One last heart and super soapy suds!

Hello friends!

NEW IN THE SHOP...

Did you notice this morning? I did still do the early listing, but I didn't blog, tweet, or post anything on fb. Why? Well I ended up getting lunch with mom and running a few errands.

I have one last "Grow with Love" pendant to offer this week. "Lemon Zinger" is sure to delight those with a love of yellow! Zippy lemon yellow base is freckled with spots of aqua on a teal vine with deep blue and aqua seeds and leaves. This is the ONLY pendant that got the darker vine. Why? Well, I ran out of the darker leaves! I had a few in that particular color from a mixed glass bead bag and they are GONE! So if this one is YOUR colors you had better snag it before someone else does ;)

Today's SNEAK PEEK listing is another Lemon yellow opaque heart pendant with a droppy knotty bail and fringies out of the bottom. Fun right?!

NEW FORMAT....
Do you like this better? I figured if you were looking for certain topic in the blog you could scroll quickly through the parts that didn't interest you. This kind of breaks everything down so if you just want to check the listings, read about my glass discoveries or just read about my every day life you can be quickly directed by the heading. COOL!

SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW?....

So if you havn't already caught it on my tweets or FB posts I finally revealed my SURPRISE GIFT! You know how I LOVE the Zum bars from Indigo Wild? Well just last Wednesday when I realized Indigo Wild was on Twitter I began following their tweets. I watched a fantastic blip on a local KC station about the Indigo Wild factory on The power of KC.
I was thinking about how f*ing sweet it would be to make glass Zum bars and make them into a bracelet for the owner, Emily Vogt. I pulled out my trusty Indigo Wild catalog and brought it downstairs to my studio. Hours later I pulled out 8 little Zum Bars! After cleaning them I began designing them into a fanciful little bracelet. My dear friend, Melissa donated the fabulous Hill Tribe silver beads that she picked up at our very own, Bead Boutique and the super phatty clasp is from Bokamo Designs! Are you ready for AWESOME????

TA DA!
I knew I did a good job of matching up the colors when the everyone at the factory was naming off each bar! I did what anyone else would do... I did the whole fist pull down elbow with an enthusiastic "YESSSS" motion! LOL. Dude... it was exciting, ok? lol

So I think that is it for now. I have some more pictures to take of those frit studies I was doing. Stay tuned!

Much love,

Genea

Grown with Love pendants and more sunset sky color studies

Hello friends!

I have 2 more "Grow with Love" pendants for you today! Today's early listing is a classic black and white pendant. This will be great to go with all of those outfits!

Today's SNEAK PEEK item is a "Grow with Love" pendant called "Blueberry". This heart features a deep denim blue with red freckles.

COLOR STUDIES.... and now on to the AWESOME! So you remember the color studies I did the other day? Well I completed the set by swapping the colors all around. This time I got the before and after pictures of the shiny and etched beads! Go grab a cup of coffee or a drink and sit and enjoy this with me.Ok on this picture you can see M odd Mango Coral and CiM Heffalump. On the left is the shiny picture and on the right is the etched. Aren't they PRETTY?! I get so freaked about etching, not because I don't like etched beads( I actually LOVE them), but because sometimes they are so pretty shiny! As you can see etching also dulls the color. So if you want more of a soft muted look to your beads you can etch them.In this picture you can see Vetrofond odd Orange Sherbet and M Dark Lavender. Isn't it amazing how the color changed when etched? Did you know that you can make transparents opaque? How you ask? Well if you etch the transparent becomes opaque! What a concept huh? So when you are creating you can also take that into account. Often when I get ideas I think in opaque colors so this just helps me along if I can't find an opaque that matches what I see in my mind. Does this mean I don't love transparents? Oh God, no. I LOVE transparents as well, I just seem to think in opaques.
When flipping colors around eventually the oranges and purples will touch in a bead together. So you might be wondering just what the color difference is between these two colors right? On the left is Vetrofond odd Orange Sherbet and on the right is M odd Mango Coral. Orange Sherbet is actually more pastel. When it is worked you will get some areas that are struck more than others with some color variation. The same is true with the Mango Coral except this particular batch has a lot of pink and orange variations that I just LOVE!

