Handmade gifts for the beaders/sewers in your life!

So I was cruising around Etsy a couple of days ago and saw an intriguing thing on one of the many treasuries I checked out - a needle threader incorporated into a very cute polymer clay chocolate covered strawberry. This is available in LoveLaurie's Etsy store. She also has a cute little combo combining a seam ripper and needle threader all stored inside a thread spool! A cupcake combo is available now, and in her past sales I found a cute teapot! I just love the folks who turn a common tool into something so creative and fun! I liked it so much I had to get my own custom order for a Secret Santa swap I'm doing. Can't wait to see what my swap partner thinks about it!

Emeralds and Pearls - Yummy!

I got a strand of GORGEOUS keishi pearls and they had a subtle green tint which immediately made me think of emeralds. I had to change my design some when the holes in the emeralds ended up being too small for larger wires. But I came up with an alternate design which looks pretty good! Check it out for yourself ...



This beauty is for sale in my Etsy shop if you want more information. - well it's actually heading to a home show this weekend so it's unlisted right now. If it doesn't sell then I'll relist in my Etsy store.

And, since it is the Christmas season I just finished up a fun and full Christmas Twist bracelet ...

Isn't it fun!

Had a Ball!

Hubby and I support the Marine helicopter squadron HMM-163 and they are kind enough to invite us to their Marine Ball when they are in town. The ball was on Saturday, so we got to play dress up for an evening. Here are the great looking (and young!) Marines in the color guard


and hubby and I in our finery

Hmm - I think I need to change my soccer tan before the next ball and hubby needs to get a lot more sleep! It was a fun night and we met a lot of wonderful and incredibly courteous Marines!

Beautiful larimar!

I made this necklace for a local customer and hope she likes it. Her request was "larimar and chunky". After much searching and bidding on ebay I got some nice larimar strands - rondelles and nuggets. The larimar nuggets came from one of my favorite suppliers (she has some gorgeous gemstones if you're looking!) Szarka of Magpie Gemstones. She blogged me too! Anyway I tried a few different designs and finally mixed them up and added some chunky sterling cubes to create this design.



Next to share is a fluorite duo - necklace and earrings. The fluorite is just beautiful in both! The earrings are already in my Etsy store and the necklace will be listed later today.

Gads it's hot!

It's still hot and dry in San Diego. You probably already have heard about the fires north of us. Thankfully we've been spared so far this fire season. But for those who live in SoCal - don't be nonchalant - get your property prepped (looks like LOTS of people up on LA/Montecito did NOT pay attention to the fires we had down here last year and 4 years ago - I kept seeing houses with brush right up to their fence - absolutely no thinning of the brush, palm trees with tons of dead fronds hanging down - those go up like a torch when hit by an ember - saw that happen in the last Camp Pendleton fire a month or so ago), make sure your insurance is up-to-date and that you have replacement value, don't throw lighted objects out of your car windows (i.e. cigarettes!), don't create sparks near dry areas, and so on and so forth!

For some of the fire happenings up in LA try these links: http://www.abc7.com or http://www.cbs2.com

I'm going to get some bulbs planted in between cool down and water breaks since they are sprouting in the bags. Hopefully we'll get some cool weather so they don't just dry up and die once I get them in the ground.

Pretties from some Californians!

Ok - so I went looking for Etsy items from fellow CCCOE team members that would work in my treasury and found these lovelies ...

Gorgeous Gemstones!

I've been buying some high quality gemstones from a cutter in India and am finally making some designs using these beauties. Here's a necklace using green amethyst and sterling silver. I just LOVE this shade of green and the clarity and faceting of these stones is stunning!

Off the beading topic and onto politics!

OK - this post has nothing to do with beading - instead I'm doing a brief foray into politics - in this case proposition politics. I spent part of last night reading through most of the California propositions and wanted to let folks know what I think about some of them.

First - if it says "bond" I'm voting no. With all the budget problems we have right now we DON'T need to go into debt further to create/do something that obviously the state can't currently afford.

