Bead Cruise 2018

I'm just back from a wonderful week of jewelry making classes, seeing old friends, meeting new people, fun in the sun, fabulous prizes, yummy food & drinks, and much more.  Where was I that all this happened?  On board Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas for the seven night Bead Cruise, of course!!  This is my fourth time setting sail with Heather Powers of Humblebeads and a group of other wonderful instructors and participants for the Bead Cruise and it's a blast each and every time!

Our ship, the Allure of the Seas, at our first port, Labadee.

This year we left out of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and headed for Labadee, Haiti; Jamaica, and Cozumel, Mexico... more about that in a bit.  Most of us fly down at least a day before the departure date... some folks went on a bead store field trip on Saturday, but I got in that day and just headed to the group hotel.

Getting to and on the ship is always a bit of an adventure starting with our shuttle to the port with tons of bags and supplies in tow... but eventually we always manage to get everything on board and settled into our staterooms and classrooms.  After grabbing a light lunch, I found my roommate for the week, grabbed cocktails, and toasted to the wonderful times ahead!

Waiting for the port shuttle with my friend Erin Prais-Hintz... Can you feel the excitement of going on her first Bead Cruise?

Met up with my wonderful roommate (and fabulous instructor!) Tracy Stanley to kick off the trip right!

After dinner on the first night of the cruise, there is a little welcome event where everyone gets to meet up, get the week's schedule, receive our goody bags full of wonderful items donated by the cruise's sponsors, and participate in a pendant exchange.  I ran out of time to play along with the exchange last year so I made sure to get back into the swing of things this time!

Pendant Exchange:  L) The pendant I made with a design and components from Vintaj.  R) The lovely and delicate pendant I received from SandyWetzstein.

If you aren't familiar with the way the Bead Cruise works, there are classes scheduled during the day on the at sea days.  You get one full day class and one half day class included with your registration and have the option of adding up to two additional half day classes.  This year, I decided to break out of my rut and try something new... bead embroidery!  My all day class was "It's A Hippy Thing" with the sweet, patient, and fun Kinga Nichols.  I'm a long way from having this bracelet completed (as you can see from my in progress pics below) but I'm getting there for sure!  I'm super excited to learn how to make a peyote bezel around a cabochon.  Now I won't be sad when I see a lovely bead only to notice that it's actually a cab!  I loved the way Kinga set up our class supplies buffet style so that we could pick our favorite one of a kind cab, the silk color, the leather, and the button individually.  I picked the orange color way for the cab and beads but decided to use the teal silk. 

The next day we were back ashore on Royal Caribbean's private piece of Haiti... Labadee.  I wasn't off the ship for too long, but did enjoy taking the little boat ride to the far side of the island and checking out the artisan market.  (I didn't get there the last time we were there for the 10th Anniversary cruise.)  It was super hot and humid so Heather, Erin, and I headed back to enjoy the pool while most people were off the ship.

Myself, Heather, and Erin on Labadee.  Lovely water of the Caribbean!

The next day was spent exploring Jamaica with a group of my fellow Bead Cruisers and our local guide "Mama" Maxine and guide-in-training Bobby.  We spent the first part of the way driving across the island to Dunn's River Falls.  None of us were interested in trying to climb the falls (it actually looked like a nightmare to do that to me!) but we enjoyed their beauty and many of us did at least get our feet wet!  After a yummy lunch of jerk chicken, fried plantains, and Red Stripe beer (for me, anyways) we headed for a quick tour of the lovely Coyaba Gardens.

Vistas from the drive, and a peek at Dunn's River Falls.

Some cool plants from Coyaba Gardens.  The top right is called Cat's Whiskers!

Later that evening, we had our Neverland themed costume party.  I was too busy dancing and checking out everyone's costumes and jewelry to get many pictures but I did snap a shot of a cute Peter Pan and Tinker Bell!  My costume was a super lazy pirate outfit not worthy of pictures!

After two days in a row on the islands it was back to class!  My half day class was my roommate Tracy Stanley's "Let's Color It" class.  She taught us a fun method for adding color to metal with Prismacolor colored pencils.  I have to admit that I spent a lot of my class time picking out some of the fun shaped metal blanks that Tracy brought and getting them prepped so that I could easily play with the color at home.  I did get one pendant mostly done, though.  I still need to seal it and I'm also thinking that I will add some sort of riveted element to it... just have to decide what that will be first!  This was a super fun technique and I'm already thinking about ways to incorporate it into future designs.

