SCORE!!

Okay, so those of you who frequent the FB groups, BSC ( Bead Soup Cafe), &  CBC ( Creative Bead Chat ) , may have seen my odd link to a facebook shop called 'Yours, Mine & Ours'.  It's a brick&mortar secondhand shop in Texas owned by an old internet friend of mine, Debbie. Last year she started up the facebook shop on her page to sell some of the smaller items. This year she made the decision to clear out her beading supplies.

Being busy with the store as well as dealing with health issues and the rest life tosses her way, she hasn't been able to post much in the online shop. She has to sort through the tubs of supplies, photograph everything, and then get them uploaded.... and then have fun dealing with facebook and it's 'issues' over getting descriptions and things to post with the photos. A very time consuming and frustrating process.

A few months ago when she first posted the first batch of beads, I sulked because the shop was set up for US shipping only. Being the sweetheart that she is, she pulled anything I wanted and did a paypal invoice for me with international shipping added in. 

After a month long absence due to health problems and hospital stays, Debbie finally started to deal with her store again, and I finally figured out how to link people to it :)

Kimberly still hasn't forgiven me for all the money I *made* her spend there ;)

My fellow beaders from these two groups, combined with a couple of Deb's own customers, cleared out three quarters of what she had listed.... and then I suggested if there was something specific Kimberly wanted, that she could message Debbie and ask about it. This works out better for Debbie, since she doens't have to deal with fighting with the fb shop to get it posted... she can just email the person a photo or the stuff and quote a price for them.

Apparently she cleared out Debbie's stash of crystals. Or if she didn't clear it out completely, she certainly made one hell of a dent in it ;)

I'm doing the same to Debbie's chip stone stash - I have a standing order for that, and she's already working on filling another box for me :D

This is a destash of massive proportions and I am extremely glad I knew her from our ghost hunting days... way back when I had a ghostcam hosted on her son's website so people could catch pictures of my resident ghosts.

 Yes, I'm serious. My ghosts have not been very active in a long while... I rather miss them. Every now and then they'll will make themselves known in some way... usually  either suddenly scaring the crap out of the youngest cat, or snitching an item only to replace it in a really bizarre place, or put it right back where it vanished from... weeks or even months after I've given up hope of ever finding it. At the moment, that trick won't work since I have no clue where anything is and wouldn't notice stuff vanishing or reappearing ;)

Anyhow, back to the BEADS.

Want to see the awesome box of loot I got from her shop?

Do you?

Because... it's really awesome.

Really really.

I mean... we'd thought she'd have to pack some of it into a separate box to mail later on, but her hubby helped and he managed to fit it all into the one box...the lid had a significant curve to it and it was HEAVY ...  Heavy as in 'I'm surprise my mailbox remained attached to my wall' kinda heavy ( I did a crappy job of attaching it ;) ).

You still want to see?

Okay :)

Yes it's a heap... It was the only way I could fit it into one shot lol

Some lovely strands of various blue gemstone beads, plus some strands of larger chipstone. And many many baggies of smaller chipstone is lots of different colors and types... 4mm glass rounds of various colors and designs, some 6 mm magnesite rounds and disks, some large puffy copper heart charms, a big bag of pewter wing charms, a TON of pewter spacers, some seaglass pendants,  some pewter connectors, and a lampwork frog pendant.

Yeah, I know... need more and better pictures. I had stuff to finish and couldn't let myself get too distracted by these goodies, so I quickly filled up one of my cabinets with them to keep them out of sight. 

Have SO MANY ideas and plans for this heap. Beaded chain... lots and lots of beaded chain, some of which will be offered up in giveaways and such... a bunch of which will be used by me :D I see earrings, bracelets, necklaces galore in that pile of baggies... I just need to get things cleaned up here to find the time to MAKE THEM :)

I'll be dipping into some of it tonight, I think. If this 'get stuff done' spree I'm on right now continues to hold out, at any rate.

Any how, if any of you would like to check out Debbie's shop and see what she has posted online... or maybe try and catch one of her amazing quick deals that she just tosses on her page for people to snap up... or send her a message about something you're trying to find... go check her out and let her know where you heard about her shop ;)

  Yours, Mine & Ours

~ Skye

Freebie Friday #8

Welcome to another FF :)

To the new followers and readers, the first Friday of every month is Freebie Friday - which means you'll discover a giveaway of some sort that will run until the last Wednesday of the month.