Second - vote NO on proposition 5. Not because it is a bad idea - but because the funding for it is a never ending siphon from our taxes! If you take the time to read the "fiscal impact" section of the actual proposition you will see that funding is based on a percentage of the STATE population (which will most likely continue to grow) rather than on the prison population. Also - to change anything after this proposition passes will require a 4/5 majority. There is NO chance 4/5 of our state politicians will agree on anything and certainly not on reducing the funding for prison rehab. So the funding for this rehab proposition is NEVER ENDING, CONTINUALLY GROWING and since it is a proposition, ALWAYS HAS TO BE FUNDED!!! So if we're having a budget problem - too bad - all the money required by this proposition has to be found somewhere - no cuts possible (unless 4/5 of the politicians agree). So ... please vote NO on prop 5. In fact I'm going to start reading all the fiscal impact sections more closely in the future since part of our budget problems are due to REQUIRED funding for many of the propositions that were voted into law in the past. Most of these do not provide an easy way to reduce the funding during bad economic times - so first we use our tax money to pay for all the REQUIRED funds that we have passed, and then the leftovers get distributed to all the other things that have to be payed for.

That's it for now and even if you don't agree with my ideas - at least take the time to read the actual proposition text so you'll know EXACTLY what you're agreeing to if you vote YES on the proposition.

Busy, busy, busy!

The craft fair went well. My mom helped out and between her, me and another jewelry seller we kept busy selling my jewelry, the other gals jewelry, succulents for a fellow soccer player who was in the tournament and raffle tickets for a quilt raffle. We were busy! The proceeds from the raffle went to a scholarship fund at the school where one of our fellow soccer players taught. She died suddenly while hiking with friends in the Grand Canyon last year.

Here are pictures of my setup at the craft fair:


Since the craft fair I've been getting things together to send to the 2 consignments shops where I sell. I delivered things to Gili Anna's yesterday. Today I'm working on some final things to ship out to the Bead and Glass Boutique. Hopefully I'll have everything finished and shipped out tomorrow so I can finish up some custom spiders and then I can get back to listing things in my Etsy store. I made quite a few new designs for the craft fair and not all of them sold so they'll be appearing soon on Etsy!

Senior Olympics Soccer and Craft Fair!

I'll be at another craft fair tomorrow (Saturday). This time it will be in conjunction with the Senior Olympics Women's Soccer Tournament. I'm still too young to play - so I'll hang with my teammates who are playing and will sell my jewelry and beaded things. If you're in the vicinity of Mira Mesa in San Diego feel free to stop by and shop or just watch some soccer games. The tournament will be held at Hourglass Field which is just south of Miramar College. Here's a mapquest link if you need it: Hourglass Field. Hope to see some of you there!

Maui was fun, have relatives in town now

Hubby and I had a great time in Maui. For those who have never been I do have the following suggestion - if you've traveled highway 1 in California from San Luis Obispo north then skip the Pala highway. You see some gorgeous greenery and some neat waterfalls - but you don't get to see much of the coast since you get pushed too far inland on the road. The coastal views along highway 1 are MUCH more impressive. On the other hand we had a blast hiking the Waihee Ridge Trail. It's 2.5 miles long and you go up 1500'. The view from the top is wonderful - as long as the clouds aren't covering you. I think the road on the north side of the island from Waihee Ridge to Kapalua would also be impressive to drive - windy 2 lane road - but I don't know if the view of the coast would be any better.

I've got several designs "almost" done so hopefully next week I can finish them up and get them listed in my store. My brother-in-law, his wife and 2 kids are staying with us now so we're doing tourist things all day long. Went to Reuben H. Fleet Science center today and saw 3 IMAX films! Good films - but I don't recommend you sign up for them all in a row - tough on your butt and shoulders since the seats aren't all that comfortable. Tomorrow we'll be at the zoo. I always like going there - and watching the hippos is especially fun!

Getting ready for a trip to Maui!

Yippee!! Hubby and I head to Maui in a couple of days. We've never been there so it should be fun. I'm rushing around trying to get things finished and mailed out. I just finished a custom design - Ethereal Bracelet. It's an interesting combination of sodalite, moonstone, labradorite and hematite. Those were the stones requested for the design and I got them to work together. I love doing custom designs - they are a fun challenge in design and in interpreting what my customers want.

An even bigger challenge for this design was photography. The contrast between light and dark really caused me headaches trying to get the right color to show. I finally succeeded though and will be shipping it to its new home in a day or two.

