Drawing or not?

I had a very long walk with my BF this afternoon and, despite sales being everywhere, the only window I stopped by and stared at was one with a Pantone markers set.

Source: Pinterest

It wasn't on sale (I realized that after doing some math) but it still looked so good. All pastel colors, 24 of them, placed in a case, surrounded by water colors and other stuff I usually drool on.

I used to have tones of these markers when I was at art school, but I've never been good as an illustrator; I was more interested (and had more patience) with graphic softwares and focused on them.
But I have always regretted that incapability to focus for 5 hours on a drawing and make it feel like it's something alive (yes, it often takes up to 5 hours for a good fashion plate to be colored!).

Sometimes we are better at something that requires much more patience and skill and we suck at easier tasks.
Not that illustration is easy. It's absolutely not.
But when people ask me how I can manage to make things with an invisible thread and the tiniest beads, I feel like it's not a big deal, and sometimes I would trade that ability with the capacity of being a decent illustrator.

I'd love to give it a try again...my BF says I have too many projects and rarely complete them. He's right, of course, but I think life is made to always learn something new and sometimes the only teacher you have is...yourself!
So committment is definitely something I need to learn before splurging on these markers!

Why swapping is good.

We have a door keeper in this condo, he works part time so he leaves all mails behind everyone's door. This is kind of cute, so when you're not planning on going out and put something different than your sweats on, you can have your mail just opening the door a little.
This morning I checked and found out Audrey's pack for the Fall Pantone swap!
She sent some wonderful goodies:

As usual there are things I'm never able to find in shops around here, but only on internet, and mainly in american stores. So I feel lucky to swap with people from the other side of the world!
But there's more than just beads in a swap: you get to know interesting people, who sometimes use different media for their jewelry and live in different environments, you start reading their blogs and keep in touch with them on Facebook. You get to know which is their favorite color and feel excited when they use your beads for a new project.
Being a member of the Etsy Beadweavers Street team, I realized it's even more important for teams to have swaps to get to know each other and actually feel like a group, so that's why I love the spring swap we have every year.

Last week I also swapped one of my PDF tutorials with some Twin beads, which I was eager to try! I'm still deciding how to use them 'cause I'm afraid I will spoil them. They're so interesting.

Fuchsia & grey

After mixing grey with yellow, I couldn't resist using some grey rondelles with these gorgeous acrylic beads sent by Lori

so I made another bracelet

and it won't be my last...

Spring Pantone swap: first item

Here's what I made with some of Lori's gorgeous beads:

The picture colors are not quite right, but I can assure you it's really bold!
I love the contrast between the felted beads and the glass ones, which really remind me of this candy my dad used to bring me when I was a little girl!

via Pinterest

I mixed some of the other beads and added some from my stash to make a lariat with the same colors, since I never had one

Meanwhile, couples are beeing arranged for the Autumn Pantone swap!

Finally...Milan. Surprise!

I put my feet into my house less than 20 minutes ago, was looking so hard to find something special...a package I've been waiting for...for 3 months!
I feel so bad about my Spring Pantone Swap Partner Lori, but first the Post screwed up and was so late (more than 1month!), then I had to leave for Rome for my BFF's wedding and from there I went to my hometown.
I had planned to be there only 2 weeks, but then it became 2 month and a half...and didn't want to make the pack go postal again, I was afraid it would be lost this time.
So I just waited. Until today.

Well I'm already sleep deprived, but I was overwhelmed by Lori's generosity and creativity...

I still can't believe my eyes!
There are beads from all over the world, of any kind, and I'm particularly excited about a couple of things that I'm never able to find here (like sari ribbons and paper beads).

There is also a beautiful magnet which is already on my board, a super nice card, well I was so lucky!

I will play with many of these beauties really soon...now I'm just going to thank Lori properly and have some sleep after a 12 hours night ride on the train.
And..get ready for next Pantone swap! Autumn is near!

Mint pitaya earrings

I bought the golden loops, very simple since the pitaya beads are already pretty bold...couldn't find my pliers to shorten the wire, so I just left them this way...

...and I kind of like them.
Just bought a top in the same color and I'm pretty happy after so many black clothes and silver earrings to finally move towards some lighter colors!

Pantone Spring 2012 swap

I'm really excited today! Lori Anderson from Pretty Things, who usually hosts the Bead Soup Blog Party, had an amazing idea to involve all the people who didn't make it through the BSBP lottery: a Pantone Swap based on the Spring 2012 fashion color report.

Source: via Pinterest

The swap has been organized on facebook and Lori picked the couples yesterday. My partner is Lori Wishart Finney, from Canada!

These events are great to make new friends all around the globe and I'm happy to work with somebody who has taken part in several swaps before, so we're just sharing ideas on how to organize everything.
We're lucky this spring Color Report gives some interesting possibilities in terms of combos...and it's nice to see a bit of grey (which I adore) together with brighter tones. Which tones will be chosen?