Giveaway Alert!

Do you want some fab torch fired enamel beads by Barbara Lewis?!  Head over to her blog for your chance to win!! 

While your at it, check out her Painting with Fire's Etsy stores for handmade BEADS and JEWELRY.

Giveaway Winners!!

And now for the moment we've all been waiting for...here are the winners of my Bead Soup Giveaway according to a random number generator (Cooper was feeling to lazy to pick a name!):

Looks like the winner of the $25 Artbeads gift certificate is comment #71, Nicki of Nicki's Reef, a Bead Soup Participant!  The second prize winner of the resin owl pendant, is #59, Mel Mel, and the third prize winner of the bead magazines is #53, The Color of Dreams!!  If you are one of these winners, please email me to claim your prize and include your mailing address (I only need an email address from Nicki), and I will get your prizes to you ASAP.

Thank you to everyone that participated, and thank you for all your lovely comments!  I had fun reading through them all and finding new blogs to follow.  Needless to say, I STILL am not through the entire list of Bead Soup participants, but I am very close!

I hope everyone is having a FANTASTIC week!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and a Happy Valentine's Day!!  I enjoyed a nice dinner out with my hubby and friends last night and enjoyed cooking a fancy dinner for us tonight.  Thanks for all your great comments on my Bead Soup necklace!  I have been trying to visit all the Bead Soup reveals, but a couple of unexpected things came up that have kept me from my computer.  I will visit them all, I will just be a little late!  Make sure to enter my giveaway that ends Wednesday, February 17th.

 

Bead Soup Party!!!

As I'm sure you've heard, I decided to participate in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Party.  I was partnered up with Lynette of RockHill Designs, and she sent me a lovely selection of Valentine-inspired beads and components.  In case you missed it, here is the stash she sent me:

The rules of the Bead Soup Party are that we must use the focal and clasp, but we do not have to use ALL the items that were sent.  I loved the color combination Lynette sent me and ended up using most of the stash in my design.  I decided the silver heart link she sent would look great on the side of the necklace.  Here is the rough layout I first came up with as I was designing the necklace:

My final design turned out a little bit different because I did not have enough beads to do the double strand originally planned to make it long enough so I decided to do a double strand of pearlescent seed beads instead.  I also knew I wanted to make a polymer heart pendant using the ICE resin I recently purchased.  Not really knowing what I was doing, I decided to just dive in.  This is the pendant I came up with:

I mixed some glitter into the polymer clay to give it sparkle, then I shaped the heart and cut a square out of it to make it into a bezel.  I filled the bezel with a cutout from an old dictionary, no hole beads and a tiny polymer heart.  I added a jumpring at the top and filled it with resin.  Here is the final, finished design:

Having a little fun in Photoshop...

At the end of this post, I have included a list of all the people participating in the Bead Soup Party with links to their blogs, so you have to try to visit as many as you can when you have time!  You won't want to miss any of the inspiring designs!  Make sure to at least stop by my partner's blog so you can see what she did with the beads I sent her!

AND NOW IT'S TIME FOR A GIVEAWAY!!

Hopefully you are still reading because I have decided to have a giveaway to celebrate the Bead Soup Party!  The Grand Prize is a $25.00 Gift Certificate to one of my favorite online bead stores, Artbeads.com!

The next prize I am giving away is a second pendant/charm that I made during my experimentation with ICE resin.  It is not perfect since it was my first try, but I think it still came out very cute.

The owl is ceramic and glued into the copper wire bezel, then covered in resin, but not all the way, so he is 3D.  I plan to make more of these as I perfect my technique.

 Finally, the third prize is the FALL 2009 issue of STRINGING magazine and EASYWIRE magazine, a special issue put out by Beadwork.

All you need to do is leave a comment on this post for an entry to win one of these great prizes.  You can get a second entry if you blog about my giveaway.  Random names will be drawn on Wednesday, February 17th.

Here is the list of all the talented designers who participated in the Bead Soup Party...I can't wait to check them all out!  Special thanks goes to Lori Anderson of Pretty Things for coming up with the great idea of a Bead Soup Party and making this fun event work!!  I can't wait for the next one, this one was SO much fun!!

Now go see some incredibly talented designers below!!!

