December 2012

It has been a busy couple of weeks for me with enteertaining family for Thanksgiving and getting ready for Christmas. My sister and I participated in the a craft show at the mall last weekend. We had a lot of fun meeting people and selling some jewelry. On Saturday we will be at Market Days Arts and Craft Show at Heritage Village in Crystal River with our jewelry. Hope some of you are able to come by and see us. I just made some really cute Christmas earrings.

Hematoxylin & Eosin Necklace

This necklace uses the colors that are demonstrated in the Hematoxylin & Eosin stain. The H&E is a routine stain used daily in the histology lab. It is used to stain the nucleus and cytoplasm of cells, and is the first stain done on any tissue removed from the body. As the starting point for all diagnosis it gives the pathologist a tremendous amount of information and helps to determine if further studies are needed. The 8mm round purple center bead depicts the nucleus and the three different shades of pink 4mm bicone crystals depict the various cellular components scattered throughout the cytoplasm.

It is a stunning necklace.

Close up view.

  My first sample was purchased my Rita Lovshe of Lab Storage Systems, Inc. to give away at her booth this year at the 2012 NSH in Vancouver, BC

Dec. 18, 2011

Here is my photostream of the Special Stain Collection. http://www.flickr.com/photos/63727748@N06/sets/72157627025296258/

It's not too late for Christmas shopping.

Dec. 12, 2011

I made this lovely 17inch spiral necklace using gold bulge beads, size 8 gold core beads and size 11 gold Delica as accents last night. I made a peytote toggle and four loops to give it extra length. I think it is going to look spectular with my red top tonight on the Christmas cruise down the intercoastal.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

This is my Christmas inspired spiral. I just love wearing it to all my Christmas parties. It always gets the "Wow, I like your necklace" comment. I hope you all are ready for Christmas. I still have a few more gifts to make and buy. I really need to figure out a jewelry item I can make for all the guys on my list. If you have an idea feel free to share it here.

Dec. 09, 2011

This is so awesome. I made the tennis bracelet with two rows of bicones using right angle weave technique. I used copper Delicas putting a single row between the two bicones. It is a size 6 and 3/4 inch and used 37  4mm mocca bicones on each row. I also, made a loop of copper Delicas to put the copper lobster claw on and a loop on the other end to put the closed copper jump ring on. I estimate about 4 hours went into creating this heirloom quality bracelet. 

Dec. 6, 2011

I was very busy this weekend making tennis bracelets. In descending order, Caribbean blue, crystal, jet, rose, and sapphire Swarovski 4mm bicone crystals with gold seed beads and gold filled lobster claw clasps. I make them using two needles and a right angle weave. I go through each crystal one way and then the other way with the other needle. This way the bicone is reinforced.

These two are Siam and Peridot Satin Swarovski 4mm bicones. I think they look great for Christmas worn together. In fact, they look great worn with my Chainmaille Christmas tree, I made a Bead Day at Terri's on 11/ 25/11.

Bead day at Terri's Nov. 25, 2011

Here I am with new friends Vonda and Irina. I made jump rings and showed the group how to do a Christmas tree pendant in chain maile. Boy, those little jump rings are tuff to work with but they really make the pendant stable.  Vonda was already into chain maile and brought samples of her work to show us. Beautiful, Vonda.

11/20/11

This is my latest bracelet made with iris metallic tila beads, dark purple Swarovski Crystal 4mm bicones, iris 11 seed beads, amethyst 11 seed beads and silver 15 seed beads. I really enjoyed making this one over the weekend.

These are a few of my different bracelets. The turquoise and the purple one are made in a very popular style. I have made that one in many different colors and beads. The top bracelet is a herringbone pattern and can be made with a center stone. It is a great everyday bracelet.

Earrings

These are some of my favorite earrings. I especially like the Siam Red dangles with the sterling silver cones. I call them my Congo Red earrings. They have a silver flower between two Swarovski Siam 4mm bicones crystals. I hope you all are planning some fun projects for the weekend. I have several orders to fill.

80's Rock Star

Here my sister, Linda and I are at my son and daughter-in-laws '80s Halloween party tonight. We are both wearing our jewelry. The necklace I have on is one of my favorites. It is Swarovski black and crystal wire wrapped dangles in a graduated pattern.

I am getting ready to do a craft show in Aventura next weekend and then a home show for a close friend. Time to get everyone in the mood for Christmas shopping. My motto is " Jewelry is always appropriate".

