Monday Soapbox

I feel the need to vent...just a lil. Before I do, I want my wonderful online friends and blog followers to know this is in no way directed towards any of you. 

To the person it is directed to; your "Spokane family" said "goodbye" or better yet, "GOOD RIDDANCE" to you a long time ago. We do NOT care where you go OR what you do with your so called "new family." Sad but true, your true colors will surface again, and you will continue your vicious cycle of downplaying others just to illuminate yourself. The time will come when you will turn on them the moment they no longer benefit you...just as you have always done. You will always be that fake person changing your personality to fit in just to suit your needs. You are the very thing you despise! Have a nice life...at least until you find your soul mate "again" and get another "new family."

Okay...stepping off my soapbox now. I made a sweet pair of earrings yesterday. An antique brass wire design with gorgeous swarovski crystals in stunning padparadcha. 

Photos are in the works. ;-)

Have a fabulous day!

My Winter Inspired Design

We're getting lots of snow today, which makes it the perfect time to share my Artbeads.com "Winter Enchantment" design.  When Artbeads asked their design partners to create a design representing what they find beautiful and/or inspiring about the Winter season, I knew exactly what I wanted to make, and I knew I wanted to use materials from their beautiful Swarovski Elements collection.  I couldn't be more satisfied!  The colors are amazing...even more so in person!  They turned out to be the perfect mix I was hoping for!

"Midnight Winter Moon"

 Winter in the Northwest is absolutely beautiful!  I love how the snow blankets everything and outlines every little branch on the trees surrounding my home, but I especially love the way the moon sparkles at night after it's been snowing all day.  It's such a beautiful sight to see!

I fell in love with the stunning Crescent Moon Crystal Pendant and chose to build my design around it.  The color of the pendant is called, "Silver Shade" and it's very beautiful.  It's loaded with facets for lots of sparkle too!  If you love moon pendants like me, click here to see more.  I decided to display the pendant with the toggle, cause the toggle is just too pretty to hide. ;-)  It's an Antique Silver-Plated Toggle with spirals and dots on both sides of it.  It fits perfect with my theme!  I connected the bar to the cutest little Star Link that I found in Artbeads Sterling Silver Links collection, and I love it!  Since my bracelet has a "night-time" Winter theme and is mostly silver and crystals, I added a few stars to dangle with the moon pendant.... a Crystal Star and a TierraCast Antique Silver Star.  Both of them look so pretty and add the right amount of texture.

I mixed an array colors in my design.  The Swarovski Crystals and Pearls are silver shade, sapphire & dark sapphire, air blue opal, dark indigo, light azore, crystal, night blue and light grey.  All are SO vivid and beautiful!  Being able to shop by color on Artbeads is always a huge help.  You can shop by size too!  Even though the beads didn't really need it, I added spacers and bead caps to some of them anyway.  I love the way they make them pop and stand out even more!  Artbeads has a huge variety of them in their Jewelry Findings collection.  All in all, I'm very satisfied with every item I used for my Winter design.  I've already put most of them on my "must have" list! :-)

For more details on all of the components used for my bracelet design, check out my New Artbeads.com Review Post.

Many thanks to Artbeads.com for the opportunity to create a design from what I find so dreamy and mesmerizing about my Winters in the Northwest.

I participate with Artbeads.com blogging community, as an Design Partner, therefore, I receive products free of charge in return for honest reviews. I have not been paid for my endorsement, as it pertains to the products received. Thank you.

New Artbeads.com Review

I SO love being a design partner with Artbeads.com!  I recently received my "Winter Enchantment" package of goodies, and let me tell you, I'm in love with everything!  I will be creating a design that represents what the Winter Season means to me, hence "Winter Enchantment"...and I can't wait to get started and share my creation with all my wonderful readers!

 Here's a small sample of the items I chose.  Almost every item is from Artbeads Swarovski Elements collection. The colors are amazingly stunning!

The focal of my design is this stunning Swarovski Crescent Moon Pendant in `Silver Shade.`  The Silver Shade is a beautiful soft color!  I'm loving the facet cuts on the pendant!  The charm is a TierraCast Antique Silver Faceted Star from Artbeads massive collection of Charms.  It's just the right size and is faceted on both sides.  You will need to keep looking and reading to learn more about those stunning links and bicone crystals in the backgrouind! ;)

Here's another star, only this one is a Swarovski Crystal Star.  This bead looks like it was carved out of ice! Lots of sparkle and shine!  You can find this star and many other beauties in Artbeads Swarovski Crystal Beads collection.

