Feature: The Purple Pumpkin Patch

So a while back... a looong while back... lol  I featured a little Etsy shop named 'Pookledo'.  This time around, I get to feature her new Brick & Mortar crafty (consignment) shop in Loughborough UK, called ' The Purple Pumpkin Patch '.

If you're ever in the area, drop in and see what she has in :) I love seeing her post about the items brought into her. so far I've seen everything from beautiful knit and crochet work,  homemade jams and jellies, adorable ceramic/clay/porcelain critters, homemade soaps and candles... actually, I think I've seen a bit of everything! 

And guys.. she hosts classes and such, too! I wish I lived close enough to attend her  'Knit & Natter' get togethers... I doubt my ability to learn to knit without a ready helper nearby to keep me on the right track, so this sort of thing would be the only way I'd be able to do it :)

Now, all of those glimpses inside her shop are from scattered times over the past year, but considering it IS the Christmas shopping season, I think I should show off some of the 'seasonal items' , too, right?

 The gingerbread man wreath is just classic Christmas without being overdone, and those lace roses... wow that must have taken forever to put together ! I'm not one for glitz  or flowers, so if I had to chose between these three in person, I'd go with the gingerbread man for my door ;) There are tons more in her shop, in a variety of looks, and the old fashioned looking lacy ones are SO PRETTY!  Like this one -

And SO much more! You should pop over to her page and browse through some of the goodies :)
 For those who are NOT in her area, don't despair, she still has the etsy shop where she has her jewelry, including her AWESOME Christmas Earring Advent Calendars

and if you see something in the PPP shop that you MUST have, message her about it and maybe the two of you can work things out with the shipping... you never know ;)

AND, for a reward for visiting her shop & page, she's offered up a little prize :) this set of  3 pairs of Christmas earrings :)  The center pair are Swarovski crystal :)

And, since this is ME and you all know on my blog I make you 'work' for your ballots ;)  Pop over and visit her shops, either/both The Purple Pumpkin Patch and /or  Pookledo , ( and check it off in the entry form ), and tell me in the comments about  your 3 favorite items :)

The winner will be selected by Random.org, and notified by email ( if they've provided it) or in a blog post (if they didn't provide an email) and will have 24hrs to respond. If they don't, a new winner will be chosen in their place. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Catching up Part 2

Yes, after SIX ATTEMPTS... my emails to myself finally made it through. Well, just the one email... several copies of it are still in limbo.

At any rate, I now have photos to share! lol

So, as I mentioned, I've had mentions of interest in owl themed jewelry lately... so I printed out some Michael's coupons ( a miracle in itself since my printer was possessed LONG before the ipad was and rarely cooperates), and headed up in search of some owls.

I already had a few, but I was out of my itty bitty silver ones... Michaels has two different styles of itty bitty silver owls... one was gorgeous but expensive... and I decided my coupons were better used on others, so I got the cheaper, not so awesome ones. I'm keeping an eye on the sales though.. just in case.

So, now that I'm armed with owls, ready to see all of the owl jewelry I've made?

Well tough toodles, because I haven't actually made ANY owl stuff yet >.< LOL  I have the beads, and the designs, and all the bits all ready to put together... but I was distracted... first by SKULLS...

 

two pairs of skull earrings for ME :D I've had the skulls for ages now.. the top pair is green sea glass skulls that I got from Znet. 

The little gold skulls were part of a gift from a friend a while ago, and have just been waiting for the right beads to go with them.

For the record, I have an entire bag of skull beads, clasps, and charms, of all different styles and materials... at least a third of which were gifts. They're all just waiting for inspiration to strike for me to create with them... although I've been debating on making a display case to show them off until I do lol

 Here's a picture of the green glass skulls where you can sort of actually SEE the skull's features.


And then, once I'd satisfied the need to be distracted by Skulls....

................ I was distracted by these gorgeous peacock beads I bought, and the need to make this...

I went with a brass chain, and used up a bunch of little swarovski crystals to make several little chain dangles. It hangs high, just shy of being a choker, and a very simple design, but I love the way it turned out.

So maybe I'll be able to make some of those owl pieces now :)

In non jewelry creating, I've been doing some painting lately, and while I've started plenty, I've only finished one...

That's a 16 x 20.. something or other.. canvas... and it's all done in splatter paint... with a toothbrush and a nail brush. The black was super quick and easy... the green  took forever and my thumb hated me for it. I'd envisioned bigger splats, but ended up with a fine mist that could be mistaken for an airbrush... so I'm nabbing my brother's old airbrush for any future designs like this lol I have the small compressor and the adapter for it should be arriving monday or so... I'll try not to let the new toy distract me fomr the owls for too long... unless it's to paint them... Ooo... owl painting.....


damn it >.< lol  first the muses won;t speak up, and then they won;t shut up... lol


I'll share some more jewelry pics in my next post, but for now I'll end this with a wee video clip showing you all... my new phone. this was taken at my mom's house where we tried it out lol... I still have to clear off my cabinet to make room for it.

