Many treasures coming in the mail...

I came home yesterday to a wonderful little treasure box from Ornamentea. It was full of an order that I placed just a few days ago for Elaine Ray beads and findings. Her work is so wonderful and earthy. I can't wait to dive in and make something with them. Speaking of getting treasures in the mail I am very, very anxiously awaiting 3 other arrivals. One is from a talented group of jewelry and bead/charm designers with which I am participating in a bead/charm exchange. I'll tell you more about that when the goodies arrive. My other highly anticipated arrival will be from the multi-faceted jewelry designer, Andrew Thornton. His designs are SO inspiring to me. Andrew was kind enough to share a group of his one-of-a-kinds ATC's (artist trading cards) last week on his blog in exchange for something equivalent in value from those of us that he's sharing his cards with. I am feverishly preparing a package for him and will have it in the mail this week. Thanks Andrew! The 3rd treasure is from Anne Choi. I finally broke down and decided at midnight last night that I was going to buy a couple of Anne's wonderful beads for my art bead collection. After all, no bead collection is truely complete without an Anne Choi. I can't wait to see them in person. All 3 of these treasures will be arriving soon and I'll be sure to let you see the wonderful goodies that each package holds.

The day of feasting is over...Our bellies are full and we all are so blessed.

Well, our Thanksgiving went well. I ate plenty, but not enough to feel stuffed. I had to leave some room in there for the pumpkin pie and the wonderful pecan pie that my neighbor and friend, Melissa Crowley (or Miss Lissa as my 3 yr. old calls her, LOL) brought me yesterday. She's been such a blessing to me since we moved here 6 months ago. About 2 weeks after we moved in her husband had come across the street to introduce himself to my Hubby. I decided to come out and do the same, lo' and behold I recognized him. So, I asked him his name and he told me, John Crowley. I couldn't believe it! We grew up 2 doors down from one another. Well, a few minutes later Melissa, his wife, came across the street to introduce herself and I told her that I had grown up a couple doors down from John. She asked me where I went to high school and I told her Wolfson, class of 1985. Well, she proceeded to tell me her maiden name and that we were in homeroom together and graduated together. What a small world! I knew both of them. I had not seen John in about 3o years and had not seen Melissa in 23 years. Anyway, back to my point, Melissa has been great to have as a neighbor. In my previous neighborhood, where I lived for 6 years, there was no one my age, folks weren't friendly, the neighbors were all OLD and there were no kids. So I just kept to myself. She has been the type of neighbor that you can call to borrow a stick of butter, oh wait, she borrowed that from me, LOL! She has 3 growing boys of her own and offers to watch our boys all the time so that Hubby and I can have some time to ourselves. She baked me a pecan pie and brought it over yesterday just because I picked up a few things for her while I was at the grocery store earlier this week. Oh and she invited me to play Bunko with all her girlfriends last Friday night, which was a hoot since I had never played it before. What I'm trying to say is that I am grateful for my new friend and neighbor and that's what today is all about. I'm also grateful for my wonderful, helpful, handsome husband and my two gorgeous little boys whom I adore and love. I hope that all of you take a few minutes with what is left of this Thanksgiving and tell the folks that matter to you that you are thankful for them.

Have A Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to wish my blog followers and readers a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone has a table full of food, surrounded by family and friends for whom you are grateful. Be safe and don't forget to wear your "buffet pants" tomorrow. In case you're wondering what those are, it's those pants in the back of your closet with the elastic waist that you pull out only on holidays or when you're headed to the buffet line at your local Golden Corral. Enjoy~

An update to my last update...

Okay, here's how it looks with the teeny tiny 3 mm garnets added to the chain side of the necklace. What do you think? I was trying to balance the weight of the Humblebeads side of the necklace to the chain side. Hmmm, still not too sure how I feel about the balance of the piece. Love the colors though! Let me know what you think.

WHAT'S ON MY BEAD TABLE UPDATE...

On Saturday I did a post about "What's on my bead table". Well, here is what I've put together so far. I'm not too sure how I feel about the balance of the necklace. I may add a strand of teeny garnet rounds to the chain side. I'm not sure yet. Leave me a comment and let me know what YOU think of the design. I'll welcome any feedback~

This is on my bead table tonight...

I was just checking out the blog of one of my favorite designers, Lorelei Eurto, and her latest post asked, "What's on your bead table?". Here is a photo of a tray of beads that I picked out a month ago and they've been calling my name to use them everytime I sit down to my work table. I'm not quite sure why I haven't made something with them yet, maybe it's because they're purple and I never work with purple. Anyway, I love them because as you can see there is not only a cute little lentil bead from Humblebeads, but there's also a fabulous strand of Heather's disc beads, some Garnets and Peridot too. Then I was at Hobby Lobby the other day and found the strand of purple shells and purple mother-of-pearl. Since I don't have any other beading projects going on right now I think I'll make those Humblebeads my number one priority tomorrow and make something pretty with them...

Extra, Extra Read Owl About It!

Morning everyone! So, those of you who know me personally and those you who have read my profile know that aside from being a bead addict I am also a fabric addict and quilter. I have been sewing since I was a kid. I used to make clothes, pillows, handbags and those sort of things. Then when I met my former boss, who is now my mother-in-law (small world, huh?), she introduced me to quilting and I fell in love with it.

