Monday, December 10, 2012

EBEG Goes Gala Treasury which includes my The White Enchantress bib necklace. Here's the link:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/OTM2MzMzM3wyNzIxMTI4NTUx/ebeg-goes-gala
Having a 15% OFF Holiday Sale in my Etsy Shop for the entire month of December! Usually my sale's are a maximum of 10%. http://www.etsy.com/shop/jewelrytaylormade

Friday, November 23, 2012

BLACK FRIDAY through CYBER MONDAY, Nov 23-26, receive a 10% Discount in my shop. Use Discount Coupon Code: BLACKCYBER to receive your discount.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Etsy Bead Embroidery Guild's - Bead Fest #5, theme is STEAMPUNK! Yay! Entries are due January 31st. Oh, I can see the wheels turning.....ha!
http://etsybeadembroideryguild.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/beadfest-theme-steampunk.jpg

Sunday, November 18, 2012

A spectacular Treasury of "fringe" including my Treasure of the Sea necklace.
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NzE5OTE5MHwyNzIzNTk0MzYy/fringe-wearable-fun

Monday, November 12, 2012


I've made 5 of these "Dancing Waves" necklaces for holiday presents. They bead weave fast. Pattern is by Jill Wiseman in her new book Beautiful Beaded Ropes. 

Saturday, November 10, 2012



Sorry I haven't written for awhile. I finally have our boat unloaded and now I'm cleaning. Not just a fast cleaning but every square inch type of cleaning. While we were in the rain every single day in Alaska, our boat didn't get a chance to dry out so I'm fighting mildew in bathrooms and on the walls. Yuck!  My husband is listing our boat for sale this next week and everything has to be spic and span. So if you know anyone that would be interested in a 47 foot Jefferson dual engines, please let us know. In the evenings, I've been trying to bead weave some necklaces for presents. More on that later. 

Sunday, October 28, 2012

RE: BIRDS OF A FEATHER CONTEST
Voting will be done by a panel of 5 Judges. There will also be a "People's Choice" vote. A Poll will be made on Polldaddy.com and posted from Oct 31-Nov 7. Please vote for your favorite!

Here is my entry in the BIRDS OF A FEATHER contest (deadline Oct 31st)
http://goodquillhunting.com/Catherine_Taylor_BOAF_Entry.html

Friday, October 26, 2012

Here is my entry for Bead Fest 4 Chocolate & Cherries theme for my Etsy Bead Embroidery Guild. I call it Cherry Jubilee. This is my favorite pendant necklace that I've made. I hope you do too! I'll try to post the photo collage from all the entries. EBEG now has 42 members and is growing. Perhaps you'd like to join. If you have any questions, please let me know. I love to talk about EBEG! :-)
https://www.etsy.com/listing/113205080/bead-embroidery-cherry-jubilee-pendant
We made it to our home port, Cap Sante Boat Haven, and yesterday North Harbor Diesel pulled our boat from the water for winter storage. Now we have to unload everything and clean. This year I have mold to clean as our boat didn't really have a chance to dry out from all the rain we encountered. Then our boat goes into an enclosed boat house where it's heated to dry out the boat before they apply the shrink-wrapping to the boat and dingy. See you learned something today! :-) The above pic is the lighthouse at New Bella Bella. To view all of my photo's from my Alaskan voyage, go to my Facebook page under Travel 2012 - http://www.facebook.com/catherine.j.taylor1

