Happy Holidays and signing off

Hello friends!

Well I am officially POOPED! I spent the morning making BEADS! Super FUN NEW things! I can't wait to share them! I JUST got done stocking up my Etsy shop with more goodies for your shopping pleasure! Since I am all worded out you will just get the cliff notes versions of the listings. You will have to go to the actual listings to read the more eloquent versions! ;)

NEW IN THE SHOP....
First I just HAVE to list my florbital earrings! These are seriously the MOST AWESOME earrings I have EVER made! They are also the ONLY ones I will ever be making! It is pretty freaking hard to get the sizing just perfect to call a pair earrings!Next is one of my rainbow ruffle ribbon hearts! I just LOVE these! They are so shiny, pretty and reflective! The mix of opaques and transparents is just fantastic! I also just LOVE filligranas! They make such sweet ass designs!Here is a set with one of my favorite flowers as the design. Little white daisies on a base of black with yellow freckles!Here is a bright lentil pair and spacer set inspired by this peter max painting(which is actually a puzzle in this picture). The lentils were inspired by the little planets you see. I just reversed some of the colors fun funzies :DLast is a pair of violet wing dings with icey silver white spots. I love using this shape for funky earrings!


WHAT ELSE IS NEW?
I don't remember if I ever showed you my final design on sheep? I don't think I did... Anyways, here it is!OMG isn't it SOOOO cute? Lol! I just love it! It looks all puffily and soft :D As you may know wool or sheep aren't by any means soft, but just play along :D This little guy is a gift for one of my friends, but he did inspire some more designs that I will be revealing at a later time >:D

So I never did try for leopard print before this, but I am pretty sure I nailed it! This was a gift for my chiropractor's wife. I attached it to one of my cards with some black fairy silk so it could be worn as a tied choker or long necklace. Pretty sweet eh? It is kind large too. I didn't intend for it to necessarily be that large, but it turned out sweet!

Well I am seriously all worded out. No, I mean it this time! So this is where we will part ways until I return back from my family vacation to Ohio on December 29th. Don't forget- I will be leaving my Etsy shop open for shopping while I am away. My beads will get to go on vacation with me as I get together and celebrate the real reason for the season with my hubby's family and extended family. I can't wait! I have not gotten to do a huge Christmas like this one since I was a child and my family's extended family used to come to our home to celebrate. I have a feeling my heart will be full to the brim with love this holiday season and I am looking forward to every minute of it!

A most happiest holidays to you and yours. May the joy and love of the season warm your hearts!

Much love,

Genea

The first of many

Hello friends!

Well I did it! I got 4 new wintry items listed for your purchasing pleasure! I also went to Bead Boutique to visit Melissa and Andrea, went to my Alignment is Life to get adjusted, went out for sushi with my brother and worked on my new scarf! What a complete and wonderful day! So without further delay....

NEW IN THE SHOP....
The first item I have for your is a super cute little polar bear with a red rose on her head.
Next I have a snow girl named "Elena" with an icy aqua blue rose in on her head. Elena has He has rosy pink cheeks, charcoal eyes and an orange carrot nose.
Here is Harold with his emerald green, red and white striped scarf. He has rosy pink cheeks, charcoal eyes and an orange carrot nose.
Here is Lucas with his emerald green, red and white striped scarf. He has rosy pink cheeks, charcoal eyes and an orange carrot nose.

WHAT ELSE IS NEW?
Well I have a ton of ideas in my head and I just can't wait to get a chance to make them all. I hope to get down to the studio tomorrow afternoon while it's warmer. It's sad to say that 22 is the high for tomorrow and it gets much colder at night! Brrrrr. You know I have my space heater cranking to stay warm!

I will also be editing and hopefully adding the rest of the beads I photographed to my shop tomorrow. Once all of them are uploaded that will be my last shop listings until I return from our family vacation on December 29th. I will still be around making beads and doing other holiday stuff until the 18th.

I have 2 more things I need to finish for a friends gifts along with any other things I need to make before the end of the week.

Well Ricky just got home a little bit ago so I am going to go see how his day was. I want to go snuggle up and get warm and cozy!