Again, here we are with the colors touching. On the left is CiM Heffalump and on the right is M Dark Lavender. Can you see why I love these 2 colors so much?! Heffalump is such a fantastic lavender. It has a perfect saturation of color eventhough it is pastel. Another little hint. Did you know that if there are imperfections in your rod like scratches and things that when you etch they disappear? Pretty sweet huh?! As many of you know M Dark Lavender tends to be full of scratches and imperfections, which is a total bummer!

Well that completes my blog for today. I hope you enjoyed learning some more things about glass.

Much love,

Genea

Grow with Love and inspiration from the sunset

Hello friends!

I have 2 more "Grow with Love" pendants to offer today. Today's early listing is "Strawberry". I was really excited to work up these colors cause who doesn't love pink?! I had the cute little white and pink stripey hearts that are dangling from the bottom and had to make a heart to match for my series! "Strawberry" features a medium pink heart with magenta freckles.

Today's SNEAK PEEK item is my "Blackberry" -Grow with Love pendant. Blackberry features deep ink blue violet with freckles of turquoise. I am really in love with the little dangly hearts on this one as well. They are a pretty purple ab and they really sparkle!

COLOR STUDIES.... I am so bummed cause I totally had pictures of the beads before I etched them. I was going to do a 2 block with the shiny and etched versions of all of these beads, but it looks like they disappeared :(

So off to my color studies. The other night when I was out with Melissa and Moriah going on a candy run the sky was the most gorgeous colors of coraly orange and lavender. It was so beautiful I wanted to make it into beads. I couldn't decide on exactly which colors I wanted to use to match up to that incredible sky so I did some studies. It dawned on me that I could even use transparents and make them opaque. How did I do that? Well, I etched them! Yeah, can you believe it? Why hadn't I thought of that before?!I think I would have to say that my favorites are the 2 on the right. The transparent M lavender blue on the top looks too pinky/brownish for the look I was trying for. The bottom is M opaque lavender blue which looks too gray to me. On the right we have M dark lavender which is always SO pretty no matter what you do with it(well except in fluorescent lighting). The bottom is also one of my favorite Messy colors- Heffalump.
I wasn't sure if it was going to give me fits with being cooled and re-heated multiple times, but it worked out great! It even etched nicely as well! Heffalump really is much more purple than M op lavender.

Holy crap! I just came up with an idea to complete a set. Aren't you excited you got to be here while I was getting inspired?! Me too!

Well you know what's next... Since I am feeling that inspiration I am going to head down to the studio.

Have a terrific day!

Much love,

Genea

NEW Grow with Love pendants and some RED in the garden!

Hello friends!

I am super excited to be offering my NEW "Grow with Love" pendants! I will be offering them all week in my Etsy shop! To kick things off my first offering is "Grow with Love" - Scarlet.

Growing plants in my home garden this year has nurtured not only my soul, but my body. I made these pendants to celebrate my garden and the love that it provides.

Seeds are planted and nurtured, with sunshine, water and love. From the seeds leaves emerge to be kissed by the sun and produce the fruit of love. Love blooms and then passes seeds of love to continue the circle of life."Scarlet" is deep red with streaks of darker red and yellow freckles on a lime and wasabi green vine. Pendant is 3" long and hangs from a 6-7mm sterling silver soldered ring.

Today's SNEAK PEEK listing is "Grow with Love" - Pomegranate. This deep ruby pink pendant is freckled with dark periwinkle spots with a wasabi and lime green vine.


IN THE GARDEN....
I am SO excited because I spotted our FIRST red tomato! We were starting to sweat it since it is getting later in the season and my tomatoes are still green. I guess we just have to be patient. Our peppers seem to be popping up all over, but aren't quite ready for the picking. I plucked one pablano from the vine and nibbled on it. It was a little bitter with what tasted like a hint of spice. I can't wait until our fruits are mature enough to be eaten. Soon, soon!

