Let Me Introduce You To...and a GIVEAWAY!!!

Do you remember a couple of posts ago I showed you those two amazing cabs I got?  And do you remember where I got them from?  I do hope you will visit Angela at Believe Jewelry Supply on Etsy.  She has a wonderful shop with some truly beautiful things, whether you want completed jewelry pieces or stones to make your own.  And do you remember what I said about her prices?  They are really good!  And the service and shipping time?  Superb!

I'm doing this post for Angela so that you all can get the chance to meet her.  She just started a Facebook page for Believe Jewelry Supply.  She's trying to get at least 25 new "likes" by July 31st.  To show you how much she wants to get to know all of you, she is giving away a fabulous prize from her Etsy shop.  Here is the photo and description of the prize...(click on it for a larger view)

These are gorgeous 14mm genuine red sponge coral heart shaped beads. They hang from cute 16 karat gold plated over brass puffed heart earrings. They are a 10mm satin finish, brushed gold heart. They have 925 sterling silver earring posts. Retail value is $20!!!

The winner will be chosen from all the people who like Angela's Believe Jewelry Supply page on Facebook by July 31st.  I do hope you will go over to her page and click "like".  You could be the lucky winner of this beautiful pair of earrings!  I know it will be one of you, because it won't be me.  I'm playing the role of announcer of the giveaway, so you all have more of a chance to win!  Awesome sauce, huh?!?  Let me see all of you go on over to her Facebook page and show some love to a fellow beader and supplier of the pretties.


GOOD LUCK!!!!!!

Weekend of Grab Bag Blog Stuff

Happy weekend everyone!  It's been a very busy weekend for me.  Our house is VERY noisy!  ick.  But it's all been for a very good cause.  Tomorrow is my son Matthew's 11th birthday!  He had a couple of his buddies from school spend the night, and he's had a great little party.  He doesn't like cake, so he requested pie.  He wanted dutch apple and cherry, but his friends like pumpkin.  Over $20 for those dang pies!!!  Would have been so much cheaper to get a Betty Crocker cake mix, but these are the things we do for our babies, right?  Of course he got the 2 new video games he wanted for his X Box, and they are playing those right now...right next to me.  ugh.  I'm sooooo happy he's having a good time, but I have to admit that I'm watching the clock waiting for the party to be over.  Happy Birthday Precious!!!!!!!  (lol.  I'm not supposed to call him that in public, but you all can keep a secret, right?  :)

Next up.  O M G ! ! !  You all need to head on over to Happy Mango Beads and see the absolutely incredible giveaway they are having!!!!  I'm only telling you this out of courtesy because those beads are MINE!!!  lol.  Actually...they are giving away FOUR sets of this bead package, so I'll share with you.

Finally, I made a few things the past few days that I thought I'd show you.  Remember the forest green RAW bracelet I made about a week ago?  Well, I made one just like it in a royal purple that I think is really pretty.  Here's a pic.

I was going to make a ring with one of these really cool 9mm gaspeite beads I got, but the dang wire wouldn't fit through the hole!  Let down.  I wondered what I would do with those beads, and then I remembered these really pretty antique copper celtic heart beads I had leftover from a previous project.  I thought they would go really well together, so I made a pair of earrings with them.

Ok, kids!  That's all I got for today.  I'll see what I can come up with next and post again soon.

Faeries, Dragonflies and Crystals, oh my!

I made a few little things yesterday.  I made two pairs of earrings and a ring.  I got charms and a square Swarovski crystal button from Artbeads.com...you know how much I love shopping there!  Here are a few pics.

It really sparkles in the light!

The dragonfly earrings I made with large blue beads and 2 smaller beads that change colors in the light...purple, green and blue.  Pretty!  :)

Just as much as I love dragonflies, I also love faeries!  They are made with purple beads.

Reader Beware!!!!  SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION AHEAD!!!  ;)


Please see my new items in my Shop Handmade store and in my Etsy shop.  (Not all items are listed in both shops.)  

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Same set, different pic

I really didn't mess up the bottom loop of my necklace.  I retook the photos and decided to post them so that everyone could see it is super pretty all the way around.  Thank you again to Artbeads.com for having such a great theme...Winter Enchantment.  To read full details and all the info on the products I used, please read the previous post.  Thank you!

I posted this to my Etsy site.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Working With Wire

I had the idea that maybe my hands wouldn't hurt so much if I tried something different with beads.  My thoughts were wire work.  I went out and bought a set of tools, a crimper tool and I went back and also bought chain nose pliers.  I got those because I was watching some YouTube videos and they kept using those, so I thought I needed them.  Turns out I do!  They're perfect for what I'm doing. I also bought a variety of wire, head and eye pins, etc. I decided to start easy with simple loops.  But don't let the name "simple loops" fool you.  They're pretty tricky at first!  Here is my first attempt at jewelry with simple wire loops:

Yes, some of them are a little wonky, but I was so happy with what I did!  A cute little pair of earrings for my daughter.  And the best part...my hands weren't hurting!!!  Granted, these only took about 10 minutes to put together, but with embroidery I would have had to stop within 5 minutes due to terrible pain.  So I was ecstatic.  And they turned out so cute (and I had 2 more skull beads), I made another pair:

My second pair was a little bit better.  Oh, and you know what was so cool to me?  Each pairs earrings are the same size!  lol  I was afraid of having lopsided earrings, but they turned out to be even.  Imagine that!

I am diligently working on my Artbeads.com Blogging Partners project.  I'm hoping to have it done within a couple days.  But I tell you what...I can wait to get my own computer back!  Trying to size and crop photos in Paint in the Accessories folder is for the birds.  I need my Photoshop back!!!  But my computer had heart failure on Wednesday night and since then I have been borrowing my husband's computer.  This sucks!  lol  Funny the things we come to rely on.  I couldn't adjust the colors or anything.  It was terrible.  Oh well.  I'm hoping to have mine back sometime in the middle of this week....hoping!  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Is everyone having a nice Fall so far?  Enjoying the weather?  We're finally down to the 90's, so we're on the right track.  This week if Fall Break for the kids, and my house will be full round the clock.  Good side...I don't have to get up, make lunches and play taxi driver.  Bad news...my house will be full round the clock.  I can't complain.  I have awesome kids.  Except when they're fighting.  And they say, "I'm hungry" every ten minutes.

Have a good week!