Holiday shows and gas prices in Paris

Well the craft show was a bust. Lesson learned - don't do craft shows over a 3 day holiday unless the show is in the midst of a tourist area. You just don't get much traffic when folks are probably busy doing long weekend activities.

Now - some interesting information my hubby sent from Paris ... you think our gas is high??? Think again - here's a picture of gas prices (per liter) in Paris. At that price it works out to almost $10 per gallon! And yes they drive a LOT of small cars around Paris.

And even the superheroes in Paris have small supercars to drive ...

Isn't that a hoot?!

Just a little crazy ...

I'm about 10 minutes away from heading out the door to go sell some of my beauties at the "Sunday, crafty Sunday" craft sale organized by the North Park Craft Mafia. And when did I decide to do this? Two days ago. Good thing I've been steadily adding to my design inventory! Needless to say I've been spending the last two days making more things, getting my setup rearranged to work on one table, ... It will be at the Filter Coffee House at 4096 30th St., San Diego 92104 from noon to 5PM. So ... if you're reading this and are in the area - stop on by!

Featured ETSY artist #45 - Kala

Karen Jinks is the creative force behind Kala. She's a mixed media artist located in the UK. I like eclectic creations and she's got some great ones. The first drawing to grab my eye was Between. As you know I'm a gardener so I love the leaf imprints and the wonderful pink tones. The dimensionality of the crinkled paper (or maybe paint?) makes it even more interesting. The next one on to draw me in was Hidden. I like the flowers (surprise!) and the more vibrant colors, including purple! I also like Karen's use of stamps in her art. There are so many interesting stamps in the world and they make beautiful art! Karen is an artist with many talents. You can see her jewelry designs in her Up With The Lark etsy shop. You can see her paper designs in her Chalk Hill Studio shop. And, finally, if you want to know more about the daily happenings in her life be sure to check out her blog.

Featured ETSY artist #44 - PersonalTreasures

I've been REALLY slacking off on blogging lately so I figured I better get back to it. Today I'm featuring another Etsy seller - PersonalTreasures. Phyllis Mufson is the creative force behind PersonalTreasures and creates absolutely gorgeous jewelry. If you've read any of my blog entries or seen my website you already know I love purple! As I perused Phyllis' shop I saw this stunning amethyst necklace. The color drew me in (of course!) but the design is just beautiful even if you're not a purple fanatic like me. I'm also a turquoise fan and found another beauty in her shop. Phyllis combined turquoise with gold in the Vivid Turquoise bracelet. Doesn't it just pop? I love it! Now my hubby says I always pick the expensive items and, of course, the first store I went to is this one. It turns out that Phyllis has another Etsy store mufi Jewels. She sells more casual styles here and some supplies as well. If you want to know more about Phyllis be sure to check out her blog. If you want to see more of her beautiful creations then rush over to one of her stores - mufi or PersonalTreasures!

Featured EtysBlogger - Cozy!

Once a month the EtsyBloggers team features one of our members in all our blogs. This month Cozy is our member of the month. Cozy's shop motto is 'Welcome to "A Cozy Life"' and she does indeed create cozy knitted, crocheted and hemstitched things. I've been drawn to bright beads lately so the first item that caught my eye in Cozy's shop is this bright and bold headband! Isn't it fun?! The next thing I saw that looks absolutely snuggly (even if we are supposed to be in the 90's tomorrow) is this wonderful Creamy Dreamy Scarf. I think this would be a PERFECT wrap for anyone going to a prom so be sure to share it with your friends who are prom bound! The price is a steal too for a handknit scarf that is washable! Cozy has a many other cozy things for sale in her shop. If you want to see more then be sure to check out her Etsy shop. If you want to know more about what Cozy's up to and who she's talking about then keep an eye on her blog.

I'm a Wedding Challenge Winner!

Woohoo!! My bracelet designs won the wedding challenge in the jewelry category! How fun! Here they are again if you missed them:



Go to the JET Blog to see all the winners in this challenge!

Thanks to all who voted for me! There was some stiff competition from other beautiful designs!