ON THE BEAD FRONT..... I still have a TON of ideas in my head and not enough time to do them all. I guess it's hard to decide where to start. It's really nice to have a list of ideas again! I just ran my tank out of gas the other day and my darling husband went and filled it up for me, so I am all ready to start making some more goodies! The weather is breezy and wonderfully cool. Looks like 73 today :)

In some sad news Ricky's Aunt passed away this morning from a heart attack :( Her funeral will be next weekend. Either Ricky or Ricky and myself will be joining his parents on their trip from Colorado to attend the funeral in Ohio/Kentucky. Please be sending your good thoughts and prayers to his family and loved ones.

As always, I must be off. I have TONS to do today especially if I need to leave town next weekend. I will post some pretties as them come along!

Give your loved ones a squeeze today!

Much love,

Genea

Sunset Hibiscus

Hello friends!

I think I will only be listing one item today, but it sure is a SHOW STOPPER! I am going to RELAX. Crazy, I know... lol

Featuring one of my SUPER FANTASTIC Bead-inside-a-bead-hollows "Sunset Hibiscus". Layers of Coral, HOT pink, and lime green vine canes with a bubble of clear make this a fantastic piece! This is actually an enhanced remake of the one I very first one in this color scheme that I kept for myself! I thought I should make another one that was pretty similar to offer to everyone else ;)Below you can see the necklace I made with my bead :) It's one of my favorites and I get compliments EVERY time I wear it :DYou can see some small differences from the first one like how I used ultra BRIGHT Clockwork orange under my Cranberry pink petals and how there isn't a hypnotic swirl behind the flower. Subtle changes for a little bit of a difference ;)

Well sadly I am out of propane so I will be cleaning my house instead, BOO! lol.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Much love,

Genea

Wheels and Ruffles

Hello friends!

Wow! Who knew it was going to be a lime and pink week? I guess I didn't notice as I was taking pictures this past weekend.

Today I have one of my Wishing Wheel sets called "Watermelon", for obvious reasons ;) "Watermenlon" features a three part set full of texture and whimsy. Stack all three or use separately for a myriad of designs. Colors are HOT pink, pastel pink and LIME!Isn't this a FANTASTIC picture? I love the way I got some color reflection on the bead and on the shiny white surface of my table.

Today's SNEAK PEEK item is a "Pomgrapelime" Ruffle Daisy made out of the fabulous Bullseye odd lot glass! I know you all always see me put fabulous or whatever in front of my description for Bullseye glass, but there is just something really unique about it's color that is just breath taking. Ruffle Daisy starts out with a streaky lime center embraced by streaky grape and streaky pomegranate.
I can't wait to post a picture of my *secret* gift! I am SO excited with the way it turned out! I forget if I already told you, but we will be dropping off the gift after Tuesday next week. You can expect pictures after then.

I am not sure what I will make today. Again, I have tons of ideas bouncing around in my head. This cool weather sings fall to me calling out for deep woodsy brown beads.

I still want to go back and so some more perfecting of my new technique and I am still trying to conquer those orange and purple beads for Aleta's earring pair. Eep!

Well I am off to the studio to create!

Much love,

Genea

HOT, HOT, HOT pink and green

Hello friends!

I have some yummy pink and lime items for you today!

First off I have another Rainbow Ruffle Ribbon Heart called "Watermelon". Vibrant HOT pink starts at the center swirled in a lime green twirl. A generous amount of clear is wrapped over the top and freckled with pink. On the top sits a hot pink and lime green freckled raked heart. Ribbons of teal,grass green, and lime green ruffle up the sides.

Today's SNEAK PEEK item is a Passion Heart called "Cranlime". This little baby is made out of fantastic Bullseye glass. The base is a nice ruby pink with a streaky medium pink heart on top. Flames of a streaky earthy green and brown run up the sides.


Wow! Well I totally didn't end up working on that other technique I had planned on. Instead I ended up being inspired by my FAVORITE Zum bar soap that is local to Kansas City! I can't yet reveal more details as it is a surprise! I will post pictures as soon as I am able.

I will be spending the afternoon with Melissa so I don't know if I will be getting things made this afternoon. It looks like it has stopped raining for the time being.

See you soon.

Much love,

Genea

New items, fritatistic testing and plants!

Hello friends!

Ok where do I start?! I have some wonderful things to share today like listings, my plants, and a fun new pendant. So I guess I will start out with listings incase I decide to ramble on about my other things...