Last FF I put together a bead mix, the one before that I did some handmade chain. For August, I was originally thinking of doing either some jewelry or some handmade components, but the month got away from me >.< too much work, too little time *sigh* Shame on me for all that procrastinating I tend to do >.<  The other day when I realized it was time to post the new FF and I didn't have anything set aside for it, I'd thought of ransacking my new goodies and maybe offering up a pendant and a few coordinating beads...  then inspiration struck.

While hanging out in the Bead Soup Cafe, someone posted the Pantone Fall color chart.

( picture via artbeads.com )

Hmm.... I wonder if I have enough of those colors to put together into a Pantone Fall soup?

hmm... yup :) Looks like. 

 So there you go... The winner  for August will get a nice yummy Fall Pantone Soup :) The beads are a mix of everything... seriously. That big yellow leaf is made of deer antler,  the orange nuggets are dyed magnesite, the little brown ones are wood... the rest are shell, porcelain, clay, Czech glass, glass, and acrylic.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

  For those who are unable to use the Blogger 'Follow' feature, Subscribers &  Email followers count as well. Just put which way you follow in your entry :)

I gotta run , get some more work done on my challenge piece for tomorrows reveal and hop, then while that's drying, go buy some coffee while it's on sale, then come back and finished & photograph my pieces :) Totally last minute run-a-round, as always :)

~ Skye

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

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

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

Creative Chaos Challenge Reveal!

Okay :) We're here!

A while back I made up four kits of various objects that I offered up for grabs to three of you. It was the first step for the first Creative Chaos Design Challenge :)

And here we are... reveal day :)

Joining me in this little jaunt outside the normal are Shaiha of Shaiha's Ramblings , Alicia of All The Pretty Things , and Rochelle of A Creative Chelle .

A refresher of what the kits contained ;

 

The month kind of got away from me. I had some designs started, then things kept getting in the way and they got shoved aside. Then, when I pulled them back, I ended up discovering I'd forgotten my original idea... misplaced the design I had sketched out... and then when I got past that, I found mistake that had to be fixed >.<

My challenge was indeed challenging ... lol Or rather 'challenged' >.<

I didn't use all of my ingredients, but I ended up being able to use a bit of everything except the white shell pieces. I'm not loving some of them, and some need to be taken apart and have some things fixed.. in one case for no real reason, just that I noticed something that is now driving me nuts just knowing it's there >.< lol

So without further ado... here are my designs for the challenge.

The large blue shell pieces were combined with some fake pearls to make a pair of earrings.

 The washers were linked together to make a pair of earrings, and a bracelet. with a large lobster clasp to make it adjustable.

 Necklace with buried 'treasure'

This is the bottle, and the idea I had for the Skull blog hop a few weeks ago that the weather messed up on me. ( the red suede cord is only loose there due to the way the chain is laying... when worn, it's pulled even with the chain) .

 Here's a close up so you can see the skull partially buried in the sand. The sand is sealed 'mostly' in place so it doesn't shift around. There are a couple long rice pearls in there too to look like bones, but they didn't want to show up in the photos.

  This bugger was the first design.. the pendant was a lucky find after I had picked out the colors and started the chain.. it was in a mixed bag of beads and buttons I picked up for a buck and matched  nicely.. so I added it. This is the two creamy buttons, one of which is attached to the clasp.. that I made :D

It's also definitely getting redone.. again. I think I'll take the pendant off and shift the buttons around a bit...

  

See...I made that twisted wire hook and eye all by myself :) It was SUCH a pain in the ass to do, to, let me tell you >.<

 

 This is just a quick little choker that I need to add some weight into the front of... I think maybe a few little blue crystals or something....  either that or turn it into a wrap bracelet...

  ....and here is the last quick little bracelet... that I actually really like..I'm wearing it right now :)

 I took one of the white buttons and ran the cord through two of the holes, then looped it around and poked both ends up through the other two holes...

 

You pull the cords to loosen it enough to slip it on, then pull the two ends to tighten it again, then just tuck and wrap the ends. It is REALLY comfy... and simple.. and I like it :)

And that's it.  The last two were quickies I did just to use up some more of my stuff, and I took all of the photos this afternoon... thus the crappy lighting, sorry >.<

I can't wait to see what these same items were turned into by the others :)

Here are the link to the other participants :) Be sure to stop in and see what they made :)

Alicia - http://www.allprettythings.ca/

Shaiha - http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com/

Rochelle - http://acreativechelle.blogspot.ca/

And for those interested, the kits for the second Creative Chaos Design Challenge are all ready to go :) I'll be posting signs up some time this week :)  And July 6th is the new F.F. giveaway post for those wondering why it hasn't gone up yet ... it's the first Friday of the month ;)

~ Skye

Winner Wednesday ;)

Sorry, but considering that's all this blog is gonna be.. pretty much... lol

Alright, so.. while I COULD tease and torment you, show lots of photos and ramble on for a while, I'm not gonna.