New Obsession

Well okay, so 'obsession' it's not... really... well... LOL maybe a bit at first ... lol

Oh and YES, look! Two blog posts withing the same MONTH!! Whoohoo! And not only that, but the month is not even half over!!

I know... I'm rather astonished as well...

But enough of giving in to the shock of the unexpected blogging ;)  I figured I'd share a new 'thing' , and tell a bit about what I've been up to, in between visiting the Bead Hoarders hop list from my last post... yes, I'm still hopping... you guys should know if the list is longer then twenty blogs, I'm not doing it in one day... or possibly even one week... lol The problem is that all the pretties blend together until I can't remember who made what... and I'm buried under 'ideas' until I just can't take another step on the 'hop path'.  I know there are those who feel similar, so at least now you know you're not alone :)

Anyhow, the other night I went to a retirement party for a coworker, and rather than give her a specific piece of jewelry I took a small selection and told her to choose the one she wanted. For those on my FB list who saw me post of the 'necklace' that morphed into a pair of earrings... those were the ones she chose :)

note- this pic was taken before I changed the ear wires to a simple oval style instead

And that was despite the fact she doesn't wear green, she just loved them too much to NOT choose them :D  I was fairly confident that she'd go for the blue goldstone pair, since she wears a lot of browns, and despite my saying she could have two pairs, she decided to 'be strong' and just took the one... at which point other coworkers wanted to see what I made. By the end of the night, I'd sold three pairs of earrings and a necklace. I was also told that I should take that little case with me all the time... and one lady told me I needed a bigger case ;) lol  Needless to say, it was a wonderful boost for my creative 'ego', which is never sure if people will like my stuff well enough to buy it.

I am really glad that I decided to do it, and had the foresight to get some change that morning at the bank. I'll be toting along my little bag from now until Christmas at least... the case of jewelry is in one pouch, money for change is in another, and a whack-load of little black organza bags is in the third. I'm considering whether or not to move it into a bit bigger bag and add a small kit with tools to be able to do quick adjustments, just not sure I want to carry it around too ;)

That night when I got home, I found my one of my stashes of finished pieces and filled the empty slots, then set aside a bunch I wanted to either change, or add to. Last night I added some little bits to three 'charm' bracelets I'd made ages ago, but never fully finished. No pictures taken yet, but I really like the way they turned out, and I doubt I'll have them long once I offer them for sale. I'll try to have pics taken of them for next time. All three are on nice thick silver-tone chain, with glass bead dangles and hook clasps so they can be adjusted if needed. One is blue, and I added a few little silver snow flakes and owls. The green glass one has a few little silver leaves and roses, and the purple glass one has silver dragonflies and fairies. Why? Because I felt like it ;) lol 

What..?

You want to see them now?

You don't want to wait until whenever I decide to post again?

Well... I suppose you have a point.... gods only know when this blogging bug might bite again...

 Hang on while I go grab the camera, play photographer, then pop them through fotofuze to fix the back grounds.
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Still waiting?

:D hehe .. okay, here they are :)

 Didn't they turn out pretty :) The blue and the green I did first, and since the headpins had nice big heads, I didn't even think of adding anything on the ends... Apparently I used all of those nice big ones though, because I remember having my purple beads slide right off the headpins when I started it, and that's why I thought of adding the silver spacers to the bottoms. Now I wish I'd put them on all of them, but I refuse to  redo all of that just for that itty bitty bit of muse-poking; they're beautiful as is, and I tested each bead individually to make sure there was no way it was going to come off that pin.

The green tested me, since usually when I think 'green' I think 'gold' or 'brass' ... silver and green just doesn't bite me as a usual combo... however, I was out of gold chain at the time I had the desire to make these, and when I tried, I found I rather liked it. The leaves and roses make me think 'summer' which also leans towards the gold tone... but despite that, I love it the way it is with the silver :) See? I pushed myself away from my usual and went with something different.. and it works :D



 Oh yeah... I never did tell you about that obsession thing I started to write this thing for, did I? Well, I have pics to go with that too, so...   how about I do that ? That would be a good idea, huh? lol

So a couple weeks ago I was out doing some Christmas shopping and I discovered a new store had finally opened, so I popped in. They had the cutest wooden buttons that immediately demanded I buy them and make jewelry with them. It'd looked like each pattern was on one large button and two smaller ones... perfect for pendant and matching earrings :) When I got home, I discovered that the two smaller ones where actually different sizes >.< So... I went back and got another pack of each, then sorted them out into sets of three, tossing in beads to match, and getting right to work in cutting wire and choosing components. Everything went into a container with compartments, so everything for each piece was all in one slot. I recommend doing this whenever you get the ideas for something and know EXACTLY what you want to put together, but don't have the time to get right to work on them :) I know if I hadn't done this right away, they'd have ended up stuck in a drawer or bin somewhere, forgotten :(

 Here are the ones I have the earrings and pendants made for.