See you soon!

Much love,

Genea

A quick update

Hello friends!

I just wanted to touch base with you about this coming week. I will be stocking up my Etsy shop for your Christmas or just fun shopping! I will be busting my ass getting stuff done this upcoming week before I leave on our family vacation December 19th.

My Etsy shop will actually be traveling with me to Ohio so you will be able to keep shopping even while I am on vacation!

I have some great new bead and Valentine's day beads bouncing around in my head. I can't wait to get back to my torch and start creating! I have a few more gifts to make for friends and then I will move on to new work!

Talk with you all soon.

Much love,

Genea

Week in review

Hello friends!

First off I would like to announce the Genea Beads give away on the Dandy Giveaway blog! Check out the link for more information on the giveaway. Here is the item up for grabs.The Bokamo Home show was a huge success! We had such a wonderful time hanging out with Terry and Steve! It was great to see everyone! Thanks to Steve, Terry and everyone for their overwhelming support! <3

NEW IN THE SHOP...

How about a jump start on Valentine's Day? This is for all of you emo kids, or skully peeps out there. First is a set of lentil beads with 2 freckly pink and black lentils, a skull boy, skull girl, and pink broken heart bead. For the second item I have listed a button that would just match perfectly! Now wouldn't both of these make a KILLER bracelet and clasp? Yeah, I thought so too! ;)Button shank is black with pink freckles. Flower face is pastel pink with an ivory skull on top.

SALE! Since we are on a Valentine's day theme I put this awesome lime and aqua gilttery passion heart on sale! This little beauty was made with incredible Bullseye odd lot and regular stock glass. WOW!

WHAT ELSE IS NEW?..

OMG! Guess what I got in the mail?! YEP, SARAH MORAN BEADS!!!! What a fantastic early Christmas present huh?! Aren't they amazing? Sarah was kind enough to send me a fantastical sampling of her beadies for my designing pleasure. Oh what to make! I must say pictures don't even do them justice. There really is NOTHING like holding them in your hands!So when I was at the show a customer asked if I had a pendant to match these fab earrings. Luckily I had this bead and made an AWESOME pendant to match! Pretty sweet huh?!I just love the way this turned out. I guess I need to make some more of these style earrings and a matching pendant too huh?

So as you know this is the time of the year for baking! Holly and I decided to prep our dough for cut out sugar cookies. We decided that in the mean time it would be smart to make some chocolate chip cookies while we were waiting for the cookie dough to chill. OK so I never said I was an awesome baker! It was Holly's idea to take the cookies off the pan while they were still hot so they didn't continue to cook and get burnt. So some of the cookies were kind smooshy and the other pan of cookies kinda stuck together so we had to cut them out all square like. They may not be super pretty, but they were DAMN DELICIOUS! :P

So I thought you all might like to see the process of our sugar cookie making! Ok so you know me and bright colors right? Yeah, we kinda get along :D Did you know that they make NEON food coloring?! Look at our decorating pretties!Ever wonder what Holly looks like? Well here she is! She even made the silly face and posed with the flower sprinkles!
Here you can see just how BRIGHT the frosting turned out!Pretty sweet eh? We made butter cream frosting for the tops of the cookies. Little did we know that we could have used some meringue powder to keep our frosting from separating. Again, better bead maker than baker! lol
I was sneaky enough to have gotten a picture of Brandon. He he he.
Here you can see Brandon and Ricky decorating cookies. Awww!
Here is one of the pans of cookies. I made Patrick from Sponge bob. You can see him in the bottom left corner :D
On the bottom left you can see Ricky's zombie cookie that is headless. Well what else are you supposed to do with the cookie that loses it's head?! On the bottom right you may also notice Brandon's gay pride Christmas tree! Pretty snazzy huh?! They were a bit tasty too!

Well I didn't quite get to bead making today! It is BALLS cold outside! 10 degrees is WAY too cold to make beads if you ask me!

Well I hope you all had a wonderful weekend/ beginning of the week.

See you soon!

Much love,

Genea

Hello friends!