Thursday, October 18, 2012

We're back in the USA! Yay! We spent a couple of nights (Sea Otter Inlet & Phillips Inlet) off of Fitz Hugh Sound and waited for better weather. We were blessed with good weather which enabled us to cross Queen Charlotte Sound which is in the open sea. Then onward through Queen Charlotte Strait. After 7 hours of swells, I was happy to finally stop somewhere. We spent the first night anchored in Blunden Harbour which is on the east side of Queen Charlotte Stait. Then staying next in Growler Bay (W. Cracoft Island), then onward to Port Neville and trying to go around the maze of 50+ net fishermen boats netting for Coho salmon. We met some interesting missionary couples that cruise around the area. They lease the Hansen family land & homes in that area. The Hansen family had lived at Port Neville since 1891. I took some pics of their old grocery store that closed in 1960. The wonderful family history was the father, Oly at the post office, and his wife, Lilly, gave boaters in the area weather reports in Johnstone Strait via their radio. They passed away, and their daughter, Lorna, carried on the weather report tradition until NOAA provided the information. Lorna raised her daughter on the family land but eventually moved to Campbell River as the post office & grocery store closed, and she wasn't able to make a living and has leased her land. The morning we left there were 26 Hansen family members having a reunion with the missionaries. I really wanted to meet Lorna, and her family but felt the dock space for them was far more valuable to them so we moved on. The weather was still good so onward  through Discovery Passage to Gowlland Harbour (Quadra Island). We were nervous about going through Seymour Narrows rapids that can run to 16 knots, but we came through during flood and it wasn't so bad as the written literature. Then we spent a few days in Campbell River. It was the Canadian's Thanksgiving Holiday and the stores were closed. But we spent a few days cleaning the boat, doing laundry, and purchasing groceries. The last few days were just gorgeous, but we knew they wouldn't last. We crossed over to Lund, B.C. for a night. But the next day when we headed out, we heard gale storms in the forecast. They weren't kidding! We didn't have good shelter in that area so we ended up going into Selma Park (near city of Sechelt) where we still didn't have good shelter. Our boat was too big to fit behind their tiny breakwater & the float was full with local boats. So we ended up anchoring near the entrance so we could have more swing room. But when the gales hit, we were pounded with one storm after another. We spent 4 days there while the winds and rain blew! Thank God our anchor held or we would of been grounded on the beach! John ended up putting a stern anchor out too. We had gone this direction so we could go to Vancouver to meet Jacquie Champion, but the gale robbed us of those precious days. We spent the entire day on Tuesday cruising to USA waters with a storm right behind us. The day trip was fairly smooth except the last hour was breezy and bumpy. We're visiting our favorite island, Sucia Island, before heading into our home port, Cap Sante Boat Haven, in Anacortes. Then all the preparations will start with unloading, loading into RV, laundry, and cleaning every inch. Believe me, this life is not glamous! Perhaps the wealthy that can afford service staff help. But it's definitely not the case here so no envy please! Yes, I got to see dolphins chase our boat, whales, and grizzly bear's but that horrible storm we hit in Frederick Sound has frightened the daylights out of me!!
My Treasure of the Sea bead embroidery bib necklace is in an Etsy Treasury. Thank you Natalia! Take a look.
www.etsy.com/treasury/MTE3MjMzMjl8MjcyMDg4NzU5OQ/treasures-of-the-sea

Saturday, September 22, 2012

http://www.etsy.com/listing/110043009/sherrie-ocherry-a-chocolate-and-cherry

Our Bead Fest #4 Chocolate & Cherries deadline is October 31st. However, I saw this entry and couldn't resist showing it to you. Click link above.


Sorry, I haven't blogged for quite awhile. We finished cruising the inside passage. After Haines, we went to Skagway and took the White Pass & Yukon Railway ride which was so much fun. Skagway had a four cruise ships in so there were many tourists. After Skagway, we cruised to Sitka and it was rain all day for a few days. Once the rain stopped, we went to town and shopped for some Christmas presents. Our taxi driver took us around town to show us the history of Sitka. Sitka used to be the capital and it was in Sitka that the USA purchased Alaska from the Russian's. Some wonderful history! We're presently are in Ketchikan, AK heading south to Anacortes, WA. Some of you may already know but a week ago Thursday, we got caught in a gale in Frederick Sound. Wind 92 (gusts over 100) and 35 foot waves. We had sea water going over the top of our flybridge and pouring in on top of us, the bilge alarms going off, the sea water fried my husband's HP computer, there were a few things torn-off the boat, sea water in the front stateroom, broken dishes, everything flown on the floor, and a capsized dingy. The waves were so strong that it was pushing us and the boat was going in circles. Luckily we finally got to Kake and two fishermen helped us tie-up. But shortly after they left, the wind actually got stronger. My hubby and I ended up getting sick at that point. The human body can only take so much. Our boat took a pounding but handled wonderfully considering the circumstances. John and a motor mechanic worked on the outboard motor for four days before it would start again. We've been through the ringer, but we're so happy to be alive! We were going to leave Ketchikan today but there's gale winds in Dixson Passage. That's an open ocean area we have to pass through to enter Canadian waters. Tomorrow afternoon the wind is supposed to decrease to 15 so we're going to try to get through then. If not, we won't be able to pass through until Thursday or Friday of next week as the winds pick back up to over 40 for three days. Say a prayer for us!  I don't care to cruise in rough waters ever again! :-)

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Well, we're in Haines, Alaska. Almost 1000 miles north of Seattle. We've stayed in Haines a couple of day's longer than anticipated because the weather has been rough. Tomorrow the forecast is for better weather so we'll head out early for Skagway. 

