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

Catch up

** note ** If you're looking for my BSBP reveal, click HERE.

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Sorry about all the missing posts in April >.< Any and all winners were contacted on time and have long since received their prizes. As for the missing April shop feature, I had two shops left in the queue, and got tangled up in checking out some stuff, then forgot to actually POST. I WILL be posting one THIS FRIDAY. I'm writing it today and scheduling it to ensure it ;) Which means there's just one more after this one, so if any of you 'shop owners' would like to be featured here and can offer a little something up for grabs to my readers, give me shout :)

As for the whys behind the lack of blogging... I don't think there's really a need to mention I'm just really good at procrastinating... you all know this by now ;)

So what have I been up to that my blogging has been next to non-existent? Aside from procrastinating, of course ;)

The usual, of course... plus we just finished off another round with Project Bead ( which I'll be updating and mentioning here soon).

Had to get my BSBP done and up, and of course, I'm still hopping my way through :) I went against my new 'no more hops' rule and joined up with TWO, one of which I've already completed my piece for.

Oh, and remember the Project Bead 'Sneak Attack'? Where Shelley Graham Turner had put out the word looking for purple beads so she could  make earrings for Alzheimer's... so we dropped a box containing a few THOUSAND purple beads on her doorstep... remember?

Well... seems Shelley has turned the tables on us with that one ;) She decided she couldn't possibly use all of those on her own, so she started up a fb group called 'Jilly's Bead Posse' in memory of her sister, then put out the offer to send a baggie of purple bead soup to anyone who would be willing to use it to make earrings for her, and send them back to her.

 In no time she had a nice little group of earring designers working away.

And then... it grew.

... and Shelley kidnapped me and pulled me into it, because 'it was my fault anyhow' ;) lol

Jilly's Bead Posse went from a group of ladies making earrings for Shelley to hand out to people taking part in the 'Walk to End Alzheimer's' , to an acknowledged associate of Alz.org. My project right now is helping get items listed in the etsy shop, as well as get my own contributions submitted. Oh, and make more purple stuff... current items I'm planning on are key chains and zipper pulls ;)

I'll be telling you all a bit more about this group in a future post. My giveaway with a twist went over rather well there for the Global Genes Project ... might have to do something similar for this one ;)

I'll be trying VERY HARD to get back into the blogging habit, and as I said, I'll have a few posts scheduled ahead of time for you ;)  Friday for sure you'll have a new giveaway to enter with the shop feature, so be sure to pop back and check it out ;)

Think I need to end this update with some pretty pictures,  don't you think? How about my sunny-day-sitting-on-the-porch projects? Those on FB with me have seen them already, but oh well ;)

Autumn's Glory

( yeah I know... sitting outside on a gorgeous spring day enjoying summer like weather .. and I create a piece with an autumn theme to it >.< lol )

Passion for Purple

Check back tomorrow for this month's shop feature, and enter the giveaway!

 

Holiday Bling Blog Hop #2

I missed out on number 1 since I just had too much on the go at the time, but when Shelley and Marlene decided to hold an encore, I had to jump in :)

For those who stumble across this form outside of the hop list,  Shelley of Fabric of My Life , and Marlene Cupo of Amazing Designs tossed all the applicants names into a hat and pulled out two at a time to partner us up... 

... well okay, I don't think that's EXACTLY what they did, but you get the idea ;)

We contacted our partner to get mailing addresses and some ideas on likes and dislikes, and discuss what type of gifts to exchange. Jewelry, non-jewelry, religious or non-religious... etc etc etc.  I'm not sure what all everyone discussed... I just know we were supposed to decide between the two of us any specifics without giving away what we were doing.

Both my partner, Jo-Ann and I were very open and easy going and didn't really set any limits, leaving the floor open to lots of possibilities.

As all of you creative types know... that is both a blessing and a curse >.< It leaves you wide open to any inspiration... and to ALL inspiration >.< I did have a few likes  to guide me, as well  a 'do not use' colour.... which of course became a prominent colour in my layout until I remembered it >.< lol

I blame the owl for that though.... seriously. He was the one demanding I use pink >.< Him plus some gorgeous multi coloured fabric that, due to the pink issue, I ended up not using.... nor did I use the fuzzy non-pink multi coloured yarn I'd grabbed as a substitute.  As a matter of fact, in the end, I didn't use any fabric at all :)

Instead I used some gorgeous cranberry colored, top-drilled potato pearls that I'd been hoarding forever, that had been sent to me all the way from Sweden in a bundle of goodies I'd won from ' Maneki' of Wild Roses & Blackberries :)

Want to see?

alright, alright... here...

Cranberries & Ice

Cranberry Potato pearls & quartz chips, with a cute owl from TreeWings Studio :) 

Oh.. btw... that one pearl is not backwards... the strand is flipped since I have it curled around and I didn't notice it until after I'd put the camera away. You can see the two above it are the same ;)

I was playing with buttons at the time too, and while going through the whole' pink/no pink' issue, I made these...

She can add a hook and hang them on her tree... or add ear wires and make them big chunky earrings ;)

So now you've seen what I sent her.... pop over and see what she made for me at It's A Beadiful Creation ;) then pop through the rest of the list to see all of the other goodies made this round :)

Shirley Moore http://www.beadsandbread.blogspot.com Lori Bowring Michaud http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com Catherine King http://catherines-musings.blogspot.com Dyanne Cantrell  http://deelitefuljewelrycreations.blogspot.com Sonya Stille http://dreaminofbeads.blogspot.com Elaine Ray http://elaineray.blogspot.com Gina Hockett http://freestyleelements.blogspot.com Jo-Ann Woolverton http://itsabeadifulcreation.blogspot.ca Debbie Rasmussen http://kepirasmussen.blogspot.com Renetha Stanziano http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com Ginger Bishop http://lilmummylikes.blogspot.com Miranda Ackerley http://mirandack.com/category/thoughts Tammie Everly http://ttedesigns.blogspot.com Alicia Marinache http://www.allprettythings.ca Melinda Abrahamson http://www.firstreetcrafts.com Rita/ Toltec Jewels http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com Chandra Merod http://www.junipergoods.blogspot.com Mary Govaars http://www.mlhjewelrydesigns.com Kelley Fogel http://www.mylifeonebeadatatime.blogspot.com Tiffany Goff Smith http://www.southerngalsdesign.blogspot.com Heather Rats Otto http://www.thecrafthopper.com Anitra Gordy Boyers www.leelucreations.blogspot.com  Marlene Cupo http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com Shelley Graham Turner              http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com