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Friday, April 20, 2018

We're All Ears :: April Reveal :: Paradise Calling

I'm back!

The Bead Cruise was such an amazing trip. The weather was absolutely perfect, the vistas were absolutely breathtaking and the beading was absolutely fun! There were a few mishaps, delays and reroutings on the way home, and then I got stuck in Milwaukee overnight because the weather where I live included at least 24" of snow that fell (is it really April?! It looks more like January out there!), and now that I am back I have been hit with a bad head cold. But that doesn't diminish the great memories that I made.


We saw several ports of call, including Labadee, Haiti (above)....


...an exotic flower and wildlife preserve....


...and sunsets at sea.

When we were on the ship out at sea was the time that we took classes. One of my half day classes was with Heather Powers in a polymer clay caned bead making class called Tropical Leaves. Here are the four beads that I made (which is saying something for me, since those who know will find it interesting that I would follow directions!).


So since I haven't felt well, I haven't had time to do much. But I did manage to make one pair of earrings. I was inspired by the petals of the tropical hibiscus flower and the large variety and shapes of the actual tropical leaves that were everywhere.


Are you intrigued by how I made these polymer clay leaf canes? You are in luck! This cane-making tutorial is something that anyone can do, and Miss Heather has conveniently put all the details into an online course that you can sign up for here. I would highly recommend this class.

These will be a great remembrance for me of a wonderful once-in-a-lifetime vacation. Now I will kick back with a margarita and enjoy the tropical earrings that you made.


Time to show off your tropical earrings! Let's see what you made!

9 comments:

  1. I am glad you enjoyed your cruise. But sorry you are under the weather now. I hope you feel better soon. Love your leafy beads. And the earrings, with the beaded tassels, are perfectly tropical. Thanks for the challenge.

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  2. I'm so very glad that you got to go on the Bead Cruise with us this year... so much fun spending time with you!! I also brought home a cold as a special souvenir. :( I'm just glad I wasn't sick during the cruise this year! I love the earrings you made with your beads from Heather's class. I need to try making more leaf canes with different color combos... love the pink in yours!! I hope we both feel much better soon.

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  3. So glad that you had a blast on the cruise. It indeed sounds like paradise - beautiful beaches AND bead-making. Your earrings so so fun, perfectly tropical! Here's hoping it starts to warm up some up there very soon!! Oh, I really enjoyed this challenge. I have to admit that I waited until the last minute to get anything made, but once I started - I couldn't stop. Thanks for a fun prompt.

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  4. I am glad that you enjoyed the cruise and sorry that you are unwell now. Honestly, I was feeling jealous and snarky so my interpretation is based on negative motivation. But I would love for you to visit my link when yo feel better

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  5. I am sure you had a great time and picked up lots of wonderful tips. Your beads and the earrings that evolved from them are such fun and tropical.

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  6. Lovely earrings--and lovely pictures! I'm so glad that you had a nice time on your cruise... I'm super jealous! Thanks for the inspiration, and for a chance to play with some color in this April-turned-January! I hope you feel better soon! :)

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  7. Terrific tropical leaf earrings Erin...sorry to hear you got ill after your fabulous ocean trip.

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  8. I already read Sarajo's account of the bead cruise and it sounded like everybody enjoyed it completely! The leaf cane beads are fantastic, what a great opportunity to learn making them! I love the earrings with them and the beaded tassels, the colors are so vivid! Get well soon!

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  9. Oh! one of these days I'm going to make that beady cruise with you guys ... it always looks like so much fun! You made me laugh about following directions. I AM THE WORST at that. I just kinda skip along to my own tune and hope my project ends up in the general zone of where it is supposed to - ha!

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