Bounty of an Artistic Touch Treasury

Noah's Ark Collection created this wonderful treasury on Etsy and included my watermelon blossom earrings.


Check out Noah's Ark Collection shop on Etsy. There are oodles of cute animals in all shapes and sizes to choose from. Here's a picture of some carved bone cats I thought were very cute! There are also lots of sterling silver animals.

Taking the Time to Care

Sassy Glass Designs is a seller on Etsy and she recently convo'd me to tell me she wanted to put a mini-Etsy of my work on her blog. Isn't that a wonderful example of someone taking time to care about a fellow Etsian - like Paying It Forward! And she does this for lots of people!

So I'd like to say "thank you" by telling everyone all about her. Sassy Glass has two shops on Etsy. In this shop she has fabulous cabochon jewelry. Here's one example that I really really love! It's a ring made with Ocean Jasper.


Her other shop features her glass beads, and here's a picture of her Apricot Sorbet lampwork beads. Aren't they luscious?


Thank you Sassy Glass Designs! Your kindness is just what the world needs!

Fit For Kings Treasury

Spring Colors included my Golden Elegance bracelet in her Royal "Fit For Kings" treasury on Etsy. Wouldn't that be an exciting experience to have royalty wear my bracelet? It's nice to dream.

My bracelet is on the bottom right. You can read more about it on my Etsy site. If you haven't checked out the beautiful beadwork by Spring Colors, be sure to visit her shop here.

Here's just one colorful example of her work!

Remember the Buttons?

I previously blogged about some Czech glass buttons I had purchased from CrazyCakes on Etsy and how I planned on using them in some of my beadwoven jewelry. Remember these?


I finally finished my first piece. I called it "Inspiration" because I was so inspired by the button. Just looking at those buttons and holding them in my hand causes my heart to beat faster and my mind to begin dreaming!

Since "Inspiration" began life as a button and I wanted to transform it into a pendant, I had to deal with the metal button shank on the back. I weighed the pros and cons and finally decided to cut off the shank and file down the metal ends. It worked fine, but I still wasn't happy with the look, so I thought I should cover it somehow.

I began by using peyote stitch to create a bezel around the 1 1/2" button. I used Japanese size 11 seed beads reducing to size 15 rocailles to accomplish this. After I had finished the bezel, the idea came to create a circular peyote triangle to fit inside the bezel circle on the back. I used the same size 11 seed beads as in the bezel and voila! I attached the triangle to the bezel with some Czech fire polished 3mm glass faceted beads.


Next I had to create the bail. I used odd count peyote and the same beads I had used in the bail and the triangle and created a simple round bail to fit over the rope chain.

I created the rope using spiral herringbone and the tiniest of tiny size 15 rocaille seed beads in three different colors that matched the bezel and bail. To finish it off, I created a peyote stitched toggle clasp.

I'm pleased with the results and I hope this button brings inspiration to you as well.

Don't forget to visit CrazyCake's Etsy shop to see more of these amazing Czech glass buttons. And stay tuned for more inspiration!

My Mother - 96 years young!

I thought I should post a picture of my now famous mother on her 96th birthday. Her name is Thelma and she lives in South Dakota. She was born in Gonzales, TX. She raised 4 children - two girls and two boys and was an elementary school teacher most of her life.

I couldn't find a picture of her wearing the now famous necklace (lol) - see previous post!

My First Publication!

What a wonderful surprise it was to receive my May/June 09 edition of Step By Step Beads Magazine this month. I was happily paging through the magazine and when I got to page 48 my mouth fell open! There was my necklace, made for my 95 year old mother (last year) for Mother's Day.



I had sent the picture and a brief explanation to Step By Step Beads in December 08 as a response to a request for pictures of jewelry we had made for our mothers. Mom had told me she loved this necklace, so I decided to send it in. I got a very brief, "Thank you for your submission," from the magazine, and so I thought they probably didn't like it enough to use it.

So you can imagine my surprise when I saw my necklace, published, in print, in beautiful color!

It was such a joy to call my mom and tell her about it. It made her day too! Mom's name is Thelma and she turned 96 this past January. She's an amazing woman!

Etsy Beadweavers Challenge - Time Machine

The entries into the Etsy Beadweavers Challenge entitled "Time Machine" have been posted on the group blog. Here is the mosaic showing all the entries but if you go to the group blog, you can click on the member names below the mosaic and see larger pictures and each beadweaver's description of how their piece fit the theme. You'll be amazed at the creativeness of this group!


Voting is now open, so pick your favorite and cast your vote. It's all in fun. The winner gets to pick the theme for the next challenge.

1000Markets - New Shop and New Market!

I opened a new shop on 1000Markets and together with several other beadweavers, we created a brand new market called "The Beadweaving Emporium." It's not open for business quite yet as it was just approved and is in the process of being created. But I did blog about it in my 1000Markets blog.


Drop by for a visit and post a comment on my shop wall.