I'm Published!!

I'm so excited that I just had to tell someone.....anyone....that I received the May 2010 issue of Bead Trends yesterday, and I'm in it!! WOOT!! WOOT!! :))

Nope, that's not my necklace on the cover.....I could only wish! It's a very fun & colorful piece! I'm on page 106, and my bracelet, "Gwyneth," is the introduction to the "Fashion Favorites" section. So exciting!!!

I love the way they photographed my bracelet. They really brought out the warm and rich colors of the design, and the way it fades into the background is classic. Now....if only they could photograph ALL my jewelry pieces! LOL! I want to give a shout out to my friend, Deronda. She made the beautiful & stunning focal lampwork bead! Check out her amazing work on Etsy and on Artfire.

This photo is directly across the page from my bracelet. As you can see, it's the closure with a lil signature dangle.

When you are published in Bead Trends, you ship your jewelry piece to them, along with instructions on how to design it. Then, about a week before the book hits the shelves, they return your jewelry piece and 2 copies of the book, plus a lil something extra. The first time I was published, (January 2009), I had no idea I would be getting 2 free issues, so I gave one of them to my Mother-in-law...well more like my Mom. Her name was Flo, and I called her Mom. Anyway, I decided to surprise her, so I added the book in a Christmas gift that had 2 pairs of earrings in it. The look on her face when she saw my necklace in the book was priceless! She was so proud and excited! We both got really giddy and a lil teary eyed too. Now that Mom is in heaven and with God, I don't know what to do with the 2nd copy. But I do know that Mom is smiling at me with a giddy grin, and that she is just as proud of me as she was the first time. 

It's such a rewarding feeling to have my jewelry acknowledged this way, and I feel extremely blessed for the opportunity. Oh, just to let you know, "Gwyneth" will be listed in my etsy shop very soon. And look for my 3rd publication ( a gorgeous pink crystal necklace) coming up in June's issue.

"Thanks for sharing my WOOT moment & reading my mini novel! Happy creating!"

New Summer Beads from Artbeads

Hi everyone and Happy Earth Day! It's a beautiful sunny day on the Eastern side of Washington State, and I'm so giddy because I received my order from Artbeads today! The following components will be created into a Summer themed necklace that will be featured in the Summertime Facebook Gallery from Artbeads this coming June. I'm so excited!! I'm also excited about Artbead's Earth Day Campaign! Check this out, you can be part of helping to save the tropical forest! How cool is that?!

Okay, onto the new beads! Lately, I've been trying my hand at creating with different materials, so I decided to try ribbon instead of chain. Artbeads has a great selection of stringing materials, and I fell in love with their silk ribbon, so I chose a gorgeous multi-blues silk ribbon. It's so soft, but very sturdy, and it matches the focal perfectly, which by the way is a very pretty Porcelain Starfish pendant.

 

For accents, I pulled colors from the pendant and chose Porcelain Cube beads in different colors. I chose cubes because the pendant is rectangle, and I want to somewhat keep the same shape throughout the design. But to break it up just a bit and help show off the cube beads, I picked Sterling Silver roundels. They are very bright and they match the shiny glaze of the Porcelain.

Artbeads has a HUGE selection of charms, but when I saw the Seahorse charm, I just had to have it! It is SO cute, and the details are amazing! It's Antique Silver and will add a classic touch to the necklace. If you notice, you don't see a clasp. That's because I'm going to do something different for the closure. It's completely knew to me, but then again....that's what I'm striving for. :) So, please bookmark my blog or if you aren't already, follow me, and stay tuned for the unveiling of my Summer themed necklace coming very soon. Also, I'll be blogging the rest of my order next week. I'll show you a completely different set of beads and components for an upcoming bracelet design.

"Thanks for reading! Happy Earth Day & happy creating!"

practice makes perfect....

and boy do I have a long way to go! I tried my hand at making a couple of resin pendants last week.

As you can see.... LOTS of bubbles. :/

I used mod podge of the front & back of each paper bird design, let them dry overnight, then attempted the pendants the next day. I used a mold that actually has 15 assorted shapes. I'm thinking I don't like the mold. For me, I think it will be easier to use the collage pendants from now on.

These are the backs. Again.....SO many bubbles!! ACK!

Clearly, (pun intended..hehe...) I'm going to have to practice on the stirring part of the resin process a little more. Because I refuse to let the bubbles get in my way. I WILL win this battle! Artbeads.com is having a storewide "Tax Relief Sale" and mixed media items are included! It ends April 22nd. hmmm...I see some collage pendants in my very near future! ;)

Mom's Day Sale

Since Mother's Day is almost around the corner....

I'm having a Mom's Day BOGO "PLUS" Sale.  Starting today (April 16th) when you purchase an item from my Etsy Shop, you can get a 2nd item at 50% off, PLUS receive free shipping (that's the "PLUS" part.)  I already don't charge extra shipping fees when buying multiple items, so therefore, all your items will ship free! This sale welcomes international customers as well as the U.S.A. Spread the word and tell your friends and family members....except your Mom of course. lol! :-)

♦Sale ends May 9th♦

The Jewelry Box

Mother's Day is coming...

