more. For one thing, I'm fascinated about playing with Tyvek paper. It can be manipulated with a heat gun for interesting effects. Some of my favorite beads are made from Tyvek & fibers by Carolyn Saxby (keep scrolling, her beads are near the end of the post). The other day I received an envelope made out of Tyvek which reminded me I wanted to experiment some more. I also wanted to make sure I had enough beads (15-20) to participate in this swap, plus enough beads to giveaway 10 of my handmade beads in a drawing. This drawing is for anyone who included some instructions with their beads and I will be drawing for this tomorrow! Of course I wanted a bunch of extras for myself, so off I went! Here is my process/results:

Tyvek envelope cut in strips and painted

This was the underneath paper I painted the Tyvek on -scrap paper.
I could not let it go to waste and stamped on top too.

Scrap paper all rolled up! Click for a detailed view.

Tyvek before heating . . .

After heating with a Heat Gun.

Before . . .

After! 

Before . . . 

After . . .

new beads mixed with the ones I previously made

WOW!!

This swap is CLOSED! All of the entries that have made it here are IN the swap. I will do the drawing for the extra beads tomorrow and will have all beads swapped and sent to the participants by 3/31/12. At that time I will write a post explaining how you can share a link to WHAT you might create with the beads you recieve plus any extras you may have made. Fun, fun FuN!
Thanks for your participation : ^ D   ~ lenna

Rena Matus: bead swap!

From Rena in Connecticut, some lovely beads made from pre-cut strips Rena had on hand. She embossed them with clear ink and clear embossing powder and said the brightness of the colors toned down after that, but I would not have noticed myself looking at the finished product. Here are photos of her selection of 20 beads for the swap!

Thank you, Rena! I think your beads are grand!

Carrie Tome: bead swap!

Here are Carrie's beads - so different from any of the others . . . and I love seeing the variety! I wrote Carrie and asked her how she made them and she replied, "All I did was make them out of white paper which I colored with permanent markers (using Bic Mark-It pens) and then covered them in five coats of Americana Triple Thick Brilliant Brush-On Gloss Glaze which I got at JoAnn's."

So fabulous!

So petite! They are displayed on a business card. 

20 of them, total!

Thanks so much, Carrie. Your beads are excellent!!

Glad you enjoyed the swap!

Sharon Borsavage: bead swap!!

Oh! I was so excited when my friend Sharon Borsavage signed up for the bead swap! She is a maker of beautiful jewelry, which can be seen here -ooh la la! I must admit I have bought several pieces of Sharon's jewelry as it really speaks to me. That being said, I could not wait to see what she might do for the paper and fabric bead swap. I was not disappointed! click for details.

a single bead . . . 

two beads . . . 

and a whole bunch! 

Sharon's blog is here: http://livewirejewelry.blogspot.com -a must see!

Sharon enclosed a "surprise" she said, a beautiful gift of earrings and a note.

Wow!

This is what you can do with these beads!

(I am wearing them right now)

They are beautiful, so beautiful!! Thank you ever-so-much, Sharon. xoxo

I have 2 packages that arrived today in my kitchen . . . one is from Rena Matus and the other is from Carrie Tome. I am sure to open them and photograph them tomorrow! There are just a few outstanding swaps and I hope I will see them in my mailbox tomorrow -the last day to receive. I will definitely let you know! 

Linda Garcia: bead swap!!

From Linda in New Mexico - how lovely to have you in one of my art swaps again! Here are all of Linda's beads . . . . click on the photo for more details.

She kindly wrote me instructions on how she made her beads. Here they are:

Some of my beads  were made using an idea from Beryl Taylor in Somerset to make fabric paper over muslin using colored tissues paper and other lightweight papers such as dictionary and scrapbook paper. I place a plastic wrap over my work space, tape muslin over  plastic so it will have an easy release, apply a layer of white diluted glue, about 50/50, I have used good ol’school glue but my favorite is matte medium.

·         first layer using a foam brush for streak free outcome use diluted glue or lightly diluted matte medium in one direction over entire muslin

·         place torn pages & colored tissue in collage format or any pleasing manner & apply another layer of glue or matte medium, going in another direction, let dry thoroughly.

·         last layer of diluted glue or matte medium going in opposite direction as above.

·         cut into desired shapes to make a bead & dip into UTEE.

I also used fabric scraps which were already fused & dipped into UTEE—easy peasy!

The light wire with beads is loosely attached so that the receiver could use those extra little beads on something else. A girl can never have too many beads—they always tend to call to me.

Thanks again for all your work on these swaps----a good way to use up stuff!

Linda Garcia

Tierra Encantada [The Land of Enchantment]

New Mexico

 And some close-ups . . .

Linda also so generously made a gift for me - extra beads and a domino charm, thank you so much for everything, Linda!!

wonderful! 

Barbara Roberts: bead swap!

Barbara Roberts sent in some really great beads for our swap.

She wrote me an email saying, "Here is how I made them. They were all fabrics wrapped around a coffee stir stick with fabric tac glue on the ends. I decorated them in different ways-

Some I rolled into embossing ink and embossed with “Enchanted Gold” which retained the color of the pretty fabrics, but put a sparkle to them. Some I wrapped wire and seed beads around them, some I wrapped fiber and wire around them and some I wrapped fiber around them."

Thank you, Barbara! here are some close-ups.

Click on the photo for a closer look.

One more day to receive!! Then the swapping of beads will begin : )

3 more packages arrived!

Check here on this page of the blog for what is left to come in, or to see if your package came in: creative swaps bead-swap-participants. I will catch up with photographing & sharing the swaps soon!

Josie Greene: Bead swap!

Wow!

These wonderful beads are from Josie Greene in Maryland. 

Please click on the photo below & enjoy!

Amazing! I don't know how much more of this I can take!!

Oh, I guess a few more days of it  ; )

Saturday (3/24/12) is the final day I can receive!