Lynette, Rock Hill Designs
Lori, Pretty Things
Sue, Sue Beads
Janeen, Janeen 365
Nancy, The Rabbit Muse
Kristie, Artisan Clay
Regina, Regina's Writings
Tari, Pearl and Pebble
Mallory, For the Love of Beads
Terri, Blooming Ideas...You Are Here
Michelle, My Crazy Crafty Adventure
Lyn, Lyn Foley
Beth, Sunshine Daydreamz
Cathryn, Chile Cats
Emma, Fred Bean's Nook
Connie, Cetta Cheese Chatter
Cindy, Sweet Bead Studio
Lorelei, Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Kerry, Kabs Creative Concepts
Erin, Treasures Found
Jeannette, Jeannette Blix Wire and Metal Jewelry
Adrienne, Adrienne Designs
Nan, Spirit Rattles
Laurel, Rue's Daftique
Nancy, Beading From the Heart
Julie, Miss Kitten's Jewels
Joann, Jo's Jewels
Patti, PJ Clark Designs
Mel, Kookie Designs
Erin, Every Heart Crafts
Dale, Flights of Fancy
Dee, Runako Designs
Mary, MK's Creative Musings
Cassie, The Glass Beadle
Dot, Winchell Clayworks
Sharon, Sharon's Jewelry Garden
Lisa, Lo and Behold
Norma, Bead Dreams and Moonlit Fantaseas
Sandra, Marbella Jewelry Design
Maria, Greene Earth Originals
Barbara, Jewelry of Distinction
Leslie, Bei Mondi
Loretta, Designs by Loretta
Linda, Bella Bead Jewelry
Kathie, The Bead Cult
Patty, Plays With Fire
Nicki, Nicki's Reef
Anne Marie, Heart's Desire
Mary, Mary Harding Jewelry
Jayne, Mama's Got to Doodle
Emanda, Artemesia's Studio
Whitney, Whitney Lassini
Marcie, La Bella Joya
Suzann, Beadphoria
Jen, Jen Judd Rocks
Julie, Credit River Art Glass
Janiece, J Birds Garden
Kate, Organic Odysseys
Laurie, The Mermaid Tale
Juli, Jul's Beads
Julie, RockerJewlz
Libby, LibbyLeu and Glass Too
Melanie, Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Katie, My Life and My Beads
Zuleykha, Zuleykha's Polymer Clay
Rekella, Me But a Little More in Depth
Ricki, What's New at Ricki Voges Design
Jo, Daisychain Jewellery
Lynne, Island Girl's Insights
Chas, One Woman's Haven
Ruthie, Rose Works Jewelry
Elizabeth, Turquoise Sky
Maire, Maire Dodd
Janet, Singing Woods
Eileen, Dorset Hill Beads
Judith, Judith B.
Debbie, Prairie Emporium
Maria, Garden Path Beads
Susan, Kaplan Creations Jewelry and Glass Design
Melissa, Melissa Meman: Art, Love, Life
Marianna, Pretty Shiny Things
Lisa, Joolz by Lisa
Cristi, 2 If By Sea

Just one more Giveaway announcement...

Like I said earlier, there are tons of cool blog giveaways going on right now, and I wanted to share yet another one that I stumbled upon.  Cat Kerr of "In the Light of the Moon" is having a giveaway for this fabulous resin-filled pendant necklace:

Simply leave a comment and spread the word on your blog to enter!

Tomorrow is the big Bead Soup Party reveal, AND I just might be having a giveaway of my own to celebrate, so check back tomorrow!!

Haity by Hand, Giveaways & Bead Soup!

Well, I had a great race this morning and ran another PR (personal record) beating my PR last Sunday by 4 minutes!  My time was 1:50:44 for 13.1 miles.  Unfortunately, afterwards, my mother-in-law and I got food poisoning from the breakfast we had out.  Yuck!  Needless to say, I haven't ate much at our Superbowl Party, and I can't even think about drinking beer!  Plus, I am not a football fan, so I am blogging instead :) 

I made a very colorful, cheerful necklace to donate to Haiti by Hand, the Etsy shop I had blogged about a little while ago.  I would like to make more, but I'll have to try and find some extra time to do so.

I tried out my new jewelry saw and cut this heart out of copper sheet by hand, then etched it.

The necklace ties behind the neck with recycled sari silk braided yarn, so it is adjustable.

You can purchase it here, and make sure you check out all the other beautiful things for sale!

