Kalmbach Bead Soup Party

It's time for another reveal!  First of all,
a HUGE thank you to

 

Lori Anderson and Kalmbach Publishing

 

for getting the Kalmbach Bead Soup Party started! (Be sure to vote for your favorite necklace here.)

 

And another HUGE thank you to Thistle Beads for the amazing bead soup they sent me! 

  

 

The challenge was to take the bead soup we were sent and add to it from our personal stash to create a one-of-a-kind necklace. I have to admit, this soup stretched me outside my current design style.  I've been working with seed beads and beading patterns, so it was a lot of fun to get the wire out and go back to wire working.

 

I had never made a double strand necklace and decided that I would use these pieces to create my first! It took a while to get the look I wanted, and once again I ended up with a fairly symmetrical design. (I don't think I'll ever be able to make a truly asymmetrical piece without help.)

 

 

 I have been collecting antique brass and antique copper findings for a special project and this necklace fit the bill.
 

 
I love the varied colors of turquoise in all the beads...the antique brass wire set it all off beautifully!

It took several attempts to get the two strands the right length but it was worth the time.

 

The little antique copper beads and hammered links really gives the necklace a unique feel. 

 

 

I even had enough left-over soup to create this matching bracelet. 

 

 

It was so exciting to be chosen to be a part of this bead soup party!  And the next time we're traveling to Maine, I'm making sure we have an extra hour in the schedule to stop in Connecticut and visit Thistle Beads to thank them in person!

 

 

 

Pimping out the White House

I could not believe my eyes when I watched the latest Obama re-election ad.  (If you haven't seen it yet, here's the YouTube link:

Lose Your Voting Virginity )

 

 

Let me start by asking this question...if this ad had been put out by the Romney campaign, would it still be OK?  If the conservative right had conceived this idea and ran the ad, how would the media, feminists and the liberals have reacted?  With open arms and tongue-in-cheek smiles?

 

 

And there lies the issue at the heart of it all--the double standard our media has chosen to uphold.

 

 

To imagine that we were shocked by Bill Clinton's sexual acts when he was in the White House...and now 12 years later, the current president can advertise to have virtual sex with millions of young girls this election day and it is touted as progressive and light-hearted. 

 

 

Having been raised by my grandparents as much as my parents, I definitely have a different value system than most of the people my age and younger.  But I don't think that changes the fact that this ad is deplorable.  How a woman can watch this and not be outraged is beyond me. 

 

 

I have a young daughter and I can't imagine telling her that one of the ads to get her father re-elected is that he wants all the young girls to lose their voting virginity with him this election. 

 

 

This ad pushes the bounds of decency.  

 

 

I feel sorry for Michelle Obama...imagine having to go to sleep each night next to a man who is planning to have millions of young women lose their voting virginity to him.  I wonder how many women that marriage bed can hold.

 

 

This country was founded on the idea that different ideas and ideologies can co-exist.  But even the Founding Fathers had common ground to meet on. 

 

 

There is no common ground with a man who holds the highest office in our country and pimps it out for re-election.