Goodies from Friends (with another post to come beause I got even MORE! How lucky can one girl be?!? )

It seems like I keep getting little packages in the mail :-)  Here are a few things with a few more to come in another post.  One I knew was coming, one was a purchase, and one was a complete surprise.

 Penny of Copper Penny sent me this beauty!  And I mean Beauty!  The stones have soothing colors of blue skies and green leaves, the piece has a good weight to it, and I just love the Gorgeous ceramic button! And this style that seems to come so easily to Penny...I wish I had that magic touch that she has to make a piece like this.  But since I don't, my Birthday Buddy (October 29th...both of us!) and I traded necklaces!  She was much more prompt with hers.  Mine goes in the mail tomorrow (really!  Tomorrow!  I promise!).  Thank You Penny!  This is already well loved and will be worn very very often :-) 

Next up is a  little stash of beads I bought from Erin at Elysian Studios.  I purchased them from her etsy shop, Elysian Art A La Carte.  In the first picture are her Gypsy Trade Beads.  These are so funky and fun and come in nice, bright colors.  I adored these from the moment I saw them.  I am so happy to have them in my hot little hands!  Hope I can do them justice! 
Erin also makes really lovely cabs.  I worked with two in the past and wanted more so now I have them :-)

 And then there is the surprise!  From my bead partner and friend, Therese of Therese's Treasures.  She sent this to me for my birthday.  Aside from this post, I do not usually announce my birthday.  I do expect my family to make a big deal out of me that day, but no one else so I keep a low profile :-)  I turned 44 the day Hurricane Sandy wreaked her havoc.  So there wasn't much celebrating going on.  But Therese acknowledged it with her ever present thoughtfulness, love, and grace.  And sent me this Sparkly Stunner!  The first picture is the front side.  The second picture is the backside...because I think it is just as pretty as the front.  Thanks Therese~love you dearly!!!

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I am sneaking in a picture of earrings I made for a show on monday.  They will be in the esty shop in about 15 minutes!

In the center is a freshwater pearl,  On the outside circle are carnelians. 


Also, I hope to be back with Thursday's Thing next week!  I miss it! 

Snow Flakes and She~She Beads

Happy 2013!  Hope you all are sliding into the new year with ease.  I am still and forever will be on the September - August calendar, but have learned to embrace the January new year as a second attempt at a new start since I rarely get it right in September.  Anyway...really, it is always another day, no matter what dates we are writing.  Some days have significant meaning and some are forgotten due to same old same old. 

So much to say and I have so many pictures of people's generosity to post over the next week or two.  Today, I am starting with these Snowflakes.  'Tis the Season!  (unfortunately)  If my yard were covered with THESE babies, I would not mind.  But it is covered with 6" of the real stuff.  Or maybe 8".  Or maybe more.  Whatever it is, it has crippled me and I am ready to hibernate. 

These little Beauties were made possible by Karen Williams of Baublicious and Skunk Hill Studio Fame.  She had a giveaway of these snowflake kits and I won!  Yay!!!  They can be found in her Etsy Shop.  Go get a kit!  Send a kit to a friend!  The price is right, the instructions are perfectly clear.  They are super easy to follow.  I even sipped on Port while following them.  The rhythm of making the snowflakes is really soothing.  And...it is still snowflake season for another 3-6 months.  I gifted these to The Bug and Sunshine Girl as their Ornament of the Year.  They were really excited, assured me they would NOT be packed away with the rest of the ornaments, and asked to learn how to make them.  Sounds like a good winter activity to me~cocoa, cookies, and beaded snowflakes...ahhhhhh.......
Thank You Karen! 

So many other goodies to show, but those will have to wait until Monday.  For now, my pick for the She Made~She Made.

Come back January 30th and see what Therese and I made with these beauties!  Therese gave me the Red Blister Pearls.  I gave her these vintage beads I picked up at Nawbin Beads in Traverse City, Michigan this past summer.  There was no further description other than "vintage beads".  The design was too lovely to pass up. 

In the week(s) to come, I will be showing some really beautiful and generous gifts I received from some friends some of you may know.  And something else I won too. 

Thanks so much for stopping in.  Hope it is warmer and less snowy by you! 

She Made~She Made~She Made December

Hope you are all enjoying the Holiday Season!  Thanks for taking the time to visit this month's She Made~She made.  This month we are adding another person so it is a triple "She Made".   Yay!!!  Alicia from All the Pretty Things is joining Therese and I.  When you are done here, go take a look and see what goodies you will find at All the Pretty Things and at Therese's Treasures.  Look here to see Therese's pick for December's Challenge.  Therese and I will be working with a glass focal and square beads.  Therese and Alicia will be using some GORgeous teal glass beads.  I cannot wait to see what they do with those beauties! 