Previously on our route in the inside passage, we volunteered for the Coast Guard to rescue the boat, Ambrosia, it's owner (Rod) and his passenger (brother Jef). Rod's boat, Ambrosia, had gone dead in the water because of bad fuel. He told us later that his fuel had been polished but apparently the worker didn't get out all of the slug. An unfortunate occurance. His boat was non-functioning right in the middle of Stephens Passage which is the direct route into Juneau. As we were approaching their location in our boat, we heard a call over our VHF radio that a cruise ship was approaching our area. We had trouble spotting his boat. We asked him to turn on his anchor light. We still didn't see the Ambrosia. Next we asked him to light a flare. We still couldn't see the boat. It wasn't until he lit several flares that we were finally able to locate the Ambrosia. We went directly to them and rafted his boat to ours. It was getting dark and we needed to get moving to a secure location. We finally decided to go to Taku Bay which was further up the channel. We put a tow-line on the back to pull Rod's boat. Hours later we arrived in Taku. They didn't have any water, food, nor blankets on the Ambrosia. So we fed them, made the guest bed with fresh linens, and pushed water bottles into their hands. By the time we were ready for bed it was after 1 AM. None of us got much sleep. The next day we got underway and took them and the Ambrosia into Juneau. Before departing, we had made arrangements to have dinner with them tomorrow evening. John (my hubby) tied our dingy onto the Ambrosia so Rod could tie up his boat at the dock. Our boat was too big to go in that area so I stayed with our boat doing donuts until hubby's return.

The next day, during Jef's lunch hour, they both came bearing gifts! I couldn't believe it! Both are great guy's, and I'm just thankful they are here to tell their story. Later I got to thinking that the reality of their situation could of been deadly. We had trouble seeing them, and we were looking for them. Even if their small boat did show up on the cruise ship's radar most likely they wouldn't of been seen and taken for ground clutter. Had that cruise ship hit them, they both would of been toast! Not only that, we learned that their family thought we were only returning the Ambrosia without Rod & Jef. They called the Coast Guard and wasn't told we had two passenger's as well. So their family was all upset and rightfully so! I'm so happy both Rod and Jef were alive and returning to their family that loved them so much.

We had a wonderful time during our dinner with the brother's, visiting, and rejoicing in their lives before we had to depart for Haines. They helped us get our boat underway. We already missed them. Our lives were blessed with two new brother's in Juneau! A wonderful gift indeed!

Once we left Juneau, we were among a pod of whales. Such a fascinating sight of these wonderful, huge mammals. Awesome!! We spent the next two days anchored in William Henry Bay among the eagles and the snow-capped mountains. So gorgeous! There wasn't another soul around. It felt like we were the only two people on earth. We really didn't want to leave. LOL Once we approached Haines, there were many souls.......oh, darn! Reality set in. But this is a great place set in the middle of mountains. Such a beautiful place! Many talented artist's here, native's, and fishermen. We've had two days of heavy wind and rain. Today my hubby said come here, and he pointed to the mountains. There's new snow..........a sign fall is here. So tomorrow we're off to Skagway, and then Glacier Bay, and finally Sitka, hopefully returning before the big storms arrive. - Blessing to You!!!



Wednesday, August 8, 2012

We made it through southern & northern Canada, cruised in open ocean Queen Charlotte Sound unharmed, through the Hecate Strait, unharmed in Dixson Entrance and finally arrived in Ketchikan! North to Alaska!! Yay, we made it! From Ketchikan, we're now 659 miles from Seattle. Can you believe it? I am so proud of us. We're getting pretty good at this. It can be trying when you need to anchor though. Since the water is so deep up against the mountains, one has to find a cove or inlet shallow enough to drop anchor. Many of the inlets are bomb fields of rock and it's tricky trying to dodge the numerous rocks. One little mistake and it's all over. - We're enjoying our time sightseeing. Day before yesterday it was gorgeous in Ketchikan....shorts weather. Today, however, it's raining buckets, and all I want to do is stay inside. Here's some photograph's you may enjoy!







Wednesday, August 1, 2012

I just posted the entries for Bead Fest #3 Fairytales & Fantasy. My favorite is the cheshire cat. Which is your favorite?

Etsy Bead Embroidery Guild: Bead Fest #4 has officially started! Well it...

Etsy Bead Embroidery Guild:

Bead Fest #4 has officially started!


Well it...
: Bead Fest #4 has officially started! Well it is that time again when we put on our thinking hats and worked up a new theme for our ...

Etsy Bead Embroidery Guild: Artist Interview Name: Christina Neit (Good Quil...

Etsy Bead Embroidery Guild:
Artist Interview
Name: Christina Neit (Good Quil...
: Artist Interview Name: Christina Neit (Good Quill Hunting) Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/GoodQuillHunting Website: http://goodqu...