I had an idea of the types of beads and colors I wanted for my design, but wasn't sure how well they would blend, so I used Artbeads Swarovski Elements Faceted Rounds page.  What's really cool is you can shop by size and/or color!  It helped me tremendously!  This mix includes faceted rounds in Dark Indigo, Air Blue Opal, and Crystal.  The gorgeous Swarovski Pearls are striking shades of Night Blue and Light Grey.  They will give my design the soft but dramatic look that I want!  Did I tell you the colors are amazingly stunning?!  LOL :)

On to the stunning links and bicone crystals!  The links are Silver-Plated Channel Links set with stunning Swarovski Sapphire Crystals.  They come in gold-plated too and can be found in Artbeads collection of Swarovski Components.  The lovely Bicone Crystals are Xilion Cut, which gives them more facets for even more sparkle. I chose them in keeping with my color scheme, with the exception of the amazing Light Azore color. Truly beautiful!!

The bottom left corner is a mix of spacers and bead caps, which can be found in Artbeads Jewelry Findings section.   A "must have" in my book!  The silver and black striped spacers are 6mm Teke Heishi Spacers.  The stripes are actually a lovely ribbon design around the edges.  I see more of these in my future! ;)  The dark bead caps are 4.5mm Gunmetal Bead Caps.  They have a unique striped motif design, which I love!  The small spacers are 4mm Bright Sterling Silver Daisies.  These are going to make my crystal rounds pop even more!  All will give great texture and brilliant accents to my design!  The tiny star on the left side of the toggle clasp is a Sterling Silver Star Link from Artbeads collection of Sterling Silver Links. It's very sturdy for it's small size and perfect for a whimsical touch!

 If you've made it this far in my post, you are on the last stretch home!  LOL  It took me forever to find the right clasp for my particular design...there's just SO many styles of Clasps to choose from!  But when I saw this toggle, I knew it was "the one!"  It's a TierraCast Antique Silver-Plated Spiral Toggle, and it has the most unique design of spirals and dots.  And even better, the design is on both sides of the ring and bar!  I love the antique finish because it makes the design really pop!  It will be the icing on the cake of my design!  And speaking of my design...I will be sharing it with you before the end of this week.  I'm very excited to show it off!  :-D

Thanks so much for reading.  It is very much appreciated.
Check out Artbeads.com for your next amazing creation!  

I participate with Artbeads.com blogging community, as an Design Partner, therefore, I receive products free of charge in return for honest reviews. I have not been paid for my endorsement, as it pertains to the products received. Thank you.

It's Valentine's Day

So, what does Valentine's Day mean to you...or does it hold any meaning at all? For me, it was a special day when I was a little girl because it was one of my Dad's favorite holidays. I never knew why...I just know he was happier that day and gave the best gifts. LOL I still enjoy Valentine's Day...especially when there's chocolate involved! .... oh and my hubby too! :-P 

Happy Valentine's Day!

‘Road to Tucson’ Sweepstakes

Just in case you haven't heard, Artbeads.com launched their "Road to Tucson" Sweepstakes last month!  You and your best friend OR you and your significant other OR you and.....well, you get the idea..LOL...could win a fabulous trip for two to Tucson, Arizona to attend the "2012 Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase." How cool is that?! It includes round-trip airfare for two and 3 nights accommodation. Also, the lucky winner gets to attend classes with well-known beading instructors AND have access to the biggest shows! WOW, I'm SO there...that is, if I win. But if you want to win, you need to click HERE and enter. Who wouldn't want to spend 3 days in Tucson surrounded by beads, gemstones, more beads, more gemstones, minerals, more beads, fossils and other bead addicts..opps..I meant other bead lovers?! ;-)

Entry deadline is March 16, 2011 at 11:59pm (PT.) Open to U.S. & Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) age 18 & older. Again, to enter click HERE.

Good luck! :)

World Cancer Day

Today, February 4th, 2011 is "World Cancer Day!"

It's a day for everyone around the globe to stand up for the fight against cancer. To learn more and to help prevent cancer, check out "World Cancer Day."