W is for Water Features in Milwaukee

Are you ready for another round of Alphabe Thursday? Let's go!

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of photographing the various water features around Milwaukee, but this passion has taken on a whole new life lately. Today I'm highlighting just a few of the amazing water features around the area. Enjoy.

  

And of course, the best water feature of all: Lake Michigan.

 

 

Check out what the other Alphabe Thursday participants posted for the letter W this week right here!

W is for Water Features in Vegas

Are you ready for another round of Alphabe Thursday? Let's go!

If you've been following my Vegas posts and/or you've been to Vegas, you know that there is an abundance of fountains, pools, and other water features on the strip. I'm featuring just a few of them here today. Enjoy.

Caesar's Palace

I don't remember where I found this little fountain.

Caesar's Palace pool area

The Mirage

Gondola rides at the Venetian

the Bellagio fountains

Bellagio pool area

one of the smaller fountains in front of the Bellagio

The Mirage

the volcano erupting at The Mirage

Past posts from my February 2014 Vegas trip:

best of Vegas - part 1

best of Vegas - part 2

palm trees

Check out what the other Alphabe Thursday participants posted for the letter W this week right here!

L is for Lake Michigan

Are you ready for another round of Alphabe Thursday? Let's go!

Many of you already know that I love Lake Michigan, regardless of the season and where I'm viewing it. I kind of completely missed out on taking pictures of it this fall with all of the craziness in my life. I'm doing my best to get out and take a few pictures of it this winter. If you've never seen these type of ice formations in person and gotten to experience walking on them yourself, I highly recommend it if you ever get the opportunity.

Check out what the other Alphabe Thursday participants posted for the letter L this week right here!

voting for the July EBW Challenge

I'm moving the regular Saturday link list post to Monday for this week so I don't have to delay announcing the newest EBW challenge.

Voting is up and running for the July EBW Challenge Sizzling Sunshine and Soothing Water!  Voting takes place on the EBW blog July 9-15.  If you can't see all of the entries at the top of blog, click here.  The voting link is on the right side of the blog.

Here's my entry again.

If you missed my early posts about it, you can go back and read them here and here.

Please check out all of the entries and vote for your favorite.  Here are a few of my favorites for this challenge.
I love the shapes in this piece.  And the pop of bronze with the turquoise is priceless.
Sea Kite Bracelet by the Amalfi Coast - Turquoise, aqua, and clear crystals cuff by LaPerLaA

I had to include this piece because it features one of Kristie's ceramics.  What a gorgeous way to showcase it!
Sunsplash Sparkling Beadwoven Necklace by beadn4fun

This is another great combination of turquoise and bronze.  I love the pearls and crystals paired with the tiny seed beads.
Baja Sunlight Bead Woven Necklace by AngelqueCreations

July EBW Challenge Entry

Even though this was a crazy month to create, photograph, and list a challenge entry, I didn't want to pass up the Sizzling Sunshine and Soothing Water theme.  One of the aspects of this challenge was that we had to base our entry off of a specific photo.  I really wanted to use one of my own photos, and I really wanted it to include sand as well.  I'm a huge fan of the Indiana and Michigan Dunes and was disappointed that I didn't have a photo that really fit this theme.  The last time I was there, it was pretty overcast, and I don't have any other digital dunes photos.  But I found another one that worked perfectly.  This is me in Honduras in early January 2008 on a cruise excursion.  I love how you can see the sand right through the water.

I was also inspired by this photo from our honeymoon in Hawaii Dec 06/Jan 07.

Some of you may remember this post with a lot of the beads that I used for this piece.  I also used the new cream and yellow seed beads that I posted about here and some seed beads from my regular stash.

I created a right angle weave base.  I haven't done a lot of multi-row right angle weave pieces, but it's pretty straight forward.  I added a second later of right angle weave embellishment, which is when I added the shells.  The third and final layer was the real challenge for me because I'd really never attempted anything freeform with beadweaving.  I'm pretty pleased with the result.

I have to mention that I got inspiration for this shot from Cheryl of littlestonedesign (see this example).  The weight and general structure of this cuff made it tough for me to use some of my regular poses.

I know that there weren't any shells in either of my pictures, but I felt like the piece needed something besides seed beads.  The color of these shells fit perfectly with the sunshine component of this theme.  The metal sun button also fit well.

I'm not planning to make more cuffs like this any time soon.  If I do, they'll be simpler embellished right angle weave cuffs.  This was still a lot of fun, though.  Some of you may know that I often think of myself as creative but don't think of myself as an artist.  I feel like I actually created a little piece of art for this challenge.

You can purchase my challenge piece here.  Voting will be the beginning of July.  I'll have more details about it when it gets closer.