BOGO HALF OFF Sale on Jewelry

I want to make some space.  

Both in my cabinets AND in my mind.  

So here is one of the few sales you will ever see me do.  

To make way for a little extra sanity in my head, I'm giving you Christmas till the end of August  extended through Labor Day weekend (September 6).  

Buy anything in my jewelry shop and get half off a second item of equal or lesser value.  

Keep the purchase price over forty bucks and you get free shipping.

Just type BOGO in the notes to seller when you check out in Etsy.

Happy shopping. I hope you find something you like or to gift to one of the women in your life come Christmas!

I have hundreds of jewelry customers (just go look to see all of my jewelry that has previously sold! earrings, bracelets and necklaces) and so many report back to me about the compliments they receive.  That's always nice to hear. :)

All of my jewelry is unique and one of a kind.  You won't bump into anyone else wearing the same item.  Ever!

Remember, leave BOGO in the notes to seller.  If you choose to pay immediately, I will refund the sale amount back to you through Paypal.  Or I can send you a revised invoice if you want to wait.  

New Tools and Mandrel Cutting

Happy Thursday!  The weekend is almost here :)

Eggs, Casualties and Grown Up Beads

These eggs will be flying the coop today or tomorrow.

These eggs just came out of the kiln.

And these eggs got thrown into my nest of rejects and casualties.  Hard to see on the two left eggs, but they are chipped by the hole.  Sigh.

And here are some fun stories of my beads all grown up!   

Courtney Breul used one my eggs on a gorgeous silk ribbon.

Kristi of Dreamsome Designs made this beauty with some of my raku beads.

And Lorelei made this cool dragonfly necklace with some of my red/silver beads.  It was snatched up and reserved shortly after she listed it.  How cool?!

I am going to Harbor Freight today over my lunch hour and can't wait.  I will be scoping out some new tools!!!

BeadFest Loot

I didn't buy too much while I was in Philadelphia.  In fact, I think I spent more money on food than I did on beads or supplies.  Which was expected.  Cas looked at me like I had two heads when I told her I had no plans to buy much before asking me in an incredulous voice "So, um, why are you going?"  Well.  I was going so I could hang out with my friends for the weekend.  :)

Here is what I did buy...some lovely red creek jasper on the right and some unknown stone on the left.  I love the colors of both.

I bought these awesome ceramic beads from Diane Hawkey.  How sweet are those little birds???

Not sure how I will use these wonderful toggles from Melanie Brooks of Earthenwood Studio, but I will find a way.  For now, they will sit on my desk and be gazed upon every day. :)  It is rare when I get to hang out with other bead artists, but having dinner out two nights in a row with Diane and Melanie makes their beads and toggles so much more special to me.

Then I bought this little pillow bead from Patty Cahill of Dyed in the Fire.  Like other beads from lampworkers that I have purchased, it will sit on my studio table for inspiration.  I love the colors.  Patty has a great knack for choosing the perfectly muted color combinations, yet still be bright and cheerful.  Her technique is awesome and I have admired her work for years.

I also bought some wire, but you'll just have to wait to see what my plans are for that.  Soon.

Thank you all for your support on taking a break from eggs and the wait list.  Your encouragement and kind words mean so much to me.  And I am so excited to be trying out new techniques and directions. 

Philadelphia BeadFest 2010

When I booked this trip months ago, it seemed like it would never get here.  And then it was gone in a blink of an eye.  Cas came over Thursday night and we hung out while I made Mississippi Mud Cake and then video chatted with Lorelei and Nancy.  We left the house early Friday morning for the airport.  And of course we had to have our cameras out to document every moment. 

As I was refilling my water bottle that I always carry with me, I spilled and soaked my jeans.  So not only did I look like I peed my pants before getting on the plane, I was damp for the next four hours.  But that didn't put a damper on my excitement!  There was our plane :)

And here we are before we even pulled out of the gate :)

Goodbye Atlanta!

Hello 33,000 feet!

And hello Philadelphia!

Lorelei had her little Flip movie camera out as we met in baggage claim and I was shooting from my waist.  It was only two weeks since I saw Lorelei, but it felt like longer.  Always so good to see good friends in person.  And this was the first time Cas or I met Nancy.  I think it's fair to say we liked her right from the start.

After we got checked into our hotel room, we headed to the other side of the building and down the stairs to BeadFest!  There were hundreds of vendors lined up in row after row after row.

Who doesn't need gaudy, plastic roses in every color? :D  I think they would be perfect for the top of birthday cakes!

Not sure if that green is rhyolite or just dyed stones like the rest.  Hard to tell on so many, since they were not all marked.

I don't know what I would do with these big beads, but I loved how they looked.

Cathy Collison of Trinket Foundry had these fun bottle cap beads.

I lurve turquoise!

Sara of C-Koop beads didn't disappoint with all of her beautifully enameled pieces in every color of the rainbow.  I still have some of her beads and clasps from last year, so I restrained myself from buying any this year.

There were cabochons galore, which made Cas happy.  I think she bought a ton and can't wait to see the gorgeous rings she makes out of them!

We had barely walked into the show when we bumped into Marsha from Marsha Neal Studio and talked for awhile and took pics.

Then Kerry Bogert of Kabs Concepts joined us and we had to take more pics :)

Then it was back to shopping.  There were many cool little stamps.

And all kinds of bottles for finishing metals, but they were all considered hazmat materials which I would not have been allowed to bring on the plane.  Bummer.

Here are Diane Hawkey, Melanie Brooks, Kerry and Lorelei cheesing for me.  We all went out to dinner Friday night, along with Cas and Nancy.  It was a fun girls night out!

I thought these white beads looked just like ice.

Sunday morning we met Mary Jane and she was wonderful.  We all wished we could have spent more time with her, but she had to run into a classroom.  And just as we were leaving for the airport later, she caught a 90 minute break.  I'm sure Lori and Nancy were wishing Cas and I had our own car at that point.  Maybe next year it will work out better.

I finally got into a pic with Diane and Melanie!

Before we left the hotel, we did another turn with our cameras.  Check out the ring Cas made and gave to Lorelei!

I wasn't ready for the weekend to end.  I had so much fun with my girlfriends and spent so much of the time laughing.  It was good for my soul.  It was fun shopping with fellow artists and hearing their opinions and experience regarding different materials and also vendors.  This weekend sparked my creativity and has inspired me to break out in some new directions.  

This weekend has also solidified my feelings that it is time to end the wait list on the eggs.  I have been making them for over 6 months now on this custom request line.  While it has been extremely fun and I have been pushed to find new combinations and perfect my technique in shaping beads, it has also stopped me from trying new things or making other beads to put in my shop.  I don't want to come to a point where I hate eggs and never want to make one or look at one again, so I am stopping now.  The people who are on the list will still get their eggs.  After that, I am taking a break.  But don't get too upset.  I know someone who is going to be making her own eggs soon and can't wait to share more on that with you after she is ready. :)