My main piece in progress... I love how even though my rubber stamp work was a little sloppy, the process was pretty forgiving.

Our last port was Cozumel, Mexico.  We stopped there last year and I did a cooking at the beach class at Playa Mia.  I had so much fun last time that I signed up for an excursion that included the same fabulous cooking class but added on some tequila time and a chocolate tour and tasting as well.  I didn't take many pictures (too busy cooking!) but snapped the shots below at the Mayan Cacao Company tour.  A fun, if a bit rushed time was had.  I even grabbed a nice bottle of sipping tequila to bring home to my hubby!

I ended up signing up for two bonus classes this year... one with our lovely hostess Heather and another with Kinga.  I was more than a little nervous about trying Heather's "Welcome to the Jungle" polymer class because it involved making canes.  I was pleasantly surprised by the relative ease of the process and think my beads turned out pretty darn well for it being a first attempt and working with a bit of a time crunch.  I had some ends of the cane that I had lopped off (it gets more distorted on the ends) but they still looked ok.  I decided to try making some little leaf charms since I had some larger sized canes.  Check back on Friday to see a couple of pairs of earrings featuring some of these newly made beads and charms for the We're All Ears challenge. 

It's hard to believe the polymer clay magic that creates the leaf canes that then get applied to your beads!  

Kinga's bonus class "Zeno, the Tiniest Fishie Bracelet" was a great way to end my set of classes.  Much more straightforward and beginner friendly, since it didn't involve bezeling a cab.  I had fun sitting and working on the backstitch outlines in class.  I got more of it finished while waiting for my flight home at the airport, but still have a ways to go.  I'll have to share when I get hime all done.  I was pleased to discover through Kinga's two classes that I enjoy bead embroidery... and it's one more tool in my beading tool kit!

So, eventually my fishy will look like Kinga's samples... I hope!

The last night of the cruise is always bittersweet for me... I'm sad to say goodbye to all of my beady friends but ready to be back home to my husband and kitties.  After dinner, Heather always hosts a Farewell Party before we all have to go back to our rooms to finish packing.  This year, a fun addition to the party was a little photo booth action with lots of amusing props.  Here are a couple of pics of me with Tracy and then Erin and Heather.  Heather also gave out a few more prizes game show style... I won a lovely bunch of sari silk from Design Talented One and a butterfly pendant from Gardanne.

Before I say goodbye to all of you, here's a little collage of some of my favorite things around the ship.  A couple of shots of my favorite area... Central Park, an outside area with real plants and lots of seating tucked throughout; my first chocolate martini... dessert for me on several nights; part of a cool art installation showing the progression of creating a carousel horse; and my favorite towel animal by our stateroom attendant Bob!  Not pictured, but the Oceanaria show at the amazing AquaTheater was super cool.  It was mix of diving, acrobatics, aerial daring, dance, and more with a "stage" that was sometimes covered with only an inch of water and sometimes was deep enough to dive into from 60 feet!

Thanks for sticking with me through this long post... assuming that you're still reading!  LOL.  I write these posts as much for myself as a diary of sorts, so I want to do my best to capture the highlights of all my adventures.

Bead Cruise 2017

2017 marked the 12th annual sailing of the Bead Cruise organized by Heather Powers of Humblebeads fame... and my third trip aboard this beady voyage.  This cruise is always an amazing time filled with laughter, learning, and (for me, anyway) lounging on the beach.  I think most of us Bead Cruisers would agree that the experience is as much about seeing old friends (and meeting new ones!) as it is the wonderful classes.

As I have after past Bead Cruises and other jewelry class experiences, I thought I'd share a little of my adventures with you here to give you an idea of what it's all about.  This year we set sail on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas out of Galveston, Texas with stops in Roatan, Belize City, and Cozumel.  Below you'll see our ship, my roommate Lissa and I on the bus to the port, and us enjoying our first cocktail of the cruise.

