Thursday, July 26, 2012

C.C.D.C.#2 Intro and Rules!


 

Welcome to the Second Creative Chaos Design Challenge :)

 
There are four simple rules.

#1 – Send me an email or pm to let me know you have received your kit :)


#2 There are four baggies of ingredients in the kit -You must use SOMETHING from each baggie.

#3 - You must take photos of your finished work.

#4 -You must have a blog post containing the photos of your work posted on the day of the hop ( which will be decided once everyone has reported in that their kits have arrived.)


You do not have to use ALL the items, but you can.
You do not have to use all of each item you chose, but you can.
You do not have to use the items as you find them... you may alter them in any way you see fit – drill holes, patina, paint, glue, etc etc etc.

Please do not post about what you received in this kit until I give the okay. Almost everyone wanted their kit to be a surprise so let's not ruin that for them. Once I give the okay, you are welcome to post about what you received, as well as in progress work... but you can't share your finished work until the day of the hop. I suggest either scheduling your post for just after midnight ( EST) , or post it before you head off to bed.

If you don't have a blog, then email me your photos and post at least one full day before the hop date, and I'll add it to my post.

The little yellow tissue wrapped bundle is NOT part of the kit. That is simply a little thank you for being a follower/ reader of my blog and for taking part in this challenge :)

You are of course welcome to use any of your own items combined with those in the kit, including adding more of the same if you happen to find them.

Oh, and the most important part … be creative and have fun :) I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

~
 
This round's roster ( & shop list - will be updated to include the blogs long before the actual hop date ;)) :

Marge Beebe of RockCreekCreations
Kristi J of CuriositiesbyK
Tammie Everly of TTE Designs
Sarah Goode  of Poodledo
Sherri Stokey of KnotJustMacrame
Paula Hisel of SimplyBeadiful
Shawn Mills of Bent Wire Boutique 

 and ME, of course :D

Here's the kit we all get to play with :)



Heheh .. sorry, but almost all of them wanted the kit to be a surprise when they opened it.
As soon as I get word they've all arrived, I'll share the ingredients with you :) The first kit has already arrived... and it was the one with the furthest to go!

~Skye

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Randomness

I'm bored.

I have a shit-ton of things to do, finish.. START ... and yet it's humid and hot and blah... and I'm bored >.<

I have trays of beads and half finished projects scattered every where... including right in front of me where I keep bumping it when I move  my mouse >.< That one I WANT to finish.. like RIGHT NOW...... except I changed my mind on the wire color and the store I saw the stuff I want to use, was closed today due to a power outage...>.< A power outage that was supposed to be last weekend when I was busy at work and wouldn't have been caught in it... but was instead today... when I was home >.<

*sigh* So...I guess you noticed I'm sort of in the rambling and whiny kinda mood, huh?

Yeah.. how about I show some more pics I took with my new camera last weekend?

Mom  wanted to try it out... so she took a pic of me. That's her dog Angel sitting on me... not overly thrilled about the camera, although she DID smile for the pic lol

HaHA! I caught a bee in one of my flower pics :) So proud of that...I've always loved other peoples close ups of plants that have the insects as if they were posing... my old camera refused to do that without scaring the bugs away :)  so even though he's half hiding behind that blossom .. he's THERE.. so..I'm happy :)

I can't get over how CLEAR and crisp they all are :) I was a fair distance away from this guy, but it looks as if I was taking the picture from right down there in front of him.

 Want to know how much fun I had playing with the macro and zoom? See this guy? This cute little sand toad?


THIS is how tiny he was...


hehehe.... that just makes me giggle.. I can't get over the difference. I LOVE playing with my new camera :)

Oh, and it's not just the macro setting.. no... I love the 'infinity' zoom, too!