Today I am offering another one of my eye beads from my Eyegasm series called "Cranberry Surge". Wow! Can we say COLORFUL? The base is an electric hot pink with layers of raked lime greens accented with a sparkly silver foil bubble button iris. The sides are all bumply in lavender dotties.

Today's SNEAK PEEK listing is another set of Fuchsia Flashes lentils. The first set was so pretty I decided to make another. Again, ELECTRIC colors! Wow! This fantastic mix of colors makes a fabulous flashing fuchsia accented with lime green freckles! Yum! Wouldn't these two listings go together into a lovely bracelet with the eye bead as a toggle dangle?!
Ok so how about next we go to my plants? Sweet... So here is my very FIRST veggie from the garden! Isn't it cute?! I was so excited. I guess I could have waited until it got bigger, but Melissa said if I picked it the next ones would grow bigger. Even if that doesn't end up happening I was still really excited!!
Remember when I told you earlier that I had repotted my hibiscus just when spring hit? Remember when I told you I was sad that it had grown, but not gotten any blooms on it this year? Look what surprised me this morning!!

Just so you can see how big the bloom is, I used my hand as a size representative.
I just LOVE hibiscus' so I took another side picture of my beautiful plant!
Now for some new designing. I have just been asked to be a tester for That Frit Girl so I did some testing. Here is a pendant done with the Iron Mountain mix- A Fern Hand. Isn't it PRETTY?!
I even figured out a *SECRET* technique while playing with the glass. I did some more experimenting and think I may be on to something. I think my testing from yesterday was half successful. I got some good color, but my base color wasn't the best. I think I will do some more experimenting today to see if I can perfect my new technique! Woo hoo!

Well I must be off per usual. Lots to do!

Much love,

Genea

NEW Rainbow Ruffle Ribbon and After Dark Ribbon Hearts!

Hello friends!

I have some SUPER AWESOME NEW designed hearts for you today! Introducing my Rainbow Ruffle Ribbon and After Dark Ribbon Hearts! I know you saw them awhile back when I first posted pictures, but I am happy to be offering them on Etsy!

Todays first listing is Rainbow Ruffle Ribbon Heart "Nymph". If you are a lover of greens and purples THIS is the heart for you! The inner core is a deep ink blue violet with a lavender twirl. The core is then heavily encased for loads of reflection. On top freckles of lime green cover the surface with a teal and violet freckled heart in the center. Ribbons of grass green, lime green and lavender ruffle on the sides!
The SNEAK PEEK item for today is an After Dark Ribbon Heart called "Twilight". When designing it's always cool to see where one idea leads to another. I started with the Rainbow Ruffle Ribbon designs and then wondered how they would look on black for high contrast. The After Dark Ribbon Heart was born! This little lovely has a fantastic Tuxedo black base with freckles of Smurfy(one of my NEW favs from CiM!). A streaky kiwi heart with purple freckles sits on the front with ribbons of lime green, aqua and lavender ruffle on the side. I don't think I can brag on these beads enough! They are truly amazing at which to gaze in hand!

So what's on the agenda for today? I am not sure exactly. I have a lot of ideas bouncing in my head. I made that really pretty fall set that Melissa bought called "everything nice". I don't think many got to see it before she nabbed it up! I really like that color scheme and it seems like everyone else does as well.

I also had some more heart, blooming, love designs hanging around that I think I might explore. I dunno.. So many choices...

I tried 2 more of those glass headpins with a color rolled in frit. They turned out pretty cool, but one cracked. It was either from the copper wire or the ratio of frit vs glass since the frit and glass aren't technically compatible(well at least 5%). Hmmm...

Well I must be off. Beads to make!

Much love,

Genea

Bits of Rainbows

Hello friends!

Yep, I know it's strange to see me here on the weekend, but I just HAD to share with you what I got in the mail today!

If you are like me then you LOVE color and are excited to find things to enhance the regular palette out there. These lovely frits are from Leslie at www.thatfritgirl.com or maybe you have seen her beads in her Etsy shop Iron Mountain If you havn't already met Leslie she is super sweet! All of her frits are carefully labeled(which I find to be EXTREMELY important!), and masterfully mixed. She has a wide array of lovely colors, tools and more! If you havn't already checked her out why not drop on by and see what she has to tempt you!