I COULD ... but I won't... mainly cause I got a headache and I'm really noticing how LOUD I type >.<

So, first up we have  the little Flap Your Wings giveaway I held along with the auction.  The winner of the the little giveaway pack is...

 Rochelle.

The winning bid on the necklace..

 is IslandGirl at $40 CAD. I'll be messaging her shortly about it.

And lastly, we have the Spring Blooms Giveaway.

     The winner is....  Kristi Jaro !

Kristi & Rochelle both have one week to contact me with their mailing addresses to claim their prizes.  If I haven't heard from them by May 1st, then on May 2nd I'll draw new winners.

Okay... enough typing now... I'll be in touch with D.Lynne aka Islandgirl once it no longer hurts to type... >.<

Last Spring Blooms Giveaway Update

It's Friday again, and we have four days left in the Spring Bloom giveaway :)
Check out my 'Flap Your Wings' Necklace  HERE. The auction runs until Tuesday April 24th

Before I get posting pictures,  I just wanted to mention that I'll be posting the signup widget for the first Creative Chaos Challenge. I'll be explaining  about it in my next post, most likely Sunday :)
 Since we hit 50 entries, I'll make one more addition to the pot.

Newest addition to the giveaway.

One clay flower pendant ( it's pale pink and white ), and four silver toned flower connectors.

Spring Bloom giveaway bundle

Which is added to this ... 




The winner will be announced on Wednesday, April 25th.

F.F.4 -update

Double postings tonight :) Make sure to check out my Flap Your Wings post as well!

Alrighty... so this will be a short post.. mostly straight to the point since I'm LATE and still have another post to write and get up >.< lol

I said every TEN entries I'd add something extra to the giveaway... well we're sitting at 37 .. but I decided to add in the extra for 'forty' now...

First up, I added in the acrylic beads from Lori's BeadSoup package... so now the entire beadsoup pack is included :)  so here's a little image to show you ;)

Lori's Bead Soup mix

Rather than show you a single picture of each addition, I'm just gonna post up the giveaway bundle 'as is' now. I've added in some more flower beads, some more flower buttons, some leaf beads, and some seedbeads.

updated Spring Blooms giveaway bundle

For those who are worried I might miss something I've added... don't ;) Once I take the pictures of each addition, it all gets put into one big zip lock bag so nothing gets misplaced or forgotten :)

I just received word from last months winner that the butterflies arrived today :D Yay! I hope she enjoys them and maybe shares a link to any pics of her creations ;)

Here you go :) Anyone who hasn't entered, you've still got time :)  Next addition to the giveaway bundle hits at 50!

FF#4 Update :)

 As promised, now that we've reached 10 entries into the giveaway, I have some goodies to add into the pot for the Spring blooms giveaway :)

Plus I took a better photo of those felted ones ;) 

And arranged them in a much nicer setting....

...although I'm thinking I should've done a better pic of those lamp work pairs now too.... hmm...

So, here's the giveaway package INCLUDING the new addition of a bunch of flower buttons :)

Spring Blooms giveaway bundle - 1st update!

I'm still sorting through my button collection, so more flower buttons may appear in that pile if I find any ;)

I'm still deciding on the next addition...I have a photo of 24 flower beads in 4 different colors that I was going to add this time.. then went with the buttons instead ... plus I have a bunch of leaves I could add in... And of course I have some pendants that I might add in one of them...And I did mention that I might add in the rest of the beadsoup pack I received from Lori Anderson, as well.... so plenty to choose from. Plus I could always add in some 'regular' beads in bright spring colors, too ;)  I guess we won't know what I'll choose to toss in until we reach my goal of another 10 entries ;)

Of course, I *might* be willing to take suggestions ;) If there's something you'd really like to see added in next, leave a comment and it might just sway my decision next round ;) And you can suggest stuff I haven't mentioned here as well, such as ribbons or findings with a flower or spring theme... or none beading stuff.  If I'm in a good place in my head at the time, I might just see what I can do :)  

 By the way... did any of you take part in LimaBeads Easter Egg hunt this year?  Wow.. that new site is MASSIVE! Apparently they hid 100 Easter eggs, PLUS 3 golden eggs scattered throughout the site. After two days of eyestrain, I reached the amazing number of 50 .. which gave me four prizes, one of which was a coupon code. That 50th egg took FOREVER to find >.<  I searched that entire site from the store right through to the blog and the about pages...I have no clue where the other 50 are stashed and I finally gave up even considering looking for them. I did find one golden egg, but I was too late to nab the prize for finding it (I actually found the same egg twice...I did that a lot >.< lol).