From where I was standing, Snickers the filly who is seen having a nap in the sun here, was nothing more than a bump that I thought might be her... Regular zoom let me see that it was her lying there, but infinity gave me the shot that looks like I was right there in the feild with her :) ( btw, I posted this in my deviant art gallery as well :)


 So when I was tired of being out in the sun, walking around and hunting out bugs and flowers and interesting subjects, I settled down in the shade... but  couldn't resist sharing the view when I looked up :)

... or to my left... (yes that Angel again.. aka 'Frog Dog' taking a break from chasing frogs and swimming)...


 and in a fit of boredom and silliness... straight ahead...


... chipped toe polish and all lol.

Okay.. so I should leave you with something other than the sight of my toes .. lol

 How about one of my mom's lilies ...

 

 So all of the photos shown here were taken by ME at my parents place. 

I'm still bored, but now it's getting late and I should go find something for supper before it's too late to eat .. >.<


~Skye

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Soup's On!

Wheew... was starting to wonder there;) lol  My partner got hers last week and we mailed them on the same day!

So, we both have our goodies now, so I can share pics! yay!

first off, here's what I sent her - (  window light with old camera >.< I And yes, that's my little ceramic floor tile I got at the thrift shop that I use as a backdrop for some pics...I have two, one cream/brown marble-esque, and this one which is more greys with just a touch of brown))


The full soup - pearls from Magpie Gems,  Crystal and goldstone from LimaBeads, Czech glass... from an etsy shop whose owner was raising money to bring her son home... and whose name escapes me at the moment. I have it written here somewhere... lol >.<



The copper and black glass chain I made, & the rose focal and the heart clasp are both by BeeTree by M.E. 














And now what Maria put together for me to work with :)















Isn't that a great soup?  The crocheted flowers are from her mother in law, and Maria made the cab and beaded it into a focal for me :)
 The fibers are inspiring far too many ideas >.< lol  I LOVE that dragonfly clasp and the rest of the metal is being just as pushy about ideas as the fiber ;)


And the bright orange and yellow MOP beads have spoken already... they're taking over a previous project ;) lol


The Czech glass and magnesite skulls are content to take a back seat for a moment because they KNOW they'll get used up ;)


BTW, I'm sorry about the black shiny bowl in the first picture... I was on my fire escape and didn't want to risk them all rolling away on me >.< It was enough fun to block the wind from taking my flowers and fiber! lol

 And hmm... my date's off on my camera... need to reset that...>.< lol


Sorry, Shaiha... I know I told you I'd take a picture of my mailbox when I retrieved my beadsoup... but I didn't get it from the mail box... the mail man rang the doorbell and met me half way down the stairs. ( I think he's sucking up after that last complaint I filed against him ;) This is the second registered piece he climbed stairs to get signed instead of waiting on the porch lol )





Alright... off to get some more housework accomplished and a painting/gift finished so I can let myself play with my soup without feeling guilty :)




~Skye

Monday, July 16, 2012

Beads For Bloggers


Last month I was lucky enough to be one of ( I believe ) the first five people chosen by FusionMuse to receive a little bead bundle to play with. I'm not sure on the 'how often', but I 'think' every month they chose five people from those who've signed up.

In exchange for a free bundle of beady goodness, you -

1) share the button on your blog ( mine's right over there in my side bar, see? -> )

2) share a photo and link to their site when you receive the beads. ( doing now :D )

3) share an 'in progress' picture of a project you use the beads in

4) Share a photo of the finished project!

So basically, you get little bundle of 'surprise' beads in your mail box, then have to take pictures and play with them, then take more pictures AS you play with them, then take a picture of what you made as you played with them...

... and how is that different from what we normally do with all out beady treasures? lol

Aside from the fact that they're free :D And the choice of what you get is NOT up to you... so it's a little push to maybe work with something you haven't before!

So here's what I get to play with :)


I asked Tanya ( aka FusionMuse ) what they all were so I could share the info ( plus if I really loved playing with anything in particular I could order more ;) lol ) and here's her reply.

 " The focal is a Botswana Agate, the pink coins are dyed coral, the bright coloured ones are dyed Mother of Pearl, the amber looking things are resin man made amber, and the Turquoise colour are Magnesite but many call them Turquoise these days."