Full disclosure: the fun actually started with a couple of nights in Houston with a field trip to one of our fellow cruiser's bead stores, Beadoholique, and a group dinner to kick things off.  Whenever possible, Heather tries to schedule a pre-cruise bead store adventure!  The first night of the cruise, Heather always hosts a welcome party with a pendant exchange.  This gives us all a chance to meet each other and our instructors, get any important updates from Heather, and get out fabulous goody bags filled with yummy and fun things from the cruise sponsors.  Here's part of what I got in my bag this year...

Just some of our goodies from the Bead Cruise Sponsors: Whim Beads, Nunn Design, Allegory Gallery, Firefly Design Studio, Vintaj, East of the Sun West of the Moon, Thornburg Bead Studio, Humblebeads, Sue Beads, Mary Harding, Marsha Neal, Tesori Trovati

This trip we had two at sea days at the start of the trip allowing us to begin our adventure with our full and half day classes (more about those in a bit) before hitting our first port... Roatan, Honduras.  Lissa and I, along with a van full of our fellow Bead Cruisers got a guided tour of the island.  The highlight of the tour was a boat ride through the mangroves and a view of Roatan's Little Venice community from the water.

That night was the Midsummer Night's Dream costume party.  The annual costume cocktail party is always a highlight.  Heather chooses a different theme every year, but people really responded to this year's fairy-centric theme and went all out!  Here's a peek at some of my favorite fairies...

Our second port was Belize City, Belize.  This was my first time taking a tender off of a cruise ship and I can tell you I far prefer ports where you can just walk off the ship.  When you have to tender, you actually end up taking a smaller boat from the ship to shore and back.  It just makes the whole process and timing of things a little more complicated and stressful when you're trying to make it to a shore excursion.  But I digress... after a 40 minute boat ride we found our tour group and headed off to the Mayan ruins at Altun Ha.  Despite the crazy heat, I had to climb to the top of the large temple for some pictures.  I was rewarded with a cool breeze and a magnificent view from the top!

Our final stop was in Cozumel, Mexico where Lissa, myself, and a few other ladies from our group enjoyed some beach time and a fabulous cooking class at Playa Mia.  Those of you who know me, know that I'm no cook.  As a matter of fact, I'm barely allowed in the kitchen!  I'm so shocked that I made myself a three course lunch and it was absolutely delicious!!

Ok, enough about the vacation aspects of the Bead Cruise and onto the classes!  One of the things that I appreciate about the Bead Cruise is that there are classes for a wide variety of interests... it's not all seed beads like some retreats that I've seen.  A full day and a half day class are included as part of your cruise registration with the option to add up to two extra half day classes.  I was an overachiever as always and signed up for four classes.  Sadly, I wasn't as diligent about taking pictures during my classes as I have been in the past (I was super busy with my projects!) but I do have pics of my finished/semi-finished projects.

This year I took classes from Eva Sherman and Heather Powers that focused on metal work and polymer clay.  I never imagined that I would actually enjoy polymer clay until I went to Heather's Inspired by Nature retreat last fall... but I'm really enjoying the versatility of this medium.  My all day class was Eva's "Groovy Cuffs and Pendants" where we learned a fun technique to layer polymer clay and create really cool patterns.  I adore how my pieces turned out and am itching to break out the toaster oven to make some more things now that I'm home!  My half day class was Heather's "Sweetest Song" where we used her "Metal Sketches" technique to create a cute, folk-art inspired bird pendant.  We had all the supplies to finish a necklace, but I ran out of time and wanted to focus on getting my pendant colored with the Swellegant patinas and dyes.  I need to sit down and finish the other components so I'll have a wearable necklace!

The two optional half day classes were held at the end of the cruise on our final at sea day before returning to Galveston.  My morning class was another polymer clay class, Heather's "Sea Pods."  I had fun sculpting a variety of pod and shell shapes and turning them into headpins.  Some of the designs were easier than others, but I'll give them all another try at home where there are no time constraints.  We used alcohol inks and patina paints to give life to these little beauties so now I have more things I'd like to buy to add to my tool box.  My final half day class was back to Eva for her "Gypsy Woman Cuff."  This was a fun bracelet project that looks more complicated than it really was.  Eva had pre-cut copper sheet that she had textured with a rolling mill.  I finished one cuff in class and went home with the supplies to make two more.  Beyond that, I think I'd need to book studio time someplace to use a guillotine and maybe a rolling mill since those are both tools that are a little expensive for me right now.      

