Designs for a wedding challenge

I learned how to do peyote spiral stitch and am having a blast making tubes for jewelry. I used the stitch to create two wonderful bracelets for a wedding challenge sponsored by several Etsy teams. The bridesmaids are wearing black dresses, with teal flowers and light blue parasols. I focused on the black and teal to create a bracelet for them. The bride will be wearing a wonderful white dress so the bracelet for her is mostly white with hints of teal to tie in with the bridesmaids flowers. I think they're beautiful!

The Winning Design!

I shared my charity challenge collaboration piece with you in March - A Collaboration Has Begun and I finished. Jan Thompson of JanZart created the lampwork beads and I used them to create a bracelet. Here it is again if you missed it:

25 challenge entries were created and the internet community got to vote on their favorite design. And guess who won?? Jan and I!!! Woohoo!! We were the favorite among the 200 people who voted - but it was a close race! You can see all the designs here - and there are some beauties! You can read more about the challenge on the Creative Minds for Charity blog. All the designs are for sale in the etsyHOST team store and all proceeds will benefit Etsians in need. So go shopping!

Featured ETSY artist #41 - Kalicat

My next featured Etsy artist is Kalicat aka Catherine Marche. Catherine is a French jewelry designer and silversmith who, in her own words, "makes jewellery that is characterised by its chic and elegance, with a hint of French playfulness" and who now lives in London. Just another example of how global Etsy is! Catherine has some gorgeous designs in her shop. The first one that caught my eye is her Eleni ring. I love the way it spirals around with soft round balls interspersed throughout. My next favorite from her shop is the Snow White bracelet. This is just a wonderful combination of white pearls and rock crystal - soft rounds and soft chips. Want to see more of Catherine's creations? Then be sure to check out her blog. And be sure to check out her Etsy store to see more of her gorgeous creations!

Soccer in Las Vegas - Purple Haze style!

I spent last weekend in Las Vegas playing soccer (and doing other things of course!). I'm on a soccer team called Purple Haze and we regularly play in the Friendship tournaments in Las Vegas - we even won one year! Here's the team after out last game. It was bright, sunny and warm in Las Vegas - but a LOT warmer in San Diego. Besides soccer (and gambling for some) we also have a bowling tournament on Saturday night. It's just for fun, we award goofy prizes (like a toilet bowl brush to the person who "cleaned up" the most spares and a princess pen and watch for the best dressed - you get the picture!). If you want to see more of our team pictures then check out my soccer folder on flickr. Enjoy!

Etsy Blogger of the Month - StormyDesigns

I'm a member of the Etsy bloggers street team and we're blogging about one of our members every month. StormyDesigns is the blogger-of-the-month for April. Hey - I just checked out her Etsy store and she's having a SALE all month! She has gorgeous polymer clay jewelry and pendants! I love this Psychedelic cuff she made. Isn't it fun and funky!

As you can read in the next post I'm on a soccer team named Purple Haze and lo and behold what else do I find in Stormy's Etsy shop? A purple covered tin named Purple Haze! What a coincidence. It's a cool looking tin too!
Well heck I found a Purple Haze cuff too! Can you tell I've got a purple bias??

Stormy has many other things in her shop that aren't purple so be sure to check them all out. If you want to know more about what she's up to then be sure to check out her blog (blogging is what this is all about after all!) . And she's got a website in addition to her Etsy store so check out other things that might be for sale elsewhere and you can sign up for her newsletter too at http://www.stormydesigns.biz/

Featured ETSY artist #40 - Cryztalvisions

The first thing I love about Beth Alexander's store - Cryztalvisions - is the story behind the name. I loved school and liked all my teachers so I'm always happy when someone remembers a teacher in a positive way. According to Beth the "Z" in her shop name is "It's an homage to one of my wonderful teachers who pronounced crystals: 'creezzztals'". The next thing I like about her shop are these earrings. Amazonite is a gorgeous stone and she complemented it wonderfully with the sterling silver swirl earwires that she made. Beth has been making unique jewelry designs for 20 years and says she delights "in creating these pieces!" You can see her unique flair in these matchstick earrings. I love the simple, yet striking design. You can find many more unique and interesting designs in Beth's Etsy store. She also creates her own fine silver pendants and charms so be sure to check those out in her store. Want to know more about what she's up to? Then be sure to visit her blog (she creates fractal images too - using the same software I use - Apophysis!).