Lazy Days, Dragon Veins & Tuscany... (oh my!)

What a lazy weekend I had.  I woke up Sunday with a crazy sore throat, just out of nowhere.  Seems to be feeling better today, thank goodness.  But I didn't feel like doing much of anything so we stuck close to home.

I was able to get several digital scrapbook pages done for a client...

...and managed to put the finishing touches on one of the most beautiful focal beads I've gotten in a long time.

It's a teardrop shaped chunk of dragon vein agate, and the colors in it are simply gorgeous.  There are several shades of green... from deep foresty green to olive....  mmmm olive green.... *insert moment of happy place silence here*......  there's also a hint of a really lovely aqua deep within the stone, so I took advantage of that when choosing beads to complement my piece.

Here it is in working mode....

And the finished product....

I really loved how it turned out.  Still mastering the best way to capture the luminosity of beads in my photos.  Natural light is obviously best, but I'd still like to create a better setup for more professional looking photos.  Add that to my list of things to do. ;)

In other news, I was excited to be featured in La Bella Joya's blog today with my piece for the Sudan challenge and thrilled to see that Tuscany has been chosen to be the inspiration for this weeks project.  I've always been inspired by the lush colors and picturesque beauty of the Tuscan countryside, so this should be an amazing tribute.  I can't wait to see what others come up with in this wonderful color palette.

Off now to go list the dragon lace pendant in my etsy shop!  Hope this beauty finds a very special home. :)