Cycle of Seasons Etsy Treasury

Thanks to NikaGalleryArt for including my Going Green Bracelet in her beautiful Cycle of Seasons Treasury on Etsy.

BOTB Etsy Treasury

Some of the Battle of the Beadsmith entries have been listed for sale on Etsy.  Sharayah Sheldon (see her Etsy shop here) created the treasury.

To find out more about the Battle of the Beadsmith, you can go to their group page on facebook and see all the entries that made it to Round 3.

Finally! I made Etsy's Front Page!

I was very delighted to find out last night that my Going Green bracelet had made the front page of Etsy.  This was a FIRST for me and I had almost given up hope it would ever happen.  Many thanks to LaBellaJoya for her beautiful treasury!

I searched for green by LaBellaJoya - this is what she said:

"in my list of favorite shops. (Did you know you could do that?) I came up with these beauties while simultaneously realizing that my favorite shops are embarrasingly skewed towards jewelry...enjoy!"

Last Strand---AAAA-... norah62 $44.99	Forest Floor Sterli... ThirtySixTen $76.00	Sukan / Turquoise-G... sukanart $52.95	Dress, Plaid, Forma... Makool $875.00
Genia - street bag ... EllaOsix $42.50	Arrowhead Pendant celiefago $200.00	Small Molded Leathe... karenkell $140.00	Going Green Bracele... beadsforever $225.00
Forest Green Silk ... digforvictory $125.00	Medium DSLR camera ... mariforssell $159.00	Steam Punk Metal Ro... alleymaranto $235.00	ACEO Art - Harmony ... JessicaDoyle $65.00
Ruffled Ring - Gree... MariannMonika $210.00	Jamn Silk Greens Th... Jamnglass $49.75	The Lady of Shalott... JezebelCharms $40.00	Chrysoprase Dangle ... ashleyjewelry $50.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Big Dreams Start Small

Little did I know when I opened my BeadsForever Etsy shop in November 2007 that it would bring such joy to my heart.  I didn't make a big splash when I opened my shop.  Far from it!  It wasn't until almost a year later that I sold my very first item, a necklace I named "Bronze Delight" which combined beadweaving with one of my polymer clay cabs.

Today I had my 200th sale to a very dear facebook friend - one of my dichroic glass cabochons.

While 200 may not be a very large number to many of you, to me it is a huge milestone!  It took a lot of determination and perserverance to stand alone and keep putting one foot in front of another.  I'm so happy I did not give up and let my little dream die.  I praise God for giving me faith to continue on and thank my friends who encouraged me to keep going.

To celebrate this milestone and to thank you all, I am having a giveaway.  Whomever leaves a comment on this blog post will have a change to win this new Walk on the Wild Side dichroic glass cab called Midnight Mystery.

To enter this giveaway just leave a comment on my blog (say anything you want) and your name will be put in a hat for a drawing on November 15, 2010.  Only one entry per person.  Please leave some hint as to how I can get in contact with you to get your mailing address (if I don't know you already).

Remember, big dreams start small.  It just takes a little faith, courage and perserverance.  What's your dream?

And the Winner Is ... (Plus the Contest Answers)

The winner of my guessing contest is Deborah L. Gray-Wurz, owner of Sneekbead on Etsy.  You can also read more about her on her blog "Bead Indulgences."  Just for posting her answers here on my blog, she wins any dichroic glass item of her choice from my Etsy shop.

The answers to the contest are:

     1.  Millifiore Glass  (although I do admit it looks a lot like Christmas candy!)

      2.  1/8" Diamond Copper Mesh

      3.  Fine Silver Wire

These items are all available from Delphi Glass and are part of their "Ring of Fire Contest."    The contest is open to all artists - not just glass artists.  They also have Pressed Flowers, Mirrored Tiles, Krafty Blok, DG3 Art Gel Glaze, and Recycled Glass Tiles.  All you need to do is purchase one item, create something and enter it in the contest.