There are lots of great giveaways going on right now.  Summers Studio is offering a mystery selection of her wonderful beads in her First Friday Freebie Giveaway.  Go to her blog to enter by this Thursday, February 11th for a chance to win!  Spread the word, and get an extra entry.

Riki Jewelry is giving away a beautiful soldered bee necklace for her January Giveaway Contest on her blog.  Hurry on this one, it ends tomorrow!  Just leave a comment for one entry, then blog about it for an additional 2 entries.

Lastly, my Bead Soup Party partner, Lynette of Rockhill Designs, is having a giveaway for a darling "Tree of Life" sterling silver heart charm necklace.  Just leave a comment on her blog by Sunday, February 28th.  And while you're at it, spread the word about this generous giveaway on your blog, Twitter or Facebook!

Speaking of Bead Soup, I finished my necklace using the goodies Lynette sent me that I blogged about here.  I love the way my piece came out...it's PERFECT for Valentine's Day!  The final reveal is this Wednesday, the 10th, so be sure to check back then!  In the meantime, I thought I'd share a little teaser:

Speaking of Valentine's Day, check out the fabulous chocolates I received from my father-in-law from Aldendorf Chocolate Factory.  He bought his wife some, and knew what a chocoholic I am, so he bought me some too.  I had no idea this chocolate shop existed, and it's right here in town!  He said they give you free samples...I am so there on my next day off!

Boy, I sure had a lot to blog about, and I'm not done yet!  I am running the "It's for the Kids" 5K race in Orlando on February 27th to benefit the children living at the Central Florida Children’s Home.  I ran this race last year (their inaugural one) and LOVED it.  I got my photo taken with the children from the home (who also ran the race) at the finish, and I thought it was just a great race, for a great cause, with super friendly people.  I didn't have a chance to raise any money for this fundraiser last year, so I am trying to this year.  If you are interested in donating any amount of money to this cause, go to my webpage here.  I would greatly appreciate it :)

I think that's it for now...hope you had a great weekend, and have a Happy Monday! 

Super Quick Post...

I had every intention of doing a proper blog post today, but the day got away from me.  I had a great day though...going to the race expo, taking Cooper to the dog park, having a delicious lunch at Taco City in Cocoa Beach, and getting caught up on laundry and household chores (o.k. that last part wasn't that fun).  Now, it is too late to do more than a quick post because I need to get in the hot tub, then get to bed BECAUSE I am running another half marathon tomorrow morning!  It is the Melbourne Beaches Half Marathon.  I ran the inaugural one last year, and I plan to run it every year for as long as I'm able and maybe even run the full marathon one day.  So, I hope to have time tomorrow, after finishing the race (hopefully with a Personal Best time), eating pancakes and drinking beer (an after-race tradition), and getting ready for our annual Superbowl Party, to post on here again!  I have LOTS to tell you!! 

Whew...I'm tired just thinking about it all...well, hope you are having a great weekend, and if you are one of the poor souls dealing with 20+ inches of snow, I feel very bad for you!  You are more than welcome to come visit me here in Florida if it gets to be too much!!

Goodnight!!

ABS Challenge & Giveaway

I was pleasantly suprised to see that I was chosen as Designer of the Week by Lorelei for the Art Bead Scene's January monthly challenge.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, this was my first time participating in the monthly challenge, so it is really an honor to be chosen on my first try!  You can read about it on Art Bead Scene's blog.  Also, check ABS's blog tomorrow for February's monthly challenge.  My necklace was also featured on Heather's blog along with several other beautiful pieces for the January ABS Challenge.  You can see everyone's interpretation of Monet's La Pie at ABS's Flickr group.

I also want to tell you about an awesome giveaway by Missficklemedia.com.  She is giving away an Ardent Heart Kit just in time for Valentine's Day.

The kit contains an Ardent Heart in antiqued red, bright red sari silk bundle, heat painted copper wire, a beautiful mix of beads containing Swarovski crystals, red wood, vintage orange glass, Miyuki squares, orange freshwater pearls, trumpet flower beads, AB hearts in topaz, vintage enameled flowers in peach, a copper heart charm, a patinated heart scroll and a tube of fiery seed beads.  Go to her blog and leave a comment to enter.  A winner will be chosen on February 4th, so HURRY!!