Beader, Biker, BadAss!

    This is my partner for the very first Bead Peeps Swap & Hop challenge, Lori Alainn Blanchard.

    And this is my partner on wheels! 

Lori is 29 years old, and lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband of 7 years, and her 5 furbabies (2 cats and 3 dogs). 

    She's originally from a very small town in Connecticut called Harwinton, in Litchfeld county. 

    Incidentally, I'm actually somewhat familiar with the area, as my parents lived about an hour away from there for many years. My dad and I once took a leisurely afternoon drive throughout most of the New England states, and drove right through there, stopping at quite a few of the antique / junk shops along the side of the highway. 

   In yet another coincidence, my parents left Connecticut, moving to Ohio as well. I never did get to Columbus when I was there though. They lived up near Solon, in Amish country, which is actually much closer to Cleveland than Columbus. 

   Lori is not my original partner for the Swap & Hop. Unfortunately, my original partner had to bow out due to both a personal, and family health crisis. Can hardly blame her while trying to deal with the double whammy. I do wish her well and hope that all turns out positive for her. 

    Lori is actually the angel that stepped in to take over. Which means she's now juggling two partners. 

    Her other partner is Stephanie Haussler of Pixybug designs. What a coincidence that she would end up with 2 pixies!

    Stephanie already did an intro on Lori that touches on her softer domestic side. So I thought it would be fun to share her "Bad Girl" persona with you. 

     The first thing about Lori that really stood out to me is that she rides a motorcycle. How cool is that!

    I've never even been on a bike in my life, but my best friend's dad rode a motorcycle when we were kids, and that sparked a lifetime love affair with a Harley Davidson fantasy. 

    Now Lori doesn't ride a Harley. It's actually a vintage 1984 Honda Magna 1100. (Boy does that make me feel old to call something from my high school days vintage.) But it is a real motorcycle, not one of those "crotch rockets" the kids like to race around on.

    Check out this totally awesome black leather vest that she wears when she rides.

       Raven is her biker name, and she did all that amazing bead work on the back of her vest. 

    Which brings me to the second thing about Lori that really stands out to me, her incredible patience. Although she claims she's not, you really have to be to do this kind of incredibly detailed bead work. 

 Is this just mind blowing, or what?

   We're a little behind schedule getting the beads out, as I've just met my new partner a week ago. She was actually really quick and I've already received my beads. I'm waiting to open my package though so that it doesn't influence the stash I'm sending to her. I'm working on something special for her that's almost finished and should be shipping out very soon. I'll post stash pictures as soon as she receives them.

        You can read more about Lori's design work on her blog, and you'll find a few of her beautifully detailed bead work pieces of jewelry for sale in her etsy shop. 

Until then....

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, 'Wow! What a Ride! ~Hunter S. Thompson

" I'm L a t e ! I'm L a t e ! " .................... " For a Very Important Date! " ...............the Bead Soup Blog Party!

       And who would want to miss this
 Wild Tea Party-->

I'd like to introduce you to my new Partner Lori Bowring Michaud of Artfully Ornamental.   

    My original partner was M.I.A. I don't know what happened to her. I do hope she is alright.
    Rick Anderson, the Bead Soup Queen's awesome husband, helped out by finding me a new partner.
    Lori Bowring Michaud found her self in the same boat, so it was a fairly quick fix, but we were a little bit late to the starting line.
 

        This is Lori and her family.

Lori's Happy Family -Fall 2010

   On her blog Lori says "this is my favorite family photo of our family session from the fall of 2010. Sums us up perfectly."

 They sure look like a fun bunch, don't they.

    Lori and I just barely met, last weekend.
    We had a nice long chat on Saturday morning and got to know each other a bit.
    I've also had time to do some reading and get to know her family a little too, through her blog Artfully Ornamental.


    
    Lori does " a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Painting, stained glass, jewelry making and , scrapbooking,."
    She claims she's not an artist, but I happen to disagree.
    I think everything she makes is brimming with                      Heart and Soul.

Just look at some of her beautiful creations.....

This one is my favorite!
    A beautiful mixed media necklace, containing some of her soldered sea glass and china pieces.
    I love the soft colors and all the different textures she's blended here.
     The piece has and ebb and flow reminiscent of the ocean waves and leaves me with a feeling of tranquility.

     Lori lives in Portland, Maine.

     My youngest brother lives about 45 minutes south of her. 

    I haven't been there yet. New Hampshire was the furthest north I ever made it in my travels back east.

    Lori is a self professed "Seaglunker". She loves to spend time at the beach, in any weather, collecting rocks, shells, and sea glass.  

    

    Here is some of her beautiful soldered broken china and sea glass jewelry. Made from pieces collected on her "Seaglunking" expeditions. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  I'm in awe of all the amazing Treasures she's found combing the shores of the Atlantic seaboard.

Her 1st attempt at mismatched earrings. 

    I think she has totally risen to the challenge for this mismatched earring swap and blog hop.          She hand painted the acorn and oak leaf. Mixed with warm copper and fiery ceramic donuts.       My favorite colors, and I just love how they turned out.                                 Boy, was her partner lucky to get these.

    Some scrapbooking fun.

The center of the poppy is  ceramic button. The poppy is polymer clay. Decoupaged and hand painted. A little bit of everything going on in this piece.

                      Look! 
     She even spruced up The White Rabbit's pocket watch for him.

    Isn't this an awesome upcycling
project!
    A vintage pocket watch case, hand painted and encased in resin.
    All decked out for spring.
        Clever, right!  
 
    Now he can head to the Tea Party in style.

    After Lori and I chatted, and we decided that we were both ProCRAFTinators. We agreed that there was need to rush to the Post Office.
    So, since I had a little more time I decided to redo the recipe. I scrapped my original ingredients and made something special, something personal, just for Lori.
    I've spent the last week crafting all sorts of handmade components for her. The last pieces are drying and should be off in the mail on Monday.
    I do hope she has fun working with them.

    Here's a little soup tease.....

    They're both the same picture.
        hehe.
 Can you tell?
     I had fun playing with the effects in photo shop and exploring a new tool.


Where to find Lori:
Blog
Facebook
Pinterest
Etsy (coming soon)
Twitter

 
 I'll see you at the party!    

                                                                                                               

 






     Don't be late!  ;)