I never would've thought the pink coins were coral! Most coral beads I've seen are more opaque, and usually the red color.  I do love the resin 'amber' beads... but I think the magnesite are calling me first...  we'll have to see. I have a couple gifts I need to finish up before I get to play with these ... unless the muse demands my attention be turned to them earlier ;)

If you want to see about getting some free beads to play with too, go check them out and become one of their blog buddies :)

Website     Etsy     Blog






~ Skye

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Gratuitous Bead Porn....

I figured it was long past time to show some of the goodies I've received over the last few months.  

We'll go back and start with the little bead swap Lori Anderson organized over at the Bead Soup Cafe  waaaay back in March . Lori herself was my partner and these are the goodies she sent my way.

bead swap prettythings steampunk toggles glass shell clay gemstone pearls lucite
Bead Swap goodies from Lori

Aren't those fabulous? I took three close ups and remember deleting one of them... and yet now I only have one close up O.o I think I just saved the one because it shows the toggle clasps, the stone eggs and the 'hope' charm...
bead swap prettythings steampunk toggles glass shell clay gemstone pearls lucite


I just love those stone eggs.. and the steampunky toggles... I just get too many ideas for them and then freeze up because..I have too many ideas >.< lol

So next we just ahead to May to another Bead Soup Cafe swap arranged by the lovely Lori... the Pantone Spring Color Bead Swap.

Here are the beauties my partner Solange Collin , of Ahowin Handcrafted Jewelry, ( and her etsy ) sent me from France.

Pantone spring color bead swap African Trade beads, turquoise chip sodalite nuggets Czech glass gemstone brass
Pantone Spring Color Bead Swap
Pantone spring color bead swap African Trade beads, turquoise chip sodalite nuggets Czech glass gemstone brass

Pantone spring color bead swap African Trade beads, turquoise chip sodalite nuggets Czech glass gemstone brass
Pantone spring color bead swap African Trade beads, turquoise chip sodalite nuggets Czech glass gemstone brass

Pantone spring color bead swap African Trade beads, turquoise chip sodalite nuggets Czech glass gemstone brass


Aren't all of those so yummy? Again, soooo many ideas .. TOO many ideas >.< lol I've finally decided I NEED to use some of those trade beads in the one piece I've been working on. I just HAVE to.  The sodalite chips and the turquoise chips are vying for a place in another project, but as it stands now I don;t have enough of either for the full thing... so unless I alter the design enough to make it work... or my one friend who's selling off all her beads has chips in the same ultra small size that I can nab... I may see if Solange can  hook me up with some more. I can either pay her outright for the cost of the beads plus shipping, or we can work out a trade or something :) 

 Had enough photos? I have more... could split them into multiple beadporn posts...

 .. hmm... nah, I can squeeze a few more in here yet... ;)
Let me see.... what ones to share...  The 'Beads for Bloggers' from Tanya of Fusionmuse I'm saving until I get the info on the beads themselves.... and Keith's lampwork beauties are being saved for another post as well....( Keith is the ubber talented newbie glass worker boyfriend of Lauren Potts of Lp's Jewelry)

Ah... here's a few more I can share in this post :)

Last month over at Creative Bead Chat, Marla James of MarlasMud posted a comment about her friend Karen's shop and the new fiberwire she was selling. Karen's daughter makes it and has some gorgeous color combos done and for sale at Starry Road Studio , and Marla asked if anyone would like to try it.  Since I was the first to reply, I got to try it :)  Marla bought me some!

starryroad studios fiberwire beads
Starry Road Studio goodies

This is the 'Ooolala'... one that looks to be sold out at the moment. The  beads are a gift from Karen :) I have other beads from her that I had definite plans for back when I bought them... and yet still have not used them >.<  I started a couple things with the wire and then changed my mind almost immediately lol

Next we come all the way up just a couple weeks ago... I entered a little giveaway over at one of my favorite blogs, Scorched Earth and received an email from Petra informing me that I'd won one of the selections... but the one I'd named was already taken... then she gave me the photos of the other choices, including some beady goodness that hadn't been there before. One of them I liked even better then my original choice.

handmade clay beads feathers houses shells

So I got this large heavy duty blue plastic mailer all wrapped up into a tiny little bundle with massive amounts of tape holding it together ... lol  and when I opened it I found this. A little black organza bag ( LOVE that!) jammed full of little tiny tissue wrapped  hand made clay goodies, and a little blue bag full of gemstone rounds :) I actually didn;t take a close up picture of the gemstones...I got too carried away with all of Petra's handmade treasures!



handmade clay beads feathers houses shells

Love!  