So I have decided to slip down to my studio *shhhh* and test out these new colors. I can't wait to see what colors I get with these new bits of rainbows :D

Have a COLORFUL day!

Much love,

Genea

New Halloweenies and GB Buttons!!

Hello friends!

Today is the last day for Halloweenie's for this week! So to end the week with a WHAMMY I decided to list both for the early listing!

First off I have a fun "Boo" pendant ."Boo" is enthusiastically spelled on the front of this deep blue violet pendant with spooky lime green eyes peering out of the darkness. They remind me of the old scooby doo cartoons!

Next I have a mini set of 3! Grapity Orange Mini! Fun set of three with a focal in ink blue violet, and spacers of red orange!
Looky what I got!! Genea Beads Buttons are IN! I even got them in this super cool hand made paper box! Aren't they AWESOME! I can't wait to get these babies out! I was even told by the shop owner that someone noticed my logo in her shop and said that they had seen my stuff up north! SAH-WEET! That means people are starting to recognize my work by my logo as well as my style! WOOOOOO HOOOOO!
I am really excited because today we are getting to hang out with some new friends named Rosalind and Dennis! We are making these homemade gourmet pizzas! We have our dough rising as we speak and we got lots of yummy toppings and cheeses including: parmesean, goat cheese, italian cheese blend, orange and yellow bell peppers, purple onion, procuitto, fresh home grown tomatoes, rosemary, basil and parsley! I can't wait to see how these turn out! Maybe I will be lucky enough to snap a few pictures before we devour the pizzas!

Have a fantastic weekend! See you next week!

Much love,

Genea

Halloween funzies, creative projects and more

Hello friends!

Well I am doing this a little backwards. I am writing my blog before my Etsy post. So you will actually have to wait a few while I do my postings after receiving this blog in your inbox ;)

As promised, more HALLOWEEN! Today's listings are a little poisonous!

First I have a small bubbling bottle of POISON! Sure to do the trick for those people you want to "bump off". lol I did love potion for Valentine's day so I thought poison for Halloween would be fun!

Next, your SNEAK PEEK item is a BLACK WIDOW! This toxic little honey sits on a thin web of white on a base of a deep blue violet opaque glass. A red hour glass shape sits in the middle of a web on the back.
Now I want to take a quick second to talk with you about this amazing base color. It may appear a bit dark in the pictures, but it is REALLY pretty in person. The color is CiM Lapis. It is posted in the blue section of Messy's new site, but I like to use it for a blue violet opaque. For those of you that like dark colors this is a "must have"!

Now for some other fun things...

Remember that class I told you about earlier that I was going to go take with Melissa at Bead Boutique? Well here are the pictures!

We did the beaded bead shown in the book "Mastering Beadwork" by Carol Huber Cypher. This was a free class that Bead Boutique offers every Thursday. Melissa teaches the next consecutive pattern each Thursday as they journey through the book.

Holly and Brandon came over again last night per our usual weekly visit. The boys leveled up in WOW(world of warcraft) while we had creative time making things.

I worked on a macrame necklace order from the show for a sweet woman named Sheryl while Holly made this SUPER cute amigurumi star by Homemade Zen
It's funny how I came across Homemade Zen's site. I am subscribed to an e-mail on Etsy for tips and she had made a post about how to put a picture on your Twitter background. Pretty sweet though cause that e-mail led me to her cute shop and led to a sale! :) It's always nice to support your fellow artists. So if you are into Amigurumi I totally suggest you hop on over and give her site a looksy!

This was MY request! This sweet little guy has found a home on my lime green desk lamp so he can smile up at me while I work!This is one of those things that is SO cute that it makes your eyes water! Didn't she do a great job? Holly was even "bugle fingers" while she was making this sweet little star. I wish I would have taken a picture. You make the round center and then make separate little "bugle"( like the snack) shaped pointy cones for the star points. I dunno.. maybe it's not funny to you, but we are easily amused and cracked up! :D

I sat down at the torch yesterday and worked on some more of those glass headpins. One of which actually cracked. Not sure why. As you can see it's kind of hard to get consistancy of each one to make pairs. I am still not sure if these are going to be worth trying to make as pairs. I guess if you figure you have to make like 5 to get 1 pair you like it's not really worth it to make pairs. Maybe a set of misc ones that don't have to match? I dunno. This is just part of that creative process ;)Well I think that is enough excitement for one day so far right? I should be meeting up with Stacey today to get my buttons! I am pretty excited! I will post a pic of them when I get them :)

Have a fantastic day!

