SWEET ESTHER

Yes, my dear friend Esther, of Mes Illusions Baroques, has sent me some outrageously beautiful gifts! I sent Esther my Marie necklace, with a few other little goodies, to thank her sooooo much for redoing my blog into the beautiful place that it is now, and she turns around and sends me TONS of gifts....more than these photos, including one of her BEAUTIFUL rings, but not one photo came out good, they were all blurry. I should have known, Esther is never to be outdone, and does everythinhg in a big big way!! Make sure to give her blog a visit, and you are certain to meet one of the sweetest angels on earth! I am very lucky to have her as a friend.

Thank you again my dear lilibulle!!

HOPE

Available on etsy

HUMBLEBEADS STUDIO TOUR

Go check out Humblebead's Studio Tour for a chance to enter yourself for a grand suprise prize!

You have until Friday morning to comment on her Studio Tour!

JANE DESROSIER

Hey friends....Mabel is coming to life, or developing a life of her own! I just signed up for Jane DesRosier's online class "How I Paint A Woman's Face". I'm so excited, and she is such an amazing artist. I am really looking forward to developing some better skills in painting faces and hopefully be able to use that in my ongoing mixed media pieces, which I have plenty of ideas for!! The image above is a linocut that I learned from a free tutorial Jane offers on her website, which I think is very generous of her, so I just had to try it......and I absolutely loved doing it, and the way it turned out! Sure, there are things I might have done differently, but I still like it. I thought I would show you the rubber thing that you carve your image out of...You can buy it at Michaels or a craft store. So this is what's on my worktable, next to some more ATC's I started and a list a mile long of ideas, and oh, some possible new jewelry links in the prototype stage! I made sure I made myself a happy Monday!! Hope yours was too!

"LOVER OF A STAR"

Megan, over at Studio M.M.E. Stutterings is having another giveaway, and it is this absolutely beautiful illustration of her's!! Isn't it fabulous?!! It looks so old world to me and speaks the language of romance...I must be getting soft in my old age, I just love it! I have so much respect for the artists who do this kind of work, I feel it is a dying art, and it is difficult and requires great skill. The black and white, and the texture she creates in the drawing sets the tone. SOOOOOOOO....if you want a chance to win this, there is not much time. Go over there and post a link that you blogged about it and it could be yours! Did I mention it will be a first edition!!! Hurry!!!

LOVE KNOTS

I spent some time the other day torching some copper pieces into double ended headpins, and that got me to thinking I really wanted to make my own links, but something different. Of course, one of my favorite things to do is to twist and fool with wire, and I made these little knots out of them. My favorite part of the wires were the little balls on the end, the variation in colors and little subtle dimples sometimes you can get.....
I combined these rustic links with some bling, another one of my favorite things to do, rustic and bling side by side, and accented with my favorite color, amazonite, vintage ruby czech beads, and sterling silver, and one big fat swarovski!

for sale on etsy

CHINOOK GOODNESS

Doesn't this just look luscious?! The good Melissa over at Chinook Designs is having another terrific giveaway........name that glaze!! Go check it out for yourself!

ATC's

what do you think?
(click on the photos for a closer look)

MEET MABEL

Just sharing a bit of the quirkiness that goes on here! First of all , pretend you don't see the dust! OK then, there is a constant ongoing joke in my house between my daughter and my husband about how I like birds sooooooo much! They think I'm kinda nuts, and freakishly obsessed with them, so my daughter bought this bird at the dollar store the other day and hooked it to my work light. It took a long time for me to notice it, it really blended in, but when I did I was hysterical with laughter, one of the really good laughs that can make your day!! I thought it was really funny, and believe it or not it's things like this that can make me happy!

Still working on ATC's and some other jewelry....stay tuned!

STUDIO M.M.E.STUTTERINGS

Everyday I can't believe how many talented artists there are out here!!! Megan, from Studio M.M. E. Stutterings is hosting a giveaway for this very cool pendant from Charming Betty! I love this pendant! Being more involved in the collage process now(actually you will soon see how quickly I am becoming addicted to it!), this really speaks to me! This "Attitude Fairy" is a great creation by Charming Betty, and Megan is a very talented artist and illustrator herself, just check out her work over at the Studio. Go look at these talented artists and sign up for an incredible giveaway!

LOYALTY

Seems like it's the week of Summers Studio Pottery, and well it should be, LeAnn is the best! I have noticed that great minds think alike, and I have seen a few postings very recently, all featuring LeAnn's pendants! She must be a magnetic force, or all the moons are aligned correctly, or something!! I think( again!) that this is one of my favorite pieces!!! I haven't really used black too much, and when I found these vintage black czech beads at my flea market source, I new this was what I wanted for LeAnn's fabulous pendant! The button was also perfect, again, vintage. I paired it up with some of that unusual vintage amber, one of LeAnn's little green ceramic beads, hematite rounds, and some brass metal rings. I fell in love with this pendant and bought it a while ago, but just made the necklace last week while on my "staycation". It reminds me so much of royalty, and regalness, castles and moors, women with beautiful poofy gowns and headpieces.....ohhh, guess I was daydreaming a bit! It's a fairytale piece to me!! I will put it on etsy later in the week.......or not, I'm not sure yet! I'd like to be royalty for a while, if only in my own mind...lol!!

WINNER, WINNER!!!