My mom loves the nest best of all, and you have to admit, it is pretty damned cute :)


I rather like the feathers.. and the shells... oh and those little 'mangers' :) totally not ending up as anything religious coming from me though lol ;)

Well that's it I think. All the ones I'm going to share in a multi post, anyhow :)

The solo features are coming up soon though... and I think tomorrow I might do a MacroMonday and share some of my non-bead photos :)

I'll leave you with one more photo though... I bought these babies at 'The Hottest Yard Sale Under The Sun' ... a local deal that runs on day and they block off a huge chunk of the main street for. It's not a 'yardsale' anymore though...most of the stuff out for sale now are over stock or left over seasonal from the various stores along the way, along with street performers and various fundraising tents.  Over at the city hall, there's a nice shady, cobblestone section between city hall and a block of stores known as 'Artists Alley' where every Saturday in the summer various artists set up their work to sell. There's a sketch artist there that I've bought several pieces form, as have my mother and brother. I don't have any of my own though.. the ones I bought were all for other people >.<   Any how, no I didn't buy a sketch from him... this post is about beadporn.. why would I toss other stuff in here?  No no no no.

I bought THESE,


No clue what I'll do with them. I still haven't used my other glass work like this...I included on in the beadsoup I sent Shaiha back in the BSBP4, and while I HAD plans for the others.... haven't done them yet  >.< lol

Think it's time for me to pull out that muffin pan and fill 'er with these 'projects' so I can see them sitting there waiting for me.


That's it for today :) I hope you enjoyed drooling and didn't short out your keyboards ;)

~ Skye

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Quick Pre-photo spree update

Just a quick note to report that the winner of F.F.#6 has failed to contact me within the two week period. She even had a couple extra days thanks to me being on a different computer without the proper access.

On that note, I had rafflecopter chose a new winner for the beaded chain :)

Sarah G.  you've now got two weeks to contact me to claim your prize. 

If at the end of those two weeks, the prize remains unclaimed, I think I'll call that one a lost cause and the beaded chain will go towards something else.  Or, maybe I'll draw three names, one for each chain and first come first serve as to which one they get.

Not that that will happen since Sarah will note me with the next day or two. ;) There's no way she'll let this slip away.

On that note, I'll leave you with a photo, taken with my new camera of my 'bead guard'.


This is my dad's dog, Sissy. She got tired of chasing frogs and swimming and came to join me.

I got very little beading done...I was too busy taking photos :D

~Skye

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

" Insert Title Here"

Sorry.. titles failed me today lol

as has my camera >.< stupid thing.. went to take a picture of my mailbox and it refuses to boot up fully.. the on light comes on.. the screen stays black, then the light goes out. New batteries too >.< Time to haul out the reserve camera and start looking a new ones again.


Why was I trying to take a photo of my mailbox?

Oh, well.. because it's new... and I snazzed it up :) You see, the mailbox I've had since I moved in is just a little itty bitty ugly thing with my name and apartment number written in black marker on masking tape. After putting up with a mailman who has no concept of size, or the terms ' do not bend' or 'fragile' .. and after leaving multiple complaints against him over damaged or 'abandoned' mail left sitting on the porch railing on in front of my door ( which isn't a private entrance)... I went and bought myself a bigger mailbox. It's three times the size of the old one, shiny black with a top flip lid.... And since I didn't feel like screwing around with paint and stencils, and those block sticky letters are so boring, I picked up some scrapbooking stickers :) Maroon velvet letters with silver accents and the odd little crystal stuck to them lol  I offset my name to leave room for a gorgeous skull sticker I had... then discovered the sticker was a no go >.< Gotta find a replacement.  I didn't have any numbers, so I dug out some little purple half 'pearls' and glued them on to form the number '3'. :D

So now I have a mail box big enough to fit all of my beady-goodness-filled bubble envelopes, and even a small flat rate box....