Mother's Day is May 9th, and it's creeping up fast. 

If you're undecided on what to buy for your Mother, Mother-in-law, Step Mother or whomever you call your Mom, why not purchase a handmade gift. Handmade just seems to be more special than store bought. There are so many sellers out there that make some pretty amazing stuff! 

Check out the Mother's Day Gift Guide. Along with myself, there are lots of sellers featured, and it's a great & easy way to shop for handmade online. 

Show your Mom just how much you care by purchasing handmade this year.

Mother's Day Gift Guide

An Eco-Friendly Giveaway

Herbolution is having a fantastic Earth Day giveaway on the Etsy Russian Team's blog! One lucky winner will win a lovely gift set that includes 3 samples from Herbolution's "Solid Love Series," and 3 samples from their "Body Butter Series." A total of 6 organic body butters.  How awesome is that?! Each sample is 100% natural, organic, and vegan. The very lucky winner will be announced on Earth Day, April 22nd, so what are you waiting for? Go here and put your entries in! Your body will thank you for it! That is...if you win. Or....even if you don't, you can always check out their etsy shop or their website and purchase your own. 

Good luck to the winner!

New Necklace

This is my newest necklace, just listed to my etsy shop. It's a lariat style with a soft feminine feel. And it looks really pretty on!

"Key to My Heart"

This must be my lucky month!

OMG!! I was up later than usual last night. Don't know why cause I was exhausted from the day's events and all the food. Craig & I invited James & Jenny over for Easter dinner, and we had a blast! We cooked food and they brought food.....it was a really great Easter! ☺ Anyway.....I finally got to check my emails and my blog updates, and that's when I found out that I had won the sweetest soap bath basket from Debbie @ Sapone Bolla Soap Blog! It was almost 1:00am, and I totally forgot that Craig was sleeping...I jumped up and yelled,  "WHOOOOHOOOO!!!" But no matter, it didn't even phase him. On the other hand, Joy (one of my sweet kittys that hangs with me in my studio) gave me the strangest look. LOL! You can read about Debbie's 1st giveaway she had and see my wonderful prize here.

Many thanks goes out to Debbie for the opportunity to win her lovely soap bath basket. Check out Debbie's Artfire studio to see her awesome soaps and crocheted items. Thanks again Debbie! Your Rock! :)

♣ With all this good luck lately, I think I better buy some lotto tickets tomorrow. ;) 

A nice surprise

This is what I found in my mailbox last week....a beautiful 2010 calendar from Artbeads!

 This was for the month of March.

All the photos are stunning and very inspiring too!

This photo is my favorite! It just happens to be my birthday month. Imagine that.... :D

A special "thank you" goes out to Duchess for her sweet & thoughtful gesture.

You can learn more about this lovely calendar by clicking here.

Thanks for reading & happy beading!

An Easter Giveaway!

Recently, I found out about a sweet Easter giveaway @ sapone bolla soap blog and decided to blog about it. It's actually a joint giveaway with one lucky winner getting 2 awesome prizes. How cool is that?! The first prize is a very lovely bath soap package, and the second prize is a gorgeous handmade necklace designed with gems, pearls, and crystals. The winner will be announced on Easter morning, so click here to get your entry in today!

Good luck to all of you and Happy Easter weekend!

How bout some free earrings?

My good friend, Vicki @ Orion Designs is having a fabulous sale!

Free earrings from her Special Sale Section! Go to her etsy shop for all the details and have fun deciding on which pair of earrings you want! ;)

Better hurry though.....sale ends April 11th!

My giveaway prize

Recently, I won an awesome giveaway from Patty @ Broken Teepee Designs. If you don't know Patty, then you're missing out on knowing a really sweet and talented woman. Her blog rocks, plus she's always hosting the best giveaways!
Now...I don't always enter her giveaways, but I'm really glad I did for this particular one! I was so happy yesterday when I saw the UPS guy walking up to my house. I was hoping it was my giveaway prize .....and it was!! :D And here it is! Installed and everything!

It's a "Triple Wall Mounted SmartSpace Indispensable Dispenser" from Zevro.com, and I love it! Each canister holds 13 oz. of dry food, such as, oatmeal, rice, candy, cereal, peanuts, etc. And better yet, it's dishwasher safe! It arrived completely assembled. All I had to do was hang it. Well actually....Craig (my hubby) did that part. The hardest part for me was choosing where to hang it! lol! But after a slight remodel in my kitchen, it found a nice useful happy place, and for now, it is filled with cereal and candy.

  I'm so happy to have won this!  A BIG HUGE ""THANK YOU"" goes out to Patty for giving me the chance to win this awesome addition to my kitchen! :-))

((Click here to check out Patty's blog and her current giveaways))
Find Patty's gorgeous jewelry @ Broken Teepee Designs.
AND
Find her handcrafted goat's milk soap @ Happy Goats Soap.