I apologize for not posting much lately. We're on our way to Alaska, cruising in our own 47 ft. Jefferson. The majority of area's that we're cruising is total wilderness. So no cell phone, no internet, and no services. Tonight we're in Prince Rupert, B.C. And for some reason, this marina's wifi doesn't allow me to upload any photo's on Facebook or Aol. But I'm able to on Blogger. Go figure. So....let's see how much I can accomplish here. - The burly cross-dressing mermaids was painted by a local artist in Anacortes, WA. The three-wheeler is how I/we shop in town while at the marina. 

Well, we thought we'd be gone before July 4th. But we were having problems with the boat's generator (again) and had to return to Anacortes for repairs (again). So we got to see the fireworks.  Yeah!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Take a look our EBEG's blog. We have several people in the Beadsmith Competition and our upcoming Bead Fest #3 has a new deadline of July 10th. (Mine's done - Queen of Hearts necklace, see below post). So please read about it.
http://www.ebeguild.blogspot.com

Plus we have an upcoming silent partner swap that will be announced later. The coordinator for the swap sent out questionnaire's to all EBEG member's asking questions like what's your favorite(s) color(s) and what style of jewelry do you like.?. Then she mails them to a silent partner. Then each member is to make a piece of jewelry for their silent partner, take pics of the progress with some feedback as how or why you made this piece. Then mail the photo's to the coordinator that are to be posted and mail your finished piece to your silent partner. I've already received mine, but I haven't finished my piece for my silent partner. I believe the deadline is in August. 
Couldn't see where Lulu went. Found her sleeping on my bed! Little stinker.
Painting the anchor chain every 10 feet. Painted 340 ft of chain. Then I started singing and couldn't stop............."chain, chain, chain......chain of fouls". 

Thursday, June 14, 2012


Thought you might enjoy seeing a recent photograph of Lulu, 9 months old now, who is my constant bead companion. She's my baby and around 90+ lbs.  
10.  And like magic, you're DONE! Yay! - I give you my beadwork "The Queen of Hearts".
I know this looks easy but believe me, all the beading takes weeks to complete. I'm not a patient person! And I know God made me fall in love with beads just to teach me patience. LOL - Here's some close-ups to view. I hope you've enjoyed a bead embroidery lesson. Ha!




Take care and God bless you! - Catherine

9.  Above the bib necklace on each side, I hand-stitched large white shell pearls, large resin black beads with white hearts, and the flamework playing card beads with 6/0 seed beads and round red crystals. And finished with a gold-filled hook & eye clasp.
8.  On the bottom of the bib necklace, I hand-stitched round red crystals, a playing card bead, and three brass charms; a teacup, a teapot, and Rabbit.
7. Once your ultra-suede has dried, then you can start sewing (I use brick stitch) the front foundation to the ultra-suede backing. I have the right side done in this pic but still need to sew the left side. I sew all the way around.
5. Once I had all the seed beads sewn, I glued a extra thick layer of interfacing between my beaded foundation and the backing. This adds more stability for the heavy cabochons.

One other thing. I use a layer of interfacing to lay my beadwork on while working. This helps prevent your cabochons from being all scratched up. It also helps to wash your hands before you start working

6. Once the interfacing was dry, I cut out and glued down the light blue ultra-suede backing. Ultra-suede is super soft and will comfortable next to your clothing and skin. For 5 & 6, you want to use a white tacky glue, like Aleene's Original Tacky Glue as it's an all-purpose glue.


4. I started stitched rounds of seed beads around the cabochons. And stitched the Off With Her Head.
2. Then I hand-stitched The Queen of Hearts.
3. Using E-6000, glue down your cabochons.
Our Etsy Bead Embroidery Guild is underway with our third Bead Fest which is due by June 30th. The theme is "Fairytales, Folklore, and Fantasy". So all these weeks I've been working diligently to complete my entry which I finished yesterday. So I thought I'd put some photograph's of my entry on my blog and the steps that I took to complete. I apologize that some of the pics are fussy. They looked good to me on my digital screen but once I downloaded them and saw them on my computer screen, I realized they're not to my satisfaction. - First you need to put your idea's down on a paper template. 

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Check-out the "Colorway" series at Eva's blog:
http://www.keiserdesigns.blogspot.com
It includes MANY bead artist's work including Betty Stephan and Sharayah's is being posted Tuesday.

‎!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!BEADFEST SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Everyone!  The Etsy Bead Embroidery Guild is presently having a Mother's Day Sale at our Etsy stores. Those who are participating are going to post their links to their store under this thread. (see link below) Everyone has amazing work and who knows you might find that Mother's Day present you were loo...king for that special woman in your life. Doesn't a one of a kind woman deserve a one of a kind present!

