WInner of the Etsy Beadweavers Challenge Announced

The May EBW Challenge had 21 entries. With a total of 467 votes, 104 of them went to our winner - Suprastellar Red Carpet necklace by CieloDesign.

This necklace would look perfect on the neck of some Hollywood Red Carpet star! You can read about the other top 9 winners on the EBW blog.

Get ready for the next challenge - the theme is Humor!

Don't Go Bare Treasury

Noahs Ark Collection created another Etsy Treasury and included my newest necklace called "Over the Edge."

My necklace is the top center picture. I created it for a Step By Step Bead contest called Colorworks. The contest rule was to use the tertiary colors orange, green and purple in a piece of jewelry. I called it Over the Edge because it was so out of my comfort zone. You can see more pictures and read more about it on my Etsy site.



Check out Noahs Ark Collection's shop on Etsy. Here's a cute dolphin pendant she has in her shop. As you can imagine, her shop is full of animals in all shapes and sizes!

Marguerita Treasury

Here is the pretty Marguerita Treasury created by Sweet Surrender Candle on Etsy. She included my Watermelon Blossom earrings. I love all the pink and lime creations.

I checked out her shop on Etsy and found some wonderful candles with names that just make me want to try eating them. How about these Orange Carmel Crunch candles, for example?


I also received a convo from another Etsy seller, Nifty Knits, who said my earring looked like the fuschia flower. Here's a pretty "Golden Sunset Corsage" from her shop.


She lives in Britain and gave me the url for the British Fuschia Society. I checked out the site and she's right! I don't think I'll change the name of my earrings, but it does inspire me to try creating the fuschia flower out of polymer clay!

In fact, I'm feeling inspired right now! But wait, the dishes from yesterdays party are waiting. Oh, the struggle between artistic endeavors and reality!

Etsy Beadweavers May Challenge

The entries for the challenge are in! As always they are simply beautiful, creative and amazing! Twenty-one Etsy Beadweavers used their talent and took the time to create these wonderful and inspiring challenge pieces using tiny little beads and a needle and thread along with incredible patience.

You can click on the item in the list below the mosaic which links to the Etsy Shop listing of each entrant where you will see more detail of each piece. Go to the EBW blog and vote for your favorite starting May 9th through the 15th!




1. Diamonds and Gold II - beaglebeads

2. Buried Treasure OOAK - GoodQuillHunting

3. how to be a rock star beadwoven cuff - thebeadedlily

4. Amethyst Netted Necklace - glimmerstone

5. Black Tie - beadsandblooms

6. Queen Of Sheba Necklace - HannahRachel

7. Golden Brooch with Pearls - enchantedbeads

8. Bollywood Glamour - SmadarsTreasure

9. Sophia Loren's Green Garnet encrusted choker - crownrosegems

10. Ms. Monroe - Evandra

11. The Prince and the Showgirl - ThesePreciousThings

12. Josephine Baker Burlesque Wrist Cuff - gypsyeyesjewelry

13. Suprastellar Red Carpet necklace - CieloDesign

14. Angelina Jolie Bracelet - triz

15. To Liz.. - beadsbyvezsuzsi

16.Scarlett's bracelet - carmenesque

17. The Red Carpet Bracelet for a Mom - alatvian

18. Night of Stars - jodihorgan

19. Vera Similitude Walks the Red Carpet - HauteIceBeadwork

20. Gladiator - jmackgems

21. Cascade - njema

Voting begins on Saturday, May 9th and ends midnight May 15th. You can show your appreciation for the efforts of these EBW artists by taking on the difficult task of voting for your favorite.

Many thanks to Ann of Francesca's Fancy for creating this beautiful mosaic of the Challenge pieces.

Let's Hear It For Instanbul, Turkey Artists!

I was checking "who hearts me" in my Etsy shop over the past two days and was amazed to find a flurry of new hearts from some wonderful Etsy shops whose owners are from Turkey! Most were from Instanbul and one was from Izmir. It is so amazing to me that someone from halfway around the world (I'm near San Diego, CA) could find my shop! Thank you for all the hearts from Turkey!

I visited all of their Etsy shops and they are now in my favorites too. I was very impressed with their artistry so I thought I'd share them with you.

The first shop is Melt'm Design Studio (Meltem Semizoglu, Owner). Her "Blue Snowflake" is one of my favorites.

Second is Peling - Absinthe Jewelry. Here's some fabulous earrings from her shop. I love what she does with the lace!


Third is Filo Fashion. She has some beautiful knitted items including this necklace that is so unique.


Fourth is EviHAN Glass and Silver Jewelry. She makes beautiful rings and these adorable glass angels .

Fifth is Kirevi8 - Authentic Anatolian Jewelry. She makes these awesome Turkish Lacework necklaces.

Sixth is Ismersmyrna. She is from Izmir, Turkey. This natural stone necklace in her shop is so pretty!


Last, but certainly not least is Selecta6. This beaded necklace is so unique and beautiful!


I'm forever awed at how small our world becomes through the aid of technology and sites like Etsy! There is such creativity throughout the world and I believe it's something beautiful we should share as much as we can!

These Beadweavers Really Have Hearts!

Last year Susan Clinkscales read about the Bead and Button show and their auction to help fight breast cancer and came across Jeanette Shanigan's website and her beaded quilts. Jeanette asks beaders around the world to donate individual beaded squares based on a theme. She then sews the squares together to make gorgeous quilts, mounts them in shadow boxes and donates them to be auctioned at the Bead & Button show. In 2008, these quilts raised nearly $4,400 for breast cancer research.

Being a member of the Etsy BeadWeaver's team (EBW), Susan knew there was a lot of talent in the EBW group so she asked the members if they would like to make squares to be included in Jeanette's quilts. Susan collected all of the squares and submitted them at one time in hopes that they would all be included in one quilt. Fifteen EBW members stepped up and created 35 squares to be included in a 2009 quilt. The theme for 2009 is "Bead artists have the heart to take on breast cancer" and the EBW contributors did a magnificent job representing the theme.

Below is a mosaic Susan created of all of the EBW squares. This is not the actual quilt, only a digital version using photos she took of each square. Please visit the Bead & Button Show website to find out more information about the auctions, which will be held June 6, 2009. Below the mosaic is a list of contributors. Click on their name and you can visit their Etsy shops.


First row (l to r): Susan Clinkscales, Eddy Downing, Eddy Downing, JoJo Curley, Swanee Hielscher
2nd row: Swanee Hielscher, Swanee Hielscher, Swanee Hielscher, Linda Davis, Smadar Grossman

3rd row: Smadar Grossman, Smadar Grossman, Smadar Grossman, Lisa Savoy, Lisa Savoy

4th row: Lisa Savoy, Jama Watts, Jama Watts, Jama Watts, Kerrie Slade
5th row: Kerrie Slade, Kerrie Slade, Kerrie Slade, Victoria Thompson, Victoria Thompson
6th row: Victoria Thompson, Kim Shaver, Dawn Nelson, Melody Murray, Melody Murray
7th row: Ileana Munteanu, Ginny Bracht, Ginny Bracht, Ginny Bracht, Ginny Bracht

These beadweavers really have hearts! Don't you agree? I wasn't able to participate this past year, but I'm looking forward to next year and I hope you will join in the fun too.