Just a quick blip! I am getting everything together for the show! My car decided to crap out with it's battery! Ugh.. I am hoping it just needs a new one. I am off to the Target parking lot by the house to hopefully just replace the battery on the car with Brandon.

SHOW THIS WEEKEND!
Don't forget! The Bokamo Home show is THIS WEEKEND! DECEMBER 4-6TH. FRIDAY 12-7, SATURDAY 10-6, SUNDAY 10-5. ALMOST EVERYTHING IS 50% OFF INCLUDING GENEA BEADS!

Open House Bokamo Designs 5609 W. 99th Street Overland Park, KS www.bokamodesigns.com

NEW IN THE SHOP...

Yummy cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies! One of the best times of the year to BAKE!
The shop will close later this evening before I go to sleep. It will re-open on Monday if we havn't SOLD OUT!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Much love,

Genea

shhh don't tell!

I got my listings done, but I couldn't help, but work on some more Christmas gifts! I have been loving all of this creating.

Adventures from glass to fibers

Hello friends!

A little bit of a late start online. I was whisked away to one of my very favorite local Asian restaurants by my brother. :) That sure is a nice way to start out your day! I even did some picture editing so you could have a nice LONG and eventful blog to read today full of beads, designs, and ongoing art projects! Horay!

NEW IN THE SHOP...

Both items have a "sunshine" theme today. Today's first listing is a fantastical set of batik style round beads. These are those beads I refer to "magic" beads as well. The color reactions are just fantastic!See, I told you!

Next I have a super CUTE little Sunshine pendant named "you are my sunshine". This pendant was inspired by the darling amigurumi knitted pieces.Today's SALE item fits along with the batiky raku theme. I have a goddess to offer. She looks like stone and has gorgeous raku designs on her body!
WHAT ELSE IS NEW?...

KNITTING

The knitting bug totally bit me! What fantastical fibers there are out in the world! Here is a picture of my first scarf completed! It is made out of 70% wool and 30% acrylic.This scarf was made with a garter stitch, but apparently I did it backwards. So instead of wrapping my cord around the back I wrapped it around the front and knitted it forming little x's.

Here is my second scarf. Yes, I know it's acrylic, but it was the only other fiber I had around the house that wasn't made out of a teeny thread with furry poof's on it. Now I don't have anything against furry poof's or anything, but have you tried to knit with that stuff? I have great vision and all and I can't see my stitches to save my life! I think I will stick with wool ;) Anyways....Pretty huh? It looks like rainbow sherbet! This one was made with a true garter stitch. I figured it would be hard to see my knits and purls on this style fiber so I just did the easy stitch.

Now these are SO awesome I can hardly stand it! These are coffee cozies for your Starbucks cups. Why did I plug Starbucks? Well they make outstanding coffee and I am a coffee snob! lol These were knitted and then felted. No more hot hands for you and just think no more throwing away or recycling your cardboard sleeves! How fantastic!
Now for the master's work. Holly, the incredible, made this AWEOME knit mowhawk hat! It has been felted for that fuzzy tight look! Can you believe she made this in just a few hours?!INSPIRATION FROM FIBERS INTO GLASS

So as you may know one creative thing usually likes to leak over to other creative things. So my knitting bled over to my glass. Here is one of the first things I made. Well wool is made out of sheep fuzz so here are my sheepies.With all designs there are things that worked or didn't. The very first sheep is actually black and gray and resembles what a cancerous lump might look like in glass than a sheep. So, poo on that design. The second sheepie is white and super bumply to look wooly. The only bad thing is that you can just barely see the ears against it's white fuzzy body. It is, however, very cute and passible in design. The lamb face was actually next, but I wanted you to see the progression of the sheep with bodies first. Ok so the 3rd sheepie. Very cute on dark ivory instead. I really like the variegated "curdly" look of dark ivory. He is very cute, but isn't very wooly. Maybe I should add some larger dots on the sides to make him look more fluffy without being over kill? The last little guy is a lamb face. I think it's pretty cute, but wondered if the nose needed to be longer. Should it go all the way down to the bottom of the face? I dunno. Still pondering that one.