Much love,

Genea

Glass headpins

Hello again.. Are you tired of reading yet? I have been super talkative today, I know... I just had a lot to catch you up on yanno?

So I got totally inspired by this pair of beads I picked up at Bokamo Design's home show. Steve makes GORGEOUS boro beads and this year one of his new designs was this kind of coiled coneish ovalish eye shape. Of course, leave it to me to see EYES in everything. Anyways.... I thought how sweet would it be to make glass headpin iris' to fit into Steve's beads and make eye earrings? Well I decided to try it out!Ok so I knew that you could use copper wire to put glass onto because when I was living in Colorado Beth Johnson did that with some of her blueberry beads for earrings! So I decided to give it a whirl. This were my FIRST attempt and I was super excited that they worked!! Here is a long shot of them so you can see the whole thing.Here you can see how they will look when strung through something. As you can see the one of the left got a little bit more clear glass.
Here is what they look like in Steve's new style bead! Sweet huh?!

Horay for bartering!

Hello friends!

Are you an artist? Do you love to barter for your work as well as sell it? I do! My friend Stacey of Oh Wow! Balloon Boutique here in KC is trading me 100 GB buttons for this blue glass balloon dog bead that will be made into a pendant! Pretty cool huh?!Ok so seriously, solve this mystery for me cause I totally don't get it... Ok so why do other artists get weird when you ask to trade? Is it because they don't feel like their work is good enough to trade? Is it because they don't think your work is good enough to trade for theirs? Is it because they are offended that you ask for a trade instead of buying it? Is it because they really need money at the moment instead of trading because the economy is bad?

I just figured artists of all people would be totally into the art of bartering. I mean didn't we found our country on it? Back in the the day people sailed on ships and traded things like spices from Asia! I guess I am totally down with it because I LOVE art, I love trading things I made from my heart for other things made by someone else's heart, I am a hippy, and sometimes money is scarce when art is abundant yanno? Just for the record this is in NO way directed at any one person, so please don't be offended. I was just curious what everyone else thought. My husband CONSTANTLY tells me that "people don' t think like you, Genea." Well what do they think like then??!! lol

I will post pics of my buttons when I get them this Wed. Thanks for reading :D

NEW GB laminated jewelry tags!!

Hello friends!

Remember when I said I was busy doing "behind the scenes" work this weekend? Well I was busily making laminated tags! Tera (I think I have talked about her enough for you all to know who she is, if you still don't know, follow the link :D)was kind enough to send me what, around 50 sticky hang tags so I took the opportunity to GO NUTS making laminated tags to back my items! They look SO amazing and boy oh boy did I have FUN laminating things! :D

Ok so here is step 1! Since business cards are super expensive to buy backs and well I had a whole REAM of cardstock, I used cardstock to print out my cards. Next I had to measure with a ruler and draw in lines to know where to cut my cards.

Next I had to cut with scissors since I don't have a paper cutter(I had to buy the laminator first. Soon though!!).

Next you line up the cards in the little laminating pocket and put through the laminator. You then cut out the tags seperately.
Now you place the sticky tag on the back of the card in the top middle so it hangs properly.

This is what the card looks like all finished!

This is what it looks like all pimped out in GENEA BEADS! :D

Sweet Action huh?!

Ok just so everything is together. Here are the NEW rules for RECYCLING GB cards!

Ok, so heres the deal. When you purchase one of my carded items and return your laminated card with hang tag I will reward you for recycling! Not only will you be recycling this item by sending the card back to me when you are finished using it, but you will be allowing me to reuse the card AND you will get a FREE BEAD! Everyone win's right? Green planet, and free beads! What could be better?! Your free bead will be a bead that retails for at least $10 dollars. How cool is that?! I thought so! :D