And of course, I come home today to find a little itty bitty slip of paper in it, informing me of a missed delivery that I can pick up tomorrow >.< He hasn't left one of those in YEARS. Guess that last complaint about abandoning my parcels in public access areas, and not getting the signatures for parcels that say right on them, 'signature required'... finally hit him hard enough to stick.  I do know one thing...If I pick up that parcel tomorrow and find that it fits inside my mail box easily and he just did it to be an ass about my complaining... I'm filing another complaint :D  I know now not to waste my time with complaints about damages and shit at the local office... call straight to the head office.

*deep breath *  * smiles* Okay... better now :) Plus the fact that I'm pretty sure that's my Bead Soup waiting for me makes it hard to stay irritated at the asshat... even if it's because of the asshat that I don't have it right NOW. Still... I get to open a surprise box of goodies tomorrow after work :D

And really... I have other things to get done today. That package would only have distracted me.

What?

Oh...I'm ripping apart a couch.

No, seriously... I have this small sofa that my one cat ( Xander, the evil little bastard) has clawed to crap. It never had back cushions to begin with.. the cushions I was given with it fit the bottom.. so I have four bottom cushions for a two cushion couch ... and no back or arm cushions. I'd always meant to cut up two of them to make the other needed cushions, but I'm lazy. Instead I just tossed a shit-heap of pillows on it :)  and now... now I've had enough. I've decided that it's gotta go. I have a large over stuffed , comfy chair in my bedroom that's just taking up space... and that Xander has only clawed a little bit that can take the place of this disaster.

My dad's coming up tomorrow afternoon / evening to pick me up for a couple days in the country. We COULD just haul this thing down whole since it is small and fairly light... and we didn't have any trouble getting it up here ( unlike my other couch which required three people all cursing at varying levels, and several attempts) I decided, however, that I'm going to murder the ugly bugger ( the sofa... not my dad.... or the cat ). I'm going to rip off all the upholstery that's still intact... then take hammer and feet to the frame work. Even if I can't get it apart, I figure it'll be a good little work out and stress reliever :)


OR.... I might decide to leave it whole then have a bonfire down by the ponds and watch the ugly thing go up in flames... that's a really tempting image.. and while my dad will say 'no, you don't want to do that'... yeah, I kinda DO want to do that lol And I know my mom would be right down there with me, with a big stick poking at it while it burns. 

Once it's reduced to coals, she'd get out the weenies and marshmallows ;) lol

 See.. now with an option like that .... I guess I really haven't decided yet lol ;)

I will be be packing up my bag of beads/tools to take with me this time. And my package too :)  
 I can sit down by the ponds and work on jewelry while the dogs run in circles chasing frogs out into deeper water.


... and sofa-bonfire or not, I plan on having at least one night of sitting by the fire making spider-weenies and toasting marshmallows :)

With any luck, I'll have photos of Soups to share with you in my next post ;)

I COULD share the pic of what I sent my partner, since she received it yesterday, but I think I'll make you wait ;)

Plus, I've heard from three of this rounds CCDC participants and so far the votes are all for the kits being a surprise and no photos being shared until after they've all been received. Kashmira may not survive that long a wait... I may end up having to email her a sneak peek ;)

Susan G. , you've got just one more day to contact me about your prize, and then that's it. I'll be drawing a new winner on Friday if I haven't heard from you !


I hope everyone enjoys their weekends! Get out and enjoy any nice weather in your area... or go find something indoor to enjoy if the weather's crap ;)

~ Skye

Monday, July 9, 2012

And the winners are....