Yes I had fun playing with the Green Bead Machine watching it's sales getter better or flip over every five minutes.. and yes I did nab a few items from that at an average of about 15% off the cost. When I called it quits on the hunt and put in my order, I had about sixty bucks worth of beads ... but since half of it was prize winnings and discounted goodies, my total was just under twenty bucks! Even the stuff I gave in and bought 'full price', I got discounted with the coupon code I won  :D hehehe ! So the only thing I 'really' paid full price on was the shipping ... which was just shy of eight bucks.

So I had a lot of fun browsing the site, playing with the Green Bead Machine, adding to my 'wish list', and making Fresh Pick selections ( like 'treasuries' on etsy where you put together selections of items to your own little theme :) ) ... plus winning lots of pretties :)

The hunt is still on so go check it out! Lima Beads Easter Egg Hunt .It ends on the 8th I believe, but you only need 10 eggs to win the first prize level ( so far .. but because it was so difficult this year they've already begun adding in new prize levels, so that might change!). you DO have to pay for shipping, so depending on where you are, you might not think it's worth it. Me, paying eight bucks for three strands of free gemstones... even if I hadn't bought anything else to go with them, totally worth it :) For those in the US, it might be even cheaper... if you're overseas.... probably not worth it ;) lol

 And yeah, I'll probably share a pic of my goodies when they arrive ;)  

Oh, and if you're wondering what I caved in and bought at full price... skulls, of course :) They actually have the skulls in the size I wanted! ( I think... at least according to the size comparison chart, they are ;) lol ) would've liked a string in black but I didn't see them .. at least not after I'd decided to buy them.. and I forgot to go back and look again. Oh well, I still have one more coupon to use so I might just have to place another order later on ;)

Remember to watch that 'number of entries' digit at the top of Rafflecopter and when it reaches 20... I'll add in more goodies :)

(*NOTE*  I'm trying something new here... I'm reposting the raffle widget on THIS page so you don;t have to travel back to the older post to enter if you haven't :) See? I'm making it EASIER on you guys! :D.  )

Detash Winner & Check in!

Alrighty, so I'm a wheeee tiny bit later posting this than I'd said. I got hit by a massive case of the lazies and spent the morning ( and a chunk of the afternoon) immersed in a book, and it took me a while to get off my butt and get things done. But hey... laundry is done, rent is paid, photos have been taken, comments counted and the winner chosen :)


But... before we get to that, my monthly 'art' addition to my challenge.  You may remember my mentioning a time or two in previous post that I can't sew...yet occasionally get the urge to do so.

This month I was hit by that urge...and... since I suck at following patterns and instructions even more then I suck at sewing, that meant I had to design my OWN pattern to do. It wasn't THAT hard... well... it wouldn't have been that hard if I'd kept it simple and stuck to my original plan rather then alter it 3/4 of the way through... resulting in Mr. Crooked. ... who, it has been said, bears a resemblance to Foamy the Squirrel. 


I can totally see it... not just in the eyes, but in the body shape AND the off center head, oddly enough... huh...


Anyhow, once I started over, SIMPLIFIED the design and STUCK TO IT, I was able to put together a second kitty no problem :)




Here they are together... do I need to tell you which is Mr. Crooked? 

Yeah..I didn't think I did. I'm thinking of making a little collar for the cute little guy but... part of me is arguing to just pack him up and ship him out before I screw him up ;) lol ... aannnddd..I just noticed I hadn't trimmed his whiskers before I took the photo >.< silly me.







 any how, here's a solo shot of the successful kitty ...

MUCH better. Much much better :) The stripes go down his back too.










:D Successful Month of challenges! Think I'll go with a painting or something this month ... something that does not require a needle or thread >.<


So... Destash time, right?


Alrighty... So.. first off, here's a list of the comments from all of the blog posts featuring destash items. they are divided by the post they were made on.