The sale will be 10% off your purchase at check out. Make sure you use the coupon code EBEGMOTHERS. The sale will run from now until Mother's Day.

ENJOY! and Happy Mother's Day!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Sowing grass

While hubby was putting the finishing touches on our taxes there was yardwork waiting for me that needed to be done. I've spent the last 5 days fertilizing, weeding, and planting grass seed. Since we're not here in the summer, there's no one here to water. Needless to say, patches of grass die in the neglect and weeds find new homes in my yard. I have to manually water twice a day as our sprinkler system is down right now waiting for needed repairs.Please PRAY for RAIN or do a rain dance. (smile) And since I was on my feet for many hours, it stressed out my other foot, so I'm now back in a walking cast again! Ugh! It's always something, isn't it? LOL - It's my wish that everyone have a wonderful summer! Hugs! - Catherine

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Vintage handbag with beads Royalty Free Stock Photo
EBEG MOTHER'S DAY SALE IS COMING APRIL 26TH!
Etsy Bead Embroidery Guild will be having their Mother's Day Sale starting Thursday, April 26th through May 13th. My Etsy shop will be participating in this sale. So stay tuned for discounts of gorgeous handsewn beadwork!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Our first Etsy Bead Embroidery Sale starts today and runs until Easter. 
Enter coupon code, "BEADFEST2", for 10% discount in our Etsy shops. You can find the artist's that are participating on EBEG's facebook page. Here's my link: http://www.jewelrytaylormade.etsy.com.
Happy Easter!
Catherine


Recently Rings N Things came to Kansas City for their once a year visit. I went over budget but found some treasures and hope to implement them into wearable masterpieces soon. By the show location I spotted this beautiful tree. Love Spring Blossoms!
Today EBEG begins celebrating our 2nd BEAD FEST!!!!!

~~~Description~~~

EBEG Bead Fest is a seasonal event to encourage our members to create masterpieces inspired by a commonly chosen Theme. We organize Bead Fests in every season - which enables our Members to work on their piece nearly 3 months. This is a non-challenge event, when everyone can challenge themselves to create more professional bead work. There is no prize, no title, no competition - only the fun and inspirational beading. Participating on Bead Fests for our members are optional. This provides full attention and perfection of the entries.

All entries are posted in EBEG Treasuries at ETSY, Our FB Fan Page and on the Blog.

~~~The Theme~~~
Romantic, ancient and sometimes steam punkish, filigree has adorned women and men both throughout the ages. A costume or hairstyle that needed a bit of added beauty would be complimented with a swirl of metal, gemstone, wood or beaded glory in the form of filigree adornment. Pendants, brooches, necklaces, hair combs, barrettes, even swords and shields have sported filigree. I thought that this component would be a wonderful theme for bead embroidery. No matter what the filigree is made of, it can be surrounded by beads in any way the artist sees fit, or even made up of beads itself. There are glorious works out there that have beaded 'filigree' used as the focal for a necklace or bracelet that have inspired me. So, anything goes, bead your own filigree, or use a metal or wooden component - or a pierced piece of faux ivory or gemstone - just include filigree as your main focal element for your piece and have FUN!!! (The main focal would also be considered to be multiples, as in a bracelet made of many small components which each included filigree.)



Throughout the week our blog will highlight an artist who participated in the bead fest, so you know who did each work. This is such an amazing group with a lot of talent. It is a pleasure to be part of this guild.

Sunday, March 18, 2012


Annette de Goeij winning the Green Queen bangle bracelet on St. Patrick's Day made me think of my own collection. I use ribbon spool caddies with three dowels each to display them with (available at Oriental Trading). Works great! Growing up during the 60's we wore resin bangle bracelets with our "mod" outfits. Oh yes, I was into everything fashion back then! Hip huggers, tye-dye clothing, mod mini-skirts, etc. I was thrilled when I heard bangle bracelets were back in style. I only have about three resin and two bakelite that I kept from the 60's which are "vintage" now. Geez, I'm vintage too! Yeah, here's to vintage!!! Anyway, so I thought I'd share a few pics from my collection. They're so colorful! And with spring just around the corner, all of us can use some color along with the beautiful daffodils popping up already. Hope you enjoy! 
THE NAME WINNER IS:

Annette de Goeij with "The White Enchantress". Annette will receive the Green Queen bangle bracelet for her name entry! Thank you Annette!! And everyone for their name entries, a big hug and thank you so much!
Catherine