Now you can't make sheep without making what sheep wool turns into right? Here I made some balls of yarn. These little balls of yarn were made with Messy's new color Mermaid! It is a fantastic more bluish teal. The earrings to the right were etched to make them look more like wool. As you may know, wool is not really shiny. The yarn balls to the left were made with stringer and a little more strategically places to give them the look of wound up yarn. the ones to the right were the first ones made using the rod to make sloppily strung yarn. I think the second ones on the right that were made into earrings are perfect. They are more tidy and wound up looking and matte!

SEWING

Ok, now you will totally pee your pants! Do you believe I actually brought out my sewing machine? Did you pee your pants yet? Ok, well I got it when I got married the first time and used it all of about TWICE! This year I wanted to try making something super sweet, so out came the sewing machine!I wish I could tell you what I was making, but that would ruin the surprise. I will just have to post after the holidays!

Well that is it for my update. I hope you enjoyed the process along with me.

Have a fantastic day!

Much love,

Genea

Can it snow yet?

Hello friends!

I have sure been the little creative busy bee! I spent the weekend making LOTS of creative projects in different media! It was really exciting to be working in so many different things. I had projects where I had to be sitting at a table and others I could do sitting on my couch under a blanket. I wish I could fill you in on more, but I don't want to ruin the surprises since THEY could be reading this too!

Remember when I was freaking out about my desk? Yeah, this is what it looked like!Ok so many of you probably like to work in piles like this, me, not so much! This is SCARY! I actually had to dig underneath stuff to find things. Ugh! You can see some pretty boxes I picked up at Michael's, the mini cards by my phone and the pretty ornament stickers that you can't really tell what they are. Under the crap you can see some Christmas beads, which also won't be apparent unless you knew what they were! lol I told you it was SCARY!

So you are probably waiting to see what is new in the shop since you noticed I didn't blog on Friday. I did, however, list an item if you were checking up on me!

NEW IN THE SHOP...

Oh winter! Where are you? I swiped this pic from the internet. I was needing a wintery background picture for my desktop. Now THIS is what I'm talking about...I totally swiped this from the net, so if this is your pic, thanks for taking such a beautiful pic and sharing it :D How does this relate to the listing? Well this set was inspired by the cool crispness of winter. Pale aqua blue and creamy vanilla ivory in designs with twists and dotties.Isn't it SOOO PRETTY? I am not usually all about Ivory, but wow does it work in this set!

SALE! This dainty little pair of earrings would go perfectly with the set above so I decided to put this baby on a little sale. Ultra fine sterling silver chain holds a teeny swirly aqua spacer. At the top an opaly pacific blue crystal connects it all finished off by my FAVORITE earring hooks with the teeny sterling silver ball.

Today's SNEAK PEEK item was actually supposed to go up on Friday, but SURPRISE I was BUSY so it didn't make it online. As the color of fall is finally starting to fade I snuck these little guys in with the late harvest set of wing dings. This funky little pair is on a base of ochre yellow with freckles of olive green. This shape is always fun for so many designs. I think these would make a funky little pair of earrings.
WHAT ELSE IS NEW?
Per usual my plate is way full with things to do. I need to go get some beads made today. When I am done I am going to hang out with my friend Tina and teach her how to knit! Lol It IS contagious especially when it's 39 degrees outside and you are working with snuggly soft bamboo fibers :D

I will try to get some pictures edited for tomorrow's blog so you can at least see the second scarf I knitted! I am already onto another! I TOLD you... Obsessed, I think! It is really nice to have a creative project that you can take along with you anywhere and one that you can just mindlessly work on :D

Well I am off! Have to make more beads for the show!!

Have a wonderful day!

Much love,

Genea

...Continued

Hello friends!

*Whew* Just got the pictures taken in time! Geez, daylight sure does fade fast this time of year, doesn't it?! So, speaking of pictures, want to see what's new in the shop today?

NEW IN THE SHOP....

Today's items are a few more frosty friend's from the south pole! Meet "Holly" the penguin. She is a sweet girl with a little black face and a white mask around her eyes. She has soft pink cheeks and a little yellow beak. A festive sprig of holly sits atop her head.