Featured ETSY artist #43 - AdrienneN

AdrienneN is an Etsy store created by two - a mother (Charlotte)/daughter (Adrienne) team. They have a variety of embroidered items (bags, tshirts, onesies, tutus, ...) and jewelry. When I saw the tutus in their shop they brought me back to my kindergarten days when I was learning ballet which means recitals and tutus!! My mom has pics of me in my tutu - I look like I'm hamming it up for the camera and boy did my mom use a LOT of makeup. Now, back to the regular programming ... Isn't this pink and black one cute! And, of course, you can get it customized for your little princess! For the beachgoers out there here is a wonderful, customizable beach towel. I have to say I just LOVE to look at cute flip/flops! I don't know why - probably because they're just so cute! If you like geckos you can get a surfing gecko embroidered on the tool instead! It is so cute too! They even provide you with a choice of fonts so you can customize your towel to the Nth degree! You can see many other wonderful, and customizable, items in AdrienneN so go check out their shop! If you want to know more about what Adrienne and Charlotte have in mind for their designs then be sure to read their blog.

Featured ETSY artist #42 - Mineral Magic aka Mineral Makeup

I don't wear much makeup myself - but just loved all the colors of makeup available in Mineral Magic's Etsy shop. Mineral Magic makeup is vegan and all natural. Heck - after reading up on it I might actually try some - tomboy that I am - LOL! Want to know more? Well Kellie makes all the makeup herself. She combines the micornized minerals and uses her own recipes for the various types of makeup she sells. She doesn't actually drill the minerals herself (a joke she has in her profile- LOL!) - she buys them precrushed. Kind of like me with gemstone beads - I don't actually buy the raw rock and make my own beads - I buy beads that someone else made from the raw materials. Since she makes everything herself she can create any custom color you could possibly want. And lots of the makeup she sells has sparkles in it too (not surprising a jewelry designer gets drawn to BLING makeup)! After just designing some wedding bracelets using teal I really LOVE the color of this makeup - Navajo. Isn't it just a gorgeous shade of teal! And for those who want aren't sure what they want there are several sample packs available like this one for those with darker eye colors. If you still aren't sure what you want or what color would look good with your complexion then send Mineral Makeup (aka Kellie) a convo! If you want to know more about what she's up to be sure to read her blog. Happy makeup shopping!

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!).

Featured ETSY artist #39 - CoconutPalmDesigns

One thing I love about Etsy is that it is an international community. Joanne of CoconutPalmDesigns is a Canadian living in Belize and uses Belizean hard or soft woods in her designs. She creates ACEOs which are small (by definition they must be 2.5" x 3.5") pieces of art. ACEOs are a great way to get original pieces of art that won't break your budget. You can also find handmade signs in her shop which she'll gladly customize for you. I happen to love the idea of ACEO's and here is my current favorite from CoconutPalmDesigns - Red Rose. Of course since I love to garden so it's not a total surprise that I love one of her florals. I also happen to like butterflies and the Painted Lady butterflies are starting to show up here in San Diego as they migrate to Mexico. One of the signs available at CoconutPalmDesigns is the Butterfly Crossing sign. Isn't it cool?! The bright colors are wonderful and you can just see the butterflies fluttering off the sign. There are many more signs available and you get a definite feel that relaxing and enjoying the world around her is a key part of Joanne's life. I get the feeling Belize is a relaxing place to live - why else would she be selling a Beach Chair Welcome sign? If you want to see more of Joanne's creations the be sure to visit her Etsy store - coconutpalmdesigns. If you want to find out more about what she's doing and planning then be sure to visit her blog.

How do I store my design components??

I'm a member of artbeadscene and one of the discussion topics recently was bead storage ideas. I read a few of them but still prefer my method which uses $1.99 storage boxes from Michael's (and I usually use a 40% off coupon as well!). Here are a few pictures of how I use them. I organize beads in the boxes by color - all bead types/components go together whether they're seed beads, lampwork, Czech glass, ceramic, porcelain, ... I throw in a scrap piece of paper with a description (so I can quickly figure out what exact item it is for calculating the price of a design). I can easily move things around using a spoon for loose beads since I often have to reorganize to get the colors realigned as new beads arrive and others get used up.