The Bead Cruise ends with the last of the annual events, the dreaded Goodbye Party on the last night.  Each year, Heather challenges cruisers to make something using items from our goody bags from at least three sponsors and the group votes on their favorites and prizes are awarded at the party.  It was nice to see prizes go to several first time Bead Cruisers this year.  The next morning it's off the ship and back to the airport for our re-entry to the real world.  As I write this a few days after arriving back home, I still feel the motion of the ocean in my inner ear, but am starting to readjust to life on dry land.  To wrap this up, I'll just leave you with a few pictures of me relaxing during the cruise... when life gets to hectic I'll just close my eyes and imagine myself back on the beach in Cozumel or enjoying a sunset on my stateroom balcony!

Inspired by Reading: The Ladies of Grace Adieu

This month's Inspired by Reading Book Club selection is a book that I've owned for quite some time but just never got around to reading... The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke.  This is a slim volume of fairy stories by Clarke that is illustrated by the amazing Charles Vess.  The stories are presented as if they were written by various authors and are in a variety of 18th and 19th century styles.  I'm not sure that I loved the stories (although I still want to read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell) but this is a truly beautiful book that was a delight to hold in my hands.

I feel a tiny bit like I cheated this month since I had already hatched the idea for this necklace and earrings before I started reading the book selection this month.  Each year for the Bead Cruise, Heather Powers chooses a theme for a costume/cocktail party.  This year she chose "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Even though I'm not great at coming up with fabulous costumes, I hate to pass up a chance to let loose and be a little wild so I started plotting early.  I had a mask that I got a good deal on at sci/fi convention a few years ago and have never worn.  I thought the great leaf design would be a perfect starting point for my fairy costume!  I did some searching online and found some fun, leafy fairy wings in orange and red and a simple orange tutu.  I still had to make some minor adjustments to the mask and find a suitable under layer for the tutu, but I was feeling pretty good about my costume by November and then sort of forgot about things for a while... and I hadn't even begun to think about jewelry!  Lucky for me, the January edition of Erin Prais-Hintz's Simple Truths Sampler Club got my creative juices going... it was the perfect complement for the rest of my outfit!

I picked out lots of Czech glass flower and leaf beads in the colors of the pendant (and my new leggings that I bought to go under the tutu) and arranged them (along with a couple of rondelles) in an asymmetrical design.  I used brass chain and findings to go with the brass pendant bezel.  

Needing earrings to go along with my new flower fairy necklace, I got to work playing with some enameled bead caps from C-Koop Beads.  I bought a lot of different colored pairs of flower bead caps a while back with the idea of making earrings featuring vine-like dangles, but hadn't gotten around to figuring out how to make my vision reality.  This was do or die time!  I ended up using a skinny mandrel intended for making wire loops to wrap my long head pin around to form my "vines."  They aren't perfect, but I'm pretty happy with how these turned out considering they were a first attempt.  I'm eager to play with some of the other colors and shapes of enameled bead caps that I've been hoarding!

And here's a look at me in my full costume for our party night on the cruise!  It was a great night dancing and cavorting with the other Bead Cruise fairies!

Me in my fairy costume with my roommate Lissa.

Bead Cruise 2015!

2015 marks the 10 year anniversary of the Bead Cruise.  You may remember that my friend Kathleen and I went on the cruise last year for the first time.  You can read about that first adventure HERE.  We had such a fabulous time that we just couldn't pass up the anniversary sailing and all the extra events that went along with it!  Heather Powers (of Humblebeads fame) always goes to great lengths to make the cruise a wonderful experience for all involved but she had some extra special events and surprises to help celebrate a decade of Bead Cruising!

Many of us arrived in Florida an extra day early to take part in a field trip to Beads Gone Wild in West Palm Beach.  I'm not sure that the staff there knew what hit them when a bus load of bead ladies swarmed them all at once.  Not really needing anything, I didn't expect to buy all that much... and yet I left with a heavy sack filled with pretty new seed beads, farfalle (peanut) beads in a rainbow of gorgeous colors, and some really neat coated hematite beads.  So much for resolve!