Meet "Rosie" the snowgirl. This sweet little snowgirl has a snowy white face and rosy soft pink cheeks. She has a small carrot nose and 2 tiny coal eyes. On top of her head sits a "rosy" pink rose.

Today's SALE item is one of my cave style organic focals called "Birth of Fire". A base of black is decorated with MAGIC in the form of silver, dichroic glass, raku, a healing hand and an eye.

SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW?...

Well as you have read earlier, I am SWAMPED with work to do. On that note I should be on my way to the studio to get some more done!

Have a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Much love,

Genea

Back in a minute

Hello friends!

Wow! I am quite literally "UP TO MY ASS IN ALLIGATORS,"as my mom would say! Not only am I busily working on stuff for the show, I have more testing to do, a blog and order for Art Beads, and Christmas gifts! Did I mention that the beads I made for the last 2 days are still soaking on my table which is now unrecognizable due the amount of CRAP that has accumulated on top!

The cool thing about all of the "crap" that is on my desk is that some of it is: Christmas beads that are un-cleaned, a box of 30 mini cards(a HUGE hip-hip-horay to Michaels for fulfilling that need for me since NO ONE else had them, and for only $3.99!), super pretty ornament stickers for the new mini cards, snowman bags for Etsy items, and super AWESOME origami style gift boxes from Michael's!

Crap! I got side tracked again! I need to take some photographs before the sun light fades! BRB

Holiday business and new projects

Hello friends!

Wow, has it gotten dusty around here in my absence? Is "busy" just another word to describe my EVERY day? You may also feel the hussle and bussle of the outside world around you. I do, even in the comfort of my very safe and quiet home. I have been here, but just working on projects, holiday things, and even a hooky day! I sat and knitted ALL DAY! You wouldn't have guessed though since I am STILL not done with my scarf! Want to see what I've been up to??

NEW IN THE SHOP....
Fall/Winter always seems like the season for animal print stuff and colors so that is what is in the shop today! I have a "Sheena Jungle Princess" tiger button clasp and a "Safari" Florbital up for grabs. Both have root beer topaz brown, ivory, and black.

Today's sale item is one of my fun little Love, Peace & Flower Power sets. Bright colors of: pink, lime, red, yellow and white make up the color palette.

Here is what I did with a set of them. You will notice that the glass flower bead didn't make it into the design, but I managed to sneak in a sterling silver daisy instead! >:DWHAT ELSE IS NEW??...

In my travels I got to stop by Indigo Wild to make some jewelry repairs. Look what the sent home with me! Mmmmmm! Frankincense & myrrh, Almond and Sweet Orange Zum bars, a lavender and tea tree oil Zum kiss, and some Zum Rub for sore muscles!


Here are those pictures I promised of my first knitting project and my current scarf!Ok so this one is acrylic on bamboo needles. What can I say? Walmart was the only place open and they don't carry wool! I did ditch this poor project for the time being. You know me, I LOVE color and just HAD to get my hands on the variegated colorful stuff!Oh yeah! That's more like it! Mmmm color! The acrylic needles and wool blend fiber made it SO much easier to cruise along! I am on my second skein and still knitting along to the desired length! Both of these were made using the "garter" stitch(I didn't teach myself how to purl yet ;)


Speaking of scarf! Look what my friend, Ashley brought me back from Cambodia! Isn't it beautiful?! What a sweet girl!
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT- Kim Cocharan

You all know how I LOVE show-and-tell. Well my friend Kim dazzled me with her pretty BLING fringe bracelets she made using my beads!
Halloween designs.
The lone lavender bracelet. Why did this one get the super "spot light"? Well the glass color shifts to a blue hue in fluorescent lighting!

Like what you see huh? Well you may be in luck! Kim is thinking about selling her wares! I will keep you posted as to where they will be available when she gets that all worked out ;)

WOW! Is it already almost 4pm? Ricky will be off to school soon and I will be in the studio in the dark making Christmas beads ;) The days get so dark so early, don't they?! I figured if I didn't give you all an update soon you would divorce me! So I hope you enjoyed my week :)

See you soon!

Much love,

Genea