 Marge, Kristi, Tammie, Sherri, Sarah, Paula, & Shawn Marie :)

Don't believe me, check out Rafflecopter below :p lol


wow I really love that thing... just click a button and it chooses your winners for you and displays them on the widget for you. so much easier and quicker than random.org ;)

So there you have it. The 7 designers who will be joining me for the next round of the Creative Chaos Design Challenge :)  

Assuming of course that they email me their mailing addresses so I can get their bundles mailed off to them.I'll do the same as the giveaways - you've each got two weeks from today to get back to me with your address. If I don't hear from you by then, I'll pick someone to take your place ;)

Once I've heard back from all the participants and discovered whether they'd like me to post photos of the kits before they receive them, or to wait until after wards, as well as the reveal date they all agree on, I'll do another update on this :)

I really need to get these things packaged and mailed though... because I keep seeing things that would be so perfect to add in... >.< lol It's getting hard to resist!

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Kreativ


Some of you may know that my coffee perk died on me last week... for a coffee lover, this was dire news... especially since I couldn't find my receipt and warrentee, and was fairly sure it was still covered. The machine had been a gift but I had the receipt...  A week of using my little four cupper .. which actually only makes two cups in my size mug... and my mom came to the rescue.

She came up to spend the week end with me, and brought her spare perk with her... her spare perk being my old 'slow-as-molasses' one. We cleaned it out, and had a pot that took about half an hour to perk ... *sigh* It was really good coffee, but still... half an hour was not an acceptable waiting period of coffee. Then she found my warrentee for me and proved that it was indeed still covered... for another three months :D

This morning I woke at 3 am for no reason.. again. Every other month or so I seem to hit this run of suddenly being wide awake at 3am for no reason. since mom had the pull out bed in the living room, getting up and going on the computer or working on some jewelry wasn't really an option, so I just stayed put until I fell asleep again. 

Six o'clock saw me awake again and this time I got up.

Since mom and the cats were all still snoring, I used up the last of my vinegar and cleaned out the perk again, speeding it up to about a twenty minute pot. While I was doing that, I made coffee on my 'mini' perk. When the smell of fresh coffee, and the sound of me doing dishes and moving around in the kitchen failed to wake mom, I decided to turn on the computer. She managed to sleep through two hours of me cleaning, typing and brewing coffee, plus a phone call. I was impressed ;)

We headed out for a bit more shopping before she was going to head home, and I came across a fantastic deal on a new coffee maker. One that made bothering with the warrentee seem rather like a waste of time. So I have a new perk :) And it's got a timer so I can set it to have my coffee ready and waiting for me when I wake up or get home from work :D

I also talked to my landlady, and I'm picking up a new mailbox tomorrow after work. I found a nice long one with plenty of room for my photo prints, and parcels of beady goodness, so I should not have any more worries about my mailman jamming them into my itty bitty mailbox and risking breaking everything >.<

And then, as an extra bonus to my day, I popped on the computer to discover this


Marlene Cupo awarded me this :) Isn't that a bright spot to any ones day?

And now I get to award it to ten others :)  As I told her, I knew of four right off the top of my head... the rest needed some consideration because I read a lot of blogs and so many of them are deserving of this!

 When you receive this award, there are a few rules:

1. Post a link to the person who awarded you
2. Share 7 well-thought out random things about yourself
3. Award to 10 other deserving bloggers and let them know

So, here are my 7 random but well thought out things about me :)

1- I'm the only woman in my family ( immediate plus my mothers side), over the age of eighteen who does not have a tattoo. My mother has two ( three of you count the one covering her first one). She got her first one  in her early forties. The following year, my grandmother and one aunt went with her, and they each got their first while she got her second. The next time she went back to get the one fixed, they went with her and got their second ones.