I just want to say again that I really am so grateful for everyone's encouragement and support over the past few months, and you have all taken me to a place that I never imagined! Just from this giveaway I have met some great new friends that I have to add to my blog list and get to know a bit better, and that is what makes blogland so special, the diversity and uniqueness of everyone and the common ground we share of support, friendship, learning, and kindness. This is a very nurturing place. So, to get on with it....the lucky winner of my "Always Faithful" necklace is........

**********Debbie of Prairie Emporium*********

Congratulations Debbie!!! I hope it brings you good luck...it certainly brought me some!!!
Thank you again everyone for playing along!! Now it's off to work to make more money to buy more beads to make more jewelry to have another giveaway!!!

SMOKE IN MY EYES

Just as I finally feel like I'm getting in to the groove of making more jewelry and ATC's(will post those later) , it will be time to go back to work in another 30 hours or so! I can really get used to this slow pace. It has been a very relaxing few days, and I've really enjoyed it! I finally sat down and created a piece that I've been pondering for a while, with this gorgeous pendant from Melissa of ChinookDesigns! I don't like how these photos don't really show the purplish hue of the pendant, and that was a REAL challenge for me to work with, but I came up with this and was pretty happy with the overall color combo and design. This, my friends, is a very unorthodox color combo for me, but I'm glad I did it, and now my narrow mind is a little more open. It's really growing on me. I call it "Smoke". The pendant reminded me of the swirls created by smoke floating in the air...and the color is kind of like it also. And, I used to smoke. I smoked for 18 years, and quit 15 years ago....best thing I EVER did, BUT, let me tell you, I used to LOVE to do it! But that's another whole story! Anyway, I'm still smoke free, except for the necklace!!!

available on etsy

HELP!

This is the reason I haven't been creating jewelry....I have a ton of work , aka, writing, for upcoming submissions that I have to get done, and I keep stopping to try making ATC's . This is my very first attempt....I know they are not so good, but I had to start somewhere. The one with the tree is not done, but I thought i would put myself out there and show you what's going on......and to anyone in the mixed media, altered art, ATC dept of blogland out there who sees this, pleeaase help with any comments or suggestions. I really don't know what the he-- I'm doing!
On other news, I do keep stopping by the bead table, and keep adding to the ongoing clutter , transferring that from my head to the table, as you can see.....and am very frustrated that I can't finish anything because I SHOULD finish other things first!
I have the next few days off, and will be doing some vacationy kind of things, I'm hoping the slower pace helps center me a bit.
Pleeeaaase don't forget to spread the word about my giveaway or enter yourself right here, there is still lots of time!!!

MIDNIGHT MADNESS AND A GRATEFUL GIVEAWAY!!!!

It's approaching midnight, and I vowed I would go to bed by then tonight. I have a really bad habit of staying up way too late, and paying for it throughout the next day, since I have to get up at 6:00 for work........so here's the deal.......I've been thinking about this for a while and have decided to have a giveaway in celebration of my first publication, and what better item to give than one of the pieces that got me published, my "Always Faithful" necklace! I really wanted to do this because I am so very grateful that I was published in a bead trade magazine, something that last year I would have never thought possible, but because of all of you, such good things have happened with my jewelry and you have all been such good friends, I don't know of any other way to say thanks. You have all helped me grow as an artist and an individual. Your kindness and encouragement are overwhelming. I know that being published to some may not be a big deal, but to me, every jewelry accomplishment is a big deal. From other life experiences, I have learned to try to be grateful for everything I have......so I'd like you to have also!
The necklace features a beautiful Lotus pendant by Gaea, and it hangs from a handmade bezel of another Gaea floral link and sterling silver wrapped wire and Hill Tribe beads. The chain is made of Hill Tribe cylinders, more Gaea beads, fancy jasper rounds, and a wire wrapped clasp. All the metal is sterling silver.
So this is all that I want you to do.......there are 4 chances to win......

1. Leave me a comment on this post.

2. Blog about the giveaway on your blog and include a link to here.

3.Join my google friend connect badge on the right.

4. Heart my etsy shop and tell me the piece you like best.

Let me know the ways you entered!

I will take entries until 5:00 pm Saturday, July 19th. I will announce the winner on Monday, July 21st. I might even throw in something extra!!

That's it folks......oh, and don't forget to leave me an email or contact so I can get in touch with you!
Please spread the word and have fun. I would love to meet more kind souls such as yourselves, I consider myself blessed because of you!!

ERIN PRAIS-HINTZ

The sweet Erin of Tesori Trovati, Treasures-Found , sent me this absolutely beautiful necklace tailored just for me! I recently won a giveaway on her blog, and the prize was a necklace created by her specifically for the winner, and a box of artisan chocolates!!! WOOOOOEEEEEEE!!! Here you see my lovely package that came today! The necklace is gorgeous, a pendant she made with resin, with some sparkly flowers inside, accented with swarovski crystals and pearls, and all in my favorite color hues of blue. The best part is the stamping on the back, "Keep The Faith", which means soooo much to me. I am planning my outfit to wear to work tomorrow around this necklace. It's just such a great idea that you could wear this necklace two ways, but leave it to the ingenious Erin for that!!
Let's mot forghet the chocolates........ohhhhhhhh......TO DIE FOR!!!!!
Handmade artisan truffles from a company called Moonstruck, she sure knows how to pick them, absolutely luscious!! Lets see, 5 hours gone by, 3 pieces left!!!

Thank you Erin for this wonderful gift, and the caring that went into it, it shows in all the little details........and of course it came with the most touching note.

I am touched Erin

Thank you !!!