Oct 6th, 2011

My husband came to town last evening on his way to fly out of Ft. Lauderdale airport today. He went to NJ to attend his 45th high school reunion. He brought me some beading supplies from our new home and my Step by Step Wire Magazine which had gone to the new house. While he is visiting with old friends I'll be working on some beading projects that were ordered while I was at the NSH S/C. Amy, who purchased the Alcian Blue bracelet wants earrings to go with it. She wants a long drop and of course I can't find the tear drop shape bead in the color to match the Alcian Blue. I am going to try making it with a square Swarovski crystal and a bicone under it. I'll also be checking out the Step by Step Wire magazine. I do so love  working with wire. If I had started making jewelry when I was very young before I spent so many years working in a histology lab and getting repetitive motion damage to my hands, I think I would have majored metalsmithing. Oh well, I love bead weaving, too. I hope you all are working on something fun this weekend.

Deb Foster was the lucky winner of the PAS Bracelet I donated to the NSH Public Relations Committee to give away. Deb was very happy and excited. It fit her perfectly, too.

I had a great week at the NSH convention/symposium with a lot of excitement generated about by "Special Stain Collection".  I think I will see more sales in the future.  A lot of people took order forms and business cards. I will post more pictures soon. I picked up a cold or had an allergy attack and am still sick. I slept all afternoon after getting home and I am going right back to bed just wanted to get this one picture up for you all to see.

My Angel

This is my lovely "Angel" Lucy Moreau and me showing some of our handiwork. Lucy has been so very sweet to let me stay with her while I am continuing to look for a job in Crystal River now that my house has been sold. So, I am showing her some of the bead weaving patterns that I know. I have taught her the wave bracelet made using tila beads and 3mm Swarovski crystals. I also taught her how to do the spiral like the Trichrome Necklace that I made here in this picture. We have really been having fun. She has discovered I am a hard task master. I don't let her give up. I am patient but surrender is not an option.

I hope to have some more pictures of new additions to the "Special Stain" collection before I leave for the NSH Symposium Convention on Friday. So be sure to check back later this week.

Von Kossa Calcium Stain Bracelet

Calcium salts are normally present in bones and teeth. Abnormal deposits may be found in areas of TB infection, lymph nodes, fibroids, etc. This Von Kossa Calcium Stain bracelet depicts the brown to black calcium salts  using iris 3 x 3 mm cubes surrounded on all sides by iris seed beads with their various shades depicting the pink to red cytoplasm and nuceli. In the lab, tissue sections are treated with a silver nitrate solution and silver is deposited replacing the calcium. It is then reduced by a strong light and is visulized as metallic silver. That is why I picked the metallic iris cubes used in this bracelet.  This bracelet lays flat against your wrist making it a good choice for daily wear.

Congo Red Amyloid Bracelet

This stunning tennis bracelet depicts the Congo Red Amyloid Stain. The Congo Red Amyloid Stain demonstrates myeloma-associated or tumor-associated amyloidosis.  Amyloid deposits may become very large and damage surrounding tissue.  This bracelet uses 4mm Siam Swarvoski Crystals surrounded by Palladium Plated Miyuki Delicas in a single row. It looks fabulous with your evening wear or stunning with jeans and a tee-Shirt.

Bile Stain Bracelet

This is my Bile Stain Bracelet. In it I have made a herringbone pattern on both ends in green 4 x4 cubes with 11* Seed Beads. In the center of the bracelet I put rows of alternating, pink crystals, pink 8* Seed Beads in a ladder stitch,and light brown crystals. I made a seed bead toggle clasp.

The Bile Stain demonstrates bile pigments in tissue. Biliary obstruction may cause excessive amounts of bile pigments in the liver. When red cells ( a component of blood ) degrade it results in a normal production of Bilirubin. In the stain, the tissue colors range from olive green to emerald green depending on the concentration of bile pigment present. Muscle and cell cytoplasm stains yellow and collagen stains pink. So, the colors in my Bile Stain Bracelet demonstrate how bile would show up in the tissue.

Trichrome

I did a Trichrome Stain today and I have to agree with my friend Janet from Vancouver, it is one of the most beautiful stains that we do. Janet has been a Histotechnologist almost as long as I have. She is also a crafter, doing cross stitch, sewing, and cooking. I haven't inspired her to start making jewelry, yet. However, she does like my jewelry. So, this Trichrome Necklace is dedicated to her in honor of our many years of friendship and her years of dedicated service to the National Society of Histotechnology. Janet has served on the NSH Board of Directors as a Region Director, Vice President, and Speaker of the House as well as serving on many committees.

Above are some of my histology friends, Dot, Janet and Shirley.  They have all served NSH well through the years.

The Trichrome Stain combines a plasm stain and a connective tissue stain. The muscle fibers are stain red, collagen, reticulum, mucin are stain blue. Trichrome stains show changes that occur in neuromuscular diseases and are helpful in demonstrating tumors that have arisen from muscle cells. So, looking at the Trichrome necklace notice how I have used red twisted bugle beads to depict muscle fibers and royal blue core seed beads to depict mucin and collagen in a spiral pattern.

Miss Chloe Necklace

Here is the necklace I just finished for Chloe.