On the bus to the bead store!

Friday night we had group dinner to kick things off at a nearby hotel... highlights included a lovely gift for Heather that Terri G. organized and some delicious cake for dessert!  This year Heather made really nice name badges that got bedazzled with turquoise crystals based on how many times each person had been a Bead Cruiser.  It was fun to see how many folks were serious veterans!  On Saturday morning, giddy with excitement, our group boarded a series of shuttle buses equipped with trailers for all our baggage and headed off to the port in Ft. Lauderdale.

Bon Voyage!

Since this was our second year cruising, the whole experience felt very much like a homecoming to me.  It was a chance to catch up with folks that you only "see" online the rest of the year and to make new friends.  When you bring a big group of people together who share common interests and a love for fun, good things are going to happen!   

  

One of my favorite pictures from the cruise: with Kathleen, Erin, and Diana on our first formal night.

Our first stop was St. Maarten but Kathleen and I didn't spend that much time actually on that island.  We opted to go swim with the dolphins over on the neighboring island of Anguilla.  We had done the dolphin "cuddle" the previous year and were feeling more adventurous this time around.  Included in this experience were having the dolphin push each person on a boogie board and doing a belly swim where you are tummy to tummy as the dolphin pulls you through the water.  It was fun and incredible!

Our second port was St. Kitts and a good number of the Bead Cruisers signed up to visit the Caribelle Batik factory on the other side of the island.  Less of a factory tour than a cool shopping experience with lovely grounds, one of the best parts of the excursion was getting driven all around the little island and getting a glimpse of the non-touristy parts if only from a van.

Next up was a short stop in San Juan.  I would love to have more time here... most of us were sorry we didn't get a longer day to explore.  Kathleen and I chose to do the San Juan food and culture walking tour through Old San Juan.  I would totally recommend this shore excursion.  We had a nice walk through town getting some interesting history and stories along the way.  We stopped for three different tasty treats throughout the tour and did not go back to the ship hungry!  A highlight was getting to muddle our own mojitos and smash the plantains, garlic, and butter to create mofongo which we ate with a spicy chicken mixture.  I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!  Even though there were two bead stores nearby, Kathleen and I decided to end our day by visiting a local brewery... you can read about that and our adventures with cruise cocktails over on my husband's blog soon HERE.

I couldn't get enough of the gorgeous colors and iron work of the buildings in San Juan!

Our last port was Royal Caribbean's private beach resort of Labadee, Haiti.  Unfortunately, this wasn't our best weather day and we got a fair amount of drizzle with short periods of heavier rain that sent many folks running back to the ship.  Kathleen and I, perhaps bolstered by our dolphin adventure earlier in the trip, started our day with the Dragon's Breath Flight Line.  At 2.600 feet long, it's the longest zip line over water and it was amazing.  It was quite the adrenaline high!

I still can't believe I did this!

Thanks to Diana's quick work, we managed to snag a waterside cabana for the day.  It was great having our own private base of operations and cover from the rain.  The water was warm and wonderful and I loved getting to really swim for the first time in forever.  We also spent part of the afternoon doing some beach combing for pretty shells and other beachy finds.  I hope to incorporate some of the tiny shells I found into some new jewelry in the coming months.  Stay tuned!  

Looking out at the other cabanas from our little piece of paradise!

Lest you think that the cruise was all adventure and enjoying gorgeous tropical ports of call, here's a peek at my class projects in process.  From the top left corner:  bits and pieces from Heather Powers' Metal Sketches class, Tracy Stanley's Byzantine Chain class, Heather's Tropical Foliage needle felting and bead embroidery class, and Erin Siegel's Tribal Inspired Bracelet class.  I had a great time learning some new techniques and being surprised by how much I liked some things that were pretty far outside my comfort zone.  I've got a wish list of new tools and supplies and I'm not sure I can wait until my birthday in July to gift them to myself!

I swear I will get these projects finished soon!