Since becoming involved with Etsy I have seen a large variety of handmade items featuring owls. I've seen alot of owl items in some of my favorite designers "favorites" as well as on the Etsy front page from time to time. I have always loved "real" owls and since having come to Etsy I now really like owl images and items featuring them as well. The other day I came across this adorable quilt design by Pat Sloan and new that I just had to make it. Now mind you, it's not that I need anything new to take on, and it's not that I don't have at least 3 or 4 other quilt projects on my table now that are not finished. I saw it and said, "I gotta make this." So, I've got to go pick out some fabrics. I see myself using some Amy Butlers' for the blues and greens and whatever else peeks my interest when I get to the quilt shop. As it progresses I post pics and updates so you can see what's going on with it. Wish me luck!

My First Laptop!

Well, I finally did it! I got my first laptop last night! (See picture above) Woohoo! I am so excited to have it. It was an early christmas present from my Hubby. We got a great deal on it at Best Buy. Ahh, now I can surf Etsy from the comfort of my bed after the kids go to sleep. I'm going to load Photoshop and Illustrator on it today and have those ready since I have been looking for some freelance work. So, that's my news for today. I may try and make some new goodies while the kids nap later. Have a great day!

Ancient Ruins Bracelet listed today!

Hi everyone! I've been absent again, sorry! The kids have been under the weather this past week and weekend so we've been tending to them. Anyway, I just made this lovely little trinket this morning and just got finished listing it. So, it's there is you feel like you just can't live without it! Don't forget I've extended the time on all SALE items as well through the end of this month.

Adopting the "Lemonade Stand of Art" Philosophy

So, I've been reading the blog of Kerry Bogert http://kabsconcepts.blogspot.com/ for the last couple of weeks and she has made mention a few times of her "Lemonade Stand for Art" philosophy. Today I read back through her posts to find where that originated from because the little that I knew about really hit home with me. Here's an excerpt from Kerry's blog and when you get a chance check out the entire post. I really started to think I am being too wasteful. And the more I organized, the more I realized that I really need to start making do with what I have. The thoughts organized further and I started to think what a great artistic challenge it could be. Inevitably, I am going to run out of my favorite colors, just like I would drink up all the packs of Strawberry flavored Kool-Aid first. But what a challenge it could be to find inspiration in colors I don't usually use. Like yellow... hello... doesn't this necklace rock? And I can't remember the last time I ever used yellow!! http://kabsconcepts.blogspot.com/2008/04/lemonade-stand-of-art.html.

This simple idea resonated with me because we are a one income family, who for the most part, lives paycheck-to-paycheck. We don't do without mind you, but our bills and our kids needs come first. Anything left over after that we can use for frivolities. The concept Kerry speaks of is simple, "Use what you have, to get what you want." I love it!!! I am a hoarder of anything bead related, beads, chain, findings, tools, you name it, I've gotta have it. With the inception of Etsy, with which I have a serious addiction, I have found myself shopping online QUITE FREQUENTLY. For a one income family this is and should be a no-no. But I see a gorgeous set of beads (from Angie, a.k.a crazycatglass) and I've just gotta have them.

With all that being said (hopefully it made sense) I am officially adopting Kerry's concept of "The Lemonade Stand for Art". My Etsy purchases will come to an abrupt halt today (insert tears flowing here) and unless I am completely out of something like findings or chain, I will not be buying until I learn to use what I have. Go check out Kerry's work, it's amazing and creative and think about adopting this policy for yourself. Try it for a month, see how creative you can be with what you have and send me pics when you've made something.

Officially on Facebook!

Okay, so call me a "Trendy" if you will. I officially have a page on Facebook. I'd been meaning to join and kept putting it off. Then an old friend of mine sent me pics of his new baby and family from there, so I had to take the plunge and sign up. In the midst of inviting some friends to my network I ended up running into an old middle school friend of mine who is friends with someone I was inviting. Small world. Anyway, I sent her a message and sure enough it was her. I haven't seen her in over 20 years, well more like 25 actually. So there you go. That's my big news for the day. No new jewelry made today because the house cleaning came first. It's a priority right now since I've got a 9 month old who's crawling everywhere. Gotta clean the floors, gotta clean the floors, I hear it in my sleep, LOL. Goodnight!

New items in my shop today!!!

Good Morning! I just listed 2 new necklaces in my Etsy shop with more to come later today. My goal is to ramp up my listings in order to have a least 2 or 3 pages for folks to shop from for the holidays. Wish me luck and stay tuned!

An unintentional abscence...

Hi all! I know that I haven't posted in a while. Until yesterday I had been eagerly preparing for my first show in about 10 years. Which means I hadn't done one since I first started making jewelry. I truly wish that I had not waited so long. I had a great time. It was a small show, but I got to meet alot of other creative ladies, I got some time away from the kiddies and I got to make some money. So it was well worth my time and effort. Everyone, vendors and buyers included, had nothing but positive feedback on my pieces and it was so motivating to hear that. My goal this week is to really step up my production and get my shop stocked for the holidays. I have some new pieces that didn't sell yesterday so I will be posting those in my Etsy store tomorrow. I can't wait for you to see them!

Creative block? Are you serious?

Okay, so you'd think with as large of a bead stash as I have that I could sit down to my work table and come up with just about anything, right? Well, let's just say that's not the case. At least not this weekend, which is not good timing considering I have a small show to do next Saturday. I've been racking (did I spell that right?) my brain all weekend just to make some earrings. Which, by the way, I need plenty of for the show, because the small 10-15$ items are always a draw for folks. Especially in this stagnant economy.

I can't seem to come up with a thing that someone else hasn't already done! So, what do you do? I guess I'll end up perusing through all my magazines later and try a new twist on some old favorite, who knows. Leave me a comment and let me know what you do when that "creative block" hits...