New Year's Destash
1- Kayzkreations
2- Jet
3- Shaiha
4- Carolyn
5- Andra

~
Destash addition #1
6- Andra
7- Silver Rains
8- Shaiha
9- Jet
10 - Carolyn

~

Challenge Check up
11- Andra
12- Shaiha
13- Maneki
14- Carolyn

~

FF-Destash update
15-Andra
16- Kayzkreations
17-Carolyn
18- Shaiha

~

FF- another Destash update
19- Andra
20 - kvh
21- Kristi
22- Jet
23- Carolyn

~
F.F. winner & Final Destash
24-  Andra
25- Carolyn
26- L.Adams

And the winner is via Random.org ....

#24 ... Andra!

Email me your mailing address, Andra and I'll get your goodies off to you as quick as I can :)

I still haven't heard from January's F.F. winner yet. By the new rules, if I haven't heard from her by Feb. 10, I'll draw a new winner ;)

Now... back to trying to find my good glue to finish off these robot pins and then decide what to do for THIS month's F.F ;)

~ Skye

Challenge Check In

I WAS going to chose a winner of the destash today, but after considering I decided to give everyone a couple more days to find the last post and get that last entry in, so I shall choose the winner on Tuesday the 31st instead. after all, I did say it was 'a month long' destash, so... we'll let it go the full month ;)

As for my challenges this week, for once I had them done BEFORE the last minute :D  In was going to show you my art challenge project as well, but went and deleted the pictures from my camera... so, I shall take new ones and post them on Tuesday since the art challenge is by the month rather then week ;)

Plus, not only did I get my three pieces of jewelry done, one of those pieces is for the ABS monthly challenge :) Whoohoo! Yay me...finally managed to complete one! lol

So here are some earrings I made this week. 

The top pair is 10mm faceted crackled Agate. The color in the shot sucks but they're a really pretty blue and brown mix with the rings being antiqued copper ( in appearance, anyhow...I can't say for sure what they're made of since they were recycled from a chain belt ;) ).  I love these..I wore them today :)

The others are just antiqued silver leaves hung from a small section of chain, with black and crystal faceted rounds. Can't say for sure what kind they are since they're recycled from other pieces.

And here is my bracelet for the "January ABS challenge. It's just some gold wire with loops formed between chunks of green and peach colored turquoise, with a antiqued copper clasp. The bird charm is from Starry Road Studio :) It actually wears fairly well, but I don't know if I'll keep it together. I'll mostly take it apart and reuse the beads and charm in other projects.   This wasn't the piece I had planned for the challenge... it wasn't even the second piece I planned out for it... both ideas kinda fell through when my bits and pieces either refused to be found among my stash ( I didn't get to the stringing materials in my cleaning  ;) ),  and when the second idea refused to work in RL as well as it did on paper >.< lol  If I were to do this again, I'd work on making my curls between beads more uniform and perhaps forgo the charm...

In addition to these, I have a couple magnetic pins and another set of earrings in the works, but I need to tear through my under desk storage in search of my other glue first... the stuff I have just takes too long to dry for what I need with these. Plus there's my stuffed cat... the second one >.<  I DID finish putting the one I showed you  together... and while doing so, made a small change to it... a small change that messed it up and made him look .. rather .. 'special' ...O.o lol  I have named him 'crooked' and he sits on top of my computer to remind me of what NOT to do with the second one lol I simplified the design and have the second cat about a third of the way done. His front is completely stitched and decorated and not I just have to make his tail, sew his stripes on his back then put him together. And this time, with Mr. Crooked watching over me to remind me, I will NOT alter my plans while putting him together lol

I DID manage to get out to the country and visit my parents today. I went for a walk around the trails... at first with the dogs, however they quickly abandoned me to trudge along on my own. For all of you southerners, I thought I'd share some wintery photos with you :)

Here are the girls who were SUPPOSED to be going for a walk WITH me...

And here are their tracks vanishing ahead of me and veering off the path into the trees... >.< ( the photo is right side up in the album, I swear )

A pile of dead fall that had been gathered together then forgotten about... the path along side this wasn't too bad for walking on... only a few inches deep. -->

<--... the path in THIS area though was over a foot deep and managed to get right inside my boots >.<

( again, the picture is upright in the album... not sure why it insists on being sideways here when it's not elsewhere >.< ) 

And one more ... for which I waded through knee deeps snow and skeletal shrubs to take. Totally worth it :)

( I did take a couple more and they're in the album if you care to go see them. Just click on the slide show link on the side bar then choose the photography album )

Don't forget to leave a comment on Friday's post for a last entry into the destash, and I'll post the winner either Tuesday night or Wednsday morning :)

~ Skye