On the last night of the cruise we had our farewell party and design contest.  Last year I played along for the contest (and won!) but this time, I just didn't have the right combination of goodies to pull something together... nor did I make a lot of extra beading time outside of class and the pj party.  Like last year, I was wowed by what people came up with for the contest!  Part of the evening's festivities included the last round of door prizes.  I ended up winning the mother lode... a grab bag of beady goodness from the contributors of the Art Jewelry Elements blog!!  I couldn't believe my good luck... just look at all the lovely loot I got!  (Not pictured here is the cool focal from Jenny Davies Reasoner because I traded it to Kathleen for the door prize she had won.)

Winning this prize package helped ease the pain of leaving the cruise and all my beady friends behind!

The details for Bead Cruise 2016 will be available soon.  If you are interested in taking engaging jewelry making classes with incredible instructors while having a fun cruise vacation, I urge you to check it out.  I learned a great deal, made new friends, and had a ton of fun... and I escaped a brutal Minnesota winter at the same time.  Bead Cruise for the win!  I'm hoping that I can go again in 2016... if not, I know it will happen another year!  Until then, I'll keep dreaming Bead Cruise dreams.

New Earring Monday '15: Weeks 9 & 10

Happy Monday, everyone!  I hope that you all are starting to get adjusted to the switch to Daylight Savings... my body is still feeling a little confused.

For this week's installment of New Earring Monday I'm sharing a few pairs of earrings that I either made on the Bead Cruise or with techniques I learned there combined with goodies from our gift bags.  (I'll be posting my blog recap of the trip later this week.)

First up, a pair that feature Byzantine chain maille (which I learned in Tracy Stanley's class) and some cute little lampwork glass beads that Sue Beads donated to our goody bags.  Thanks to Diana Ptaszynski for the gift of aluminum jump rings!  I went with red, black, and silver to stay in the Queen of Hearts theme for our cruise cocktail party.  I also finished a coordinating bracelet (although not my actual class kit) during the cruise.

I'm super proud of this second pair that I made in Heather Powers' Metal Sketches class on the cruise... and not just because they are the only class project that I actually finished in class!  This was my first time using metal shears to make magic out of sheet metal and my very first time making ear wires.  I can tell you that I have some new tools on my wish list and I don't want to wait until my birthday in July to gift them to myself!

As an added earring bonus, here is a simple little pair that I whipped up during our Beading Jammie Jam pajama party!  I love the little flip flop charms from Vintaj and the beachy feel of the finished earrings.  I'll be taking this pair to Unearthed Arts in my next delivery.

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Bead Cruise Inspired Design Challenge

To help all of us Bead Cruisers pass the time waiting (impatiently) for Bead Cruise 2015, Diana Ptaszynski of Suburban Girl Studio decided to organize a little design challenge.  The rules were simple, create a piece of jewelry that is ocean, tropical, or cruise inspired (any or all of these, actually) and share with the group.  I figured I should share with my blog readers too!

It seems like this should have been a narrow enough focus to get me going... but no.  I had too many things to choose from!  I guess that's a good problem to have.  I had truly grand plans of getting a ton of jewelry done for this challenge, but as is so often the case lately, my life has just gotten too busy.  I refused to give in to chaos and I didn't give up on participating... I just scaled my plans and expectations down a little bit.  

First up I made a little pair of seahorse and shell earrings.  I had a bunch of resin projects that had been on the back burner waiting for me to get new UV resin, so I figured I'd whip up some ocean themed earrings while I was at it.  Here's the result!

I used the little seahorse images from the "Bathing Beauties" Nunn Design collage sheet in one of their fancier bezels and kept it simple with some little TierraCast shell charms.  Simple and cute.  These are now for sale at Unearthed Arts in Waconia.

Finishing the earrings was enough to satisfy the challenge, but I wanted to do more.  At the last minute (i.e. last night) I whipped up this cute charm necklace.  (Well, at least I think it's cute... I hope you do too!)  The starting point was the adorable little starfish charm that I just got this week from Kylie Parry (along with some of her other treasures, naturally).  I wire wrapped a bail for it with a Czech glass rondelle and some copper wire and added a little shell charm and a little mixed metal dangle to complete the charm portion.  Wanting a little more umph for the design I also included a lampwork glass bead from Fire Lilly.  I love the way the bottom portion of the bead has some aqua ocean color and the top part is more sandy tones. 