For this one, I went with antique brass wire, and grey/purple tones.Those are greyish-purple Czech glass leaves, with one grey, and two different shades of purple crystals.

The next one, I went with silver artistic wire, peachy streaked Czech leaves, and a mix of crystals in green, peach, and a dark purple. Sorry about the slightly blurred pic... I was too lazy to find my stand for the camera and move to set it up right >.< lol

This one is the first one I put together. Silver Artistic wire with blue, white, and purple crystals, and a blue glass faceted teardrop.

I'm still debating on the chains for them... so far I keep going back to a simple chain, with a few beaded links to tie it together.  Either that or a cord, instead... although, since I have two sets of each pattern, I might just do one on a chain, and one on a cord :) Satisfy both sides of the muse ;)

Huh... you know, I just realized that all of the crystals, clasps, head pins, silver charms and beads, and the czech glass used in  all of these pieces in this post... all came from Bead Box Bargains... I guess I'll have to go share these pics on their fb group page, too :)  The larger glass beads were bought locally, and I have no memory of where I got the chain... but it's possible it came from BBB too... I'm just not sure >.<

I have several more to do yet, some of which are partially done and just waiting for me to finish off adding a bead or two, and others are waiting for me to find where I hide my gold toned 20g wire to make the pendant... if I can't find it soon, I'll have to figure out an alternative method using the headpins instead, since I KNOW where they are ;)

Oh, and I'll have to do another post soon to show you the fun I was having playing with resin, assorted metal bits, and nailart sprinkles :D SPARKLY!! :D heheh... but that can wait for another time ;)

Hope you enjoyed this extra little post with lots of pictures and things that I actually managed to get MADE :)  Maybe when I manage to completely finish my button jewelry sets , as in chain/cord and all, I'll offer one up in a little giveaway to celebrate :)  Any one interested? ;)

Artisan Showcase :)

Marla  of Artisan Component Marketplace  is hosting a little design contest, to showcase items made using components from their various vendors. In an effort to continue blogging more often than once every few months, I decided to share all of these in a blog post, rather than simply toss them into an album and share through there :) Most of these I've shared in previous posts, but I've redone the photos and collected them all in one post.. and there IS one new piece ;)

First up we have some equestrian themed components from Marti's Buttons n' Beads

 I paired her horseshoe charms ( that she began making at my request ;) you're welcome :D hehe), with some pearls that almost perfectly matched the bluish colour of the shoes :) Done with Antique Bronze Artistic wire, they hang approx, 2"

Another pair of horseshoe charms, this time in a link with the shoe in a darker blue. I'd originally intended to have these sewn onto denim, but... my sewing skills leave much to be desired >.< lol
Instead, I have them with assorted blue glass beads and raw copper.
These hang a little over 2".

The bracelet bar was also originally supposed to be on denim, but again... I keep forgetting I can't sew >.< More assorted blue glass beads and bright copper to the rescue :)





















Below is a peacock pendant that she made as a special request. It was available in her shop as a button, but I pouted and flashed her puppy dog eyes, and tada... :) I tossed about every bluey/green  bead I had into a dish and mixed them up, then strung a bunch onto this triple strand necklace. There's a bit of everything in here, from Czech glass, to various gemstones, to shell chips, to pearls.

Next up, we have some components from MarlasMud

I was fortunate enough to win both of these beautiful skull pendants from her shop last year. I do love how both designs came out, but I'm getting the urge to take them apart and try something different with them instead.
Above, I paired her pendant with a couple lampwork beads by Gail of Oregon Handmade , then made a beaded chain in colours to match.
Below I went a different route, and added some recycled silk, and a strand of MOP chips, and Czech glass.

Happy Halloween :)

As promised... another post by Halloween.. or.. ON Halloween since.. this is it ;)

So here's the update on the autumn painting from my last post.  Just a few touches added with bare branches through the bushes that you can't see very well here, and the ground.

 

Halloween costumes ... originally planned on doing a dryad/ forest spirit... then I found the little clip on horns... so I painted them up, added some furry little leg warmers and went with a faun lol My hood fell back from the wind, and you can't see the makeup very well... photos were a fail this year along with everything else >.<

 

My mom came up straight from work... where she was dressed as a clown. She was the only one who wore a costume, and she scared the crap out of her dogs this morning before she left... but she, like me, is never too old to enjoy dressing up for Halloween :) She has a costume on, but it was COLD outside, so she's bundled up in my Jedi robe lol

 This years jack o'lantern.... not as fabluous as last years, but the landlady grabbed the wrong pumpkin last night; I left mine by my door and hers were by the steps. I guess one of the kids had moved them around, and this morning when I went down to get mine, there was a bigger one in it's place... and it had a big flat spot that was just begging to be made into a face lol Despite that, the nose still ended up crooked, but oh well :) We brought him up stairs with us when we abandoned our trick-treater posts, and he's sitting in front of the tv where we can enjoy him.