The prizes are fantastic.  Grand Prize Sponsor: Jen-Ken Kilns Delphi Ez-Pro Deluxe 15-6 Kiln – Fuse glass and ceramics in one kiln
Plus:

• Choice of instructional video from Glass Craftsman
• Choice of Best-Of Glass Patterns Quarterly instructional CD
• Choice of book from Wardell Publications

All Delphi award winners will receive:

$50 Delphi Dollars

Multi-media craft pack, including KraftyBlok from Diamond Tech Crafts

Choice of instructional video from Glass Craftsman

Choice of Best-Of Glass Patterns Quarterly instructional CD

Choice of book from Wardell Publications

Delphi’s Favorite award winner will be featured on one of Delphi’s catalog covers.

Artfire will award the following:

Free Lifetime ArtFire Pro Account $100 Shopping Spree on ArtFire Free ArtFire Pro Account 1-Year Membership with Graphics Package from ArtFire’s designer

I originally purchased the Dichroic Scrap package and created this as my entry.  I call it "Say It With a Flower."  You can vote for your favorite entry here.  Just click on "View Entries" and choose your favorite.

I hope you will be encouraged to enter the Ring of Fire Contest sponsored by Delphi Glass and Artfire and their Sponsors.  Have fun!

How Joy Gets Spread Throughout the World

Today I received a surprise gift from a Facebook friend.  I have not met this friend in person yet, but I'm excited that in just a few short weeks I will.  She is a reminder to me that we can all make the world a better place by being thoughtful of others.  Here's the beautiful pendant created by ViSart on Etsy that my friend purchased and mailed to me.

My friend bought the pendant for me simply because I had posted a link to it on Facebook and had said that I loved it.  I originally saw the pendant on Polymer Clay Daily.

A short while after she purchased it from ViSart, I introduced my new line of DichroCentrics - a layered glass cabochon with a hole in the middle (dare I call it a bead?).  I'm sure you can tell that the pendant by ViSart was the inspiration for my new line.  I called this necklace "Lizard Tango" and entered it in the BeadStar contest.

I call this one Rhubarb Pie:

And this one I named Tangerine Dacquiri:

You can see more of my DichroCentrics and other dichroic glass cabochons, buttons and pendants in my Etsy shop.

So the world was made happier today by the thoughtfulness of a friend.  I hope we will all pass on this spirit of joy to brighten the world even more.

Etsy Beadweavers May Challenge

The theme for the EBW May challenge is Embedded Colors in the World of Insects.  The entries have been posted on the EBW blog.  You can view them and vote for your favorite from May 9 and May 15.

April EBW Challenge Winner Announced.

Isabella of bead4me won the Etsy Beadweavers April Challenge "Light as a Breeze."   She calls her necklace "Sakura Japanese Flowering Cherry Blossom Beadwork Necklace."  This is the 2nd win in a row for her!

You can read more about the other winners on the EBW Blog.

Etsy Beadweavers April Challenge - Light as a Breeze

The Etsy Beadweavers (EBW) April Challenge is now open for voting.  The theme is Light as a Breeze.
 Vote for your favorite from April 9 - 15 on the EBW blog.

Etsy Beadweavers Treasury Makes the Front Page

Little Stone Design created this beautiful treasury and it made the front page of Etsy.  Congratulations and Easter Blessings to all!   Read more about the Etsy Beadweavers on their blog.

Dichroic Glass Buttons

I am very excited about my new dichroic glass buttons.  To make a long story short, I found out my husband had purchased a drill press several years ago (which I never knew we had).  I purchased some diamond drill bits and learned how to operate the drill press.  In just a few minutes I had created my first button out of one of my dichroic glass cabs. 

After drilling the holes I had to put the button in the kiln again to round out the holes.  After this first success, I was excited to make more.  Here are two of the next ones I made.

Rosita Pisarchick bought two of my buttons and created this beautiful bracelet that she called "Peacock Struttin it's Stuff" using one of my buttons for the closure.  I'm lovin' it!

