We want to offer you the world...

It's a wonderful world

The world will seem a little smaller this weekend. Bloggers from all over will be showcasing a selected country: its colours, people, landmarks or architecture, customs or dress. 

We have each created an accessory that captures the spirit of that special place, and on Saturday, September 1st, we are going to share our creations with you.

Please join us for a blog hop celebrating a world of difference. I think you'll find it much less tiring than flying around the planet, and a lot less costly as well!

Here are the participants and the countries they will be showcasing:

Africa

Monique Urquhart  ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com       Burkina Faso

Niky Sayers silverniknats.blogspot.co.uk   Egypt

Therese Frank     theresestreasures59.blogspot.com    Kenya

Raychelle Heath      abeadloveaffair.blogspot.com     Lesotho

Joan Williams   lilrubyjewelry.com      Mauritania

Sherri Stokey   knotjustmacrame.com     Senegal

Regina Santerre     reginaswritings.blogspot.com    Seychelles

Raida Disbrow    havanabeads.blogspot.com   Tanzania

Kristi Wodek  livedinlife.blogspot.com    Zimbabwe  

Americas

Sally Russick  thestudiosublime.com  Brazil

Melissa Trudinger  beadrecipes.wordpress.com   Mexico

Tracy Stillman     tracystillmandesigns.com       USA

Asia  

Sandra Wolberg      city-of-brass-stories.blogspot.de    India

Tanya Goodwin      pixiloo.blogspot.com       Japan

Susan Kennedy      suebeads.blogspot.com      Japan

Beth Emery      storiesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com    Japan

Lisa Cone      inspiredadornments.blogspot.com    Japan

Tanya Boden  fusionmusebangkok.blogspot.com    Japan

Inge von Roos    hingetraud.wordpress.com    Laos

Erin Prais-Hintz      treasures-found.blogspot.com       Nepal

Dee Elgie      cherryobsidia.blogspot.com      Phillipines

Carolyn Lawson       carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com   South Korea

Lisa Stukel      carefreejewelrybylisa.blogspot.com  Sri Lanka

Elly Snare      themagicsquarefoundation.wordpress.com       Thailand

Europe

Shelley Graham Turner  shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com    Austria

Mallory Hoffman    fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com    Bosnia Herzegovina

Paige Maxim  pmaximdesigns.blogspot.com    France

Jenny Davies-Reazor  jdaviesreazor.com/blog     Germany

Sharyl McMillian-Nelson    sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com      Greece

Evelyn Shelby    raindropcreationsbyevelyn.blogspot.com       Iceland

Holly Westfall    silverrosedesigns.blogspot.com   Ireland

Rebecca Siervaag  godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com     Ireland

Toltec Jewels      toltecjewels.blogspot.com       Ireland

Lee Koopman     stregajewellry.wordpress.com Ireland

Laren Dee Barton  larendeedesigns.blogspot.com      Italy

Cindy Wilson   mommysdreamcreations.blogspot.com       Norway

Kathleen Lange Klik      modernnaturestudio.blogspot.com        Poland

Shaiha Williams       haihasramblings.blogspot.com      Portugal

Jennifer Justman        soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com         Romania

Elsie Deliz-Fonseca      ladelizchica.blogspot.com   Spain

Lola Surwillo   beadlolabead.blogspot.com      Sweden

Kim Hora      kimmykats.com       Switzerland

Leanne Loftus    firstimpressiondesign.blogspot.com       The Netherlands

Patti Vanderbloemen    myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com   The Netherlands

Marcie Carroll    labellajoya.blogspot.com       Turkey

Oceania

Marlene Cupo  amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com Federated States of Micronesia

Ine Vande Cappelle     jewelsbyine.blogspot.com   Fiji

Tammie Everly     ttedesigns.blogspot.com        Guam

Alice Peterson     alice-dreaming.blogspot.com      Kiribati

Elisabeth Auld     beadsforbusygals.com      Nauru

Susan McClelland   mistheword12.wordpress.com      New Zealand

D Lynne Bowland   islandgirlsinsights.blogspot.com        New Zealand

Denielle Hagerman    somebeadsandotherthings.com  New Zealand

Rebecca Anderson    songbeads.blogspot.com      Papua New Guinea

Mischelle Fanucchi    micheladasmusings.blogspot.com    Samoa

Kari Asbury  hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com   Solomon Islands

Cece Cormier    www.thebeadingyogini.com       Tonga

Emma Todd  apolymerpenchant.blogspot.com   Tuvalu

Debbie Price  greenshoot.blogspot.com        Vanuatu  

Welcome Home, Miss Lucy!

Kramer and Lucy relax on the ironing board: just tolerating one
 another. I know she looks big in this pic, but Lucy's only about
3 lbs.,  and Kramer is 12 lbs!