I toyed with the idea of tying a little bit of aqua colored sari silk onto the lampwork bead unit but didn't do it last night in my time crunch.  Maybe I'll try it later and see if that adds something.  Thoughts?  

So, I didn't realize all my beach/cruise inspired designs, but I'm pretty happy with that pieces that I did manage to make.  Who knows, maybe I'll manage a couple more sea-inspired designs before summer is over... and if not, there's always next year.  The 2015 Bead Cruise is closer every day!

Bead Cruise 2014

I'm just back from the Bead Cruise, and I have to say that I had an amazing time!  I knew that I would enjoy meeting the other Bead Cruisers, taking classes, and having girl time with my friend Kathleen... what I didn't know was if I would like cruising itself.  Turns out I did!  We had a nice mix of classes and free time on the ship and there was never a dull moment.  

It's going to be hard to capture the experience for you all, but I'm going to try... and apologies in advance if this gets a little long winded!  Apologies also for the quality of my pictures.  I didn't bring my real camera, relying instead on my iPhone, and the results were mixed.  Lesson learned for next time I guess!

Here Kathleen and I are about to board the ship!  It's kind of cool (and a little weird) that they use these entry pics for facial recognition to group all of your other photos together under your cabin number.  

There was so much beady goodness in our gift bags!  A huge thanks to everyone who donated items!

My projects in process during Heather Power's "Petals & Leaves" class.  I learned some new hammering techniques as well as how to make those cute little peanut bead and wire links.  I also started my list of new tools that I want!

Projects in process during Tracy Stanley's Earrings class.  Those top ones are now one of my favorite everyday pairs!  (and after this class I REALLY want new hammers)

We spent part of our day in Nassau with the dolphins... and this is the dolphin kiss to prove it!  Next time I'd want to do the full swim instead of the "cuddle" but it was so much fun to get to hug, pet, and dance with our dolphin friend Clifton.

We were all working hard on our half-hitch knots in Erin Siegel's "Triple Row Macrame Bracelet" class.  I really enjoyed working with the waxed Irish linen and learning to make some new knots.

And this is how I finished my bracelet since I had to leave the clip board behind in class!  (Don't worry, I'm keeping this one for myself.)

The Bead Cruisers took over the 14th floor game room to work in the good light.  Here, Diana Ptaszynski (of Suburban Girl Studio fame) is photo bombing my picture of Terri Greenawalt hard at work.

New friends and old:  Diana, Kashmira, Sj (me!), and Kathleen.  I swiped this group pic from Diana since I didn't get one on my camera.

Last day of the Bead Cruise with Erin Siegel.

Remember that gift bag?  Well there is a design contest during the cruise to make a piece with at least three items from your gift bag.  This is my creation featuring a pendant from Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovoti, seahorse charm from Rings & Things, and beads from Rosanne Garvison of 2nd Hand Rose.  There's also one of Heather's beads in there too that I bought during the cruise.  At the farewell party on the last night everyone could vote for their favorites in three categories:  Show Favorite, Most Intense, and Simply Sweet.  I couldn't believe it, but I won for Simply Sweet!  I know I will have fun spending the awesome gift certificates I got for winning.  

Last night on the ship, here I am with two of my teachers Tracy and Heather.  Thanks for the great classes!

I had such a great time on this trip and have to give a special shout out to Heather Powers of Humblebeads who makes it all happen!  Everyone was so friendly and so much fun... I couldn't have asked for a better group of ladies.  And to get to share it all with a friend that I usually only get to see at library conferences made it all the more special.  I will definitely do this again when I can!

Here is the whole gang together for our group picture.

If you love beading and hanging out with a super fun group of like-minded folks while visiting tropical locations, I highly suggest you take a look at the Bead Cruise.  2015 will be the 10th year of the cruise (crazy, right?) and I'm betting it will be bigger and better than ever!  Details should be out on the website in late April I think... so check back.

In addition to my beading exploits, my husband tasked me with doing a roving blogger piece for his blogs on fruity cruise cocktails.  You can check out my report over on the JABlog HERE!

Now it's back to the real world for a few days before our next adventure starts.  Thanks for stopping by!