Rosita has several shops on Etsy. She sells her beautiful beadwoven jewelry in her CrownRoseGems shop. She sells vintage and antique buttons in her ButtonStash shop.  She sells Jacquard and woven trims in her Trim Goddess and Trim Goddess2 shops.  She is one busy lady keeping up all those shops!

 

It's always an honor to see my work displayed on someone else's creation.  It motivates me to make more buttons (which I have done).  Here's a couple more that I'm getting ready to list in my Etsy shop.

I think there should be a National Button Day!  What do you think?

EBW Fairy Tale Challenge

The Etsy Beadweavers Fairy Tale Challenge is now open for voting.  You can vote for your favorite here now until March 15th.

The Joy of Creating

I find that creating brings me such joy - a deep seated happiness that makes my heart sing and my spirit soar.  I greatly admire artists who express themselves through their work.  I enjoy seeing things of beauty - whether in nature created by God or in books and magazines, created by fellow artists.  I know what goes into the creating process and the feelings involved are not always pleasant.  Anxiety and fear can play a role as well as hope and love.  When the artist perseveres through all the emotions and the creation is finished, that's when the final joy of creating is experienced.

When I make my dichroic glass cabochons, I not only experience joy in the process of creating but also every time I open the kiln and see the results of my labors.  But it doesn't stop there.  I get another dose of joy when someone tells me they like my work.  And another when they actually purchase one of my cabs and use it in one of their own creations.  And it doesn't stop there because someone may actually purchase that new creation because they love it and share it with others who enjoy it as well.  That is a lot of experienced joy for which I'm very grateful!

Here is just one example of how it all works.  I created a dichroic glass cabochon I called Lava Bed.

Lorraine Hickton of Trinitydj on Etsy purchased the cab and created this wonderful necklace she named after her friend Nancy Dale.

I'm very thankful for all of this shared joy.  It's what keeps me going when I experience the momentary anxiety and fear that come with temporary disappointments.  I hope that viewing this beautiful creation will help spread the joy even more.

Cab Featured on Inspirational Beading Blog

Mortira who writes on her Inspirational Beading Blog honored me yesterday by featuring my Lily Pads dichroic glass cabochon in the poster sketch of designs by some of her favorite Etsy bloggers.

Thank you Mortira for the feature and congratulations on winning the Sunshine Award for your wonderful blog.

Mortira owns The Sage's Cupboard shop on Etsy where you will find a great selection of metal free beadwoven jewelry. Here is her Gaia Pendant Beadwoven Necklace.


Check out her shop for more beautiful items!

TrinityDJ Creates Another Beauty!

Trinitydj, who has a shop on Etsy, created another beautiful necklace she calls "Grape Vine." using one of my dichroic glass cabochons. I love the colors she chose and the unique beaded chain.


The original cab was called Mysterious and was sold out of my Etsy shop called "BeadsForever."

Lorraine, who owns "Trinitydj" on Etsy, is from Cape Town, South Africa. She is not only a beautiful bead weaver, but an beautiful person. I hope you will check out her shop. Here is another beautiful necklace she created - not using one of my cabs, but gorgeous nonetheless! She calls it "Royal Princess."

800 Hearts on Etsy

Today I received my 800th heart from a "secret admirer." Secret admirers are wonderful, but they remain secret, so today I'm honoring my 799th heart on Etsy!


I had a very nice convo from "Little Fish Like Green" - my 799th Heart on Etsy. She said my "Implosion" dichroic glass cabochon reminded her of the cover art for Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" - exploded.

I know the music from that album, but couldn't remember what the cover art looked like, so I did a quick google search and found it.

Wasn't it nice of her to send me a message and tell me that? It's easy to understand her reasoning as she is an artist and photographer. As I looked into her shop on Etsy, I read that she has another shop where she sells her artwork and photographs - "In a Beautiful Daze." Here is one photograph from her shop called Red Day Lily that I think is gorgeous!

I'm so thankful for my Etsy hearts and the kindness of Etsy people to spread the love! I hope you will continue to pay that love forward around the world.