This is a quick update on our newest family member. Last Friday, Lucy came home with us from the local Animal Shelter where she has been living since January. She is a sweet non-neutered female, about one year old. Since she lived in a big "cat room" at the Shelter, with about 14 other females, she was not at all intimidated by our Kramer. On arriving at our home she immediately began running through all the rooms, exploring this big unknown space.

Kramer, by contrast, seemed VERY intimidated by this nosy little interloper. He is a neutered male, almost two years old, and he has been King of the Hill in our home since we brought him from the same Shelter as a young kitten. He's had very little contact with other animals. We've dog-sat for my sister, but poor old Cailloux was no match for Kramer, who quickly put the shy dog in his place (the bottom rung).

No such luck with Miss Lucy! In one short week she has muscled her way into all of Kramer's favourite spots. She pushes him aside when the food bowl is filled (we tried serving them in separate bowls, but it made no difference). She is like the tough kid who grew up in a big family, and she knows how to make her way, despite Kramer being four times her weight!

I know they will eventually become friends. Today I came home and found them sharing space on top of the basement fridge. Looks like they are completely ignoring each other in this pic, doesn't it!

I'm in charge here...                                   No, I'm in charge! 

It's a party... and we get the gifts!

Lesley of The Gossiping Goddess is celebrating a special milestone! She is sharing the LOVE by having a give-away, with the chance to win £25. (approx. $40. USD) worth of goods from one of her Etsy shops:

Handcrafted jewellery components:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/theatoo

or

Jewellery with personality:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/theajewellery

Winner's choice! Hurry over if you haven't yet entered! I love Lesley's gorgeous goodies...

How NOT to sand your beads...

Over at the Art Jewelry Elements blog, Jennifer has come up with a great tell-all topic: "Everyone Starts Somewhere". The idea is to show off our sad, pathetic, scary, weird, wonky or otherwise undesirable early efforts.

The two polymer clay beads above were SUPPOSED to be a matched set... Ha! They were kaleidoscope cane slices I tried to make into lentil beads. The one on the right isn't too bad, a little crooked and off center. I must have been mad about something when I started sanding the bead on the left... there's hardly any pattern left! Not to mention the fingerprints and dings all over the surface. AND it's shaped more like a dinosaur egg than a lentil LOL.

I hadn't even realized I had kept it all this time... I must have hoped it would be good for a laugh some day!

**AUGUST 22 ADDED TO POST**: Based on several comments I received (below), I am now thinking part of my explanation must have been confusing... must work on that... The polymer clay is shaped into lentils BEFORE being baked. There is a particular way to give the soft, unbaked clay a swirl design, which I was just attempting for the first time. The sanding is supposed to be a finishing "touch" after baking. Also, part of the reason I wore away the surface pattern, was that I used TOO THIN a slice of cane over a white (probably scrap) center. I think that is a common mistake for beginners. So there you have it: a bonus boo-boo!

Hope everyone has a similar "horror" hidden away in a drawer or bin, and you're proud to show how far you've come.  Link back to AJE and join in the fun! You can also scroll to the bottom and instantly link to any current participant.

☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺

Ooops... almost forgot to post more recent work:

Some PC components I made earlier this month for a Art Bead Scene challenge. While these were mostly experiments, the improvement is that I only have to try something two or three times... instead of a dozen LOL.

Should I whistle for the cat, dear?

I rarely buy polymer clay articles. Not because I don't find them totally amazing, it's just that... well, I come from that heritage of "doing everything yourself". My mother was a child of the Great Depression, and for those people, it was almost a part of their religion: Don't buy what you can make!

Cat whistle by Joan Tayler: no, it's not to CALL your cat!

Sometimes, you just GOTTA buy... like this little fella. I admit I was overcome by my maternal cat feelings. We have Kramer:

Please Grammie, why can't I go out and chase the birds?

And waiting to adopt Lucy later this week:

I am She Who Must Be Obeyed...
 so get me out of this shelter!

So when I spotted the little sweetie over at Joan Tayler's blog this afternoon, I was hooked. Thankfully, Joan includes instructions for use, just in case I was hoping to use said whistle to have the kitties come a-runnin'... 

I'm just bragging, here, 'cause I got the only cat whistle. I'm guessing Joan will be making more (pretty please?) There are lots of other cool whistles at her  Etsy shop , and if you love rubber stamps, she sells her original design stamps (I'm  getting the Dragon parts design) and other neat creations.

I placed my order... I got a Shipping Notification from Etsy, like maybe an HOUR later... The woman must be psychic, or live next door to a Post Office. Both handy if you're a designer and Etsy seller, I guess.

Now I'm eagerly awaiting, so I can start stamping and whistling, possibly at the same time. The cats will be SOOOO impressed...