And here's what the place looked like earlier. I had nothing to do with the decorating. Usually I add stuff to it, but this year I just didn't the time, or the will to stay out in the cold wet long enough .

 There ya go... a second post within a WEEK. Of course, the only reason I did one this soon, was because people were asking for another recipe... so here it is.

My great grandmother's recipe ->   Stuffed Bologna 

Instructions first, followed by photos of the process ;) BTW, Little Gram was what we called my great grandmother... because she was about 5' tall, compared to my gram, who was about 6' ;)

Octoberfest Bloghop

*shushes the crickets as she clears away the cobwebs*

Yes, I AM still here. I'm sorry for the long silences between posts, but I just haven't felt the blogging bug biting me >.<  But here I am, as promised, to celebrate my favorite time of year :)

 Due to far too much rain and cold these past few weeks, I was unable to get out and take photos of all the beautiful golds and reds, and sore feet have put a damper on my long walks in search of the colours that still remain... as of today, the golds and reds are already mostly browns and blahs :(  That said, I do have photos to share that I took earlier in the month!

Below are a few shots taken at the biggest fall festival in my area 'PumpkinFest'. These was taken inside one of the big tents, where they were weighing all the giant giant pumpkins and other veggies in hopes of finding a new world record.

 The pumpkins were all so large that they had to be move via slings and forklifts!  The one in this photo weighed well over a thousand pounds :)

I was bitten by the painting bug a few times this month, and an autumn themed painting was always on the list, but until yesterday, it didn't happen. Even now, it's still not finished but I took some pics to share anyhow :)

 To start with, I took red, burnt orange, and antique golden yellow, and just drizzled it in zigzagging lines across the canvas, then took a sponge and dabbed them all together.

 Then once it all dried, I took a skinny sponge brush, and added in brown and a soft powdery blue. This about three quarters done now, and completely sponged at this point. Next I'll take the paint brush in and do some detail work, so whenever I get that done, I'll share it again :)


I had several necklaces and bracelets planned and in the works, all with an autumn theme to share with you, however none of them managed to get completed. They're all laid out on bead boards, or still in sketches :(  I do however have some earrings to show you :)

 Some leaf headpins made by Shelley of Tori Sophia, paired with antique copper wire, and black and bronze tone Swarovski crystals.

 Another set of headpins from Tori Sophia , this time layered over some light jade leaves, with antique copper and green swarovski.

 A pair of charms that the photo really doesn't do justice too. Also from Tori Sophia, and with antique copper, I added some sari silk bits to the back of them. I did have some golds and browns with them, but the bluey green just popped better.

 And of course, what is October without skull jewelry? I made four pairs of skull earrings, but I seemed to have misplaced both the earrings and the photos of them, so here are two of them lol
Above are red swarovski crystals with red skulls - the bigger ones are magnesite, but the smaller ones are from Michaels and the label says reconstituted turquoise...O.o look the same to me, but then they could be... I never bothered to look them up ;)
Below are more of the tiny Michaels skulls, paired with some silver skull charms and links.

And to finish this off, I'll share with you my own, much altered recipe, for pumpkin raisin muffins. I use rice flour in place of regular flour, but changed it back to 'normal' for this post. If you want to use the rice flour as well, just add a quarter cup cornstarch as well.

1/3 cup veggie oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup brown sugar ( not packed)
1 1/2 cup canned pumpkin ( NOT pie filling! I use E.D. Smith's Pure Pumpkin, or when they're in season, I get a couple small pie pumpkins and make my own puree)
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice ( you can make your own by using equal parts ginger, cinnamon, & nutmeg)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Combine all these into a bowl and mix until smooth. Then mix in 1 cup flour, and 3/4 cup oat bran . Once the flour and bran are all mixed in, add 1 cup raisins that have been soaked to plumpness :)

Fill lightly greased muffin pans until 3/4 full, then bake at 350'F for 23-25 minutes.
I use the extra large muffin pans ( texas size, apparently) so they take longer.


There you go :) Some giant veggies, some leaf and skull earrings, and some yummy muffins, which I should warn you, are rather addicting.

Carry on throughout the hop and enjoy what everyone else has to share :) I'll see if I can't have another post up in time for Halloween :D

 Click here for the OctoberFest Blog Hop Participants List