Here is what I made.  I am reading "Woody Guthrie : A Life" by Joe Klein and I think I was channeling the whole vibe of the book when I went with the stripped down feel and the muted colors.  Simple.  And I like it...a lot :-)  Though there was nothing simple about Woody.  But that might be better left to another blog post! 

Therese gifted me with this Juls Studio Gorgeous Glass Bead.  I had so many elaborate plans to weave and fringe and ripple and bling and it all is in the ever-growing pile of projects that just didn't work.  I made this long enough to slip over the head and on one side I used a matte olive rose drop bead and the other side matte olive rose seed beads.  I put some gorgeous Swarovski crystal donut beads in there.  I love blending earthy with shine.  I think they really compliment each other.  I balanced it so that the focal is across from a double of the crystals, as seen below. 

And here it is one more time.

Therese also picked these square beads.  I added green freshwater pearls and some seed beads and made this bracelet. 

That is what I have for this month...now to see what Therese and Alicia made!

~See You All in the New Year~

Ornament Swap Blog Hop

Ornament Hop Day ~ YAY!!! 

A big thanks to Sally at The Studio Sublime for putting this hop together again :-)

My partner this year is Kim from Kimmykats and I am THRILLED, to say the least!  I love what Kim does with spoons and forks and how she makes them into jewelry. She uses them in very creative ways and has a style unlike anything I have ever seen.  The beauty she brings out in the silverware...you just cannot imagine that they were ever used as utensils! And she sent me a pair of fork tine earrings and a spoon necklace.  She turned this spoon into a lily.  I have worn these a lot since I got them and people always want to touch the pendant and look inside it.  It is too cool!  Check it out:

 Kim started beadweaving this year.  She likes to refer to seed beads as "flying missles".  Can she weave!  Everything I have seen is fantastic...hard to believe she is a relative beginner.  And guess how she created her ornament?  With flying missles!!!  I couldn't be happier!  Well, I could...but we'll get to that in a moment.  Kim's ornament will be proudly displayed for all to see over the holidays. And once they are over, I am turning this beauty into a necklace.  I just have to wear it.  It is begging me.  It has all the elements I love...beauty, romance, crystals, daggers, bronze, Fringe!

How I could be happier?  If I knew something about photography.  So I could do Kim justice with these photos.  The colors are so hard to properly capture with the crystal and dagger AB finishes.  And we have not had a whole lot of sun around here lately.  But I am so in love with this :-)


So here she is...my new Love!  I even got a new sweater to wear with this once February rolls around and the decorations are all packed away. Beady Greatness!  Thank you Kim :-D



 And now please go visit the other Ornament makers.  Jenny Davies-Reazor was my super-talented partner last year.  I keep her ornament up all year long :-) 

Sally Russick

Lesley Watt

 Jenny Davies-Reazor

 

Therese Frank 

Andrew Thorton

Jeanette Blix Ryan

Maryanne Gross

Rebecca Anderson

Melissa Meman

Veralynne Malone

Miranda Ackerley

 Jen Cameron

Sandi Volpe

Susan Kennedy

Kristen Stevens

Shirley Moore 

 Cooky Schock

D. Lynne Bowland 

Tiffany Smith

Patti Vanderbloemen 

Pam Ferrari

Kim Hora

Christine Altmiller

Alice Peterson

Bette Brody

Julie Anne Leggett

Lola Surwillo

Kathleen Lange Klik

Erin Prais Hintz

Mowse Doyle

Kristi Jaro

Thursday's Thing*

A dishtowel. 
It really is the simple things for me :-)





*Appreciate what you have.  Want less.  Buy less...unless it is beads or music.

Thursday's Thing*

My brother took these photos of The Bug and My Sunshine Girl a few years back.  These are definitely among my most cherished possessions.  The photo on the left looks like it will make a perfect album cover for their first bluegrass record.  And the one on the right was from when my brother and my mom took Sunshine Girl to the Little Red Lighthouse under the Great Grey Bridge.  I just adore these photos :-)


*Thursday's Thing :  appreciate what you have already (but buy more beads and music)

What The Wednesday?!

It has been a while since I did a "What The?!" post.  I post it for when I am questioning if I like something I made, or if I am stuck on a piece, or if I like it but I am not sure if anyone else would be interested in it.  Be honest in your comments.  That is why I am posting it.

This edition of WT?!  features a piece I really like, but I am not sure if I like it just because I made it or because I think it will be appealing to more broad audience.  I can't keep EVERYTHING I make ;-)

Sunshine Girl and I were using polymer this weekend.  I drew a complete blank (I am very simplistic when it comes to polymer) and made this circle.  Here is what became of it:

Thoughts?  Comments?  Constructive criticism, please.