2- I love my hair best when every one else seems to hate it. If I get a hair cut I love, everyone else hates it... if I dye it a shade I love, everyone else seems to hate it. Luckily, I don't let their opinions on it get in my way :) It's my hair and I'll do what I want with it ;)

3- I'm not a girly girly, but I have my girly moments or phases. Five years ago, I hit a major girly time and wore makeup, jewelry and skirts or dresses on an almost daily basis. Then I went majorly tomboy and wore mostly mens clothes for a couple years. Including these great mini boxer briefs I found that are fabulously comfy, but I can't find anymore >.< The past year or so has seen me combine the two, wearing mostly jeans or pants, with mens shoes, and a lot of mens t-shirts ( but that's because they have the best ones ) , but mixing it up with some feminine tops or jewelry.  Friday I wore a sundress and make up, going totally girly for no special occasion, for the first time since...well... since my last girly phase five years ago.

4- I like to read and name critters after characters in the books. when I was younger and lived on the farm, I named all the calves and pigs and rabbits that way. I only named two household pets that way though, since I usually let their personalities or first impressions combine to help with them. The one was a cat I named Fizgig, and the second was a hedgehog I named Binx.

5- Inside, I'm a fun, vibrant person, who is a tad crazy, and once you get started talking, I have trouble shutting up. Friends online especially know me this way, as do those in person who spend enough time around me to get to know me a bit. Most people who meet me at random when I'm not being 'myself',  see me as being rather quiet and shy, and no doubt rather boring.

6- I love music and have very eclectic tastes. My mp3 player is jammed full of a bit of every thing and programmed to play it all randomly. Friends find it hilarious when I'm listening to keep asking me what I'm listening to every few minutes due to the insane differences. It could go from Enya, to Marilyn Manson, to Nickleback, to Loretta McKennit, to Johnny Cash, to Blink 182, to Neil Diamond.... you never know ;)

7- I love writing and painting and creating... but have a hard time getting my brain settled on one thing and keeping it there until it's done. I'm very ADHD when it comes to my projects and tend to be working on several at any given time. Currently, I have seven different bracelets in progress, a painting almost done, and am writing in about five different story arcs, as well as working on an art exchange group, putting together an ebook, and participating in two different bloghop/challenges as well as running my own.  Oh, an of course there's the usual blog writing and procrastinating I do in between all of that :)

 So there. Seven random but well thought out things about myself :)

And now  I shall pass this award on to 10 deserving bloggers.


 ~ Lori of Pretty Things , although I'm sure she's already received a few of these at least, for her posts full of laughter, courage, inspiration, and shared pain that always leaves you with the understanding that you're not alone.

~Marina  of Faniciful Devices with her blog full of randomness and snicker-inspiring comments, combined with stunning jewelry and techniques. 

~Anvil Artifact's with a blog full of beautiful jewelry & photos, experiments & advice, and always some laughter :)
~Shay of Shaiha's Ramblings, for insights into the bright spots of her day and the things that she turns to for inspiration, as well as bits and bites of her life and the things within... and lots of fabulous book reviews :)

~ boobies of Boobies, Babies, & a Blog  for a blog chocked full of giveaways and laughter :)

~ 'Sparrow' or Star Tribe (formerly SparrowSalvage) For a blog full of beautiful creations, courage, and  strength.

~ Anna of The Laughing Raven for tons of beautiful, inspiring photos and tid bits.

~ Maneki of Wild roses and blackberries  for two blogs full of jewelry and techniques, as well as photos that should be inspiring jewelry :)

~Char of Crap I've Made  for a constant flow of creativity and 'stuff to do' .

~ Evie & Beth of EBBead & Metal Works  for sharing their mother/daughter creative lives :)


Go visit them and see what I mean :)

If I didn't mention your blog, don't take it personally. I read, follow, and love a lot of blogs, all for various reasons. Choosing ten was very hard since a great many more deserve this too :)


~ Skye

Friday, July 6, 2012

Freebie Friday #7

Welcome to July ! And I'm fairly sure wherever you are, if you're on the same half of the hemisphere as I am, then you've been having a very hot and steam so far!

I'm sitting here with a glass of ice water with lemon, and my little air conditioner humming loudly away and I'm still sweating >.< It's been very interesting trying to get my apartment clean in time for my mother to get here... which could be any time in the next couple of hours... so this'll be a quick type post, so excuse the typos >.< I still got cleaning to finish up ;) My laundry may have to be snuck down in the morning before mom wakes up ;) lol

Alright, first up a couple reminders.