Seed beads may be stored in the tube if it fits in the long slot, or in zip bags in one of the compartments. Swarovski crystals and small beads I now store in flip-top boxes and 3 of those fit on one of the compartments. I tend to design by color so this system works for me. My sterling, gold filled and copper beads go into the same storage containers. All the sterling and copper beads/components are put into little zip bags first to reduce oxidation. I currently store the plastic comparment boxes in filing boxes which can be stacked. They're all on the floor now, but, if I ever get my butt in gear and the house remodeling going they will eventually go into shelving unit in a larger room of the house. When that finally happens I'll definitely share the pictures! For now here's how they're stored - they are just behind my desk and easily accessible from my swivel chair!

Featured ETSY artist #38 of 90 - PauletteInsall

My preference in painted art is to see nature, abstracts, dogs, things that I find pleasing to my eye. I never liked analyzing writers through their stories in school (I read stories to enjoy the story - not to figure out what the writer was thinking!) so I have the same attitude when I see paintings. So ... when I started checking out Paulette's art in her Etsy store I had to think, look and read instead of just look and experience. But - change is good! So I looked through the prints in her store, read the story behind the ones that drew my eye and will share my interpretations of her art with you. First I have to say I'm impressed with her skills considering she didn't pick up a paint brush until October 2006! Heck - she hasn't even been painting for 2 years yet! She paints with expression and I do love all the elements she combines in her painting collages. If you go to her website you can watch her creative process in action (and with some wonderful background music)! I was excited to see she uses some of the same tools in her paintings (stamps, tissues, stencils, ...) that I use when I make cards. And, like most artists, she makes it look easy. I like Paulette's Choices print since I am continually amazed and disappointed by people who blame the government, their parents, society, their looks, ... for the problems they have in life. In many cases the real problem is the choices they've made in their lives. As Paulette says "Each time we are faced with choices, we have the chance to change the path of our lives, our destiny." When I saw Listen I was surprised that the woman looked unhappy or perhaps pensive. I didn't see this expression in the other women she painted so I had to find out why this woman did not look very happy. Paulette painted this in response to some people in her life saying things that made her doubt the path she chose in deciding to paint. So this woman is a reminder to listen to your inner self and follow your own path, not those that others want to push you into.

If you want to see more of Paulette's art then be sure to visit her Etsy store. If you want to know what new projects she's working on then be sure to read her blog.

Blog Carnival - April Fool's !!!

I'm a member of the etsy bloggers street team and we do a blog topic every week. I slacked off on doing this for a while so I'm trying to get back to it. The topic for this weeks is April Fool's ...

Well I don't do April Fool's - no pranks, jokes, tricks, ... I think the last time I did anything was when I was in high school (back in the 1970's - yikes!!!!). My favorite math teacher was William W. Wible (aka W cubed to us math nerds at the time!). Weebles were popular back then so we got 3 weebles (cubed you know and the word weeble is kind of like Wible - at least to a high school kid) and put them on his chair when he was out of the room for a bit. He got a big kick out of that. Not too exciting - hmmm?

OK - so this April Fool's day just isn't my thing but I did go to http://www.ajokeaday.com and got a kick out of this joke:

"FIVE MINUTES
This is half an hour. It is equivalent to the five minutes that your football game is going to last before you take out the trash, so it's an even trade."

My hubby doesn't watch too much football and he doesn't take out the trash but he does know that when we're getting ready to leave from any family event (at least on my side of the family) our "5 minute goodbye" usually turns into a half hour more of visiting!

If this post doesn't leave you in stitches laughing I hope it at least brings a smile to your face! Remember that smiles exercise more face muscles (thus giving you a firmer, toner face) then frowns!

Enjoy your day!

Featured ETSY artist #37 of 90 - Entyqua (aka Becki's Designs)

Becki spreads her creativity over several different areas. She designs jewelry, jewerly boxes, cards and other paper related things and next on her list of things to design is clothing! Becki's etsy store is where she shows and sells her jewelry. Not surprisingly the first piece that caught my eye is this sparkler with Swarovski crystals in purple and sterling silver - Clarity. Isn't it pretty? And the double strands give you twice as much sparkle! Besides purple I also like turquoise so the next piece that pulled me in was Cleansing Sea. This is a beautiful design with turquoise, aquamarine and mother of pearl. I love the soft hues and different textures. Want to see more of Becki's designs? Then be sure to visit her Etsy store. If you want to know more about what she's up to and what her next designs will be then be sure to read her blog.