The winner of June's FF, Susan G. still hasn't contacted me about claiming her prize!  Susan, you've got one more week! If I don't hear from you by Thursday night ( Midnight EST) , then I'll be drawing a new winner !

Next up, you've still got two more days to enter for a chance at a spot in the next Creative Chaos Design Challenge- sign ups are HERE.

Reminders down with, on with the announcement :)






The winner of the first Creative Chaos Design Challenge, with a total of five votes ( several of the others had four so it was very close ), is piece #2created by Alicia of All Pretty Things.




So what am I sticking in the mail for her?

this lovely, and large, red stone two hole pendant.

I mean large about this is 2 " across, but it's so lovely :)
I hope she enjoys it. If it's not her style to work with, then I hope she finds someone who would enjoy playing with it instead ;)




Alrighty, so on to the part you're all here about.  The new Giveaway :)

This month was short on time to prepare another batch of handmade items, and I came up short on theme ideas... however, between the rash of destashes going on and all the Bead Soup batches in the mail and on peoples work tables, I decided to do a goodie box :)




What? you can't see what's all in it?  *sigh* oh alright... here


 better? There's a crap load of red satin ribbon,  a bunch of two tone glass coin beads,two porcelain beads with rather oriental theme to them, some crackled and clear glass beads that I got form Grace's destash sale :) some metal butterflies, a bunch of catseye beads in purple, green and cream, and some handmade brass chain with black glass.

And there's still room in the box, so I may just find or make a few more things to add in through out the month ;)

Alright... my butt needs to get busy cleaning again... gotta vacuum my carpets at the very least >.<


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, July 2, 2012

Another Round?

My Creative Chaos Design Challenge went off without a hitch with everyone posting on time, and while I wrote my blog out with only two pieces finished, by the time I scheduled it to post, I had several done. I literally made three quarters of my designs Friday afternoon and evening, which left only one item in my kit that I didn't use.

I was seriously impressed by the others designs too, especially one done by a thirteen year old girl who got creative with Shaiha's kit :)

I promised some little prizes to go along with it, and here we go with that :) since no one used the full kit ( although my last minute scramble got me close ;) lol ) We'll just go with a vote for favorite piece :) 

I'll share a pic of each piece here with a number attached to it, and you leave a comment below with the number you're voting for :) Make sure you leave your email or have it attached to your blogger profile so I can get in touch with you, because everyone who votes will be entered to win a little something too :) 

* note ; the photographs below were all taken from their creators blogs, and do not belong to me.

#1
~ ~ ~
#2
~ ~ ~
#3
~ ~ ~
#4
~ ~ ~
#5
~ ~ ~

And no, I'm not including mine since I obviously don't need to win my own prize ;) lol  Voting will be open until Thursday July 5th at Midnight ( EST) and the winners will be announced in the new Freebie Friday post :)


So, while you're all casting your votes and waiting for a winner to be chosen... who's up for a new Creative Chaos Design Challenge ?

This one would take place mid August - early September ( depending on the participants ) and has room for SEVEN designers aside from myself  :) 

Want a sneak peek ?



Hmm... you know, now I can't decide if I should show  the full kit after the team has been picked like I did last time... or make you wait longer lol  Part of me likes the element of surprise... Not showing you until the kits have been received.

As you can see, this one is more earthy tones in favor of Autumn... where as the last one was more of a Summer theme.. of course, aside from that itsy bitsy glimpse in the center there.. that's ALL you can tell :)

The rules will be the same as the previous Challenge. ;  they have to use some of these items to create jewelry... ( the more of it they use, the happier and more impressed I'll be ;) ) They don't have to use it 'as is'; they can alter any or all of the items in any way they want. They create, they photograph and they share on the chosen reveal date. I think I'll have them use at least a third of that pile. 

Once again I'll have a couple little prizes as well. One will be for the one you all vote for as your fave piece , and the second prize(s) for any of them that manage to use ALL of the kit. 
 



a Rafflecopter giveaway